Back From Beyond the Blogosphere

Egad! What year is it? *Dusts off cobwebs and coughs up grave dirt* Well, I certainly didn’t mean to go on hiatus for like a quarter of the year, but life was . . . to put it mildly, a raging dumpster fire. Truth be told, it wasn’t ALL bad, but damn, did it get overwhelming. To be fair, there were some good points over the past few months, but for the most part, it’s just seemed like one exhausting and endless loop of me or any assortment of my loved ones being sick/injured/having surgery/requiring around the clock care at any given time. Aaaand, to make things even more stressful, apparently, somewhere in the back of my burnt-out mind, I thought this to be the perfect time to throw bringing home a puppy into the mix, because, who really likes being able to get even a moment’s rest anyway? Not this girl, apparently.

Buuuuut, things are looking a little more stable (for now, at least) so I wanted to make sure to dust off my trusty old blog and try to catch up with my favorite blogging buddies. ❤ How are you guys?? What exciting things have you been up to lately, and what are your plans for the last few weeks of the year?? 🙂

As we continue to race ever closer to the new year (can you believe 2022 is almost over?!) I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my goals and the ways I can best check them off my list one by one. Aaaand, to be honest, I’m getting pretty damn excited about it. More news on that to come though! 😉

Warm Winter Wishes & Happy Holidays!

Is anyone else hitting the eggnog extra hard for some extra holiday cheer this year? 😛 Today was my last day of work for the year and I am sooo ready for the time off and to celebrate the holidays with my loved ones. ❤

Wishing a nice and cozy winter, and a happy New Year to all. Happy Holidays, guys! 😀

November 2021 Wrap-Up

Hello, December! ❤ It’s kind of bizarre to think that 2021 has already nearly come to an end. It feels like we were JUST wishing for 2020 to be over. What even IS time anymore since the pandemic hit? 0.o

I hope you guys all had a great November. 🙂 What was your favorite part of the month? Here’s some of the things I enjoyed most throughout November:

NaNoWriMo: NaNoWriMo was definitely interesting this year. This was the first year I’ve gone into it in 2nd Draft/Revisions mode, so it was a little more difficult for me to get my footing at first. I definitely added to my word count and fleshed out a lot of the bare bones areas of the book, but I also spent a lot of time moving things around and merging my new material in with the old. Near the end of the month I found myself less focused on the word count, and more focused on just doing whatever needed to be done. All in all, I may have veered off course as far as my original NaNoWriMo goal, but I still think it was a very successful month of writing/editing, and I’m proud of what I accomplished in that amount of time. 🙂

Buddy Read: Cupcakes & Machetes and I did a buddy read for Science Fiction month of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. If you want to see what we thought of it feel free to check out our post we did about it.

Thanksgiving: We kept things very small, just immediate family, and everyone involved was vaccinated. I like laid back holidays so I thought it was really nice. ❤ My dad and I love Bruce Campbell, so we watched his new movie Black Friday.

Watching: My favorite shows I watched this month are definitely Arcane (on Netflix) and Dragula, Season 4 (on Shudder).

Reading: I only finished reading ONE thing this entire month, and it was my buddy read with C&M. Buuuut, I did also just start reading Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, which has been very interesting right from the beginning. 🙂

Video Games: I’ve been playing a lot of Mario Kart 8 this week. 🙂 

Baking: Meh. I was pretty excited to try this no bake pumpkin pie recipe, but it was bland as hell, to be honest. I’ve only ever tried making 2 pumpkin pies in my life, both for Thanksgiving with my family, and both were terrible. The first one was when I was a kid, my dad and I made a gorgeous pumpkin pie but forgot one of the ingredients… SUGAR. D: So I guess failing at pumpkin pie is a family tradition at this point. lol

What are you most excited for in December? Any last minute projects or goals you have going on before the new year? 🙂

 

