5 Fandom Friday: Favorite Retro Games

It's 5 Fandom Friday, ya'll!!

This week's prompt comes from Kayla over at Epicfied! 

It's no secret that I love playing video games. Some of my favorite memories are playing Mario on the NES with my mom and playing Mortal Kombat on the N64. I'm pretty sure that's what shaped me into the gaming gremlin I am today!

Accurate

So, in no particular order, here are my top 5 favorite "retro" games.

5. Dig Dug

     Oh my how I loved this game. My mom bought me and my sister a joystick console to connect to our TV and I spent so many hours playing this game. Seriously, if you haven't played the game, it's silly and semi-pointless but it's my favorite thing ever!

4. Donkey Kong Land (Gameboy)

      This is probably still one of my all time favorite games. I played this game so much, my mother had to take away my Gameboy just to make sure my eyes wouldn't physically burn out. I remember carrying my GameBoy everywhere just to play this game. I really miss that thing...

3. Super Mario World

     Fun fact! I actually have been playing this for a while now thanks to Jonathan's mod on my Wii! Once I booted it up, I immediately cried. I know, I'm such a weenie. But it was like my childhood had come flooding back. I remember playing this game so much as a kid and being able to share that awesome memory as an adult with the love of my life was just so.....awesome.

2. Ms. Pac-Man

     Um....hello?! She was the absolute best! My mom happens to be one of the greatest Ms. Pac-Man players I have ever met and I remember watching her play this game at the laundromat and manage to pretty much get the highest scores ALL THE TIME. Yeah, My mom is the best.

1. Space Invaders

      There is no retro gaming list that could be complete with these little critters. I love the art style, the iconic logo, and the simplicity of this game. I even made Jonathan a Space Invaders magnet for our first Valentine's Day together! 

What are some of your favorite retro games? Let's chat in the comments or tweet me @raineedayze! Also be sure to check out Kayla's blog and Megan's blog!

Always, Raineedayze

Raineedayze Reads: The Upside of Unrequited

Hey guys!

So remember how I said in my last post that I had been reading a TON more? I'm nearly halfway through my yearly goal of 35!

I chose 35 because, since my schedule is always changing, I wanted to be able to at least meet my goals. Plus, I feel like recently my attention span has been lacking. I think I spend way too much on my phone and so I wanted to ease myself into reading more and maybe cutting out mindlessly scrolling through Facebook. 

As of right now, I am at 12 books read!

                                   


The last book that I read was The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli.

      

Guys.

This book was awesome!!

The book follows Molly, a girl who has had 26 unrequited crushes. Her twin sister Cassie has always been smooth with the ladies but meets a girl who may have her on her toes. Molly meets Reid, a cute nerdy guy, and Will, a hot hipster dude. With all the new boys and the changing relationship with her twin sister, Molly has a lot on her mind and things are only going to keep changing.  

This book was great! I loved the diverse cast. There were LGBT characters, characters of different ethnicities, a main character who was chubby, mentally ill characters,and so much more. What I really loved about the diversity was that the characters were not "token" characters. The queer characters were not defined by their relationships as much as they were by their actual personalities. This book also mirrored real life in some of the current events that were portrayed in the book. I really loved the contemporary feel to it.

For: Fans of Simon vs. The Homosapien Agenda, people who just love cute love stories


Thanks so much to Owlcrate for featuring it in your April box! I can't wait to read more fun books!

Overall Review: 5/5 

Have you read The Upside of Unrequited? If so, what are your thoughts? Let's chat in the comments!

Add me on Goodreads! 


Always, Raineedayze

It's Gonna be May

                                  

Yes. I know you are all sick of the Justin Timberlake joke but...

C'mon.

I HAD to.

It is May, my lovely readers. Which means this blogger is back from hiatus. I'm sorry it was pretty unexpected and dead on my end. I had a lot of stuff from my personal life pile on with my professional life which reduced my fun time to practically nothing. In other words, I've pretty much been running on fumes since February.

But now, May is here which means 1.5 weeks of school and then 

SUMMER.


