Getting things done

So I have recently had a great push on clearing through my backlog of games that I wanted to play!

In the last two weeks, I have completed Nier (a great JRPG that I highly recommend - the voice acting is great and the music is amazing, and, thankfully, it's not a massive game). The game had an achievement for completing all four endings - which I did! It also wipes your save data after viewing all four....which is linked to the story - but even still, I am proud of the commitment I made to completing that game!

I then moved onto Assassins Creed Brotherhood - now I had almost completed this game before I put down the controller in the lead up to my wedding, but I finished this one too! The storyline has got me so excited about playing Revelations next...really can't wait, and hoping I get that for Christmas!

I also finished playing Halo Reach. I had heard mixed things about this game...notably between those who had or had not read the books that have been written set in the Halo universe. Now if you have read them (as I have) there are elements within the story presented in the game that do not make perfect sense) however, I don't think it ruined it in any way. It told the basic jist of the story through the game for everyone who loves the franchise but maybe doesn't have time to read the books, and I think it worked well.

I also completed an XBLA Arcade title called Stacking - this game was AMAZING! Really....I loved the art style and atmoshpere of the whole game - it was fun, and kept adding some fun new things you could do so that it didn't become too repetitve (which could have happened easily if it wasn't designed so well). I really recommend this game highly. I haven't yet - but will probably get the extra DLC for it soon.

Currently now I am playing Deus Ex. I started this game back when it first came out, but wasn't immediately sold on it, but I have persevered with it, and now am really starting to feel the atmosphere and beginning to not only enjoy it, but pretty much love it. I was told by my husband that it felt like playing through Inception, and I think he is right - there really is that realistic but dreamlike quality in it. The story has gotten my attention, and the sidequests are interesting to keep me wanting to complete those. It's nice that they are linked to Jensen (at least so far) properly and its not just a roundabout 'go collect stuff for someone' side quest. They are adding to the depth and quality of the overall story.

So that's about it at the moment! I am hoping to get a few new titles for Christmas (and also have the time to play them!!) so I will update again when I have gotten through a few more! :)

Wow it's been quiet here :)

It's been a while since I had a project to work on other than the wedding! I think I will have to start making some new lists on here!

Let's see,

1. Playing Stacking on 360 arcade
2. Need to complete AC Brotherhood
3. Need to finish Xmas amigurumi
4. Need to make cookies and cakes for Xmas

I think that should keep me busy for a little while, let's see how far I get with that lot!

Emerging dragonet

Today I have managed to finish and sew on the spikes along the back of my dragonet and I thought I would share the updated pics of how he is coming along! 

I think he is starting to look super cute! :) I have the wings to work on next which I think is going to take me a while, I can't wait to finally finish this project tho!

Halo CTF Tournament

So every May for Gary's birthday, we now hold a Halo Capture the Flag Tournament....which may explain why I have not had too much time to get on with my games list or my reading.

I have completed a little side amigurumi project, I may post pictures later, but am not too taken with it as it was a really rushed job and I think I could have done a lot better.

For the most part, I am concentrating on trying to improve my game of Halo. I have started to play some lone wolves games (I do so-so) to try and just get better with my tactics on different maps and my ability to use different weapons. Gary has been backseat gaming for me as well which does help...even if he thinks he is annoying me as I get a little snappy every now and again ;)

The Tournament this year will take place on May 7th...so hopefully I will get some snapshots of the general goings on and update everyone on here as to how it went!

Next week at work is going to prove to be busy for me, but I am going to try and fit in some reading,crochet and Okami-den on my lunch breaks as and when I can. Dragon Age II feels like it has dropped off the edge of the earth to me as it has been so long since I have played it. I really MUST get back into it, but it may not happen until after the tournament as I really need to spend my time playing Halo to get better :)

Hope everyone is well and having fun!

Kawaii Cupcake

I finished my 3rd little amigurumi project yesterday, a cute little cupcake, and decided that he was just too cute not to give to a friend. Thought I would just share the picture tho that I took before I gave it to Steph!

Cute ickle cupcake guy with a cherry on top ^_^

Today I am starting work on my dragon pattern that I got from an Etsy seller...Have just completed the 2 eyes...a looooong way to go! Might try and play some Dragon Age II as well after I have been horse riding. Hope everyone else is having a lovely sunny Saturday and gets to do something fun in the sun >_<

Need to focus

I have been fairly busy with work this last week so far, right on the back of the busy weekend, so I feel like I have made little progress on my list of things to do.

