You guys have no idea how much I've missed you - and how much I've missed posting here on The Written Word(s)! But I'm back now, it's time to party! 🎉
Keep in mind, my idea of a party involves cases of Fanta and a massive supply of board games XD
I hope that all of you have been managing to stay happy, healthy, and mentally sane throughout the course of this pandemic. Seems like plenty of areas in the US are beginning to open up, meanwhile in Canada our case numbers keep climbing - and to think we were laughing at the way the US was handling COVID this time last year 😬 It's probably karma.
Regardless, I have had a lot in my life change since my last
Currently Planning...
... My First Camping Trip! No, that was not a typo - I'm actually planning to go camping in the near future. And we're not talking "paid site with power and water hook-up to the RV" kind of camping - More like "Crown lands, back woods, possible portage-ing" kind of camping. And yes, this would be my very first experience with camping (from what I've heard, sleeping in a tent in the backyard with my friends doesn't count as camping).
I'm equal parts excited and nervous. Well, okay, maybe 45% excited and 55% nervous, but can you blame me? I've never gone camping before and this first trip will be taken without any training wheels. Back woods camping is a huge passion of my boyfriend's, and despite my anxiety about this trip, I'm looking forward to giving it a genuine shot. Who knows? Maybe I'll really love being in the middle of nature without a Wifi signal! (that surely came off as sarcastic, but it wasn't... Not entirely, anyway 😅)
Either way, I'm planning on filming as much of the trip as I can, plus I'll be taking a bunch of pictures. I'll tell you guys all about my trip once I'm back. We were planning on going during the May long weekend, but our lockdown protocols got extended, so now outdoor activities are banned until June 14th at the earliest. If Alan has his way,
... A Design Refresh for TWW(s) & More Blog Content! After a little goofing around with Canva, I ended up creating what I believe is a pretty great re-design of the TWW(s) logo. I was so happy with my creation that I kept going, and I ended up designing a new banner image to go right along with the new logo! I don't want to spoil it, but I can assure you, it's super pretty 💖
The new graphics still need a little tweaking, but as soon as they're ready I'll be rolling them out on the site all at once. Along with all the pretty new pictures and colours, I may be making a few layout changes to the blog, although I'm not 100% certain yet. I'm always open to suggestions and recommendations though! Especially from my amazing readers.
Currently Watching...
... The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! (Yes, still!) I don't actually have Amazon Prime myself, but when I meet anyone that does, I almost immediately try to recommend Mrs. Maisel to them, because it is such a fantastic show! Rich, funny, insightful, deep yet light-hearted in all the right ways - the writing is nothing short of incredible, to say nothing of the amazing cast. Alan has watched bits of episodes that I've had playing on the TV while he's on the computer; He genuinely enjoys the show and tells me that he's looking forward to sitting down and properly watching Mrs. Maisel from the very beginning.
... Beastars & One Punch Man Season 1! Been quite a while since I've watched One Punch Man, which gives it just enough time for the whole show to feel interesting and fresh again. This is also a new favourite of Alan's, though he'd started watching it before the two of us met. I remember watching the first 5 episodes or so when they released the English dub and I didn't find it half-bad, though now the English dub is no longer available on Netflix, which seems a little odd, but meh - no biggie!
My ex got me into Beastars and I've been eagerly awaiting the second season to find its way on Netflix, but until then I've had to settle for re-watching the 1st season. After getting into watching One Punch Man again, it gave me a bit of an anime craving, which I immediately satiated by re-watching this unique series.
... Newsroom (Alan's never seen it!) I've gushed on here many a time that HBO's Newsroom is one of my all-time favourite shows, and I just knew that my boyfriend was going to love it. He's fairly political, not to mention he's an intelligent guy who wouldn't need a lot of the American history & politics explained to him (like I did when I first watched the show 😅). After the opening scene in the pilot, he was hooked, just as I hoped he'd be! Now we're midway through the 2nd season - he wants to take our time watching it so that the experience isn't over too quickly.
Currently Loving...
... My Happy Planner & Crafting Supplies! It's been far too long since I've been able to indulge in my hobby of putting stickers in a ring-bound book and pretending that I'm an organized person 😂 My biggest problem was always that I didn't feel like my life was busy enough, so I didn't have enough plans to actually write down. And when the pandemic hit, I had even less of a life than I did before COVID-19 😆 Now that I'm employed once again, and back to blogging, and trying to get things in my apartment organized, I actually have things to plan out, and therefore an excuse to play with my many, many HP sticker books again! You can check out my Instagram for the occasional picture of my planner layouts.
Additionally, I was able to indulge in something I have wanted for years - a subscription to a monthly box from Planners Anonymous! The art is gorgeous, the products are high-quality, and there's plenty of perks for subscribers including a huge supply of free downloadables!
... Re-Listening to The Glass Canon Podcast! From the summer of 2019 to about the summer of 2020, listening to the riveting episodes of this podcast where 5 guys are playing a Pathfinder adventure path known as Giant Slayer took up the majority of my life - and I have zero regrets! 😆 I'd recently started re-listening to the first 10 or so episodes when I mentioned to Alan that we should listen to a few episodes during the drive up north when we go camping, and it just reignited my love for those 5 guys goofing around and playing a tabletop RPG as well as the characters that they are portraying. Whether or not you've ever played an RPG in your life, I highly recommend this podcast for its entertainment value alone.