                                        


Summer for me, as you probably know if you've been following me on social media, is my most relaxed time of the year. I typically work 3 days a week and use the rest of the time to read, drink tea, blog, and hang out with Jonathan. 

So what have I been up to since you guys last saw me? Well....

I turned 22! 

This was after the festivities

I have read. A LOT. (more on this later)

I have started subscribing to OwlCrate. 

I played a ton of games. Okay not really a ton, but some really amazing ones!

I may or may not have a surprise later this month.....?!

I'm extremely excited to be back here with you all and share my musings. I missed the community and the excitement of sharing slices of my life with you guys. Things may change a little bit around here, but we are still the same old nerds, geeking out as ever. <3 Stay tuned.

Always, Raineedayze

Hiatus

Hey guys!

I know. It's been a while. 

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Raineedayze will currently be on hiatus until the end of May. I hope that you can all understand, but do not fret. I've been working on some awesome new content that I can't wait to share with all of you!!

Love you guys and see you in May!

In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Twitter and Instagram!

Always, Raineedayze

5 Fandom Friday: My TBR pile

Hello there nerdlings!

It's 5 Fandom Friday!!! This week we're talking about our TBR (to-be-read) piles. As I am so incredibly busy all the time, I am super behind on books that I want to read. As you can imagine, my list is insanely long. Since I rarely have time to keep up with newer releases, I typically keep up through Booktube blogger reviews. So most of these books are releases from years past that I can't wait to check out.

5. Caraval by Stephanie Garber

        This is the most recently released book on my list, having come out last month. I have heard so many book bloggers raving about this book and the premise sounds incredible. Scarlett and her sister Tella have dreams of attending the week-long game of Caraval, a mysterious game of legends. After finally receiving their invitations, they attend only for Tella to get kidnapped. Scarlett struggles with the hopes that Caraval is only a game, though she may not be prepared to play. This book sounds amazing and I can't wait to start it. However, I may want to read the next book on my list before I begin, as I hear it is pretty similar.

4. The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern

       A circus that arrives without warning and vanishes without a trace. This book sounds super mysterious and I have avoided reading too many reviews for it just because it seems like every review has a spoiler. I hear it's less focused on the mystery of the circus and more on the players, but I've always been a fan of creepy circuses, mysteries, and magic. I can't wait to read this one as it is currently tempting me from my Kindle. 

3. This is Our Story by Ashley Elston 

       I have to thank Kristin for this recommendation because she's been recommending it on her channel for about a month and it sounds so interesting!! Another mystery, this time about a group of 5 boys who, after a hunting trip, come out as group of 4. None of the boys will say what happened but Kate, the new intern at the DA office, isn't about to let them go that easy. What really happened to the 5th boy, and is Kate really prepared to find out? I know I am and I can't wait to pick up this book!

2. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

       I feel like I'm the only person on the planet who has yet to read this book. With recommendations by pretty much everyone, including my best friend Cassie, I have to check this book out. This book follows a fangirl named Cath who has to go through her first year of college, no longer accompanied by her twin. Wren, her sister, is ready to leave the fandom behind and embrace college life, but Cath is just not too hopeful. I actually started reading it today between classes and I'm already really into it. I'm only a few pages in, hence the TBR status, however as a fellow fangirl of most things, I can't wait to delve deeper in this story. The synopsis really spoke to me because when I came to college and left my entire life 9 hours away, I took to my fandoms to keep me sane. I'm excited to see what Cath chooses to do.

1. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

       This book won't come out until May of this year but I'm already so freaking excited for it. I'm a huge fan of the Breakfast Club and this book sounds pretty similar. 5 students enter detention, 4 leave and of course, no one wants to talk. This book also sounds very similar to One of Us is Lying, but I can't get enough of weird high school mysteries. The 5 students all share the same stereotypical characteristics of the Breakfast Club characters: brain, beauty, outcast, jock, and criminal. There is an added twist though, as the outcast also happens to run a super high-profile gossip app and plans to release huge news on his detention buddies. Everyone has a motive, but who did the deed?

Those are just some of the books on my TBR! Have you read any of them? Are you excited to check any out? Let's chat in the comments!

