Dear 33 year old Adam,
I've just turned 32. It's been another good year of life. I spent the year living alone on Hubbard Ave. This was the first time in my life not having a roommate. It was fine. I still believe living in community is better and I'm not one for buying into the idea that adults live alone. I think that's a very cultural thing in America and I think it's a poor one. I bought an iPhone X while visiting Brian in Seattle over spring break. That pretty much brings you up to speed. Travis got engaged this year. I visited Brian and the Pacific Northwest for my June. In July I spent some time hiking 14ers in Colorado with Jared and Travis. I've spent a lot of time playing Xbox in order to stay in contact with Brian and Alan. Through that I've grown closer to Alan's brother Nathan and Alan's college roommate's brother Todd from San Diego. This summer I also went to Las Vegas with Tem's family to celebrate her brother's 40th birthday. We made a day trip to Zion and visited her friend Vanessa and her husband Mike. After the trip I stopped in Cincinnati to visit Alan while Todd was also there. Also the women's US team won the world cup. We became Columbus Crew fans this year. I sold my '02 Civic and now drive a 2017 car which still feels weird at times.
Things I'm doing now:
Two weekends ago I moved back in with Tem, the love of my life. I'm excited to live with her again. I think I needed a bit more time to prepare myself for the independent sacrifices that are necessary to grow with a person. Having roommates is a very different thing than living with the one you love. Besides the obvious fact of sharing a bedroom there are more intimate things at play. I think taking the year to deal with the priorities in my life and to evaluate the kind of life I want to have moving forward was important. I do enjoy my alone time. It is spiritually rejuvenating for me. It is something I think I will always need. But I will also always need Tem in my life as well. I want the woman I love to be in my life more than an arm's length away. We just returned from a trip to Sacramento with her family. I love her family and I'm glad they are a part of my life. I'm currently in my third year of teaching Kindergarten. This is the year I have to record myself teaching and submit the video to the state of Ohio along with a reflection paper. This task has been a thorn in my side and I am very pleased to be done with it. Now we wait to see if I pass and allowed to renew my teaching license. Roma my teammate had her baby at the beginning of November so I have been teaching stag with a substitute next door. I still hit the gym in the mornings three times a week although I really need to do a better job waking up and putting in more of an effort. I'm still chipping away at that reading list we made years ago.
Things I hope you're doing:
For the year 2020 I hope you vote out the current president. I really don't want another four years of my life with this person as the leader of my country. Life is so short and it continues to fly by I'd rather my time on Earth be spent enjoying the progress of humanity. In my life time I've seen the first black president and the legalization of same sex marriage. I'd like to see the trans community welcomed into the main stage of culture. I'd like to see the police force around the country reformed. I'd like to see healthcare for every person in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. I'd like to see the first woman president. There is so much in this life we have a chance to witness before finally resting our head. I want these things and so many more things I am ignorant to. Four years isn't forever but it would definitely be more steps backwards. I hope you're still reading from your list and making a decent dent now that you have an aux hookup in a car. I hope you and Tem visit India and New Zealand. I hope Travis has an amazing wedding and an even better marriage. I hope you spend a bit of time continuing to improve your lesson plans and never stop getting better and better. I hope Africentric becomes a B rated school as this amazing team continues to work together. I hope you and Tem finally get to a place in the condo where she feels she can host parties and friends. I hope for many more times where you make Tem smile and laugh. That you're able to communicate to her even a small degree of the love you have for her. And how truly important she is in your life. I hope you do a better job journaling than I did.
