As it were…

Just over a year ago I was sitting at The Great Wolf Lodge wondering what I was going to do with my career.  Not long after I accepted a position with X-Team.  As I type this I’m once again sitting at the Great Wolf Lodge, looking back at an amazing year.

During this past year I was heroized by X-Team, helped release some amazing sites, attended four WordCamps (so far), visited Toronto to present a project to a client, and learned more than in the previous 5 years combined.

It’s been amazing, exhilarating, and at times hard and sad.

I lost my dad while at WordCamp Austin.  My team mates that were with me were really great and supportive, and my family back home were wonderful as well.

Speaking of family, it was a year of ups and downs for them.  On the one hand, I have a solid job that lets me work from home to be near them.  On the other hand, they stayed home on most of those great trips I took.  It’s not easy to stay home and keep doing the same ol’ stuff when one of the family gets to travel and play.

I’m working to help them have a great time as well, with their own things.  Additionally though, they’re starting to get more involved in what I do.  We all went to WordCamp Chicago as attendees, as well as WordCamp Grand Rapids.  My wife’s being incredibly supportive, and my kids are trying to decide if they want a career in web development in some way.

I’m excited about the future; about what my job will hold, about where our family is headed, and how things will change.

I need to say thanks to some people.  I wouldn’t be here without them.

Thanks to my wife for being supportive.  For arranging her days around my work schedule, and my need for quiet during meetings.  For giving up weekends and sometimes weeks with me, and parenting alone while I do something I love.  For being amazing in general.

Thanks to my kids for inspiring me.  For being interested in growing and learning.  For creating and being passionate about the things in their lives.

Thanks to Weston Ruter for having enough faith and confidence in me as a person to hire me.  It was a bold move, and I hope to make it pay off for him.

Thanks to Jonathan Bardo who answered SO MANY of my questions in my first couple weeks with the company.

Thanks to Akeda Bagus ALSO for answering so many questions, and being so patient with me.  These two guys really taught me how to work as an X-Teamer. /five!

Thanks to Chris Olbekson for showing me how he built so many cool things (I’m looking at the curation tool for the Grammys).  He showed me things I had never even conceived.

Thanks for Frankie Jarrett for helping me think about HOW things should be done, and ALSO putting up with a zillion questions.

Thanks to Dzikri Aziz for so much.  For long conversations about life, the universe, and everything.  For jumping in on projects and OWNING them.  For being a great friend.

Thanks to John Regan.  In many ways I wouldn’t be here at all if he hadn’t taken the time to look at my plugin and make a recommendation.  This whole thing is his fault.  😉  Thanks for sharing so much of himself, his goals, his fears, and his past.

Thanks to Tine Haugen for leading so well.  For putting up with my quirks and needs and being firm when I needed it.

Thanks to Damian Samolej to being such an amazing partner in what we do.  A solid rock I can depend on every single time.

Thanks to Angela Sethi for having so much faith in me.  It’s scary sometimes, but it made me step up and be the hero she made me out to be.

Thanks for Mike Crantea for being the ninja in the dark, coming out to magically solve things when I was stuck.

Thanks to Shady Sharaf for always being willing to answer questions, even at weird times of the day or night.

And lastly, thanks to Dave Rosen for making it all possible, as well as being a wonderful cheerleader.

Truly, I would not be the person and coder that I am today without every single one of these people.

I can’t even begin to imagine where I’ll be a year from now in my professional life.  I know I’ll be with my first team, my family.  I hope I’ll still be with my second family, XWP.