I have started a new pattern for a little amigurumi cupcake, but it's not really been the focus of my attention. In fact, it feels a little like nothing particular has been the focus of my attention all week! I have been feeling pretty wiped most evenings, opting to go to bed early rather than play games or read my book, so I really feel like I need to get it together this weekend and get slightly pro-active again with my projects!

There also has been the new addition of scheduling in practice time for the upcoming Halo 3 CTF Tournament that we hold every year...So far, this practice time has been far and few between, but I need to make some headway with this if I don't want to let my team down!

I have also started now attacking the wedding invitations! Gathering up all the addresses that I am going to need. Think I will concentrate on just getting out the family invites first. I have a lot to do, so I think it makes sense to split the task up a bit to make it a bit more manageable. :)

Saturday evening we should be having a fun filled board game evening! Hoping we get to play an epic game of Tomb as it has been a long time since we have played this. Hoping we get to go in pairs as I really enjoy getting to sneakily discuss tactics that I come up with to my partner and working out ways we might be able to win!
It's also the end of season game of basketball on Sunday, so there will be fun at the supporters club after with bidding on players shirts and so on. Last year was quite a laugh, so am looking forward to it again this year.

So really this is the start of another pretty busy weekend! I still have horse riding on Saturday too, so just hoping I get a chance to fit in some other bits along the way! Namely finishing reading 'The Wasp Factory' and playing some more Okami-Den.

Busy busy busy bee

I knew I was going to have a hectic weekend!!

Friday evening, I was trying out hair styles for my wedding with my friends Katharine Scott. It was a real good evening, and once we had decided on the 'one' managed to create a couple of other funky hair do's like this one!

Definitely NOT the final pick for the 'Big Day'!!

Meanwhile, Gary was putting Stephanie through her paces playing Halo 3 for the upcoming Annual Halo 3 Capture the Flag Tournament!!

Saturday, was more wedding stuff, with an outing with my flower girl's mum Lauren Dover. We had a lovely time picking out adorable dresses and having Daisy proclaim she felt like a princess. Grabbed some lunch and went for a wander round the shops, where I was taught that the correct order of counting is 'One, two, four, five' by Daisy...I knew I was always getting something wrong!!
We went for a hack during our horse riding lesson - which was a nice change on the one hand, but I am rather hoping to progress onto canter sometime soon, so am keen to stick to schooling for the meantime!
Picked up Gary and headed to the Surrey Sports Park for the basketball. Was there rather early, so got to sit in Starbucks for a while with tea, gingersnaps, humous and carrot sticks and Okami-den. Was pretty awesome!!
The basketball was awesome too, with a really close game which the Heat won by 2 points in the end!
We then went home with Steph and Si for pizza and Halo!! After they left at midnight, and we were just climbing into bed, our friend Chuck called and asked to pop over for a cuppa too! It was a late night, but ended a pretty awesome day. So all in all, although I didn't work on many things from my list of 'to do' (apart from Okami-den) it was a really productive day.

Yesterday was Mother's Day, so needless to say we spent that with my mother - good times ^_^
Had our friend Tom over in the evening for food, chats and Halo. Rounded off the weekend in a great way :)

That's about everything accomplished this weekend! I know I have a busy week ahead too, so will try my best to keep my posts coming, but being away for work in Harwich on Wednesday and Thursday might mean it will be a slow week for gaming...maybe some reading while I am away instead?!

:)

Only a short update...

Today I experimented with my first amigurumi pattern away from the little peanut guy....and this is what I did!

Grim Reaper pattern...but different colours!

There are still a lot of finishing touches to be made...none of the parts have been finished off yet, and nothing has been sewn together. I still need to give him a mouth too...but I quite like him with just eyes...so I might leave that!

He is actually a Grim Reaper pattern from my Creepy Cute Crochet book, but I did't have the correct coloured wool (almond and charcoal), so I decided to just go with these colours for the time being just so I could see if I could follow the pattern...and I think it worked out!

Going off to bed happy with an evening well spent ^_^

A great day for surprises!

Today turned out to be a pretty awesome day!

Firstly, my amigurumi books that I ordered came through a day early from Amazon! I have 'The Complete Idiots Guide to Amigurumi' by June Gilbank (she also has an awesome wesbsite too... http://www.planetjune.com/), 'Creepy Cute Crochet' by Christen Haden and 'Scary Cute' by Anni Obaachan. There are some super cute amigurumi's to make in the books as well as helping to teach me some of the other stitches that I don't yet know about!

My awesome new books

Secondly, I actually had enough time on my lunch break to play a nice chunk of Okamiden. I got past the first boss battle, and am really enjoying using the DS and stylus for the brushstrokes and combat. I could have easily continued playing even for a while longer, but my battery began to die...so I will play some more this evening once it is all charged back up again!

