With a few hours left to the end of the year, I thought it’d be interesting to look back at 2013 — undoubtedly the best year for me in recent memory.

The first few days of 2013 were spent in anxious anticipation for W‑Day. Invites had been sent, the caterers were ready, the church was decorated and family and friends had already descended. We had great fun designing our wedding invite. Each one was carefully printed by the folks at Alpha Creative, and placed into custom paper boxes by us.

Then came the big day! After seeing each other through high school and college for nearly 8 years, Vinnie and I got married on 06 January. Everyone says their wedding day is the happiest day of their lives, and ours was no different.

Unforgettable! That same month, we moved into our own apartment in Caranzalem, where we currently live.

By the end of March, I quit my job at DotAhead. It had been two years of intense learning and immense hard work. I was ready to take on the world as a capable digital designer.

In April, I began a new chapter at Kainos, a startup in Santa Cruz owned by a friend. I currently lead visual design here on websites and web apps of all sizes. I also push production-ready frontend code because I enjoy designing in the browser.

Kainos is not your typical startup. We recruit only home-grown talent, we strictly endorse work-life balance, and work for us goes beyond pushing pixels and writing code. We are currently a team of 12.

In May, I uploaded the second iteration of Hidden Logic; my other blog focused on design and the Web. It remains one of the few horizontal-scrolling websites that focuses on the reading experience. It reaffirms my commitment to produce quality long-form content.

I turned 25 on 6 June: my first birthday after getting married. By then, we were already three months pregnant. Our families were so ecstatic!

Towards August, things were heating up at work. Riding on proposals designed by yours truly, we bagged two landmark projects — the first for one of India’s largest private bus operators, and the second for Goa’s most iconic nightclub. I know now that we are destined for great things.

Toward the last quarter, we were eagerly anticipating our baby’s arrival.

She arrived on 14 November. I was in the labour room with Vinnie for nearly 10 hours. It is the most beautiful experience — to see life come into this world. Both of us love kids, and this one is ​“flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones”. She’s perfect.

The first month was stressful, but our daughter’s arrival has taught us patience, selflessness and above all — unconditional love. Our greatest joy so far has been seeing her occasional smiles and her frequent yawns.

We baptised her Sasha Laura Fernandes into the Catholic Church on 22 December in the presence of family and friends.

That marked the end of an eventful and amazing year. I praise God for His goodness to us, inspite of our unfaithfulness. For the gift of health, love, peace and joy. To Vinnie, for being my rock as always. To friends and family, without whom all of this would be meaningless — you know who you are.

Here’s wishing you a great year ahead. Bring on 2014!

Yesterday’s gospel from St. John made me reflect a little.

Unlike the synoptic gospels, St. John maintains that Jesus Christ — the Word of God — existed from the beginning. Christmas is not really so much about the physical birth of Jesus Christ, as it is about his divine Incarnation; the Word becoming flesh (Jn 1).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

Verses 10 and 11 resonate with our times:

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God …

St. John’s use of typology gives everything in his gospel a deeper meaning. Over 2000 years ago, ​“his own people” referred to the Jews, but today it also refers to us Christians.

I pray that Christmas all over the world becomes less commercial and more about Jesus; and also for the gift of authentic Christian faith.

Confluences is a new series on my other blog, Hidden Logic, that will take a closer look at the intersection of design with business, sales, marketing, technology, strategy and more.

The first feature looks at the upcoming eighth-generation Suzuki Alto.