Goals...

So, yesterday, I did something that's probably a little [or a lot] crazy...

I signed up for a mud run! I managed to talk the husband and my brother into doing it with me, too!

We signed up to participate in this year's "Mud Factor" run...the website says "seriously fun, 5k obstacle run!" which sounds pretty awesome, doesn't it?

From what I could see on their website, it looks like a lot of fun! There's running [of course] and lots of dirt...and obstacles...and...and...I'm probably going to die. /nervouslychuckles

Luckily, our run isn't until the end of September, which is plenty of time to train, right?

But for real, I'm going to need reminders about training, or I will collapse in a mud trench. If you stumble across this post, send me a friendly nudge to get off my booty and do something!

[Thanks, in advance!]

This will be good, though, right? We'll have a fitness goal to strive for! ^_^

Fun Stuff...[Part 2]

As promised, here's the second-half of my previous post!

• World of Warcraft

My character is 'Aertimys'...the little graph shows how much
damage everyone did during a raid boss fight...check me out
at the top of the chart!

Of course, my 'go to' game is still World of Warcraft! Although I don't spend a whole bunch of time gaming anymore [not like my college days haha], WoW still gets more time than any other game. 

Currently, there isn't a ton of new content available...but there's always lots to do with this game. Right now, my biggest focus is on raising my main character's item level [getting better gear] so that I can be quasi-capable of keeping up with my guildies. [A guild is a group of people that play together in the game...I guess a lot like a club? Or a group of friends? Anyway...being in a guild makes certain aspects of the game much easier...but because I'm not a die-hard, consistent player, I'm perpetually behind my guildmates in the game. /sigh]

I really do like WoW, and I like that it's a game that me and the husband play together...but I have a hard time justifying spending a whole lot of time playing at once. To make progress, it takes spending chunks of a couple hours at a time [typically], and there just aren't many days where I have that kind of time! Especially when the kiddo isn't staying with my parents.../shrug

I suppose that's my main gripe about WoW right now. I'm sure I'll keep playing, and I'm sure I'll always be behind....but that's fine, it's just how it goes for now! ^_^ 

• Star Wars Battlefront 2

The kiddo and I got the husband this game for his birthday, about a month ago, and he's played it pretty consistently since then! 

I haven't played it myself, so I admit I don't know many specifics about this one. But I do know that's a very fast-paced FPS game [which is why I haven't played it!]. It has an online, multiplayer mode and a single-player campaign mode, and to me, looks very similar to Overwatch, but with Star Wars characters.

I've heard the husband mention unlocking 'heroes' by earning points. So, if you've been wanting an opportunity to play as your favorite Empire or Rebellion characters and like blowing things up, this game might be for you! 

• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

This is another game that the husband has been playing a lot of lately. 

PUBG is an interesting mash-up of FPS and survival games...as the player, you get thrown into a gaming map with up to 99 other players [so, groups of 100!]...you drop out of a plane with no weapons or armor and are left to survive, Hunger Games style. You can pick up all sorts of different weapons [there are guns, knives, and vehicles...but my favorite so far, was when the husband killed another player with a frying pan!] and items as you explore the map, but make sure you stay alert! As you're rummaging around, another player could easily sneak up on you and kill you!

This is another game that I haven't played myself. I really like the idea of it, but pretty much all FPS games stress me out too much to play! But, if you can keep level-headed about this game and not take it super seriously, it's probably tons of fun!

• 5-Minute Dungeon

Now, this one isn't a video game, but it's a lot of fun!

5-Minute Dungeon is a board/card game that Santa brought us this year, and we've played it a handful of times. I love it! I was wanting to find a game that the husband and I could play with the kiddo that didn't involve staring at a screen...I was looking for something that could be played in a relatively short amount of time [everyone knows how long a game of Monopoly can run!] and with a bit of a nerdy element to it....and this game fits all of the criteria!

The game uses cards, rather than dice, and plays through around 5 different 'dungeons.' There's a boss card [the final boss of the level] and several 'door cards' that the group must make it through in order to be victorious. Each player picks a character from the 10 pre-made choices, and each player gets a deck of cards that matches their character's abilities. Each player deck has cards with different symbols on it, similar to energy/mana cards in other card-based games. Players match these symbols with those on the 'door cards' and boss cards to defeat the monsters, and beat the game.

If you're looking for a fun activity for the family, we recommend checking this one out! 

Well, there it is!! That's the run-down of the nerdy happenings in our house right now...well, the gaming parts, anyway ^_^

What games are you guys into right now? Do you have any recommendations for family-friendly, fun activities? 

Fun Stuff [Part 1]...

If you follow me on pretty much any social media platform [Instagram, Google+, Twitter, etc...] you've probably noticed that 'gamer' is my tagline pretty much universally....however, aside from the random screenshots that get posted on my Instagram account, I don't actually talk about video games all that much! So, I thought it might be a good time to write a post about which games are currently my favorites, what my husband and kiddo are currently playing, and maybe a game or two I'd like to try out soon...

