[Wrap-Up] December 2017

Monthly Musings:

• Watching: 
• Baby Driver (2017 Movie)
• I really enjoyed this movie! I definitely recommend giving it a watch if you haven’t already. The cast was awesome and the plot was interesting. I thought Ansel Elgort did an amazing job! However, this movie just isn’t one that I would re-watch. 3/5
• A Christmas Prince (2017 TV Movie)
• I’m a sucker for cute Christmas movies. When I saw that Rose McIver (from iZombie) was in this one, I had to give it a go! While a typical Hallmark-ish movie, I really enjoyed it! I loved Rose’s character so much, especially because, like me, she wore converse to even the fanciest of events. 4/5
• How Sarah Got Her Wings (2015 TV Movie)
• This was a re-watch for me. I just love this cheesy holiday movie! If you haven’t watched it, I definitely recommend it! 5/5
• Mindhunter (2017 TV Series)
• Oh my god. This show is SO intense! My finacé started watching it and then rewatched the first episode with me. It’s brutal, and some stuff is hard to listen to… but it is an incredible show! Jonathan Groff (from Hamilton) does an incredible job in his role! 4/5
• A Holiday Engagement (2011 TV Movie)
• This one had a pretty rough start, but halfway through I was hooked. Another super cute hallmark-ish Christmas movie. I got goosebumps during one scene toward the end when the two main characters were at the piano. So cute! 3/5
• The Spirit of Christmas (2015 TV Movie)
• Another cutesy christmas movie. This one had fun a paranormal twist. 3/5
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015 Movie)
• I originally saw this one in theaters but recently my fiance and I purchased a copy so we could rewatch before going to see The Last Jedi. I forgot how funny this one is! I love Fin and BB8 so much! 5/5
• Christmas Belle (2013 TV Movie)
• I love Haylie Duff and I loved the Beauty and the Beast elements to this story. Unfortunately, I thought this one was pretty lame. 2/5
• 12 Dates of Christmas (2011 TV Movie)
• The main character in this movie was pretty irritating in the beginning, but about twenty minutes in she starts to become less annoying. I really like the actress, Amy Smart, which is what made me start this movie in the first place. She did an awesome job! I definitely recommend this one to fans of silly holiday movies. 4/5
• Voltron (Netflix Series Season 4)
• I LOVED this season, but it was way too short! There were only 6 episodes 🙁
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017 Movie) *No Spoilers*
• LOVED THIS MOVIE! I loved the level of humor, the pacing of the storyline, the characters. One of my favorite moments was when one character demands, “LET GO OF THE PAST.” I cannot wait to see where this series goes next! 5/5
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964 Movie)
• One of my must-watches for the holiday season! 5/5
• Frosty The Snowman (1969 Movie) & Frosty Returns (1992 TV Short)
• Another couple of annual re-watches, though not my favorites of the bunch. 4/5
• Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town (1970 Movie)
• Another annual re-watch!  4/5
• Christmas Inheritance (2017)
• Oh lordy, this one was horrible. I was annoyed with it from the start and had to bail. 0/5
• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999 Movie)
• Alex’s mom wanted to re-watch this series before she goes to see the newest one, so we watched this one with her. Because she has seen most of them already, she opted to watch them in storyline order. 5/5
• Bright (2017 Netflix Movie)
• While I thought the pacing of this one was verrrrry slow, I really enjoyed the storyline and the plot! The characters were fun and I loved the character Nick Jakoby played by Joel Egerton. 4/5
• Kubo and the Two Strings (2016 Stop-Motion Movie)
• A re-watch. Alex bought me a copy of this for Christmas and we put it on as soon as we could. If you haven’t already seen this, I highly recommend checking it out! 5/5
• King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017 Movie)
• I enjoyed this one! Not sure I would re-watch only because of the way it was filmed; the motion made me sick. But a very fun rendition of the tale! 3.5/5

