Well, with it being the middle of December already, I can start reviewing my 2011 and sharing it with the few people who read this crazy blog. If you are a dedicated reader of this blog, I can't thank you enough for spending 5-10 minutes of your day for reading the insane things I talk about. 2011 saw some HUGE numbers for my blog, well, at least huge for me, as I passed the 3000 and 4000 total page views marks. I didn't even know I had 2000 views until July to be honest, but anyway, thanks for reading.
Let me break down my year end posts for you. There is going to be three parts. The 1st one is going to be about my life in general. It's going to be a bit personal so fair warning. The 2nd one is going to be my top 10 video games of 2011. I'll also talk about what I'm looking forward to in 2012, stuff like that. That will be up sometime next week probably. The 3rd and final post will be my HUGE wrestling review, where I'll tell you what I think WWE did right AND wrong this year. There will also be a video with Jamal and I about the same subject. That should be up after Christmas but BEFORE New Year's, I hope.
This 1st post is about how my year went. I'll talk briefly about games and wrestling, but this post is centered around me and what I did this year. It's going to be a boring read for the people who don't actually know me, hell, it's going to be boring for the people who DO know me. Just read at your own risk OK?
2011 was easily the best year of my existence. Yeah, I said it. Let me talk about the cons first though. First and foremost, if you don't know, I'm a Christian, believer, follower of the way. My dad is the pastor of my church and I'm not going to lie, there's A LOT of pressure on me. In 2011, I didn't give God the time He deserved. I didn't read scripture when given the opportunity, I usually just played games. That's something I want to change in 2012. I'm also still working at McDonalds and not attending any kind of school. Basically, I'm still a bum. Working at McDonalds isn't really the problem, it's just that I don't see me EVER moving up there nor do I see them doing that either. WWE and my job are exactly alike but I'll get more into that later. I didn't really play the good friend role that well this year. You see, I have about 6 guys that I call my true friends. Sure, I have co-workers who I talk to and call my confidants but that's the only time I talk to them. I basically treated those 6 guys like there were nothing this year. The only time we would hang out (4 of them at least) was when a PPV was on or for a brief period after church when we would make a wrestling video. That's another change that has to happen in 2012. I don't want to lose those guys as friends, especially since 5 of the guys I've known since the 90s. I want to be a friend that talks to them more than one day of the week. So, in 2012, I want to be a stronger man of God, get a steady job and/or get into some kind of school, and be a better friend.
OK, now to what I did right. This year, I lost A TON of weight. I don't know how or if I can really put this under things I did right, but it's good in the long run. I didn't even start noticing it until October, when everyone around me started to ask what I was doing or if I was on crack lol. Anyway, while I'm glad I lost weight, it's also a sad thing too. I've been FatmanStephens since 6th grade. Everything I have online is UNDER FatmanStephens. Youtube, Twitter, Xbox, Playstation, EVERYTHING! I know it's a stupid reason, but FMS had become my identity, I would justify what I would do by saying if it was or wasn't the Fatman way. I can't say that anymore. Maybe I'm just crazy but I see it as a good and bad thing. Good for my health but bad for my identity.
June was the month I told myself that I had enough of McDonalds and that I was going to leave on the last day of the pay period, which was the 15th. Everyone asked why I was leaving and what I was going to do afterwards blah blah blah. So, I left and had easily one of the best months of my life. On June 16th, I RELAXED. Something I haven't really been able to fully do in two years. Also during that time, I moved from my neighborhood of 14 years. I moved that weekend and MAN, did I work hard, that's probably one of the reasons I lost weight now that I think about it. The next week was me just house sitting, waiting for things to come. When we moved into the new house, we bought a new TV, surround sound, and some other stuff. Both my parents worked during the day so it was up to ole Marcus to wait for things and hook them up. After that, I decided that two weeks later I would return to my old position at McDonalds. Those two weeks were just me relaxing, sitting on my couch, sweating, and watching Victorious and iCarly. It really was a great time. During that time, CM Punk was becoming the new face of WWE and the time off made it easier to wait for Raw and other things in my life. I got to play Shadows of the Damned during that time too and that was one of the better games I played this year. I finally returned July 19th and it was just like Punk returning with the WWE Championship two weeks after he won it. I got a raise and they finally started talking about moving me up the ladder, but, just like with Punk, my push fell off as well. My favorite manager was fired, like McMahon was and then all chaos broke loose. I'm currently where Punk was when he lost to Triple H at Night of Champions, no direction and all. Well, the morale of this story is, sometimes, you just need a damn break from it all, which is what I got from June 16th to July 18th.