• Doki Doki Literature Club

This game is my latest obsession! It's currently available on Steam and it's free!! Seriously, if you haven't played it yet, there's no reason not too! [Well, almost no reason...there are some warnings that the game presents before you actually start playing...and those should absolutely be taken seriously. No joke.]

I don't want to give anything about this game away...but it was definitely surprising! It plays mostly as a super kawaii visual novel...with a twist! It's one of those games, that despite me having finished it, I felt as if it left me hanging [omg]...

It was so well executed, that I find myself searching on YouTube for videos about the game, delving into hidden secrets and meanings...and there's a ton! After you've played, watch this video by The Game Theorists video [linked here]...it's crazy!

Plus! The soundtrack for this game is the most adorable that I've ever heard!! It's happy, bouncy, and will get stuck in your head for ages!

**Tip: leave the game files open and visible while you play the game...if you don't, you'll miss out!

• Getting Over It

This is another game that seems to be super popular right now...search for it on YouTube and you'll see that there's no shortage of videos of gamers losing their minds while playing this game.

The premise of this game is simple....strange, but simple. You control a man while he attempts to climb a mountain made of various, random items. The catch? The man is stuck up to his waist in cauldron that's filled with water. You move the character by swinging around a rather large hammer/pick...and that's pretty much it!

This is most definitely a rage game. It's designed for you to fail and make you blindingly angry in the process! It's super entertaining to watch though! 

At the request of my brother, my husband downloaded this game to give it a try...he was a pretty good sport about it, up until a moment when he lost 45 minutes of progress in less than 5 seconds...

But, if you're a glutton for punishment and you've got about $8 to spend...check this out and download it from Steam. [And make a video of your gameplay so we can see how well you do! We promise not to laugh...too much ^_^]

• Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator

For some reason, the kiddo and his buddies are super into the FNAF [Five Nights at Freddy's] games...or at least the idea of them! 

This is the latest and last installment in the spooky series...and the first one that I've let the kiddo play himself. It's part 'sim' game [you set up and run your own pizzeria] and part 'jump scare'/survival...pretty on track with the other FNAF games.

There's a way to play the game and essentially make it jump scare-proof...but, really, where's the fun in that?

But if you're considering letting your small kids play this one, you might wanna stick close by the computer...because the animatronics can still give them quite a scare.

Right now, the game is downloadable from Steam for free!

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - Zombie Mode

An older game, but it's one that's seen a lot of playtime in our home lately. 

My husband has been playing this one with the kiddo...he says he's trying to introduce him to different 'big boy' types of games...but I think it's probably more that he's tired of playing Mario games and listening to DanTDM! [DanTDM is the kiddo's favorite YouTube personality...he's really good for kid-friendly video game videos....I generally don't feel like there's any problems letting the kiddo watch his channel...but, goodness, it can get old to listen to!]

Despite what you'd probably expect, the zombie mode of this game isn't terribly violent! Well, I mean, you are shooting zombies....but there's not a whole lot of blood/gore, and the zombies can't shoot back! So, really, it's more of a 'see how long you can survive' play experience. 

I don't personally care for FPS [first-person shooter] games all that much, but I've tried my hand at a round or two...it's fairly fun! However, I will say that I like watching the two boys play together...I always love seeing the two of them interact and bond with each other ^_^

**yawn**

Surprisingly, this post is turning out to be quite long! I've still got a couple of games that I'd like to write about, but I think I'm going to save those for a 'part 2' post. I'll work on that in the next few days...check for it soon!

 

Playing Catch-Up...

Hey everyone!

I hope that all of you have had an absolutely wonderful holiday...I don't know about you, but I feel like I need a few days to recover from all the festivities, for sure! Holidays always seem to leave me feeling pretty drained...maybe it's all of the driving around to various activities, or having to be socially 'on' for so long...not sure the exact reason why they're so tiring, but I'm typically pretty glad to see Jan 2 arrive so things can get back to normal. [Which is today! Hooray!]

I'm terribly behind on posting, but I'll do my best to catch up a bit...

Not our picture, but this is the cave
we swam in!

My husband and I [still so weird to type that lol] went on our honeymoon right after Thanksgiving. We took a cruise to Cozumel and Progresso, we had a pretty good time! We cruised with Carnival and ported out of New Orleans. The boat was fairly nice, the staff was friendly, and there was literal tons of food! We did excursions at each port, cave swimming in Cozumel and a beach resort in Progresso...both were fun, but I don't think we'd necessarily recommend those particular excursions to anyone else. We both agreed that it probably would have been better to do a 'relaxing, beach' excursion in Cozumel and a 'more adventurous' excursion in Progresso. But! I guess that'd give us something to try out if/when we go back ^_^

After the honeymoon, we went pretty much straight into Christmas-mode...gift shopping and planning for get togethers...you know, all of the holiday stuff.

And that pretty much catches you up! [Nothing out of the ordinary happened for Christmas or New Year's....which isn't a bad thing, at all!]

Hopefully I can get into the habit of posting more regularly....or at least that's the plan!