2022: Year in review

This year in review post has been really difficult to write (and why it's so late) because of how it ended with being the worst year of my life, so far. It took me a while to write it, but I really didn't want to miss posting it as I've written one every year since 2016.

Work

• Not much freelance work done this year as I stepped back from doing so much, just focused on contract work.

• Finished Arrival Lift Services website - a custom design and build using Tailwind CSS and Eleventy

• Removed Forestry CMS from JF website because I wasn't using it any more and it's also being discontinued. Now that I'm back to using an iPhone, there are GitLab apps that allowed me to edit content on my repo, but this was quite a fiddly way to edit and add content to my website. I then added Forestry back because of Stream (Short posts that get syndicated to social media) posts as a temporary solution whilst I look into getting Tina CMS setup

• For a long time I used the project-hub.xyz domain name to host projects I was working on, as a way to show clients progress that was made - with a backlog of changes kept for reference. But since I've stopped doing freelance work, it was time to get rid of it. I tried selling the domain name, but there was no interest, so I let it expire :(

Personal

• Since we moved into our house about 8 years ago, we've just been working on updating the inside of the house. So this year it was time to work on the outside. We decided to extend the house into half of the loft (the other half is used for storage still) and add an extra two rooms (a bedroom and an exercise room).

• We also had the driveway and patio redone - the patio got a new design and shape. The driveway surface was redone using hardcore and new shingle. Plus we had an outside entertainment area built - it's sheltered with a big table and chairs, so we can have meals out there, also houses our barbecue and a seating area.

• As part of working on the outside entertainment area, I decided to get a new BBQ as part of the outside kitchen I will be building. I got a Traeger Wood pellet BBQ in the end, as it seemed like a great choice and easier to use. I love it. SO easy to use, and we can have BBQs even if it's raining because it's sheltered, and we can even eat out there as we had patio heaters installed.

• Middle child, Tasha, joined a football team, and I am super proud of her. She's doing really well for someone who has not been playing football for that long. I'm enjoying watching her play at the weekends and at training during the week, apart from it's been freezing cold!

• I turned 41 in November and how do you know you're officially old, the NHS send you for your free health check! Furthermore, I didn't do anything for my birthday. It was just another day for me. And I also got kidney stones, it's the second time I've had them in myself, and it still hurts a lot. By the time I got seen my someone at the hospital, I had already passed it.

• We decided it was time to add another addition to our family - yes, we got another dog. We got a 5-month-old Dobermann. He is the cutest! He was very shy at first, but soon started trusting us enough to let us take him home.

• I was advised to see a Neuropath to try and help me with this rash I've had for a while now. He seemed very knowledgable, but in the end it didn't help at all :(

• Due to the pandemic we decided it was still too early to travel abroad, so we decided to go back to our favourite glamping site in Yorkshire - Kingfisher Lakes

Well, there you have it. Not a great way to end the year.

Stats

Posted on 14th August 2023, by Juan Fernandes in personal year-in-review