2024-25

Happy New Year!!!!

I can't believe it is going to be 2026. I still remember staying up late as a 6th grader in 1999 just to see the year 2000 roll in. I was playing Pokémon Yellow on my Game Boy, thinking the future was going to look like something out of a science fiction movie. And now here we are, actually living in it, and it still feels like 2005, albeit a more expensive 2005. It is strange how the years do not seem to change much anymore. Might just be me.
Honestly, I would trade 2025 for 2000 any day, but this year was not bad. Aside from the rough inflation and all the political chaos, it was a pretty solid year. I am happy, K is happy, my family is happy, and the cats are, well, indifferent. We are doing alright.

If you are reading this, I hope the new year treats you well and brings you some good surprises.
Here is to another year!

Yesterday was the Big Ten Championship between my alma mater, Indiana University, and Ohio State. Indiana entered the game ranked number two, while Ohio State held the number one spot.
It was an exciting game, and Indiana came out as the winner with a final score of 13 to 10. The Indiana is now the number one college team in the nation and Big Ten champions. Go Hoosiers!

I'm kicking off December with an advent calendar project. The idea came from BMH (check out his calendar), and while I'm not sure I'm following it correctly, I think I've got the spirit of it.
The plan is simple: each day this month I'll post an update here, tied to the advent calendar. I may not manage every single day, but I'll make sure things are caught up at least once a week.
This post will stay pinned at the top while the calendar is running, so you can easily follow along. Let me know what you think. I'm curious how this will turn out. Click below to be taken to the calendar! Snow Effect

>>> CLICK HERE <<<

Calendars to Check out:

mstiemisty

Happy Thanksgiving!

I cant believe how quickly the holidays are approaching. It feels like just a few weeks ago I was welcoming in 2025, and now here we are, already nearing the end of the year.
The Christmas tree is up, along with some of the indoor lights, though I still need to tackle the outside decorations. Hopefully I can get to those this week. Of course, I'm already running into the classic holiday light problem: they worked perfectly when I packed them away last year, but now half of them refuse to light up.
We had our first snowstorm earlier this month (on the 10th), dropping about 10 to 14 inches. It melted after a few days, and we haven't seen snow since.
Thanksgiving will be at my parent's house this year. Unfortunately, K's parents are hosting theirs at the same time, so we'll have to split up and attend each other's family gatherings separately.
Gift shopping has been tough, both on my schedule and on my wallet. With Christmas around the corner, the pressure is definitely on. To make things more complicated, I'll be working on Christmas Day, so I won't be celebrating with my family this year. At least I have Thanksgiving off, and I'm grateful for that.

10/15/2025

October's here and it's doing what it does best: being chilly and full of pumpkins. K and I have been trying to watch scary movies when we are not knocked out from work. We've got a list going, even if we only make it halfway through most of them before one of us crashes. Still counts.

So far we have hit:

Leprechaun
Longlegs
Hocus Pocus 1 & 2
Fright Night
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (pure camp)
Carrie (2013 version - still great)
The Exorcist
Pumpkinhead

We carved pumpkins (they turned out solid), and I roasted the seeds like my mom used to: salted and crunchy. Speaking of my mom, I finally brought out the concrete porch goose she used to dress up back in the 90s/00s. It's been hiding in my backyard for years, but I got it some new outfits and it's officially getting seasonal again. It's kind of dumb, but also was kind of a tradition.

		Mom's Porch 10/2000
Mom's Porch 10/2000 Mom's Porch 10/2000
	Halloween Goodies
Glow in the dark Oreo packaging <3

It's been a minute since the last update. Yesterday, we hit up the Popcorn Festival in the next town over.
Also had to start prepping for winter, pool's closed and covered, new tarp for my boat project, and the garage is (mostly) organized. Progress.
Also, I'm adding a new page to the site!

Sept 9th - Popcorn Festival

Another event so another photo gallery. It was just another opportunity to enjoy some food trucks, music, and browse local craft booths.

July is a busy month. I had the 4th activities followed by the fair and some relatives birthdays! I also got a call back from a previous employer I was laid off from 2 years ago. It was a tough call, but I put in my notice and went back. Here are a few photos of the events. Most of it was taken as videos, but who wants to sit through someone else's fireworks and parades? lol

July 3rd

The city fireworks were on the 3rd. They had live music and food trucks followed by fireworks over one of the lakes.

July 4th

Happy (American) Independence Day!

We started the holiday off with the city parade followed by a cook out and fireworks at my parents house.

July 7th-12 - County Fair

Since I work third shift, Sunday night is my Monday. The weekends go by way to quickly and I never feel like I get enough done. I went to bed too early this morning, which means I'm awake too early, setting me up for a rough night at work. Hopefully, I can squeeze in a nap later to balance things out.

I'm enjoying a laid-back weekend. We attended a local BBQ festival and soaked in the great food and atmosphere.

It's been a minute since I have updated this site. K and I attended the Cubs vs. White Sox game today! Even though I wasn't feeling my best, it was still an amazing day. The city was packed with major events, making traffic a headache, but it only set us back an hour. Well worth the wait for a great game! ⚾🔥 #ChicagoBaseball

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had reservations that I made 2 months in advance for a local restaurant for tonight. The place was pretty and overlooked the lake. A winter storm came through during dinner which added to the view. The restaurant had the outdoor balcony closed for winter, but it was still nice. We were seated at a table with a window in the upstairs bar area.

All these micro blogs are crowding the home page. I need to move and sort by month and year. I still hope to redo the entire page when I have more time.

2025! Can you believe it? Where do the years go? Seems like just a few New Years back, I was welcoming in 2007, 2010, or 2016. Last year was fairly eventful, with both the good and the bad, but overall it was decent. I hope everyone had a great New Year's and I wish for a great 2025!

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays!

I don't know how I feel about the site layout and content. Looking at a few other sites on Neocities, I feel like I should do some restructuring. Obviously, most people on here are far more talented than myself and have made some beautiful sites, but I am still going to keep the basic/simple style. I'd probably end up abandoning the Frontpage template and start from scratch using just HTML/CSS. I need to brush up on it, having to relearn basic and complicated code is actually more fun than actually updating the site's content. This site is for my own personal amusement after all. :)

Took the day off for a 3-day weekend so that I may visit with family who are up here from out of town.