Happy Holidays: The 2020 Version

I hope everyone is having a healthy and happy Holiday season as we get ready to move forward from this chaotic year into what will hopefully be a better 2021. We’ve got a long way to go, of course, but I’m hopeful the new year will begin to take us into the right direction at least. ❤ Mr. Moth’s family got us the hilarious and VERY accurate Christmas ornament pictured above. While much of 2020 was/is indeed a raging Dumpster Fire, not all of it was bad. I hope you guys all managed to find your own moments of pure unadulterated joy peppered in among the rest of this year’s going-ons. 🙂

I made it my personal mission to be extra festive this year and I don’t regret it one bit. We may not be able to celebrate how we normally would, and while that is somewhat of a bummer, I was happy to celebrate in whatever ways we could. My team at work had a lot of fun decorating for the holiday season and we won the room decorating contest! 😀 “The Grinch-Free Zone” door pictured above and the PPE-sporting snowmen of our bulletin board and tree are just a sample of the work we put into it. There was a lot more I didn’t end up remembering to take photos of.

Since we have a white tree in our classroom it’s usually a snowman so this year it was fun to do something a little different and year-appropriate with the PPE which is a part of our daily work life now. I really enjoy the white tree but I love that I get to enjoy both ends of the spectrum since Mr. Moth and I have a black tree at home. Instead of hanging the usual candy canes on our tree, Mr. Moth and I opted to hang the silver antique keys (they’re actually bottle openers) that we had ordered off etsy as our wedding favors. It worked out really well because we had so many extra key favors left over since we had chosen to downscale big time on our guest list to make sure our wedding in October was pandemic-friendly. I loved the keys on the tree though and we’ll definitely continue to use them this way in the years to come. ❤

Seasonal baking this year included making and decorating Christmas sugar cookies (only some of which were completely inappropriate) as well as a triple chocolate coconut cream cake. I also recently made the Cranberry Christmas Cake recipe that Cupcakes & Machetes posted on her blog. 😀

Bailey, of course, got in on the holiday fun with her new bow ties, one being green (pictured above) and the other being red, so she can be a little feline fashionista and mix it up during the holiday season. I’m so happy she doesn’t mind wearing bow ties, bandanas, and some costumes. I’m also very happy to report that the Christmas tree remained standing all through December, even if this little Grinch did bat around and knock an ornament down here and there. 😛

Happy Holidays, guys! ❤ ❤ ❤

 

Inktober 2019 Final Roundup & Farewell for November

Hello, and Happy Halloween, one and all! ❤ Even though it feels like I’ve spent half of October being sick, it’s been a really good month overall. I’m pleased to report that I have now officially completed October’s annual art challenge INKTOBER! Each day of the month I have unleashed a new ink creation to plague humanity, and it’s been quite the fun teaching experience. Along the way I’ve learned new techniques, pushed myself to think outside the box to meet the daily prompts, and I’ve shown myself that I can in fact make more time for the things I love despite all the constant business of adulting. 🙂 So, before I take my previously mentioned writing hiatus for November, allow me to present my final roundup of Inktober drawings. Thank you all for all of the amazing feedback and support during this month’s challenge. ❤ It truly means a lot, and hopefully November will see me through completing a second challenge for NaNoWriMo.

Day 22: The daily prompt was “GHOST” and my immediate thought was Boo, probably my favorite fictional ghost of all time.

Day 23: The daily prompt was “ANCIENT” so I went with an elderly Joker-esque batshit crazy granny because why not? 😛

Day 24: The daily prompt was “DIZZY” and maybe I was feeling inspired by my recent trip to Theatre Bizarre, but I wanted to draw a trippy clown girl for some reason. Hey, I just go where the inspiration takes me. 🙂

Day 25: The daily prompt was “TASTY” so I made a big shadowy werewolf looking forward to his next meal. Don’t mind all the doodles in the background, it was a sketchbook scribble session before I decided to slap some ink on it and call it a day. 😛

Day 26: The daily prompt was “DARK” and I figured since I’ve been drawing sooo many people throughout the month, I wanted to draw a piece without anyone or anything with a face. There are some moths, sure, but they’re too little to see their faces, so whatever.

