December Wrap-Up

How is it almost a new year already? Somehow, even though 2020 has been a dumpster fire in many ways, I'm going to miss it. A lot of great things have happened to me this year, including starting this blog! But hopefully next year will be even better. 
Anyhow, my December has been a mixed bag, since in essence, I had school until the 20th (if one includes Don Quixote and Pickwick Papers. Which I do. More on that in a moment). But at this point, I've been on break for nearly a week, and it is AMAZING! I feel so rested and ready for the next quarter! (Why aren't all breaks as long as winter break? Seriously.) So I've had a good December mostly, and I'm looking forward to January! 

Blog

My Blog:
Good, Better, Best: Winter Books
Review: "The Beyonders" series by Brandon Mull//Eomer Takes Over My Blog
Tag: Star Wars Would You Rather//Eomer Continues Blog Domination
Review: "Martin Hospitality" by Abigayle Claire
The Messy Desk Project
Review: "Lavinia" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Tag: 12 Delights of Christmas/Christmas Tag 2020

Around the Blogosphere:

• Bethany at Scribbled Fiction collaborated with a couple of other bloggers to make a ludicrously long list of Christmas gifts for book dragons, that would also be good for birthday presents, just saying. 
• R. F. Gammon talked about her first semester of college, which was such a good post for me, who is going to college in the fall (*muffled screaming*) to read. Would recommend.
• Christine Smith exponentially increased my TBR by talking about her top ten favorite reads of 2020!
• Catherine Hawthorn at The Rebelling Muse talked about the need for the feminine in literature.
• Allison at A Farm Girl's Life (a new find for me! go check her out) posted a really fun Etcetera post with a variety of different super cool pictures. :)
• The Temperamental Writer posted about NaNo and included snippets! 
• Megan Chappie at The Pen and the Cross talked about how her NaNo went, and ALSO included snippets! (They're hilarious. Guys. Go read it.)
• MC at Movies Meet Their Match and her sister Fiona did a fun Guess the Drawing of the Actor game! 
• Jenelle Leanne Schmidt posted about her favorite fantasy reads of 2020, which ALSO increased by TBR by quite a bit. :)

Books

My reading list from December 2020, "In Which Reading Don Quixote For Literature Proves that Sam Actually Is Human After All". Or maybe the fact that I was able to read Don Quixote and Pickwick Papers in one month, along with other stuff, proves that I'm not? Anywho. 

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
Saints and Social Justice by Brandon vogt
Pier Giorgio Frassati by Cristina Siccardi
Martin Hospitality by Abigayle Claire
Martin Legacy by Abigayle Claire
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
St. Thomas Aquinas by G. K. Chesterton
Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Centurion's Daughter by Justin Swanton
*Greenglass House by Kate Milford
Livestock Guardians by Janet Vorwald Dohner
The Ball and the Cross by G. K. Chesterton
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Barefoot Beekeeper by P. J. Chandler
*Natural Beekeeping by Ross Conrad
*Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery
*The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

(As always, I wish I had room to talk about all of these! But I don't, so if there's one (or more!) that you want to ask my opinion of, feel free. :))

Movies

Jumanji: The Next Level
Can these actors get any better? Well, actually, yes. Yes, they can. *screams forever about how Jack Black is freaking amazing* It's Jumanji! But more! But funnier! But crazier! They did kinda wreck the romance at the beginning, but I didn't even care, because it was realistic, unlike some movies I could mention *side-eye at National Treasure 2* and they un-ruined it at the end! And everyone is back! And it's not just jungle! And there's geometry! Let's just say...I loved this movie. 

Big Hero Six
This was such a fun one! Of course, since at the time I watched it I hadn't seen any Marvel movies *hides briefly, waiting for the yelling to start*, I didn't get all the Marvel references, but even without that fun, it was a beautiful movie. Baymax is hilarious, Hero is sweet, and his arc is very believable! And all the friends! And the creative superpowers! And San Fransokyo? Is brilliant! I've been to San Francisco multiple times, and I could recognize several landmarks...but it also looked Japanese! I did have a couple of Chekhov's Gun complaints about the plot, but overall I really enjoyed it. 

