Fallfessional

Hello and happy first official day of Fall! My section of California clearly hasn't gotten the memo, as its still in the 90's degree-wise, but that's not going to stop me from celebrating my favorite season.

I have loved participating in the link ups going around the past few weeks, so I thought I would try one of my own. Today's post is called Fallfessional, and its my confessions about all things fall related.

1. Caramel Apple flavored things are the real heroes of the season. I know everyone gets so excited over pumpkin spiced everything, but to me, the abundance of caramel apple flavored things is way more appealing. Don't get me wrong; I love pumpkin english muffins, Pumpkin Spiced Lattes and a few other pumpkin flavored things. But I feel like so many pumpkin spiced things taste so wrong (Pop Tarts, most candies, etc). Its really hard to mess up caramel apple though, and that's why it wins in my book.

2. I spend as much on Fall and Halloween themed things as I do on Christmas. Maybe more. Even though I live in a place that doesn't come close to a traditional fall, like ever, its always been my favorite season. And increasingly over the years, Halloween has become my second favorite holiday, almost inching out Christmas. So yes, as soon as ghost plates and witch banners and Thanksgiving turkey-fied items hit the store, I am there. And I buy a lot of it. I've always loved the look of Fall themed homes in decorator magazines, so I think that has a lot to do with it too.

3. I only watch Hocus Pocus in October. There is no written rule that you can only watch a Halloween movie during Halloween month, but watching this movie during any other time of the year just seems wrong.

4. I don't believe in Spring cleaning. I believe in Fall cleaning. By the time Spring hits here (and Spring is a relative term. We usually just have Summer and Winter), it already too hot to motivate me to do any deep cleaning around my house. Instead, I like to do big cleans or rearranging in the Fall/Winter time.

5. Fall starts my favorite time in World of Warcraft. Now I know this one seems really nerdy, but its true. September brings Pirate Day, which jumps right into Brewfest. From there its Hallow's End and the Feast of Winter Veil. I really like the holidays in WoW because they give me something to do other than the same old grind. Fall is usually when you'll find me most active on the Horde side, I like to spend Hallow's End in Undercity, it feels most appropriate. The only exception to that, however, is Brewfest. I like to spend Brewfest with the dwarves in Ironforge.

I hope you enjoyed my Fallfessional! If you write your own, please leave your link here so I can read it (and other people, obviously!)

Geeky Confessions

Its just a really good time to confess all your stuff right now in the blogosphere. I shared with you the other day my Confessions of a Blogger, and today I am sharing my Geeky Confessions. Now, this confessional link up came first, but I hesitated to join up because I couldn't figure out how to make my pictures fancy like the other girls (lame! I know.). But here I am, finally getting over that, because everyone's lists have been so fun, and I want to have some fun too. Check out the Gamerwife for the post that started it all, as well as the link up with all the other cool posts.

Many World of Warcraft players hate Blood Elves. They said it was an attempt to make the Horde pretty. And maybe its true. But they are my favorite race to play in the game. I think their starting areas are pretty and yes, I really love they way they look too.

So its no secret that I was late to the Firefly party, only watching the series a few months before SDCC this year. It had set in my Netflix queue forever, and then one day my husband and I finally decided to sit down and watch it. And we loved it! I was talking to my dad about it, and how we'd gotten tickets to see Alan Tudyk at Nerd HQ and then somehow us watching it on Netflix came up and my dad was like "Yeah, I have it on DVD. Serenity too. Bought them the day they came out." What?! My dad had been a Browncoat for years lol. I shouldn't be surprised though, my love of science fiction comes from him.

I am a Trekkie. I grew up watching TNG because my dad watched it. Then we watched DS9. And along came Voyager, with the first ever female captain! I was so excited because I had always wanted to see what a female captain would be like; ever since I dressed up in a Captain's uniform one Halloween and two boys, also dressed as Starfleet Captains, said to me, "Your costume doesn't make sense. They'll never have a female captain!" So Voyager was a chance for those boys, and what I imagined to be thousands just like them, to eat it. And then the show started. And I loved everyone on it. Except Captain Janeway. Its not that she was poorly acted, its just that she was written so poorly. Whiny. An example of the stereotypes that males spout as to why females can't be captains. I felt like those Halloween boys were sitting somwhere saying "See! Starfleet would never have chosen her! She doesn't deserve to be there." And for that, Captain Janeway will never be my captain. 

I can remember all the celebrity guys I had crushes on when I was little, the roles that they were playing on teevee at that time.....and they were all pretty much nerds. I wonder if that helped shaped my present day preferences? Fred Savage who played Kevin Arnold in the Wonder Years. Neil Patrick Harris who played Doogie Howser. Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Jonathan Brandis, who played Lucas Wolenczak on seaQuest DSV. The only one that didn't really fit the "smart" or "nerdy" role was Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block (who was my first official crush ever). Even though admitting that you liked NKOTB past 1989 was a pretty geeky act itself. Probably still is :)

I really love Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. But I didn't always. The first time I watched the movie, I was so put off by Michael Cera's acting that I didn't want to finish it. So I didn't. And I didn't watch it again until about a year later when it was on teevee while I was wrapping Christmas presents. I don't know if it was the holiday feels or what, but this time I was hooked. And now its one of my favorite movies. I still hate Michael Cera in it though. And I do want to read the graphic novels. Maybe he was supposed to act that way, because of the novels?  

