2024 In Review
Some of 2025 has slipped past me, but I haven't forgotten a commitment I made to myself. At the beginning of every year I force myself to recall how I spent the last 12 months God gave me.
January
In the previous year I had made the decision to move out of my home state, Iowa. When I made this decision I had no idea where I would move. Several ideas tossed about my head, including moving internationally, but Milwaukee was the clear winner. Last year several of my friends had moved here, and after visiting I realized that it was a great city. So, in January, I started making my plans in earnest.
Besides that, camping dominated this month. First, I did a simple one night hike in Yellow River State Forest. My main goal there was just to test out some new gear. I had a good time, but unfortunately overworked one of my leg muscles.
The next wee I left with my friend for our annual winter We stayed at Teddy Lake Yurt in Michigan. Normally, you can just drive to the doorstep of the yurt, but in the winter the road is not plowed. So we strapped on our sleds and hiked several miles to it. Because of my bad leg, I had to stop quite often on the hike in. Thankfully, the pain was worth it, as the yurt was gloriously remote and peaceful.
Without doubt, this was one of the highlights of the year. Eating a hearty English Breakfast, snowshoeing all afternoon, refueling with a hearty stew, drinking some 18 yr. scotch, and smoking a pipe were all part of each day. Sprinkle in many great conversations, and this makes a memory I'll treasure for a lifetime.
February
Because of my upcoming move, I had to make a decision about my cat, Zoe. While I loved having an animal friend around, I had doubts about moving her with me. I was already frequently traveling and I knew that this only increase once I moved. Mainly because visiting my family (which I'm committed to doing often) would become more than a simple day trip. In the end, I decided that I needed to find a new owner who could care for her better.
Searching for a new owner was very stressful. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the right person, and abandoning her to a shelter was simply not an option. Against all odds (or at least what I assume the odds were) I was contacted by a wonderful person only a couple of days after creating an application on Adopt a Pet. So, at the start of the month, I said my goodbyes.
Besides that, the other notable event of this month was a failed roadtrip that my brother and I attempted. We set off towards the East Coast with a mindset to figure things out when we get there. Unfortunately, we never got past Nashville due to a wheel bearing going out on my car. We ended up turning around and fixing that instead. The road-trip was postponed to another time (spoiler for 2025's update, but we did make it).
March
In March my 8-bit computer project got seriously underway. For some reason, I came back from the January winter trip with a strong resolve to learn electronics. Since I had very little background I bought a textbook called Practical Electronics for Inventors. After studying that for several weeks I felt like putting stuff into practice with a big project. I had always wanted to build a computer, so that was the obvious choose. I would end up spending a few months on this, but by the end this one I was already able to run a simple addition program on it. I still remember the rush of excitement that I felt seeing it working.
During the Saint Patrick's Day weekend I drove to Milwaukee to visit my friends there. This would be the last time I would visit before moving.
April
Now that the weather was warming I was able to start kayaking again. While I love padding for both the exercise and the nature, it wouldn't be the same without a good podcast. During 2024, I binged through all the EconTalk episodes with Michael Munger as a guest. Him and Russ Roberts, the host, have great chemistry, and they always have something interesting to say.
April also contained the annual Link Conference for Workiva developers. This year, they hosted it in Denver, CO at the Gaylord Resort. Now that I work on an otherwise 100% remote team I value these conferences more than I used to. Still, it was quite exhausting, as an introvert, to be around that many people for a week.
May
The very first day of May was spent flying to Copenhagen. I booked the flight just over a week before it departed. In fact, even the destination was hardly pre-meditated. I just knew I wanted to go to Europe, and Des Moines to Copenhagen flights were fairly cheap. The whole thing was kind of an experiment to try solo traveling for the first time. I kept the trip short in case I started feeling lonely, and wanted to leave. Thankfully, I had a great time.
Before arriving I had made zero arrangements nor done any research, but a boat tour my first morning gave me some ideas. On that first day, I visited the Museum of Copenhagen, toured Freetown Christiania, and climbed the spiral of the Church of our Savior.