Also, if you'd like to participate in 5 Fandom Friday, check out the links below! If you do participate, feel free to leave your link below and I'll totally check them out!

Origin of 5 Fandom Friday

February Prompts for 2017


Always, Raineedayze

January Check-In and February Goals

                                

Happy last day of January!

For this post, I decided to take a look at how I did with my goals in January and look ahead to my goals for February. To read my 2017 goal list, click HERE.

Goal 1: Do Something and Do it Well
   
      This goal was all about school and work. I can definitely say I've been keeping on top of my classwork this month. That could be because it's the beginning of a new year, but I also feel so much calmer knowing that I have finished all I have to for the day by 8 p.m. and having the rest of the night to binge on Roswell. It's also nice to feel good about the work I turn in and showing off what I know I can do.

Goal 2: Do Something Active

      This goal was the tough one. I have been skipping the coffee for more tea or water and have been taking my lunch instead of buying Hot Cheetos (something my wallet is eternally grateful for). However, I still find myself eating when I'm bored or when I know I'm not really hungry. This is definitely something I have to work on.

Goal 3: Do Things for and With Others

       I did start putting down my phone more, especially when I have time with Jonathan. One thing about my new schedule is it only leaves me with a few hours to see him before I fall asleep for the night. It made me realize how precious our time is and I feel so much healthier for it. I am able to explore my hobbies and feel less tied to a false "connection" through my screen. Not to say that computer and phone time is bad, but it's nice to be around people in the real world. Which brings me to...

Goal 4: Just Do It

       I definitely started doing things I've been putting off. I started waking up earlier to just spend a few minutes to myself. I started watching shows and movies I've put off. I went to the movies for the first time in forever and enjoyed myself. I started becoming more independent by not relying on Jonathan to take me places. I've read way more books in the last month than I have in the past year. I love how I feel accomplishing this and can't wait to see what February has in store.

Goodreads Goal 

4/35 books! Yay!!

My February Goals

• Blog more and more consistently 
• I feel pretty confident in this goal despite my recent blogging hiccup. I feel with my planner keeping me on schedule and the surge of new audience members I have (I see you!) I have more of an obligation to make this blog as awesome as possible. It reminds me why I started blogging in the first place.
• Save money
• It's been super tough with all of our big holidays falling within a four month period. Between Christmas, our anniversary, my birthday, Valentine's Day, and Jon's birthday in March....it's a lot! I hope to cut back on spending and make do with what we have. I know we can do it if we try!
•  Be more independent
• It's been really tough with our conflicting schedules lately, and oftentimes because of that, I become even more dependent on Jonathan because the little bit I get from him is so precious. However, it's time I explored my own hobbies and started doing more things that benefit us instead of waiting for us both to be free. I often hold off on grocery shopping or running errands because I love going places with him or spending our time outside of the house. Yet, I don't love putting a strain on him when he gets out of work. This will be a huge transition, but I think I can do this.                         

What are some of your goals for February? How are your previous goals going? Let's chat in the comments!


Always, Raineedayze

Where I've Been

Hey there!

As you guys may have noticed, I've been MIA for a week. However, I did do a ton of things!

Jonathan and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary last week and had a fabulous time! We went to our favorite restaurant, a local burger joint in the mall, and went to the movie theater to watch Split. It was epic and perfect for us. I'm so grateful to have Jonathan in my life and am looking forward to many more anniversaries.

Not on our anniversary, but still in love

I also started my practicum this month. It's on the job training for my counseling degree and it really makes me feel "grown up". It makes all I've been working toward start to feel real, which is awesome and terrifying at the same time. However, it does take up a ton of my time now so I have to really schedule everything in so I don't fall too far behind. It's tough but I'm excited to see where my future leads me.

All this is happening and my birthday is also next Monday!! My life is pretty crazy at the moment but I'm trying to keep everything on track. Hopefully, this doesn't affect my blog schedule too much but I'll definitely keep you guys updated on my Twitter or Instagram.

 I hope you guys continue to follow my journey even through the sporadic schedules! 

Always, Raineedayze