Update!

Hey Everyone!  I hope you all had fabulous Januarys! The first month of 2013 definitely went by incredibly quickly – I can’t believe it’s already over!

For those of you who have checked out the new VlogYear series on my second YouTube channel, allisoncomments, I just want to take a moment to say THANK YOU!  Your support means the world to me.  And if you haven’t already checked out the series, go check it out!  I’m having a blast vlogging my everyday activities, and it’s been great making a little video diary that I can look back on in years to come.

Also, while by the time this post is up and by the time most of you read this, this will be over, I had a giveaway on my main channel allisonbeauty1.  I have a few more giveaways planned in the future on that channel, so be sure to keep an eye open for them if you’re interested in winning some FREE STUFF!  Any and all support you can give me on both of my channels is greatly appreciated!

And as always, don’t forget to follow me on TWITTER! @allisoncomments  I’m also on VYOU, instagram, tumblr, and pinterest!  (all of my social media can be found in the sidebar on my blog and in the underbar on both of my YouTube channels!)

The most recent and big development this past month is I’ve moved into a different apartment/condo by school!  For full details on my move, and to see the entire packing/organizing/moving process, check out my daily vlogs.  I also gave a condo tour where you can see my new place first hand, and meet a special little roommate of mine!

My classes and my FINAL semester at JMU are now in full swing, and let me just say that is completely hectic and insane.  Never did I imagine that it would be so crazy.  And I’m only in school part-time this semester.  (meaning I’m only taking three classes)  I’m completely overwhelmed with work, but I’m somehow managing to survive.  So YAY ME!  If any of you are about to graduate college, let me know what your college experiences have been like in the comments below, I’d LOVE to hear about it!

I think that’s going to be it for today, but I’ll post again soon!  Please leave some comments below and let me know what type of posts and videos you’d like to see in the future!  As always, have a fabulous day!

Video Game Review: Mario Party 8

Mario Party 8, or the first game in the series to be created for the Nintendo Wii, is a highly unique game when compared with the other games in the Mario Party series.  While it’s not my favorite game in the entire series, I do still enjoy playing the game with friends, and it is a great game for those who want to play a more relaxing game with people that isn’t too challenging.

Mario Party 8 is a more interactive game than others in the series because it is a game for the Wii.  By this I mean that it utilizes the Wii remote and the interactiveness that it provides in order to create a different gaming experience.  In order to roll the dice blocks, players physically bump the controller upwards.  In some mini games, players ‘hit’ baseballs with the controllers, in others, they shake the controllers to accomplish various tasks.  Overall, this game is a much more interactive experience than previous platform Mario Party games, which only had the ability to have button games.

This interactive aspect of the game is not the reason it’s not my favorite game though.  Overall, I just prefer the overall setup, minigames, and boards of Mario Party 6 when compared to the other Mario Party games.  Not that I don’t love the other games, it’s just that the 6^th game has a special place in my heart.

 

If you’re looking for the better of the Wii Mario Party games (8 or 9), definitely go with 8.  Mario Party 9 is just not my style – it’s just very very different from what I want in a Mario Party game, and it strays too much from the traditional type of game to be a ‘real’ Mario Party game.  Play it, and you’ll see what I mean.  

Book Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The second book in the Divergent trilogy, Insurgent definitely didn’t disappoint.  For those of you who haven’t read the book, beware, SPOILERS are about to come, so you may want to stop reading.

From the moment this book began, it was action packed. I think we can all agree on that.  Every major event was followed by another crucial plot point, to the extent that it was almost exhausting to read at times.  But, I still loved the action-packed book and couldn’t put it down.  In fact, it made me almost read the entire book cover to cover.  But despite my loving the action, there are still some things that I wish were different.

For instance, the whole twist with Tobias’ mother being alive.  I mean, yes, it completely shocked me.  I did not see that one coming at all.  But was it really necessary?  You tell me, because I’m still not quite sure.  And I definitely don’t like her personality and her super controlling ways.

