Much could be said about 2022, and if the year offered us anything, it was an opportunity to grow and be flexible. The market was an absolute roller coaster, and we’re getting better at thriving in unpredictable circumstances.
As new years often do, we’ve taken some time to look back on what we want to hold onto from last year and what we hope for the year to come.
Here’s a quick look at how we’ve grown over the last 12 months in business and in our personal lives (and what we predict for 2023).
Reflections On Business: Thankful for Growth
We have been thankful to grow our real estate business by 5% in another whirlwind year for the real estate industry. Through that growth, we managed to introduce 32 new neighbors into the Pittsburgh market, helping to build the community we love so much!
In such a competitive landscape, we found ourselves embarking on intense, wild searches for the perfect homes on behalf of our buyers. We traveled everywhere from the heart of the city to the deep woods—where we ultimately got our van stuck while scouting a location for a buyer.
We continued to refine our design skills as we consulted on layout and finishes on several projects ranging from a whole house renovation for an investor in Garfield to small adjustments in lighting and staging for sellers in Shadyside.
We also hit a long-awaited deadline in our Swissvale renovation. After years of being held up in the courts (and after investing tens of thousands of dollars), we’ve finally been awarded title on our conservatorship. It was an exhausting process, but that title means we can finally finish the project and get it ready to call home for a new neighbor!
Reflections On Personal Growth: Thankful for Family
One of our biggest goals in being self-employed was to strike a meaningful work-life balance so we can spend as much time as possible with the kids. We’ve continued pursuing that through homeschooling, something we’ve absolutely loved.
Since we’re home with the kids for most of the day, we’re able to watch them grow and learn and pursue their interests—something we’re extremely thankful for.
As we watch them grow, we strive to encourage them to balance their core education in reading, logical thinking and articulating their thoughts, while creating space to pursue their own passions, from baking to outdoor exploring to building lego robots and more.
Continued travel has enriched our family time and given us an appreciation for the beauty and diversity in the world.
Ted hit an exciting benchmark as he played frisbee golf in the 48 contiguous states, and we’ve now traveled to a total of 15 national parks with the kids (between 2021 and 2022).
We made it back to Texas twice to see family, and we even spent a lovely week together in Mexico! We also managed to take three of the kids on their own personal parent/child trips. We took Caroline to Puerto Rico, Marie to New York City, and Emma to Washington, DC.
Our board game collection continues to grow, and we’ve even started overflowing from the extra storage we purchased last Christmas. There was even one night when we spent 4.5 hours playing a single game with the neighbors!
Hitting Our Goals Set At the End of 2021
In our reflections, we’re pleased to see we’ve hit nearly all of our goals set at the end of 2021! Here’s what we had set:
Continue providing excellent service through Compass. We feel like we’ve definitely done this, as we reflected in our 2022 Wrapped article!
Continue progress in our investing projects by renovating three homes. We didn’t get as far on this one as we would have liked, but we’re excited to finally have our conservatorship!
Grow our homeschooling skills to become better teachers for the kids. We were so thrilled to see the kids’ benchmark scores! Their success was incredibly validating—especially since we’ve managed to balance schooling with so much travel.
Travel more with the kids, especially in our van. We’ve continued to explore the country with the kids, and Caroline even got to leave the country!
Goals for 2023
In 2023 we know we want to continue delivering a great education for our kids and growing our business. We hope this includes more time with friends and neighbors as we connect and build community. We hope for more board game nights, hosting more dinners, and days spent enjoying time with others in our backyard.
On our personal goals, Julie aims to run the Portland marathon, which will give her the opportunity to stop in Oregon and Washington and hit her last two of the 50 states! She’s also casually started playing her french horn again, and is exploring playing with a community orchestra. Ted wants to continue pursuing his love of frisbee golf. This year, he’s hit a total of 800 courses played. In 2023, he’d like to push that to 900!
Follow Along
We’ll continue writing and posting in 2023, so follow along for more updates, especially on Facebook and Instagram!