Phew, what a whirlwind December was… Another wicked busy month that left me totally exhausted by the end.
This time, it was mostly exhausting mostly because of work. We have a Convention coming up in January, so getting everything done before Christmas was… a lot. Then it was the holidays, which of course, brings new stress.
One of my major focuses this month was getting my library/office space settled.
I also bought a reading chair! I am SO excited. Now I just need curtains so I can comfortably read down there without being paranoid that someone may be right outside the ground-level window…
Toward the end of the month, we had a nasty storm. It was sleeting for almost twenty-four hours. It was pretty, but very messy.
Of course, during this storm we needed to get an oil delivery and we had our appointment to get the dryer vent cleaned out.
Friends… If you haven’t gotten your dryer vent professionally cleaned lately, go make that appointment now!!
This was the first time we had it done since buying the house in August, and it was fully blocked for a foot and a half! This easily could have started a fire. I’m going to make sure we get on a schedule for this cleaning.
Without further delay, let’s dive in to my monthly wrap-up!
My Reading Breakdown for December:
- 5 Stars- 6
- 4 Stars- 3
- 3 Stars- 0
- 2 Stars- 0
- 1 Star- 0
- DNF- 0
Monthly Musings
Watching:
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Christmas Baby (2019 Netflix Film) – 4 Stars
I just love this series! Filled with lots of drama, but a cute tale overall.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019 Film) – 4 Stars
We went to the theater to see this one and I’m glad we did! While watching, I really enjoyed this one. There were a few things I didn’t like about it when I started mulling it over afterward, but I still think this one was my favorite of the new trilogy. My favorite character by far is D-O, who was voiced by JJ Abrams! I felt so bad for the little guy, but I loved that when someone went to touch him, he would just say, “No thank you!”
The Mandalorian (Disney+ Series, Season 1) – 5 Stars
I LOVED THIS SO MUCH! Baby Yoda is adorable of course, but I loved all of the other characters as well. The whole series just looked great as well and the pacing was awesome. I liked this spin off more than most of the films, personally. I can’t wait to see more!
The Greenhouse Academy (Netflix TV Series) – 3 Stars
I watched this one only because Parker Stevenson was in it. The acting overall just wasn’t great. There was a TON of silly high school drama. But it was quite addicting! The story line was interesting and I did enjoy it! We’ll see if I continue watching other seasons.
The Witcher (2019 Netflix Series) – 4 Stars
I’m trying to finish this up as I’m working on this wrap-up. I enjoy watching this. My favorite character is definitely the bard and I love the interactions between him and Geralt. I’m enjoying seeing everything come together now, but I don’t love how it took this long to start making sense for me. This is a show I may have to watch again to better understand it. I just wasn’t a huge fan of the choppy timelines.
Playing:
On Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, we played What Do You Meme. I love that game so much! It’s always fun bringing it out and playing with new groups to see what hits their funny bone!
On New Years Eve, we also played games from Jack In The Box. I absolutely loved a few of them, one wasn’t for me, but I loved watching the others play it! We all laughed SO hard playing these games. My favorite was one that had a marketing twist; everyone brainstormed a prompt, then you got to choose from two options, then draw an invention, name it, and create a slogan. Our friend Megan copied something that I had created in an earlier round and we all laughed so much!! It was so clever!
Drinking:
Lots of tea this month! This was such a busy month at work, caffeine was one thing that kept me going.
I also got to try the Bramble On from Backyard Brewery. It was lovely!
Listening to:
LOTS of I Prevail, A Day To Remember, Beartooth, and other heavy bands. This was the second thing that got me through the craziness at work and all the holiday stress. Alex also got me the Trauma album from I Prevail for Christmas and we listened to it together on our Christmas travels. I got him hooked!
In the bookish community:
There were SO MANY wonderful wrap up posts and blogmas content this month. This list would have been wicked long!
Monthly bookish related haul:
My favorite bookish photos this month:
In case you missed it:
- [Wrap-Up] November 2019
- 3 December Book Releases I Can’t Wait To Read
- Visiting Mainely Murders Bookstore in Kennebunk, Maine
- [Bookish Blog Hop] Books With Snow On The Cover
- Local Feature: Manchvegas Brew Bus Tour
- [Bookish Blog Hop] A Book You’re Looking Forward to Reading in 2020
- Honest Review Requests Done Right, Part 4
- 10 2020 Book Releases I Can’t Wait To Read
- 2020 Book-To-Screen Adaptations I Can’t Wait To See
- My Goals For 2020
- Visiting Casablanca Comics in Portland Maine
- [Book Tag] End Of The Year Book Survey (2019)
- Goodreads: Your Year In Books Meme 2019
- My Third Year Blogiversary
- 2 January Book Releases I Can’t Wait To Read
Looking forward to:
January is gearing up to be a busy month, but I’m determined to have more downtime as soon as possible.
This month, I will be heading to Pheonix, AZ for work, I’ve got an author event that I would really like to go to, and Alex and I have concert tickets to go see one of my all time favorite bands (again), Breaking Benjamin.
Thanks for reading!
How was your month? Have any special plans for January? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section below!
