2025 Year in Review

We had more adventures in 2025 than ever before. The big highlight was our 3-week epic trip to Japan in October, but there were also trips to the Sunshine Coast, Portland, Colorado, Victoria, and Gabriola Island. Now that Astrid has shown she can thrive in a foreign country, we’re looking forward to exploring more of the world together.

At home, things are going well. Our desire to travel is not because we’re trying to get away. We love the community we live in and all the opportunities we have in Vancouver.

I’m still working at Uplight, but my job was pretty chaotic last year. Following layoffs at the end of 2024, we went through reorgs where I bounced between teams and multiple managers. I’m getting burnt out not from overwork but from disillusionment. My goal for 2026 is to find a new job, so if you know of any companies with a social purpose that are hiring software engineers, let me know.

Outside of work, I had a very active year that was happily free of any injuries. I ran my 2nd full marathon in May (the training was enjoyable but the race was gruelling, especially the last 10 km), we had our first successful bikepacking trip in July (can’t wait to do another one), and I spent a week hiking the West Coast Trail in August with some fellow geek dads (what an amazing experience).

Emily is still working at HUB Cycling doing her part to make sustainable transportation options easier for people in BC. She’s also been volunteering at Astrid’s school on the active travel committee. They run a program to reduce car traffic and encourage walking and biking. She also got more into embroidery this year but struggles to finish all the projects she starts.

Astrid continues to grow and mature. Her super powers continue to be her positive attitude, strong empathy for others, a zest for adventure, and adaptability. She has a busy schedule but refuses to drop anything. Right now she’s playing a lot of ringette and loves being goalie; on the weekend she has a 3-hour musical theatre class with singing, dancing, and acting lessons; and when the weather cooperates we go skiing together. She’s also doing extra tutoring twice a week to help with her dyslexia and we’ve noticed steady improvements in her reading.

I’m immensely proud of her. Things don’t always come easy for her, but she approaches challenges with a great attitude and is usually willing to put in the work to get better. Not that she doesn’t have her struggles, especially with longer writing exercises. She has a really good teacher this year who is pushing her academically. Now that she’s in grade 4 she has regular homework and weekly math and spelling tests.

I love the age Astrid is at now. She’s old enough to do stuff with the adults but not a moody teenager yet. We like watching Spy X Family together and playing video games (just finished Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and started Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope). She’s always keen to play board games and kicked my butt the last two games of 7 Wonders Duel we played.