At the end of the year, there are two posts I always write. The first is my “End of Year Book Survey” where I review all the books, comics, manga, and graphic novels I read. The second is my “Pop Culture Year in Review” where I reflect on the shows and movies I watched and highlight fun moments throughout the year. I wanted to add another post to this end-of-year post series. This post will link to some of my favorite posts I wrote this year.

Life Lessons That I Will Take Into My 30s

Life Lessons That I Will Take Into My 30s is pretty self-explanatory. I took time to remember my 20s and what I have learned as I enter a new decade. This post is arguably one of the most vulnerable posts I have ever published. I have grown so much from when I was 20 to being a few months into being 30. I had this post in my drafts for several months and each week I would write a little bit and then move on to something else. It took me at least three months for a rough draft to be written, but it was well worth it. I find myself re-reading this post from time to time and every time, I’m proud of the post and how I have evolved into an even better person than I used to be.

Why I Choose “Pay to Play” for TTRPGs

Why I Choose “Pay to Play” for TTRPGs came out of harassment I received online. I like how I turned something that was initially negative into something positive. On top of that, I think the pay-to-play format is becoming more popular thanks to StartPlaying. I had a few people reach out to me privately asking for more information, so I’m glad my post came off as informative which was my original intent.

Favorite Moments of My 20s

Favorite Moments of My 20s sounds similar to my Life Lessons post, instead, I talked about memories that stood out to me throughout the past decade. I wrote about trips I took or major moments during this time of my life. When I wrote this post, I forgot how many trips I had been on. It’s funny how that works. When I had to pick and choose which trips I would highlight, I had a hard time narrowing down what I would write about. I feel fortunate to have been able to travel so much in my 20s. I want to continue traveling in my 30s, but it will feel different in the best way. I don’t enjoy being gone for more than a week as I find value in my day-to-day routine. I find a lot of joy in traveling for three full days even if it’s a quick trip for a weekend. I wrote about how I purchased my car and graduated from college. In my 30s, I probably won’t have those milestone moments, but I think that’s a part of finding stability in my life which is comforting.

How Natural 1s Furthered Vesper’s Story – Axis Campaign

How Natural 1s Furthered Vesper’s Story had to appear on this list. I don’t write a lot about the D&D campaign I’m in. I like having the privacy of my home game and part of the story isn’t for me to tell since it doesn’t revolve around my character. I would never want to tell a story that isn’t mine. With Vesper though, I was re-reading my notes from our sessions and those campaign moments stood out. It’s funny how they both revolved around rolling a natural one on a dice roll. My goal with this post is to put players at ease who may feel scared about lower rolls. While natural 20s are exciting, natural 1s can add to the story and I can speak from first hand experience as to how that’s the case.

Trying Out Colored Contacts in Cosplay

Trying Out Colored Contacts in Cosplay is another post I wanted to include, but not because of the post itself. It’s more about how I’m proud to have improved how I cosplay. I took a risk and tried something new which can be scary. Putting in contacts was something I was not good at, but the more I did it, the better I got. I would see cosplayers wearing colored contacts and didn’t know how they got started. I had to figure it out on my own to some degree and I’m glad I did. With colored contacts out of the way, maybe it’s time to figure out how to apply body paint.

Undergoing Genetic Testing

Undergoing Genetic Testing is the last post I wanted to promote. Before undergoing Genetic Testing, I didn’t know anyone else who had. I think it’s a topic that’s out of sight out of mind for most couples who are going to become parents. For us, it was a must to have Genetic Testing completed, but I would encourage anyone who is thinking about having children to get tested. I walked through how I started the process which I hope would be helpful to those who were thinking about it.

If you have a moment, I’d love a little extra love on some of these posts. If you haven’t liked or commented on these posts, I’d appreciate the sentiment! I am curious to see what I will write about in 2025.