Oh, your December sounds far too stressy and busy!
I love your new reading room though and the chair looks super comfy.
Plus I’m envious of your book Christmas tree. If I’d thought of that, we could have had a tree in our campervan! Still, at least we got a coloured lights string to hang up this year – a huge improvement on last year’s laundry!!
Yeah… I’m quite happy the month is now over. I think it’s the first holiday season I’ve dreaded, and that wasn’t fun. But! A great learning experience to make sure it doesn’t happen again! 🙂 Thank you so much! I highly recommend La-Z-Boy chairs if you’re ever looking for a new reading chair! It’s AMAZING. Ooh! You could do a winter book tree theme, that would be super cute! 🙂
I had loved seeing all of the photos of your home coming together. What an amazing office/library you have! We are able to clean our dryer vent ourselves but it definitely important to make sure it happens. It looks like you had a great month! Have a great January!
Thank you so much! <3 I'm hoping to continue going room by room in 2020 🙂 That's awesome that you can clean the vents yourself!! That's certainly handy! Have a great January as well!
I never had my dryer vent professionally cleaned, but once I rented a 50 year old house and cleaned out the dryer gunk from the wall and it was horrendous! I have to agree with you on Baby Yoda, and I love your Dream and Explore notebook. Have a Happy New Year!
Phew!! Yeah, it’s so scary! When we moved into this house, the tubing wasn’t even CONNECTED to the dryer!! So all the lint was just piled up behind the machine. I don’t think the previous owners knew it had come disconnected… It’s so important to get things cleaned and keep an eye on them!
Have a great 2020! <3
I love the way your office came out!!
Thank you so much! <3
December seems to have been a good month for you. I love your reading chair. It looks so comfortable!
<3 It's the best chair I've owned, that's for sure! :)
Looks like you had a busy month. The office/library looks amazing. I really enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker. Such an entertaining movie and conclusion to an epic saga. I still have a couple of episode to watch of The Mandalorian but I am loving it so much.
It was nuts!! haha And thank you so much! I’m so pumped about how it’s coming together! I’m glad you enjoyed the latest movie and the spin off show! 🙂
Your office/reading room looks so cozy, and omg those floors 😍
I watched the Christmas Prince Netflix movies for the first time this year. I don’t know what it was about those movies, but I binge watched the entire series.
Also, I had to look up Bramble On, but it sounds so yummy. I’ve only had a fruity sour beer like that once, but it was such a treat!
Thank you! <3 And right?! That was a major selling point for me on this house!
YES! They're such cute films! 🙂 And I'm obsessed with sour beers!
Wow, you really did have a busy month! I love your new reading room so much. It just looks so peaceful. I really enjoyed The Mandalorian too. Wish we didn’t have to wait until next fall to get more episodes of it.
Thank you! 🙂 I’m so pumped about having it all come together! 🙂 And right?! I will be counting down the days once we get the next date!
I loved the Mandalorian too! I also enjoyed the latest Star Wars movie, though I admit I went into that theater without expecting a lot, lol. I just think the world might be Skywalker’ed out which is why the Mandalorian was received so well because it went in a completely new direction and was able to experiment with a lot of new styles and ideas. Next I will be working on the Witcher. I watched the first episode and the rest of the series looks promising! Happy to see a 4/5 from you!
Agreed!!! I was thinking they were going to move on after the whole, “let the past die” thing… There are SO MANY other families and types of characters they can focus on… I hope you enjoy The Witcher!
I quit reading The Witcher book and the choppy timeline was one of the reasons. I’m not hearing the greatest things about the series so I’m reluctant to watch it. I really like your office space-functional but comfy!
Yeah, it’s definitely an oddly organized tale… And thank you!! 🙂
Your office space looks amazing!!
Hope you have a wonderful January 🙂
Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful January as well!
Oh yes, definitely important to clean that out! I also really LOVE your bookish pillows. December was such a good reading month with only four and five star reads! I so need to watch the next Star Wars film and The Madalorian as well D: Happy you enjoyed both. Oh, and I need to start the Witcher too.
<3 Thank you! I hope you enjoy the latest Star Wars movie and show and The Witcher! :)
Your reading space is nice, cozy and very welcoming. Thank goodness you had your vent cleaned, I’ve never had it done since our vent is directly to the outside wall beside the dryer. I will have to mention it to my parents sine their vented throughout the walls.
Happy New Year Erica 🙂
Thank you! I’m so excited about how it’s coming together! 🙂 And right?! It’s so crazy! I’m glad yours vents properly! Happy New Year to you as well!
I love your wrap-ups! Sorry work was crazy in December, but it sounds like the holidays were fun. I hope you have a wonderful January with a bit of down time and enjoy your concert!!!
-Lauren
Thank you! 🙂 Phew, yeah… We’re at our big work even now, so I’m hoping for things to calm down after I get back home! 🙂
The Witcher was so good! Geralt and Jaskier were so much fun together weren’t they.I’m going to have to read the books – and maybe play the video games. 🙂 Yes, D-0 was my favorite new character of the new Star Wars movie too.
Yes!!! I hope you enjoy the books and game! 😀