Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 29: A Quick Trip To NYC Part 2: A Day In The City

 A Quick Trip To NYC Part 2: A Day In The City

The morning after the show, Paige and I got up at 8:00 a.m. After getting ready, we went downstairs and had an impromptu breakfast with Jill and her family. By the time we got out of their house, it was 9:30. 

 Our first stop was Times Square, which, honestly, was kinda a bust. After that we made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge and on the other side we got pizza at Grimaldi’s which was really good. After we finished most of our pizza, we left and headed to a pier.

From this pier we took a ferry to Governors Island. Governors Island is located in New York Harbor, just South of Manhattan. When we had been making plans for the day with Jill before the Cousin Simple show, she gave us a bit of history about it, and for this installment, I did a little bit of research just so I could understand the setting. Most of what I learned is not super relevant to this installment. Obviously there were some Native Americans who lived there initially, the Dutch and the English settled there in the 1600s, and the island had prominent roles in the Revolutionary War, and both World War I and II. In 2003, the government sold the island to New York for public use.

Jill described it as a year round fairground. They have events all the time. On that day, there was a pumpkin patch event, (though it was more tailored for kids than we initially believed). What was really cool about Governors Island was… it was like it was time locked. Like yes, there were smart phones, and people walking around in modern clothes, but the island itself felt very old world. 

Now what I have not been good at in this installment is keeping track of what time we did everything and that is by design. From Jill‘s house on we were on the move the whole time, even if we were just sitting around waiting for the subway, and it was really hard to keep track. By the time we were rushed off the island it was somehow already 6:00 p.m. 

We made it back to Jill‘s house by 7:00 and we played a game of Uno with her, her husband and her kids shortly after we arrived. The funniest part of the night was one of the kids kept calling Paige “young lady,” with way too much confidence.

I went into this quick trip to New York City knowing that we weren’t going to see everything. While the day flew by, we still did a lot of stuff,  considering that we were only in New York for a little bit under 48 hours. Still, I can’t wait to go back and see more! 

To Be Continued… 

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 28: A Quick Trip To NYC Part 1: Mr. Disney

 A Quick Trip To NYC Part 1: Mr. Disney

On Sunday, October 26, 2025, in Orlando, my grandpa, Pop-pop, was doing some work at his partner Sara‘s house, at around 5:00 pm. To his surprise, his phone started ringing. “Hey, Pop-pop,” I said, “Paige and I missed our connecting flight. Can you pick us up?” 40 minutes later, we were in Sara’s car on our way back to her house.

“So,” Pop-pop asked, “what happened?”

“Well,” I replied, “it all started with a Cousin Simple show.” 

Cousin Simple had a show in New York City on Friday, the 24th. Usually, we wouldn’t go to an out of state show, but Paige has a cousin who lives there, so we decided to make a weekend trip out of it. We flew Spirit to save money. On our way to NYC, we went from Columbus to Fort Lauderdale to New York. We landed in Fort Lauderdale at 7:40 am, as our next flight was boarding.  We ran all the way through the airport to our gate, only to realize that it had changed to the gate right next to the one we had landed at. 

Miraculously, we made it to New York, and after a brief lunch, we made it to her cousin’s house. Her cousin, who I will call Jill, showed us to our room, helped us make a rough plan for the next day, and then she went to get her kids from school, and Paige and I chilled until it was time for the show.

The show was at a bar called Pianos, which was about 30 minutes away by subway. We got through the turnstile before being informed that all of the subways were down… because, of course, they were. 

We ended up Lyfting to Pianos, which, I mean… driving in NYC… it wasn’t the best… the bar was pretty small and I wasn’t really sure where they were going to play. But the venue itself was actually upstairs, and it was huge! There wasn’t a stage, so the band was on the same level as the audience, which was super engaging. The most exciting part of the show was when they announced that the next song on their EP, Mr. Disney, would be coming out on Friday, November 7th. Which for those of you who are following me live was yesterday.

This was really exciting because the entire EP was recorded during the gap between last season and this one, and it has been in the proverbial vault all year. While I have heard most of them (my favorite ones haven’t been released), I hadn’t heard Mr. Disney. I’m excited that we are now halfway through the EP, and they will all be available soon!

