Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog: Pumpkin Show

 Pumpkin Show

The day after the events of Friends Of Noah 2, Sunday, the 18th, Noah messaged me to say that Kayla, the girl he was seeing, wanted to go on a double date with me and Paige. After a week of deliberations, we decided to go to the Circleville Pumpkin Show. Elana and I met up on Monday, October 19th at Crimson Cup as we hadn’t seen each other in two months. As we talked, I told her about how I had met Kayla and that we were planning a double date. I also told her that Noah was interested in meeting her.

Noah goes through reading my blog in chunks. He reads a lot at once, then stops, and after a while (probably a year to a year and a half or so), he binges through it to the present day. Last year I read The Shining (at Noah’s suggestion), and now whenever I read a Stephen King book, or I recommend a book to him, Noah and I have a book club over voice memo. I am currently listening to The Talisman, so we are talking a lot more. During the week between planning the pumpkin show excursion and Talisman updates, Noah told me he had caught up on my wedding blogs and made it all the way through Stuck On The Moon, Pts. 1 and 2. He said, “I love how you wrote about it. Your love just emanates from the page.” 

On the morning of Saturday, October 24th, 2026, Paige and I went out to eat breakfast, then went to Target to get a gift (it was Miranda’s birthday), then we drove to my parents' house to get a gift bag, as Mom has plenty. By the time we were leaving my parents' house, it was about 12:00. We were supposed to pick Noah and Kayla up at 1:30. While we were in the car, driving back to the apartment, Noah called me and said that Kayla was not feeling well, so she would not be able to come. While that was disappointing, we still decided to go. 

When I was a little kid, I went to a pumpkin patch. All I remember is a giant orange trampoline and that the area itself wasn't crowded. For some reason, I thought that this memory was from the Circleville Pumpkin Show. It wasn't until we arrived that I realized this pumpkin patch wasn't the show. The best way to explain the pumpkin show is a citywide food festival. Granted, I’m not great with geography, so I’m not sure if it was the whole city, but I digress. Noah, Paige, and I walked around, ate from a couple of food trucks, and overall had a great time. About halfway through our day, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and to my surprise, Elana and Leo stood behind me. “Oh my gosh, hi!” I exclaimed. 

“Hi,” Elana said, hugging me. Paige hugged Leo, then Elana, and as Leo came to hug me, Elana reintroduced herself to Noah. Again, using her real name, not her pseudonym. We talked for a few minutes, and after that, Noah and Elana confirmed to each other what I had told each of them (that they wanted to hang out). Elana said, “Maybe we can meet up at Crimson Cup. Mitchell and I meet up there all the time!” 

I saw the recognition pass across Noah’s face, and after they exchanged numbers and Elana and Leo walked away, Noah asked me, “Is (pseudonym) that Elana person from Crimson Cup Reunion?” 

“Yes!” I replied. While I don't know what will come of this, I am very happy that two of my friends are getting to know each other, and I hope to make more connections. 

Have A Greattastic Day And Be Safe,

J. Mitchie Ulibarri, SBT

Season 10 Greattasticly Ever After Blog 23: Friends Of Noah 2

 Friends Of Noah 2

Noah couldn’t come to my birthday dinner this year as he has in years past. In his place, I invited my former classmate Elana and her then-boyfriend (now fiancé), Leo. Elana has been following Rules for a Greattastic Life since the beginning, so she knew about Noah coming to the dinner. At the end of the night, she made a comment to the effect of, “Wow, I get to be Noah this year.” After she continued and made her point about feeling like “the stuff of legend,” I asked her if she had even met Noah. “Very briefly at your wedding,” she replied, “but I would like to get to know him!”

Noah was also out of town for his birthday, but he still wanted his friends to celebrate with him. He scheduled a hangout for Saturday, October 17, 2026. Paige and I walked into the house shortly after Emilia and Jake (the couple who got married in Stuck On The Moon, Pts. 1 & 2) did. Then came Noah's other friends: Nora, Owen Blake, and finally a girl he's been seeing recently; we will call her Kayla. 

Now, despite this installment being called Friends of Noah 2, and it being centered around the same party as the original installment, this is not the best example of a sequel to Friends Of Noah 1. A better example is Stuck On The Moon Pts. 1 & 2, both in terms of what I originally planned and what it ended up being. Obviously, no matter what, Stuck On The Moon was built around the wedding of one of Noah's friends who was introduced in Friends Of Noah 1. But my car breaking down, and the kindness and support of the people who showed up for us, interrupted the original theme of what I was planning, going into the wedding. Let me explain: 

On Wednesday, September 2nd, 2026, I called Noah. The original idea was to discuss our plans for driving to Pittsburgh that weekend, but as often happens, Noah and I began talking about other things as well. One thing we talked about was how awesome Emilia is/how excited we were for her wedding, and how many great friends Noah has made. As we went on, it shifted to talking about our relationship. 

As you know, Noah and I met in 2019, shortly after Arden moved to Colorado, and the other Andersons began to move away. As you may recall, my original plan for Season 2 was to use Elena and my classmate Anna, and Noah as templates for building new friendships post-childhood. Not that I wasn’t going to put all the effort I could into those relationships; I just wanted more on top of them. Side note: Anna got married in April of this year, and she and I haven’t really seen each other since we both got engaged in 2025. COVID, of course, stopped me from making any progress on new relationships outside of those 2. 

As Noah and I talked, I explained that while I was happy with our friendship, I was sad I hadn’t made many more friends since we met. He agreed that he wanted more friends and then we decided to talk about planning outings together to try to make new friends while we drove to Pittsburgh. 

One of Paige’s cousins got engaged, so we had to leave Noah’s party early. As Paige and I hugged everyone, and I thought about how great it was to see them, I remembered what Noah and I had planned and what Elana had said about Noah. As we were about to leave, I said, “Hey, remember how we were going to try to make some new friends together?” 

“Yeah!” He said. 

“Well,” I said, “You met someone at my wedding who would really like to get to know you more!” 

“Who?” He asked. I gave Noah her real name (not her pseudonym, Elana), and he replied, “Oh yeah! She seemed cool! I would love to hang out with her!” 

To Be Continued…