But the one thing that I absolutely HATED about the book? The fact that Tris and Tobias’ relationship seemed to be falling apart.  I’m a huge fan of their relationship, and it just broke my heart to see them fighting all the time.  So when Tris was on her way to be executed, and Tobias was screaming that he needed to see her, I just couldn’t help but tear up.  I can’t even begin to describe how happy I was at the end of the book when things worked out for the two of them!

Other things that surprised me in the book were Caleb being a traitor!  I can’t believe the older brother who I admired in some ways ended up betraying his little sister and playing a part in attempting to kill her!  I mean, come on, who would actually be able to do that?  Messed up people that’s who.  I can’t wait to see what ends up happening to him in the third book.  And what about Peter?  I was completely surprised when he was the one that ended up saving Tris’ life.  But I was sooo grateful that he did.  But I’m still not trusting of him, but I think I have good reason for that.  He did say that he only serves himself and his best interests.

So there you have it!  Those are my basic thoughts on Veronica Roth’s awesome book, Insurgent!  If you haven’t read either Divergent or Insurgent you definitely need to!  And if you’re interested, I did post a review a sometime last year on my blog about Divergent.  Go check it out!  Thanks for reading!

Video Game Review: Just Dance 2

If you’ve never played a Just Dance game, then you’re definitely missing out.  I admit, Just Dance isn’t something that I immediately jumped on the bandwagon for, but once I did, I was hooked.  As a former dancer, many people were shocked that I was not immediately into these games, but truth be told, when they first came out, I just didn’t want to look like an idiot playing them, even though I did want to try them out.  Once I got over my pride and tried them, I was in love.

Just Dance 2 was the first game in the series that I’d tried, and now I know all of the routines by heart.  So, you can imagine how much I’ve played the game.  It got to a point where I just needed to buy a new game from the series because I wasn’t being challenged by the game anymore and was getting bored with it since I knew everything in it.  So I got the third installment and have been loving that.

The second game includes popular songs “S.O.S.,” “Tik Tok,” and "I Want You Back.”  Having never played the first game in the series, I can’t really say this for absolute certainty, but if you’re looking for a good game to start with in this series, go for the second one.  There are a good amount of basic dances, and it is easier for me learn these dances than the ones in the third game.  Either way, both games are super fun, so you can’t go wrong with either game!  The entire series is a blast!

Study Abroad Part 4 – Paris Weekend

During my time abroad we had a group trip to Paris for the weekend.  Now call me crazy, but this particular adventure I wasn’t really looking forward to.  Paris was just never somewhere that I had a strong desire to visit, and I would much rather have stayed in London, or visited a different area.

Nonetheless, Paris weekend happened, and upon boarding the train, I vowed to have a good, positive experience.  But, there were several reasons why that weekend just wasn’t fun – and I take comfort in the fact that I wasn’t the only one not having fun.

Let’s start with the hotel.  While the room itself was great, the hotel was in the red light district.  Yup, the first vision I had of Paris after getting off the Metro was strip clubs and prostitutes.  So that was problem #1.  Problem #2 was the mandatory activities that we had.  While our brief visits to the outside of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower were educational, visiting 2 art museums (one being the Louvre) was a bit much.  I’m sure for those people that love art and art history it was great, but for me personally, it as a bit extreme.

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the Eiffel Tower at night.  It was obviously beautiful at night – much more so than during the day.  And, I even conquered my fears and went up inside the tower, which led to some amazing pictures and views of the city.  But, climbing down the steps was terrifying (haha!). 

But overall, Paris was a scary place.  The language barrier was enormous and difficult to deal with, and much more so than anyone had expected.  Compared with London, Paris is a very dirty city.  And the Metro was confusing and unorganized.  By the end of the weekend, everyone in the group was ready to leave.  We were exhausted, and overwhelmed, and a now a month into the program, and people were getting severely homesick, straining everyone’s attitude and relationships with one another.  By the time we were all in the train station ready to leave, many of us were in tears.