There were a lot of great dates this year, like January 30th, where Del Rio won the Rumble match. April 3rd, when everyone at my house thought I was crazy for picking The Miz to beat Cena, but then it actually happened. May 22nd, a day where I finally got people on my own to come to church AND a day where my friends and I would wrestle our last match ever. The match also symbolizes the ending of an era because I was moving just a month later and I was the last remaining one of my close friends to leave the neighborhood. June 15th was the day I CM Punked McDonalds BEFORE Punk made the term famous. It may seem like nothing, but the 15th of June has been very good to me in the last couple of years. In 2009, I graduated on the 15th and in 2010, I got a PS3 on the 15th. In 2012, the 15th is going to be on a Friday and my girlfriend's birthday is the 18th. Maybe another good memory will be made on that day? June 18th was the day I finally moved. It was sad to leave Sharon Hill but I'm loving my new hood! July 17th marked the first PPV I watched at my new house and WHAT a PPV that was. July 26th was the day I bought Catherine. GOD, I loved that game. I was skeptical at first because I didn't think the gameplay would hold me over, but boy was I wrong. You'll be hearing more about Catherine in my next post, believe me. I'm skipping over a couple dates because I want to talk about that in its own section. October 4th began my gaming nirvana, with the fantastic game that was Dark Souls. Spoiler alert, Dark Souls is in my top 3 games of the year and I already mentioned the other game in it as well and there's only one left. If you've been following me on Twitter, I'm sure you know what it is. Anyway, Dark Souls was an amazing trip into a truly hard experience. October 12th I turned 21. 21, legal for everything age. I honestly didn't think I would make it to 21, don't ask me why, but I thank God that I did. November 20th marked the day my last big game for a while came out, which was The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It's definitely one of my favorite Zelda games of all time and the controls are AMAZING. Nintendo did it right. I won't be gaming like this until Mass Effect 3 and TALES OF GRACES F COME OUT! March 13th, 2012 is one of my most anticipated dates for 2012. Now, let me talk about what was easily the highlight of my year. STORY TIME!!!
Robyn Renae Taylor is a woman who I liked for a about a year. We always flirted at work and we were even going to hang out at one point in 2010, but with no confirmation between either one of us, it never happened. After we both starting giving mixed signals, I originally gave up and just realized that I would never ever have a chance to go out with her, so I put my attention on another girl. Robyn and I became bro and sis during this period but we still flirted occasionally. After I left McDonalds in June, Robyn said she was going to come to my church. I originally wasn't on board with the idea because I believed she was just coming to see me. Turns out, I pre judged her and she ended up making a decision to leave her old church and to join mine. Long story short, my feelings for Robyn came back up and my dad would GRILL me every freaking week if I liked her or not. I would tell him no just so he would get off my back but one week, he asked me the question, but he said if I was to shake his hand, I could never date her while living with him. I looked to the ground and he knew he got me. He told me I should go for it and he gave this whole elaborate plan on what to do and how to do it. I said alright and put the plan into motion. After a while though, I felt like I needed to do this on my own. I mean, I'm 20 years old at the time for Christ's sakes!
So, I came to work August 31st, 2011 and I was early. The godly bus that is the 107 got me to work a half hour before I had to clock in. Robyn was in one of her moods and wanted me to clock in early so she could leave. I said no and was trying to purposively piss her off, something I was known to do. She was getting mad and I decided to clock in at 3:54, 6 minutes early. I asked for the headset and she just threw it at me and walked away. I looked at my manager and I asked what the hell her problem was and she told me it was my fault. So, I went back there to try and cheer her up between orders. I know, it was contradictory to my original plan. After making some faces and staring her down, she cracked that beautiful smile of hers. She gave me a huge hug, like she usually did, turned her face, and asked if she could have a kiss. Me, being a smart guy, asked if she wanted a kiss on the cheek or on the lips, knowing she wanted it on the cheek but would take one on the lips. She raised her eyebrows, basically saying, you know what I want. So, I turned her cheek and kissed her. She squealed and ran up front, hugged my manager, and left. I came up front and my co-worked asked what happened and I told him. He, a Mr. Shane Walls, was a Marcus/Robyn shipper from day one so I have to also thank him for boosting my confidence a bit. I remember that day while I was praying before I went into work, I told myself that I was going to make a move today and I did.
