One of my favorite things to do in December is go to my iPhone’s camera roll, scroll up to January 1st, and look back at everything that happened throughout the year. It’s pretty wild how much we can cram into 365 days. So many memories. So many ups and downs. So many selfies 😅

2022 was a pretty big year for yours truly. I pushed myself harder physically than any other year in my life. I ran a marathon, summited Mount Rainier, completed my first triathlon and Tough Mudder, and hit 10,000 steps every single day. I’m ending the year with an average of over 14k steps/day. Over 5 million total steps for 2022. That’s a lot of steps.

It was also a big year professionally. We started 2 new businesses, we welcomed 20 awesome new people to the Theory Team, we launched Tacoma Connect, I broke a personal record for real estate sold, we were able to give back to hundreds of kids through our annual gift drive, and so much more. I am VERY excited for a ton of positive momentum as we head into 2023.

Without further ado, here's a look back at 2022!
(I'm a poet and I didn't know it)

January

January is always an interesting month for me. On the positive side of things, I'm usually excited for the new year and motivated by my goals. I began training for my first marathon in January and also created the "January Strong" challenge, which included completing all of these habits every day: No snoozing the alarm clock, 45-Minute workout (more than a walk), 10,000 steps, following a healthy diet, drinking a gallon of water, writing in my gratitude journal, and reading 10 pages of a book. I was able to successfully complete this January challenge, and I've actually maintained several of these habits all year long.

January was also a great start to the work year. I hit the ground running with several big projects, helped a couple friends buy their first homes, and hosted a booth at the Tacoma Home Show.

On the flip side, January and February are typically pretty rough months for my mental health. Seasonal depression is very real, and the Seattle weather definitely doesn't help. Depression has affected me for a good chunk of my life, and I got a little bit more vulnerable about it this year to hopefully help others going through the same thing. This post gives a little insight into my personal experience with depression.

February

February was an exciting month, as I got to meet my adorable new nephew, Finnegan Lee Miller! He's had some health issues this year, which have been scary to say the least, but I'm happy to report that he's a healthy baby and doing great!

Some other highlights from the 2nd month of the year included setting a new personal record for largest sales volume closed in a single day, handing out flowers in Tacoma on Valentine’s Day, and almost getting stranded on a mountain.

March

My challenge for the month of March was to do the Wordle every day for a month. If you've never tried the Wordle, it's a great way to start the day.

My parents celebrated their 35th Wedding Anniversary in March, so a big group of us went to Nashville for a long weekend. Such an awesome city with so much to love, not the least of which is the live music EVERYWHERE. Later in the month, I spent a weekend in Chelan and did lots of wine-tasting and relaxing.

April

In April, I got serious about training for my 2 big events in June: Running a marathon and climbing Mount Rainier. So to force myself to train daily, my challenge for the month of April was to hit 15,000 steps every day. I completed my first 18+ mile run and even set a new deadlift PR as well.

Outside of training, April was full of lots of other fun activities including spending the weekend in Long Beach with my grandparents, speaking at an alumni event at the University of Washington, and going to a bachelor party in Cabo. I was also honored for Theory to receive the Tacoma Rescue Mission Volunteer of the Year Award!

May

I kicked off the month of May at Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Palm Springs. I've been getting more into country music the last couple years, and our group had a blast at Stagecoach. This trip also got me dreaming about buying an investment property in Palm Springs. This may or may not be a 2023 goal of mine.

May was also the month that I became Austin Bond 😎 Our marketing team put together this very fun video for our waterfront listing in Lakewood, followed by this sequel for our incredible listing in Shelton. We've made a ton of videos in the 6 years since we started Theory, but these were easily some of my favorites.

My challenge for the month of May was to floss every night, and I'm proud to report that this is a habit that has stuck for most of the rest of the year. I also hit a 365-day streak practicing Spanish on DuoLingo and ended the month celebrating Steven and Aya’s wedding in Chelan.

June

June was easily one of the biggest months of my life. It's the month that I checked off 2 of my lifelong bucket list items: Running a marathon and climbing Mount Rainier.

Back in junior year of high school, I started taking my health more seriously, and I ended up losing 40 pounds in about 6 months. Most of this weight loss was from my diet, but a good portion of it also came from running. I ended up running a half marathon in August of 2013, and I knew that I wanted to run a full marathon someday. So this June, a big group of my friends flew down to San Diego, and 2 of us completed the Rock N Roll Marathon. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, that is until... 2 weeks later.

Growing up in Washington, I've looked up at Mount Rainier my entire life and always had an urge to climb it. I had no idea what that would entail, but I just knew I had to do it someday. So I signed up to climb it in 2020, which was inevitably canceled, and then canceled again in 2021. Thankfully 2022 was a go, but I definitely didn't prepare as much as I should have. Out of the 20+ people in my group, I was the only one who had never summitted another mountain. It was so incredibly hard, but I'm so glad that I did it. This video has a summary of the 4-day journey.

Outside of the marathon and Rainier, I also completely cut out coffee shops for the whole month (which was a very tough habit for me to break), and I went to Arizona for a real estate conference. Definitely a month I'll never forget!

July

After a crazy June, a relaxing first couple weeks of July were exactly what the doctor ordered. I had an Amazing 4th of July with my family and then spent some time in Lake Chelan, where I worked on my tan and did some paddle-boarding.

July was also a very weird month for my mental health, as I dealt with the "what's next" syndrome after completing several big goals. I shared some of my feelings in real-time in this post. I ended up impulsively signing up for my first triathlon and hitting a new Back Squat PR 😅

Some other highlights from July included cutting the ribbon for the Tacoma Rescue Mission’s new thrift store, attending the Portland Street of Dreams, and going to a Kenny Chesney and Dan & Shay Concert.

August

There's nothing quite like summertime in the PNW. My family puts on a big summer event every August called Island Palooza. It's a full day of activities, food, and fun out on Anderson Island. This year was our 5th annual Island Palooza, and it was the biggest year yet. It was one of those days where I was so in the moment all day that I completely lost track of time and didn't look at my phone at all. I'm already looking forward to next year!

I also broke my nail biting habit in August, celebrated the weddings of Andrew & Lauren AND Nick & Julia, and talked about my obsession with daily checklists.

September

September was another great month. I completed my first Tough Mudder 10K, hit a 500-day streak practicing Spanish on DuoLingo, attended the Anderson Island Film Festival, celebrated Stevie’s 1st birthday, and thoroughly enjoyed living in Georgetown. Life is good!

October

For the month of October, I decided to challenge myself with something that has always seemed out-of-reach: solving a Rubik's Cube. My challenge was to spend time practicing every day. The very first time I solved it took me 3 and a half hours. My fastest time was under 2 minutes. We can achieve anything we set our minds to!

Some other highlights from September included doing the Space Needle Stair Climb, launching our new monthly Tacoma Connect event, and celebrating Theory's 6-Year Anniversary with our Anniversary Halloween Party!

November

I turned 28 years old on November 28th. My golden birthday! I felt compelled to share some thoughts HERE as I reflected on another year of life. TLDR - Life is ALL about BALANCE.

My challenge for the month of November was to do 100 push-ups every day for a month, which ended up going well. I also got to spend another weekend in Palm Springs and did one of my favorite holiday traditions - Thanksgiving bowling!

December

The last month of 2022 was full of love and so many memories. We had the Santa Parade on South Tacoma Way and turned Edison Square into the North Pole. We had the Soft Opening for Cityscape Games, Theory's new escape room. I hit a new PR on the bench press. And I spent a TON of quality time with my family. I'm ending the year feeling so incredibly blessed for the amazing people in my life ❤️