Day 22: How Have You Changed In the Past 2 Years...

First off, I would like to say that I'm not making these up and that I would not really talk about my past this much.

Two years ago, a friend of mine, ask me to say some MC rhymes...

Okay, that's from a Run DMC song.  I don't have any friends with MC rhymes.  Let's see.  Two years ago was May 9th, 2011.  I was about 2 years out of college.  Which means I was about 6 years out of high school.  I was 24.

I think in the last two years, I really haven't changed that much.  I started getting better money habits since then.  I followed some of Dave Ramsey's advice to help me.  I worked where I still work now, which is Bank of America.  Sorry to say that I'm pretty sure I had a different boss, different hours, and the same shitty attitude about working there.

I don't think I've changed that dramatically.  Looking at my Facebook from May, I had made my first cut-off pair of Sworts(sweatpants that are now shorts) and cut the sleeves off a wolf shirt.  Yes, I own a wolf shirt.  I own 2.

In the past two years, I went to Vegas with my friends from home and had the time of my life.  I went to The Spearmint Rhino and spent more money than I needed to.  This was during my spendthrift days.  I also started making my own food during then.  Notably, I made my two favorite dips: Mango "salsa" and Guacamole.  I've made these more and more, and I've even nailed down some of the important tips to remember.  They've been a big hit at most parties.

I also tried making things with Sweet Potatoes, like fries, and they came out awesome.  Such a good recipe.

It was August of 2011 that I had my first car negotiation.  My original car, the 199? Oldsmobile Ciera had died the day after I drove back from Maine.  I needed to get a new car and use my own money to pay for it.  I found a friend who was selling a good car, a 1999 Honda CRV with about 100k miles, and I bought it.  I had to trade in some savings bonds, but it's better than getting a loan and paying interest on it.  The picture below was what my truck of my old car looked like the majority of the time.

I went to Pensacola with some college friends during Spring Break.  Note: we weren't in college, yet still felt obligated to party with college aged people.

I also had a streak of some of the best Halloween costumes I've ever made.  I was Mohmar Qaddafi in 2011.

 And then I was Bane in 2012.

As a person, I really haven't changed.  I changed some habits.  I stopped spending so much money on food and trips.  I started saying No to some things to save money.  I picked up healthier living.  I also started doing this more: blogging.  I got back into writing.

I used to write a ton, but I've settled that down a bit.  I still haven't finished a screenplay like I wanted to.  I want to accomplish more, but I sometimes find that these little journey's I want to go on need either more money, more time, and more commitment than originally planned.  It sounds like I'm trying to live more than one life, but it's only because I want it all.  I want to be everything I dream about.  I want to work with wood and tools.  I want to write screenplays.  I want to write books.  I want to do standup.  I want to see $1 Million dollars in my name.  I want to travel the world and document it.  I want to cook and taste so many foods.  But because of the way I'm living and the choices I made, I have to learn to cross off some of those things and forget them.

That's what's been the hardest: looking at the trajectory of my life and the life I want to lead, and bringing it back down to Earth and being realistic.  Sure I can make goals of doing crunches or squats or whatever for 30 days, but the long term goals that are 5 years are the hardest because anything can be sitting around the corner just waiting to screw up your plans.