Part 1: 30 Years Down, Hopefully Many More To Come!

I've been tossing the idea behind this blog around in my mind for nearly two months now and it's finally time to bring it to life. I'm turning 30 years old on September 12th and in a lot of ways it's awesome and it's also a little scary... I've lived such a wonderful life, I've been blessed to have such amazing friends, and hey, I've lived to see 30! It's scary to think my life is nearly halfway over though (given the usual lifespan of males in this country). This blog is going to serve one purpose though, to celebrate the last 30 years of my life by giving thanks and commemoration to the people who have made an impact on me over the years.

In no particular order...

TechSkills Students: There's so many of you on my Facebook I'd take me forever to thank you all individually so I apologize for that. A lot of you have made such a positive impact on my life though. We've shared so many laughs, so many good times during Micro-Labs, and it's made working there a lot more fun than I'm sure it should be.

Alise Hickman: Thank you Mama Bear for all the support and backing you've given me over the years. You're an angel in your own right and I'm glad JT has such a great woman in his life and your children have such an awesome mother to raise them. Special thanks for giving me a bed to sleep in when I stayed overnight before the LAN Parties.

JT Hickman: THRASH! Dude, you've seriously had a major impact on my life. You've inspired me to quit smoking which I've finally succeeded at after trying countless times. It's unfortunate what you had to go through to quit smoking yourself but nonetheless it showed me that life is too precious to let cigarettes steal years away from me. Also thank you for all the support you gave me and the rest of the team at IndyGamers, Team DFi, and Stompfest over the years. I still consider our trip to Las Vegas as Team DFi to be one my most memorable adventures.

Amanda Foley: Thanks for being one of my work wives haha, and making TechSkills a blast while you were working there . I hope you can get through all the craziness you've got going on and focus on what truly matters, raising your boys, =]

Ambir Comparato: Deadfrog5... Another mistake in your mouth... I'm so short compared to you guys... It's funny that I consider my best time with you was the trip to Chicago to see Deadmau5 but damnit that was a brilliant roadtrip. You and Chris pretty much made that trip a thousand times more memorable than it would have been with anyone else. Thank you as well for all your support when you were at TechSkills. You did teach me that being organized is very important and hopefully one day I'll actually learn that lesson. Deadfrog5 Unite!

Amy Davis: First and foremost I'm sorry we had such a weird reunion online. There was a lot going on in my life when you came back into it and I left you hanging on a lot of questions you had with answers you never got. I promise in due time we'll get to sit down somewhere and I'll fill you in on all the crazyness that's happened since high school. I miss you terribly and you were a great friend and girlfriend back in the day. I'll never forget when you invited me to your party back in junior high and my mom gave me the "condom talk". Oh how little did she know we'd both turn out gay, hahahaha!

Andrea and Michael Wolfe: I've barely had time to get to know you and in all honesty I felt like a nerd after we met since I just rambled on about my ghost hunting hobby. Hopefully the four of us will get a chance to go out again soon and you can get to know me better. I really appreciate the blessing you've given Bryan and myself though. I am absolutely in head over heels in love and it means a lot to both of us to to have your support.

Ashley Allen (Cambron): Ashley I never really got to spend a lot of time with you when you and Craig were in town and I'm sure now that you're back in Japan and you guys have mutually dissolved things I'll probably never get a chance to get to know you better but I want to wish you the absolute best in life. You are a very intelligent young woman and I'm sure you're going to go far in life. Good luck!

Bill "WildBill" Peltola: I'm sure you didn't think you'd see yourself on here but I wanted to thank you for your help and support with the IU Computer Gaming Club LAN events. It was nice to have a point of contact to work with when I was supplying sponsorship stuff to the event. Not to mention you've got a heart of gold and a great attitude. You always made me feel appreciated for doing the things I did and it reminded me constantly of why I did the things I did for the local LAN scene.

Billy Pumprey (Nuno): You sir... are a local LAN Party god in your own right. You helped the scene learn how to walk when it was only crawling. IndySmash was my first event and it helped ignite my passion for LAN gaming in ways I never thought possible. The seed that was planted in my mind during that first party quickly took hold and spread it's roots throughout my life. Because of the LAN scene I was featured in the Nuvo Weekly, the IndyStar (TWICE!), it lead me to the IndyGamers team and eventually Stompfest, Team DFi, the Adrenaline Vault, etc, etc, etc. Not to mention some of the best friends I've had in my life came to me through the LAN scene. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Lisa and Bobby Watt: zOMG... The labor day and memorial day parties at Matt & Renee's were always off the hook thanks to you two amazing people! The bounce house with Super Fun Bobby, the hot tub hilariousness, the drinks... oh the drinks... You two have always been a source of hardcore laughter and fun when I'm around you. Thanks for making my life so incredibly memorable in that respect and I hope we get to hang out more throughout the coming years.

Brizad and Rebo (Brad and Ron): You guys along with Nuno have made such a huge impact on my life through Stompfest and IndySmash that I'll never forget you. You two pretty much dumped a gallon of gas on an already raging fire which propelled me into legendary status alongside yourselves among the local gaming scene. I'm sad that my life took a turn that drew me away from helping Stompfest but we had some great years and accomplished a lot. Thank you as well for the Sponsor Whore cake you got for me on my birthday some years back and the Xbox and the Nike MP3 player too. At some point I'll hopefully be able to return to my roots and help out the Stompfest in some way.

Brandi and Doug Gilbert: Thank you for being such great neighbors while we were living at Crest View. I truly hope you and your family are doing well and I know I miss hanging out with you. I'm sure Kaden misses licking Doug all over too, haha.

Brandon Weir (Teh_Rage): Oh Brandon... I'm glad you got your one and only screenshot kicking my ass in Unreal Tournament. I know you'll never get another one so I'm glad you can hold on to that piece of history. =] =] =] Thanks for being such a great friend and supporter through the LAN scene and helping me start Team DFi. I'm sorry that we both fell out of touch over the years but I'm hope you are doing well and succeeding in living out your dreams.

Brandt Houssian (Shagie): I never was able to kick your ass in Quake III but I'm glad we got to become such good friends through that game. It seems like most of my memories hanging out with you include gaming or drinking, but I can't say I regret that either. We've had some of the craziest times wilding out and doing what we do best... gaming and drinking, LOL. On a more serious note though thank you for all the web design and coding help you've given me over the years, it's greatly appreciated!! Cheers man!

Brian Summers: I've known you since elementary school and although we haven't hung out much since then with the exception of a few CodeFest's I really am rooting for you every time I see you land an even bigger DJ gig. I can't wait to see where that takes you, you've got mad skill on the turntables man!

To be continued on Part 2!