By the time we got off the Tube and back into our London neighborhood, I was personally ready to kiss the ground that we were walking on.  While the weekend wasn’t ideal, it made me appreciate one thing.  London is a truly amazing city, and as of right now, my favorite place in the world.  I admit I’m not the most traveled person I n the world, but out of all the places I’ve been, nothing compares to London.  If you’ve never been to London, then I strongly encourage you to go.  You won’t regret it.

Video Game Review: Mario Kart Double Dash

This is another classic Gamecube game.  The Gamecube’s version of the ever popular Nintendo racing game, Double Dash is unique in that it features two characters in a vehicle, not just one, like the other racing games that Nintendo has released.  This means that one character drives the race cart, while the other character sits on the back of the kart and is there to specifically throw items.

I personally love this version of the classic racing game.  I specially love the new addition to the two player mode.  In addition to racing against each other as in all traditional racing games, the two players have the option of driving the same kart.  One person acts as the driver, and the other, the item thrower.  And if you want to switch roles in the middle of the race, you have the option to do so! 

This game also has some of my favorite course out of any of the racing games.  I specifically love Daisy Cruiser, a cruise ship (in case you couldn’t guess), Peach Beach, Waluigi Stadium, and Mushroom Bridge.  What are your favorite courses?

In addition to the game itself, my copy of the game also came with a bonus disc that contains samples of other popular Nintendo games.  This is how I’ve become an expert at certain Mario Party 5 mini games, and a few of the Sonic courses, which I’ve surprisingly come to love.  I’m actually quite surprised that I do not own either of those two games considering how much I enjoy playing the samples that came in the bonus disc.

Nonetheless, if you enjoy playing racing games, and are looking for a good GameCube version, I highly recommend MarioKart Double Dash.  I guarantee you won’t regret this purchase!

Update!

Hey Everyone!  I hope everyone is doing well, and for those of you that are students, I hope you are having an easy time settling back into things with school.

Things have been absolutely insane so far in 2013.  I’ve been sick for over a month now, and it’s getting me worried.  I’m trying not to stress out and think the worst, but it’s hard.  I’ve been throwing up constantly, have no appetite, and am constantly exhausted.  Plus, this is all making my migraines ten times worse than normal.  I had a bunch of bloodwork done and doctor appointments before I came back to school for the semester so I hope I’ll hear something more concrete soon.  I’ll be going back home next weekend for additional tests.  So I’ll keep you guys posted!  Please wish me luck/pray for me!  I could definitely use it!

Also, I’m doing VLOGYEAR this year!  This means I’m vlogging every single day during 2013!  I’ll be filming every day, and every few days posting the videos, that way I’m not too too overwhelmed by this.  This is a great year for me to be doing this since I’m graduating college and will be making my own way in the world.  Come join me on my journey!  Videos are being uploaded to my “allisoncomments” YouTube channel.

So far this semester, I’m completely stressed out already, and I’ve only had 2 days of classes.  I set up my schedule so that I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is great because it gives me so much free time to do work and hopefully get a job.  But, the amount of reading and papers and other assignments I already have for classes, and will have in the future, has me completely stressed out.  I know I should relax and just take things day by day, but it’s extremely hard for me to do that. 

The first class that I’m taking is a Women’s Lit class.  I’m looking forward to reading Little Women in this class, which I’ve read before, and loved.  If you haven’t read it, go read it!  Other than that, the books for the class are completely foreign to me.  The professor is a bit ‘out there’ and all over the place, but overall seems like a nice woman.  The only downside to the class so far, is that it’s early in the morning, and I’ve been having issues keeping alert.  I really hope that is partly due to the fact that I’m sick and that that’ll get better.

