read between the runs

when thinking about this year throughout the year, i kept thinking about how there was still so much year left. then, all of a sudden, it was winter break and the year was almost done. it’s not that i wasn’t prepared, just that the end of the year was rapid. after a low-key 2023, it was great to have a much brighter year filled with joy, love, and excitement. typically i am sad about the end of the year and feel extremely reflective, but this year i put very little thought into what the closure of another year means.

2024 was a really big year for me, all starting with my marriage to autumn. the day was perfect and we felt surrounded by an outpouring of love. i have told everyone who asked that the biggest regret that i had about the day is not providing writing utensils for the crossword, and truly if that’s the biggest problem we had, then it was an amazing day. of course we followed this with our trip to antigua, which was stunning and incredibly relaxing. i wasn’t sure what to expect from an all-inclusive, but i almost feel like that’s the only way i want to travel moving forward. it was phenomenal.

furthering the huge year, i graduated with my masters in may. this was a huge relief after having poured in so much effort for so long, and being able to gain my free time back was invaluable. it’s been great to feel like i can lean into hobbies more again, especially video games, running, and longer books. it is a bit ironic that this is the second time that i graduated with a degree that i am not imminently using, and especially silly that i used the other degree both times. 

aside from those, what i am most happy about in 2024 is that i rediscovered my love for teaching. obviously this is not from the 2023-2024 school year, but the one that is now half completed. after being tense and not enjoying teaching every day january-april, i now have classes that i adore showing up to each day and students who respect me and seem to love learning (enough). i am so proud of the hard work that my students do week in and week out. i genuinely can’t imagine having better students, and i am intentionally trying to enjoy each day and slow them down because i don’t know if i’ll ever be this lucky again. transitioning to math has been lots of fun. i like the challenge of doing the math and adjusted to the demands quickly. i miss teaching reading to some degree, but not enough to want to go back anytime soon.

other fun undertaken this year includes two camping trips: one with autumn in march and another in october by myself. we went to weddings in minneapolis and denver, and had great times in both places, especially being able to knock another national park off the list. we attended four concerts, did two escape rooms, i went to my first cookout, and discovered a new love: hotpot. i got back into marathon training and completed my longest run since 2021, enjoyed several ciders at city orchard, and rediscovered climbing. the spurs are finally looking good again, so i’ve enjoyed locking in to as many games as possible, despite autumn’s urging not to. i leaned more into podcasts this year at the demise of some spotify minutes, but i enjoyed regulation and dropout a lot, so it could be seen as a worthwhile tradeoff. 

when it comes to self image, i’m not in the healthiest place; i don’t view myself that highly overall. i’m displeased with my hair loss and the weight i have accumulated. i know i’m not that large, but i want to be more fit and view myself in a positive light. i ran more than i did the past two years, but i was still too lazy and want to do more. i biked less than i did in years past, but got some work done on it so it works better which was necessary. 

autumn and i have had very serious talks about moving away from houston for a while but we also looked at houses to buy. our future really is uncertain and we don’t know what’s next for us, but i’m looking forward to whatever it is alongside autumn. 

2024 statistics:

• 80,309 spotify minutes
• 900.3 miles ran
• 70 books read
• 2 weddings attended (+1 of our own)
• 1 new national park visited
• 21 switch hours and 476 xbox hours
• 4 blog posts written

this was a really great year, and aside from getting married and graduating, i see zero reasons why 2025 can’t be even better.

and now, here are my intentions and manifested hopes for 2025:

• swim in a cenote during the anniversary cruise!
• go to a new camp site and have another solo camp trip, even if just a weekend.
• i’m going to drop my book goal down to 60 with the hope of reading some longer books, specifically the fantasy series i already own or get interested in.
• if healthy, i should be able to increase my yearly mileage by another 300 miles to get 1200, which is 100 a month. however, i’d love to hit 1500 and feel like a real runner.
• get three marathons on the schedule or training.
• get to two spurs games, with at least one in san antonio
• my spotify hours dropped, but i feel like a small resurgence is in order, getting back to 90,000.
• if i’m trying to be more active this year, i feel like joining the momentum century club is well within reason (100 visits)
• sell a couple books i have no desire to read.
• purchase balder’s gate
• host two more events at our apartment, whether game nights, hot dog parties, or anything else fun
• i honestly had a lot of fun eating 24 fruits and vegetables, so i’m gonna go for it again!
• i wasn’t perfect at logging restaurants we ate at, but that goal went well. i think it was fun though and i’ll try to keep that going again this year.
• i got down some new meals in the repertoire–veggie burgers, potatoes, brussels, green beans, frito pie and sheet pan veggies. this year i want to learn to make autumn’s new salad dressing, her pasta dish, and ___________.
• i did better on writing blog posts, but i should be doing at least one a month, but probably more than that.
• i should probably get another new tattoo, too
• four concerts didn’t feel like too many, so i can go to another four
• i got into the basketball league which was a lot of fun, so hopefully i’ll do that again and find another sort of community event.
• play some flute, forreal this time
• play on the oculus, forreal forreal this time… otherwise i really should sell it
• i hit the goal of a 21 minute 5k, but i really didn’t train for it after the wedding 5k, so let’s shoot for 20 minutes and see what i can do.
• i’ve got to get the switch hours back to 50 or more. that really isn’t too many and i love the switch
• i did okay keeping phone calls with people, but let’s actually set a plan to do two a month
• do three puzzles!
• really truly need to go to another sporting event that isn’t astros
• the knees and calves have been tight, so find a way to do more stretching, especially if i want to keep my running healthy
• i said i wanted to put some quotes around to remind me of my goals, so let’s genuinely do that
• ensure that autumn and i do our couples book 40+ times
• find a way to do gratitude more often. not exactly sure what that will look like, but i have a year to figure it out!
• paint a couple items, no matter how small. it’s a really relaxing activity
• load some money back into the savings account, and combine finances with autumn.
• start the year strong with some version of 75 soft, and maybe continue it later in the year
• hang up some of the new art we purchased, especially since we’re staying for another 14 months
• go to ryde with autumn four times. and maybe pilates… 
• here’s to four years of saying i’m going to bike 50 miles in a day!
• when i buy new shoes, make them a bit smaller to see if it helps shin splints
• keep loving school
• when doing duolingo, do more than just the matching each day. i am there to actually be learning the language, not keep a streak
• keep loving autumn each day, even when it is difficult
• be happy

do great; be happy