Similar paths indeed.
Looks like you have some solid goals that you are very close to reaching. I hope your hospital visit was short lived and not serious. All my HIVE has come from blogging, I did purchase $300* worth of STEEM back when HIVE was not in existence, it was used to purchase two GFL that have since went up in value. I haven't flipped a GFL since that first pack opening. Seems as my luck was all used up on that first pack :) It'll be interesting to see what the Splinterlands Governance token USD value will end up being.
!ENGAGE 5
I think I haven't put more than 200$ of my own money into Hive aswell. I have earned from posting and playing Splinterlands aswell.