2020 Celebrations!

[sparklingrobots]

Hey, friends!

What a year, amirite.

https://media.giphy.com/media/XdIOEZTt6dL7zTYWIo/giphy.gif(image larger than 4096KB)

Still, we are almost to the end of it. Let’s hear what went right for you in 2020!

Looking back on 2020, I’m happy about:

• Being healthy and having a roof over my head.
• The growth of this community! We doubled in size & started fun new programs
• Gift of Open Source! Y’all have truly blown me away with your enthusiasm for contributions. Extra props to @amyjune for hosting SO many workshops. p.s. don’t forget to submit your contributions to get those t-shirts.
• Learning how to play guitar

If I reach reaaaaaaaaally far back in my memory, I remember having great conversations with @birgit.pauli at WC Miami. Getting espresso machine lessons with @david.needham at Pantheon World Summit.

What a weird year. I nominate @McKennaR & @dinarcon to share some of what went well for you in 2020.

[McKennaR]

That floating trashcan on fire is pretty much the best thing I have seen!

Ahh what a year 2020 has been! In the midst of dealing with this crazy pandemic & having to push back my move to Nashville multiple times, there were still tons of things I am #grateful for this year! What better way to share than with photos

Opened my home to my 4th bottle fed foster: Moose He was such a sweet boy & I am so grateful he went to such a loving home!

Got to check Hawaii off the bucket list! This was one week before COVID really started to become a conversation [so crazy!]

I made great progress on my camper renovation! Even though I was hoping to have it complete by the end of 2020, I am still grateful to have accomplished so much! If you’re interested in following along, let me know—I have tons of before & after photos!

After 9 years in NYC, my sister & her husband finally pulled the trigger and bought a house in Austin, TX! It was such a blessing to be able to help them get situated. Don’t worry friends, masks were worn just not for the photo!

I delivered my VERY FIRST session ever! And at DrupalCon EU I was so nervous to do this but felt so accomplished afterwards!

We launched our very first community event, Gift of Open Source! MIND BLOWN friends! So many amazing stories & contributions have trickled in over the last 3 weeks! Thank you!!

Those are just a few highlights from 2020 I wanted to share! I nominate @CodeChefMarc @carolyn & @Christy to share some of theirs!

[dinarcon]

Thanks for starting this conversation @sparklingrobots Lots of things to be grateful this year, many of which were taken for granted before.

I am thankful for:

• Staying healthy and having a job.
• Traveling to New Jersey for my last in-person DrupalCamp back in January. That was also my last trip before lockdown.
• Attending more DrupalCamps and WordCamps than ever before, virtually of course.
• Presenting sessions and trainings at various online meetups and events.
• Launching my first video course on Drupal migrations. It took a lot of research. I am over the moon that it is finally out.

Congrats @McKennaR on delivering your first session! And what a stage!

2020… a leap year to remember for sure. I nominate @amyjune and @david.needham to share some highlights of this atypical period.

[david.needham]

Yes, all of this and more!

Did you know that my multi-personality roleplaying talk Configuration Management in Drupal for Beginners originally didn’t include Mr. Jenkins or Kyle?! MidCamp 2020 going virtual prodded me into something more unique and entertaining than it ever would have been!

Kids doing school at home has been very stressful at times, but it’s led to some really great interactions with my kids that never would have happened otherwise. For example, my daughter Hannah asked to create a website and we spun up https://hannahs.link.

I had a little trouble resonating with WebOps and the WebOps keys at first, but I had a breakthrough when I thought of my own story as a Pantheon customer. As soon as I started writing down why we moved to Pantheon, I realized it was the WebOps keys - even though I didn’t have the vocabulary back then. This eventually turned into a video that we published just two weeks ago: Why We Moved to Pantheon – an 8-minute crash course of Pantheon’s value through real-world customers. Check it out!

Big thank you to our trainer volunteers who made the Getting Started with Drupal workshops possible this year! @dinarcon @kporras07 @amyjune @CodeChefMarc & @amykhailova! Plus all of the folks who ran this training at other events throughout the year.

Last but not least, did you know that @JohnRichardsII joined Pantheon in 2020?! It seems like he’s been on the DevRel team forever, but I’m very grateful for him! And why stop there? I’m thankful for the rest of our supportive and brilliant team too!

[amyjune]

Thank you @sparklingrobots, it is always nice to reflect on the good things in life…thanks for the prompt.

This year has been interesting considering travel is a huge part of my job and lifestyle. I am thankful I was able to travel to both New Jersey and Florida Drupal Camps before the stay at home went into effect. I was fortunate to be on the MidCamp team as we pioneered one of the first fully virtual Drupal events. I used what we learned at MidCamp and took it to the other camps I helped organize, Asheville, BADCamp, NYC, and the various contribution days.

I also attended and spoke at camps where I wouldn’t have because there was a geographic barrier. One weekend this fall, I presented 5 presentations at 4 camps (in two days)! I was also able to attend DrupalCon EU because Pantheon gave me a free ticket!! Thanks Pantheon.

On the personal side, my youngest kid set off for university and the oldest moved out and into an apartment with his loved one. I feel very accomplished as a parent.

I am thankful I have kept my nursing license through the years. I am a hospice nurse and I was able to provide comfort to many folks in the last 9 months who were unable to have family and loved ones with them due to quarantine protocols. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to be with folks as they transition into the most mysterious step of our journeys as humans.

I look forward to another year of being a Pantheon hero, thanks for the opportunity to help with the GOOS workshops!!

Happy year and I nominate @McKennaR.

[CodeChefMarc]

What a year, indeed!

@david.needham - I love the website you and your daughter made, that’s such a great way to show her what you do.

@amyjune - Thank you again for the workshops this past week, I wasn’t able to be there for some of them as work was busy, but, it really helped get me motivated to start contributing. One of my resolutions in 2021 is to actually set aside time for contributing back. I do that now for trainings, but I want to extend that to contribution.

What went well for me this year? Well, considering the busy work from home schedule and helping my son with his online learning and such, I must say I’m very thankful that my family lives and works very well together and we all enjoy each others company.

Also, my company launched 3 large websites that I built and am proud of (Freemark Abbey, Murphy-Goode, and Tenuta di Arceno) and 2 other large projects that are high profile.

At home, I may have actually perfected sourdough? I’m continuing to experiment, but I used this King Arthur Flour recipe along with tips from The Pantry Mama. Perfect texture and just the right amount of sourness!

I’m also very happy to be part of this community! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday and we’re all able to relax for a little bit before the New Year.

[katie.richards]

2020 has been a ridiculous year, both in good and bad ways!

I had the opportunity to visit San Francisco with the DevRel team in January, not knowing at the time that this would be our only opportunity to be together in 2020.

The Community team attended WordCamp Phoenix in February, which was an absolute blast!

The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns forced me (and my family) to shift our goals and perspective for the duration of the year. We spent a lot of time outside as a family (everyone loves hiking now!)

Caption: Dirt is a kid-magnet

Caption: Fall hiking in Michigan

We made the complicated decision to homeschool our two older kids, which has been a challenge but also really fun. It’s given us more time to get to know our kids more deeply and institute fun traditions like Field Trip Fridays!

Caption: Experimenting with velocity and lift with paper airplanes at our local airport observation park.

I am thankful for my family’s continued good health, the opportunity to do work that helps others and inspires me, the relationships I’ve built and have grown with friends in the Drupal and WordPress communities, and all the time I’ve had this year to enjoy where I live.

[McKennaR]

Awww what precious moments!!