My birthday was last week, and I wanted to continue a little tradition of writing something each year. This year, I donated my birthday to charity and reached my goal!

I didn’t get a chance to write anything on my actual birthday because I was too busy goofing off with my mom, who was in town visiting. We went on a tour of Stanford, admired the view from the top of Hoover Tower, went up to Skyline Drive for an even better view, tried a new Korean restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, and celebrated with a little gelato.

The great northern California weather has allowed me to stay active and fit. I picked up tennis again after not really playing since high school. I’ve been running the last 7 weeks following the Couch to 5k app. I learned how to play badminton with a group of friends from work, and most recently have been honing my billiards skills at work thanks to our new pool table, which I helped pick out.

I could go on and on about the other great people, places, and things I’ve experienced over the past year, but I’ll save that for the five weddings I’m attending this summer. I’ve really progressed as a programmer, but I’ll save that for another post as well.

Writing this is a renewed personal commitment to publish more meaningful content. Next year or in ten years, the only thing I’ll really care about remembering about my 25th birthday is spending time with my mom, staying active, and helping bring a dozen people clean water.