Lastly, I had a lovely surprise from Catherine!! She gave me this awesome kit which has different sized eyes for amigurumis, and detail stuffing tool and some stitch markers!!Thank you so much for this awesome little pressie Catherine!! Really happy that I am building up this little kit of all things to do with crochet :)

So happy to have the stitch markers! I am worried every time I leave my work partially complete usually!

Last night was also super successful as I finally managed to complete my first peanut amigurumi!! It has no eyes, as I didn't have any then, and I still am lacking a yarn needle, so cannot tie off the tail to complete him, but I am so pleased that I feel like I have finally figured out what it is I am meant to be doing. I will probably attempt a more complete peanut guy (with eyes and ears) before moving onto any other patterns, just to make sure I really do know what I am doing and that this wasn't just a fluke!!

My Peanut!

All in all it's been a pretty good day! Will have a read through my books and play some more on my DS tonight I think :)

Got the right stitch - but losing count!

So with help from Catherine Woolley, I have managed to finally learn the correct crochet stitch!

I was so excited about this that I set to work on my peanut amigurumi at lunchtime today, but I was rushing and unfortunately lost count a couple of times.

Not sure how well the picture shows it, but its very squished up all on one side!
I am home alone this evening, so going to attempt this again, but slower and taking my time counting properly! And also hopefully fit in some Dragon Age II as well! I really need to finish this game as my list is still not getting any shorter of games to play.

I also need to finish a couple of classics that I never played with Gary, namely the Metroid Triology and Beyond Good and Evil. I seem to just keep remembering more and more things I need to do!! :)

All squished on the right side

So yesterday was full of awesomes

I got to have a nice lazy morning. I don't often get these as my body clock likes to wake me up before 7.30am most weekends. I went along to the Surrey Sports park with Gary in the early afternoon and sat in Starbucks having a coffee and playing some Okamiden on my DSi.

I loved Okami when it came out on PS2, in fact, it was the first game that I actually completed - which at that time was testament to how much I enjoyed it. I thought the art style was great, the levels well balanced and the characters fun and engaging. I also then completed it on the Wii. When I heard that there was a sequal coming out on the DS, I was hyper to say the least! I am already a couple of hours into the game, and am getting to re-explore lots of familiar levels >_<

I decided, I quite like sitting in a coffee house playing games. I am lucky that I don't mind sitting by myself I guess, as some people don't like doing that. But I quite enjoy being with my own company a lot of the time. I guess this is why I like little projects to be working on!

I also got to watch some basketball and hang out with friends with awesome food and watched Scott Pilgrim which I hadn't seen before. I like watching new movies and really enjoyed it. Might be tempted to add that one to the collection ^-^

I also had a great conversation today with my friend Catherine, who is the one who got me into amigurumi in the first place. I was definitely doing my crochet stitches wrong, so am looking forward to now giving it a go again but doing it right this time! Will upload more pictures of my progress as soon as I make a start on it! I have ordered a couple of awesome looking books and am also keen to try and make the katamari prince as well as a little sackboy!

Tonight, I have another lindy hop lesson..lets see what moves I learn this week!

I have too many things to do...

Fact.
I want to study and get my degree. I want to read the massive back logs of books I own, plus more besides. I want to play so many videogames. I want to learn amigurumi until I am proficient and can make any cute little animal or monster that I want to. I want to get into an industry that I love and can be happier in my working life. I want to learn lindy hop and be able to dance the night away with my fiance. I want to be able to spend more time horse riding. I want to be able to go to the gym more and get back into shape. I want to spend more time with my friends....

I need to place some kind of an order to these things, or at least, to document them...know what I have accomplished already so that I feel some sense of achievement, because right now, its just a growing list of things to do!

My current project is learning how to do amigurumi. I have just started. I am trying to make some peanut shaped animals, and have just completed my first attempt at the basic shape (though lacking a yarn needle means I am unable at this moment to complete it and tie it off!).

Fully completed, just need to tie off the tail

Just after finishing the head of the peanut

I am also playing through Dragon Age II. I am loving this game, so much more than the first one...the gameplay and controls feel alot better this time around, and I think I also prefer the storyline a little more.

 I am also currently reading 'The Wasp Factory' by Iain Banks. Its a very disturbing book, and as such, I find difficult reading in large chunks at a time.

Along with dancing every Monday, horse riding every Saturday, and going to the gym 3 times a week, I think this is enough to be getting on with right at the moment!

Oh, did I also mention I am planning my wedding too?! Ok, A LOT of things going on right now! But this is what makes life so interesting and fun, right! ^-^