2021 is nearly complete, and WHAT ... A ... YEAR !!!It has delivered great challenges for many -- and also countless rewards.

With that in mind, and considering that this is the last blog post of 2021, I wanted to share a list of 21 extra-memorable or impactful experiences, people, and occurrences.

Nothing is off-limits, and the breadth will be wide.

I'll keep each one short and sweet, so you can get back to your Christmas present wrapping and holiday feast planning!

1) My Dad

Two weeks ago, in the last blog post, we were together as I sat in my Dad's hospice room, holding his hand and doing my best to comfort him through the final hours of his life.At 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, the day blog post came out, he drew his last breath, and the world said goodbye to a legend.

My dad was an athletic superstar in the sports of basketball and golf.He was the best salmon fisherman I've ever known.

He loved to dance, to tell and re-tell great stories, and more than anything he loved his family: My mom, Janet, my brother, Nick, and I.Being with him for his final 6 days of life was one of the most intense and challenging things I have ever done.

It was also a gift I will never stop treasuring.

Rest in peace, Dad. I'm glad you're with Mom again. I love you.

2) Push-ups

I have always loved push-ups, and I do several workouts every week to stay strong at them.

This past summer we were at a Spartan Race in Snohomish, with a few thousand other athletes.

In the main staging area, the MC announced a push-up contest: Anyone who could go head-to-head and beat "Franz" the US Air Force strong man, would win a free entry to any future race.

I immediately stepped forward. The MC looked me up and down and said:

"Big Dog, if you can do HALF of what Franz does, I'll give you the free entry."

OK. Let's go.

The timer ran for 45 seconds.

Franz did 41... I did 55.It was a proud moment in front of the kids.

3) Appreciation

It's no secret that average and median home prices in Bellingham and Whatcom County have continued to rise throughout this past year.

How much? To answer this, I looked at the past 90 days' sales and compared it to the same 90-day period 1 year ago.

Here are the rates of appreciation:

• Bellingham's median price has increased 20%.

• Bellingham's average price has increased 23.5%.

• Whatcom County's median price has increased 17.8%.

• Whatcom County's average price has increased 16.9%.

4) BNP Sales

In 2020, BNP Realtors had a busy and very productive year despite the onset of the Covid pandemic.

By the end of last year, 2020, we had sold 184 properties -- a new BNP record.

The Crew was, predictably, up for the challenge of beating that record, though.

By end of this year, 2021, we will have completed exactly 203 sales.

It is our great honor to be part of this many households' journey of buying and selling property, and we look forward to yet another exceptional year in 2022.

5) Baja

For Spring Break 2021, the family and I flew into La Paz, Baja, and spent a week kayaking off Isla Espiritu Santo.

It was the first professionally guided trip we had ever done, and we were completely BLOWN AWAY at how much we enjoyed the experience.

The highlight was an hours-long, face-to-face swimming encounter with sea lions off Isla Partida.Since that trip, three other local families who read about our adventure have let me know they have signed up for the same trip.

I can't wait to hear their stories and see their photos.

Personally, I find that every bit as rewarding as having experienced it myself.

6) 100 Houses

I'm going to make a potentially controversial statement here, but it's one I feel strongly about:

Every business that enjoys a successful, profitable, sustainable place in its respective market should give back in a meaningful way to the community that supports it!

As a business owner, nothing makes me more proud than when we come together as a team and make a donation, organize others to donate, or put forth effort for a cause.

The 100 Houses project, now in its 4th year, exemplifies that.

This year, the $10,000 donation from BNP was made to "Our Treehouse", a local organization that helps youth and families grieve after loss or trauma.

Thank you to every single BNP team member for contributing to this donation.

7) Ellen

Every Wednesday, going back at least 3 or 4 years, I have joined my dear friend Ellen for lunch.

Ellen is 93 years old, originally from Norway, a WWII survivor, a lifetime student of mindfulness, and in the top tier of the happiest, healthiest, and most enlightened people I know.

To spend an hour with her is to hook my soul to a 100-gigawatt power station, so unwavering is her positive spirit.

Since Covid, I have stopped at Whole Foods and brought lunch to her in her top-of-South-Hill suite, in a home she shares with my close friends Rievers and Hilde.

Before that, we would go to Whole Foods together, and the staff there would line up to get a hug, a smile, and an uplifting comment from Ellen.

Thank you for your gifts to me and to the world, Ellen. I love you.

8) Reviews

I remember the phone call 10 years ago.

A prospective client was on our website as he called, and he said to me: "Brandon, I'm interested in working with you, but I can't find any reviews from your past clients. You should really do something about that."

In that moment, I committed to being intentional about asking for reviews after a purchase or sale.

Today, we have 528 reviews with an average rating of 5 stars.

Not a week goes by that we don't get calls from buyers or sellers who have found us and chosen us because of these reviews.

They ABSOLUTELY make a difference, and we are grateful for every single one.To the gentleman who first recommended I pursue them, to every last person who has written one, THANK YOU!

