2017 Resolutions

Decided to make a a quick list of some of the resolutions I want to work on in the next year. 

My 2017 Goals

Get Healthy & Eat Better

Yes I know that these are the same goals everyone has every year. But they are good goals to have. And you never know, this may be the year that it all works out.

One thing I would really like to try doing is to attempt new recipes that are healthier as apposed to the few recipes I know that are almost all terribly unhealthy....but delicious.

Run a 5K

This year I am planning on running a 5K. I have never done this before and I am a bit nervous but I have picked out a 5k in March and I am going to do it even if I end up walking most of it.

College

College is going to take up most of my time in the next year. I am doubling up on classes with the hope of graduating my May 2018. My goal is to work my butt off and get good grades.

Honestly with college taking over my life in the next year I can only focus on a handful of goals, but I think these are really good ones to strive for. Improvement of the body and the mind.

Hope you all have a fun and safe New Year.

Bright Sides of 2016?

I have been trying to make a list of the things that have happened this year that have been good. Unfortunately I am writing this on the day that Carrie Fisher has been taken away. The painful bookend to a year that began with the loss of David Bowie, my hero and first love. Honestly 2016 has been a cruel year. 

Yet even in the darkest nights there will always be some light.

Here are a few things that have made this no good year tolerable.

College

After far too many years, I am back in school working towards my BA. With the way my life was going I doubted I would ever be able to do this. Money is an issue but I am doing my best to make it work.

Movies

For the better part of the last decade my parents and I had to give up everything to take care of my grandfathers. Sometimes it's the little things that you miss the most. This year my mother and I managed to go to the actual movie theaters. Captain America: Civil War, Ghostbusters, Star Trek Beyond, Ab Fab the Movie. We plan to see Rogue One before the year is out. 

Theatre

This year I won 2016-2017 season tickets to see the touring musicals including Newsies and Elf (which have already played) and soon Dirty Dancing and Something Rotten. I am really looking forward to Something Rotten, a Shakespeare musical that may have THE Adam Pascal touring. Don't know if this is true but I really really hope so.

This was one of the best things I have won, I am such a musical theatre lover...Really I make Tony Award Cookies that got tweeted by the official Tony Awards Twitter : )

Reading

2016 Reading Challenge

Melissa has completed her goal of reading 25 books in 2016!

hide

40 of 25 (100%)

view books

This year I read 40 new to me books. My favorites were Circle of Friends, Poldark, Sunne in Splendor(over 900 pages but really good) and oddly enough The Host. My goal was 25. Next year with all the college classes I am planning on taking this will probably be a lot lower.

And the most important of all

Logan and Finn

I am not putting a picture of her up here but my cousin had the most perfect child last March. Even her name is perfect, Logan (my favorite film is Logan's Run). She is the sweetest baby ever, and I don't like kids so that is saying a lot.

And then there is Finn.

He is at least three times this size now. I can hardly pick him up. He is now my parents' baby because my house and yard could not handle him...also I was sleep deprived and had gotten behind on class work. Puppies are hard work but I still adore him. He is just now my little "brother". 

Also he is named after Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Despite the few good things, I am ready for this year to end. All I can do is hope 2017 is better. 

Holidays

Literary Fixation: My Booky Wook

I think Russell Brand is a pretty good comedian. I really enjoyed him and Noel Fielding on the Big Fat Quiz of the Year. Thank you Youtube!

His biography has been on my "To Be Read List" for awhile and with my break from classes I finally had the chance to read it.

It started out pretty good. His writing style is humorous and peppered with slang that reminds me of A Clockwork Orange. 

The first part concerning his childhood and beginnings in acting school are pretty interesting and flow fairly well.

Once he starts writing about his years on drugs is when he starts to lose me.

The timeline isn't really linear and it is overall chaotic. Which you can argue is a good representation on being on drugs. 

I honestly wanted to skip most of these passages. While chaotic, they were also repetitive.

Some of the stories he mentions are just so uncomfortable. I do not know how he managed to survive this period of his life.

Another downside for me was the place where it ended. He did not really talk about his experiences after the drug years. I became aware of him after he did his stint in rehab. I think he is an interesting actor and I would have like to have read about his work on the films he has been in since then.

I will not say this is a bad book. It was a truthful and interesting account of his life with an emphasis on what his world was like during his drug fueled years.

I now feel the need to re-watch the old Big Fat Quiz videos. 

    

Netflix Picks- December 2016

I have a lot of catching up to do with Netflix but I thought I would choose a few to write about. Some I haven't seen yet, but I plan on binging during my brief reprieve from school work.

Vicar of Dibley

I love this series. It is about a female Vicar, played by the adorable and hilarious Dawn French, who is sent to a oddball village. While it is a comedy there are some really sweet moments, especially in the Christmas episodes. Semi family friendly.

Sense8

I have mentioned this shoe before because I think it is a fantastic sci-fi series without being a typical sci-fi show. There is going to be a Christmas episode coming out this month with the second seasons starting this summer. Now would be a great time to catch up or re-watch. 

The Crown

I have not had a chance to watch this yet but it looks really good. I am a fan of many of the actors involved. Gotta love Matt Smith.

Not on Netflix

Westworld

I have started watching Westworld on HBO. I am not finished just yet but so far I like it. 

Back...for a little while

My first semester at OU is over! All A's so I'm pretty happy.

Next semester will be rough. I am taking 3 classes per eight weeks, a total of 6 classes for the Spring semester. I anticipate an anxiety attack or two.

Even though school has taken over my life since October I have had a few non-academic things happen.

I went with my best friend to see the Elf! The Musical.

I did not have high hopes for this musical, since I am not a huge fan of the film, but I actually enjoyed this show.

My friend had never seen the movie so she went in with an open mid.

Honestly, it was a fun musical. Family friendly with a few winks and nudges for the adults in the audience. Pretty good.

The holidays are around the corner so I have been helping my mother make presents for her friends. Turning old shirts into pillows. My mom is not really able to sew, thus I ended up making all of these pillows. I tried to show her how to use the sewing machine (which she managed to almost break) and to hand sew the pillows closed (again bad idea). 

Candy Boxes

Soon we will be on a candy making quest. So much fudge! It will be painful. 

I have a few blog posts planned for this month. I don't want to completely abandon this blog. For at least the rest of the month of December I will be back on my blogging schedule of Wednesdays and Fridays. *Hopefully