I can’t believe another year has gone by. 2018 felt like the longest year… and somehow the shortest all at once. So many strange occurrences have happened across the board, and so many small wonderful things.

It’s now been a year of blogging on an almost weekly basis. I did take a few weeks off here and there to rest my eyes (and my brain), but I also blogged every day for half of October. I’d say that evens out a little bit?

I baked more than I ever have in the last year, and came up with so many fun recipes to share. I hope to continue this in 2019, though I have been focusing my blogging efforts on more photography and marketing related subjects. I guess it’s true what they say: write what you know.

Four new issues of Atlas Magazine were designed and curated, and more than 365 web editorials were published on the site. The magazine has had countless submissions coming through the inbox every month, and if I had to guess how many emails I looked through in 2018… I’d go mad.

My love for photography came flowing back, and several photo shoots this year got me back in the game creatively. I tried to Instagram on a daily basis as best as I could. After ten years, I finally invested in a new camera and have begun shooting with it. The 6D Mark II will serve as a replacement to my 10-year-old 5D Mark II, an upgrade I have patiently built to for a long time.

Let’s just say, I put a lot out there this year.

Toward the end of the year, I got engaged to the love of my life after three wonderful years together. He proposed on our anniversary on a quiet trip upstate. We’ll be married next year, and I can’t wait.

I also got to see two of my very closest friends get married to their partners. Nikolina and Adam had a stunning wedding in Cambridge, Ontario in a truly perfect ceremony. Nicole and Wingel married in a low-key courthouse ceremony before we took a beautiful walk through the Morikami Museum & Gardens.

Two of my other closest friends came just a little closer, despite the physical distance. Cenza moved to New Jersey to start a new job, and now I get to see her just a little more. Meghan joined me working at Issuu, and our jobs often land us in the same city at the same time.

Our roommate Rick traveled all sorts of places this year, and we’ve loved watching his adventures into the big wide world. Giselle has continued to build and grow Mad Sounds Magazine while she continues the pursuit of her degree, something I’m continuously in awe of. Olivia is seemingly growing an entire photography empire out of England, and her pursuits continue to lead to more and more exciting opportunities.

Despite the fact that many of my closest friends remain scattered across the continent, I’ve managed to spend more time with them this year than in a very long time. Although this year involved much travel, it thankfully also involved good things at the end of each flight. I think I’ve spent more time on airplanes in one year then throughout my entire life.

It has been a love-filled year, with plenty of laughs along with it. So many others that I love have accomplished so much this year, and it’d take a whole other post to namedrop each and every one of them… but to each of my beautiful friends, I’m so proud of you and I hope I let you know that often.

This post is mostly a journal of sorts. This year has been so good to me, and I’d like to remember it the best that I can. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my rambles. What a strange, exciting year it’s been. I can’t wait for another amazing one.

Bring it on, 2019.