At the beginning of this year, I still didn't really have many friends. Certainly wasn't going out very often. Was lucky enough to know JR and Liz, at least! I've been missing them as of late. Attended their wonderful wedding this past summer, and ever since they've been keeping fairly busy and homebody-like. Enjoying being married, I'm sure! ;) I'll get out with them one of these days.
Been missing on Nathan and Jamie ever since they moved away to Nashville for Nathan's new job :( I really should go out to visit them sometime; it's not terribly far, after all!
My best friends Kevin and Sarah each came out to visit me once :) Kevin was going to visit again for Halloween, but he's got himself a new girlfriend (finally!) and they're all crazy in love :) Sarah's been busy jet-setting around with her new-ish airflight attendant job (of which I'm jealous some of the time!) Was good to finally get to hang out with each of them for even a weekend. Will have to get them out here again sometime, now that I know more fun places to go to!
The end of the summer marked a new beginning of a multitude of friendships for me! I stumbled upon Level Up on my way home from the store one day, and my nerd life was forever changed by the wonder that is Pathfinder Society :D I've met some super cool people who I hang out with throughout the week every week. Such a change from the first half of my year here in Tennessee :) From the first day of PFS, I've been the part of a home game group of Cullyn's, and since then I've joined Hunter's home game, and Chuffy will soon be starting his own as well! Definitely can never say I don't get enough gaming in :)
Not only is there so much gaming, but lots of going out and hanging out as well! Have attended the industrial club Temple twice now (once was the awesome Powerman 5000 concert!) Tonight will be the third, to close out this glorious year :) Not only been out with the PFS group, but also work cohorts, Teresa and Crystal in particular. It's been wonderful having so many fantastic friends :D
Went out to two beer festivals this year! Brewfest in the summer with Crystal, Teresa, her husband Craig, and Stephanie all from work. Had a blast! Got crazy drunk for sure :d I even passed out at the Indian place we went to eat afterward. So glad Teresa offered to be the DD! Brewer's Jam just after my birthday with Felix, Christina, Cullyn, Boats, and one of their friends (I don't remember his name.) Didn't get as drunk as I did at Brewfest, but maintained an enjoyable buzz the entire time :D Was a "bit" muddy! Ended up having to throw my Vans in the washing machine afterward XD
Started off with some light stuff before going too heavy… but my relationship with Mike that I started off with at the beginning of this year unfortunately didn't last. Among things, I grew apart from him during my time here. I finally called the whole thing off just before my birthday (why does that feel like a trend?) For me, it was almost a relief at that point, as I was able to let go of most of the depression I had been building up over the previous several months. While not the happiest of situations, I believe most things happen for reasons, and I don't regret any part of our relationship. We're still friends now, so I'm happy with that :) Sometimes things just don't work the way you plan.
Things with the family have been fairly normal. I don't hear everything that goes on with Dad (I think Mom doesn't want me to worry?), but he is how he is. I feel bad for Mom, and still think she really needs to take more time for herself. I'm sure Jay and I could figure out ways to help take the burden off of her, but she's so stubborn! (Yes Mom, you are!) Grandma was ever-so-recently hospitalized, and is now going to be put in an assisted living facility :/ I still remember the last Vegas trip she came out with us to... Oh well, guess she's getting up there in age.
The kittens have been happy and healthy :)
My new job has presented so many challenges this year, and thus far I think I've done very well overcoming them! I've learned so much; never thought I'd be a developer :D I get along super well with everyone in the office, too. It's fantastic having such an awesome group of people to work with and around :D (Not that there weren't some at ASO, of course!) I even participated in a work group event in the summer- dragonboat races! That was pretty awesome, despite our terrible loss. Will definitely do that next year, should they run again.
Really threw myself into some art-ing starting earlier in the year. I guess when you don't have friends to go out with you find new paths to venture into :) Although, my art projects definitely dwindled once I got into PFS XD My sketching class was excellent; feel like I learned several important, essential concepts from my teacher :) What really drove me to take the sketching class was getting into vector art. Wanted to be able to prep better and more varied base pieces. Hopefully there'll be something to show for that at some point XD
Furthered my crochet skills by breaking into amigurimi pieces. I believe I completed 4 in total this year: Cthulhu, a pirate and ninja combo, and most recently a Chocobo :) Not sure if between knitting and crocheting I prefer one over the other, but they both certainly have their own pros and cons. Even busted-out my sewing machine to make my werewolf Halloween costume this year. I guess I was pretty crafty :D
Did some painting this year, mostly just the shot glasses for Christmas. Only painted two miniatures during the KAMP session I attended, and one turned out shit anyway XD Still need to finish up the new minis I bought last year for my Dark Eldar army, which I probably won't get to until I assist Hunter with his Tau. Also have a ton of pieces to build for Super Dungeon Explore! :)
The later half of this year certainly spurred much cooking and baking in my kitchen. Recently obtained a new Crock Pot, which has already been used once! Lots of desserts have been made for sharing; everything from cookies, to cakes (and cake balls!), and brownies. I'm sure that won't end any time soon :) Even broke into making my own limoncello! That went rather swimmingly, but it's not as though it were difficult, just requires patience.
Started off 2014 playing some World of Warcraft (blame nostalgia.) That didn't last long, which isn't surprising. After ditching that, picked up some Star Wars The Old Republic again. Wasn't too bad, but they stripped a lot of stuff out for subscribers-only. Got into the Wildstar beta, which I thoroughly enjoyed :D However, once it launched, didn't stay around long in that game either :/ Probably due to my break-up with Mike, since we were originally playing together, and it's no fun alone. Didn't even make it to end game. Oh well! The MMO scene hasn't really been all that exciting anyway.
