2013 "Year In Review" Entry / An iPad Christmas
It's the first day of 2014! Every year at this time I take a moment away from normal journal entries to look back at the previous year and remind myself that it was a year worth living. Let's have some fun seeing what happened to me in 2013!
January was a quiet month as both Nicole and I were employed and working opposite schedules. In February, after deciding that my personal life came first, I made the decision to quit my job at a microchip factory after being there for two and a half years. March is when I made it happen and left that job for the bliss that is being unemployed. Nicole-fed up with her call center job-also decided to quit on nearly the same day as me.
In April, I quit as the host of the bungie.org Mincecraft server after two whole years of fun. Nicole and I were both unemployed at the same time and we celebrated by renting a beach house. May was a traveling month as we spent a week in California where I met Nicole's parents and family. In June, Nicole landed a new job at a psychiatric therapy practice (Which she still has as of today) and adjusted to its stressful demands.
In July, we gave my high school friend, Josh, a couch to sleep on for a short time and I got to see Weird Al in concert. August was when a mysterious skin condition-diagnosed in November as lichen planus-began to appear on my body. That month also marked one whole year of Nicole living with me and one year of having dental braces. September was a scary month as a beach trip almost cost us my Geo Metro and my brother, Ryan, was laid off from his job.
In October, Nicole and I had a rough time dog-sitting for one of her friends. November was a sad month as Ryan and his fiancé moved to Ohio at the same time that my high school buddy, Bryan, moved out of the area. A bright spot was that after more than a year's work, I finally finished converting my family's VHS tape collection to DVD, culminating with a presentation of the final product at Thanksgiving dinner. Finally, in December, I became a fantasy football champion after five years of playing with friends, and my siblings got together to give my parents the ultimate Christmas gifts: Their very own iPads! The story of which is told below.
The hands-down biggest event of 2013 for me would have to be quitting my job. I had a nice amount of savings which afforded me the opportunity to quit and not worry about immediately finding a job, but the money is almost gone. I've half-heartedly been looking for a new job ever since, but I've been lazy and I've enjoyed cultivating a loving relationship and friendship with my live-in girlfriend, roommate, and best friend: Nicole. This year has been an incredible time for the two of us, and I see that bond continuing into 2014. Any goals I have for the new year are pretty simple: Find a new job, get into a larger apartment with Nicole when our current apartment's lease runs out in March, get a new car, and enjoy life a little more. With a new job and money coming in, I'd like to do more traveling as well as just spending money on fun things.
Happy New Year, everyone, and here's to 2014! May it not suck.
Before I close out this entry, I'll say a little something about my family's Christmas. Back in November, Ryan had the idea to get my parents each their own iPads for Christmas. On Black Friday, after some finagling with a local retailer and lots of driving around, I was able to buy both iPads brand new at a discount. Upon receiving them Christmas day, my parents were shocked. My folks aren't hugely tech-savvy, but maybe they'll get used to these things. Time will tell.
I had a great holiday, too. Nicole gave a friend some karaoke games for Christmas, so I thought I'd return the favor and load Nicole up with her own set of karaoke video games. These games also have a guitar element, so I bought a few Rock Band instruments so I could play guitar with her while she sang. She also bought me a really nice coat that'll replace the tan-colored coat I've had since 2009. It was a good holiday!
January was a quiet month as both Nicole and I were employed and working opposite schedules. In February, after deciding that my personal life came first, I made the decision to quit my job at a microchip factory after being there for two and a half years. March is when I made it happen and left that job for the bliss that is being unemployed. Nicole-fed up with her call center job-also decided to quit on nearly the same day as me.
In April, I quit as the host of the bungie.org Mincecraft server after two whole years of fun. Nicole and I were both unemployed at the same time and we celebrated by renting a beach house. May was a traveling month as we spent a week in California where I met Nicole's parents and family. In June, Nicole landed a new job at a psychiatric therapy practice (Which she still has as of today) and adjusted to its stressful demands.
In July, we gave my high school friend, Josh, a couch to sleep on for a short time and I got to see Weird Al in concert. August was when a mysterious skin condition-diagnosed in November as lichen planus-began to appear on my body. That month also marked one whole year of Nicole living with me and one year of having dental braces. September was a scary month as a beach trip almost cost us my Geo Metro and my brother, Ryan, was laid off from his job.
In October, Nicole and I had a rough time dog-sitting for one of her friends. November was a sad month as Ryan and his fiancé moved to Ohio at the same time that my high school buddy, Bryan, moved out of the area. A bright spot was that after more than a year's work, I finally finished converting my family's VHS tape collection to DVD, culminating with a presentation of the final product at Thanksgiving dinner. Finally, in December, I became a fantasy football champion after five years of playing with friends, and my siblings got together to give my parents the ultimate Christmas gifts: Their very own iPads! The story of which is told below.
The hands-down biggest event of 2013 for me would have to be quitting my job. I had a nice amount of savings which afforded me the opportunity to quit and not worry about immediately finding a job, but the money is almost gone. I've half-heartedly been looking for a new job ever since, but I've been lazy and I've enjoyed cultivating a loving relationship and friendship with my live-in girlfriend, roommate, and best friend: Nicole. This year has been an incredible time for the two of us, and I see that bond continuing into 2014. Any goals I have for the new year are pretty simple: Find a new job, get into a larger apartment with Nicole when our current apartment's lease runs out in March, get a new car, and enjoy life a little more. With a new job and money coming in, I'd like to do more traveling as well as just spending money on fun things.
Happy New Year, everyone, and here's to 2014! May it not suck.
Before I close out this entry, I'll say a little something about my family's Christmas. Back in November, Ryan had the idea to get my parents each their own iPads for Christmas. On Black Friday, after some finagling with a local retailer and lots of driving around, I was able to buy both iPads brand new at a discount. Upon receiving them Christmas day, my parents were shocked. My folks aren't hugely tech-savvy, but maybe they'll get used to these things. Time will tell.
I had a great holiday, too. Nicole gave a friend some karaoke games for Christmas, so I thought I'd return the favor and load Nicole up with her own set of karaoke video games. These games also have a guitar element, so I bought a few Rock Band instruments so I could play guitar with her while she sang. She also bought me a really nice coat that'll replace the tan-colored coat I've had since 2009. It was a good holiday!