Remembering 2012 - A Look Back

I just wanted to take some time to talk about some of the awesome parts of 2012, and record them somewhere to be able to reflect back on them as well be able to show all of you what I've been up to!

Here are the Top 10 best moments of 2012 for me, lets starts from the top:

10.)Promotion + Finishing 3rd in Gold league

Alright, so I've got to keep my priorities straight everyone and while I am proud of myself for working my way up to the top of Gold League, I can't place this any higher on the list. I think at the beginning of this year I was somewhere around mid-silver. I feel like I have been consistently improving my game over the months, and I am now on the edge of another promotion into Platinum! (Woot ^.^) I've probably taken a lot longer than most to get to where I am, but I'm in no rush. I've had a lot going outside the game that I care more about or want to concentrate on more, and personal growth in the end is what it is all about for me. I'll do another post about wrapping up the current builds I'm using and a more in depth re-cap of the season as I normally do. Hopefully this time next year I can say I'm high up in Platinum!

9.) Balloon ride

For my birthday I was given a special birthday present from my parents, but first I had to be blindfolded and driven to a "secret" location. If you read my previous post about this experience (21st Bday post) then you know that I was scared to death at first when that balloon took off. I'm not afraid of heights per-say, but I'll characterize it as "I need to get comfortable". However, the speed at which that balloon took off didn't allow for much of that. Once you get up into the sky though it is such a beautiful sight and the view is just as breathtaking as anyone could imagine (if the ascent hasn't already done that to you).





Don't tell my girlfriend but I would totally take another balloon ride, and I hope that the next time with some begging and pleading I miiiiiight be able to persuade her to go. On my birthday, I actually convinced my 11 year-old brother Ryan to go with me about 10 minutes before take off! Here are just a couple of the pictures I took while floating on.






8.) Ran a 5k
 About 6 or 7 years ago my family started a tradition of running the Flemington, NJ Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. The last 2 years...I got kind of lazy, and didn't run. But this year I made a comeback! I did a little training up in Vermont before I came home for break, and got up bright and early with my dad and two brothers and we headed off to the race.

This race has been growing every year, this year there were around 6-7,000 people!! I think that when I started running this race years ago there were probably no more than 2,000, so it has grown very quickly over the last couple of years.

 Take a guess what minute marker I started at based on these pictures...

6:00 min/mile pace :O
and there were still easily 1,000 people in front of me with 5:00 min/mile being the starting line. It was so ridiculously packed, but such a fun time. As you could expect, those running the 5K repeatedly said "glad I'm getting my workout in so I can devour turkey later!"

And the winner is...


Andrew (20, Right) - 22:30
 Ryan (12, center) - 24:50
Kyle (Me :D, Left, 21) - 24:55
Dad (Back, 48) - 25:15



Andrew!








7.) Canada

 In the past, we have gone to Sand Lake and that is where we went again over the summer for a week packed full of fishing, fishing, and fishing with some tubing, water-skiing, and wake-boarding sprinkled in. Literally, my little brother Ryan and I get up at 6am and fish until breakfast around 10am, and then we will head out as soon as we can call it "evening" and fish until the mosquitoes are chewing me apart. We look forward to the fishing every year and breaking some of our own records for Bass and Pike. 

On the left and right are shots that I took on the first and second morning of fishing. The lake isn't very populated so it's literally glass and untouched until we hit the water. The bottom was a beautiful shot I took on the last evening of fishing. I love Sand Lake.

Just in case you are wondering, YES, I did catch fish as well. Ryan, however, dominated this year and so I think he deserves the photo op. He just got a new pole for Christmas, so I'm sure he excited to get 'em again next year!

According to Ryan, our record (caught by him) was a monster 6 pound bass that we caught on a live minnow. It might be the one on the left, but I'm not sure because a lot of the fish we caught this year pretty big (stealth brag). It is so nice to get away from everything for a week and just go live in a quiet and peaceful place and enjoy just that. Living in the middle of nowhere is probably not for everybody, but getting to stay on a lake that isn't crowded and noisy and live in a house that is nicely furnished and a fun place to be is one of the most fun vacations I can go on!

6.) Completing my Criminal Justice Administration class
This one isn't going to get a long schpeal because it made my semester hell, and it doesn't deserve any further recognition. On top of normal classes and tests, we had to create the "ideal" criminal justice agency. As it turns out, it is a pain in the ASS to do so from the ground up. After putting over 100 hours into it with my group we made an 80 page agency design, and presented our ideas to the class to get over one of the biggest hurdles in my major. Good riddance CJ Admin, you can stay in 2012.

