This year has been a whirlwind. I got a new job (twice), I got married, I moved. For the last 6 months, I've been a QA Analyst at Rather Outdoors. I'm not quite ready to talk about the work yet, but I'm genuinely excited about what I get to do every day. With that said, as the year comes to a close, self-reflection is, unfortunately, imminent.

I'll skip the long-winded inward journey and, instead, share a few things that this year has emphasized for me.

• Make it work, make it right, make it fast.
  The best work is iterative. You won't know how to make it fast until you've made it right, and you won't know how to make it right until you've made it work. If you just make it work, the rest will come.

• Take care of yourself.
  The world is, at all times, on fire. It is far easier (and far more sustainable) to make meaningful impacts when you've prioritized your own well-being, however that may look for you. We're only here once.

• Learn, learn, learn.
  You can never know enough. At all times, the knowledge of the world exists in the palms of our hands. Learn it, whether it's useful or not. Learn a language, learn sign language, learn about ancient Rome, learn about rocks, learn a new hobby, learn something! Pursue knowledge and never let yourself be sated by it.

• Nothing happens for a reason.
  We are an infinite number of pieces in a puzzle we could never hope to understand and that we will never see completed. Half of luck is hard work, but the other half is meaningless threads still being woven into something that will, for all time, elude us. That's ok.

As good as 2025 was, I won't mind saying goodbye and welcoming the new year. Here's to writing more than 2 posts in 2026.

Thanks for reading! & as always, happy coding!