Enjoyed the hell out of Diablo 3 and its expansion Reaper of Souls this year. Still playing more of that game. Just picked it back up since Hunter just bought RoS. Such an addiction! Even got into League of Legends again. Not that I was super into it at any point in time, but I did dabble with Mike and Cory at one point. Definitely been enjoying it more since getting some lessons with Dan. I now understand jungling, and actually want to play! /ramm
Finally broke the 100 game mark on Steam o.O Can't believe I've purchased that many titles. Their sales are entirely to blame (I think!) Some notable titles I grabbed/played this year: Monaco (awesome!), Brothers- a Tale of Two Sons (not bad!), Deponia (just bought the 2 sequels, too), Democracy 3 (superb time sink!), Don't Starve (I'm crazy), Dead Rising 3 (OMM), E.Y.E.- Divine Cybermancy, Endless Space, FEZ, FORCED, Forge, FTL (amaaaaaaazing), Half-Minute Hero, The Long Dark (looking forward to actually playing this), Murdered- Soul Suspect (I don't care if people say it's no good!), Cook Serve Delicious! (finished, love it!), The Stanley Parable (hilarious!), Antichamber (amusing), SteamWorld Dig, Transistor, Trine 2, Tropico 4, Unepic (meh), and Witcher 2 (yes, finally.)
Civilization: Beyond Earth gets its own paragraph, because I think it's that much fun :) Have 2 running hot seat games currently: one with Dwyer and Bradd, another with Hunter and Bradd. I don't think Dwyer cares for the game much, so he'll probably drop out of our game sooner or later. I've already got 150+ hours racked up in such a short amount of time, and I'm still terribad at the game XD Although every time I play I think I'm getting better. That or I'm just delusional :) Dwyer and I also finished our last Civ V hot seat game during this year. Played for about a year and a half; Dwyer won through a points victory, although he was well on his way to taking over everyone's capitals.
Each year I set a goal for my gamerscore on the XBox to reach by my birthday. This year was 30K, and I didn't make it! Haven't been playing my consoles much at all the latter half of this year, actually. Was pretty close, too, if I recall correctly. Maybe only a few hundred points off. Will need to finish up Mass Effect 2, and that should get me up to 30K. Pretty surprised I started that game this year, after greatly disliking the first (which I played all the way through, mind you.) This sequel has been (so far) much better. However, this did not hold true for another series that I'm not a fan of: Assassin's Creed. I've played 1 and 2 all the way through, and only really enjoyed the last 10 minutes worth of the story of 2. Started up... Brotherhood? this year, and didn't make it to completion. It's just.so.boring. So, no thanks!
Speaking of disappointing video games, participated in the Destiny beta this year. Not sure what I was expecting, but it lived up to nothing. For me, it was a lackluster Borderlands wanna-be game; so why not just go play Borderlands? That's exactly what I did! Changed my Destiny reservation to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (which totally came out on my birthday!) Been enjoying that one, although I'm no where near even half-way through, I'm sure.
In game-non-game-related news, didn't win at Fantasy Football this year, despite having the most wins and being at the top all season until the playoffs :/ Totally bombed the first playoff game, and won the second, landing me in third place. Le sigh!
Finished two book series by Cassandra Clare this year: The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices. I don't care if they're fantasy teen novels, I love them all! One of my favourite television shows ended: Warehouse 13. The last season was so terribad it made me sad, too :( Watched quite a few movies this year, notable titles I can recall: Snowpiercer (great!), Interstellar (fantastic!), Gone Girl (crazy good), Guardians of the Galaxy (fabulous!), Angry Video Game Nerd the Movie (terrible), Bridesmaids (not bad), The Hundred Foot Journey (cute!), The Grand Budapest Hotel (excellent!), Stoker, Nymphomaniac, In Time, You're Next, Johnny Dangerously (awesome!!), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (love it!), Black Swan (creepy), Another Earth, and Hector and the Search for Happiness (really good.)
Some monumental life things happened this year, including my 30th birthday! Like aging is an achievement in this day and age or something :d I shall continue on my travel through time as I always have :) Paid off my motorcycle, and even sold my condo! Yup, it's official as of this Tuesday! I hope Realtor Shawn loves it as his first place just as I did :D It really was a fabulous residence. Lots of great memories were had there. (Also some not-so-great, but that's neither here nor there :) ) One of my computer's harddrives died earlier in the year. Luckily, I was able to recover my would-be-lost data utilizing the famed "freezer trick." I don't care if science says it doesn't work, it worked for me! Also got my second tattoo this year around Mother's Day. Since I got my Mega Man, we all know which one is going to come next... :) Was semi-concerned about getting one so visible, but it really doesn't matter. Half the time I forget it's there anyway XD
Unfortunately, didn't take my annual Winter vacation this year. Made it 3 years running before that ended. Oh well. I'll just have to make up for it this year! I believe Crystal and I are still on track for Oktoberfest in Germany...
Slew of 2014 selfies, 'cause that's "so in", amirite?
Excited for this new year! Have a convention to go to in April for work (in VEGAS!!). Want to plan a trip up to D.C. to see the cherry blossom trees bloom; plus, I've still yet to visit our own country's capital. Kristin and Joe are getting married (finally!!!), and it'll be the first wedding I'm in! Going to keep up with my blogging. Think I've been doing an okay job. I know I get super quiet when bad things are going on, but meh! Taking on a household project with Hunter to build a dining room table fit for me and my nerdom :D Not to mention, a budding new relationship? ;)
Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space.
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