Another year has drawn to a close, and another year of trials and tribulations have descended upon our house. I haven’t been as active in my blogging and social media as I’d like to have been. Not because I want to self-promote, or I’ve been very successful at much of anything — but because writing and sharing helps me become a better writer and the experience can be cathartic. The last two years have been particularly rough on my family. Being persistent in what I want to achieve, and being there for my family have been key in achieving the sort of mental health balance I’ve hoped for.
So what happened? Why the disappearance? I’ll try to give you the short version. Buckle up.
Trials and Tribulations
In Summer of 2023 my oldest dog Abbey began showing signs of a neurological issue. She was getting stuck places, walking aimlessly and endlessly in circles, and being generally restless. I’ll detail the entire saga in another post — but it so happened that a brain tumor had gotten so large it was pressing on the rest of her brain, causing pressure that modified her behavior and was becoming life threatening.

During all of this, health issues that had been pervasive with my young daughter came to a head. A seemingly endless string of doctors appointments for rashes, unexplainable and persistent fevers, and stacked illnesses culminated in a lengthy hospital stay. Christmas, New Years, and MLK Day was spent in the hospital as my daughter was diagnosed with an underlying autoimmune issue.
Both of those took a ton of time to handle, and I was largely away from this corner of the internet. I was still trying to trickle out content when I could — but it was really just reviews of stuff I already had, and trip notes. I had been able to elk hunt and whitetail hunt in Pennsylvania to some extent — but trips were largely trying to grab groceries and fill the freezer.
During her hospitalization I took four months off of work to hang with my daughter and take her to appointments and generally be with her. Thankfully my employer was willing to let me roast my significant sick leave under FMLA, which was a blessing. Unfortunately four months of eating hospital food and takeout did a number on my physical fitness. So I have a ways to go to get my cardio back to where it should be. Oh, and work… about that.
Professional Challenges
I work in cybersecurity, and on top of all of the other things going on, there were of course work things. I’d applied for, and finally gotten accepted into a program that would lead me to the highest level of certification for my work role. Through all of the other challenges of child health scares, our basement flooding, and my dog getting brain cancer my work cadre supported me. I finally did my defense of my project on the eve of September 11th, 2024. It probably goes without saying that the events of September 11th are the reason that I got into federal service, and working for the Department of Defense in the first place. It’s the reason I spent years of my college life spending time studying International Relations, why nations go to war, and philosophies of radicalization on top of “just” being a systems administrator.
Achieving my master level certification has meant that there’s a massive professional weight off of my shoulders. It took me years to get accepted into the program. Being persistent despite the challenges helped me finally achieve it. I’m glad to have done it, but I’m also glad that it’s over. I’m ready to get back to the grind and the mission that I work as part of my team.
We Persist
Being persistent here is part of APT Outdoors core values. Advanced. Persistent. Threat. Being persistent is evergreen, and without it, achievements are based on luck. I’ve never been tremendously lucky in much of anything, so I have to make up for it with dedication. The last two years have been particularly hard, and I’d be delusional if I didn’t think that challenges won’t present themselves this year. But it’s an opportunity for new growth, new lessons, new travel, new accomplishments.
For 2025 I intend to get back to the grind of doing new things. And getting back to some old ones. I’m reviving the effort to hunt, fish, hike, or camp in all of Colorado’s Wilderness Areas after taking an unintended and lengthy hiatus. There’s plenty more for us to see and do in the wilderness.
I need to work on the “threat” portion. My cardio isn’t where it should be to do some of the big trips I want to do. It’s not just that. Even though I like to cook (and eat) I recognize that being more active allows me to feel better, fight off illness more readily, and be a better person. High time I should work on that.