Day 27: The daily prompt was “COAT” and due to how cold it has been lately, I guess I was feeling inspired to draw a cute girl in a cute coat on a cold, chilly autumn day with wind and leaves blowing about.

Day 28: The daily prompt was “RIDE” and what cooler ride is there than the Cat Bus from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro? 😀 This one was a lot of fun to work on.

Day 29: The daily prompt was “INJURED” and initially I figured I’d draw a couple roller derby girls post-derby, with busted lips, bloody noses, etc. but then I was having an off day and couldn’t quite come up with the look I was going for, so onto Plan B. That’s when I decided to pay homage to Monty Python and the Holy Grail‘s Black Knight.

Day 30: The daily prompt was “CATCH” so I went with an arcade staple, the crane game.

Aaaaand FINALLY, we come to Day 31: And the daily prompt is “RIPE”. With it being Halloween, of course I had to go with a rotting pumpkin, past its prime and overly-ripe, with bugs crawing in and out of its face.

I hope you guys have enjoyed the various pieces I’ve worked on over the course of Inktober, and, again, thank you SO MUCH for all the kind words and encouragement along the way. ❤ It means so much, and I’m feeling inspired and enjoying drawing more like I used to again and that feels really great. 🙂

While I’m away for November participating in NaNoWriMo I hope you guys all have a very Happy Halloween, a fantastic November, and I look forward to catching up with everyone when I return to my blog in December, hopefully with good news of a completed NaNoWriMo challenge. I’ll still be doing quick posts and updates on Instagram and the NaNoWriMo website in the mean time. Until December, take care and have fun!! ❤ ❤ ❤

The Naughty or Nice Tag

Woo! Christmas is coming up fast! What better time to post a holiday-themed tag where we’re judged for our naughty and nice reading/book habits?? 😀 Big thanks to the awesome Random Melon Reads for tagging me for the “Naughty or Nice Tag”. There was no way I could miss out on such festive fun so let’s get to it shall we??

Received an ARC and not reviewed it

I’ve never done the ARC thing, actually, so I’m as innocent as can be on this one. Pure as the driven snow.

Have less than 60% feedback rating on Netgalley

Never used Netgalley. Apparently I am a lame ass nerd. 😛

Rated a book on Goodreads and promised a full review was to come on your blog (and never did)

Nahhh, I don’t think so. I’m lazy and don’t usually put actual reviews on there anyway. Why bother promising something I have no intention of doing? Now, on my blog, MAYBE.

Folded down the page of a book

Do I LOOK like some sort of monster to you?? My mama raised me better than this!

Accidentally spilled on a book

I don’t believe I have. The thought of it is enough to make me cringe. I’m one of those people who refuse to read in the bathtub because I’m too afraid of the possible water damage for my sweet little literary babies. ❤

DNF a book this year

Pffffft. I am the QUEEN of DNF Reads. It’s sad, but true.

Bought a book because it was pretty with no intention of reading it

Hmmm . . . I wouldn’t say “with no intention of reading it”. I’m shallow enough to be sold on a book by the cover alone, but I’m still planning on reading it at some point if I buy it.

Read whilst you were meant to be doing something else

Oh, yes. Far too often. It’s one of the best tools I have in my utility belt of procrastination.

Skim read a book

Not the whole thing, but yeah, I’ve skimmed parts in books before if I had a deadline I was behind on or if I was just not feeling it at the time.

Completely missed your Goodreads goal

Not yet! 😀

Borrowed a book and not returned it to the library

Eek! I have. Not in a VERY long time, mind you, but I am guilty of this one. It was a book on mythological beasties and I still own it to this day. I paid for it, so the library and I are squared away, but yeahhhhh . . .

Broke a book buying ban

Yeah, probably. I don’t think I usually ban myself from buying books, more so ban myself from spending money on things I don’t particularly need. I still blow that, too, though.

