5 Years of Jaysies (2025) and Jaysies.com

30 Dec 2025 23:02

5 years of Jaysies

In 2020, I made up an award that I give to folks. It is part of giving people their flowers, and a way to time-capsule the some of the highlights of the year (and those that made it great).

The only change this year is I'm lifting the work requirement this year because much of my time this year was spent travelling for work.

Before we jump in, let me say. 5 Years of Jaysies is bonkers in my head! The moments this year have allowed me to see the amazing community around me. Last year I made the decision to get the domain jaysies.com. I think the internet doesn't spend a lot of time giving praise to those that are doing amazing things. I will be moving those posts as this one to the site as well. I've been working heavily on render engine and currently cannot produce the site in the way that I would like but I do commit to having the site running and publicly available early in 2026.

I also want to mention that this year was a big one for me personally. I travelled a lot, I also spent a lot of time away from my family. This year something happened in my life that I have wanted as a child so it did clean up this year.

There are no changes this year to the categories:

  • Best Personal Moment
  • Group Moment
  • Best 1:1 Moment

Personal Moment

This is an acknowledgment of some of the biggest personal moments of the year.

The honerable mentions are:

  • Playing catch with my wife and daughter on the field at Truist Park
  • Meeting Eli White
  • Travelling to Riga, Latvia
  • Short time management opportunity
  • Joining the PostgreSQL Community
  • Watching Banana Ball with my family

A view from my seats at Truist Park

Best Personal Moment Winner: Being a Braves Season Ticket Holder

This was on the list last year but you see actual tickets and perks started in March of this year. Also I want to mention that two of the honorable mentions were perks of being a season ticket holder. I have made new friends and experienced moments as a Braves fan that I honestly didn't think I'd ever get to do.

Seats from the outfield where our season seats are

Group Moment

Group moments are really a highlight for me because they speak to the amazing friends that I have.

  • Eating with the KC Crew (Jeff, and Frank and Elizabeth and respective families)
  • The Coworking Group - Erin Staples and Co.
  • A trip around Brooklyn - Erin and Sassy Joe
  • DC BPD and Render Engine Meetup

Best Group Moment: Attending the All Star Game

The All Star game is hosted in a location about every 25-30 years. This meant that I would be in my late 50-60's the next opportunity that I got. So I was lucky that my season tickets also came with the opportunity to secure my seats for the all star game. I also almost caught a home run ball from that game and watched many baseballs fly over my head in the Home Run Derby. It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Me and Taylor and his nephew at the All Star Game

1:1 Moment

1:1 Moments are so great. I've learned that in those small moments you can make a friend for life.

  • Going to see Stray Kids with my sister

Best 1:1 Moment: A stroll through Amsterdam with Christian Funkhouser

So when I travel to new places, I like to explore but it's naturally not the safest thing to do. That's why when my colleague Christian mentioned going to the City Museum in Amsterdam, I was excited. What made it better was the walk from the train station through a small section so I could explore parts of a small neighborhood. Then came the City museum which was awesome (I always love how American culture is viewed and portrayed in other countries.)

There was no deep conversation or any moment that was like life altering for us. Just two guys looking at art and seeing how people live in another place.

Piece of art at the City Museum

Congratulations to all of this year's winners.

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