That Time I Fell Off the Face of the Earth

Hey Donnie Darlings! I know it's been quite a while since you've heard from me here. Unfortunately this year I haven't been able to keep up with the blog as much as I've wanted. I have a ton of reviews that are begging to be written, but I just can't seem to get myself in the mood to write them. 

I'm very particular about how I write reviews - it has to feel "right" for me in order to put it out there in the world. If it feels like utter crap, I can't publish that. I'd feel highly uncomfortable. But in order to be at my best, I've gotta feel like doing it - otherwise, it'll show, rendering the review useless anyway. So complicated it seems! 

Looking back over 2014, I can't believe I posted just about every single day. How did I do that? I ask myself. Toward the end of the year, I started slowing down so I think I was getting burned out by then. 

I'm totally out of the loop now. I haven't commented regularly on blogs in months and there aren't nearly as many comments on my blog as there used to be. I don't feel like I'm a part of the book blogging community anymore, and I'm desperate to regain a place there. Every time I sit down to comment on blogs, I end up writing an article for my job instead. :P  Which I should do anyway, lol. But, you see, my good intentions to comment don't end up panning out, and it makes me sad.   

So, I want to share with you, dear Donnie Darlings, what's been going on over the last several months! Here's what's been going on!

New Blog Design! 

I meant to write a post about this a looong time ago but never did. :P This was the year I wanted to move to self hosting, but I also knew I wasn't going to be able to do it. I just don't have the money at this time to truly invest, and I want the results to be fabulous. I don't want to half ass it, know what I mean? 

Instead, I decided to give myself a little Christmas present by buying a new premade blog layout. Eventually I want to work with a designer and get something really awesome and custom that shows off my love for horror and all things dark. But I also like my hipster side, and I found a premade blog design by Parajunkee. I bought it from her Etsy shop, and I really love it. I think it's a cleaner, more user friendly look.

There's a few things I've been meaning to fix but never seem to have the time - the biggest one being my social media buttons aren't up yet. They haven't been for months! I've really gotta get on that. 

What do you guys think? Was it a shock the first time you saw it? :D  

New Job!

If you don't already know, I got a job writing for a website called the Inquisitr. I started an internship with them at the end of December. After writing 40 articles for them, they evaluated my performance and decided to keep me on as a writer! I love writing and can't believe I'm getting paid to do it. Plus I can pick my own topics as long as it's something that's trending. I've written about science news, politics, sports, celebrity gossip, movies, authors... it's a really awesome gig I was able to find. 

Click here to check out all of my articles in one place!    

I FINALLY converted my husband into a Whovian!

This is HUGE news. I really didn't think this was ever going to happen. By the middle of season two, he was addicted. Every night, we watch two or three episodes, and as of this posting, we're on the finale for season 5. 

One of the funniest things to me about this whole conversion process is when the Tenth Doctor regenerated into the Eleventh, my husband said, "I don't like him." 

I can't let an opportunity to tease my husband go by like that, so I said, "Aw, you miss Ten! That's so cute!" Haha!

As he's trying not to smile, he explained that David Tennant played the Doctor with pure glee. Everything David saw and did as the Doctor, he played it so well you felt like he really was seeing it all for the first time. His excitement is infectious. I have to agree with my husband - David's excitement in his role was definitely infectious.  

I do like Matt Smith as Eleven. He brings his own unique characterization to the role of the Doctor, and I'm hoping my husband warms up to him more. I am kind of up and down with Eleven. I liked him right away, but then I've gone through periods of time where I miss Ten a lot.   

I've become a Fannibal!  

In case you haven't heard of Fannibals, we're avid fans of the NBC show, Hannibal. I believe I can count myself among them now. :D If you haven't watched it, you must! It's a visual feast, there's just no better way to describe it. 

So how did I start watching it? Well, one of my besties has been a Fannibal from the beginning. I wanted to watch it but needed to do some serious catching up. I saw it was on Amazon Prime and caught up that way. 

I've been trying to convert said bestie into a Whovian, so we agreed that for every episode of Hannibal I watched, she'd watch Doctor Who. Granted, she has many more seasons to watch than I did, but I'm hoping she sticks with it. It'll be worth it, I swear, because then you start getting all the feels. 

But back to Hannibal, I devoured (haha) those two seasons in just a few nights. Since I only had Prime for the free month trial, I'm buying Hannibal on DVD - that's how much I love that damn show.


So that's the basics of what's been going on in my life. My daughter just finished her first year of junior high today, and my son is starting kindergarten in the fall, so I'm also freaking out about all of those changes getting ready to happen. I alternate between happiness that I actually made it here and depression that things are changing without my permission, lol. I have a really difficult time with change. I don't know if you guys do, too, but it's just hard for me. I'll adjust I suppose. I have to, right? 

What's been going on with you guys? Catch me up! :D