Started a review, left it for ages then forgot what the book was about

Yup! I also do this with a lot of my DNF books. I’ll start them, sit them aside for way too long, and then realize I don’t remember enough of what I did read and then have to start all over. My reading style is chaotic to say the least, but so are a lot of other aspects of my life so at least I’m consistent. 😉

Wrote in a book you were reading

Only books I’m using as a studying tool. I highlight, underline, and scribble notes in those bad boys. I still won’t dogear the pages though so I’m not a total lost cause. 😛

Finished a book and not added it to your Goodreads

Yes. I usually don’t realize I’ve done it until wayyyy later and then I still don’t end up adding it as read for some reason. I don’t think I’m a very good GR user. D:

Borrowed a book and not returned it to a friend

No, I don’t believe so. Borrowed for a very long time? Yes. Though I like to think I’ve always returned the books I’ve borrowed eventually. In all fairness I don’t mind people hanging on to my books for a long time either. As long as I know they can be trusted to return the books in one piece I don’t care how long they hang onto it.

Dodged someone asking if they can borrow a book

I don’t think so.

Broke the spine of someone else’s book

Holy shit, I would feel absolutely terrible. I’d be buying them a new book pronto and would expect nothing less than them to beat me with the damaged copy.

Took the jacket off a book to protect it and ending up making it even more damaged

Eh. I definitely liberated many of my books from their dust jackets but I don’t think I messed them up after they started free-balling it.

Sat on a book accidentally

Um, I don’t believe so? Maybe? I don’t know, not that I recall, so I’m going to go with NO.

FINAL SCORE – Naughty=8. Nice=12.

Aww, it was a close one, but I managed to squeak by and make the “Nice List”. Does this mean I get more books from Santa?? 😀 I certainly hope so!

Usually I’m far too lazy to tag people, but since it’s the holiday season, let’s do this!

I tag:

Mel To The Any

The Shameful Narcissist Speaks

Birdie Bookworm

Aaaaand anyone else who thinks this looks fun, consider yourself officially tagged!

In other news: I know I’m still way behind catching up on everyone’s blogs/comments right now, and for that I’m sorry! ❤ I’m currently getting over being sick and with Christmas coming up and work craziness I’ve been so strapped for time. I’m hoping things will calm down once the holidays are done, but for now I’ll do the best I can to catch up and stay (somewhat) sane! 🙂 I hope you’re all having a fantastic December and that the New Year will treat you all well. ❤ ❤ ❤

December Updates

Hello, everybody! It seems I fell off the map there for a bit, but it’s only because things have been extremely busy and especially chaotic this month. Things are slowly, ever so slowly, getting back to normal just as the year comes to a close. Between my personal life and work life I’ve pretty much been in caregiver mode 24/7 and have been feeling burnt out by it, but luckily I have a nice little vacation coming up to hopefully squeeze some rest in and enjoy the holidays. 🙂

That said, here are just some random updates of what’s been going on as of late.

Update #1: Due to the previously mentioned craziness, I missed out on my book club’s Christmas party this year which was a total bummer. We always wear ugly Christmas sweaters and I had been so pumped to show off my new R2-D2 one. All is not lost, though, since I’m planning on wearing Christmas sweaters to work the rest of this week, so I can proudly display that one, my Deadpool one, and my “Bah Hum-Pug” one. One day I hope to have amassed enough ugly Christmas sweaters to be able to wear one each day of December leading up to Christmas. Mwahaha!

Update #2: I recently reached my goal of 45 books read for the year, though I’ll admit a lot of them were graphic novels. 😛 This was quite the busy year. I’m upping my goal for next year though and aiming for 50 this time. I’ve even made a list of some of the priority titles I’m looking to read in 2018. Some are new, some old, some are novels, graphic novels, and there are even a few poetry collections in there, too. It should be a pretty interesting year in reading for me. 🙂

Update #3: I’m seriously thinking about pampering myself during this time off by going to get my hair done. Planning on getting it chopped and colored. Thinking of throwing some purple and/or blue in the mix. It’s been too long since I’ve put any fun colors in it and I’m feeling like it’s a good way to kick off the new year!