To Be Continued… 

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 27: Elana

 Elana

On Thursday, October 23rd, 2025, I ate dinner, got dressed up, drove to Luke and Josh’s house to drop off Paige and my parking pass and extra key, and drove to the Exchange at Bridge Park for the 11th annual Thread Of Hope (TOH) benefiting Sam’s Fans. As you might recall, TOH is a fashion show. When I walked in, I was slightly overwhelmed.

See, when I first joined Sam's Fans, almost 10 years ago now, I knew pretty much everyone at the events. Over the last few years, however, the trend has been that there are more people that I don’t know at events as the organization grows. Though, to be fair, I haven’t volunteered as much in the last two years, which I need to start doing again, but my point is,  S.M.'s family and friends are always busy, and other than talking to each of them individually for a bit, I don’t really know anyone else.

At TOH, this year, I ran into two people. The first was one of Paige’s cousins' girlfriends, who I’m going to call Kristen. “Hey,” We both said, hugging each other. “What are you doing here?” she continued. After I explained the connection, she told me that a friend of hers worked for Thread (the store that puts on the show). After talking to her for a few minutes, I went and mingled with S.M.’s family and friends until the live action started. The auction raised $1 million!!! After the auction, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hi Mitchell,” Elana said when I turned.

“Oh my gosh,” I replied, “Hi!”

Elana was in S.M. and my class at OLP and was a great friend to both of us. Her older half sister, Natalie, set me up with my first girlfriend, and her baby sister, Jenna, went to high school with Paige. The last time I saw Elana was when I started working at Kroger (she quit a few months after I started).

We started to talk, and she caught me up on what she has been doing since we stopped working together. She decided to go to college in 2021, after initially believing that it was not for her, and she’s been dating a guy since 2022. When I went to tell her about how I have been, she replied, “Oh, I know everything! I’ve been following you since you started your podcast. My niece was diagnosed with autism in November of 2019.”

After the fashion show ended, we mingled with everyone for a little bit longer, and then I told Elana, “I have an early flight in the morning, so I gotta go, but we should get coffee soon.”

“I would love that!” She replied. 

If I haven’t made this abundantly clear in both this series and Once in a Lifetime: A Song For Sam, I loved S.M. and I miss her every day. Sam's Fans was a major part of my healing process because it was a way for me to channel my grief as a result of her death. S.M.’s Dad has been quoted as saying, “As Sam's Fans grew, so did her spirit.” And he’s not wrong. The work that S.M.’s family and friends do is work that she would have done had she survived Fanconi Anemia, and being part of that makes me feel close to her. But even separate from Sam's Fans itself, reconnecting with Elena is something that makes me feel close to S.M. because I know S.M. loved both of us, and I believe that she is happy that we have reconnected!

Have A Greattastic Day And Be Safe

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 26.5: As Seen From Afar

 As Seen From Afar

On Sunday, June 22, 2025, Paige and I arrived at Wolf Park at 7:30 am for the annual Sam's Fans 5k. I have helped with the 5K every year since I joined the organization (though I did run it the year I dramatically joined). This was the first year, however, since I joined that I (we) ran it.

We walked up to the registration table. As soon as we got in line, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw my friend and former classmate Anna and her fiancé, let’s call him Shaun, who I had not met before. The race started at 8:00, and in that 30-minute time period, we talked to Anna and Shaun as well as S.M.’s friends and family. Even though it was good to see everyone, there was one person from my past who was there that, at the time, I didn’t know had seen me from afar. 

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 26: Friends Of Noah

 Friends Of Noah

One day in 2018, a year before I met him, Noah was getting off the bus after work. As he walked to his apartment building, he heard someone walking up behind him. It was a man who just happened to live in the same building, and he introduced himself as Owen Blake. I have met Owen Blake a handful of times, but I didn’t know until this last summer that this meeting marked Noah‘s first adult friendship. 

From there, Noah’s friend group expanded. As I said, I met him in 2019. In 2021, Noah started hearing about another blind athlete, who we will call Emilia. Emilia and Noah heard about each other’s fame in their respective sport, but each believed that the other did not know who they were. It was not until 2023 that they officially became friends. Over the last year, Noah has also become friends with three other women, Luna, Leah, and Leah's sister Nora.