The Avengers
*screams* *keeps screaming* THIS WAS THE FIRST MCU MOVIE I EVER WATCHED AND IT WAS BRILLIANT! I. Love. The. Avengers. The dysfunctional squad vibes, the special effects, the mythology-mixed-in, the superpowers...everything. (Although, I mean, the plot is a wee bit strange. The last half is basically a battle? But it's a cool battle.) But really, where it shines is the characters. Because TONY STARK. GUYS. HE'S AMAZING. I LOVE HIM. I'M GOING TO GO WATCH ALL THE IRON MAN MOVIES. GUYYYYYSSSSSSSS. To be articulate: his sass is my favorite, and so is his nonchalance, and, let's face it, he's also very, very handsome. But also CAPTAIN AMERICA. Who I love because...he's the opposite of Tony Stark. Talk about contradictions...but he HAS MORALS. And he CALLS WOMEN MA'AM. And he says things like "There's only one God...and he doesn't dress like that" when they're talking about the Asgardians. And I love how he totally looks WWII handsome? And also NATASHA ROMANOFF SHE IS AMAZING. SO SASSY. BUT WITH SOFT SPOTS. SUCH AN AMAZING SPY. 'K, going to stop yelling now, because this is getting ridiculous...but I really, really liked the movie, guys. 

The Mandalorian S2:E3 & S2:E4 & S2:E5
Okay, I've probably said this before, but while The Mandalorian is not my favorite thing to watch ever, but it's still a pretty dang good Star Wars story. Episode 3 was the episode where he (I can never remember how to spell his name, so I'm just going to call the Mandalorian 'he') meets the other Mandalorians...and suddenly, there is conflict! And backstory! And he may have been lied to his whole life! And now I am much more interested in watching the next episodes!
And then Episode 4 was the one with fun revelations about the baddie, and the amazing explosion, plus the problems for future episodes! Agh, the suspense!
And then in Episode 5...Ahsoka Tano is epic. (Also, Eomer is absolutely disgusted by Baby Yoda's name. XD) 

Onward
This movie? It was hilarious. The worldbuilding was super clever! Advancing the history of a Fantasy world to the level of our modern world, while keeping the fantasy--sort of. And then the D&D references! As someone who doesn't play D&D but has siblings who do--that was hysterical. Completely and utterly hysterical. I loved it! And the brother relationship was SO sweet, and the whole adventure was just fantastic. 

I cannot make this gif be a gif. Not for lack of trying.

The Nativity Story

Watching this in this particular year, after learning a bit more about theology...their depiction of Mary for the first half of the movie is extremely questionable. If not downright heretical (from a Catholic standpoint). It does get better the second half of the movie.
HOWEVER. Joseph? Is perfect. And awesome. And amazing. And his protectiveness is so. sweet. love. Also, the wise men are hilarious, Elizabeth is the BEST, and they use actual newborns for newborns? #what. Pretty cool. 
And the setting is also amazing, the feeling of oppression that the Jews experienced under Roman rule really comes through.
And the soundtrack! The background music is various Christmas songs that are 100% appropriate for those scenes! (Not going to ruin it for you. Listen for it. :))

Thor
For the record, I wanted to watch Iron Man. But Legolas, for whom this movie night would be her first intro to MCU, wanted to watch Thor. So we watched Thor--and I loved it. Because THOR. My boy! My cinnamon roll! He's so ridiculous at the beginning, but I love his arc (and the fact that he has to make a sacrifice to complete it? BRILLIANT). But also LOKI! My boy! His plot motivation? Is perfect. And his reveal? Was not expecting that at all. And the romance in this movie, too...<3 So good. But Iron Man next. :) 

Noelle
In Which Disney Yet Again Does That Strange Feminist Plotline. Yes. It was very feminine-political. But it was also hilarious and so SWEET, and Anna Kendrick is awesome, and her arc is perfect. I love that it incorporates ASL! And the little reindeer-goat. <3  A lot of fun to watch on a older-kids-and-parents movie night. 

The Grinch (2018)
I love this movie. So. Much. I'm sorry, but it miiiiiight be my favorite Christmas movie ever. I love what they do with the Grinch--giving him a soft spot for animals (the animal cruelty is my least favorite part of the book), as well as a backstory, and HIS HOUSE it is amazing. I also love the goat. No one expects the goat. It's amazing. That goat is the GOAT of movie goats. Also, the Grinch's gadgets! So cool and funny! Also, the way he's basically in lockdown all the time ("I specifically bought enough food to last until January" always cracks me up). And lastly, the diverse Whos! That part is awesome, methinks. 

