Oh what a difference a year makes! 

As I sit here thinking through all the fun we've had this year, I can't help but just say thank you.

Thank you, Lord for blessing us immensely. Thank you to each of you for faithfully watching and reading. And thank you to all the different companies that have believed in us this year, giving us the opportunity to test and review their gear.

It's so hard to believe that even one year ago, this website and platform for relaying information to each of you hadn't even been created yet.

Yes, we had a website, but it was not exactly how we really wanted to organize content for you guys to find and read.

But after lots of diligent, hard work coupled with many phone calls and a lot of screen sharing, a vision of what could be is now a reality.

And now, here you are reading this! 

Based on statistics, you are probably reading this post on your phone. And, hopefully you're on this page after having read another article about what could possibly be your next favorite piece of gear.

We've tried to mix in several types of articles throughout the year and have even welcomed a few new authors to the site.

If you have a chance, please let us know which articles you like the best and why.

It's fairly easy to track which subjects are getting the most clicks, but it's always nice to hear it from the voice behind the clicker.

Adrian has continued to keep YouTube reviews going live each week and really appreciates all the comments from all of you. There's a lot of behind the scenes testing and learning that has to occur for us to make each video, and that doesn't even include the several hours that she usually spends filming and editing each one.

Just so you know, I think she has figured out that it takes about nine hours to make each 8-10 minute video that you watch each week.

That figure doesn't include the time spent learning and putting to use a specific item, only the script writing, filming, and editing process that has to occur.

We don't take lightly the responsibility of bringing you accurate information that is succinct and as complete as possible.

Now the other part that I don't think either one of us expected when we started Review This Thing is all the fun and neat people we meet along the way. It's so fun connecting with new friends that enjoy a lot of the same activities as we do and value similar things that we value.

We had no idea the friendships we would form along the way. In case you don't know this, the outdoor and shooting sports industry is full of people that have a passion for all things outdoors and thankfully a passion for protecting those things also.

Now for a quick summary:

This year alone we've tested

- 4 new rifles (took animals with 3 of those),

- 3 new shotguns (harvested turkeys with 2 of them)

- 9 pistols, and we're working on 1 other pistol review that should be released soon.

- That's not to mention the 9 different optics that we've put through the paces from NEWLY RELEASED turkey scopes and programmable scopes to red dots on those pistols.

I must say, while I think Adrian really likes the assortment of products we come in contact with, my favorite thing to test has to be the firearms.

I really like shooting them all and try to learn something new from each trigger pull. We've definitely learned that in the pre-Review This Thing days, we did not shoot enough!

So if you think you head to the range enough right now, don't hesitate to increase your number of trigger pulls in 2024, and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Of course, let's not forget the 10 different Camping World RV feature tours we've taken you guys on also.

We hope you've really enjoyed those RV tours, and while we haven't purchased one yet, we're having a lot of fun narrowing down our choices.

We couldn't let a summary of this year go by without mentioning Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, and Missouri. We made new friends in each of those states and always enjoy traveling. It's even more fun when we're able to combine traveling and review videos!

As far as statistics go:

Thanks to you guys watching, subscribing, and sharing we've added about 8,000 subscribers the YouTube channel, a little over 300 new newsletter subscribers, and have been able to keep hitting Google milestones for website visitors each month.

We couldn't continue to bring you informative videos and articles each week without your support.

As we look forward to what 2024 will bring, we can only imagine the new adventures and products it will bring to the channel. We can't wait to keep the ball rolling and strive to bring you the most informative and thorough reviews on YouTube.

Some of the best advice that I've heard from all the New Year's quotes was from a friend, he said "Make things happen that get your life headed in the direction you want. Don't let life steer you, make sure you're steering it!" While we know that heaven is our ultimate goal and direction in life, the journey of getting there sure can't be a lot of fun.

Make sure you're steering this journey in the direction you want instead of letting it steer you. Here's to a great 2024 for each of you!