• Playing: 
• Tee K O (Playstation Game)
• Alex and I played this game at our friends Christmas party. We didn’t fully understand it for the first round, but we quickly learned. This is such a fun game to play with a group! Each person draws three images, then you type in random phrases. In the next step, the images and phrases from all of the players are shuffled around the various participants and you choose and image and phrase that you think would make a funny t-shirt. The group then votes on which shirt they like best on a 1 vs. 1 basis until it’s narrowed down to just one. To add to the fun, people can join the audience and vote on the t-shirts! Because I’m awful at drawing, I liked just voting instead.  
• Star Wars Imperial Assault (Board Game)
• I wish I had videoed Alex when he discovered this game. He walked around the store literally hugging it and occasionally drumming on the box. He spent a couple hours one day assembling all the pieces, then another day he spent HOURS learning how to play. When he thought he had a good handle on it, it was time for us to do a test campaign! I’m not usually very good at these games because I get overwhelmed with all the rules, but he did a great job teaching me how to play this one! I REALLY enjoyed it! A few weeks later we played the game with our friends Ross, Andy, and Jeff. I can’t wait to complete the new campaign we started!
• Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign (PS4 Game)
• Alex snagged this one for $1.50 from the Playstation store and we spent an entire Saturday playing! I love puzzle games, so this was right up my alley!

• Drinking:
• Lots of hot tea and hot cocoa this month!
• Alex and I also tried a delicious raspberry wine from Flag Hill Vineyard.
• On Chrismas day, I had a lovely bottle of sparkling white wine, also from Flag Hill that was delicious!

• Listening to:
• I’ve been addicted to the song Fly On The Wall by Thousand Foot Crutch!

• Lore (Podcast)– I finally got all caught up on this one! 🙂 
• So Many Damn Books– This month they spoke with one of my favorites, E. Lockhart. Check out the episode here.
• Alex and I have also been hooked on Volbeat’s Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies album. When we first heard Track six, “Room 24,” we blasted it and repeated it three times. Such a cool song! This entire album rules. I highly recommend checking it out!
• Another album I picked up this month is Linkin Park’s One More Light Live. This album is absolutely incredible! I only made it to the second song before there were tears. Hearing them live is always a treat, but of course this one is extra special. A must-buy for any LP fan. I mean… just check out this video:

• In the bookish community: 
• Check out timestamp 8:37 in Episode 4: Horrific Non Fiction from the Books in the Freezer podcast and time stamp 4:21 in Episode 5: The Weather Outside is Frightful  🙂
• I updated my Liebster Award post to answer questions from two other bloggers that have tagged me.
• We got a full trailer for Ready Player One, which I cannot wait to see!
• I joined an awesome blogging support group organized by Evelina of Avalinahs Books. I am in there as an “experienced blogger,” there to help newer bloggers get started and to answer any questions that I can. To learn more about the group, check out the pinned tweet on her Twitter profile.
• Check out this awesome blogging wrap-up post from Amy at A Magical World Of Words.
• Looking forward to: 

• Starting the new year! This is going to be quite a busy year, filled with lots of changes. 🙂

In Case You Missed It:

• 2 December Book Releases I Can’t Wait To Read
• [Wrap-Up] November 2017
• 2 December Book Releases I Can’t Wait To Read
• Visiting RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• [Top 10 Tuesday] Ten Bookish Settings I Would Love To Visit
• List Of National Bookish Days I Enjoy
• My 10 Favorite Books That Were Published in 2017
• Visiting Sheafe Street Books in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• Visiting Book & Bar in Portsmouth, NH
• Bookish Platform Feature: BookThinkers
• The Christmas Book Bloggers Tag
• My 1 Year Blogiversary
• Goodreads: Your Year In Books Meme
• End Of The Year Book Survey- 2017
• My 2018 Reading & Blogging Goals
• 2018 Library Love Challenge

Thanks for reading!
How was your month? Have any special plans for the New Year? What about some New Year’s Resolutions? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!