2016: The Year That Was

Well, it finally happened. Proverbial Putts went an entire year with just one sole post.

I suppose as one gets older, less and less time is spent selfishly pontificating about your own life and emotions. Having a job that requires sitting in front of a computer all day, reading and writing, also doesn't inspire much desire to come home and do more of the same.

I actually did reboot Zotcubed in an effort to keep my "writing for fun" juices flowing, and I thought about writing on here a couple times, but it just never happened.

Old habits die hard though; I'm not quite ready to retire my annual year-end reflection post. So let's see...

2016 was the first full "join the work force and be a real adult" year of my life. It was also a year that challenged me in new ways, shaking my confidence tremendously at times. I feel somewhat accomplished for having successfully reached the other side, but I'm more excited to build off this past year with a better one in 2017.

2016 was a year of cramming travel into long-weekends. Due to losing my student-life freedoms, we substituted my international trips for short weekend getaways. Las Vegas, Denver, Austin, San Francisco, Lake Cuyamaca, Napa, Orange County and Los Angeles, all fun times in their own right. We capped it all off with our quasi-one year anniversary trip to Hawaii (Kauai and Oahu) over Thanksgiving, a vacation I was especially thankful for.

2016 was another big year of weddings. I was lucky enough to serve as a groomsman for Fooks and toast Yibs as one of his best men. We had another joyous Ambalamps reunion for Ambrose, and a Glory reunion in SF for Vince. All friendships and celebrations I cherish.

2016 also saw the addition of a new family member. Pippin the dog (after Peregrin Took) overcame her bout with a canine version of lyme's disease, not to mention whatever other hardships she experienced on the streets of Mexico, and spent many-a-night happily thumping her tail under our bed. Although she still has some peculiar behavioral issues that we're working on, she went from zero tricks to three and a half in the course of four-ish months. So there's hope yet, even if she manages to get by on her cuteness regardless.

And finally, 2016 was a year for exposing the many ways that I can improve as a husband. There seem to be so few precious hours in a day that we're not occupied with work and other obligations -- hopefully 2017 will be a year of maximizing the hours we do have to make strides onward and upward.

2015: The Year That Was

2015 was an eventful year. So eventful, in fact, that it may never be topped. There were many great things, some not so great things, and some other general milestones that will go down in the history books. This blog is getting old, and desperately needs some fresh air, so instead of rolling out one of my typical TLDR year-end recaps, I'll try to summarize things into a few main points.

1. Wedding/Married Life

It's still surreal to say "my wife" or see the name "Traci Gao" on paper, perhaps because the entire turnaround between proposal and marriage happened within the year. Regardless, the wedding was just about everything we could have hoped for, and those moments were some of the happiest of my lifetime. It's something special to have all of your closest people in the world, all in one space, and all present for your sake. It was like if someone combined all of your birthday parties throughout your life and hosted one giant party with all of those people, only on top of that you got to celebrate being with your for-real-best-friend-for-life on top of that.

Married life is a lot of fun because it means never having to say good bye for long. That being said, I'm quickly realizing that being a good husband requires additional effort and thoughtfulness, and I hope to improve in certain areas of my new role in life moving forward.

2. Wanderlust

In terms of travel, I would be astounded if 2015 was ever topped. I was lucky enough to go to China, the DRC, Burundi, the Netherlands, Fiji, and New Zealand. In each country, my worldview was broadened, and perspective on life widened. And by that, I don't mean boasting about how "worldly" I now am, but instead realizing how narrow my worldview was before, and trying to quench my thirst for learning more outside the limited scope of our daily lives. The same applies in the U.S as well, on a smaller scale. Shout out to weekend trips to SF, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Portland!

There's not much I'd rather do in the world than travel with good friends and loved ones. Thank you to those who made my 2015 travels full of laughs, interesting conversation, and all-around good times. I can't wait to explore again when the opportunity presents itself.

3. Law Stuff

2015 marked my graduation from law school, which was cool. It also marked less savory experiences, such as studying for and taking the bar.

I suppose life is a sequence of events where you over-stress and make a bigger deal of each hurdle you have immediately ahead of you, only to look back and realize that the hurdle wasn't really such a big deal after all. Too bad you can't realize that the hurdle isn't so bad until you have the wisdom in retrospect!

