Every year I am surprised by how much can change in that time span. Most days are not really exciting, but when looking at a lot of days at once and think back if all the things took place, there are so many things that stand out. Let’s see what 2014 brought me.

January 2 – First day of work. This year marked some very big changes, starting with my official introduction to being what Dutch students refer to as “burger” (lit. citizen). Of course, this wasn’t completely new, as I worked there for two months in 2013. Still, going from doing nothing all day to working four days a week is a pretty big change. It’s a bit much to combine with my Hearth’s Warming Con obligations, but I love the company and will continue my time at least for 2015.

January 25 – London Brony Winter Party. My first time in Great Britain was a two-day trip with Lena, Moontune and John Smith, when we decided we wanted to attend a brony party. The party was great and it was really cool to visit London, even though I haven’t seen any of the tourist attractions. Worth going back for it.

February 8 – Zwolle beer week. As someone spending most of his free time alone, I gladly accepted the invitation to the Zwolle beer week, where I met Dorus for the first time. I did not expect to see him that much more though. I’m glad we do.

February 14 – One year after losing Timo. It wasn’t just fun this year. This year I had the strange realization that I was older than him; something that felt very odd because it used to not be the case.

February 28 – The LEGO Movie. I don’t nearly go to the movies as often as I would like. This movie was worth it.

March 22 – Housewarming Lena. It’s funny to think back to this; back when we were not yet so clingy. It was a good party.

April 1 – Hearth’s Warming Con Indiegogo starts. This was a very big moment, as this marked the sale of the first of our tickets.

April 8 – Keys to my house. The second step towards adult life this year. It’s still an awesome house (even though it’s still a mess from our New Year’s pre-pre-party). Also the day that this very blog got launched.

April 11 – First night in my house. The first of very many. Also, this was my first entry for I Never, a project I hope to continue for many more months.

April 26 – King’s Day. The first King’s Day in a long time. Spent it with my favorite little sister in Amsterdam, where we tried our best to trade ourselves rich.

May 19 – Internet in my new house! Finally I was able to actually live in my house. I was so enthusiastic about it I messed up the wiring. Ah well, I still have Internet now.

June 7 – Housewarming round 1. What good is a house of your own if you don’t have parties? This first housewarming featured a bunch of bronies and a barbecue. Shout-out to A-Z Barbecue for being the best barbecue catering there is!

June 15 – Final day of the Indiegogo. We made it, and with much more than we thought we would get. From this moment on, Hearth’s Warming Con 2015 was definitive.

June 27 – Housewarming round 2. This time with friends from Almelo and Enschede. It was not very busy, but still a nice party.

July 7 – Crystal Fair. Read the related entry. It was awesome. Want to do it again.

August 1 – Galacon. That was rough. But fun. But rough.

August 17 – First time D&D. It’s a very fun game, but my god is it difficult to get everyone together. Busy schedules all over the place. Fun fact: at the time of this writing, we have had 2 sessions, with a third planned near the end of this of Month.

August 21 – Middelburg. Went on a four-hour train ride with Ryah just to buy chocolate. Good times.

August 27 – Salsa lesson. My first and only salsa lesson. I suck at it and my timing was really bad (I had to skip the first three/four lessons because of scheduling issues).

September 13 – Color Run Utrecht. Extremely awesome, will do again and I can recommend it to everyone.

September 19 – KIIIRAAAA.

October 4 – Housewarming round 3. Not really a party-party, but it was the first time my family saw my new house. Now that I think about it, that’s a pretty big gap between the moment I got it and this day.

October 11 – Birthday party, co-hosted with Roy. Not in my house this time, because we invited more people than would fit. There were a few people staying over, so more fun!

October 17 – Noodle dinner. It’s been over two years since we visited Korea and China. How the time flies. We had a dinner in a Korean restaurant in Amsterdam. It was so delicious. I ate so much. It was awesome.

October 31 – Walibi Fright Night. Fun, fun, fun!

November 6 – Waving goodbye to the people of USB 2014, the follow-up to Noodle. Since I’m no longer studying in Enschede, I didn’t follow much of the preparations. It looked pretty good, and I was just a teeny bit jealous of what they were planning to do. Then again, the things that would happen during the next few months totally make up for that.

November 8 – My very own car.

November 26 – Most important day of my life. This day, after the Hearth’s Warming Con meeting, I told Lena I had a crush on her. And luckily, she felt the same about me. After this point, my life has been a pretty big roller coaster of having fun, stressing out because I have so much stuff to do and missing Lena whenever we’re apart. Luckily, it’s mostly fun.

November 28 – Committee day. It’s good to do something fun with the people you work with, even if it’s not a regular paid job. We got a tour through a bit of Amsterdam, played a bit of pool and enjoyed a great sushi dinner.

December 13 – Utrecht meet. One of the best meets of the year. Will attend again for sure.

December 29 – New Year’s Party. Or at least, the start of it. A four-day party to celebrate the turn of the year with some of the best people I know.

A weird year indeed, especially the last few months. But it’s those months that have been the best I’ve ever had. And I’m very happy to see more of that coming in the next year. A brief look at what’s planned.

In February, the biggest event I’ve been working towards this past time: Hearth’s Warming Con 2015. I’m nervous, but also very excited. It will be the culmination of our efforts to bring a big party to the brony community.

I’m also planning a hitchhiking holiday with Lena. Just the two of us, with endless possibilities of where we will go. Our plan is to go to London, but that may change at any time.

Furthermore, I am planning on doing the Alphabetical Eating challenge and the No challenge, but I will explain more about those when I do them, because I’m pretty sure they will become I Never entries.

And that’s just the start of it. Next year will have a new Sail event, we will visit Emmen Zoo while it’s still in the inner city and I’m hoping to attend a Piano Guys concert.

So, there’s more than enough fun to be had. This year will be a good year.