Welcome to 2024

WELCOME TO 2024!
I HAVE A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS 1

Goodbye Sxmmer 2k23

What a summer it's been! Even though it hasn't necessarily been the BIGGEST and MOST eventful summer I've had in the past few years... it still managed to pretty impressive (and especially considering I wasn't expecting for it to be much at all from the start). A lot of core memories and "life" trophies were unlocked, faces have been seen and a decent amount of fun has been had. I would love to go into detail on all the adventures and give them separate posts for the attention they deserve but I'll have to do that later on (for Throwback Thursdays', possibly?) since it would be extremely overwhelming to try to do it all in one sitting. But instead of brushing everything off like I've been doing over the last couple years, I decided it would be a good idea to, at the very least make a list of the things that were accomplished this summer:

• Mason adopting a new feline companion we appropriately named Loki
• Discovered the best secret walking trail near Bucyrus
• Started visiting our local book and record shops
• Sister surprised me with a Cedar Point Summer Pass and a trip to stay at Hotel Breakers for two nights
• Justin, Lindsay and Zoey came up from Georgia and we had a cookout at our house with dad's family
• Discovering the Wacky Mirror on the side of the trailer which resulted in many laughs
• The mysterious jar of sludge
• Five mysterious Forest Kitties have showed up near our house in which we cared for until we could find a nearby cat sanctuary to take them to
• Changing our mind and going back to the cat sanctuary to adopt two of the Forest Kitties that we took care of because we ultimately grew fond of them —thus making our cat family count grow to four
• Finding and catching Woolly Aphids —the cutest bug to ever exist
• Going to Cedar Point twice with Robert
• Taking a trip to Wooster to go to the Bin Place and then to Hartville to the thrift store
• Going to Kings Island with Mason and staying at the Great Wolf Lodge for a night
• Going back to Kings Island again for Pride Night and hanging out with Jesse from Banshee
• Visiting the supah ancient hiking trail in Bainbridge called Highlands Nature Sanctuary

July: Here We Go

Hello July. What a wonderful time it is to make some new goals for the second half of the year. If you are like me and failed at your New Years resolutions back in February, July is a great time to try again. Well, at least that's how I look at it with my OCD'ism'ness and all.

Ever since Finn's passing in February, I have been feeling a lot of regret about how I am missing out and wasting precious time that I could be using wisely. Life is way too short and I guess it takes a loss of a loved one to remind you to seize the day. With that been said, I don't want to lose anymore chunks of time within this journal. Sometimes I feel like I put too many rules and restrictions on myself about it... like only post on the first of the month (a particularly odd thing I like to do, I dunno why) or... "I can't post this, it doesn't have a picture" and etc. So, from now on I'm going to try to be a little more forgiving.

This year has been weird for me so far, as I've been feeling very emotional and stressed out. I've been walking slowly down memory lane and it's almost to the point that I'm getting lost in there. The reason for it is because I thought it would be a good idea to edit and move a bunch of photos to my phone... for nostalgic purposes, a timeline / digital photo album of my life and besides having a lot of fun going through old photos and scanning them, I was starting to feel very sad. About pets that I have lost, mistakes I have made, weird phases I went through and time I had wasted during (I'm looking at you emo kid from 2007-2010), friends that I had lost contact with, decrease in health, every aspect of my life being a disorganized hot mess, and etc. A lot of the stuff are things I can get over... I wouldn’t be who I am today if I never went down those roads / experiences / yadda yadda... but there's also a bunch of stuff that I am trying to wrap my head around and plan accordingly for the next chapters in my life so I don't make the same mistakes. I don't know though. I'm probably just having a 1/3rd life crisis. I'll get over it. But when it comes to the photos, I would still like to edit them and move them over to my phone to have all the memories in my pocket but maybe I should take my time with that project. You can apparently get stuck in Nostalgia Neighborhood and the past will start to consume you if you are there for too long.

Lately, I have been trying to work on my photography a little more and trying to get back in the creative mindset that I used to be in when I first started journaling. It's been tough and I'm very rusty... but I would like to get back on the horse. I am also going to try to get a little more organized with pretty much everything... my clothes need an overhaul, my music library needs a refresh, my phone gallery will be cleaned out and my computer files need sorting. Also, I decided that I am going to start eating better this month and of course I could go on but it'd be a boring read so I will spare you the details about all that.

Goodbye, Our Friend Finn

Well, once again it's been forever since I have made an entry... but not because I don't want to or don't have anything to post about... but due to fact that I always feel excessively busy and constantly stressed out about my lack of time. In return, I go into these "shut down" phases when I don't do anything productive at all and resort to sleeping or playing video games until the weight has appeared to have been lifted. Anyway, I have a ton of stuff that should be posted... still have a lot to catch you up on. Unfortunately, the theme of this post will be a sad one about a loss that I need to share my feelings about.


