Updates and Games!

      I feel like I've been gone so long! I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year's Eve and Day first of all. We went to a friend's and had a great time. If you follow my Instagram you probably have an idea of what I've been up to but if not, here ya go! I decided to finally try a monthly photo challenge on Instagram, which also caused me to write up a few resolutions:

• Make time to read more
• Get back into drawing
• Stay in better touch with friends
• Work on time management
• Be healthier in general - starting with no more pop!
• LIVE!

      If you made any New Year's resolutions, please share them in the comments. I would love to see them! If you are curious about the photo challenge, here it is:

      Anyone living in the mid-west should know that we got A LOT of snow this weekend. Before the storm hit on Sunday, the boyfriend and I decided to do some running around to pick up some essentials and grab a bite to eat. We used one of our Christmas gift cards and went to TGIFridays, which was delicious. We both got the Sizzling Chicken and Shrimp. I think it's safe to say that we both would recommend it. It is all packed with flavor and was cooked just perfectly. I think I'll just let the picture speak for itself.

     While out and about we also decided to get a new multi-player game for the Wii U since we didn't have any yet, and because I thought it would be the perfect thing to keep us busy during the storm. We settled on  Super Mario 3D World. It is so much fun, it was the only game we played for three days! We are now in what I believe is the last world, and have already beaten the main game. The new cat suit and other power-ups added some new challenges, allowing them to hide things in places that you wouldn't otherwise be able to reach. I have to also say, getting to play as Peach has been a lot of fun too, and I love her different power-up outfits! Also, we enjoyed the fact that no one was forced to play Mario like in the side scroller games. Each character also has a different 'ability'. Mario is easier to handle, Luigi can jump higher, Toad can run faster, and Peach has her signature hover jump(which I have to say comes in handy in many places!).
*POSSIBLE SPOILER*
I have also been loving getting to play as Rosalina! You get to unlock her in the Star World and she has a slightly higher jump, as well as a spin ability that can kill enemies. Very convenient. ;)
*END SPOILER*
Overall, I recommend the game, especially if you are wanting just a fun multi-player, but maybe something different from the last few New Super Mario games.

     Now the snow. So much snow! I don't work on the weekends, but I know that the mall closed Sunday, and was also closed on Monday. It was going to open at noon Tuesday, but about twenty minutes before the stores were supposed to open, security came around and told us that the mall decided to just close for the day. After spending half an hour digging my car out so that I could get to work, I wasn't very happy only being there for forty minutes. On the plus side, I got another snow day at home which I used to finally go grocery shopping since we had no food left in the apartment, and also to catch up on some cleaning. It was a fairly productive couple days.

      I think that's about it for my updates for now. Sorry I was gone for a bit there, but I am including this in my time management resolution so it should get better! I'm fine with time management at work, but at home I tend to slack off a bit from time to time, haha. On that note, I think I will leave you with a few pictures of the snow. See you back here later!

Christmas of Course! pt. 2

      This post is coming a little later than planned, but I will admit that it's because I couldn't stop playing my new game! I'll get to that in just a moment though. I went over the food of Christmas last time, so this one is all about the gifts. I got various gift cards from a few of my relatives, and oddly enough three of the four were for restaurants, haha. We already used one of those Thursday night, by the way. Decided to go out to Chili's since we haven't been for quite some time. The boyfriend and I decided to ask for just one bigger combined gift this year from my parents, so they got us a Wii U! To top that off it's the special edition Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker HD one! I was beyond excited to say the least. From my Aunt and Uncle that live in Florida, on top of a gift card, I also got a Good Eats(as in the show on Food Network) cookbook. Mom and I were flipping through it Christmas day and it looks interesting. Lots of info to go along with the recipes, but I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone who has seen the show.
      We decided not to take our gifts for each other to Mom and Dad's, so we opened them when we returned home Christmas night. He got me two books(Bloodlines and The Golden Lily both by Richelle Mead), a Jack Skellington snuggie because I love The Nightmare Before Christmas, and two CD's unfortunately that were a bit older and I already have most of the songs from. I'll have to exchange the CD's but I was very happy with the rest. :) For him I got a set of two "zombie" swords with sheath and shoulder strap(he collects knives and swords), Lego Marvel Superheroes and Devil May Cry for Xbox 360, and a stuffed Creeper(from Minecraft) doll I had noticed he liked at the mall. The Creeper has now taken up residence on top of our TV, haha. He was definitely thrilled.
   

 All of my gifts.

Just look how awesome the gamepad is! XD

      While we still have to exchange gifts with the boyfriend's Mom yet, I'd say we lucked out on gifts this year for sure! My only complaint really was that I had to wait til late Thursday night to finally get to play Wind Waker. The Nintendo servers were so busy that I couldn't get the game to download. I have been enjoying it since though, including a decent part of last night and most of today. I finally took a break to make dinner, and after we decided to play co-op Lego Marvel which has been fun so far. Had to stop for a bit though so I could catch up on here. ;)
      I hope that everyone has been enjoying whatever they may have gotten for the holidays, and that you didn't have too many returns/exchanges to do this weekend! Just remember, over everything else it's still the thought that counts. See you back here later!