Life

On the left is all of us clapping during the procession out (see if you can find me!) and on the right is me in my beautiful sari. 

So! It is  time for the news I have been teasing since...August? Namely, MY FRIEND FRODO GOT MARRIED! AND I WAS A BRIDESMAID! As you can tell, I was not excited at all. XD Since it was a COVID wedding, only the wedding party and family got to go (although there was a livestream!) which meant that I got to go! It was a beautiful wedding Mass, with beautiful readings and beautiful music, and since Frodo's family is from India, the bridesmaids all got to wear beautiful matching saris! The wedding reception had to be cancelled because of COVID, but we got to do a small outdoor toasts-and-first-dance gathering, at which, because we had all gotten tested and been quarantined, I got to hold a baby! For the first time since February! It was amazing, y'all, and I am SO excited for Frodo and her husband to start their new life together, living only a few streets away from us! (And I just got to see the official wedding photos...and they are gorgeous, y'all. Such a wonderful wedding.)

The embroidery patterns are from Etsy, if any of you are needlework inclined. :)

I did a ton of crafting this month! I got done all of these embroidered presents you see up above (the map was for Pippin, and the hobbit door for Merry), as well as the hat (I finished it in three days! Doesn't it look nice?) which I made for myself, and two baby quilts that had been sitting around half-finished for...six months. I'm also working on a big-ish quilt project as a present that I want to have done by the end of the month, but as I write this, our sewing machine is on the fritz, so it's not progressing at the moment. 

For Christmas, my grandparents got us tickets to a livestreamed concert by Straight No Chaser, a fantastic a capella group! We also got to do a one minute meet-and-greet with the group members, which was fun (albeit a bit stressful for this patent introvert XD). We sometimes see the group in person for their holiday concert, and this wasn't quite as good...but still really fun. Would recommend. I don't have any good pictures, so I've put in my favorite of the songs they sang that night. 

Mom, Legolas and I, along with Pippin, his sister Gimli, and several other volunteers helped to decorate the church for Christmas! This is something we usually do, so even though we all had to wear masks, it felt remarkably normal. Doesn't it look beautiful? The wreaths on the baldacchino were Pippin's and my project, and they turned out great! (In this picture, only half the bows were on, which made it a bit lopsided. XD) Legolas and Gimli also did a manger scene with a beautiful tree alcove, but that was in one of the transepts, to the right of the edge of the picture. 

I finished school for the month! Have not gotten my grades back yet, but I did quite well in Plant Bio and Drawing, slightly less well in Project Management. The picture above was my final project for drawing class--a self portrait. It looks enough like me that I want to share it, but enough not like me that I'm not worried about y'all being able to recognize me all that well. XD Pretty good for someone who, at the beginning of the quarter, was convinced she couldn't draw, right? 

I somehow have no pictures of Christmas Day that don't show faces, so here, have a picture of snowy Rivendell, from before it all melted. 

My family had a lovely Christmas! Mom and I volunteered at 3/6 of the Christmas Masses, so it was a wee bit fragmented, but we all went to the Vigil together, and came home for treats and books, then everyone got up at 6 am to do stockings and presents (this is my family's MO. Every. Single. Year.) My favorite present was a pair of waterproof, insulated overalls from my aunts and uncles collectively--they have ELEVEN POCKETS, guys! And two tool loops! And they're comfy, and make me look like a farmer! What's not to love? We had a lovely Christmas dinner, outside dessert with Pippin and Gimli's family, and then drove up to Rivendell, where there was still snow on the ground from Monday, so technically we had a White Christmas, I guess? It started raining, though, and by morning, quite a bit of it was gone. So, in any case, it was a very merry Christmas. :)

January Plans

• Start school again *starts to groan and then remembers that she's starting new classes!* (seriously, ASL over Zoom is going to work so well, I'm really excited)
• *is having trouble finding January plans because she doesn't have a 2021 bujo yet*
• Read boooooks, like, besides for literature.
• Except then I have to read Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (this World Lit class may kill me yet).
• Maybe work on some non-Christmas crafty things? (Our pastor wants some more chalice veils and burses...)
• Start ramping up the goat care routine to get ready for kidding season, using my new overalls. :)

Have you ever been in a wedding? What about decorating a church? How was your Christmas? Have you ever read Don Q or Pickwick?