Tabletop Tuesday!

Smash Up

I don't know how many of my readers are actually into board/card games, but tabletop gaming has most recently become a fairly central role in my life. My fiance, roommate, and I find ourselves playing tabletop games fairly often (at least once a week) and it can get pretty heated. (mainly because my fiance likes to play games by bending rules as he sees fit, and doesn't care how "fair" they are, as long as he gets the win)

Oh and if your reading this Chris, yeah I am tired of your gaming shenanigans. 

What did you do on your Monday night?

Overall though, we have a great time playing these games and we've found some pretty cool games since we've started on this tabletop adventure.

One of them is this game called Smash Up.

Basically: There are a bunch of different card decks with different "classes" as I would call them. What you do is choose two class decks that you like and Smash the cards together! In my hand you'll see that I had Time Travellers and Dinosaurs. (Or Time Travelling Dinosaurs) Chris was Ninja Spies (Ninjas & Spies), and Will was Magic Bears (Magicians & Bears).

The goal is to make it to 15VP (Victory Points) by breaking bases. Aka causing enough damage to equal or exceed the breakpoint value of the base (which varies from base to base). And then award points accordingly!

It is a fun game to play and you can play with just one other person and there are PLENTY of different smashes that you can do and plenty of different ways to play. We'll definitely be playing this game many more times.

Stalk me?

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A bit of a rant blog today...

... and it has to deal with the blogging community and social media

Today is a bit of a rant blog, and I'm seriously sorry about this but there have been a few things that have been seriously irritating me about a few things within this community.

Overall, I love it. I feel like I've made quite a few friends and I enjoy reading these blogs. But there are always just a couple bad seeds, ya know?

Review: Rimmel London Stay Matte Foundation

I recently have spent some lengths of time in the sun, and because its the summertime my face gets fairly shiny pretty quickly. I wasn't even looking for a foundation originally, I had just given up and was going pretty bare-faced except for a light powder and possibly a BB cream this summer.

And then I went on vacation, and got really tan.

Soooooooo my BB cream no longer matched my body, and I was going out with my Mom and some of her friends we were on vacation with. One of her friends had just bought this and offered to let me use it. So I put a little on my hand and it matched me perfectly. I applied it with my beauty blender and it kept me matte all night in the Florida beach heat. So I had to buy it for myself.

The next day I went and picked it up for myself at Walgreens for $4.99. The price was seriously on point. I've been wearing it almost exclusively since then, and I love it. My tan is fading so I'm going to have to get a lighter color soon.
Pros:

• Keeps me matte all day/all night in the muggy South FL weather.
• I barely have to use any concealer.
• Mild scent
• Doesn't irritate my sensitive skin

Although I do have to say if you are more heavy handed using your foundation it can look cakey. If your going for that dewy summer fresh faced look, you won't get it with this foundation. But that is fine with me, because I sit in an office for most of the day anyway.

The image to the left was taken outside, and the one to the right was taken in my office.

If you have any comments or questions about this foundation leave a comment below!
-Jenn

Who else despises the word 'diet'?

Because I definitely do.

The one thing that I have absolutely abhorred about myself since my graduation from high school is my weight gain. It didn't bother me so much when it was only that 'freshman 15' but that freshman 15 has turned into a freshman 50.

Yes, in my 6 years since I graduated high school, I have gained 50 pounds.

My weight has fluctuated a lot since then, honestly, but this is the highest I've ever been and I really needed to take charge of what I was eating and my health in general. So this past week I've been doing a fairly decent job of keeping track of the food I've been eating and making a conscious effort to eat healthy. The only thing I do not do, is exercise. Its not that I don't enjoy doing anything physical, its just that I get bored. I do not find running on a treadmill or lifting weights systematically very stimulating mentally. Starting small is probably the way to go. But where to start...?

The first thing I did was download the myFitnessPal app. I heard about it while browsing youtube and looking for ways to kickstart this "lifestyle change." The app suggests that I eat 1230 calories a day. Which is only 30 calories over what I should be eating minimum a day. I knew that was going to be hard but ugh. Misery! After a few days of realizing how many calories I was probably eating I know how I got to be as heavy as I am now.

I started this journey on Monday, and the first week has been a course of trials and tribulations. (and portion control, and impulse control, and frustration) But I'm getting the hang of it.

I think I'll realize that this journey is being successful when I hit that first 20 lbs.

-Jenn

Current Game(s) I'm Playing

Console Game: Halo 4

As far as console games go, the Halo franchise has some serious roots within the Xbox community. This may be older for everyone else who likes to move on to newer things, but I personally like to hold off a bit until all the hype (and the price) calms down to start playing.

I know the history of Master Chief, and I had no idea where the storyline was going. I was seriously engrossed in this new storyline, and overall I was seriously impressed with where 343 took MC's storyline and will be happy when I get to see where the storyline goes next.  Halo games have always had an awesome multiplayer campaign, and Chris and I love to play together. We beat the campaign in a few play sessions. We played a chapter every few nights so the campaign was beaten quite quickly. We work well as a team together, so it turned out alright except for a few car/flying missions where I seriously am still terrible at driving in this game. haha.

The multiplayer, on the other hand, is really what takes the cake for me. Chris and I used to love playing teams with a large group of friends, but since we've all gone our separate ways its mainly just us now. And we find ourselves enjoying a good game of grifball or slayer instead of teams now. The only problems I've been having with the multiplayer recently is literally spawning right next to people, and the newer maps being /tiny/ causing the aforementioned problem. The tiny maps make it nice to find people, but seriously annoying when you're constantly spawning right next to 2-3 people trying to kill each other.