5.) Turning 21/casino trip/playing poker live

Turning 21 was AWESOME. I love being of age to go to casinos and buy my own alcohol. It's a cool feeling and while I don't abuse either of those privileges it is nice to have the freedom to do either. If you want to read about my birthday and my first trip to Sands Casino (yes, I've been since), then I would like to check out that post here! The activity that is coming in at #5 is finally have the guts to sit down and play live poker. It was only a $1/2 NL game, but I was nervous as soon as I sat down with $160 in front of me. I was shaking as I bet, I played SUCH a tight range, and I didn't really get much done, but I didn't go broke! Now that I have 1 small session under my belt I will be much more confident going into the next cash game/tournament I play and I'm so excited to play again! For Christmas, my family gave $50 to go toward the $100 buy weekly tournament they run, so hopefully I can have some run good and place well in the next couple of weeks. I can't play online, yet, but now I am over the nerves of playing live, and it's a great feeling.

(Sorry it's sideways, didn't want to look like a n00b taking a picture playing live poker)

4.) Warped Tour
 I have gone to Warped Tour for the past 3 years with my girlfriend Jenna and other friends that make the trip down from VT and NH mainly. I looooooveee going because obviously you get to see a ton of your favorite bands, and run your back account into the ground buying merch or simply paying for the ATM fee to withdraw money (...ask me about last year). I got to take a couple good pictures but when you spend the entire day at the venue you need to make battery life last the whole day, so I also want to list the bands that I got to see. Some were for the first time, some were for the 2nd and 3rd time!

                                      I recorded Of Mice and Men playing Second and Sebring!

Of Mice and Men

Falling in Reverse

Take a guess!

 So here is a list of the bands that I got to see:
- All Time Low
- Bayside
- Chunk!, No Captain Chunk!
- Falling in Reverse
- For Today
- Mayday Parade
- Miss May I
- New Found Glory
- Pierce the Veil
-Polar Bear Club



Continued:
- Sleeping with Sirens
- Streetlight Manifesto
- Taking Back Sunday
- Yellowcard


Wow! After counting them up that I got to see 14 bands. I also bought an Of Mice and Men t-shirt, their CD, and expensive venue food and beer!





Even though every warped tour I have been to has been a SCORCHER and I'm completely drained at the end, it always turns out to be a great time. Another plus is when you finally get home, the feeling of AC and a comfy bed or couch is the greatest feeling ever for that moment and you most likely just pass out. I'm already stalking the band list for Warped Tour 2013!







3.) Winning the academic excellence award in Criminal Justice

During the spring 2012 semester I had a blue envelope show up in my campus mailbox. This usually means one of two things, either I am in trouble and it is telling me who I need to meet with or an administrative office needs to get a hold of me. It turns that blue envelope was them informing me that I had been selected to receive the academic excellence award for Criminal Justice! I was so honored to be picked out of all of the CRJ majors, and I was so excited because winning awards is not something I do often. There was a nice reception and my mom and grandma drove up to attend the awards ceremony, and Jenna came as well. I get really embarrassed in front of people, so being up on stage and having my professor speaking about what a great student I am definitely made me bashful.

 
 2.) Taking the LSAT/applying to law schools

I took the October LSAT, and if you'd like to see a more in depth post click here. I ended up getting a 145, and immediately signed up for the December LSAT. I am currently awaiting the results for that test, and they should be here by January 5th. I'm definitely getting nervous. Regardless of what score I get I will be applying to a couple of law schools, and I might shoot one out to a school or two far away and see what happens. I know I'm not going to be getting into any prestigious law school, but I'm proud of myself for following this dream of trying to make it into law school and become an attorney. If I don't get accepted now, I am completely fine with that and I wouldn't mind getting a full time job in a law office as a legal assistant or a paralegal so that I can build my resume more and give myself a better shot of getting in next time I apply. Employers! If you are looking for a hardworking, knowledgeable, and dedicated individual who can learn fast and has a passion for the law drop me a comment! (shameless job-hunt plug)
Here are the schools that I am applying to as of now:
- Rutgers - Newark
- Rutgers - Camden
- Earle Mack (Drexel)
- Vermont Law School
- Seton Hall
- Widener Law

If I get into any law school, you can be sure that I will be posting about it because I will FREAKING OUT WITH EXCITEMENT!

1.) Celebrating 2 1/2 years with Jenna

We've been together for 2 years + 8 months, but I just picked the nearest "milestone" that we celebrated. I actually take her on "Monthaversary" dates, so we've been celebrating every 30 days! In all seriousness though, I am such a lucky guy to be dating Jenna. I think one of the best qualities we have as a couple is that we can be ourselves, and we never feel like we need to perform or act like someone we aren't. Whether we are bummin' around the house hanging on our computers, cuddling up to watch Scrubs, or shopping (Yes Jenna shopping) we just feel happy and relaxed to be together. If you keep up with either of our blogs, you may have noticed that Jenna has graduated, and I am unfortunately still in school. While the first 9 months of this year were amazing due to the fact that we saw each other every day during the spring semester last year, and got to do things like warped tour and go to the beach and spend a lot of time together, this past fall semester has been admittedly harder for us because she is living in NJ and working full-time at a hospital and I am going to school in VT :(

BUT

We made it through 2012 together, and looking forward to the future makes me so excited because while I have 1 semester to go, it is my last semester of school in VT! I will be graduating in May, and I want to start planning and deciding where we can afford to live. Sharing an apartment together has been a dream of ours for a long time because we have had to live, at a minimum, an hour from each other throughout our whole relationship (excluding school). I'm excited for the future because of the possibilities we have together. I loved spending 2012 with Jenna, but I'm so excited for us to do so much more in 2013! I'll just post a couple cheesy of photos of us from the last 12 months to close this out, but Jenna is my #1 :)

If you made it this far, please, tell me what your best moment of the last year was! 

