A Year in Review / Going into 2023...

Hey gang! Welcome back to the latest iteration of “What’s going on inside Azure’s head?” On today’s episode, it’s getting awfully close to the end of the year. That means we’ve got one important thing to talk about: The annual new year’s post!

Real talk though, this is a small tradition that I would like to keep going into the foreseeable future. I think looking back at what happened to each of us every year is a good thing. Don’t think of it as an invitation for melancholy or regret, but instead a retrospection with pride and happiness. It allows each of us to see what aspects of us have changed and how we grew as people over the past 12 months.

Through its ups and downs, a lot happened this year regarding this site and some of my other hobbies. Here are some of the bullet points:

• Homelabbing became a more serious hobby this year! I redid the entire lab to focus more on containerization, Docker & Kubernetes. I also did a few infrastructure upgrades to the cluster's persistent storage, and learned a lot about VPNs along the way!
• We migrated to Ghost! This CMS has really been a lifesaver and a really cool piece of tech to mess with over the past few months, I’m super glad we made the swap.
• I gave a talk about said migration at one of the FSU Innovation Hub’s Seminole Innovator lunches! That talk will be uploaded soon, I promise.
• I became a niche internet micro-celebrity with my Botched Daybreak Update post consistently being the most viewed page on this site. Shoutout to whoever posted it on Reddit!

In last year’s post, I made a point to set a few long-term goals for myself that I could achieve over the course of this past year. As December 31^st is now here, it’s time for the annual check-up! Let’s see how I did.

I’d like to be there for my family more often, especially as health spreads us more thin.

My bond with my family is stronger than ever, with all of us powering through this past year together. We really came together in June to support each other through the loss of my grandfather, which is something I’m very proud of. (Inb4 the sympathy starts, I don’t need it. I suggest the condolences be turned into activism against the elder care system that ended up being the final nail in his coffin.)

Now that we’re past it, we’ve started traveling together more frequently and we’re more open to helping each other whenever we need it. Overall, I think my entire family put in a lot of work this year, and it’s a reason to look back with pride and celebrate.

I’d like to be a better partner to my girlfriend Bentley, even better than I am today.

I’d like to say that I’ve achieved this goal as well. We’ve started going out more since Covid has started letting up, and we’re seemingly always busy now, having a good time together. We actually just got back from a camping trip in Florida a few days ago where we had a blast and got to test out a bunch of gear we bought from REI the day before. I’d say there’s always room for improvement in relationships, but we’re doing pretty damn good right now.

I’d like to strive for success in my academics over the next year.

We’re still rocking a >3.5 GPA with only one semester to go, baby! Physics II and SPD Python both kicked my ass this past year, but we persevered! My final semester’s main class is Software Engineering, the class that teaches you about Git, Teamwork, and DevOps, all stuff I was trained in as a senior in high school while interning here. Feeling pretty good.

Lastly, I’d like to meet more friends who think and act as I do, while bettering bonds with my existing friends.

My new roommates are stellar and have really opened up a world of opportunities for both me and Bentley. They’ve really allowed me to broaden my horizons when it comes to hobbies and interests. For example: I’m really into college football and mixology now! Casey and Simon, if you’re reading this, you guys rock. Here’s to the next year with you two!

All in all, big thumbs up! But now it’s time to determine what’s on the agenda for next year. First, my goals:

Most importantly, I want to keep cultivating my relationship with my long-term partner, Bentley. I’d also like to graduate from FSU and land a respectable job, where I’m both happy and able to provide for my friends/family. I’d like to continue my friendships with the people I met this year, and maybe make a few more along the way. Lastly, I’d like to keep picking up new hobbies and developing myself professionally, starting with the continuation of this website and the homelab.

I’ll once again take the opportunity to encourage you, the reader, to also set out a few goals for you to meet this year. No, I’m not talking about a new year’s resolution that’ll probably fall to the wayside after a week or two. I’m talking about a few tangible long-term goals that you can write down somewhere, like in a notebook— or in my case, a blog— and check back at year’s end to see how you did. Having these goals may not seem like a lot, but it’s good to look back upon as the year goes on.

As for the website, who knows what comes next! I plan on continuing to write here well through the foreseeable future, but I've also entertained the idea of generalizing my platform and maybe allowing some other close friends to write on here as well. I'm still thinking about whether or not it's a good idea, so don't count on it happening soon. Either way, some pretty substantial infrastructure updates take priority on the agenda.

Last year when I wrote this post, you could sense that I was anxious, yet steadfast as I spoke. Surely enough, this past year ended up being pretty hard on me. But regardless, we’re here now. I don’t want to be mopey this year, I’m looking into 2023 standing tall and ready for whatever happens. So crack open the champagne, we’re celebrating!

Happy new year’s, everyone. Let's make 2023 a good one.

- Andrew