100 Things That Made My Year (2024)

I’m guilty of being enamored with the new year. New anythings, really, but new beginnings especially. I like the cleanness of it. The diary that begins on January 1 as opposed to, say, February 21. I like starting new goal with the beginning of a calendar (a sickness I carry throughout the rest of the year, too—“Need to start a diet? Better make it a Monday.” Want to dedicate X number of days to develop a new hobby or skill? Better wait for the first of the month.”).

In my excitement with the new, the upcoming, the yet unseen, I too often forget to take stock of what is concluding. To stop and celebrate what I’ve done, where I’ve been, what brought me joy.

Austin Kleon told us to steal like an artist. Which I’ve done, from him, liberally.

This, I think, is more like stealing like an archivist. Here’s a list of 100 things that brought me some level of happiness over the past 365 days. Some are big. Some are impossibly small and quotidian. I love them all equally.

If you’re swept up in what 2025 has in store for you, let me recommend this exercise to you. If you hate the idea of resolutions and new goals, let me recommend this exercise to you. No matter your point of view, this is a great way to close out a year.

Happy New Year.

100 Worth My Time

1. Visiting South Africa with Courtney for the first time.
2. Woolworth’s buttermilk rusks and Nuttikrusts at tea time.
3. Hiking to the top of Table Mountain for sunset and a nighttime cable-car ride back down.
4. The penguins at Boulders Beach.
5. Driving along Chapman’s Peak Drive and stopping to take photos.
6. Afreek Leather Shop in Simon’s Town.
7. Sipping Rock Shandy’s.
8. Nando’s Peri-Peri chicken.
9. The colorful houses on Muizenberg Beach.
10. The views from Cape Point, probably the farthest south I’ll ever get to travel in this world.
11. Hiking to the top of Lion’s Head. (More proud of making it back down alive because my legs were quivering so badly.)
12. Riverside resorts with a pool and drinks.
13. Golf at Drakensberg Garden.
14. The very steep, bumpy ride up the Sani Pass to Lesotho. Getting my passport stamped by visiting another African country.
15. Belgravia gin and tonics at Africa’s highest pub.
16. Slowing down and relaxing in Durban, capping off the longest and best vacation I’ve ever taken.
17. My niece turning 4 years old.
18. Writing and publishing 30 editions of my newsletterthis year. Not exactly “weekly,” but not too shabby.
19. Publishing a blog postin every month except for January and July. Not exactly “prolific,” but it’s a start.
20. Tutoring for the Writing Center. Met some great students. Love the admin staff and leadership. Just such quality people, top to bottom.
21. Watching my magazine students find their voices over a semester’s worth of pitches and stories.
22. Visiting my newspaper folks back in Wyoming.
23. Roman the Dog in a sweater.
24. Completing my total series binge of Top Chef.
25. A new EGO Power+ electric lawn mower for my tiny yard.
26. Attending my 6th True/False Film Fest.
27. Audiobooks on long drives.
28. Airports and air travel.
29. Park time as Uncle Cary.
30. Losing a pocket notebook and luckily finding it in the parking garage.
31. Flowers in the front yard.
32. Watching the Northern Lights with my mom in Tennessee.
33. Sharpening my chef’s knife with a whetstone. A relaxing chore with incredible results.
34. Mitsubishi pencils.
35. The addition of a tower fan to the bedroom. Alleviates my hot-sleeper misery and the white noise of it all is so nice.
36. Chilly mornings in my robe.
37. This really simple corn chowder/soup that Courtney ended up loving. I made it so many times for her this year, but she lit up every time I did.
38. A large reporting project for my friends at the University of Missouri Writing Center. Lots of interviews with impressive people and lots of leeway to write long.
39. Appointment TV viewing with Courtney: House of the Dragon, S2; Shogun; Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Presumed Innocent; Industry, S3; Survivor, S47, to name a few.
40. Sunday afternoon grocery shopping trips with Courtney.
41. Readwise, the great service for remembering what you’ve read, collecting quotes, and more. It sends you a daily email that recirculates some of your highlights and notes, bringing them to your attention again. Plus I love the early versions of its read-later app.
42. A trip to Vintage Hill Farm nursery to buy some nice plants. Met a Corgi, a cat, and some sassy parrots.