On February 25th, Mason's very beloved cat, Finn had crossed over the Rainbow Bridge from what we believed to be old age. I won't go into the specifics because there isn't any reason to provide all the details, but he passed (to which I believe was peaceful, even though a loss like this is nothing like you see in the movies...) with us lovingly by his side until the very end, which I could tell in return, made him very happy. We also saw the signs a couple weeks before his passing that he was very much ready to say his goodbyes and I hope we have done it in the best way possible to make him the most comfortable and happy in his last moments. I am truly devastated by this and haven't been able to get it off my mind since it has happened. On top of my own sadness, I feel almost double as sad because I know Mason is hurting even more. But I know time will help and the constant reminder about the Circle of Life and the good memories that Mason (and I) has shared with him, our hearts will eventually heal.


A little bit of the story about Finn:

Finn was Mason's cat, so I have had only met him the day I first came over to Mason's house back on October 9th (my birthday), 2020. Ever since, I had been greeted by Finn's cute little face every Friday when I come to stay for the weekends. Like clockwork, he would meet us in the kitchen as we would be bringing in the groceries and I would pet him to say hello. At first, it took him a couple weeks of seeing me to get used to me but like the Cat Whisperer that I am, we soon became friends. (Of course, I think it's also partly because I won his affection over by giving him —TREAAAATS—! and because I would always make sure to give him an extra one.) He would always approach me while we watched TV and find a way to slide his way under my hand when I wasn't paying attention (a power he had that I couldn't quite understand...). He would also stay up with me for a few hours after Mason went to bed and kept me company as I worked on the computer. Every Sunday as I was leaving, I would always call out "BYYEEE FINN" even with knowing very well he was upstairs ignoring the world... the way cats tend to do. Occasionally, Mason would even tell me about the weeks he would keep to himself and only make his appearance when I showed up. It made me feel flattered, like I was a good step-dad and friend. I will forever miss the way he used to fix the creases in the carpet with his paws, patting me on the back of my hand with his paw telling me he wanted pets and the way he constantly used his cat scratcher that I would jokingly call his "toilet brush". Even at the times that we weren't at Mason's house, we would still be constantly thinking or singing cat songs about him. He was always there and it's very hard for me to think about how different it's going to be now that he isn't.

As a Christian, I know it has been said that animals don't go to heaven. I definitely have to disagree with that and I always remember a dream that I once had one night when I was younger:

I was flying over a large field. It was a beautiful valley, something that you would see in a Bob Ross painting or a Windows XP wallpaper and when I was looking down, the place was covered with animals. Cats, dogs, hamsters... you name it. Stretching for miles, it was like a pet party... there were thousands of them. In the center, was Jesus Himself, and He was throwing a Frisbee and playing fetch with a dog. He was just playing with all of the animals and a gut feeling took me over and I knew it had been pets that have passed away on Earth.

There is room for pets in heaven... if there weren't, God wouldn't have had Noah make it a priority to save them. However, the point I'm trying to make is... that I know Finn will be looking down over us and waiting for the day for us to arrive. Until then, I know he's up there playing with Jesus and catching butterflies... and it helps a lot for me to believe this.


Another way it helps me to move on from the loss of a pet is to write a letter addressed to them and I have done it ever since I was a little kid:

So goodbye, our friend Finn. Being here to witness your final hours was probably one of the hardest things I ever had to do... but I am glad I was here with Mason to help you pass across the Rainbow Bridge. I believe we were good friends and even though I wish we had gotten more than two years to play and get to know each other, I know there'll be plenty of time once we meet again. You did well, buddy. Go enjoy the sunshine and have a big handful of salmon treats... you definitely deserve it. Your presence and the joy you brought to Mason's house will be forever cherished and missed dearly.

R.I.P.

With love, your friend, Nathan

Where Do I Start Syndrome: the Relapse

Mic check. Mic check,
1... 2... 3...



OMG WELCOME
BACK MY FRANDS!

Well, well, well... it appears that I have lost track of the time and ultimately fell behind with my poor journal once again. It is becoming such a bad habit... I was even debating whether or not to delete a bunch of entries and start fresh again (honestly, missing chunks of time in my life is a bad punishment enough... let alone, me whining about all the times that I have left and come back) but decided I'm just going to suck it up and keep it moving on. But I've got a lot to catch you up on.

So, I'll start off with the announcement that:

I AM NOW OFFICIALLY 30 YEARS OLD!