Things I've learned since turning 31:
This past winter I spent Christmas with Tem's family. Her parents are great well actually her whole family is. We traveled to Peru after. The altitude of Cuzco was devastating at first. Lots of tiny cupped coca tea and beautiful reminders of how big and old human history is. All of the untold stories of every human's life. I moved into my own apartment in the beginning of December. 31 years old and I've never lived on my own until now. I had never bought my own bed until now upgraded from the twin. But as I mentioned throughout my 20s most of the people on this planet don't even have the luxury of a twin mattress so I considered myself very blessed. January Tem and I flew to New York for a weekend to see "Waitress" the musical with Sara Bareilles as the lead. The rest of winter we spent in her new condo in King Lincoln or at my new apartment on Hubbard Ave playing fortnite. My friends and I decided to become Columbus Crew fans since the team was saved I felt an obligation to appreciate them and since the NFL is trash why not? (I wrote this on March 30th) March 25th Tem and I broke up for the third time in three months. After the break up I decided to reach out to a counselor. Well I failed to continue to update this during the beginning of summer and the beginning of autumn like I normally do. But Tem and I are together and I couldn't be happier. I've learned that relationships are difficult, again. I've learned that it doesn't matter how you feel towards someone if you are unable to express those feelings in a form they can receive that message. Thanks to the impeachment hearings and the should they shouldn't they process of the government I've learned justice isn't blind. I've learned that politics are more important than right and wrong. The president used his position to leverage political gain but the other side of the isle did not want to pursue justice because of political gain. Whether inaction or action both motivated by elections to maintain power and both seem disgusting to me. I've learned pride and power aren't just for those in Washington. Small fish in smaller ponds can think they are big as well. I've learned I need to do a better job journaling to archive all the things I learn in these years of my life. What good are the lessons of experience if I'm unable to recall or record them?
1987 Born
1988 00
1989 01
1990 02
1991 03
1992 04
1993 05 Started Grade School
1994 06
1995 07
1996 08
1997 09
1998 10
1999 11
2000 12
2001 13
2002 14
2003 15
2004 16
2005 17
2006 18 Graduated High School
2007 19
2008 20
2009 21
2010 22 Graduated College
2011 23
2012 24
2013 25
2014 26
2015 27
2016 28
2017 29 Ohio Early Childhood Teaching License
2018 30
2019 31
I've just turned 32. It's been another good year of life. I spent the year living alone on Hubbard Ave. This was the first time in my life not having a roommate. It was fine. I still believe living in community is better and I'm not one for buying into the idea that adults live alone. I think that's a very cultural thing in America and I think it's a poor one. I bought an iPhone X while visiting Brian in Seattle over spring break. That pretty much brings you up to speed. Travis got engaged this year. I visited Brian and the Pacific Northwest for my June. In July I spent some time hiking 14ers in Colorado with Jared and Travis. I've spent a lot of time playing Xbox in order to stay in contact with Brian and Alan. Through that I've grown closer to Alan's brother Nathan and Alan's college roommate's brother Todd from San Diego. This summer I also went to Las Vegas with Tem's family to celebrate her brother's 40th birthday. We made a day trip to Zion and visited her friend Vanessa and her husband Mike. After the trip I stopped in Cincinnati to visit Alan while Todd was also there. Also the women's US team won the world cup. We became Columbus Crew fans this year. I sold my '02 Civic and now drive a 2017 car which still feels weird at times.
Things I'm doing now:
Two weekends ago I moved back in with Tem, the love of my life. I'm excited to live with her again. I think I needed a bit more time to prepare myself for the independent sacrifices that are necessary to grow with a person. Having roommates is a very different thing than living with the one you love. Besides the obvious fact of sharing a bedroom there are more intimate things at play. I think taking the year to deal with the priorities in my life and to evaluate the kind of life I want to have moving forward was important. I do enjoy my alone time. It is spiritually rejuvenating for me. It is something I think I will always need. But I will also always need Tem in my life as well. I want the woman I love to be in my life more than an arm's length away. We just returned from a trip to Sacramento with her family. I love her family and I'm glad they are a part of my life. I'm currently in my third year of teaching Kindergarten. This is the year I have to record myself teaching and submit the video to the state of Ohio along with a reflection paper. This task has been a thorn in my side and I am very pleased to be done with it. Now we wait to see if I pass and allowed to renew my teaching license. Roma my teammate had her baby at the beginning of November so I have been teaching stag with a substitute next door. I still hit the gym in the mornings three times a week although I really need to do a better job waking up and putting in more of an effort. I'm still chipping away at that reading list we made years ago.