She sent me a text at 10:56 that night, which was the EXACT time I got to the bus stop so I could get home. I found that very weird. I mean, she knew I was off at 11, but it was like she KNEW I was already off. Whatever, so she said what's up, all that jazz. I asked why was she still up and texting me, since she had work at 8 in the morning. She said she couldn't sleep and asked why did I kiss her. For me, I thought that was the DUMBEST question I heard all year. I even asked if that was a serious question. She was dead serious though. So, I told her I liked her a while now and she said the same thing. We basically talked about how long we liked each other, you know, that stuff until she fell asleep. The next day, she kissed me because I thought my dad was going to destroy me for not doing things according to his plan. That night, she asked me what was going to happen between us and I told her I wanted her to be my girlfriend and our relationship was born! I told my dad the next day and my whole church that Sunday, two of the harder things I had to do. Not because I'm ashamed of her or anything, but because I'm not a person with a lot of confidence to begin with.
A lot of my co-workers were shocked to see Robyn and I together. I have no idea why. I mean, we always flirted with each other and were always kissing and hugging each other. My one manager, Nancy AKA my favorite manager, was the one person who I thought wouldn't be surprised, but turns out she didn't know either. I guess I'm better at keeping a secret than I thought. I'll never forget coming to work the next couple of days after I kissed Robyn. Most of the girls were either shocked or infuriated that I didn't tell them I liked Robyn. Nancy was one of them. See, I work up front and at my McDonalds, they usually only put girls up front and guys in the kitchen making food. I'm one of those exceptions so I mostly talk to females all day. I guess it's because everyone there sees me as an innocent kind of guy who follows the Lord and never messes up. That's a lie from the pit of Hell. I'm in no way innocent BUT I do follow the Lord. I'm still human as well so I'm prone to making mistakes. Anyway, point is, I still don't know why this shocked people. Maybe it was because of our contrasting lifestyles? Robyn was more worldly than I so maybe that's the reason. I don't know.
So, long story short, August 31 - September 4th was a monumental part of my year and my life in general. It was the greatest period of time in my year. It was like winning the lottery or some kind of exquisite contest. It signaled a changing of the guard in my life. It was like when Nintendo released Skyward Sword or when Punk delivered his shoot promo to the WWE universe. It was the beginning of a new era in my life. It told me that I finally needed to grow up and be a man. I posted this on Twitter, but I remember my dad said basically told me to clean myself up because I was becoming a man. Now, three and a half months later, I want to marry this girl. I understand that that's a short period of time to have those types of plans, but I know that Robyn is the woman God has put on this Earth for me. And if I love her, why wait? Why deny the inevitable? I love her with all my heart and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. She definitely the quintessential girlfriend. Quintessential, just in case you didn't know but want to know but are too lazy to look it up, means representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class. She's dedicated to the Lord, driven and focused on what she wants to do in life, gets along with my parents, (much bigger deal for a 21 year old than you think) sweet, has an awesome personality, can cook, and is drop dead gorgeous. She's the love of my life. She made my 2011 the best year of my life. I thank God every day for her because without him, I wouldn't have her. It was GOD that finally instilled the confidence that day on August 31st to kiss her. Alright, enough of the sappiness!
So that was my life in a nutshell in 2011. After typing this, I feel so blessed. I didn't have one bad day in 2011. I had bad moments, but never whole bad day. As far as games and wrestling go, it was a pretty good year, but those will get their time to shine. My life in 2012 is going to be epic. I can't reveal all my plans, but it will be amazing to say the least. I'm going to be a Show Off trust me. Anyway, feels good to get all that off my chest and thanks for reading if you read this long and boring post. 2011 video game post is coming next!
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