2015 Appreciation Post

     My absolute, final appreciation post! For something that was suppose to be a one time post, I think I've done pretty well with an unexpected blog series. I've enjoyed doing a monthly appreciation post and allowing readers into my world of what I love. Whether it's actors, royalty, cities and countries or just what interests me in general.

Blogging

     2015 has been a good year, not a great year, but a good one all the same. However, for my website, 2015 has been explosive. As I said in my vlog pilot, I had only done 60 posts in 2014 and I had wanted to do more this year. I broke my blogging record in May with not only 21 posts in one month, but a total of 66 posts in 5 months! By the end of this month I would have made over 135 posts total; that's 75 more posts that last year!!!

     This year, I participated in two blog parties, both hosted by Bella Delallo, The Lord of The Rings Blog Party in February and A Very Musical Blog Party in October.

•      Created my first tags, 5 Female Characters and 5 Male Characters.
•      Wrote my first blog series, Assemble and Unite
•      Had a continuing monthly vlog series
•      Continued with my movie reviews, but worked primarily on expending the history category. 
•      As well as participated in numerous other tags over the months

      

World News

     I've tried to keep up with the world news that interests me, primarily the birth of Princess Charlotte Cambridge who has become quite the darling, as would be expected of any new royal baby : ) I am so happy for the whole family! Also, the 63 year reign of Queen Elizabeth II who has now surpassed her great-great grandmother Victoria and seems to have no plans of stopping!

     The Pope made an historic three day visit to America this summer, stopping in New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. While I was unable to keep up with his visit, I had the opportunity to read about his life, his theology and his religious standings since visiting the U.S. and I have to say that I hold a great deal of admiration for him. While I may not agree 100% with his religious views (not as a Catholic, but as a leader of Christianity), I have come to the belief that many of his words and comments have been taken grossly out of context and radicals (such as the LGBT and women's rights) have only been using his more modern ideals and twisting them around only serve their continuing selfish purpose. 

      The Planned Parenthood scandal has had me in a flurry of anger toward the disgusting and inhumane use of unborn babies, but also relief in knowing that doors have been thrown open. Now the world has had a real look at what Planned Parenthood really is and slowly the whole organization is beginning to crumble. 

     Another scandal(s) that rocked 2015 are the two Duggar scandals both involving, Jim Bob and Michelle's oldest son, Josh. The first scandal was the revealing of his molestation of five young women, four of them being his sisters, when he was 15. While many people came down on the Duggar's with vengeance and ill-will, many stood by Josh and the family, including Fox News. The second was the hacking of the Ashley Madison website that arranged secret affairs. Josh's name was found on the site and once again, the Duggars were thrown into the den of lions. However, little to no mercy has been shown to Josh or his parents, but there has been a great deal of support for Anna.

Movies and Television

     I was so happy that I was able to see so many good movies this year! Including the top 3 summer blockbusters, Cinderella, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Jurassic World. I also saw The Minion's Movie and Inside Out, both I loved! It was a great movie summer and I haven't had one of those in a very long time.

      Of course, how can I not mention British drama!!! This year has been an explosive year for BD, with the continuation of Downton Abbey - Season 5, which was absolutely wonderful and even had me in tears on several occasions and also, season 4 of Call The Midwife, that while I thoroughly enjoyed, I had some problems with certain unneeded content. When the season finales of both shows came and went, BBC and ITV premiered their new series, Poldark (a mix of 18th century Robin Hood with no small amount of Downton Abbey drama thrown in) and The Crimson Field (Call The Midwife meets the 4077). 

     It was also a summer of mobster history as I spent 8 weeks completely immersed in AMC's The Making of The Mob: New York. Not only was the mini-series absolutely addictive in its period drama filming, but so were the historians and authors that made the history of the Mafia in all its infamous glory all the more real and exciting. 

     And finally, my mom got my family and I addicted into a new British crime series, Broadchurch starring David Tennant as a broody, but brilliant detective determined to right the wrongs of his past, when he investigates a murder in a small seaside village. The show is nothing but mindblowing and every character of the show holds secrets that eventually ties each one of them into the investigation. A great watch!

Personal

     As far as my personal life, which I would like to keep personal, I can proudly say that I have finally finished school and am satisfied for graduation!!! I'm going to take another semester until official graduation in April, and my classes are  all history, English and religion, a well deserved fun semester!!!

     In October my older sister invited me to Great Wolf Lodge for a few days as a birthday trip. If you've never heard of Great Wolf Lodge, it's an indoor water park and hotel for families, but it extends beyond the water park with interactive role play games such as MagiQuest and Shadowquest. My niece and I spent two days playing MagiQuest and WOW! I thought it would be a kid's game, but it was actually quite difficult, but it was sooo much fun! If you're into magic, roleplay, scavenger hunts or all of the above, Magiquest is your game. 

     And the presidential election is coming up and as crazy as it sounds, I actually look forward to them. As of right now, I'm not sure who I'm voting for, seeing as it's rare for the Republican party to actually have a long list of reasonable candidates, but I'm totally enjoying the drama for now : )

So long 2015!

It's been a crazy, but wonderful year!