Andy Peters

Founder. Developer. Bicyclist.

2018 In Review

Hey its me again. Its been a solid three years or more since I’ve written here. At the start of every year for the past three years or more, I had a goal to write more. Every year when I looked back, I was disappointed for not even trying. There are plenty of excuses I had, but instead I’m starting 2019 off with an updated blog and written content on deck. First off is this fairly boring year in review piece. Thanks for reading…

2018 was a growth year. For me, this year was full of little things and no major life changes/decisions, that looking back made it that way. It means a lot of discussions with my wife about life, making moves on things that matter to me right now and trying to setup our lives for the next couple years. It meant making a few sacrifices for new project related activities instead of fun activities. It means a lot of little decisions and actions over the course of the year are starting to feel like they are paying off. Each little thing added up by the end of the year to clearly illustrate 2018 as growing.

Here are some less vague highlights from 2018 that I think you’ll care about…

Courtyard

Courtyard is a project I started to help property managers and tenants communicate better; its a help desk for anyone who manages tenants. I’ve been working on this project on the side for quite some time now. This year Courtyard had a super soft launch for a close group of tests to help me validate the product. I posted it on Twitter mostly because I was proud of getting a side project in the hands of real people. Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement! There is much left to do in 2019 (such as a full on launch), but I’m excited Courtyard made it as far along as it has.

Flywheel

Life at Flywheel has been great. The company is growing a ton and a good portion of this year the product team has been gearing up for some major releases; most of these releases you’ve probably seen by now. A good part of this year my core focus is on Local by Flywheel. Local has a huge user base and does so much for such a small team. Our team shipped an addon library for Local and we are close to shipping Local Teams. I’m very excited to be working on this product into 2019.

Amanda’s Podcast

My wife Amanda Rucker, published her very first podcast. Sorosis is where Amanda spends time with other women she’s met to have a conversation about something important to them. Most recently she talked with Laura about creating space for creativity and living. Another one I really liked was where Adriana talked about Managing Work and Personal Goals. I’m excited for Amanda launching this and shipping excellent content regularly. Give it a listen!

Travel

In March, we took another trip to Colorado. We went up to Steamboat Springs. There we found Strawberry Hot Springs, a spot Amanda has been longing to visit. I got in some excellent mountain biking in the area. We had a few delicious dinners and some excellent hikes. A standard Colorado trip and it was excellent in every way!

In July we went back to Colorado for a family trip. We stayed a few nights in Grand Lake, CO. This is on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. One night Amanda and I made delicious pizzas for everyone; these pizzas challenge any pizza I’ve ever had. We spent the rest of the time hiking, mountain biking, and scoping out the local area moose. This is also the trip where I learned about altitude sickness.

In December we went to California! In California we stayed two nights in San Francisco, mostly so I could see Nine Inch Nails play at the Bill Grahm Civic Center with my San Francisco Friends. Amanda and I drove as far north as up to Fort Bragg, CA and stayed two nights along the coast in Timber Cove Inn.

Random things to share

  • Amanda and I had a few excellent “make coffee outdoors” bike rides.
  • A group of friends from Flywheel took some time off and road on Tour De Nebraska. We road most of the entire gravel route.
  • I did zero mountain bike racing this year like I originally wanted.
  • I signed up for two gravel races but did not even show up. Humble lesson on choosing what I want to do and what I need to do.
  • On my birthday, we had a picnic which ushered in a hell of a thunderstorm.
  • I traded in some old video games and childhood toys I don’t care about and bought a Nintendo Switch!
  • I learned to shuck an oyster.
  • I read a few books this, more in one year than I have in years: The Alchemist, From Here to Eternity, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and I started Bicycle Diaries (to finish in 2019).
  • I saw St Vincent at the start of the year. The show was a unique art experience that I won’t soon forget.
  • I drove to Chicago with some friends to see Slayer. Yah, that Slayer.
  • Oh, and I bought another bike in July.
  • Don’t start Zelda Breath of the Wild if you have goals to launch a side project.