Year in Review

Well, we've survived another year. A feat I honestly wasn't so sure about when we started off this year. I feel a sense of accomplishment which I know probably sounds a little silly since I'm not the one getting my MBA or playing hockey. But for me, it was an accomplishment to stand on my own two feet.

Frankly, I'm used to having Scott around to help with everything and I like that sense of comfort, especially living in a new place. I don't like navigating through a new city on my own. Since we started this adventure of living abroad, I've come to depend on him for so many things, to find directions to get us to here or there, figure out how to get gas in the car, tell me about the street signs and what they mean, and so much more. This year, he just didn't have the time so I had to learn to do things on my own. And I did. And that is my accomplishment.

I asked the hubs to share his accomplishments too. Here is his year in review:

It has been a very interesting year in Wales. Things had changed dramatically already with the addition of little Reese, with less sleeping in and lounging around, but with the addition of school (The Cardiff MBA), my life couldn’t be farther from relaxing!

For the majority of the year, darkness set in as I stared out of the window of S21 or some other dusty room in the Aberconway building, wondering why exactly I accepted the offer to try to complete the MBA while playing professional hockey, being a husband and helping to raise a little princess. There were some stressful days, that’s for sure, at least until first semester exam results came in and all (most) was forgotten as I exceeded my expectations and placed within the top 2% of the class. As exam week (winter semester) commences tomorrow, I can only hope for the same clarity that I had last time. A little less studying, a little less worrying, a little more enjoying the weather might not help the grades but it sure helps everything else!

Rain drops have changed to rays of sunshine with beautiful weather into the 70’s this past week and envy of the guys starting to dust the golf clubs off for another season is setting in. It’ll be my turn soon enough. The MBA has been an incredible experience so far and I look forward to applying the knowledge somewhere in the business world, someday.

As for hockey, a slow start to the season left everyone with the feeling it might be one of those years, instead it turned into a different kind of ‘one of those years’. As in, one of those record-breaking kind of years. We won 22 games in a row during a stretch from late October until early January and were mentioned as a possible world record holder for most consecutive victories by a professional hockey team.

With 3 trophies (Challenge Cup, Regular Season, Playoff Champion) up for grabs, we were in the mix to win all 3 but unfortunately lost the regular season based on regulation wins and 5-4 in the Playoff final. It ended up being a great year with a sour tasting ending I guess. Personally, I had one of my best years statistically, accumulating 97 points in 62 games. That was good enough for 2nd in the league points race, behind only my linemate, Jon Pelle.

I faced some new challenges this year and through it all I think I’ve become a better person, husband and hopefully daddy! I know Reese hasn’t seen her daddy as much this year, but I hope one day all this hard work will be rewarded. There were some speed bumps, but I know I’ll look back on this year fondly. Thanks Cardiff!


We will both take our accomplishments and lessons learned with us as we continue on in our adventures of this crazy life. More to come on where that will take us soon!