The next class that I’m taking is a major authors course on Milton.  I’m not really looking forward to this class, but I had to take a major authors course for my major, and this was the only one that worked into my schedule.  I don’t have much to say about this class yet, mostly because I haven’t had it yet!  Yup, it’s been cancelled two days in a row because the professor is sick.  More free time for me!

The final class that I’m taking is a survey course on the beginning of British Literature.  This means we’re reading things like Beowulf in the class, which I’ve read before and hated.  But again, this is another class that just happened to work in my schedule and fulfills my last major requirements.  It’s a lower level English course, so at least it should be fairly simple/easy.  But it’s a lot of reading that’s time-consuming so I’ll have to be super diligent about reading and balancing this class between my other higher level courses.

So that’s everything for now!  I hope you all have been enjoying my latest Video Game Reviews that I’ve been posting, and that some of you tried out my Christmas cookie recipes!  As always, don’t forget to comment below and tell me what you liked about the post and let me know what type of posts you’d like to see in the future!  Thanks for reading!

Video Game Review: Super Mario Bros. Wii

This game is… well… a challenge for beginners.  If you’re like me, and have never played a Super Mario Bros. game of this style, then you’re going to have a difficult time adjusting.  Even though I’ve been playing for a while now, alongside my brother sometimes, who is pretty good at video games, I still haven’t even beaten the first boss.  Pathetic, I know.

Anyways, despite my personal difficulties, I’m absolutely enjoying the game.  It’s a very different game than what I normally go for, and I’m so glad that my brother chose this game at our local GameStop.  It really is a fun game, and it is unique in that you can play with one player like a traditional Mario game, but also with up to four players, making an even more fun and challenging experience.  I specially enjoy playing alongside my brother, or my friend Brittany, who is a little bit more experienced in the game than I am.

Each level has special blocks, effects, and enemies that must be defeated in order to progress to the next level.  While that may seem simple enough, and yes, it is, let me say it again, it is a challenge for beginners.  For me, it was definitely a major struggle in the beginning.  I’ve gotten better, meaning I can actually get to the boss stage, but no luck yet with defeating him.  But I’ll keep you all updated on my progress! 

Video Game Review: MarioKart Wii

The Wii’s version of the popular Nintendo racing game, this game is completely different from the previous racing game installment, Double Dash.  In this game, players physically drive their karts using the Wii remote, meaning that they physically turn the remote to steer the kart they are driving.

While this new technology for racing can take time to adjust to, once you have learned the basics, it is a blast.  And even better, this game features oldie but goodie tracks from previous racing games from old platforms like the Gamecube and DS Nintendo racing games so that players can revisit their favorite tracks with this new unique driving style in addition to the new tracks. You can even purchase additional “steering wheels” so that players can have a physical wheel to use to play instead of the smaller Wii controller. 

If you are looking for the best of the best racing game for your new Wii system, then this is the game for you.  While the new WiiU system was just released, this game is still the classic Wii racing game.  Compared with other racing games for the system that I’ve played, none of them even come close to being as great as this one.  I don’t know why, but there’s just something about knowing that you’re playing the ‘classic’ game that makes that whole experience so much better.  If you’ve never played this game, go grab it a local gaming store.  It’s definitely worth the money, especially if you love the racing-type games.

Video Game Review: Mario Party 7

The seventh installment in the infamous Mario Party series, this game is definitely a unique game when compared with the previous games in the collection. 

One of the major changes to the game is that every 5 turns that are progressed in the game, there is a “Bowser Turn.”  This turn is unavoidable, and there is a countdown meter that shows you how close you are to the inevitable at the beginning of each turn.  When the unspeakable occurs, a number of different things could occur.  Bowser could destroy an orb shop, steal coins, or knock everyone back a few spaces on the board.  There are, of course, many other board-specific effects that could happen as well.

Out of the boards in this particular game I’d say my two favorites are Pagoda Peak, a large mountain with a star space at the top with an ever changing star price, and Windmillville, a place windmills that hold stars that enables opponents to steal ‘real estate’ and take possession of stars.  There is also one traditional ‘star space’ board in this game.

