Goal Review for 32

Introduction

"October marks the new year for me. Specifically, my birthday on Oct. 8. Seasonally speaking, it has made sense for me to do my goal evaluation and creation around my birthday. As the temperature drops, sky changes, and trees shed leaves, it's an easy time for me to construct new goals for myself. It's also an important time to take stock of the last year, and how I achieved, or went about achieving those goals."

First, I'll go through each goal, describing what the goal was all about, how it went, and if I feel like I achieved it this year. Then, I may mention some notable things from the year or updates on previous goals.

Purple Belt

This was the year I needed to get my purple belt in BJJ. I've been a blue belt for a few years now, and it was time to commit to training. With the possibility of a growing family in the next year, I could imagine not having time in 2026 to make it to the gym, and it would be a disappointment to remain a blue belt for a couple more years.

The first few months of training went well, but I seemed to hit a series of setbacks at the beginning of the year.

Setbacks

First, I sprained my LCL in January. While rolling at the gym, I went to get up, but my foot was partially caught under the other person's. I felt my knee "go out" then pop back in. I was pretty scared. My sister is a PT, so after an assessment, she determined it was just a sprain and I'd be alright, eventually.

Second, my back was hurt again. It seems every year in the spring, my back starts to really give me trouble. It may be due to the yardwork, but it is still up for debate. Thankfully, I've had back problems in previous years, so I was able to rest, work on mobility, and do some strength training to save it from being too serious.

Third, for the first time in all my years of training, I got ringworm. I didn't know what it was at first, but it soon took hold of my wrist and became a problem. The cream didn't help, and I ended up getting a prescription to help it go away. The ringworm took me out for a couple of weeks.

Each time, I was able to get back in the gym and keep training. This was a busy year, as many are, so I didn't train all the time but tried to keep it to 2-3 times a week.

Overtime Win

Unfortunately, the year came and went. I turned 32, and if I were more on top of writing my goals post, this would have been a missed goal. Conversely, I've been busy and I didn't get around to writing this post until November.

On October 17, during a no-gi Friday class, I was given my purple belt. It was an awesome day, and to say I didn't get a little emotional driving home would be a lie.

A few weeks later, I walked the gauntlet, and my wife and I attended a Halloween party with the team. I'm grateful to be a part of such a great gym and to continue training.

Plant Honey Locust

I'm surprised how high I put this goal on my list. I love working in the backyard and have been planting trees or doing landscaping for the last few summers. Likewise, for a few years now, I've been eyeing honey locusts for their filtered shade.

The middle of our yard tends to dry up and struggle in the summer. I wanted to provide relief, but I also wanted more shade in the middle of the yard so we can spend more time out on the grass when it's hot.

We had a lot going on in the spring, so I got an early start on the project. I found starter honey locusts down at Gibson's Nursery. I wanted to make sure I got the 'Sunburst' cultivar, which doesn't have thorns, pods and turns a brighter shade of green and yellow.

Getting anxious in March, I purchased one and got it in the ground. It seemed to do fine, but I'm always nervous with the young trees. After two good years, my gorgeous Emperor Japanese Maple didn't make it, which was surprising because it had done so well the year before. Only time will tell. At least for this summer, I enjoyed seeing my greenish-yellow honey locust in the yard.

Write Backpacking Posts

Last year, I completed the goal of going on a backpacking trip longer than two nights when I went on a six-night trip around the Wonderland's west and north sides.

I like writing longer posts about backpacking trips, but they're typically about trips that only last a few days. Additionally, I went on a trip to Lake Stuart in the Enchantments and wanted to write about that. Consequently, I had a lot of writing to do. Eventually, during the colder months, I started chipping away at the six-night trip.

It was fun to relive each day and see the pictures again. After knocking off the Wonderland trip posts, I began the post for the shorter Lake Stuart trip.

Backpacking at Lake Stuart in the Enchantments

The Lake Stuart backpacking trip was one of my favorite trips. I didn't quite realize it till I started recounting it from start to finish. Thankfully, I had time to write a lot during the fall and winter and completed this goal.

