Has it really been over a year?

That's crazy to me.

Makes sense though.  I did virtually no fishing in the last year.  Plenty of shooting and a couple (unsuccessful) hunting trips but never anything that motivated me to update on here. 

A quick update on my personal life over the past year, in case anyone who was reading before is interested:

• Got promoted to Supervisor at my job.  I absolutely love it.  I feel like I help other people work rather than working myself now.  Also, going from a mostly-commission check to salary has been marvelous and given the wife and I enough financial piece of mind that we...
• Bought a house!  A beautiful 4BR on a cul de sac in a small town outside of Peoria.  Fenced in yard, two car garage, retired neighbors, the works.  I couldn't be happier about the purchase.
• After waaaay too much research, I ended the Quest for the Holy Handgun and bought a Glock 22.  Why a G22?  It came highly recommended from family members and friends in the military and law enforcement (and it was $100 cheaper than its 9mm brother).  Unfortunately, I purchased it in January and haven't been able to give it a good testing since the price of ammo has been outrageous since the Sandy Hook tragedy and subsequent push for stricter gun control.  Took $70 to stock the two magazines I have with hollow points just for home defense. 
• My uncle passed away last August due to complications during a surgery.  He was an awesome man who truly loved the outdoors and I both cherish the conversations we had and wish we had more of them. :(
•  I had my own scare last fall and had surgery to have a tumor removed.  Thankfully it was benign and I haven't had any issues since.  However, the surgery really opened my eyes in that...
• When I weighed in for the surgery I clocked in at an even 500 pounds.  I am ashamed that I let myself get that far and it is very hard for me to admit that I let it happen.  Man that's a downer.  But there's good news...
• Since October, I have lost 59lbs!  I've done so on many different dietary and workout plans over the past 8 months.  As of right now I've been doing a powerlifting-type routine (Starting Strength) at the gym for about a month and will be working in running starting tomorrow.  I've gotten quite a bit stronger and have noticed significant muscle gain.  It took me a long time and I ignored a lot of good advice both from people in person and blog friends but the death of my uncle and my weight at time of surgery were enough to make me realize that I don't want to die before I'm a senior citizen. 

All of this leads to the following:  I miss blogging and I really want to get back to it.  However, being an outdoorsman is such a small part of my life right now that it doesn't warrant regular updates. 

It's time for a fresh start.

 I present for your consideration: A Man's Life

What is that you may ask?  Well, ideally it will be exactly as it sounds:  a chronicling of the goings-on in a man's life.  This man's life in particular.

What to expect:

1. Regular updates on my weight loss, lifting, and (if all goes according to plan) running progress.  This is one of the main reasons I feel the need to blog again.  Not only could a blog be a very handy workout log, I feel blogging about my progress as an outdoorsman allowed me to meet some awesome people and open a few doors, but I believe it helped me advance from an absolutely beginner to actually knowing some things.  I want to share my journey and leave a record of it. Something I can look back on and be proud of.
2. Personal updates.  The kind of thing that I wanted to put on here but was afraid it wasn't outdoorsy enough.  Updates on the lives of my wife and I as we progress in our careers and start our family.  Experiences in general, like the test run post on A Man's Life that noone saw where I changed my brakes on my own for the first time a year and then some ago.  You know, this one.
3. Pro-2nd Amendment commentary.  I suppose the occasional un-gun related political post will pop in there from time to time (From a mostly-libertarian point of view.), but firearms are most definitely my soapbox issue. 
4. Reviews on things that I am mostly unqualified to review.  Workout routines, weird shoes, guns, books, movies, tabletop RPGs, tv shows.  Anything that stands out as particularly awesome or horrible.
5. Sports commentary from time to time.  Mostly football and UFC, as it seems that's all I end up watching nowadays.
6. Some outdoorsy updates assuming I work it back into my life.  I want to.  If you're still reading this blog then you know what to expect there.
7. Possibly some fiction?  I've toyed with this in the past and actually have over 20k words written out for a story I've been working on forever.  Not sure about this one though.  If I do decide to put that out there, I'd probably start a different blog.
8. Whatever else I feel like writing.

 So there you have it. If you enjoyed my writings awhile back or you stumbled across the blog, feel free to check it out.  I will have my starting fitness post up tomorrow and as long as everything works out I should have the new site somewhat revamped eventually.

If it doesn't work out... Life goes on.

One thing is for certain: this is the last post for Intro to the Outdoors.  RIP IttO.  We had a good run.

See you at the new place.