If you’re looking for a basic, game that is easy to learn and play and isn’t too competitive (unless you want it to be, that is!), then this is the game for you!  Mario Party games in general are all great beginner video games as they are all simple and very user friendly.  If you’ve never  played a video game before in your life, you’ll still have a blast playing this one.

Christmas Traditions and Recipes: Gingerbread Cookies

The gingerbread cookies are slightly more complicated to make when compared to the sugar cookies.  They require more ingredients but overall, are still relatively simple.  The recipe is written on an index card in my great-grandmother’s handwriting that is now beginning to fade, but I expect no one has the heart to rewrite this significant piece of family history.  So in an effort to protect the sacred artifact, it is kept in a plastic covering 51 of the 52 weeks of the year, and is only allowed out of its casing when it is absolutely needed- for the baking of the cookies.

While each year we make the gingerbread cookies, my family has never been one to do any sort of decorating, of even gingerbread house-making.  Why this is, I’ve never know, but any time that I’ve ever participated in any of those activities it was always through Church religious education class of school activities.

Despite the lack of fancy decorating that occurs, the gingerbread cookies still remain a Christmas staple in our family, and the holiday season just wouldn’t be the same without them.  There is something about the taste of the spices in this cookie that is almost refreshing in your mouth.  And for some reason, the cookies baked using the shape of our elf cookie cutter always taste just a bit sweeter to me.

Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup butter

1 ½ cups sugar

1 egg

2 tsp cinnamon

4 tbs grated orange peel (my mother only puts in 2 tbs)

2 tbs of dark corn syrup

½ tsp salt

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ginger

½ tsp cloves

1.      Cream butter and sugar

2.      Add egg- beat until light and fluffy

3.      Add orange peel and corn syrup.  Mix well.

4.      Sift together dry ingredients and then stir into creamed mixture well.

5.      Chill dough for 2 hours.

6.      Cut dough into 4 largge pieces and roll onto lightly floured surface to a ¼ inch thickness

7.      Cut using various desired cookie cutters

8.      Lay 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet

9.      Bake 375 degrees F 8-10 minutes until edges are lightly browned.

10. Cool 1 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Christmas Traditions and Recipes: Chocolate Crinkle

Nothing against these cookies, but they’re really just not my favorite.  They’re not bad or anything, but they’re just not exactly my cup of tea.  But nonetheless, we make them every year as part of our Christmas tradition, so I feel at least somewhat obligated to include these special cookies in this series filled with Christmas cheer. 

These cookies are relatively simple to make.  Once the dough is all ready, you simple roll small pieces of it into balls that you then roll in powdered sugar until covered.  This is a great task if you want to include small children in the cookie making process as it’s easy to do, or you can do it while sitting in front of the tv as I often do.  Once the cookies come out of the oven, I often sprinkle a little extra powdered sugar on top of them to give them an extra “fresh fallen snow” look and feel, but that is really up to your discretion.  That’s just the way my family does it.  

In general, these cookies are pretty popular with the rest of my family even though I don’t particularly enjoy them as much as the other cookies (don’t get me wrong- I do still eat my fair share).  My family loves the very rich chocolate taste that you get with every bite into these cookies, and dunking them in milk is another great way to enjoy the Christmas treat. 

I know there are many recipes for these cookies out there, as they’re one of the more popular Christmas cookies, but I thought I’d share with you how my family in particular makes them.  Happy Baking!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup oil

3 – 1oz squares chocolate (Baker’s unsweetened)

2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

¼ cup milk

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1.      Combine first 4 ingredients, beat in 1 egg at a time (beat well)

2.      Stir in milk, flour, baking powder

3.      Add first mixture

4.      Chill at least 1 hour

5.      Shape into ball and roll in powdered sugar

6.      Bake 375F 10-12 minutes on greased cookie sheet

7.      Cool

8.      Roll into powdered sugar