43. Spicy grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade tomato soup.
44. Free Fly bamboo lightweight hoodies (his and hers for me and Courtney—h/t Mom).
45. Two new, everyday fountain pens—Lamy Safari and Kaweco Perkeo. They’re not as fancy as my nice one so it felt good not to be so fussy about them.
46. My fledgling photography efforts.
47. Watching the 2024 Olympics, especially the swimming events with Courtney.
48. My Tennessee Volunteers winning the College World Series.
49. Watching the young male deer, Walter, in our backyard.
50. Serving as a judge on behalf of Mizzou’s journalism school for a writing contest.
51. Year 11 of Millie lovin’.
52. Hi-Chews.
53. This friendly orange cat from our neighborhood.
54. NYT Games.
55. Dog-sitting Todd and Skillet (R.I.P.).
56. A beaver taking a bath.
57. Special-occasion meals celebrated at Flyover.
58. A St. Louis funday for me and Courtney: The zoo, IKEA, and a Cardinals game.
59. Lakota Coffee Shop’s bottomless mugs and variety of scones.
60. Spotting hot air balloons over Columbia.
61. Hiking new trails in Columbia.
62. The sweet, life-saving unseen stranger who found my wallet on the trail and placed it on the gate post for me to find after 30 very stressful minutes.
63. The giant bags of Cameron’s Organic Breakfast Blend plus my Barazta Encore coffee grinder.
64. The Love’s gas stations between Columbia and my Mom’s back in Tennessee.
65. Browsing the shelves at St. Louis Art Supply.
66. My Regal Crown Club membership (plus the refillable popcorn-and-soda option).
67. Therapy.
68. Physical books, including The Work of Art, The God of the Woods, and The Barn.
69. Going to see the Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Fabulous Fox Theater with “nosebleed” seats but getting selected by the band for complimentary orchestra seats.
70. Ten-plus mile walks in Columbia.
71. My second Jason Isbell concert, standing just feet from the stage.
72. Traveler’s Company notebooks (both passport- and full-sized).
73. Listening to more than a month’s worth of podcasts for the year.
74. Italian food in The Hill district of St. Louis.
75. Seeing Hamilton in St. Louis, making it my fifth time to see it, each in a different great American city (NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, Memphis).
76. Trading Criterion Collection picks with my friend Connor: He’d pick one for me, and I’d pick one for him, and then we’d send them to each other for a nice surprise.
77. Tennis, tennis, and more tennis. Really getting into the sport and making it a focal point of our Saturday morning routine (followed promptly by a meal at First Watch).
78. Moving in together.
79. Turning the downstairs into a nice little second den.
80. Watching the #1 and #2 golfers in the world tee it up in Memphis.
81. FedEx’s annual flyover on Sunday of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
82. Visiting a Top Golf for the first time with my brother and cousin and liking it so much we came back the very next night.
83. Helping four turtles cross streets/trails/curbs in a week’s time.
84. Celebrating two years with Courtney with a trip to Colorado.
85. Two days of hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park.
86. My second trip to Red Rocks, this time to see Gregory Alan Isakov.
87. Making a sourdough starter (name TBD) and baking my first loaf of bread.
88. Voting.
89. Sunday evening couple’s book club with Courtney. Erasure by Percival Everett took the crown.
90. Attending my mom’s retirement party to see the conclusion of her nearly 50-year career for the State of Tennessee.
91. Finally giving in and going hunting with my brother.
92. Throwing the football with Courtney.
93. An impromptu game of football with some neighborhood kids.
94. December gifts, including a Scotty Cameron putter, a ruby red Kitchen Aid, and a sleek-as-hell Yonex tennis racquet.
95. My Crosstrek reaching 100,00 miles (though they weren’t all mine, it still feels like quite the accomplishment).
96. An early Christmas celebration with the family that really made the traditional holiday timeframe much more relaxing.
97. Hosting a dinner party at the house for the first time.
98. Mom visiting Columbia for the first time.
99. Keeping track of my culture diary for a fourth year in a row.
100. Setting new goals and resolutions for 2025. Not sure why I like the clean start of 1/1 so much, but I do. Feels like anything is possible.