No self respecting blogger would end a year without blogging a review of the previous year. The good things, the bad things, and the memorable things. So, without further ado, here is what happened in my life in the last year.

1. I moved for the fourth time in a year into the fraternity house that I lived in during my freshman year of college.
2. I spent spring break of 2003 with Lauren in Sanabel Island, Florida.
3. Upon returning from Florida it became apparent that Lauren’s father, Joel, was not winning his fight with cancer – he died in the middle of March leaving behind two daughters and his wife.
4. Shortly after Joel’s passing Lauren and I attempted to celebrate our one year anniversary.
5. In April I (finally) graduated with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University.
6. My cousin Gino got married to his long-time crush, who he had been pursuing since High School!
7. This last summer I took the plunge and went off on my own doing private consulting. If you are interested in a webpage contact me! (shameless plug)
8. In August I decided that, at 262 lbs (119 kg), I was too fat and went on the Atkins. I lost about 30 lbs with much fanfare. 
9. I started reading again for my own pleasure. I’ve stuck mostly with political books, but managed to read two of the years best sellers: Lovely Bones and Runnin with Scissors.
10. In late October Lauren, her mom and I all went to San Francisco. I was there to talk at PHP-Con West, while Lauren and here mom were there to shop and catch som rays.
11. This fall I launched my first major website since going into consulting. GoLoad.com offers load brokering and has been doing quite well.
12. I gained back much of the weight I lost on my diet after quitting Atkins in October.
13. On December 23rd, 2003 I popped the question to Lauren and, thankfully, she said yes.
14. On December 31st, 2003 I spent the entire night attacking the open bar at Bottoms Up of Cleveland celebrating the new year with Lauren, Linda and Marc.

Yup, it’s been a great year. I’m currently already working hard on my new years resolutions as well. For those of you who are interested, here are my new years resolutions.

1. Lauren and I are officially back on the Atkins diet. We’ve discovered a low carb store in the area that sells bread and tortilla shells, which should help keep us on the diet.
2. I’m going to refocus on getting some hosting accounts to boost monthly revenue.
3. I’m going to redouble my efforts to save up for our upcoming California move.

I hope everyone else’s year has gone as well as mine. There have been good times, bad times and in-between times, but I feel I came out on top.