Weddings, Shootouts, New Homes, Plane Crashes and Puppies: A Three Year Review

Where do you see yourself in five years?

How many of you have heard that line in a job interview or career coaching session of some sort? It's a classic question that never made sense to me. I get it. Answering that question is a way to show someone your goals and focus on how to achieve something. You can't float around in life by a breeze and be successful (or at least most of us can't).

Five years ago, I would've failed miserably at answering that question. Shoot, I would've just three years ago.

A lot of bloggers and magazines do "year in review" types of posts. Here lately, I've been reflecting on how much I've experienced in just three years. It's not a "year" in review but hey - it's my blog and I can do what I want.

So, in as close to chronological order as I can, here's the timeline of major life events since January 1st, 2011.

• Jan 2011 - I was still living in Chicago working for Hinda Incentives.

• Feb 2011 - Experienced the third largest snowstorm in the history of Chicago, shutting down the entire city. The most snow I've ever seen at one time in my life. For me, it was actually a fun couple of days.

• March 2011 - I found myself in the middle of a gang shootout in the south side of Chicago while walking to get lunch near our office.

• March 2011 - Two days after the shooting, I was offered an incredible job opportunity as a social engagement manager at Engauge in Atlanta and accepted on the spot. I figured the shooting was God's way of telling me to move on.

• May 2011 - Lost one of my closest childhood friends and DCHS track teammates to a freak riptide in San Diego.

• August 2011 - I got to marry the most beautiful girl in the world, who also happens to be my best friend. Going through life with her has been the best decision I've made.

• September 2011 - Got plugged in with a house church via Grace Midtown with other newlywed couples. This group of people have become some of Megan and I's closest friends in Atlanta and continue to bless us more than they realize.

• December 2011 - Megan and I adopt our lab/pit mix Theo on a whim. We went to Petsmart to look at another dog but fell in love with Theo. Our lives haven't been boring since.

• April 2012 - The Board of Man creation on Pinterest takes off and begins to earn media coverage all across the country - simply as a result of a conversation I had with @juliacantor on the elevator at work one day. I burned my 15 minutes of internet fame on a website I used to consider too girly for my taste.

• July 2012 - I start a new job as the Director of Digital for DeMoss. It was a company I had read about while I was still in school and never thought I'd actually work there one day.

• January 2013 - Got to see a Presidential Inauguration in person via a client trip to D.C. that happened in the same week. No matter what your politics are, it's a cool experience to do once in your life. Next time, I'm getting a ticket to a seat. Woof.

• April 2013 - Lost another DCHS track teammate and training partner, this time as a result of his active duty military service in Afghanistan. The last time I saw him was at our previous friend's funeral.

• Summer 2013 - I saw a lot of great friends get married. All this summer and the summer/spring before. So. Many. Weddings. All amazing couples.

• July 2013 - I finish my first vintage bike restoration project. Not a huge milestone to most people but a restoration project I spent a lot of time on and was very proud of. I proceeded to do one for Megan for Christmas.

• September 16, 2013 - Megan goes on her first business trip only to be a few blocks away from the tragic Navy Yard Shooting in Washington, D.C. As a husband, it's rough knowing your spouse is near danger but not being able to do a thing about it from several hundred miles away. I hated that morning.

• September 21, 2013 - Megan and I move into our first house after spending months and months skimming Trulia emails and watching way too much HGTV. The opportunity came out of nowhere and we couldn't be happier with where we chose our new home.

• November/December 2013 - I watch my grandfather keep fighting cancer hard and see my grandmother stay brave for him every day. After over 50 years of marriage, they are a perfect model of what unconditional love and marriage looks like. I'm lucky to have examples like them around.

• December 17, 2013 - A corporate jet narrowly misses our house and crashes in our backyard. It was a moment far scarier than the shooting I experienced in Chicago.

There were a lot of ups and some downs the last few years but I can definitely say the last three years have been an adventure.

Where do I see myself in five years? I don't know. But I'm sure I'll have a few stories to tell.