2019 Yearly Roundup

I’ve been stuck at home isolating due to the pandemic, so I had time to finish this post.

2019 was a good year for me.

I grew a beard.
I started dating a cutie named John. 💜
I got hired at Granular, a company that makes software for farmers.

Selfie with my boyfriend John and myself in a sunny park.

Winter

It was a mild winter. I played lots of board games. For my birthday we played VR at my friend Derik’s house. I’m tempted to get a VR setup myself, especially now that socializing is in distant mode.

My parent's house at night with lots of Christmas lights — Wingspan was a big hit

A table with the boardgame Wingspan laid out. Lots of bird cards — Wingspan was a big hit

Spring

My boyfriend lives in Chicago so I’ve been visiting Chicago a lot and he’s been visiting me. I also got to visit John’s hometown in Missouri, and his old high school in St. Louis.

John, I, and an easter bunny manakin at a fabric store

Summer

I went camping with friends in Turkey Run, Indiana. One of the best camping and hiking spots around here.

Emma fixes a van issue while my brother serenades us on the Melodica

My family vacation was in Oregon: with extra hiking and extra Portland.

Portlan! It's a river and the sun is setting

I'm holding a Voodoo Donut. It's mago flavored

Powell's City of books. Except it's a picture of the board game section

Fall

I saw heat lightning for the very first time while visiting my BF’s family in Wisconsin.
My grandparents visited in August!
Thanksgiving was a gigantic gathering of friends and family, as tradition.
GenCon was the best 4 days in gaming, as tradition.

Selfie at a sushi dinner with my grandparents

The sweet corn festival. The sign says "Corn is Cash Only"

Fall trees and some Pokemon from Pokemon Go

Panama

My brothers and I traveled to Panama over Winter break! We hiked, scuba dived, and ate ceviche. I’ll be reminiscing about the trip for years to come.

Beautiful greenery alongside the mountain. A Blue flower in the foreground.

Sweedler brothers in front of the Panama City skyline

Island Paradise vibes. Palm tress and ocean.

Looking Back on 2019

I am settling into the Midwest pace of life. I didn’t reach all of my goals but I didn’t worry about it either.

Run a 10K in under an hour. I did run a 10k but was a couple minutes off.
Read 15 books.
Redesign this blog. I had a lot of fun doing this.
Record music and post it online. I still have this goal. My band had a lot of gigs but we haven’t recorded yet.
Get an adjustable standing desk for work. I got one at home too!
Sleep more.
Contribute more open source code.

Looking Forward to 2020

The only goal I am setting this year was to use Duolingo every day. I want to relearn the German that I learned in high school. Already 100 days into that goal and it’s going well.

My new job at Granular is going well too, but everything else in 2020 feels like a shitshow. I lost a close friend this March, and there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world with this pandemic. I’m hoping life gets simpler soon.

Final Thoughts

I’m 30 now and I am indeed feeling like an adult. Not sure when that happened but here we are. I’m doing well and feeling grateful for it. Hope you are as well. Stay safe my friends.