Livin' La Vida Luna y Luca
End of 2024 v 2025
I'm a little more gray and wrinkled. Luna's hair is much longer. Luca caught up to Luna's height. Dia looks the same, if not better.
2025 Recap w/ Pics 📸
One recap wasn't enough, so we're running it back. This time the theme is, "Pic or it didn't happen."
Let's kick this off by looking at the goals I set for myself at the end of last year.
Family Wins:
We threw an awesome birthday party for Luna and Luca. I think we had ~60 people attend. This was also the first time many of our friends and family saw our new home, so it doubled as a housewarming.
We also hosted Thanksgiving. ~35 family members came to enjoy good food and great conversation. The weather cooperated, so we even got to throw around a football in the backyard between meals.
Xmas in Mexico
We made it to Mexico for Christmas! We did a Secret Santa gift exchange while we were there. Except our kids got a gift from literally everyone. We ended up borrowing a suitcase from Dia's mom to bring back all the new toys.
The other picture is one of many marathon meals we enjoyed. This particular picture captures us at Dia's birthday Linner @ Arroyo. We started at 2p and ended at 6p. I left the restaurant on a stretcher.
Family Fails
Unfortunately, we didn't take my parents on vacation this year. I planned a trip to Scottsdale, but my mom didn't want to get on an airplane. She got spooked by Air India Flight 171, which is unfortunate. I hope she can get over this fear soon.
We also didn't make it to South Carolina in 2025 to see my sister. She now has 2 kids and a new home that I have yet to see IRL. This wrong will be righted in 2026... assuming we can stay on good terms 😅.
Fitness Wins:
I hit the gym 208x in 2025. That's a perfect average of 4x/week despite getting sick as a dog in February. Can't ask for much better than that.
Fitness Fails:
I didn't set a Misogi, I didn't get my body fat re-tested, and I didn't train with intention after my first 10-week cycle.
Not to make excuses, but 2025 was a transition year for us. New house, new school (Luna), potty training (Luca), more work (portfolio), etc.
Fitness took a bit of a back seat as a priority, which is OK considering I still managed to show up.
Finance Wins:
Net worth increased by 72.45%, which is almost triple my goal of 25%. This increase was mostly driven by business income and the SP500 going on an absolute tear.
We had net positive cashflow for 5 months in 2025, which is probably some sort of record for us. We were in the red for 6 months and had a breakeven month in March.
I'm not going to go as far as calling it a failure, but I didn't hit my income goal despite selling 6 homes + flipping a contract or two.
Freedom / Fun:
I took a solo trip to Santa Monica, CA to attend Reconvene in September. I had such a great time, I already booked my ticket for next year's event.
I didn't, however, take a "boys trip". I don't think I'll carry this goal forward into 2026 either. Most of the friends I'd want to do a "boys trip" with are too in the trenches at home. Many of us have 1 or 2 kids under 6yo, and it just feels like a heavy lift to vacation without the whole family.
My college friends and I did, however, book a family trip to Puerto Rico in February. As of right now, it's 12 adults and 8 kids. It's going to be an epic mess.
Other Things Worth Celebrating:
Dia's mom came here 3 separate times in 2025. She came for Christmas 2024 and stayed into the New Year. Then she came for the kids' birthday in April/May, and we took her to Disney for Mother's Day. Then she came back for her birthday in August, and we took her to Cape May. I plan on replicating this in 2026.
Luna "graduated" from daycare and started Kindergarten. I'm so proud of her. She's so dang cute, smart, polite, and eloquent. She can communicate her feelings better than I can.
Family Time
My extended family got together so many times this year: from Sweet 16s and major holidays to pool parties and backyard barbecues. I'm so grateful my mom's side of the family is big, and ~many of our kids have an opportunity to grow up together. Family parties were a highlight of my childhood, and I'm hoping to provide the same experience for my kids.
Weddings & Babies
Two of my BiFFs hit major milestones in 2025. Panks got married & Gamanda got preggo. Very happy for both. The Wedding was a 4-day banger, and the Gender Reveal was quite the party as well.
Finally, we developed and sold some amazing homes.
Lowlights of 2025:
Admittedly, I'm not good at remembering things that didn't go so well. I try to keep myself honest by sharing failures and lessons learned in the moment, but I'm generally too optimistic to remember the bad stuff when I'm reflecting. It's definitely a blind spot, but I prefer this to the alternative.
There was, however, room for improvement in one major category in 2025. I could be an even better dad. I feel like I'm doing almost everything right - I'm super present, I'm providing, and I'm protecting. I'm just not mentally tough enough when it comes to dealing with normal kid things like complaining, crying, messes, etc.
I want to say more, but I'll save it for next week.
Til then...
✌️