2021 Year in Review
It's definitely false to claim 2021 was the year we all hoped it would be. We definitely had some bright spots, but the rest was pretty bland.
Highlights first. Lauren had a big year! Most recently, she has successfully defended and submitted her Masters thesis in Geotechnical Engineering as of December 10th (11:59 pm). It's been a long time coming since she finished the coursework of her masters in Spring 2020. After some well deserved rest and relaxation over the holidays, she'll focus on her next goal: taking the PE exam in 2022. In addition, Lauren has moved to a new company, ENGEO. It's very exciting and fun, and the growth opportunities are much better than her old company. Nick is a little jealous of the perks like office golf and company events.
Lauren also got a new car! Her first big adult purchase. In 10 months of owning the car she's just shy of 20,000 miles. She'll surely hit that milestone before 2021 is up.
Nick had a fairly low key year, keeping busy with work stuff, taking online courses for his Master's degree (through UC Davis), and filling the rest of his time with new hobbies, including...
... a little bit of film photography, using his grandfather's old equipment...
...flying using his newly obtained pilot's license...
... and volunteering with a small crew on the weekends laying rail at the Ardenwood EBRP railroad.
More photos from film and our adventures can be found at nick.loey.org
But film is expensive, and hobbies are plentiful, so updates may be scant.
Together, Nick and Lauren traveled to a few National Parks throughout the year and generally spent as much time outside as possible before the fires set in. It's probably because Lauren got the Subaru Forester... trying to fit stereotypes and all. Here are some more photos from our utilization of the National Parks pass before they all burned down.
We were happy to see other people (besides each other) in 2021 as vaccines became available. Nick enjoyed going back to A's games (even though most of those pretty much involved incidental social distancing). Lauren made up for lost time hanging out with her family and friends, and loved being able to celebrate their achievements in-person with them throughout the year.
As you might've guessed, Nick also spent a lot of time throughout 2021 working on building his own webserver (or "HomeLab"), with a public website located at loey.org. There is not much public stuff to see, but its yet another hobby for him to maintain. Hopefully you've enjoyed this utilization of it, and moreso enjoyed reading through this yearly wrap up.
A now the finale in this e-card: the Christmas Light Show!!!! That's right, after 2 years of COVID-inspired toiling in the garage with a box of scraps, the childhood dream of a disney-like light show at the Loey household is working!
That about covers it. We are so lucky to have had all of you in our lives this year, and look forward to making more memories with you in the next! Have a happy holiday season, here's to a better 2022 (jinx?)!