2018

The holiday season really got away from me and I’m a little disappointed about this. I had written what would surely have been my most eye-opening and controversial blog to date, however, I never released it because at the time I was feeling ambitious and decided to finish writing a particular Christmas song I had begun all the way back in 2012. I have since completed my lyrics, but as the holiday season has come and gone it just doesn’t feel appropriate publishing it now. So, it looks like y’all are going to get a Christmas in July posting for my beloved, “PAM!” I’ma be straight up with y’all right now, this is the post I am most excited to release, but if this past year was any indication, summer will be here in no time!

Many people speculated in these past couple of weeks that I was more than ready for 2019 to drop. That I was perhaps hoping for that fresh start that the new year seems to represent to so many, but honestly, that was not at all the case. I had an excellent 2018 and while I definitely experienced hardships, the positives FAR outweighed the negatives.

In fact, as I sit here and write this 2018 synopsis, the only hardship I can really pinpoint would be my financial one. During the timespan stretching from Memorial Day through Labor Day I found myself in the most dire financial shape of my entire life. It was surely from this summer long plight that those assuming I was more than ready for 2019 drew their assumptions. My lifestyle of living like a prince on the budget of a pauper had finally caught up with me and let me tell y’all what, it was rough. I had placed myself in the position where I had to pick and choose which bills would and would not be getting paid throughout those summer months and because of this I was actually able to emerge from this debacle stronger than yesterday.

If ever you find yourself in a predicament similar to mine take my advice and do NOT pay your bills. I had a history of perfect on time payments for years and years, so when I landed myself one month behind on several of my credit cards, they became increasingly easy to work with. I was able to negotiate lower monthly payments on most all my cards and closed several to ensure that I would never again be tempted to use them. I would never have been able to reach these settlements if I had not stopped paying those bills on time, so don’t be afraid or embarrassed to fall behind. I was extremely ashamed at first, but when I saw no other way out, I just let it all come crashing down and took the responsibility to reach out to my creditors. I knew it was my situation to own and because I did I have been blessed with an outcome FAR more positive than I could have ever expected.

Like I said though, 2018 was good to me and there is no better example than this blog. I have been absolutely blessed with some incredible statistics that I never dreamed of prior to my launch. I had 2,168 unique readers giving me 6,854 total views across all my pages! The fact that somehow more than 2,000 individuals stumbled across my blog blows my mind and I am beyond thankful for each and every single one of them. Knowing that I have an established audience has propelled me to write more and write better. My sole New Year’s Resolution is to write more often and hopefully finish my book by the year’s end, but I also want to get back to posting more regularly, so I am truly going to push myself to publish one blog a week. So, enough with the highlights and lowlights of the year, let me share with you all my favorite films and songs of 2018!

My ABSOLUTE #1 favorite movie of 2018 was WITHOUT DOUBT “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” I loved the original, “Wreck-It Ralph,” but it’s sequel was pure wonder. I laughed more times than I could count and not just because my wife continuously compared her physique to that of Ralph’s, but because it was genuinely hilarious. This is the first film I believe Melissa and I have ever watched together where I outcried her. “Ralph Breaks the Internet” perfectly captured the relationships I share with the friends and family I left behind in my California life. I was not prepared for that ending, but I am beyond thankful for it. I love movies that speak to me on an emotional level and this one was incredibly fluent in my language and because of this I give it my top spot. If you haven’t seen it yet you need to double down on your life and do so. Even if you cannot relate to living in another place, it still possesses so many beautiful aspects of friendship and the love that comes with those relationships and those are aspects of life that hopefully we can all relate to.

My Top Five Favorite Films of 2018!

• 5. Christopher Robin (again another beautiful film about friendship.)

• 4. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (leaving the island behind for the mainland was the equivalent of watching my childhood fade into oblivion.)

• 3. Mary Poppins Returns (practically perfect in every way.)

• 2. Paddington 2 (family is what you make it, not what you are born with – plus, the ending had me sobbing hysterically for about thirty minutes straight.)

1. Ralph Breaks the Internet (see above!)

My Top Five Favorite Songs of 2018!

• 5. “In My Blood” – Shawn Mendes – the lyrics of never giving up truly resonated with me. Shawn can truly do no wrong.

• 4. “Caution” the album – Mariah Carey – can’t nobody do it like MC. Despite being only 10 tracks long this was undoubtedly one of the strongest albums of her career and in my opinion the second best full length album of 2018. Three decades into her career and she can still sing circles around her peers.

• 3. “Zero” – Imagine Dragons – the theme from “Ralph Breaks the Internet” is an infectious pop/rock beat that I had on repeat the final two months of the year. Usually I burn out fast on Imagine Dragons hits, but this one continues to remain stuck in my head and I am not complaining.

• 2. “Let You Be Right” – Meghan Trainor – I am forever on board that M Train, so when she released this jam in late summer to little fanfare, I was highly disappointed because it definitely deserved more. I ran countless miles to this one and the beat just makes me wanna throw some rollerblades on and skate around the park while Melissa drives along the road next to me blasting this track from her car speakers.

1. “CNCO” the album – CNCO – Despite 90% of the lyrics being in Spanish I have never connected more with a set of songs I cannot really understand. My Spanish classes of days past help me pick up plenty of words here and there, but for the most part, I am clueless about what these five latin princes are singing about. All I know is that they sound amazing. The beats, the voices, the songs, everything works on this record creating the perfect sonic symphony for my ears. My California step-sister, Gabby, put it best when she called CNCO a latin One Direction because the only direction these guys are going to continue going in is straight to the top of the charts.

Well, thank you all SO much for spending 2018 with me! I look forward to sharing much more with everyone all throughout 2019! Hopefully my next post will be out soon, but until then, I hope everyone is living their best life ever!