Noah’s 33rd birthday was on Wednesday, October 1st, 2025. On Saturday, October 4th, at around 4:30, Paige and I drove to a music store, got Noah guitar strings and picks, went back to the apartment to finish getting ready, and then at 6:15 we left to pick up pizza at Adriatico’s on campus. Then we drove to Luna's house. Owen Blake, Leah and Nora, and obviously Luna, were already celebrating with Noah when we arrived at 7:00, but Emilia and her fiancé, Jake, were driving from Pittsburgh. 

We spent the first hour eating pizza and getting to know each other. The theme of the party (admittedly more for everyone else as opposed to Noah) was Spider-Man. Luna had gotten a ton of Spider-Man stickers, got a Spider-Man cookie cake, and even had made the invitation Spider-Man themed. That theme is very relevant, but we’ll get back to that in a second. 

When Emilia and Jake finally arrived, we all began to talk about how Noah met everybody. After this, Luna informed us, “So before you all got here, Noah sucked some helium and sang a song.”

I replied, half jokingly, “You let him do that before we got here?”

This led to us all taking turns, breathing in helium from balloons. It was something that none of us had done since we were little kids, mostly because it is actually really bad for you if you do it too much, but there were a couple of funny moments. Noah’s was one of the funniest, but it's really hard to describe because, generally speaking, he's just a funny person so pitching his voice up just makes him almost unbearably funny. My voice is already high, so it was really funny when I took my turn because my voice was almost too high-pitched for any of us to hear. But the best had to be Owen Blake's.

As I'm sure you've noticed, I have only referred to Owen Blake by his full name. While it is a pseudonym, I chose a full name because Noah only calls him by his full name, and honestly, it fits because he is a full name kind of guy. He has this very chill, suave vibe about him. As he stood up to fill up his balloon, we all waited with bated breath. He put the balloon to his lips, took a breath in, and then, almost oblivious to the tension that had built in the room, Owen Blake said, in his normal voice, “I don't think I did that right!”

After that, but before we were able to have the cake, Leah and Nora had to go home. Before they were able to say their goodbyes, Luna suggested that Noah give a speech, and I started chanting, “Speech, speech, speech,” and the others followed. I like to think that I am a pretty good public speaker, but Noah's words were so pure that I am not even going to try to quote them; it would not mean the same thing coming from me. I will, however, paraphrase them. Noah said in a way more elegant way that he is the person that he is because of us, and that he couldn't imagine his life without us.

There was a lot more personality and comedy in the way he said it that would not make sense in this installment if I tried to put it in. But in the moment as we all laughed and smiled as Noah professed his appreciation for us, I started to reflect. Other than Owen Blake, I have not met any of Noah's friends before. However, if there's one thing that Noah does chronically, it's talk about his friends. The fact that the theme of the birthday party was a Marvel character was very fitting because, based on Noah's stories, we all already knew each other, and everyone finally being together basically had the same vibe as an Avengers movie. We all got to see each other grow individually (Noah's stories), and we finally got to interact in a big crossover (the party). 

It is general human nature to judge the other people in the lives of the people you love. It doesn't matter how good of people they actually are, you are going to make harsh judgments because they are close to someone you care about, especially at first.  I think that it is a testament to how great a person Noah is that there wasn't a single second where I doubted any of his friends.

Have A Greattastic Day and Be Safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 25: Fever Dream

 Fever Dream

On Friday, September 19, 2025, after I got groceries on my way home from work, I pulled up to the apartment building, put my hazards on, got out of my car, and ran up to the door. There is this brick that people use to prop the door open when they are moving in. I propped it open and began running the groceries up to our apartment, where Paige was waiting to help put them away. On one of my trips, a neighbor’s dog by the name of Waffles ran into my building, and the owner and I spent 5 minutes chasing him.