Casual Game: Geometry Dash

I hate this game. Seriously, I only have the free version and am about to seriously decide on whether or not I'm buying the full version or not. When I'm sitting at home in bed, and doing absolutely nothing, I find myself grabbing the iPad and opening Geometry Dash. Its a rhythm based action platformer that requires you to die a lot, get really frustrated, and refuse to play on practice mode until you get seriously desperate.

At first, it was just "Hey, complete the level, feel accomplished." and evolved into "WE PUT GOLD COINS IN IMPOSSIBLE SPOTS BUT I BELIEVE IN YOU GO GET IT."

What can I say, I'm a sucker for gold coins. But now that I've got all the gold coins in the free version, I want moooore.

Also the music they use is fantastic.

-Jenn

Post 4th of July update

I needed this past weekend.

I really feel like I got the opportunity to relax. And I got an amazingly golden tan. I did however, get to spend a lot of time with my Brother (who still snores like a banshee) and my Grandparents. I got to spend all day Friday at the pool with my Grandma. We chatted of course, and I made a few friend in 8 year-old Gabriela. She made me smile, she was interested in comics, science, and videogames. She reminded me a lot of myself, as we continued talked though, I realized that through her over-sharing she was probably going to turn away from any kind of STEM field in the future. Her parents seemed to do what most parents (without realizing it) do. Discourage their daughter from embracing what she was actually interested in, to talk more about her hair. She seemed relieved to talk to someone about how /awesome/ Mystique was (even though she was a 'bad guy') and how many different x-men there were in the universe.

I hope I made some kind of impression.

Happy 4th of July!

This weekend is one of those weekend where I just enjoy myself. I sit on the beach/poolside and soak up the sun. (while wearing the proper sunscreen, the weekend before last I seriously regretted not vigorously reapplying sunscreen).

One of the hardest things for me to do is to let go and to let my brain slow down. But where I am this weekend (Naples, FL) always has the uncanny ability to immediately make me slow down and relax. Its nice to be able to get my life off of moving, my fiance, work, school, and just life in general. Plus I get to spend some quality time with my Brother and my Grandparents that I have come to cherish.

I hope you spend the weekend enjoying yourself. I'll post pictures on Monday.


-Jenn

Moving Pains

Recently, I've decided to try and spread my wings.

Honestly, I had been almost completely dependent on my Grandparents for everything. They wanted me to focus on school, and nothing else. So I did, I didn't work, and I attempted to get good grades. In this past year, however, I've gotten a (shaky) footing and have been making a steady income. With my entire IT department (okay, there was only 3 of us) resigning and moving onto bigger and better things, my boss offered me job security. Which affords me the opportunity to be able to move closer to work and school. My family is happy for me, but I know I'll be missed. And truthfully, I'm starting to feel like the first time I moved into the dorm again.

At least this time though, I'm moving with people who I know will love and support me: My fiance and my absolute best friend.

Lady Problems...?

So, as of lately, I've been having some lady problems. TMI... Monday...?

Anyway, here's my problem:

When playing online multiplayer, I find myself not chatting while other players are.

Recently I've been playing a lot of Halo 4. I beat the campaign, and now I'm enjoying myself playing the online multiplayer. Previously, I've played Halo: Reach and played the multiplayer there. I made quite a few friends chatting with other players. This time around though, I've been almost silent. I don't always play alone, but when I do I don't chat with other players. I think maybe its because when I talk I always seems to get the "make me a sandwich" line sometime during the night (its a tradition).

Now granted, I make a pretty good PB&J but I'm not sure if being silent is doing me any good either. I get messages from people just saying 'hi' (I'm cynical and assume I'm going to get another body part I don't want to see) and more random friend requests than I know what to do with. When I play a particularly good game, I can understand the request. I can definitely play a beastly game sometimes. But literal random ones when the previous game is terrible and I haven't said a word? Please note: I can almost always hear you talking and the teabagging is seriously unnecessary.

I suppose theres always going to be that battle, and maybe I need to put myself out there more?
Maybe my analytical brain of mine feels the need to scope out the situation more than time allows in a game before I feel confident enough to chat.

Let me know if and when you chat with other players!

-Jenn

My Drugstore Beauty Essentials

My Drugstore Beauty Essentials

Now granted, I am not perfect and neither is my makeup, but these are some of the things I have really liked and were easy to find and use!

• Rimmel London Stay Matte Foundation
• Currently in the color classic beige (I'm tan haha) - particularly love this foundation because it has the ability to be layered and built up without getting too cakey. And its $4.99!
• Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation
• I got this foundation before I went to the beach 2 weekends in a row, in color Nude Beige. It is a great full coverage foundation but a little more expensive at $12.99.
• Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge
• No seriously, this applies your foundation amazingly and was cheap from Ulta at only $5.99!
• Covergirl TruBlend Pressed Powder
• Translucent Light 2 (I think) and it was $8.99.
• Covergirl Cheekers Blush
• Natural Rose (I think, the sticker has been long gone on it) - $4.99
• Palladio Herbal Liquid Eyeliner
• In shimmer black - I desperately needed liquid liner and I picked this up from a Sally Beauty near me for $6.50.
• Eos Smooth Sphere Lip Balm
• Almost all lipsticks try my lips out, so I always put a balm on underneath any kind of lipstick/stain! I got it in the flavor Strawberry Sorbet for $3.00 at Target. But I had a coupon for $5 so I technically got it for free!
• Jordana Twist and Shine Moisturizing Balm Stain
• Personal fav: Candied Coral from Walgreens for $2.99! (I bought one for my Mom too, they were buy one get one half off!)

These are just the things I use in my everyday makeup routine, and don't include the moisturizer or the makeup remover I use!

-Jenn