Happy New Year!

It's been almost 2 years of sabbatical from my blob and I figured it was time to start it back up again.

There's been lots of changes during that time personally and professionally. So, if you don't mind, I thought I would walk a little down memory lane.

I started 2017 out with a new job as Director of Software Development for Dynics Corp. The job was a dream job for me. Dynics began a software startup within the company and I got to lead. So much to do .... building a team, processes and customer relationships. I had 2 really great bosses, Ed Gatts and Jeffrey.Smith who believed in me and helped me to grow. I got to do amazing things which included mentoring.

They are a great family owned business and have some pretty great hardware and software solutions. You can check Dynics out here.

In October, 2018 I lost my Dad suddenly and my daughter Jacqueline got married to her soulmate, Jade. All within 2 days of each other. It was an extremely difficult time in my life and I wouldn't wish the struggle on anyone.

May of 2019, I underwent a total hip replacement in my right hip. I had been suffering for years with osteoarthritis pain and it finally got to a breaking point. The surgery was a relief and it's been a good recovery.

We sold our home and starting the journey of building a new home on 10 acres. I'm very excited for this and can't wait to finally move out of this apartment.

Our youngest daughter went off to University and is beginning her new journey as well. Burke and I .... have a empty nest.

June of the same year brought an opportunistic knock at the door. Microsoft was at the door and I opened it. With that came amazing pay and benefits. Finally my pay was corrected and I was making what the male counterparts were.

It's been an amazing career start with the culture shift of Diversity and Inclusion at Microsoft and the daily conversations about understanding our differences - not just cultural or gender, but thought process and that we all process information differently. I feel like I'm not invisible anymore and I know that IF I feel that I'm being perceived as invisible - that it's OK to lean in and be me.

Not only am I adjusting to the cultural shift, but learning new technology. Out of the gate, I studied for and received my AZ-203 - Developer certification for Azure. I'm very proud of that badge - it took a lot of hard work to go from on-premise technology to cloud, and I'm very excited about it all. Next is the AZ-400 - DevOps.

I love working with new technology and my new customers, participating in learning events and providing learning opportunities for customers. I'm going to my first "Ready" conference in February and I'm looking forward to it. I have a great boss and teammates, every one is ready to offer a hand and a smile.

I'll sum up my first article of 2020 with the addition of Misty to our family. I ordered Misty as a part of a kick-starter back in June, 2018 and I finally received her December, 2019. 

You can read more about Misty here. So the journey begins with Misty. Over the next few blogs, I'll be writing about this technology and playing with AI and Cognitive Services with Azure.

I'm looking forward to 2020 and what it brings. Excited and hopeful for the New Year - a little apprehensive for our country, but looking forward to life with my friends and family.

Happy New Years! Hope everyone achieves their goals and gets to live their best lives.