I hope you enjoyed hearing all about my life, and I hope this Top 10 looks as exciting and interesting to you as it was for me to experience! Thanks for reading!

Graduation Day! May 2012

Cheers!

New Years Eve! I took Jenna out on a date and we had some delicious food. Chicken nachos, that is all I'm gonna say.

21st Birthday Awesomeness

 So this one won't be ANYTHING about StarCraft 2 because, as you read from the title, I just celebrated my 21st Birthday!

I got to do so many cool things, and hang out with so many people. So here's how my day broke down:
July 4th - Got up bright and early and headed to Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA so I could do some gambling, check out the bar, and check out all the table games. Its only been open for 2 years or so and it looks beautiful on the outside, and even nicer on the inside. It was built on old Bethlehem Steel facility, and I think it was a great use of the space to bring some life back to area. 
After the morning casino session with my family and co, we went back to my house for a BBQ and pool party where we hung out for a little while longer.
Once all of the family left, I went back to Sands with Jenna so check into a room that my parents generously rented for us to be able to have a place to go back to after we have some more drinks on the floor. We checked into our room around 9pm and from out window we were able to watch an unbelievable fireworks show. We could see professional shows, backyards bricks being lit off, and just watching the sky light up. It was a pretty spectacular moment.

I only lost $20 in the morning on the slots, so I had plenty to play with for the evening session. Jenna and I spent some time ordering drinks at the bar, and after getting out first $14 bill for 2 drinks we decided it would be wiser to pay $1 each time we get a drink from the waitresses walking around the slots! It worked out great as we were able to get...I  don't know...like 6 free drinks together? That would have cost a FORTUNE at the bar, so smart move on our part. Unfortunately I wasn't able to hit it big on my birthday, and we ended up feeding the machines about $100. I had a drunken blast doing it though! I'm probably done playing slots for while, and I'm sure not a lot of you know this about me, but I played a lot of online poker before it was shut down. I was very eager to just watch the live poker tables. Of course I wanted to play, but I was A. Intimidated and B. not willing to break my rule of playing poker while I drink. I know that sounds cheesy, but I play poker to win against others and I need a clear head to try to do that. I don't have a problem playing slots and drinking because there is nothing I can do to beat the house without all luck because they have the edge. I hope that makes sense.
Next time I go I will sit down and play, but it being my first time in the casino I was just a little to nervous and anxious to play.

Slot machines lined all of the walkways. 1 cent, 2 cent, $.25, $1, $2, and I think I saw a $5 slot!

I LOVED the lighting. It was easy on the eyes and just looked awesome. Those curved wooden pieces surrounded the bar which was located right in the middle of the floor.

My girlfriend Jenna and I played a lot of slots, and took advantage of the free drinks! We mainly stuck to 2 cent slots because then we could lose money slower :D

The poker section. They had PLENTY of $1/$2, 2-5, and I even saw a table of 10-20 :O

Just another angle. I looked really well put together, and I'm excited to sit down at a table next time.

July 5th - So my parents had told me in their card that I opened on the 4th that their present was a surprise and I wouldn't get to experience it until the next day. So 6 pm rolls around on July 5th, and we all hop in the car and I have to close my eyes until we get there -_-

We get out and I have no clue where I am until i see a sign on the wall that says "Hunterdon Ballooning" -- I'M GOING ON A BALLOON RIDE?!
Yes, my parents had bought me a spot on a balloon, and they would be chasing me in their car. After the pilot offered 1/2 price for someone else to go up with me my little brother Ryan asked, asked again, until he finally cracked and semi-agreed to do. I think he was a little afraid of what he was getting himself into, but in the end must have loved it. Here's only a few shots of that adventure:

Me and my little brother Ryan! There was a total of 5 people including the pilot in that little basket.

"Smokin' Joe" was a friend of the pilot of the balloon, and he flew around in circles and drew smoke rings around us. THAT was a really cool/slightly terrifying experience.

We took off with that balloon that was flying for the same guy. We ended up so far apart!

This was probably one of the highest points we flew too. I was comfortable by now, and the view was AMAZING.

The balloon ride on top of everything else really was an amazing experience. I got to do and see so much, and do all of it with everyone that I love. I would say those were a pretty amazing 2 days. I will be thanking everyone that took part in, helped make possible, gave me presents, or just wished me a happy 21st for a while. I loved every second of it.

PS - Back to StarCraft 2 videos/posts shortly. I haven't played in a week or so. Gold is going to be kicking my ass for a WHILE to come.