2014 - Year in Review

Each year, I like to look back and see what I've acccomplished (or NOT accomplished). 2014 had some surprises, but I'm glad I made it through. Here are some of the highlights, if you're interested.

• I saw Diamond Dallas Page high-five Kobayashi at the Zombie Pub Crawl in Minneapolis
• Hosted the 2014 Scotch Pong World Championships - yes, beer pong, but with scotch!
• Ran my first actual 10K race!
• Went to fun cities to watch D.Rough play roller derby and to scream at the top of my lungs - Atlanta, Nashville, Milwaukee, Sacramento
• Went to The Bahamas with D.Rough to celebrate our birthdays, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, Presidents Day, and any other holiday we could throw in the mix!

• Took off two weeks from work around the holidays 
• Won Best In Show at Weetacon (the most fun conference I've ever been to) for the second year in a row
• Had Christmas with my in-laws' family on Christmas Eve
• Then, turned around and hosted 14 members of my Illinois family for Christmas Day for four days - complete with renting an entire bowling alley, going sledding, and doing karaoke in the basement!

• Finally made the annual canoe trip on the Mequoketa River!
• Made the annual July Birthdays Tubing Trip on the Cannon River
• Went to my first Premier League football match in London - West Ham vs. Aston Villa
• Hosted Terrible Shark Movie Marathon at my house featuring 12 hours of awful shark B-movies
• Went to Key West with D.Rough just for the heck of it - and I got to be shirtless most of the time!
• Got to take a work trip to our London office and catch up with old friends while there
• Hosted a number of Bad Movie Night themes - Peter Jackson/New Zealand, WTF, Metal, Holiday, and others
• Put multiple Chao-related ads in the Minnesota RollerGirls programs - I'm a sponsor!
• Watched a ton of World Cup Soccer action
• Got back on the disc golf tournament train and played in 5 tournaments to get enough points to qualify for the Amateur World Championships in 2015
• Drank a lot of wine at monthly New Vintage wine tastings all over the Twin Cities, and an occasional home-made wine tastings
• Played in my Wednesday night Uptown Kickball League
• Went to the Minnesota RollerGirl Surly Punch Pass Party and got schooled at bags/cornhole by "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Cornhole"
• Did serious damage (mainly to my intestines) at the Minnesota State Fair, after taking 2013 off
• Went to F1rst Wrestling's Wrestlepalooza semi-pro wrestling at First Avenue - so much fun
• Went to a number of Minneapolis Scotch Society Scotch Tastings to drink Scotch I can't afford
• Went to a bunch of restaurants for our Poutine Crawl Club I'm in
• Saw multiple Jesus movies - Noah, God Isn't Dead, Left Behind, Matter of Faith, Persecuted, Exodus, Revelation Road 1, 2, and 3, Rumors of Wars, Dark Dungeons, and Son of God (aka The Sexy Jesus Movie)
• Went to my in-laws' family cabin with my sister and brother-in-law and had an amazing weekend full of fishing, campfires, and Cards Against Humanity

• Got to shock the hell out of people by announcing that Coach got married in Scotland WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE
• Turned some new people onto duckpin bowling at Koz's MiniBowl in Milwaukee
• Ran the 5th Annual .10K Triathlon
• Got shown amazing disc golf hospitality by Wes and Meagan in Des Moines - my own bed, trail mix, and breakfast burritos!!!
• Grew some pretty abnormal facial hair styles
• Got to check out the brand new Surly Brewing Company Taphouse and Banquet Facility - it's beautiful AND has amazing food and beer
• Went to my first Silver-Tie Event!

• Took some new people to the Christian Home School Science Fair
• Went to the 2nd Annual Jam Out With Your Clam Out burlesque show
• Saw Manowar live in concert and paid a crap ton of money for it - worth it!
• Went to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra with D.Rough
• Went to the best Superbowl Party in the Twin Cities with my kickball people
• Did my first official cooking class with my work team...and nailed it
• Made ceviche and then watched Earnest Scared Stupid and The FP with Juke Boxx and Ballistic Whistle in London

Some not-so-awesome things happened in 2014, as well. I like to list these as a reminder of what to look out for in 2014...

• I had to miss jumping in a frozen lake for Special Olympics since D.Rough and I were in The Bahamas - you feel bad for us don't you?
• Mistakenly forgot to acknowledge a very close friend's birthday and got called out on it - deservedly
• Basement carpet water damage and electrical issues with the kitchen lights
• Missed Sugar Beet Down and Swedish Meat Brawl's wedding
• Was in London when my mother-in-law fell down the stairs and got a compound fracture - awful!
• Missed this year's Big Gay Race
• Missed the MCAD art sale that we usually go to with D.Rough, Delta Force Commander, and Fire Retarded

Each year, I have a theme for the entire year. 2014 was the Year of Jesus Movies for me - I went as saw as many Christian-slanted movies as I possibly could. I really should have seen more than just the 12 I saw, but they pulled the ridiculous Kirk Cameron Christmas film after two weeks, because it was so horrible. I have to thank A-Wow for sitting through many of these with me (and pre-gaming copiously with me) - you're an inspiration. I still haven't really picked a theme for 2015, but I'm sure it will unfold itself in due time, as these things generally do.

I'm coming for you, 2015! Better be ready...