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A Review of 2017

As I write this blog entry, Christmas week is coming to an end and we are preparing for New Years eve. I can't believe 2018 is here and knowing that 2020 is a few years away does not make it any less amazing that we have been blessed to see so many blessings. I traditionally have been making newsletters that I send out electronically to friends and family but since it seems I have missed sending these out in the last Christmas then perhaps it's easier to just list them out on my blog and forward that on.

Health
The beginning of the year I signed up for the Peninsula Runners 8km Resolution run and this set me up for the rest of the year with other races. I did the UBC Triathlon Sprint in March, Vancouver Sun Run in April, Scotia Half Marathon in June, and Turkey Trot 10Km in October. I have added weight training to my routine at the gym using programs like Strong Lifts 5x5 and Wendler Log 5/3/1. The most telling results from all my workout is the great results from my Q1 blood work. Happy to say I was able to improve by a few points in the right direction and hope to continue with that momentum in 2018.

We stopped with soccer games for my daughter in 2017 but continued with it for my son. Not sure we will continue going forward as I don't enjoy the early morning weekend games. The kids continue to excel at swimming lessons weekly and ballet twice a week is more than sufficient in terms of exercise I would think.

Education
I took a break from BCIT courses this year but I did manage to attend one technology conference at Orlando, Florida. I also finished one certification in TOGAF enterprise architecture. 

Work
The second year at work with Sunlife at the helm is going steady but wish 2018 would reveal a little bit more of the roadmap in the years to come. The road is bumpy and am confident that next year will prove to be a turning point for most people at the company. I am also seriously considering revitalizing the aminsolutions.com brand and blog with more frequent posts and hopefully start it back up with help from my brothers.

Faith
We were more active this year with attending church masses and even got to listen to Father Augustine's homily on Christmas day. We only found the advent candles the third week of December so the kids didn't quite get into the 'preparation' mentality closer to Christmas. Next year we will make sure the tradition continues to shine brightly. I enjoy attending the morning masses during the Christmas holiday season but throughout the year it is a little more difficult with one car and my wife working on weekends. Nevertheless, we attended many of the holiday masses with my extended family and in the new year we will look for creative ways of attending the morning masses.

Family
We were reunited with my in-laws from Ontario for two weeks which was great. We went to see the Niagara Falls, went on a speed boat tour, biked my longest bike ride ever with my nephew, and got to spend precious time with family we haven't seen in ages. My other nephew from Toronto also found a job in Vancouver and is now staying with us. Christmas eve dinner was at house this year and New Years eve at my other in-laws at Cloverdale. No major life-changing events this year but if I can improve on the year, it is to spend more time together with my siblings getting closer to one another and burying any grudges if any.  This and revitalizing any and all relationships with friends near and far would have been a good area to improve on.

That's a recap for now. Thanks for reading.

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