Yup... I have entered Chapter 4: the Dirty Thirties.
Accomplishment unlocked. Trophy: Approved.
My birthday (weekend) in October was spent avec Mason at his humble abode leaving only when we shortly departed for the extravagant indulgence of Texas Roadhouse (my favorite). He surprised me with the LEGO Tallneck from Horizon Zero Dawn and we pretty much finished building it in less than a day. It's awesome... however, no photos seem to give it justice. I'm hoping to acquire a new game desk / setup / Battle Station very shortly so I can display it next to the PS5 and my other miscellaneous Aloy goodies in the fashionable way that they deserve.

Soon after my birthday, my computer (that I've had since 2012, which came with Windows 7 installed and later upgraded to Windows 10...) began showing signs of its technological age and got to the point where even the basic jobs I wanted to achieve started giving me problems. So, Mason, being the best friend that he is decided it would be fun to teach me how to build a computer. He ordered a bunch of parts and we built twin computers, one for each of us. The whole experience was fun and easier than I thought it would be and after a few minor setbacks I acquired this lil beast:



NOT THE BEST PHOTO...
PLEASE EXCUSE THE CORD MESS... I NEED TO DO SOME MANAGEMENT.
I AM ALSO PLANNING TO REMODEL THE BEDROOM TOO
SO THE BACKGROUND IS A LIL UGLY AT THE MOMENT AS WELL
But don't be fooled by its elegant beauty or its dainty size. It can do some of the hardest tasks by a snap of its tiny digital Thanos fingers and it will indeedly make a worthy companion for years to come. It's even ready for Windows 11 but I personally don't have any interest of upgrading to that until they add labels back to the taskbar (if they ever). But now I might actually be able to edit videos without the computer trying to upforth vomit its insides, prepared for the world to end. Coincidentally, my mother's laptop is also trying its hardest to finish itself off soon so I decided I'm just going to give her the old one after Christmas (which is WAY more than capable of doing the tasks she requires) since I will no longer be needing its services.

On a more random note, I decided I felt nostalgic enough that I wanted to order a new MP3 player like the good old days of being a teenager (when I couldn't afford an actual iPod) so I found one on eBay for only $30 and when it arrived, I turned it on to find that it was already pre-loaded with a delightful assortment of Chinese music. After moving to Sycamore, we discovered the absolute best Chinese buffet restaurant located in Tiffin nearby but laugh every time we go there because it sounds like they play the same two Chinese songs over and over. Well, you can imagine the lols that it created when I first played them and discovered the music on the player sounds exactly like the songs from the Chinese restaurant lol. But I should have waited to even order the player in the first place because about a week or so later, I found a better audio player / voice recorder at the Bin Place for only $6 which even comes with an eternal speaker. So, I copied all the Chinese songs over to the new one and now I go around constantly annoying my family with the enchanting splendor of Chinese culture (and hoping subliminally that they'll want to go to the buffet soon after).



I TRANSLATED ONE OF THE SONG TITLES
AND IT SAID "TEST MUSIC #13"
Anyway, I was going to write a small blurb about my twenties here but decided against it since I don't want to keep living in the "coulda woulda shoulda" or make it sound as if the last decade was negative in any way but the part I wanted to say here is that I am more than happy to be welcoming my thirties and I have a lot of goals I want to achieve in the next 10 years.

So, it's time for me to get started...

Oh Great. It's May.

AAARGHHH!



MAY IS
ALREADY HERE ?!

Some Plans

So, Mason insists on taking me to North Carolina in August to visit Holden Beach... a trip that will last more than a week and take about 12 hours to get there by car. It will be the longest drive I have ever endured and the longest I will have ever been away from home (a record previously held by our trip to Georgia in 2015 which lasted 4 days). I also have to do like a million things to prepare for that trip... like buying new clothes and whipping myself into shape so I can have an iron butt to show off.

Of course, the only way to achieve an iron butt is to start exercising which I have been dreading to do so for years but it's definitely been on my to-do / goal list ever since I was like 13 (I've always had an ideal dream body in mind, even though I was way too skinny back then). *Heavy sigh* I've got to get it going though... I don't want to have my first ever beach experience and feel uncomfortable the whole time.

In other news, last month I was lucky enough to get Horizon Forbidden West for PS5 and have been playing it nonstop. It's truly an absolute masterpiece and just as epic as the first one (Horizon Zero Dawn), which I've played like 4 times since its release in 2017. I've come to decide these games are probably my favorite video games of all time. I've always thought the Tomb Raider series was my fave but there's something so magical about the Horizon series that I believe Tomb Raider could take a few notes from. I'm about 90% of the way through Forbidden West and already looking forward to my second play-through after I'm done with this one. So yes, I definitely recommend.