Finish Reading Stats Book

I have a thick college textbook from my time at EWU covering statistics. I've held on to it for a long time. Sometime, almost two years ago, I guess, I started working through it.

I was reading the chapters and doing some of the problems at the end of each chapter. After getting into it, I resolved to finish it because I wanted to have a solid base of knowledge for doing the next goal on the list, Enchantments Data Logistic Regression.

It was a new lens to see the world. I did a casual study to test whether cars were speeding past my house and published the analysis on Github:

...From the very beginning, I wanted to test the claim that cars average more than 35 MPH driving by my house despite the speed limit being 30 MPH...

...We would need to observe a p-value less than 0.05 to reject the null hypothesis. Unfortunately for us, the p-value is huge: 0.9958. This observed p-value would cause us to once again fail to reject the null hypothesis...

...Despite what our eyes tell us, we don't have a consistent speeding problem on our street...

Maybe this year I'll do the follow-up study because the traffic calming construction they approved up the street is complete. Looking back now, it's amazing how much of that knowledge seems to have left me. However, I still have a thick stack of note cards from the book. Anyway, I got through the book and started on completing the next goal.

Enchantments Data Logistic Regression

I've been pretty into The Enchantments Lottery statistics over the last couple of years. The Enchantment's Lottery statistics are published by the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. They show the anonymized application data for people applying for backpacking permits in The Enchantments. The relevance of the data and availability have appealed to me, especially because I apply for the lottery almost every year.

I wanted to build a logistic regression model to test how well different applications do. Wow, I got pretty into that and ended up writing a lot of posts on the Enchantment's data. My favorite post, which covered the logistic regression models, is Statistics Based Strategies for Winning the Enchantments Lottery.

Similarly, I wrote another post I'm proud of, Understanding the Enchantments Lottery in 2025, that sums up the entire effort, including recommendations based on our trip to Lake Stuart in 2024.

Home Video Process

The task of going video to video can be so daunting. We take so many pictures and videos. I wanted a way to, hopefully, build home videos, stuck on our phones or in the cloud, more quickly.

I ended up writing a command-line tool, which isn't the most intuitive, to pull videos out of my Photos app given an album name, time range, size constraint, etc. It's mostly a wrapper around a common Python library, but I've managed to make it work.

It's certainly a faster process, but it's still not without its flaws. A change to the workflow may include better video editing software.

Create Road Trip Book

I have a lot of pictures from the six-week road trip I took back in 2016, and I also have a short blog post. However, tucked away in a filing cabinet was the journal I kept every day during the trip. After seeing the journal one day, I had the thought to make the text and trip details more accessible.

I create a lot of photo books. Some of the books have a lot a text, some have none. Using the photo book software, I realized I could create a book with a lot of text and some pictures. Putting two-and-two together to create a book, I pulled select passages from each day of the trip and provided some color with pictures.

The result was a smaller photo book, going day to day across the country and back. The text is small, but it's easily one of my favorite books.

Fix Car Scratches

Last year, I tried closing the hatch on my Subaru with my foot and put a huge dent in it that chipped the paint. It was frustrating, but I knew it could be fixed.

Despite knowing it could be fixed, it was hard for me to get around to fixing it. Therefore, I put it on my goals list. Thankfully, Subaru touch-up paint tools are fairly easy to find. Once I located the right paint color using the tool was pretty easy.

If you look closely, it's easy to see the repair job, but in general, it's not that noticeable, which was the goal.

Start Backend Development Certificate or Program

The one goal on my list I didn't complete was starting a backend development certificate or program. I felt stuck in my current role and thought this would be the next step in my career. I explored different options, but before I committed to anything, my job changed in April.

The job switch was enough to facilitate the change I was hoping for or looking to make. I no longer felt the way I did and struck this goal from the list as I no longer wanted to complete it.

Notables

There were many other things that I decided I needed to get done this year. Some were goals, some were projects that I concluded I wouldn't have time for next year, so I wouldn't get them done this year.