4. Back Home in Sunny San Diego

After four years in Irvine, a transition year, and three more in Los Angeles, it's nice to be back in San Diego for the long haul. I do miss all of my friends now scattered up the coast and in other parts of the country, but all things considered, living in the downtown area of San Diego isn't too shabby.

Looking forward to diving into home improvement, exploring the city, and hosting more friend visits in 2016.

All the Groom's Men

In one week's time, I will be one day into the married life. I've struggled with capturing the emotions that come along with such a statement, so a post on that will have to wait.

One week ago, however, I got to spend an excellent weekend with my nine groomsmen up in Big Bear Lake, and I thought I'd write a bit about that for now.

The most common response I've received from people is something about the number of groomsmen I have enlisted. "Nine!? Geez! Why so many!" 

It's a question I had to consider when Traci told me that she would only have five bridesmaids. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was no one I could cut!

All nine of these guys have affected some facet of my life in a big way, and it was important to me that all nine of these guys were up there by my side on the wedding day. From my childhood in St. Louis, to my high school days in San Diego, to college life in Irvine, to post-college life in Los Angeles, each stage was represented. These guys are the friends and brother that I leaned on through the hard times, who I could count on for a hearty laugh and a fun time, who I could be open and honest with.

II have been extremely blessed to have each and every one of these guys in my life, and I am so glad that each one of them can be part of my wedding festivities. Without them, my life would have been drastically altered for the worse.

Thanks guys for the awesome weekend. There was epic ping pong tournaments, challenging water sports, vintage MLB Showdown duals, fellowship over home cooked meals and even some good old 5-on-5 basketball. It was everything I could have hoped for from a bachelor's weekend, and I can only hope that there will be many more similar festivities in the future.

Wedding Fever

This semester has been so busy with various events and activities that I've barely been able to stay afloat in my classes, let alone find some time to blog. But recently I was able to experience some of the happiest moments with cherished friends from different seasons in my life, and I wanted to capture some of those thoughts before too much time passed.

Mark and Emily, March 15, 2014. St. Louis, MO

Mark and I go back to kindergarten. He and I did everything together growing up, during which we engaged in countless silly elementary and middle school conversations about girls and the like. So, it was surreal to say the least, standing up there as he was exchanging his vows. On top of all that, it was my first time back in St. Louis in about seven years, so the nostalgia was being poured on thick as I saw old friends and parents of friends for the first time since I was 18 years old.

It was nice to know that while everyone has matured and moved on to adulthood successfully, some mannerisms and tendencies never change. Despite having been away for so long, I felt like I was laughing the entire weekend. Being a groomsman with old friends Ross, Logan and Pownall was a ton of fun. Getting to go on-field at Busch Stadium as well as the Arch was the perfect icing on the cake -- I was on cloud nine. Finally, I'd be amiss if I did not mention the warm hospitality from Mark's parents, who were like a second set of parents to me growing up in St. Louis.

The wedding itself was traditional and beautiful in a classic-with-a-modern-twist way. The ceremony took place in Mark's childhood church, where I had visited several times as a kid. The reception was held in historic Soulard at the Ben Franklin room which was built back in 1905.

Wedding flair: glassware galore, homemade honey, college pride

Anthony and Emma, April 5, 2014. Sierra Madre, CA.

Coming off of a memorable bachelor party weekend in Lake Arrowhead, I knew this wedding weekend would be a hilarious college reunion, and once again the weekend did not disappoint. Anthony and Emma were one of the first couples I knew that had formed at UC Irvine, and thus a future marriage that I had been waiting on for a long time. Going back to our impromptu sleepovers and discussions about Anthony's perseverance and patience, it was awesome to see everything finally come to fruition.

It was an honor to serve as a groomsman. It's that much more special when you are present for the entire weekend, going through the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, preparation and setup time, leading up to the real deal. Although Yi and I were embarrassingly tardy to the rehearsal portion, I'm thankful that Ant + Em were able to forgive us (eventually). One thing that will definitely stand out to me from the wedding were the heartfelt speeches from both the bride and groom to their parents, as well as the toasts from the fathers to their children. Equal parts comical and touching.

The wedding was very Anthony and Emma, with telling hints of both hipster and cuteness. The ceremony and reception were both at the rustically beautiful Villa del Sol d'Oro, with superb live music from the out-of-town Isaac Gill and his wife.

Wedding flair: thai tea, selfie craze, hair cuts from Gabe