That night, Box Seats was supposed to play a show with two other bands. However, both bands dropped out at the last minute, so it was now just Box Seats playing. My parents were out of town, and I hadn’t told Luke that we were coming. As we walked to the car, I told Paige, “So, Luke texted me when I was at Kroger: If you come to the show tonight, I will give you a tambourine and let you come on stage.” We laughed at what was clearly a joke.

We parked at Luke and Josh’s house, the 245, and walked the rest of the way to the venue. When we walked in, the only people there were Luke, Josh, their band mates, Freddy and Max, Freddy’s longtime girlfriend, Kelly, Luke’s college roommate, Malcolm, his current roommate, and two girls who I have seen at a few other Box Seats shows. When I saw Luke, I sarcastically said, “This might be the biggest show you’ve ever played!”

“Well, don’t be mean about it,” he quipped as the girls laughed, and I felt a little guilty.

5 minutes later, at 7:55, about four more people and Ryan entered the venue, and the band got on stage. We all stood in what would have been the front row at a normal show, except Paige stood a little further behind to get some videos. I stood right next to Kelly.

About 10 minutes into the show, after they finished playing a song, Malcolm lifted up a piece of paper. It read: LET ME PLAY! Luke read it and brought him on stage. Once Luke had introduced Malcolm to the crowd, they played a song that they have not released on Spotify yet. When the song ended, and Malcolm got off the stage, I laughed and thought, That’s gonna be the best thing that happens tonight. Boy, was I wrong.

Now, in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the main character's older brother is in a punk rock band called Loaded Diaper, and Luke was a huge fan of that series, even writing (and publishing in a limited capacity) a parody book based on it in middle school. The first song that Box Seats wrote is called Almost There, so when Luke called Ryan onto the stage and said, “This is the first song we ever wrote,” I assumed it was going to be Almost There. Instead, it was a rock ballad, in which Luke just aggressively sang the words “Loaded Diaper” for like 30 seconds. After they finished, Ryan got off the stage, and they actually played Almost There. After that, I rallied the crowd and asked for an encore, during which Freddy left his guitar and started playing on Max’s- while Max was still playing. I leaned over to Kelly and said, “This is a fricking fever dream.”

Since Luke also plays with Cousin Simple, he and Ryan play together all the time. But after the show, we went back to the 245, and I ended up falling asleep. Because the only time Ryan has played with Box Seats was a song that Luke totally wrote as a joke, before Box Seats even had their name, on top of me chasing a dog through my apartment building, and the bands general manic-ness, if I didn’t have pictures of the show, I think I actually would have believed what I said to Kelly about it being a fever dream. Sometimes we feel like if something is small, it's not as awesome as it would be if it were bigger. But as I think Box Seats proved, something doesn’t have to be big to be…Greattastic 

Be Safe everybody,  

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 24: A Cosmic Twin

 A Cosmic Twin

OCALICONLINE is an international conference online that focuses on people with low-incidence disabilities, including autism. I have spoken at OCALICONLINE two times. The first time I did it in 2022, I spoke with my public speaking mentor, Dr. Brooks, and coincidentally, Noah’s (now former) soccer coach, Katie. The presentation was based on research that Katie did with Dr. Brooks about my impact on preservice teachers. Needless to say, I loved this opportunity and experience! Dr. Brooks and I talked about the possibility of eventually doing a research paper along the same lines as that first OCALICONLINE presentation, but fast forward to 2025, and that had still not happened. Quite honestly, I had almost forgotten about it.

In the middle of February 2025, Dr. Brooks responded to a public call for articles focusing on collaboration to be considered for a special edition of the Journal of Special Education Preparation (JOSEP), a higher education journal published by the teacher education division of the Council for Exceptional Children. It was a long shot, but she shared about how I collaborate with her class to talk about my personal experiences with autism and why this is an effective method in teacher education. Guess what? WE GOT PICKED!

Not only did the editors of JOSEP respond to Dr. Brooks, they paired us with a team from New York - a professor and a self-advocate who have the same type of collaboration as me and Dr. Brooks, but in Buffalo. Dr. Brooks - and I’ll call the other professor, Dr. Kabe - met in early April to talk about their college programs and collaborate about how these experiences could be shared in an article to help other college professors begin similar programs in their courses. Dr. Kabe works with an autistic woman named Kayleigh who comes and speaks in her class, just as I speak in Dr. Brooks’ class. Kayleigh and I mirror each other in ways that have many similarities, but differences at the same time.

