Thursday, December 25, 2014

The Apocalypse Is Coming (So Thank Goodness for Ichabod and Abbie)

Hey y'all!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and if you don't celebrate, Happy Holidays to you!! Hopefully, you are very happy with loved ones at the moment. I know I am :)

T.V. Thursday is upon us again and as many shows are in hiatus at the moment, and I can never watch anything when it actually airs, I've decided to start bingeing on my days off. That's what you'll be seeing over the next few weeks. This week is Sleepy Hollow, one of my absolute favorite shows from FOX.

It's already in its second season and man, it never gets boring. I absolutely love the premise as since my full, legal, first name is Katrina, I love that I get to be a witch and I look amazing with red hair :) I also have a pretty good-looking husband, no? And I know that pretty much everyone ships IchAbbie, but honestly, I'm a Katrina (we stick together). I'd like him to stay with his wife (me), thank you.

So here is (some of) Season 2, in its re-capped glory for you. Enjoy!

   "This Is War" - In the opening of Season 2 for Sleepy Hollow, we find Ichabod and Abbie a year after everything in Season 1. Henry is their captive and the two have lost both Jenny (Abbie's sister) and Katrina (Ichabod's wife). We know it's a year later because Ichabod and Abbie celebrate his birthday with a "surprise party" or Abbie turns off the lights and brings out a small cupcake with a candle on it, lit. Both are quite patriotic and it's a cute, little domestic scene. They find out about the key that Franklin made and when they question Henry, Abbie has a revelation. The duo walks away from him and then Abbie says that Jenny was the one who found the actual key or, at least, knows where to locate it. That is when Henry stops the illusion and we find a year has not passed, Moloch just wanted to know where the key was. Ichabod is still in the coffin and Abbie is in purgatory. Katrina, she's still captured by the Headless Horseman and, as we found out last season, he is her former fiance. She left him for Ichabod (obviously, the better choice, all around) and he hasn't gotten over that. Katrina is still putting up quite a fight. He places a necklace on her that allows me to see his face and converse with him. He tells me that Ichabod will be dead by midnight and that she should just be with him again. She politely declines, saying her heart has already been given. It's a lovely scene, really. The key Moloch needs because it is able to bypass the one law of purgatory, that for every soul that leaves, there must be a soul that remains. He wishes to leave purgatory, with a demon army, and begin his reign on Earth. Jenny was captured, since she had been in that car crash with the Headless Horseman, and led Henry to see the notebook and pages about the key. As Ichabod was Benjamin Franklin's apprentice, thankfully, he and Jenny were able to locate the key first and save Abbie by getting her out of there. Henry is visited by Moloch and given a suit of armor, equipped with flaming sword, that is his to command. (Season 2, Episode 1)

   "The Kindred" - So we went through all that in Ep 1 and now we've got even more crazy. There's a new sheriff in town and she's not messing around. I have to say, I understand where these types of characters are coming from, but nothing makes me angrier than having people in the way. So at the moment, I don't like her. She's messing everything up and because of her, Jenny is now in jail. She caught Jenny with all of the weapons. The three, before Jenny was jailed, decide to bring to life Franklin's creation, The Kindred. They believe the monster will fight for them and will be a helpful ally. Abbie visits former Captain Irving in jail to know what the location of the Headless Horseman's head is. He tells her and Abbie and Ichabod go to a bank. He is not overly fond of the place and it definitely shows. The witnesses then travel along to find the other part they need to give rise to The Kindred, the rest of the body. The spell to create The Kindred needed to have a piece of the Horseman in order to fully go against the Horseman. The Kindred is supposed to be a vessel that will defeat the Horseman. They also wanted to have The Kindred in order to come get me. Katrina has finally convinced Abraham (a.k.a. the Headless Horseman) to wait until she am ready to give myself freely. She convinces Ichabod to leave her at the safehouse so that she can be a mole. As for Frank Irving, he has been transferred to a psych hospital, the same one that housed Jenny for 13 years, and is now undergoing treatment, as per the sheriff's protocol. The Horseman of War, Henry (but his given name is Jeremy), goes to be his lawyer and retrieves blood from the former Captain. It is all a part of the newest plan for Moloch to rise, but Katrina has yet to gather all of the details. (Season 2, Episode 2)

