A lot of people on social media couldn’t wait for 2016 to be over because, they believed, 2016 encompassed more than the usual number of unfortunate events for one year.
I haven’t checked but I’m pretty sure 2016 wasn’t worse than any other year. Of course, last year there were a couple of pretty impactful events. The UK’s decision to leave the European Union (Brexit) and the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America (Endpire1) are, no doubt, going to have lasting consequences.
However, for me, 2016 was one of the best years of my life and it flew by so fast, I can hardly believe it. The biggest highlight of course being that in 2016, Andrea and I got married.
Here’s a quick recap with links to a few of the blog posts I made last year:
- Teaching in Brocket for Alberta Works — I loved that job and feel a real connection with my students
- Presented at SWATCA — my first time presenting at a conference, was very happy with the glowing reviews.
- Sascha — after a long and happy life, sadly, Saschi had to be euthanized.
- Hutterite Colony — rounding out my Southern Alberta teaching experience, my time on the colony won’t soon be forgotten. I felt a great connection with the kids and the rest of families there. They treated me both as family and as an important part of their community. I felt bad leaving them for…
- Teaching New Media in Taber at W.R. Myers — Even though I was hired to continue next year (temporary) at the colony, my dream-job (probationary turning to permanent) came up and I had to take it.
- Drone Fair — attending the first Drone Fair in Calgary with my brother was a chance for us feel more like we did when we were kids. I loved hanging out and chatting while learning about remote controlled aircraft. It was a super fun weekend and he even came home with a new drone.
- As a summer job, I was thinking about door-to-door sales for the home security/home automation company, Vivint. I did a bit of training with them and though excited about the product and the opportunity, in the end some cultural differences gave me second thoughts.
- Summer in Waskesiu (Prince Albert National Park) — great time on the lake but I only caught one fish all summer.
- Our riverside wedding — Nestled in next to the gorgeous South Saskatchewan River, we said our vows and got married in front of friends and family.
- Started my new job at Myers — teaching New Media, Finance, Animation, Computer Science, and CALM. I feel so lucky my teaching career is finally taking off.
- New Teacher Conference — travelled to Calgary for some professional development. First time travelling for work.
- Adobe Education Exchange Classes – honoured to be recognized for my artwork
- Visiting family in Medicine Hat and Saskatoon for the holidays
Here’s hoping 2017 will bring many more great memories (and more blog posts).
1. As far as I know, I just coined the term “endpire” — meaning the end of an empire. Hopefully it catches on.