Hello 2016! Hi Blog. It has been a while...

I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing. There isn't enough time!

Anyway, it is a new year! With this new year comes a review of the past year, as well as new goals. 

2015 was a very very busy year in my life. So many milestones hit, so many wonderful things happened. 

Compared to 2014, 2015 was an amazing year, I am so excited to see what 2016 brings!

So, let's review. What were my goals in 2015?

1. Read 28 books

2. See 25 movies

3. Work on healthy habits

4. Get on budget and STAY on budget

5. Keep track of happy memories

6. Cook healthy meals at least 6 days a week

7. Continue to do well in school

8. Level Nessà up to 60

9. Go on a Road Trip

10. Get my teaching license

11. Get rid of negativity in my life

12. Get a teaching job

13. Write more

14. Start writing movie reviews again

15. Organize my life

16. Continue being confident and loving myself

17. Move out into my own place

18. Sleep at least 7 hours a night

19. Get dressed up and go dancing

20. Make 2015 a year of awesomeness

Very good list. Let's see how I did. 

1. Read 28 books. 

Yeah, that didn't happen. I did read 22! Here they are!

My favorite book of the year goes once again to Rainbow Rowell. Carry On was EVERYTHING I wanted it to be. I can not wait to see what she writes next!

The Lunar Chronicles, which includes: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Fairest (Winter is the final book, I'm reading that now) is the series I recommended the most during 2015, I can not wait to see how it ends!

My least favorite book of the year was The Replacements... it just wasn't good. I also wasn't too fond of Woodsrunner. 

2. See 25 movies. 

I really really thought I would be able to do this one! I was so close! I saw 21 different movies, I did make it to the theater 23 times. I also went to a concert, saw a play, and went to a couple of soccer games. 

Here are the movies I saw in 2015: 

Into the Woods

Backstreet Boys: Show Them What Your Made Of

Spongebob in 3D

It Follows

Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Room - Rifftrax 

Poltergeist

Insidious Chapter 3

Inside Out

Serenity Quote Along

Jurassic World

Minions

The Gallows

Pitch Perfect 2

Ant-Man

Maze Runner - The Scorch Trials

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Goosebumps

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

So... Serenity, The Room, and Rocky Horror were all repeat viewings, but in a special way, so they all still count!

Best Movie of the Year; STAR WARS!!! (DUH)

Worst Movie of the Year: It is a tie between The Scorch Trials and Paranormal Activity 6. I had high hopes for both of those movies and they were dashed very quickly. 

If you guys want to watch some good horror movies, check out: It Follows, The Gallows, and Insidious Chapter 3. All of them were GREAT. 

3. Work on Healthy Habits. 

This one really fell on the wayside this year. I had too much going on, I couldn't focus on meal planning, and finding time to exercise. 

4. Get on Budget and STAY on Budget

This too was a tough one, I'm still having some money issues, but with a little more focus and work, I'm sure I'll be fine soon enough!

5. Keep Track of Happy memories. 

I think I managed to do this one... then my phone conked out and I lost ALL of my pictures. Thank goodness for Facebook. Most of my happy memories are there. :)

6. Cook Healthy Meals at least 6 days a week. 

...See number 3, while I go over here and eat another cookie. 

7. Continue to do well in school. 

Well... how do you guys think I did?

I did it! After 10 years of hard work, I am DONE with school. Two degrees down... I don't think I want anymore to go!

8. Level Nessa up to Level 60. 

Nope. BUT I'M SO CLOSE! Level 54. Maybe I'll play later today. 

9. Go on a Road Trip

This sadly didn't happen. Preston and I are hoping to go traveling somewhere this summer!!

10. Get my teaching license

Here it is! I just need to update it, since I have my Master's Degree now. 

11. Get rid of negativity in my life. 

Yep, 2015 was a wonderful positive year surrounded by awesome supportive people!