Update #4: Started doodling again. Planning on doodling more in the new year. These are just 2 rough sketches with some highlighter and sharpie thrown in, but I’m hoping to really get back into it in 2018. Maybe even hook up my art tablet again. It’s been a while.

EPSON MFP image

EPSON MFP image

Update #5: I recently got awarded Employee of the Quarter (quarter of the year) at my job. I was really surprised since I’ve only been there a little over 6 months. Woo!

So, that’s it for my little updates. Hope you guys have all been well. I’ll be catching up on your posts to see what all has been going on. Feel free to fill me in on any exciting updates of your own. I’d love to hear about them. 🙂

The Christmas Tag!

I’m feeling festive this year, so when I saw this cute little Christmas tag posted by The Happiest Pixel I decided to join in on the holiday fun! 🙂 Fun Fact: I used to be a total Grinch til Cupcakes and Machetes made it her personal mission to show me the joys of the holiday season. I was skeptical at first but have slowly come to enjoy Christmas and the chaos that comes with it. 😛

1.) What is your favorite Christmas film?

I actually have a few. 🙂 It’s no secret that I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s definitely a holiday staple. I’ve also always enjoyed Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration and the more recent Krampus film from 2015.

Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration

2.) Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

It’s always been fake, except for one year. That was the year my cat turned into the Hulk and took down an entire pine tree, bringing it and all it’s decorations crashing to the floor. Cats seriously up their dickhead game this time of year.

3.) What is your favorite Christmas song?

Carol of the Bells has been my favorite for a good while now. 🙂

4.) What is your favorite Christmas scent?

Hmmm . . . I really like cinnamon scented things, especially around Christmas. It reminds me of when my mom helped my brother and I make cinnamon ornaments for the tree when we were kids. For several years I was pretty obsessed with Bath & Bodyworks’ Vanilla Bean Noel scent, but I kind of burnt myself out on it.

5.) Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?

It’s usually pretty laid back. I pretty much just enjoy the company of who I’m with and we open one present that night. I’ve always done that since I was a kid. I think a lot of people do it, too.

6.) Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?

See the above question. 😉

7.) What tops your Christmas tree?

Well, this year the only tree I’ve decorated so far is the one my room at work decorated, and we have a big beautiful silver bow on top. We’ll see what the other two trees I have yet to help decorate will be topped with this go around.

8.) What is the best thing about Christmas for you?

Spending time with my loved ones and doing all the festive activities with them leading up to the actual holiday. Also, the book club I’m in always has a fun Christmas party to look forward to.

9.) What is your favorite festive food or treat?

As of this year, I’d have to say that damn tasty Christmas Kronut I was just raving about in my last blog post. Other faves include the chocolate candy cane doughnut from Tim Hortons, the Bigby Peppermint Mocha Latte . . . basically anything chocolate and peppermint, apparently.

10.) What is on top of your Christmas wish list this year?

Trump’s removal from office. A girl can dream, can’t she? 😛

If you’re up to doing this holiday tag, have at it, and please let me know because I’d love to read your answers! 🙂

Halloween in December: Why Not?

Procrastination is a skill of mine. I’ve pretty much mastered it over the years. Hence why I am just now getting around to posting my pumpkin I carved back in October in December.

Hey, if the retail stores insist on playing Christmas music before Halloween is even over why can’t I post Halloween pictures in December??

So tonight, on the night I am decorating the tree and beginning to wrap gifts, I present you with this Halloween’s owl pumpkin carving I did:

Why? Because better late than never! 😛

Festive Chocolate Truffles

I’ve never tried making truffles before but after stumbling across a recipe for Christmas Sugar Cookie Truffles I just couldn’t resist giving it a shot.

I was pretty happy with how these turned out. Bonus: they were incredibly easy to make. I tweaked the second batch I made by using only one and a half tablespoons cream cheese and then adding one and a half tablespoons peanut butter. Then instead of dipping the peanut butter ones in white chocolate I dipped them in milk chocolate. Variety is the spice of life, and who doesn’t like to shake it up once in a while?