What I'm Into (January 2014)

I missed out on the linking up for December's edition (blame it on being happily otherwise occupied with visiting my Knight), but here I am again to share with y'all what I was into during January.


What I'm Reading

• At long last, after a three month hold at the library The House of Hades came in!  I'd heard mixed reviews about this, and while it wasn't anything spectacular, the long wait was not disappointing.  I laughed over quite a few parts and found myself enjoying the adventures of Percy and company.  (Was I the only one who noticed though that Jason sort of fell off the face of the earth in this book? Zero character development and he was really... kind of a lame character this time around.
• I saw that there was a movie titled The Book Thief playing in theaters, and I thought it looked like it would be interesting.  I haven't gotten around to going to see it yet, so I thought that in the meantime I would read the book.  It's a fascinating story, and while I find the writing style to be more of an artsy kind (by my definition) I am enjoying it nonetheless. (Not a huge fan of artsy/unusual novel writing styles).
• I got a Kindle for Christmas and have been semi-delving into the world of ebooks. I prefer a solid, paper and ink book any day but I cannot deny that having ebooks stored on my Kindle for when I'm traveling or passing the time is very nice.  Amazon has a lending library and the first book I checked out was The War Brides.  It tells the tale of five women in England from various backgrounds and social classes and how they come together to be friends.  It ended a little abruptly, but the characters were intriguing and the story was good, so I liked it.

What I'm Watching

• SHERLOCK SEASON THREE!  After two years, may I repeat, two. years. of waiting for a new season we finally got season three.  And yes, every single second was worth the wait.  Perfection in each wonderful episode.  If you haven't gotten into Sherlock yet, do it now!  There are only nine episodes, so you have no excuse that there isn't enough time for a new show.
• After much poking and insisting by a friend of mine, I finally got around to watching Leverage.  I've only had time to watch three episodes so far, but it's good.  It's got a hacker, a thief, a grifter, a retrieval specialist and an informer insurance agent, all working (sometimes reluctantly) together to fight against big corporations and occasionally government. It's funny, it's fun and worth going back for more.
• In the movie theaters: I've seen Frozen and Catching Fire twice each, and both were wonderful!  Catching Fire was better than The Hunger Games and even more faithful to the original novel.  The adaptation was very satisfying, and I personally think every living author should be on the production team of films based off of their books.  There would be many more satisfied fans out there.

What I've Been Up To Lately

• I've already covered my major trips in January already (visiting my Knight and Elenatintil's wedding), so I won't say too much more here.  The wedding was beautiful and though the bride was very ill with a migraine, the fact that she made it through the day and the ceremony with a smile despite the pain she was in showed the dedication and love she has for her husband.  As for the groom, he's perfect for her and I know my dear friend ended up with a wonderful man.
• While in Minnesota for the wedding, I stayed with another good friend of mine and two other friends who were also in from out of town. We had a blast all getting to visit and be together and spent the day after the wedding at this beautiful conservatory taking loads of photos together.
• In less exciting news, classes have started up again for the semester and when they aren't being cancelled due to sub-zero temperatures, I am studying Hotel and Restaurant Law, Event Planning and Microsoft Office.  The last class is my favorite and as a poor student who has used OpenOffice for the last four years... I honestly don't know what I do when I run out of free trial downloads of Microsoft.  You can do so much, and I've only just gotten started with Microsoft Word.  Methinks I'll have to do some saving up and do some shopping...
• The other weekend I went out with my cousins to Toby Keith's I <3 This Bar and Grill, and it was a blast.  I'm still a novice bar goer, but I think I am definitely a country bar girl.  The food was great (even though they did forget my order), they serve beer in mason jars, and we had front table seating for the live band that played. 
• This most recent weekend was our (thirteenth?) annual Daddy-Daughter Ball, and it was a blast as usual!  I've been going with my dad and sisters ever since it began and it's so much fun to dress up every year and spend an evening with my dad.  This year, as I am studying Meeting and Event Planning, I offered to help out and was put in charge of figuring out/purchasing beverages (we had a drink bar with five different soda/juice cocktails that I created), as well as the running of the music.  It was a good experience, and I'm excited to put it on my resume for a really cool job I'm applying for... 

What I'm Following (Blogs and Interesting Links Around the Web)

• Catholic Cravings.  The blog of a Re-Discovered Catholic.  She's funny, she's profound, she's pretty amazing.  Y'all should totally go follow her blog.  My favorite article so far has been her fantastic "Can You Be Catholic and a Feminist?" (Spoiler alert to the answer: Heck yes!) That post and the third part of her "I'm a Feminist Because...", titled "I'm Feminist Because I Love Patriarchy"
• The Personal Blog of Dr. John H. Watson.  Sherlockians, yes, this is a thing.  It's a real thing and it is awesome.  Comes complete with comments from Sherlock, Mary, Mrs. Hudson and Molly Hooper.
• Lately I've become addicted to Buzzfeed.  They just have so many interesting things on there!  Plus, when they do posts like this and this I find it incredibly helpful seeing as I don't have Tumblr and thus I can get geeky satisfaction by reading other people posts and thoughts all in one convenient location.
• Okay... get ready to cry when you here this Sherlock version of "Do you want to build a snowman?"

What I'm Looking Forward To

• The Olympics!  For the first time ever I'll be able to watch them on TV, and not by searching for YouTube highlights. I cannot wait for the figure skating.
• The Academy Awards Show.  While I was away at school and had TV there I watched them and they are just so much fun!  Frozen is up for a few awards this year, which is super exciting, and of course I'm rooting for Jennifer Lawrence in her bid for Best Supporting actress!
• Spring.  I love spring. When it's a spring that holds a hint of summer... I can't wait for those 60 and 70 degree days where the world is lovely smell of the earth and trees waking up again after winter.  If it is going to be cold out, then I am glad that there is snow to make it at least look pretty, but I am so ready for winter to be over.

What I'm Laughing About

• Thor just wants to build a snowman
• Sherlock's friend name is... John Wazowski?
• And that's how the fight started
• Do you know what this adultery needs?