12. Get a teaching job

My greatest accomplishment, I am proud to say I am a 6th grade teacher at Benton Middle School in Prince William County. GO TEAM PROWL!

13. Write More

As you can see from my blog posts, I was very bad at writing this year. I did write two lengthy papers for school, but I do not think I did any writing for myself. :(

14. Start Writing Movie Reviews again

Nope, this definitely wasn't a priority. 

15. Organize my life

I'm getting there!! 

16. Continue being confident and loving myself

I'm still doing this, I am so proud of myself and how far I have come when it comes to self-esteem. I owe this in part to the wonderful supportive people I have surrounded myself with. 

17. Move out into my own place

This happened in May! Preston and I got our first apartment together and it is amazing. We love it so much!

18. Sleep 7 hours a night

YES! I managed this by going to bed at 9:30/10 almost every night. This was made very easy, since I usually came home from work and passed out on the couch. 

19. Get dressed up and go dancing. 

I've come to realize... Preston and I are NOT the type to go out and go dancing. Like not at all. Haha. 

20. Make 2015 a year of awesomeness!

Yes, I think I managed that!!!

Here are some highlights that were not touched on in my goal list: 

I spent some time with my beautiful nieces, Iris and Lily!

I said goodbye to my wonderful car of 9 years. 

I bought a new car, a fancy spacecar. 

I quit my job at INOVA. This was a long time coming. I was there for almost 10 years. I was happy to say goodbye. 

I hosted my first Thanksgiving!

I got glasses after 13 years of ignoring my blurry vision. 

Finally, probably one of my fondest memories of 2015 was my student teaching. I had such a wonderful experience with those kids. They really prepared me for becoming a teacher and so far my 6th graders have been just as awesome. I'm excited to finish out my first year as a teacher!

Now let's see what I want to accomplish in 2016: 

1. Read 29 books

2. See 25 movies

3. Work on healthy habits

4. Get on budget and STAY on budget

5. Keep track of happy memories (1 second a day app!)

6. Cook healthy meals at least 4 days a week 

7. Be the BEST teacher I can possibly be

8. Play TOR more

9. Go on a Road Trip

10. Write more

11. Start writing movie reviews again

12. Organize my life

13. Continue being confident and loving myself

14. Spend more time out with friends

15. Make 2016 a year of awesomeness!

Seeing how I accomplished so many HUGE goals in 2015, I'm gonna shorten my list of goals down to 15. 

I kept the goals I didn't do to well on last year on this list. I'm a work in progress!

Well I'm not going to make any promises to keep this blog updated, but I'll do my best! I need to stay on track with goal #10!

Have a wonderful, safe, fun, happy, positive new year!!

<3

Unbox Battle! Lootcrate vs. Nerdblock - February

Hello! It is March and I am here with the unboxing of February's lootcrate and nerdblock.

The reason I am posting this so late is because both Preston and I were very disappointed with both of our boxes this month. I'm not going to go into much detail, I'm just going to post the pictures and you can decide if the box was cool or not. Preston and I both rated each box a 2 out of 10.

Let's start with lootcrate:

Preston was really excited about this month,when we found out the theme, he thought he was finally going to get a box of goodies that he was going to love. Sadly that wasn't the case.

Weird Dice

Superfight Deck. This has the potential to be awesome. Maybe. It isn't Cards Against Humanity though :P

Hex Bug. Didn't see how this fit with the theme. 

A make your own vinyl. Some of us our artistically challenged. I have no reason for this. I would have rather had a random pop!vinyl figure. 

This is early access to Firefly online. Cool... in theory. I've heard mixed reviews about Firefly online.

This would have been the coolest thing in the box if I didn't own it already. It is a wonderful book.

This is a pretty cool Pac-Man poster. 

Here is the button. Still my favorite part. 

Last but not least is the book that comes with every lootcrate, along with instructions to play the game printed on the inside of the box, with the funny dice that were included. 

And that is February's lootcrate. We are thinking about cancelling lootcrate next month, unless the next box impresses us. That boxes theme is: Covert. 