... MY NEW GAMING LAPTOP!!! Ohhhhh yeah - this is where one of my earliest paychecks went, and it was money well spent (more on the job providing said paycheck later)! My other laptop was acquired in 2017 and I hadn't realized until certain keys on the keyboard stopped responding that it was high-time for an upgrade - and boy is this baby a nice upgrade! It's an Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop with 15.6" FHD, Intel Core i7-10750H, GTX 1650Ti, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD - the drive isn't exactly huge, but it's expandable. Also the computer was advertised at 60 Hz, but the one I picked up is actually 120Hz!
What this amounts to for those who don't speak fluent Computer Spec (and I only know a few phrases myself 😝), it basically means that my computer can handle games that my other computer would've never been able to render - Triple A titles like the Borderlands series, Assassins Creed, Fallout: New Vegas, and also newer high-demand titles like Cyberpunk!
Currently Playing...
... Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt! One of the first games I was most eager to play when I got my new laptop was Witcher 3 - I'd wanted to pick it up on my PS5 but it doesn't go on sale very often in the PS store, or at EB Games. But I got lucky this past week when Steam was offering the game for 80% OFF!!!! 😍 Anytime you can get a massive game like this for under $20 CAD is a really, really good day 👍
I'd been wanting to watch Netflix's The Witcher for a while but Alan convinced me to finally watch it - which was helpful because the show doesn't do the best job at explaining a lot of things, and Alan was very patient as he filled me in on the details I was missing, and how they related to both the books and the 3 games without revealing any massive spoilers. Watching (and re-watching a bunch since) the show has gotten me even more excited to dive into this game! I'm still not very far in, I've only played about 6.5 hours so far (bigger games like this often wear me out and I fatigue more easily, so I can only play in short bursts before I feel spent), but I'm eager to learn more about the story and the characters and everything else the game has to offer! 💘
... RimWorld & Oxygen Not Included! Just because my computer can handle plenty of AAA titles doesn't mean that I'm going to forget my indie favourites! 😁 I've been especially determined to get better at playing Klei's Oxygen Not Included - I've yet to ever launch a rocket, or even reach the asteroid surface! I don't think I've even reached the oil biome, to be honest...
Alan's a fan of a game that's very similar in a lot of ways, Rimworld. It's a game I'd always had on my Steam wishlist as I waited for it to go on sale, but he recently convinced me to buy it and he walked me through the tutorial. It's also really enjoyable, although I feel like I have a steep learning curve ahead of me... Anyone who has played this game, if you have any tips for a complete newbie, or any YouTube channel recommendations where I can learn more, do me a solid and drop them in the comments below.
... Graveyard Keeper! (again) For those who haven't played this game, Graveyard Keeper has a very similar play style to farming sims like Stardew Valley, though this game includes some darker humor, which given the title shouldn't be too surprising. Instead of just managing crops, you also have to manage corpses, sermons, and the church's interior and grounds - not to mention there's plenty of dungeon-dwelling, brewing and wine making, writing, building, crafting, and plenty more.
I've played this game to completion once, and lately I've been re-playing this title on the Switch. I own 1 of the DLC's that have been released, Stranger Sins, which involves you running and managing a tavern, along with locating special artifacts and seeing glimpses of the past through a strange time machine in the tavern's basement. Apparently this DLC includes an additional ending, which is what I'm currently shooting for. So far it's been a Great Blast! (don't get it? Well, play the game and you'll find out why my joke is actually semi-funny 😜)
Currently Making...
... Pretty Spreads in my Happy Planner! Just like I mentioned above, I'm a Happy Planner girl again! 😁 And not just in theory - this picture is from my actual planner, it's the first spread I've attempted in 2021 and I'm genuinely proud of it. Also, this is the first time I've done a spread in my planner where I feel like my horrible handwriting hasn't taken anything away from how nice the spread looks.
What do you guys think? I've kept up with spreads over the past 3 weeks so far, and I'll do my best to remember to share them on Instagram if any of you are interested in seeing them 😊
... Progress in my New Job! I've recently started working at my first ever Full-Time job, and I'm enjoying it a great deal. My position is a Clerical Assistant at LISKE Accident & Injury - plus all of the work is remote right now, so I get to work in my PJ's!😁 I've never worked in this kind of field before, but I'm finding it really fascinating, and I'm learning a lot. I can basically work anywhere with a strong enough internet connection, which gives me plenty of flexibility. I still make mistakes, but I'm always doing my best to improve 😊 Looking forward to my first 3 months being finished so I'll officially feel like one of the team!
Currently Feeling...
.... Pretty Great! A lot has happened in only a few months, but I'll be real with all of you: This is the healthiest I have felt in a very long time - physically, emotionally, and mentally! My current anxiety/depression/ADHD meds are doing their job, I'm eating most of my daily meals, and I've been spending the majority of my time outside of my apartment, and everything they say about a change of scenery being good for you is right on the money. The icing on top of this yummy cake is that I've overcome that little doubt-filled voice in the back of my head and returned to my favourite online space, TWW(s)!
That sums up everything that I've been up to over the past couple of months! Let's keep in touch - post in the comments or send me a tweet to let me know what sorts of things you've been up to lately! 😁
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