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Description
‘Twas a long time ago (longer now than it seems),
In a place that, perhaps, you have seen in your dreams.
For the story that you are about to be told
Began in the holiday worlds of old.
I know you’re curious to see what’s inside.
It's what happens when two holidays collide!

--Haunted Mansion Holiday, opening lines

Here we are, guys. One last post. One more spin, before we bid farewell to 2018, and herald in 2019. First of all, I want to address what has been happening here on DA. Well, as you may have noticed, it's been a bit barren around here. And that's entirely on me, I haven't really been finding the energy to post chapters from book three... but that doesn't mean I'm abandoning it. I want to finish book four, which has actually been in a bit of a slow time... I can break through the drought, I'm sure.

I want to take this time to mention what all happened in 2018 for me, because boy is there a lot. This year probably has some of the most travelling I've done. I traveled through a grand total of four states this year, not counting my home state of California. My mom, sister and I traveled to Utah for a Shakespeare festival, stopping at Zion National Park along the way! We went on some of the smaller hikes in Zion, but what I loved the most was easily seeing Weeping Rock. I loved it so much that one of the pictures I took is the inspiration for a scene in book four that I hope you all enjoy. We barely traveled through Arizona (just a tiny little sliver of it!), but I still think it counts. We also passed through Nevada, stopping in Vegas twice for lunch. That trip was a whole lot of fun. But what defines 2018 for me... is that fourth state I traveled to.

Oregon.

Yep, I traveled up north into Oregon in October. The main reason I went up there was for the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. I went in costume as Frisk from Undertale, complete with a stick and Band-Aid! But before all of that could happen, my mom and I went on a bit of a sight-seeing adventure. Easily the two best areas we visited were the Chinese and Japanese gardens, with the Japanese garden being my favorite (and where I took the most pictures). They were both such beautiful places to escape to, amid all the city chaos... with the Chinese garden actually being in the city, in all the ruckus and whatnot! It was beautiful to see an immersive garden in the middle of a grand city... even if there were noises of cars just outside the walls, it still felt like a hidden gem, where you could push all those noises away if only for a time. But besides all of that, besides the gardens, the expo... the best day of my ten-day trip had to have been three days before the expo really began (the large arcade they have is open on the first day before everything else like panels and the shopping floor opens).

I met two of my favorite people from the internet, in person. This is why what you are reading is titled "When Two Nerds Collide." We went to eat at a California Pizza Kitchen (yeah, one of those in Oregon. I know it's a chain, but it's still really funny to me for some reason). My mom and I already got a seat, I was messaging one of my friends on Skype... and she said she was getting close to it. So I ran outside, looked for them... and before I knew it, I was hugging FuzzyPickles42 and her sister. We had an amazing meal, chatted... I passed some gifts over, and after that, we walked around the outside mall and continued talking. As the night closed, we decided to take the group picture seen above.

That trip to Oregon defined my year. I want to do it again so much, or at least something similar. I'll never forget that hug, just how freaking happy we all were. It was a true accomplishment.

Well guys... happy New Year. Here's to the next year, to friends... and to being happy. G'night all ^^

(a drawn version of this by Fuzzy herself is coming, so once that's done, I'll post the link in this description )

Description
‘Twas a long time ago (longer now than it seems),
In a place that, perhaps, you have seen in your dreams.
For the story that you are about to be told
Began in the holiday worlds of old.
I know you’re curious to see what’s inside.
It's what happens when two holidays collide!

--Haunted Mansion Holiday, opening lines

Here we are, guys. One last post. One more spin, before we bid farewell to 2018, and herald in 2019. First of all, I want to address what has been happening here on DA. Well, as you may have noticed, it's been a bit barren around here. And that's entirely on me, I haven't really been finding the energy to post chapters from book three... but that doesn't mean I'm abandoning it. I want to finish book four, which has actually been in a bit of a slow time... I can break through the drought, I'm sure.

I want to take this time to mention what all happened in 2018 for me, because boy is there a lot. This year probably has some of the most travelling I've done. I traveled through a grand total of four states this year, not counting my home state of California. My mom, sister and I traveled to Utah for a Shakespeare festival, stopping at Zion National Park along the way! We went on some of the smaller hikes in Zion, but what I loved the most was easily seeing Weeping Rock. I loved it so much that one of the pictures I took is the inspiration for a scene in book four that I hope you all enjoy. We barely traveled through Arizona (just a tiny little sliver of it!), but I still think it counts. We also passed through Nevada, stopping in Vegas twice for lunch. That trip was a whole lot of fun. But what defines 2018 for me... is that fourth state I traveled to.

Oregon.

Yep, I traveled up north into Oregon in October. The main reason I went up there was for the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. I went in costume as Frisk from Undertale, complete with a stick and Band-Aid! But before all of that could happen, my mom and I went on a bit of a sight-seeing adventure. Easily the two best areas we visited were the Chinese and Japanese gardens, with the Japanese garden being my favorite (and where I took the most pictures). They were both such beautiful places to escape to, amid all the city chaos... with the Chinese garden actually being in the city, in all the ruckus and whatnot! It was beautiful to see an immersive garden in the middle of a grand city... even if there were noises of cars just outside the walls, it still felt like a hidden gem, where you could push all those noises away if only for a time. But besides all of that, besides the gardens, the expo... the best day of my ten-day trip had to have been three days before the expo really began (the large arcade they have is open on the first day before everything else like panels and the shopping floor opens).

I met two of my favorite people from the internet, in person. This is why what you are reading is titled "When Two Nerds Collide." We went to eat at a California Pizza Kitchen (yeah, one of those in Oregon. I know it's a chain, but it's still really funny to me for some reason). My mom and I already got a seat, I was messaging one of my friends on Skype... and she said she was getting close to it. So I ran outside, looked for them... and before I knew it, I was hugging FuzzyPickles42 and her sister. We had an amazing meal, chatted... I passed some gifts over, and after that, we walked around the outside mall and continued talking. As the night closed, we decided to take the group picture seen above.

That trip to Oregon defined my year. I want to do it again so much, or at least something similar. I'll never forget that hug, just how freaking happy we all were. It was a true accomplishment.

Well guys... happy New Year. Here's to the next year, to friends... and to being happy. G'night all ^^

(a drawn version of this by Fuzzy herself is coming, so once that's done, I'll post the link in this description )