Good start to the year

Yet again I find myself sitting at another airport writing.

I didn't get any sleep on the flight between Boston and Dublin, it's now 8.01AM local time and I'm beginning to wilt. I've never been on a flight from the US to the UK where I got in at night. I hope some day that will change.

Yesterday I flew from Albany, NY to Boston, MA on the smallest aircraft I've been on (besides my parachute jump last year). It was quite a cool experience given that I was sitting right behind the pilot with a clear view of the entire cockpit and got this neat shot as we touched down.

I spent last week in Orlando staying at the Hard Rock Hotel for a meetup with the Twin Technologies team that I contract for from time-to-time. It's been 2 years since I saw most of them so it was good to catch up, look at the growth of the company and see where they're headed in 2014. I'm hopeful that I'll get the chance to work with them again at some point this year.

I got in ahead of everyone else on the Tuesday night and so on the Wednesday I hit Universal Studios with my buddy Jeremy and his brother. We opted for the 2 park pass and that turned out to be a great move because we'd done everything at Universal by 12pm. The park was busy and our queue skip passes (courtesy of Hard Rock Hotel) were great. I can't imagine doing a park during the peak season.

I also discovered a love of roller coasters. Now, I'm not sure what it was, but as a kid, I hated even the thought of going on one and so didn't. Even through my teenage years. Given I jumped out of a plane for my 30th last year I decided it couldn't be that bad. I was right.

Thursday saw me turn 31 and the first birthday I've spent without any family. Obviously I wasn't on my own but to be honest, they're just becoming like every other day. After some Twin meetings we hit the park again for a team building scavenger hunt (which my team won) and at night we hit a karaoke club (with a live band) which seems to becoming the norm at Twin events after Miami events last year and the year before.

I was originally meant to be flying back home on the Saturday via Newark with a ridiculous layover so l managed to change flights out of Albany that let me hang out with my friends in that neck of the woods. It was a short but sweet time as we discussed spiritual lessons we learned in 2013 and also books we read and goals for 2014.

As I headed through security at Albany Airport I smiled to myself as I saw a billboard for Fingerpaint Marketing (the company that flew Sarah and I out there in 2010 with the prospect of moving). If Fingerpaint hadn't flown us out there, I doubt I'd be as close to our friends there as we are now.

I've felt for the last 3 years that God has a plan for us there but each time it's come close, something has gotten in the way. Perhaps I'm being taught patience, or perhaps there is no plan for us in that place. The big spiritual lesson for me last year was trust. God's in control and I too often forget that.