New Year New Me

Well, of most importance
to which I am two months late of stating:

2022
HAS
ARRIVED


. . . and I hope the new year has been treating you well so far. Once again, I have found myself falling off the wagon of updating my poor journal but like it appears so every year, it's one of my resolutions to start updating regularly again. It seems like a lot of things have occurred since my last major update back in June: had a tailgating firework show in a church parking lot for the Fourth of July with Mason. My brother, niece and Lindsay came up from Georgia to stay with us for a week, all of our Cedar Point visits and another trip to Kings Island for Pride Night in September (which was hella awesome by the way), got a new phone for my 29th birthday in October, went to Logan's Roadhouse which was awful so we made it up by going to Texas Roadhouse (my fave), all of our garage and office parties, visited Columbus, finally explored the surrounding woods near my house and obtained a new kitty whom we named Trouble (a story for another time), had a great Christmas with the family and acquired many new shiny objects, and all of the other miscellaneous adventures I've had. Unfortunately, it'd be too much of a hassle to make separate posts about each of these lost escapades so I will have to resort to using them for Throwback Thursday material later on.

But anyway, this year already sounds like it's going to get pretty crazy for me and I didn't want to miss out on documenting it...

So, I am back.
With full force.

Happy 11th Birthday to You, My Journal Love

I just wanted to stop by for a quick minute
to say with extreme delight that...

TODAY MY BLOG IS EXACTLY
11 YEARS OLD !


It's crazy af.

I started this blog in 2010 when I switched to this platform after my previous 3 years on LiveJournal, so I guess I can say I've been doing this for quite some time now (not as often as I should be... I have to admit). This blog however, has seen some major changes in it's days which made me question if today was even it's anniversary... like going through a name change (was formally nathxngeorge) and a complete wipe out when I wanted a fresh start in 2019 but even so, I created the actual account 11 years ago so I guess today still technically counts as it's birfday.

So yes... happy birthday to you, my dearest journal.
Here's to another year of documenting my life adventures.



I'll make a larger update soon.

Kings Island 2k21

Yup...
the trip to Kings Island was just as I expected...
delightful.

On Wednesday afternoon we set out for our journey to Mason, Ohio. From my new place, the drive only took about 2.5 hours which was actually pretty awesome considering it was chopped down from the 3.5 hours like it was from my last house. We got to the hotel, dropped off our bags and left again to visit the Micro Center that was nearby. Gazed around there for about an hour then hit up Donatos Pizza for dinner (first time I ever tried it). When we got back to the hotel we watched some of the Chucky marathon that was on Syfy till I was able to fall asleep.

The next day the birbs outside woke me up at 4 AM so we hit up the Waffle House for breakfast (or how we like to call it: Faffle Haus) pretty early then hung out at the hotel until it was time for the fun to begin. We got to ride Mystic Timbers, The Beast, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Flight of Fear, The Bat and Adventure Express. Then Mason decided to take a break and sit out while I rode Banshee, Diamondback and Orion (WHOOP WHOOP). I acquired two more of my much needed coaster credits on Flight of Fear and Orion so that was awesome. I never knew Flight of Fear was so heavily themed... everything had alien vibes. In the queue, you walk into an "Area 72" paranormal building and up into a FREAKIN' UFO! Then as you board the ride there's creepy aliens in pods surrounding you. The whole coaster was inside a building in the dark which totally messed with your brain so you lost track of when you were upside down. It was totally fun but caused both of us to get a headache which kinda put a damper on the rest of our day so we just took it slow and got ice cream before we left.

My thoughts on Orion: it was super fun and only the second giga coaster I've ever been on. It seemed much higher than Millennium Force and the drop was a lot more steep but didn't feel as fast as Millennium does (considering Orion is only 2 mph slower). For that reason... Millennium still remains my favorite giga.

On Friday, we hit up Waffle House for breakfast once again and took a slight mini adventure to some biking trails to kill time before the park opened. Rode Banshee and found my new favorite spot... front row left side (which is funny because my favorite spot on Raptor is the complete opposite... back row right side). Then we did Adventure Express two more times, Banshee again, The Bat, Mystic Timbers, The Beast twice and I did Orion one more time. We felt a lot better this day and ended up getting the same amount of rides we did the previous day but in a shorter amount of time. Rode the train ride and got ice cream from Graeter's again... (the mint chocolate chip is amazing what can I say...) and at 4ish the rain started to arrive so we decided to leave and call it a trip. On the way home we saw a cool rainbow and got chicken from Raising Cane's for dinner. Delicious.

In general, the vacation was amazing and I am already missing the beauty and ambience of the park (something Cedar Point needs to work on). I have a new form of appreciation for Banshee after riding it a few more times and I have to say that was my favorite coaster on this trip. It's sad that Vortex is no longer there... for that was my favorite on the last visit. We decided to skip Invertigo (it's lackluster, at best) and The Racer because we wanted to fill up on our favorites but there's always next time. I'm blessed to live in the middle of these two amazing parks for they each own a special place in my heart.

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