Let's move on to Nerdblock. 

First up is the shirt. It is cute, but not a fandom Preston or I follow.

This was probably the lamest thing in the box. Drum stationary... as an English teacher and a writing nerd, I do not see myself using this.

These are exclusive cosplay cards...

Full of the "pretty cosplayers" I would have rather seen regular cosplayers, plus-size cosplayers, but all of the cosplays are beautiful. I have no use for these, but it is a cool concept. 

This was probably my favorite item because I already have one of these from my KB days. :)

Last but not least is an exclusive cover of a comic we got in our lootcrate last month. We love Star Wars, so the variant cover was pretty cool and now we can both read it at the same time :P

So that is that. Both boxes. You be the judge. Were we too hard on them? Should we give lootcrate the benefit of the doubt and keep this up until June? We will have to wait and see what March brings!!

Lootcrate:

NerdBlock:

I'm actually excited about this one! There are supposed to be two Groot related items!

Well our NerdBlock is supposed to ship next week and the lootcrate usually arrives around the 24th. I'll do my best to post that unboxing before the end of the month!

I can see this being easy since spring break is at the end of this month! My internship has been going great, but it is keeping me super busy. I love teaching 7th grade Language Arts!!!

Until next time...

Unbox Battle! Lootcrate vs. Nerdblock - January!

Woo! January lootcrate and nerdblock are here!

Both had some impressive items, but only one will come out a winner!

Up first is lootcrate - Theme: Rewind

One thing I really like about lootcrate is the box, it is always so sleek and cool. You can take a picture of it and not have to worry about address labels. They also always do a great job packing the box. It is sorta like a sneak preview before you start pulling everything out!

The first thing Preston pulled out of the box were these bad boys: 

He quickly claimed them :)

Next was a Voltron shirt! Neither of us really watched this show, so this may turn into a re-gift for someone. 

This little guy was up next.

Then this cool notebook. Lootcrate is actually doing a contest using this item. I wish I could draw so I could enter it!

This next item got Preston really excited. It is a nerdy tie!

Star Wars Comic! I haven't read it yet, but it seems interesting. It apparently takes place between A New Hope and Empire. 

Lastly, my favorite part of every lootcrate, the pin!!

And let's not forget the book!

Overall this crate was pretty cool. Preston said this was the first crate he actually liked. 

Preston: 9/10

Me: 8/10

Nerdblock time! Theme: A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Unlike the lootcrate, the nerdblock box isn't that pretty. They also didn't really pack it all that well. Everything looked thrown inside. 

First item was the shirt. Doctor Who! Preston and I just started season 5 of Doctor Who and we love it, I was really excited to finally get a shirt!

Next was Grumpy Cat. This little plushy is SO soft. <3

I really like her :D (cause grumpy is totally a girl, who knew?)

If you couldn't tell, in the picture above I'm wearing elf ears, cause... you guessed it, we got elf ears!

Woo! 

Keeping with a Middle-Earth theme: 

As a future English teacher, I can always use more bookmarks and pens in my life!

This next item I feel like should have gone in a nerdblock jr. It is totally lame, even though it came with a cool dart board. 

This next item, Preston thought was the coolest thing ever, a film cell from Empire!

Last but not least, another comic book. This one a crossover between Star Trek and Planet of the Apes. I read the first few pages. It totally reads like an old episode of Star Trek. I liked it :)

One thing I like about nerdblock is the simple post card they add in explaining the items. I like how lootcrate has the book with interviews, but I honestly haven't really read any of them. The post card is too the point. I like that. 

Overall this crate had lots of items that were up my alley. Though I was a bit disappointed at the lack of a pop!vinyl... I'm sorta addicted to those now. I read somewhere that usually nerdblocks always have a pop and a shirt. I was sad not to see a figure. 

