nomnomspoons

[nomnomspoons]

Giant life update of the past 2 or so years

Hey everyone. It's been a while since I posted a big life update here, sooo here it is.

To be honest, it's been rough. It's been messy. Both inside and out.

In some ways, things have been good, or great even. My bond with my spouse is as strong as it's ever been, I feel secure in my job and sure of my talents, I'm in a good house and I know I have friends and family that care about me.

But in other ways... there's a lot that needs to be worked through. Primarily, unfortunately, it's financial problems. Starting in 2022, my spouse started to have a series of medical issues. There were multiple urgent care visits, a rush to the ER once, and over a dozen medical tests were performed. So many of these visits and tests told us "it's not this" and "it's not that", it took us so long until we finally got some answers and a path forward about how to get my spouse back to feeling okay. So while a majority of that whole episode is behind us, what's not is the mountain of medical bills that occurred as a result, and the strain those put on our finances overall. We're still not out of the woods medically either as my spouse has a kinda big surgery next month and there's likely to be more tests and procedures in the future, which is going to continue to mean more medical bills. My spouse hasn't been able to work consistently during all this time either, which has also contributed to the lack of income to cover everything we have.

We've gotten help from family at various points over the past year or so, which has helped a lot... but a lot of the time recently, the best it's done is just keep our heads barely above the water. Our dog's been having an allergy problem the past few months that I would've liked to bring him to the vet for, but that costs money to do. I have my own medical issues I want to work on, but I don't want even more medical bills there either. My spouse and I have never had a proper honeymoon. As you can imagine, not being able to pursue all these things and more, and the constant feeling of teetering financially for the past year and beyond, it's caused a lot of stress and anxiety for me.

It's not the only thing that's been eating at me either. I'm turning 30 next month, and it's caused me to feel more reflective over the past few months. I know I still have a decent portion of my life left, but I worry about how much time I do still have left to accomplish the various things I've wanted to do. I have very few regrets about what I've done so far in my life, but at the same time, I can't ignore that looking back, I see a number of half-finished projects and ideas that are nothing more than a few paragraphs jotted down somewhere. I'm proud of the skills I have, but there's so many skills I want to learn, so many things I want to see or do, and I don't know how I'll have room in the rest of my life for it all. A lot of that is, unfortunately, the human experience, but it still sucks to verbalize, you know?

I've been so caught up in my stress and emotions and what's going on immediately in front of me that I've not been reaching out to friends, and I haven't been responding to friends who reach out to me. I want to throw events and invite friends and do stuff, like a 30th birthday party for example, but a lot of that involves spending money.

So yeah, there's been a lot. If you've been wondering why you haven't heard from me, that's pretty much why. There's so much more than I can say, but you get the picture. I know that I need to be grateful for a number of things – some of the problems others have, I already have solved. I've been working on feeling more in tune with my emotions and with the world around me, and as a result, I've often felt a lot more grounded. It's probably the only reason why I haven't been freaking out more lol. And I also know that all things in life is a roller coaster, and I'll probably have a very different update to give in 5 years.

But despite the gratefulness and the groundedness... this is a post of me talking about me. And I'm not doing as great as I could be. I'm hoping things will turn around more in 2025.

[nomnomspoons]

Sitting in the office today and watching the weather go from rainy and damp, to snowy and damp, to finally straight up snowstorm was quite the experience.

However, the snow didn't stop me from going out and voting today, so I'm proud of myself for that! :D

[nomnomspoons]

I can finally showcase this piece/cover I worked on for

@Eeldealzine ! I drew so many Frye's... but I enjoyed every moment of it!

[nomnomspoons]

Kinda related, but the New York Times did a really cool article about neighborhoods in New York City (sadly, I think it's behind a paywall now :( ), and there's been such a long history of wealthier neighborhoods "taking over" lower-income ones, including developers making up names to make the neighborhood sound richer than it actually is. Because there's few cleanly defined boundaries between neighborhoods, this kind of thing keeps happening over and over. But it sucks for the families being literally priced out of their own homes, due to the actions of people whom they've never met, so good on that AITA poster for fighting back (and in an entertaining way!)

I love this so much

[nomnomspoons]

Michael Scofield's Infinite Sadness was the downfall of the company

Because my husband beta reads some of my Prison Break fics, he’s apparently had it on the mind a lot. Mind you, he’s never seen the show.

He’s playing Game Dev Tycoon and his newest game in the game is called “Escape From Panama”. He’s basing his games on PB based solely on what he knows from me and my fics.

[nomnomspoons]

It is very funny of Marina to fall madly in love with the very first person she met on the surface, but in her defense if I had just left the dreary underground military regime that I had lived my entire life in, feeling the sun on my skin for the very first time, and there, on that mountain I, as if fate ordained it, met a tomboyish heavy metal princess with a voice that shattered glass? I'd stand no chance either.

[nomnomspoons]

On my way to fucking get you

[nomnomspoons]

SEA IS FOR COOKIE!

[nomnomspoons]

Taking a Long Break until May!

Hello! It's been a while since I've used this old anime review blog, but I think I'm about ready to return... after maybe a few more months of resting... But Anime Bird will return in May! Read more here:

Hello! Just a little announcement to say that I’m taking a long break from posting until sometime in early May. Okay, good bye! … Alright, I guess I’ll say something a bit more lol. My “grand return” (if you could even call it that) back in 2022 obviously didn’t last as long as part of me was expecting. I did half-excitedly get back into anime that year, but that enthusiasm didn’t stick as…

[nomnomspoons]

This is mine and Rit's kind of weather. :) High 60s, partly cloudy, very light breeze. Just a really nice time for being outside.

[nomnomspoons]

Review: The Maid I Recently Hired is Mysterious

This was delayed more than I had wanted, but it's finally here! Time to put on our thinking hats and try to figure out why The Maid I Recently Hired is Mysterious! Here's my review: (#AnimeBirdReview)

Around the same time that I picked up anime again and started with Spy X Family, I decided I needed a few other shows on my plate to try, preferably not an action or stereotypical “shounen” type. I’m not super sure what ended up drawing me to this show though; it might’ve been the title, seeing an image of Lilith being cute, or it might’ve been a blog or post somewhere that caused me to turn this…

[nomnomspoons]

Long leg boy! #sleepydog #dogsofwisconsin #dogsofinstagram #muttsofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CpI5ZQIOK2y/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nomnomspoons]

I just finished one of the highest scoring Mario Party games I think I've ever had! And in only 30 turns, no less! I played well for the most part, but I also had impressive luck overall lol. I was untouchable for the entire second half of the game lol. That was spectacularly wild! #marioparty #marioparty5 #wow https://www.instagram.com/p/Cod4_-rtYHj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nomnomspoons]

Staring out the window and pondering about the big questions in life... "If I am such a good boy like they say, why am I not given all the treats all the time?" #scrabble #dogsofinstagram #muttsofinstagram #dogsofwisconsin https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnug2A-uFXs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nomnomspoons]

Spicy vs Sweet vs Sour Splatfest

[nomnomspoons]

So the new Sonic game I bought came in today #sonic #sonicthehedgehog #sonic06 https://www.instagram.com/p/CnIF2wUucDd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nomnomspoons]

Despite it being 12 degrees outside (-12 Celsius), my dog and I just went on a whole big walk around our neighborhood. Now he's enjoying some rest time by the fireplace lol https://www.instagram.com/p/CmpwBMlNdlT/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=