Firstly, while I use speech to communicate, Kayleigh uses an AAC Device. An AAC (or Augmentative and Alternative Communication) device is an electronic device that often resembles an iPad that helps generate speech for those who are nonverbal. Second, while I started out in a public school setting and moved to a more segregated school (special ed), and back, she started segregated, went to a more public school setting, and bounced back and forth for the remainder of her career. As Dr. Brooks and Dr. Kabe started writing this joint article, they sent me and Kayleigh emails asking us interview questions that were included in the final draft of the article. They listed us as secondary authors in their publication, acknowledging our voices and the collaborative partnerships we help to create in university classrooms. After a lot of back and forth, including several reviews that addressed the feedback of three different editors, on Saturday, August 9, 2025, we got an email from JOSEP accepting the article! After making minor type edits, it was formally published on September 16, 2025. Information about the article can be found at the following links:

Link to our article (starting on page 50): https://openjournals.bsu.edu/JOSEP/issue/view/393/175

 JOSEP speaks podcast is also available. This is "AI" generated episode of each issue. https://open.spotify.com/show/7edqJAkTj9siYAJJ0xB1zG?si=86921051e9974947&nd=1&dlsi=ce69a8b64d6c4e78

I have named this season goals and dreams, as I am trying a new system to motivate myself to continue reaching new goals. I have always hoped to be published in a research paper since I started working with Dr. Brooks. After OCALICONLINE 2022, it was admittedly one of the only goals that I had hardcore giving up on and/or did not have a contingency plan to make it happen, even if it didn’t happen when I wanted it to. The fact that it did happen, with almost zero intervention from me, has emboldened me in my effort to reach my other goals.

What’s also cool about this particular goal is that it brought me and Kayleigh together. We are two people, who are seven years apart, three states away, and on different parts of the autism spectrum, and yet we have very similar life experiences. I believe that Kayleigh is a cosmic twin of mine, and I am so grateful our paths have crossed. 

Have a Greattastic day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 23: Cousin Simple+ Nimba & Lexi

 Cousin Simple + Nimba & Lexi

Cousin Simple has been around since 2017, my junior year of high school (Ewww). In those 8 years, my cousin Lexi has never been to a show! On Saturday, September 6th, 2025, Cousin Simple was playing at Ace Of Cups again. I texted Mom to ask if she had gotten tickets. When she told me that she had, she informed me that Nimba and Lexi were also coming!

At 6:00 p.m., Paige and I walked to a local restaurant called Hound Dogs Pizza. Mom and Dad were already there with one of Aunt Shana’s best friends, Angie, and her sister Heather. When Nimba and Lexi arrived, we all greeted them, and then we ordered our food. About an hour later, after we had finished, we walked to Ace Of Cups, which was not too far away. 

Now, Cousin Simple is releasing their Newest EP over the course of the rest of the year. The first song on this new EP is called 011, it's about pickleball, and it was released at the beginning of the summer. The night before this show, they released the second song, Back In Style. While this Ace of Cups show was headlined by another band, Cousin Simple used it as their Back in Style release show. 

Almost as soon as we walked in, I ran into my music teacher from OLP, who I referred to in my books as Mrs. Millington. I haven’t mentioned Mrs. Millington by name in Rules for a Greattastic Life, though I have run into her a lot over the last few years. A big reason for that is because she married a good friend of my public speaking mentor, Dr. Brooks, and she lives relatively close to my parents. After we talked about Paige and my wedding plans, we talked about the engagement of my friend and former classmate Anna, and the three pregnancies from my class that have happened this year. “This is so strange for me,” she said, “I've known you all since you were like five or six, and now you’re off getting married and having babies!”

After we talked to the other family and friends of Cousin Simple, the band got on stage and started to play. Now, in the installment Ace Of Cups 2: PTJ, I said that Mitch Whittaker, a member of the band from the very beginning, left the band at the end of summer 2024, to go to school in Chicago to be an optometrist. Over this last summer, however, Mitch appeared in the music video for 011 and has played with the band a handful of times. I bring this up because he played with them at this show.