No Drinking Jan. - Feb.

A yearly goal now, I go a few months without alcohol. I actually didn't drink until March. It wasn't until my parents visited that I fell off the wagon and had a beer.

Wonderland South Side Backpack

I've backpacked the west side of the Wonderland once, the north side twice, the east side twice, but I've never backpacked the south side. This summer, on the only backpacking trip I went on this year, I completed a one-night trip with my mom and uncle on the Wonderland's south side.

Snow Lake and the Wonderland's South Side

I haven't done every mile of the Wonderland, but I have, more or less, done trips around each of the four sides.

Plant Japanese Velkova

Similar to my desire for a honey locust, I identified a Japanese Zelkova as a tree to expand the shade coverage in the backyard. I went around to a few nurseries but only found one that carried the tree.

After a couple of months of looking around, I went and picked up the 3-4 year-old tree and got it in the ground.

I really hope it makes it. It's a big part of my dreams of having naturally provided shade on the patio.

Steps to Hose

My wife mentioned how dangerous it felt for her to get from the back door to the hose to water her flowers when she was pregnant a few years ago. I, too, wanted to put steps leading from the patio to the hose because I eventually want to rebuild the rock wall around the base of the rise on which the patio sits.

I had some spare time before I transitioned jobs and used it to source rocks, dig, and build steps in the backyard.

The steps turned out great. Previously, it was a common avenue for getting up to the back door before the steps were built, but now it's a truly well-traveled route with proper steps.

Patio Split Rail Fence

Seeing how next year, with a growing family, the yard projects will be non-existent, or hard to fit in, I wanted to get as many done this year as I could. I got the zelkova in the ground, built the steps, planted the honey locust, but there was one more project.

Our patio drops off into the rose garden on one side, and I've had the thought for a while to put a railing or fence around the patio to keep children, or adults, from toppling off the edges. We settled on a split rail, and I spent a very difficult weekend digging the holes and setting the rails in the ground.

One of the biggest problems, besides digging the post holes and hitting every basalt boulder on the way down, was sourcing the split rail posts. Many large hardware stores didn't have any stock. I had to drive into Idaho to find split rail posts sold as part of a kit.

I think the split rail ties the patio together nicely. I'm glad I was able to get it done this summer.

Windows & Siding

We contracted to have our siding and windows redone in the spring. Part of the deal was that they'll do the windows on the outside, but they don't do the trim on the inside. Subsequently, I had another project on my hands, one that is still ongoing. Anyway, I cut, built, and got the window casings placed on the inside. I've only recently finished the caulking and trim.

There's still work to do on the windows, but the majority of the casings are all done. This was a bit of an unplanned project, but it's one of the first I've done with the miter saw. The casings turned out well, and the new windows and siding look great—on the inside and outside!

Camping

In previous years, I've had goals related to camping with the family. Camping has been something I've done with my family my whole life, and I hope it continues. However, when I tell people I like to camp, they are surprised that I have never been to Priest Lake in Idaho.

Now, after this summer, I can say I have camped a Priest Lake. We were able to book a few spots at Indian Creek on the east side of the lake.

Priest Lake is a large higher-elevation lake. Its water is clear and cold. It has sandy beaches and a ton of different camping options, which are quite popular. No doubt we'll camp here again in the future.

Trips

Aside from the busy year with projects and work, we still had time for a few trips. We made it to San Diego in the spring:

Spent some time on Lake Coeur d'Alene in the summer:

And took a shoulder season day trip to Palouse Falls in southeastern Washington:

It's surprising every time I write these posts what we're able to fit into a year. There were also trips to the westside and lots of fun in between all the bigger events.

Conclusion

Half of the things felt like they occurred much longer than a year ago. Next year should be a lot different. I don't know what goals or how many will make the list. There are other priorities, day-to-day things, which will be more important than other personal achievements.

I've got a few things on the list for next year, but the character of the goals has, and will change. I'm coming up on ten years of goal posting, so there might be a recap to be had there. Probably a photo book, too.