The next day was spent on military history. First at The War Museum (where I learned about Denmarks many defeats in war), and then at The Ships on Holmen where you can tour a Danish Frigate and Submarine. These vessels were fascinating because they hadn't been restored heavily, making them an intimate glimpse into the life of the soldiers aboard them.
Unfortunately, I felt unwell the next morning and had to take it easy. Eventually, I forced myself out of bed to visit the Museum of Danish Resistance, which I quite enjoyed.
On the final day I took a train Frederiksborg Castle where several of Denmark's kings lived. The building, lake, and gardens were all very beautiful. In the town I finally tried a Danish hotdog, which was unironically the best thing had on this trip. After that, I took a local train to Helsingør. There's another castle here, and you can see Sweden just a short distance away. When I got back to Copenhagen I walked around a bit more, making sure to stop by the famous Little Mermaid statue before calling it a day. The next day I began the long journey back home.
June
In June I finished my 8-bit computer. Before I disassembly I produced a short YouTube video about it. At first, nobody watched it, but a few days later it took off. Right now, it has about 160k views, which isn't a lot, but is more than I've ever gotten on my YouTube channel. The best part, however, was that EEVblog both watched the video, and posted it on his forum. I was super excited about that, because his videos taught me how to use an oscilloscope only a few months prior.
July
Finally it was time for the move. I spent most of July planning and executing on this. As the day neared, one of my friends commented that I was the most prepared for a move he's ever seen. Everything was in boxes, and all of my furniture was wrapped and padded.
I remember this being a stressful time. I'd never driven a moving truck, moved out of state, nor lived so far from my family. Thankfully, things went very smoothly.
The very next morning after I arrived in Milwaukee I was boarding a flight to Denver. Both my team and the other API focused team at Workiva had some things we needed to talk through together. Those conversations went super well, and I also got to know everyone a lot better. After this, I flew back to Des Moines, finished up a few things at my old apartment, and then completed my move to Milwaukee.
August
August was mostly spent getting acclimated. Thanks to my existing friends in Milwaukee, I was immediately introduced to a lot of cool new people, for which I'm extremely thankful for. Another pleasant surprise were the beaches. I live right along the shore, but didn't have high expectations for the lake before I moved. However, it turned out that it's actually really nice this time of year, and I spent many evenings and weekends hanging out there.
Another new experience this month was going to DCI finals. Ony of my close friends is really into DCI, and tends to go to this every year. I decided to join him, and it blew me away. Each performance exuded talent, creativity, and excitement. Despite having no background in marching band, I was instantly hooked.
September
Early in September I went on a weekend trip with Milwaukee friends to Door County. As I was still new in the friend group, this was a good opportunity to get to know people better. We spent Saturday hiking, and ended the day with a traditional Door County fish boil.
Soon after we got back, I was supposed to leave for a solo Scotland vacation, but that was interrupted. Very sadly, my Grandma suddenly passed away. Her faith was unshakable, and that gave us all a sense of peace at the news. But that doesn't eliminate the grief. I was able to spend the week before her funeral free from work and quietly reflecting on her passing.
As far as the Scotland trip goes, I thankfully didn't have to cancel it entirely. For the first time in my life, I had booked non-basic economy flight, so I was able to move it out. Even all but one of my hotel bookings were refundable or moveable. I hadn't planned it that way, but it worked out.
My time in Scotland is one of the highlights of my life. It all started in Inverness, which is right next door to the famous Loch Ness. Exploring that area occupied my first day. Towards the evening, I got out my Oru Lake fordable kayak (which I had specifically purchased for this trip) and paddled on Loch Ness itself. Bessy was nowhere in sight, but it was still a surreal experience.