As I watched him play with the band, I thought back on Mrs. Millington‘s nostalgia for myself, Anna, and our three other classmates, and I looked over at Lexi. Lexi was the first baby that I ever held, and I’m so proud of how far she’s come, especially over this very difficult year for our family. I’m glad that she finally got to see Cousin Simple after eight years!

Have a Greattastic day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 22: Pokémon

 Pokémon

On Friday, August 22nd, 2025, one of Paige’s childhood friends, let's call her Miranda, texted her and asked if she wanted to hang out that night. While that night didn’t work out, they scheduled a hangout for the following Friday. Not wanting to intrude, I reached out to my friend Clo and asked her if she wanted to hang out.

Now, for her own personal reasons, Clo moved in with her grandma a few months back. At 6:30, on August 29th, I left the apartment, got some bubble tea, and arrived at Clo’s grandma’s house around 7:15. What I thought was going to happen was, we would drink our Boba, maybe go on a walk, and talk about an installment I want Clo to write about her experiences as an autistic woman. Clo had other ideas.

“So,” Clo explained almost as soon as I was inside, “over the last year or so, I have been collecting a group of other autistics-”

“We’re not Pokémon,” I interrupted.

She laughed and continued, “I really think you’ll like them.”

Always wanting to meet new people, I agreed to go out. Before we left, Clo gave me an extra pair of noise-canceling headphones for me to keep. Clo’s grandma lives in an area that I am not used to, so Clo drove my car to where we were going. After driving for about 15 minutes, I asked where we were going, and she replied, “The Convention Center.” 

After we parked, we walked up to the convention center, and the door was locked. Someone saw us, opened the door, and dramatically hugged and greeted us as if she’d known us for years. It wasn’t until we walked away from her that I realized we had snuck in. As we walked around, I saw a ton of people cosplaying as comic book, movie, and anime characters. I do, in fact, consider myself a nerd, but I have never been a cosplayer, so while walking into that world was a bit overwhelming, I definitely had fun.

Clo introduced me to her friends. There were about 10 of them, and we spent the rest of the night wandering around, and it was so overstimulating that I can't remember all of their names. But that’s kinda the point… they didn't care. Now major disclaimer: What I am about to write is NOT a dig on any of my friends or family. I would say that, generally speaking, I’m a very confident person. But I have cultivated that confidence, over the course of my life, as a way to help mask my autism. I work at a school for kids with autism that I went to as a kid, and I'm very comfortable around Paige (I mean, I ought to be, I'm marrying her). My point is, I don't mask my autism as much as I used to.

I love being confident, and it's a huge part of who I am. But because it is so tied to my mask, it can get tiring being the most outgoing, confident person in the room all the time. In almost every relationship, there are expectations, and that's not a bad thing. But the beauty of Clo and my friendship is that because she is autistic, and she understands masking, she has no expectations about me doing it! I don’t have to be overly confident all the time when we hang out. After we left the Convention Center, I thought about my Pokémon joke. I realized that in the Autism community, generally speaking, friends are like Pokémon. Because we crave connection, there is this desperate desire to “Catch ‘em all,” and sometimes it’s really exhausting. I’m thankful that Clo introduced me to a group of friends that understand how that feels and were very accepting because of that.

Have a Greattastic day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 21: Mitchmas (28) Part 2: Lost At Deer Creek

 Mitchmas (28) Part 2: Lost At Deer Creek

Now, as you know, I usually go on a Mitchmas trip with my “sisters,” the weekend after my birthday.  Arden has always been the planner for group outings, but in her happily ever after with Marshall, she has retired from that role. While I am going to start planning things for the group, even though Arden arguably gave me enough warning, I was not prepared.

On Saturday, August 23, 2025, at 1:00 pm, I went to Noah's house and, after picking him up, we drove to my old Kroger. After being stopped by at least 5 of my old coworkers, we finally got all of our snacks and were on our way. Now, a couple years ago, Noah and I went canoeing together, which in and of itself is a very funny story that I would like to tell at some point in the future. We drove from Kroger all the way to Trapper John’s in Grove City, which is just south of Columbus. 