So that wraps up my Geeky Confessions. I'm sure they could have been geekier, but that's the best I can do right now :) Let me know if you take part in Mariko's link up, I'd love to see what you've written! 

Confessions of a Blogger

It seems like everyone has been posting their confessions since Megan of The Nerdy Girlie posted her's last Friday, so I thought I'd post mine too!

1. I came into this for the potential of money and free things. Nobody ever likes to come right out and say that, do they? But its true. I started this blog when I was going through a mess of a time getting my pharmacy technician's license; it took forever to get and during the time I was fighting with the state and my school over it (don't ever attend UEI. EVER.), all the schooling I had just completed was worthless because no pharmacy would hire me without it. I was looking for sources of income I could obtain legally while staying home with my children. I was reading lots of mommy blogs at the time, and they were always promoting products they had received for free, or doing paid posts, and I thought why not me?

2. I've backed myself into a corner with the niche I chose. Speaking of mommy blogs, I didn't want to write one, even though I could probably maintain it a lot better than the one I'm currently doing. I love my children, I really do. But being a stay at home mom means that my life is pretty much centered around their life, and it gets....exhausting. I want to be able to have my own hobbies and likes, and things just for me. So I chose to go the nerdy blog route, with an emphasis in World of Warcraft, because I know nerd and I hadn't seen too many WoW based blogs. But because I'm a casual WoW player, and don't have the money to buy all the nerd accoutrements, I feel like I can't post as frequently as I should, and that my posts aren't as good a quality as I'd like.

3. I suffer from writer's remorse. Sometimes I write a post and publish it, then think that I probably shouldn't have written it. Those posts come off as whiny or bitchy, and who wants to read those? But at the same time, I go back and forth with whether or not I should take the posts down, ultimately leaving them up because posting something is better than nothing right? Like a good example was the Play LIVE stuff. I realize that most of my posts about it came off as desperate, pandering and even ungrateful at times. Some people I know in real life who I thought would donate didn't and that hurt. And I realize that I took that hurt out on my followers. I was also suffering from envy. My other teammates were getting thousands in donations and I wasn't. But I wanted that level of donations, you know? So instead of trying to do more, like find sponsors, I just wrote passive aggressive blog posts and tweets. And I do apologize for that.

4. Writing consistently is harder than I thought. I thought writing a blog about things I liked would be easy. I didn't realize how wrong I was. Getting into consistent blogging has proved difficult for me. Sometimes I get a wealth of ideas and I can pound out a month's worth of posts in a day and call it good. And then other times I sit at the screen and stare at it, and nothing comes to me for weeks.

5. I feel inadequate in the blogging world. This sums up all my other confessions, really. I want to do things like sponsored posts and ads on here, but I worry that nobody would buy one. Or they'd see how little trafficked my site is and ask for their money back lol. I would also love to work with more bloggers, but I'm afraid to ask. Rejection is a scary thing, and I feel like I'm a small fish in a big pond, with nothing to offer the bigger fish. There are so many good blogs out there and I constantly worry that mine is mediocre in comparison. I'm not sure that my little space of the Internet is actually contributing to anything other than taking up space.


So there they are- my way super personal confessions! If you take part in this confessional, don't forget to leave your link on Megan's post. But if you could, please also leave it here in the comments section. I'd love to read what you guys write!

Play LIVE Recap

Monday, September 1st was the end of St Jude's summer gaming event Play LIVE. The team that I was on, Team TradeChat, raised $31,654! That's amazing! Overall, St Jude received over $530,000 in donations during the event. I think that is incredible. And they did too....because they have decided to open up Play LIVE for year round participation, with another big event next summer :) 

I don't think prizes will be offered during free play like the summer event. But, if you raise $100, you will receive a Play LIVE tee shirt. Also, if you're a student in need of service hours, your gaming can count! For every $100 you fundraise, you earn ten service hours.

This event was a learning experience for me, as most things seem to be lately. Soon I think I will be dropping my team affiliation and starting my own team. I'm not sure if anyone will want to join me, but there were some things about this team that I didn't like, and I want to do things my way. For example, I thought that it would be beneficial for the team to promote one another. Some of the people (mainly our team captain) had huge social media audiences. I thought that promoting others on the team would help the folks with smaller reaches make their goals, and the team would still be earning a lot of money. I mass emailed the team, and only got one response. I did notice though, that after my email the team captain did start promoting some people, but it was only the people earning thousands. Not any of the smaller people, which was my intention. When I start my team, I will promote everyone the best I can; with tweets, blog posts...whatever I can do to help. 

