2013 In the Rearview Mirror

Last Updated on January 15, 2014 by John Morehouse

So I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about 2013 in “Review”.  So I thought that I should do one as well.  Might as well join the crowd right? Here we go!

Family

Simon
Mighty Simon!

For those that might remember, just under a year ago our little family got to ride on a little roller-coaster.  My beautiful bride, Cari was pregnant with our second child, a little boy.   In late January, Cari’s water broke early at 29 weeks and we rushed to the hospital.  The doctor’s told us that approximately 95% (don’t quote me on that number, but I think it’s close) of the women who’s water breaks early will deliver within 48 hours.  Fast forward 3 weeks.  Yup, we were in the minority (Thank the Lord!)  in this regard and Cari had to stay in the hospital for 3 additional weeks begin pregnant. Every minute in the hospital meant another minute for Simon to stay in the womb, growing and getting stronger.

Simon’s (as he was later named) heart rate dropped one mid-Sunday morning, February 10th actually,  and the doctor’s decided that it was time for him to make his appearance.  So emergency c-section was on the menu and Simon made his debut.   The next 5 weeks were spent in the NICU at a fantastic hospital (Nebraska Medical Center) and he is currently a happy, healthy baby boy.

During this rough time I had a lot of people thinking & praying for my family and I.  I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have people I haven’t even met praying for the well being of my little boy.  Simply incredible and I thank each and every one of you for that.

Professional

In April 2013 I took on a new adventure within my employer, Farm Credit Services of America.  I had been working on a development team as a Database Developer when an opportunity to move teams to the production support team opened up.  So after some thought, I applied, interviewed and was offered the position.  So with that, I’ve gone back to the dark side of being on-call and providing production support for a fantastic company.

#SQLFamily

A couple of things happened within the SQL Family for me in 2013.  I was able to speak at several SQL Saturday’s including some new great locations such as New York, New York and Orlando Florida.  I was also able to visit some of my favorite spots such as Denver, Colorado and Sacremento, California.  It was a great year for speaking and I look forward to continuing that in 2014.

PASS_Outstanding_Volunteer_Seal1.  In August, I was honored to be named as a PASS Outstanding Volunteer.  A colleage of mine, David Klee was kind enough to nominate me for the aware and I thank him for that.  I love the SQL Server community and I’m completely honored to join the ranks of these outstanding individuals.

2.  In December, our regional mentor, Jason Strate (B | T) decided to step down from being a regional mentor for the North Central Region of PASS.  In a previous conversation months prior, I had mentioned that I’d be interested in being a regional mentor and/or helping out with whatever I could.  Even with that conversation, I was still surprised when I got a phone call from the PASS organization asking if I wanted to replace Jason.  Well, no one can really replace Jason, but they want me to give it a whirl.  So I said, yes and became a Regional Mentor.  I get to join Ted Krueger (B | T) in helping local chapters with whatever issues they might have.  Ted and I get along great and I look forward to working with him as a Regional Mentor in 2014.

sqlsat197_web

3.  I was also able to help organize and deliver another successful SQL Saturday in April for the Omaha area.  This was our second event for us and I think that we knocked it out of the ball park!  We had about 165 (give or take) people through the door and some absolutely fantastic speakers.  Watch for future notifications for another SQL Saturday in the Omaha area probably in 2015!

Anyway, I think all in all, 2013 turned out to be a fantastic year for me, both personally as well as professionally.

I look forward to what 2014 may have in store for me, both in my professional life as well as in my personal one.

 

© 2014, John Morehouse. All rights reserved.

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