We pulled up to Trapper John’s at around 3:00. When we walked into the welcome center, there was a group of employees playing cards. “We would like to rent a canoe, please,” I said.

“Unfortunately,” an employee said, “the river is too low, so there are no more groups going out today.”

“Well, that was a bust,” Noah said as we walked back to my car. I agreed. Despite that, we were both determined not to waste the day.

Deer Creek State Park is about an hour and a half away from Columbus, and another 20 minutes or so from Trapper John’s. We were already in our bathing suits, so we decided to go to Deer Creek Beach. We got to Deer Creek at 4:00. The State Park has a ton of trails and campgrounds, on top of having the beach. It is no surprise then that I got lost!

After another hour of driving around and a very sarcastic camper who told me, “Maybe you should follow the signs,” (which I would have done if I had seen them), we finally found the beach, and we proceeded to have an amazing day!

Like I said, usually my sisters and I do something to celebrate Mitchmas. While I am currently looking for something for us to do when all of our busy schedules line up, again, as Noah and I had our fun beach day, I realized I want to expand my Mitchmas celebrations. I love the Andersons, and I love spending my birthdays with them. But at the same time, we don't live next-door to each other anymore, and I have more friends than just them. I said in part 1 that my birthday has become more about celebrating with my friends and family than being narratively important to my overall life story. I would like to expand that to more friends in the coming years!

Have a Greattastic day and be safe!

J. Mitchie Ulibarri

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 20: Mitchmas (28) Part 1: The People In Your Corner

 Mitchmas (28) Part 1: The People In Your Corner

I woke up on my 28th birthday, at 6:00 a.m. After greeting our cat Charlie and saying good morning to Paige, I got ready for work. As I walked out of our apartment, I opened the Starbucks app and ordered my summer drink (a vanilla sweet cream cold brew). Usually, I get a Grande, but because it was free, I got a Venti. When I got to work, I got out of my car and pulled up the time clock app on my phone, so that I could clock in as soon as I was in the building. I put my coffee on the top of my car, where I always do, but because it was a bigger size, it was a little more weight than I was used to, and I didn’t balance it right. As my coffee poured down my car, a coworker yelled, “Merry Mitchmas!”

I picked Paige up from work at 4:15, and when she saw my back car window, mocking me, she laughed and bought me some replacement coffee. At around 5:45, Paige and I got dressed up and drove down to Barnes & Noble. Now, because I do so much writing, I can't read anymore. What I mean is, if I'm reading something that I personally have not written, I feel like I'm being lazy because I “should” be editing. When I was a kid, my neighbor Greg got me into Harry Potter, but Goblet of Fire was too long and a little too political for my third-grade self to wrap his head around. When Paige and I started dating and I told her I only got through year three (the third book), she convinced me to try again, and by October of ‘23, I had listened to all seven on Libby. Ever since then, I have listened to countless books in the car, on my way to and from work. Despite this, I do want to start getting books that I've read in physical copies to build a collection.

Paige ended up getting me two books that I've read before. All Good People Here, By Ashley Flowers, and Dracula. What's really cool about my Dracula book is, Barnes & Noble has a line of specialty prints of books called Barnes & Noble exclusives, and they can only be described as bible style bindings. They're huge books and they're very ornate. Barnes & Noble’s Dracula is a bright red, and the edge of the pages are lined with black.

Another bible-style binding that they have, though it's not necessarily a Barnes and Noble exclusive, is Les Mis. Everyone who was cast in the 2012 adaptation (Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, etc.) has a theater background, except for Russell Crowe. So while his singing in the movie isn't terrible, in comparison to everyone else, it's not great. While I was trying to decide what bible-style book I was going to get, a couple of guys walked in and made comments about how cool these books looked, and I laughed at a couple of their jokes. They saw Les Mis, and one guy said to the other, “Does this sing if you open it?”

Before I could stop myself, I said, “Yeah, but it's just Russell Crowe!” Instant best friends.

