I turn 29 tomorrow, and I want to tell the story of 28 through photos. I also want to stop for a moment, and just say that I genuinely understand how lucky I am. I don’t have many friends, but the ones I have are incredible. I don’t have many passions, but the ones I do are incredibly rewarding. And I don’t have my heart in own hands, but the family that I’ve entrusted it to has done nothing but reward me for that faith. I learned all of that this past year in such unique and amazing ways. Good-bye 28. You were quite an adventure.
November 2012
- Birthday cake celebrating my 28th birthday in Churt, Surrey, UK
- Visiting my Uncle and his beautiful wife in Paris
- Uncle James left the US for the first time to join us in the UK and Portugal
December 2012
- The family visited my maternal grandmother in Ankara
- Then we hopped over to Izmir to visit my paternal grandmother, aunt, and her family
- Went to see Stonehenge. It was massively underwhelming, but now it’s done
- This was my first Fairbank party. Lisa turned 40, and we school house rocked the night away
- Doruk and I went to the West Brom/Norwich game. My first EPL game! West Brom won 2-1
January 2013
- Aydin on his annual visit to Las Vegas and San Francisco. This is one of my favorite family traditions.
April 2013
- Mommy went out of town, and we went strawberry picking!
May 2013
- We went to the Grand Canyon in a 31 foot camper. Dede came, and so did Uncle James
- Me and my boy Luka
June 2013
- Micky made Amelia an amazing “Curious George” cake for her 2nd birthday
- When Micky needed a documentary film maker, who else to turn to but her sister!
- We went to the Castro, and celebrated the Supreme Court reversing DoMA. What a historical moment!
- We saw Uncle James when we went back to NC for Alan & Hannah’s wedding
- It was a beautiful and fun weekend at Alan & Hannah’s wedding
July 2013
- Luka gets a kiss from his big sister!
- Luka’s first birthday celebrated with Turks and friends from North Carolina
- 4th of July in Sonoma is a family tradition!
- These two snoozers slept the whole flight back to SF
August 2013
- She’s such a fashion forward gal!
- Amelia’s digital piano in its fully wired up form
September 2013
- The girls chilling in the pool at the house we rented in Carmel Valley
- Our Labor Day trip with the Green family took us to Carmel Valley
- There go those handsome boys again!
- It wouldn’t be a good year without a Vegas trip. Don’t worry, 28 didn’t disappoint.
- Nothing better than a Skype call with Doruk upside down
October 2013
- Painting on daddy is fun!
- What a game! 4-0 Real over Copenhagen. First La Liga game
- Luka the painter needs no easel for he is his own canvas
- First championship I’ve won in years… and it felt so good.
- Old McDonald’s farm made it to the Rainbow Family Daycare Halloween Parade
- And then the company costumes were killer as well
November 2013
- Amelia’s first smore!
Final thoughts
- A big focus for me this year was losing weight. I’ve given up soda as my New Year’s resolution, and I’ve done a pretty good job. I think this graph would concur:
- The first product that I built as part of Big Fish, Big Pond was amplifize. I really love it, and while it’s closed off to registration, the group of us who use it are pretty rabid users. Check out this graph here (November is only a partial month):
- The last hurdle left really is career. I didn’t get to the place where I wanted to in my career, and so the big question for me now is how do I get to that next level. It’s something that’s definitely on my mind, and a big part of what I’m going to solve in 29 going into 30.
Thanks everyone for being part of 28. Onward to 29!