Preston: 7/10

Me: 8/10

Looks like Lootcrate is our winner for January. Nerdblock still has some work to do when it comes to keeping the items connected to the theme. Everything in the lootcrate was of a higher quality than the nerdblock.

I hope you liked my first unboxing post! I'll have another next month!

In other news, my internship is going really well. I love my school, the kids are great and I have a wonderful cooperating teacher. 

I'll hopefully have a more detailed post on that once I have a bit more time! We had a snow day today, which is the only reason I was able to get this post together. 

Until next time!

Hello 2015!

Here we are in the 2nd day of 2015. New Year's Eve was a fun and fabulous night spent with awesome friends. There were also wine slushies, Cards Against Humanity and bobbly-headbands:

The first day of the year was spent relaxing. I managed to level up Hol'den to 60 and began working on getting Wreynn to 60. Then I started my first book of the year... and finished it! 

I read Cinder by Marissa Meyer. 

 

It is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles. This book has been sitting in my Kindle library for a while and I kept seeing the book on Best YA book lists, I should give the series a shot. I'm so glad I did. I'm already seven chapters into book two and the story is great!

If you like Fairy Tales and science fiction, this series is for you. It really takes those classic tales we all know so well and puts a fantastic dystopian/science fiction spin on them. Though the big "twist" in book one was fairly obvious from the get go, the ride the book took you on was still exciting. 

Another cool fact, the author is apparently a huge Sailor Moon fan and an avid cosplayer! So awesome. 

Yesterday I also pondered on my goals for the year and came up with this list: 

1. Read 28 books

2. See 25 movies

3. Work on healthy habits

4. Get on budget and STAY on budget

5. Keep track of happy memories

6. Cook healthy meals at least 6 days a week

7. Continue to do well in school

8. Level Nessà up to 60

9. Go on a Road Trip

10. Get my teaching license

11. Get rid of negativity in my life

12. Get a teaching job

13. Write more

14. Start writing movie reviews again

15. Organize my life

16. Continue being confident and loving myself

17. Move out into my own place

18. Sleep at least 7 hours a night

19. Get dressed up and go dancing

20. Make 2015 a year of awesomeness

Some are very similar to last year and I did that on purpose. There were quite a few things I didn't get to last year that I really want to work on this year. 

I realized that my lack of planning, organization, space, time and money were keeping me from my weight loss goals. So I decided that I need to work on my planning better. I started last year asking a bit too much of myself, which was a big part of my failure. This year I am starting slow and steady and working myself up to success. That is the only way I am going to be able to achieve my healthy habits goals. 

When it comes to blog goals, I think I also put a bit too much on myself. With school and tons of other responsibilities, writing something once a week was a bit too much, so this years blog goal is once a month. I know I will be able to accomplish that because I am going to start a monthly feature!

So Preston and I began subscribing to Lootcrate in October of last year and we have decided to continue our subscription into this year.

Lootcrate is a box that comes every month filled with nerdy awesomeness. Each month is themed and you have no clue what you get until you open it. 

Now there is another nerdy subscription I have also subscribed to, and that is Nerd Block. Like lootcrate it is a box of nerdy collectibles, and starting this year they are also going to be assigning a theme to their boxes. 

I thought it would be fun to blog about what is inside the boxes and to rate which one was better! 

So for this month I will be rating lootecrate's "Rewind" box

and Nerdblock's "A Galaxy Far, Far Away" box

I will admit, I am SUPER excited for the Nerdblock box, they have revealed that there will be an exclusive Star Wars collectible AND a Doctor Who collectible. SO EXCITED. Also, by the looks of this picture, there may be some Lord of the Rings as well!

This doesn't mean I am not excited about lootcrate, because I see Star Wars up in that picture as well, also some comments have made me think there might be some Power Rangers stuff too! YAY!

I think this is it for now. My next post will most likely be my lootcrate and nerdblock unboxings. 

I'm off to wait for my Pop Vinyl Baby Groot to show up AND read more of my book. 

Until next time...