Things I hope you're doing:
For the year 2020 I hope you vote out the current president. I really don't want another four years of my life with this person as the leader of my country. Life is so short and it continues to fly by I'd rather my time on Earth be spent enjoying the progress of humanity. In my life time I've seen the first black president and the legalization of same sex marriage. I'd like to see the trans community welcomed into the main stage of culture. I'd like to see the police force around the country reformed. I'd like to see healthcare for every person in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. I'd like to see the first woman president. There is so much in this life we have a chance to witness before finally resting our head. I want these things and so many more things I am ignorant to. Four years isn't forever but it would definitely be more steps backwards. I hope you're still reading from your list and making a decent dent now that you have an aux hookup in a car. I hope you and Tem visit India and New Zealand. I hope Travis has an amazing wedding and an even better marriage. I hope you spend a bit of time continuing to improve your lesson plans and never stop getting better and better. I hope Africentric becomes a B rated school as this amazing team continues to work together. I hope you and Tem finally get to a place in the condo where she feels she can host parties and friends. I hope for many more times where you make Tem smile and laugh. That you're able to communicate to her even a small degree of the love you have for her. And how truly important she is in your life. I hope you do a better job journaling than I did.
Things I've learned since turning 31:
This past winter I spent Christmas with Tem's family. Her parents are great well actually her whole family is. We traveled to Peru after. The altitude of Cuzco was devastating at first. Lots of tiny cupped coca tea and beautiful reminders of how big and old human history is. All of the untold stories of every human's life. I moved into my own apartment in the beginning of December. 31 years old and I've never lived on my own until now. I had never bought my own bed until now upgraded from the twin. But as I mentioned throughout my 20s most of the people on this planet don't even have the luxury of a twin mattress so I considered myself very blessed. January Tem and I flew to New York for a weekend to see "Waitress" the musical with Sara Bareilles as the lead. The rest of winter we spent in her new condo in King Lincoln or at my new apartment on Hubbard Ave playing fortnite. My friends and I decided to become Columbus Crew fans since the team was saved I felt an obligation to appreciate them and since the NFL is trash why not? (I wrote this on March 30th) March 25th Tem and I broke up for the third time in three months. After the break up I decided to reach out to a counselor. Well I failed to continue to update this during the beginning of summer and the beginning of autumn like I normally do. But Tem and I are together and I couldn't be happier. I've learned that relationships are difficult, again. I've learned that it doesn't matter how you feel towards someone if you are unable to express those feelings in a form they can receive that message. Thanks to the impeachment hearings and the should they shouldn't they process of the government I've learned justice isn't blind. I've learned that politics are more important than right and wrong. The president used his position to leverage political gain but the other side of the isle did not want to pursue justice because of political gain. Whether inaction or action both motivated by elections to maintain power and both seem disgusting to me. I've learned pride and power aren't just for those in Washington. Small fish in smaller ponds can think they are big as well. I've learned I need to do a better job journaling to archive all the things I learn in these years of my life. What good are the lessons of experience if I'm unable to recall or record them?
1987 Born
1988 00
1989 01
1990 02
1991 03
1992 04
1993 05 Started Grade School
1994 06
1995 07
1996 08
1997 09
1998 10
1999 11
2000 12
2001 13
2002 14
2003 15
2004 16
2005 17
2006 18 Graduated High School
2007 19
2008 20
2009 21
2010 22 Graduated College
2011 23
2012 24
2013 25
2014 26
2015 27
2016 28
2017 29 Ohio Early Childhood Teaching License
2018 30
2019 31