What a year!

I personally had quite the year in 2016. So much learning, so many experiences, so much for which I am grateful.

Back in January, I was still looking for work. I was in the process of interviewing for positions at Vivint and Ancestry. I was still in the MoTab, we were getting ready for the Messiah Concert, and at the same time, as a 2nd year member, I was preparing for the Temple Square Chorale's Spring Concert. I was still doing stuff with the Your Excellence Project podcast.  Rebecca and I were in our 3rd? 4th? month of marriage therapy. Even though I wasn't working for a home health & hospice company anymore, I was still playing music for assisted living facilities and senior centers (Treeo, Charleston, Canyon Breeze, etc.). I got to present to a professional networking group at LDS Employment Resources, a great opportunity for me to test my ideas for a new (another one?!?!?!) consulting business I was thinking about starting with Jesse Angeles' help.

February we were still doing marriage therapy. I think we made a lot of progress by then, a far cry from where things were at back in 2015. A lot of the same from January (MoTab, interviewing for jobs, singing for ALFs & senior centers).  I actually started working on getting an insurance license in Utah, my buddy Kahau Kai in Arizona wanted me to help him expand his business into Utah. So I was learning about the insurance profession, learning about fixed-index annuities and how to pass the insurance exam.  I was still receiving unemployment insurance so I had to take the occasional class, like the LinkedIn class I sat in on.

March started with me getting a physical in preparation for the European Tour for the MoTab. I remember that since my previous physical a year or two prior, I had lost a bit of weight (thanks Rebecca!) and so my numbers were a lot better. I attended the Utah Valley Job Fair with Jesse Angeles (I miss hanging with that dude!). Speaking of Jesse, we started doing some martial arts training, that was cool. Wish I could've continued that.  I got to participate in SheTech in place of my podcast buddy Enoch since he was sick. That was a fun day...being in the UVU arena filled with teen and pre-teen girls doing science and tech stuff. That was loud. But the young ladies in my group had fun and did really well on the group project. I think they were closest to the "real" solution of anyone else, but I'm a little biased. I got to "imitate" Don Ho again for the Orem Senior Center's "Grammy's" event. March ended on a high note with the Messiah concert with the MoTab. Sorry, but no other Messiah experience will ever measure up to performing it with the MoTab+OTS. Pretty awesome sauce. 

April will go down in my personal and our family history as a pivotal month. That was the month when seemingly out of the blue my cousin Ginai came to visit Utah and I found out that she was a member of the LDS Church. I didn't know that prior. We hung out, she got to see me as a member of the MoTab during General Conference, and with all the changes and opportunities and efforts to figure things out, the question "Is it time to move back to Hawaii?" was not only revisited but answered with a resounding, undeniable YES. There was the Lakeside Men's Chorus Spring Concert, there was the Temple Square Chorale Spring Concert. That was amazing, singing Mack Wilberg's amazing "The Prodigal" under the baton of Ryan Murphy. Easily one of my top-5 choir experiences in my life. On the job hunting front, I actually landed an interview with JetBlue and, were I NOT planning on moving, would've probably ended up taking the job for the flight benefits alone. I was committed to continuing forward with the fixed-index annuity gig for Kahau too, but the YES answer kinda put the ki-bosh on that. 

May was a lot of similar stuff: MoTab, singing for ALF's and such. I was still committed to helping Enoch with the Excellence Summit event up at the Zermatt Resort, I presented at the event and think I did ok there. Enoch and I made it our 50th episode. Recorded at least, I don't know about whether those last 10 or episodes will make it to the podcast.  I actually started working for LDS Employment Resources as an account manager, even though I was almost to go on tour with MoTab and then moving to Hawaii.

June was a fun month, I got to go to Hawaii for my 25th year class reunion. I got to see my wonderful friend Charlie! Maile and Rebecca accompanied me on the trip. We were most worried about Maile's transition to Hawaii, her being a junior and other things (in retrospect, we should've worried as much about everyone else, including Isaac, oh well). Boys In The Hall sang together for the first time in nearly 25 years, and we got 38K views of a video of us singing "Hole Waimea" in...a hall. Craziness. We were finally able to get a feel for what was going on with my dad's estate, being physically present makes a big difference when the brother you hoped would be responsible wasn't being responsible. We decided then that we would move our family into the house and start cleaning the place up. Then we headed back to Utah to prepare me for the MoTab's European Tour.

July was basically the European Tour. So many amazing experiences on tour, that would require it's own blog post. Meanwhile Rebecca is busily preparing our Utah home for sale. What a crazy time. The weekend we got back from tour was the Pioneer Day Concert too. Crazy! There was a bon voyage party thrown for us. Lots of people, lots of friends. We lived in Provo, in that neighborhood, attended that ward congregation, since 2002. Nearly 14 years in one place. 

Of course, August is no let up. The UPACK container arrives so we can ship the harp, the cello, and then whatever else we can fit. Yes, we basically got a shipping container for two musical instruments. I get a video interview with Kamehameha Schools (the job I'd eventually accept and am currently in) days before our flights to leave Hawaii. Sidney gets married!!! And then on Aug. 13th, the Chock family is on a flight for Hawaii. One-way tickets.  Move in to a crazy living situation (we told the kids to pretend we were camping out). Getting the kids started with school (Maile had to leave Utah early because Mililani starts Aug. 1 and the principal insisted she start then). I got offered the job at Kamehameha, to start Sept. 16. 

The rest of 2016 is pretty much recorded in this blog. Getting Isaac ready for his mission. Becoming part of a new (to us) ward congregation. But not really new since we already had lots of friends in the ward. 

Hanging with The Haverlys. Hanging with The Ishikawas. My mom. My brothers. My cousin Ginai. 

So many things to reflect on in 2016. Looking forward to 2017.