After we bought the books and a candle, we went to Bravo, which was in the same parking lot as the Barnes & Noble. Noah and the rest of my family were in attendance. After dinner, we went back to my parents’ house, and the boys went back to Ryan's apartment to get his new cat, Alfie. I opened presents, thanked everyone, had ice cream cake, tried to get our family cat Sammie used to Alfie, and just enjoyed everyone's company. 

Since Mitchmas (24), I have done multiple part stories about my birthday. Part 1 is almost always this exact installment. It's about my family going to dinner with Noah (and in later years, Paige), and going to my parents’ house afterwards. While this installment is in and of itself repetitive, over the years, the lesson has become more concentrated. Let me explain.

A few weeks before my family and Noah went to dinner in part one of Mitchmas (24), I broke up with my crazy ex-girlfriend, and during the dinner, I was in the middle of getting a restraining order. The entirety of Mitchmas (25) was built around a date that I had right before my birthday, that bled into the celebrations, and that led my ”sisters” to convince me to work on myself before I started dating again. Since both of those examples are about failed relationships, it is not lost on me that being in a stable relationship with Paige is the reason for the last three Mitchmaes being calm. But my point is, Mitchmas has become less connected to my overarching life story and more about celebrating with friends and family. And honestly, isn't that what it's all about?

To Be Continued…

Season 8 Goals And Dreams Blog 19: The Other Side Of Fear

 The Other Side Of Fear

After we got off the plane, Dad and Josh (who had driven down) picked us up, and we went to my cousin Paige’s house to celebrate my Grandma’s birthday. At that party, we met her second child, Piper. After that, we drove down to Cocoa Beach for a week. During that week, we spent a lot of time swimming in the ocean and visited a tiki bar on the pier a few times. One night while walking back from that pier, Dad and I saw a lady sitting in the ocean, but it was pitch black… she was either a mermaid or a demon… not sure which.

When our week was up, we returned to Orlando and stayed in a hotel there. Paige and I only stayed for two days because I had to return to get ready for school. On our second-to-last day, after Mass, my family dropped us off at a Starbucks. Paige attended middle school with a boy named Jack. Jack moved down to Orlando some time ago to work at Disney World as a roller coaster engineer. Because he works for the company, he’s able to get up to three people in for free. After Jack picked us up from the Starbucks, we went to Hollywood Studios. One of the first rides we did was the Tower of Terror.

Now, I'm not a big roller coaster guy. One of my biggest fears, in fact, is heights. However, Jack explained how that coaster works explicitly, and that there is some forced perspective that makes it appear taller than it actually is. Despite that, the ride in and of itself was terrifying. We spent a few more hours at Hollywood Studios before park-hopping to Epcot. Upon entering the park, Jack said, “We need to go on the Guardians of the Galaxy ride.”

Paige and I were both excited about that, but we kept pushing it back. For those who are unfamiliar with Epcot, the concept is that it is an educational theme park. One of its main attractions is the World Showcase featuring 11 countries. While each is relatively realistic, parts of each country have connections to Disney. We ended up “drinking around the world,” and around 7:30, we finally got in line for the Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

We were only in line for about 20 minutes before the ride shut down. Some people in the front of the line started to leave, but at Jack’s suggestion, we decided to wait. The park closed at 9, and by 8:45, the ride was still not back up. None of us communicated this, but we were all obviously thinking, if it doesn’t open in another minute or so, we should just call it a day. Almost as soon as we collectively had that thought, the ride reopened. And let me tell you, it was the best ride of the day! The best way to describe it is like surfing through space with 80s music!

Will Smith has a quote, “The best things in life are on the other side of fear.” The context of that quote is that he went skydiving, and it was the most “blissful experience” once he was out of the plane (even though he was terrified up until that point). As Paige, Jack, and I exited the park, I said, “I think I got over my fear of roller coasters today.”

“I mean,” Jack said, “these are Disney coasters. They aren’t the most intense.” He’s not wrong. But roller coasters are not something I would usually spend a day doing (even if they are at Disney). I'm not saying that I’m going to start riding all these really intense roller coasters. Still, if I hadn’t gotten over my fear and gone on the Tower of Terror, I wouldn’t have been able to experience all the other fun roller coasters that day, especially the Guardians one at the end.

Have A Greattastic Day and Be Safe

J. Mitchie Ulibarri