9) The BNP Truck

Buying or selling property and moving has SO MANY MOVING PARTS!A few years ago we sat around the conference room table and asked:

Q:"How else can we best help our clients with their move?"

A:A MOVING TRUCK!!!!!

That decision and investment have been among my all-time favorites!Not just our clients, but local race organizers, the Waldorf School for their wreath sales, warm coat drive transport, local tradespeople making deliveries, the Fill the Truck event... even the Ferndale Food Bank after they lost their trucks to the flood.

10) Home School

Hayden, our 13-year-old son, decided to home school this year rather than finish his middle schooling at Waldorf.

That opened the opportunity for me to claim some of his time, and thus began the "Friday Morning Work-with-Dad Project".

We have built, mowed, painted, designed, managed, collected, researched, planned, transacted, failed, learned, succeeded, and laughed together.

And the school year is only half over.

We're currently working on a storage shed near our at-home Ninja gym.

I treasure this time with you Hayden. I Love you Buddy!

11) River Friends

When I was 20 years old I moved west, and settled in the foothills of Lake Tahoe in the American River drainage.

For the next 10 years, whitewater rivers defined my life, my travels, my work... and most importantly my relationships.I met Heather on the bank of the South Fork of the American River, in 1998.

I formed many of the closest friendships I have ever known, paddling the rivers of the Sierra Nevada with a small tribe of men and women whom I will always feel close to.

Last June, I returned to the South Fork and spent two days paddling with Dave, Steve, Charlie, Thomas, Curt & Jen and their son Cadence.

It filled my soul, and I vowed to make a conscientious effort each year to get back there, re-connect with my river tribe, and feel the flow.

12) 900 Liberty St.

We own a small number of rental properties, including the 4-plex at the top of Sehome Hill.

That building was the subject of the "Flooded Fourplex Repair" story around this time last year.

During this year's "unprecedented" floods, I'm very happy to report that not a single drop of water found its way into the living space.

In 2021 we did the full-gut remodel of unit #3, ran new flooring throughout unit #4, took on two new tenants, added the bike-storage shed, and started doing the lawn maintenance ourselves when our regular guy had to quit.

It's always an adventure... but that building brings me immense pride every time I drive up Liberty St. and see it sitting there on top.

Eventually, I'll have the opportunity to remodel all the units the way we did #3, and spruce up the exterior too.

It's work, but it's a labor of love, for sure.

13) Flood Help Fund

You are as much a part of this story as BNP is, because you made it happen.

When the floods hit Whatcom County in November, we put out the call for donations.

As the funds came in one generous act at a time, we began distributing them in $250 cash payments directly to our flood-affected neighbors, mostly in Sumas and Everson.

We did 3 rounds of fundraising, and each time the collective generosity of this group vastly exceeded my expectations.

Donations are still coming in, and as of this writing, we have raised nearly $26,000 -- enough to meaningfully help over 100 households.

I am humbled to have been a conduit for this effort. My gratitude is without measure.

14) The BNP Buoys

I am a watersports fanatic.Kayak racing, swimming, Swimrun, sailboat racing, rowing... I love it all.

I also know how difficult it is for race organizers in these sports to get everything together needed to host an event.

Several years ago I decided to address one specific, recurring challenge: The need to assemble a reliable, available set of giant inflatable race buoys to mark an on-water course.

We ordered five buoys, ropes, anchors, and an electric pump... and since they arrived they have made the rounds to dozens and dozens of events, from Ski to Sea to the Orcas Swimrun to the Lake Whatcom Triathlon... all the way to the Columbia River Gorge.

The next time you're at a local watersports event, look for the bright orange BNP buoys! if you know a race organizer in need, hit us up!

15) YouTube

Over the years I have occasionally added to a small batch of "Learn in 1 Minute" YouTube videos.

Mostly I see it as a "body of work" that sits out there on the world wide web, and on any given day, any single video might help someone figure out a simple task.

I've gotten comments from every corner of the earth, like this one from Indonesia on my "How to tie down a load" video:

That particular video has been popular, gaining over 1.1 million views, 28,000 "thumbs up's" and almost 900 comments.

I will eventually get around to making another "season" of 1-minute videos.(I do appreciate that it's not my full-time job.)

16) Swimrun

After 28 years of kayaking for pleasure and for racing, I was ready for a change of pace.

Fortunately, the sport of Swimrun had recently hit the United States from its birthplace of Sweden.

Our friends Brent and Annie Molsberry hosted the first Bellingham Swimrun race at Lake Padden, and from that early trial run, I was completely hooked!This past summer of consistent training with my amigos Trevor and Isaac, and then the long-course races on Orcas Island and in Ludington, Michigan, were positively EPIC!

I've also made an entirely new batch of friends through the sport, from all over the country.

I'll be back in my surfski for more double-bladed paddling, for sure.

But having a new, completely different sport that is more about challenging myself than trying to be competitive against others, is just what I needed as I head towards my 50th birthday.

