I don’t blog as much as I used to, or as much as I’d like to, but recording my highlights from the previous year is a tradition I don’t want to lose.

The year began with a trip to Edinburgh with my wife and daughter, where we spent a few days exploring the city. Thanks to Robbie Manson for being such a great tour guide. When our time there was up, I took my family to the airport to say goodbye, then met Robbie at the train station to begin our journey to Nottingham for the last New Adventures.

Severe back pain kept me in my hotel room the day we arrived, but Jon Tan helped me find a cream that numbed the pain, so I luckily made it to the conference the next day, just in time to catch Tyler’s talk.

The week after the conference, we had our first Fictive Kin retreat of the year at a holiday barn.

In May, my son Killian was born. This eclipsed everything else, and not just because the sleep deprivation makes it hard to remember anything else. :-) I love my family more than anything, and that drives me to be better.

July was another Fictive Kin retreat. We all met up in Montreal, where Sean and Joël played hosts, and they did an incredible job as usual.

October was our fourth Brooklyn Beta, and we had a big surprise. In addition to the usual conference for 300 people, we hosted 1,500 people on Friday in an amazing (but very expensive) venue called the Duggal Greenhouse. It felt great to be so inclusive this year, and I was blown away with how many super friendly people there are in our community. Warm fuzzies aside, we had more hiccups than in previous years, but that wasn’t really a surprise. We’re eager to get it right this October.

In November, our family of four took a trip to Boulder and had a great time. We’re strongly considering relocating there for a number of reasons I’m sure I’ll write about eventually.

The years never seem to get easier, but I’m excited to see what 2014 has in store. I hope you have a great year!