On the next day I drove to The Glenlivet Distillery. The Glenlivet 15 was the first scotch I ever drank so this was a special place for me. I went on the distillery tour, and then purchased a bottle of cask strength 15 year scotch that I would never be able to find in the US. That bottle was absolutely delicious. That same day I drove to the Isle of Skye where I stayed for a few nights. I got kayak out again in the ocean just outside of my AirBnB in Broadford, and then called it a night.
The Isle of Skye gets a lot of praise on the internet for being beautiful, and all of it is well deserved. My strategy for the first day was to simply drive, and stop any time I saw something interesting, which happened a lot. The highlight was the Quiraing hike, which offered an incredible panoramic view of the north part of the island.
On the second day I visited the Fairy Pools, which are a lovely series of colorful waterfalls surrounded by mountains. Then I drove to the Neist Point Lighthouse. As an American, the road there was particularly shocking. There were many of potholes and tight curves along the way, and all of it on single track roads. But it would have been worth driving for literal days to get there. Upon arrival I was greeted with the most strikingly gorgeous views I have ever seen. I spent a solid hour just taking in the view atop of a hill (not alone, but surrounded by sheep, of course).
The next day I drove down to the Ben Nevis area. I don't remember what my original plans were, but that very day I learned that you could climb Ben Nevis and I was instantly hooked on the idea. The next morning I began the hike. Weather permitting, Ben Nevis is actually very doable for any reasonably fit person, but at the same time I wasn't prepared for a hike. My shoes were Vans, and everybody I passed would stare or comment at my lack of proper footwear. At first, I tempered my expectations and committed to turning around if I sensed trouble, but after three hours of uninterrupted climbing I made it to the top. Because of my terrible choice in shoes my feet were completely blistered by the time I reached the bottom, but it was well worth it.
October
Not long after getting back from Scotland I was again leaving the country, but this time for Mexico City. Unlike Scotland, I went with two friends. In fact, I was basically just tagging along for a trip that they had already planned.
As I expected going into it, the trip was great, but far from what I consider a perfect holiday. I generally like to travel to clean, modern cities whereas Mexico City has a definite "developing world" edge to it. Especially for us, because we took the public transportation all around the city, and didn't just stay within the extremely touristy areas. Also, I know very little Spanish, and at several points had to try and use it. Thankfully, almost everyone was friendly and understanding. One such instance was at Birria El Paisa de la Plaza de Toros México, which two of us went to without our Spanish-speaking friend. The owner took great care to explain each menu item, and even taught us some new Spanish phrases.
I think the highlight of the trip was riding the Cablebús. Because of the mountainous terrain cable cars are used as a form of public transportion. For just a few pesos you can fly over the city for miles. However, they are strictly a form of public transportation, so you'll end up in residential areas nowhere near any tourist destinations. Despite that, we still found it so much fun that we rode it several times.
While most of our time was spent exploring the city we did make it out to the Teotihuacan pyramids on the last day. It was incredible how large of a complex this was.
November
Like the previous two months, November also involved a week of travel. My work payed for my team to attend API World in Santa Clara. I found the conference to be interesting, though more than half of the talks had more business jargon than content.
One evening we took an Uber to The Computer History Museum. They had an incredible display of early computers. I especially enjoyed their punch card machines. Before that, I had never realized that punch cards were used for data processing and not just computing. It was also cool to see the replica Atanasoff Berry Computer they had. Both the original and replica were built at Iowa State University where I got my undergraduate degree.
Midway through December I went to Bands of America Finals with a friend. The shows weren't quite as advanced as DCI, but it was still worth the drive.
December
The end of the year was a bit more relaxed than the days leading up to it. Most of my time was spent enjoying the company of my Milwaukee friends and my family back home. We didn't do our family Christmas until January, but I still went home and spent the season with my parents.
During my time off I also decided to go winter camping at Pictured Rocks. I ended up regretting trying to do the hike with a sled because of the terrain, but it was still a fun couple of days. One huge benefit of living in Milwaukee is that I have a lot more great options for camping like this. In Ames, all the good spots were at least 8 hours away.
That wraps up the year for me!
