Well, 2022 was both a great and challenging year. My major goal from the start of the year was to refocus. I think to a large extent, that’s what we did.
We spent most of the year with a tightly-focused field of priorities:
- Work
- Family
- Running
I spent a good portion of the year restructuring my team (including several new hires) and working “under the hood” to streamline how we did things. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it led to simpler processes and greater efficiencies without more work hours.
Kelly and I spent more time together this year than we have in many years (strange to say after the COVID years). We said no a lot, prioritized being together and hanging out. It was beneficial for our relationship (hey – we still like each other 23 years on!) and it allowed us to minimize the noise of a world eager to return to busy schedules.
It’s fair to say that part of spending time together was defined as spending time together travelling to run races and running with our Dallas Galloway friends. Kelly ran 12 marathons and we travelled out of state for 9 races. Glory went with us on all but 1 of the race trips. We’re now – assuming that everything works out as planned – two years away from finishing our quest to run a marathon (Kelly) and half marathon (me) in all 50 states.
We also travelled for family visits to Kansas and a family wedding in the Northwest. All together, we put miles on the road and saw a lot of the United States this year.
The best part of the year was buckling down and clearing both family estates. It was a wonderful feeling going into Thanksgiving without the “we don’t want to but we have to” burden hanging over us.
And on that note, it was also a surprise to us to discover that a measure of our sadness and despondency had also left. For that we are very grateful.