I learned that my laptop cannot handle streaming anything really graphic intensive. Or anything, really. Hearthstone is about the best I can do at the moment, and even then it lags a lot. Over time I hope to be able to step up my streaming game. Soon I should be able to use the video and voice features ( I was told that I would have had better luck with fundraising if I had been showing my face while streaming, not sure why), and by this time next year I should hopefully have a desktop computer that can handle streaming anything.

I also need sponsors, or at least the ability to buy better giveaway prizes. I think that would help a lot too. I noticed a lot of the really successful streamers were giving away awesome prizes in exchange for donations, so thats something I need to work on as well. 

I do owe a huge thank you to everyone that donated during the event though :) Your donations really meant the world to me, and I know that they will be put to good use at St Jude. 

If you're interested in donating to St Jude, you can donate here (I'm still trying to hit that $100 mark!) and if you'd like to join my team, email me at jenarynkrystelle(at)gmail(dot)com or leave a comment below :)

30 Days of Lists Blog Hop

I am very excited to share this 30 Days of Lists blog hop with all of you today! If you read my Monday Mix Up yesterday, you know that I signed up for the latest round of 30 Days of Lists, which starts September 1st. I have done almost every round of this, but never finished one, so I'm hoping that this round will be my first completed one :)

Today we were asked by Amy and Kam to go back to a past listing challenge, choose one of the prompts, and make a list. Its a nice little warm up to September, don't you think? I chose the prompt, Today's Playlist, and this is what my list looks like:

Pika wanted in on the listing action too :) 

My playlist is pretty small- I don't listen to too much radio if I'm not in my car. Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Charlie XCX round out the songs I heard this morning, plus the Simpsons theme song. I have been watching the marathon on FXX for the past few days when I get the chance, and I love it. 

I hope you've enjoyed my list and little peak into what 30 Days of Lists is like. I hope to post my lists weekly once the challenge gets started, so hopefully I can keep up with it. I look forward to seeing what all the other ladies are going to do as well. Just by checking out the other posts from today's blog hop (you can check them out here), I can tell I am in some very talented company :)

Mage Food- Meatloaf

Its been a while since I've posted a recipe. I have been trying to cook more, so I suspect more recipes will be making an appearance around here :) Today's recipe is for meatloaf, and I would like to preface this by saying that I am not a meatloaf fan. Not by any stretch of the imagination. But my husband is, so I thought I'd try my hand at making one for the first time ever the other day. I combined a couple of different recipes to make it my own, and I have to say, this is a meatloaf I would actually eat again. I apologize for the lack of photos, but I'm sure you all know what a meatloaf looks like :)

Ingredients:

For the loaf:
*1lb lean ground beef
*1/2 cup of bread crumbs (I used plain bread crumbs, but you can use the flavored kind)
*1/4 cup ketchup
*1/2 teaspoon onion powder
*1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1/2 teaspoon pepper
*1 egg

For the glaze:
*1/3 cup ketchup
*2 tablespoons mustard (I used just a basic yellow, but again, its your choice)
*2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your baking pan. I put aluminum foil in mine and it made clean up a breeze. Pan type is your preference, but I used a small glass loaf pan to cook mine. If you have talent (which I don't), you can use a regular cookie sheet and shape your loaf right on it.

Combine all your loaf ingredients in a medium or large bowl. Make sure its all mixed together really well. Then put your mixture onto your tray or into your pan.

Mix your glaze ingredients in a small bowl, making sure the sugar gets really well blended. Then spread your glaze over the top of your loaf.

Bake your meatloaf for about an hour, or until you can see that your meat is firm and cooked all the way (I put a lot of sauce on mine, so I cooked mine for a little longer, just to  make sure).

Pull it out of the oven and enjoy :)

If you try this recipe, let me know!

Monday Mix Up #22

Where have these been?!? Its been months since a Monday Mix Up has been done. I have been slacking.....there is just no other reason.

I've been in a bit of a midyear slump, I suppose. Most of the New Year's goals I've set for myself are more than likely not going to happen, plus some other personal things have been taking their toll. So keeping in line with some changes that I'm looking to make to get out of my slump- here is a little list to help procrastinate your Monday and maybe jump start any changes you've been wanting to make :)

*Spicy Tuna Melts from A Beautiful Mess.

I made these the other day and they were delicious!

 

I have signed up to do the September 30 Days of Lists! 

Sign up before Sept. 1st and you receive an awesome digital listing kit. 

Amy and Kam always do a great job with these projects- I can't wait for this one to start!

If you're like me, and need a little nudge when it comes to cleaning, 

Clean Mama can help you out! Her free printable gives you a schedule

that helps you stay on track. 

If you ever feel lost at the grocery store, this list from 

The Every Girl is a pretty good start. Adjust as needed to fit your family size.

This shirt from Mulberry Press Co is awesome.

Sometimes its easy to give up on your dreams. 

You shouldn't.

Shake It Off- Taylor Swift

Its just so catchy! Its great for motivating you to keep going.

And this isn't goal oriented, but sometimes you need a little fun too! This is a Cards Against Humanity inspired game based on John and Hank Green. Super fun for the Nerdfighters out there! Visit this site to print your copy of the cards.

Happy Monday! I hope you all have an incredible week :)