Stepped away from here nearly a year, and wow. Time does fly. Was minimizing and working on a lot of stuff, changing jobs and practicing my drawing and painting skills. On top of that, travelling for the first time to Canada to visit my girlfriend a number of times since, which was a great experience (I no longer am thrilled with airport hopping lol).
That's the skinny of it, but what improvement I've made will speak for itself. Time to paruse the art scene and see what other creators have put out since :)