17) The BNP Crew

Before I ever made my first hire in 2013, which, incidentally, was Kate Polselli, who is now our Transaction Coordinator at BNP, I had worked for 4 years as a solo Home Inspector and almost 8 years as a solo Realtor.

Being a busy solo Realtor with no direct, dedicated support, is one of the most challenging careers you could undertake.

And I don't mean challenging as in, "I love a good challenge!"

I mean challenging as in,

"Everything and everyone I love has been back-burnered and if I can just keep working for 832 more hours before I fall asleep, I might get caught up."

Launching BNP in 2015 and joining forces with Grace, Kate, Chara, Chelsea, Alana, Paulina, Jacson, Jessa, and Hannah, has been BY FAR the most rewarding and fulfilling professional decision of my life.

Dividing the multitude of required tasks among the right people who are uniquely wired for them, and allowing each of us to focus on what we are particularly good at, has played a major role in our firm's success.

If someone woke me tomorrow morning and told me it was all a dream, I would smile and say, "And a damn fine dream it all was!!!"

***

(It's also next to impossible to get everyone together at the same time. Not pictured below are Chara, Jessa, or Hannah.)

18) The Hand Delivery

For Round 3 of the Flood Help Fund, we had been contacted and asked if we could arrange an in-person delivery of funds to a community of people without the means to apply or receive money online.

On Friday, December 17th, BNP partners Alana Mey and Grace Young made the trip to Sumas and hand-delivered, in-person, 30 envelopes each containing $250 cash.

From Alana:

"Each recipient looked us straight in the eyes and gave a huge, heartfelt Thank You, Merry Christmas, or Feliz Navidad.

The unfortunate 2021 flooding event highlighted what a position of fortune I am in to help in a way that has such a meaningful impact."

From Grace:

"Meeting people in person, hearing their stories, was more impactful than I could have imagined.Face-to-face contact made all their situations so much more real for me.

I am so thankful we had this way to support the community, and that I am in a place to help make a difference financially."

19) Role Models

Back in October, as Grace and I delivered the "Fill the Truck" donations to the Family Resource Center, the director Kathe Koruga took us into a small storage building to show off some furniture items they'd been collecting, including beds and blankets.

She grabbed a hand-sewn quilt from a stack of a dozen or so, and held it out for us to behold.

Then Kathe pulled out her phone, put it on speaker, and called "Betty", the woman responsible for making all the quilts.

Kathe thanked her and asked her to keep making quilts, to which Betty enthusiastically agreed.

When she hung up, Kathe said to us, "You guys, Betty is ninety-four years old."

People like Betty, and my friend Ellen whom I mentioned earlier, have traveled much more of this journey than most of us.

At their age, they could do anything with their time, or nothing at all.But they focus on service, mindfulness, and happiness.

It is such an honor to have crossed paths with them. They are my role models, and they inspire me every day.

20) Lake Padden

Bellingham has SO MUCH going for it, but if I were forced to pick my absolute favorite outdoor feature of this gorgeous place we call home, I would say, hands down, it is Lake Padden.

The countless, COUNTLESS miles I have logged there as a paddler, a swimmer, a runner and hiker...

Its role in hosting the top youth sprint kayak and canoe racing program in the United States...

The many, many tens of thousands of dollars raised there for the Food Bank through the Paddle 4 Food event in the fall...The endless formal events from the Padden Polar Dip on January 1, to the off-road and regular triathlons, to the early-June Swimrun, to multiple others too numerous to list...To the trout-stocked catch-fish-every-time fishing...And most of all, the after-hours or weekend impromptu play sessions with friends and family.

I treasure Lake Padden, its beaches, its trails, its depths, its magical aura, 12 months a year.

21) My Family

Every year is a stand-out when you have a wife and kids like mine.

Our lifestyle is a busy one, between two different school schedules, multiple sports schedules, a 20-acre homestead to maintain, four rescue pets to love and care for, a gloriously busy business to run, a long list of goals and dreams to keep pursuing, and of course all the unexpected curve balls every household has thrown at it.

But the home-Crew keeps it all real, all balanced, somehow, and 1000% worth doing.

Heather, Hayden, and Jazzy, thank you for being on this journey with me, and for making it so insanely adventurous and worthwhile!

The list above was incredibly enjoyable to write.

Given more time, I could add more and more, so many blessings and aspects of my days that I find completely fascinating and that I would enjoy sharing.

I have thoroughly enjoyed looking back on 2021 and sharing some of my favorite memories and insights.

At the end of the day, we are made from our experiences, the people in our lives, and the way we choose to think about it all.

Reflection is key, and writing about it helps me process it, for sure.

What I enjoy even more, though, is looking ahead.I heard a great piece of wisdom recently:

"There's a reason the windshield is so much bigger than the rear-view mirror."Where we've been is important. Where we're going is vastly more so.

Here's to 2022 being an adventurous, meaningful, and positive year for you and yours.