   "Root of All Evil" - Episode 3 and we hit the ground running. The duo go to visit Irving and find out they are banned because Henry said so. Abbie and Ichabod set out to find out what the new plan is so they follow Henry. They find him at a bank and then there is a gunshot once he has left it. A teller is feeling unappreciated and so Abbie attempts to talk her down after requesting back-up. She continues talking to the teller until Reyes shoots her, as she's backup. They leave the bank and Abbie is convinced that the teller would never act like that. Figuring out about the coin, they leave to do more research. Jenny gets out of jail and meets Abbie and Ichabod in the archives. There, she accesses Reyes' files and finds out that through her testimony, their mother, Lori Mills, was put into the psychiatric ward where she later took her own life. Abbie confronts Reyes about this and she justifies her actions by saying she believed the treatment would help. Sheriff Reyes is really getting on everybody and Ichabod now has 24 hours to have his existence documented and for her to see. Now this coin has been circulating and it has already taken two victims plus casualties. The third victim turns out to be Jenny Mills. Abbie and Ichabod find this out when Jenny's friend Hawley calls them to let them know what's happened. Jenny has stolen a high-powered rifle and is on the loose. Ichabod and Abbie think that the next casualty will be Abbie but when she goes to see where her sister has gone, it seems Sheriff Reyes is the intended target. Meanwhile, Ichabod and Hawley go to a church to get consecrated glass to protect themselves from the coin's effects. They are able to apprehend Jenny before she kills Reyes but Hawley goes as soon as he has the coin in his grasp. Reyes gives Abbie her mother's file from Tarrytown, and Abbie discovers that her mother was tormented by demons. Ichabod goes to Tarrytown and is able to tell Irving who Henry really is. Henry, on the other hand, is now living in the manor where he was born and he sets fire to the bedframe where he was born. Hawley shows up and says the coin is in a safe place and he's going to look for the other 29 of them. He leaves an ID for Ichabod. (Season 2, Episode 3)

   "Go Where I Send Thee" - A little song to start this ep and a missing girl. Ichabod and Abbie try and get hi to learn how to drive and Ichabod learns quite rapidly. Then they receive the Amber Alert for the missing child and head out to the site. It turns out that the mother of the missing girl was Abbie and Jenny's caseworker when they first became foster kids. Ichabod and Abbie head to the woods to see if they could find her. They find a bone flute and Ichabod plays it, which sends Abbie into a trance. Once broken, Abbie questions what happened and Ichabod now has knowledge ofthe perp. He tells Abbie about a piper who played such beautiful music on the flute that he once was able to fool an entire British garrison and kill them. The two hatch a plan in order to go find the girl. Using modern technology, they record the sound of the flute melody and then head out into the woods. Ichabod trails Abbie and eventually stops her when he sees someone. They head over to where the person is and find Hawley. He is injured but insists that the girl can still be saved. The three head on to find her and encounter the Piper in his lair. It turns out that there is a curse upon the Lancaster family that each generation, upon a child's tenth birthday, they will be taken by the Piper and their bones used as a base for the Piper's flutes. They try and defeat the Piper but simply subdue him while taking Sara home. The job isn't over, of course, but Hawley bows out and demands his payment - the flute. Abbie breaks it and gives it to him. They give Sara back and then find out the intricacies of the curse. Ichabod and Abbie manage to defeat him entirely so that the Lancaster line can continue without the curse. We find out at the end that the buyer of the flute was Henry and he starts to pulverize it into dust.(Season 2, Episode 4)

    "The Weeping Lady" - Whew, we've come a long way but we're getting into the thick of it. Things start off with two teens in a car doing icky teen things and then they encounter what will be known as The Weeping Lady. Scared, they drive off. I'm able to use a bit of my magic and get a message out to Ichabod. Abraham inquires Henry to come and strengthen the wards so that I cannot use any magic. Caroline makes another appearance and brings Ichabod quite a few new things. Things are misconstrued and Ichabod hurts her feelings. He goes to her residence to reverse the damage and when Abbie and he leave is when Caroline is killed. Her body is found next morning and Ichabod is distraught. They find the tire tracks, question the teens, and then go to the library to conduct research on The Weeping Lady. Hawley is there, coincidentally, and so is The Weeping Lady as Abbie finds out. In the library, my message reaches its incipient and Ichabod is given courage and hope. Ichabod does manage to save her and pull her out of the water, but it is Hawley who administers the CPR that ultimately saves her life. The paramedics check over Abbie and then they head back to the archives to do research. Abbie has managed to grab a piece of the lace from The Weeping Lady and so Ichabod has new knowledge. The lace is from the shawl of a woman he was once promised to, Mary. She was insanely jealous and possessive and so they believe that Mary's soul is The Weeping Lady. The Weeping Lady's next target is me so they rush over to my place. When they get there, Abraham rides out and so they know I'm gone. Ichabod finds the letter inside one of the rooms and because Abbie has prior knowledge, they hurry to the river to find Katrina. She has managed to defeat The Weeping Lady and so Ichabod and Abbie find her. They have apprehended Mary and because of Katrina and Abbie's combined power, are able to converse with her now that she is not an enraged spirit. Ichabod then learns that the letter he previously received from Mary saying it was okay not to be with her actually came from Katrina, because Mary had asked for a meeting that evening and she died accidentally by falling. The Horseman comes soon after and Katrina leaves with him, once again. Ichabod laments to Abbie how there is no true trust between him and Katrina. They attend a memorial for Caroline that Abbie helped to coordinate. We then see Henry thrown around by Moloch because The Weeping Lady was something that Henry cooked up all by himself. Moloch needs Katrina alive because she is going to play an important part in The Apocalypse. The last thing seen is Henry on the floor, upset because all he wants is to be loved (I think anyways. I'm pretty sure he'll come to his senses and will help out his parents) (Season 2, Episode 5)

   "And the Abyss Gazes Back" - Ep 6 and we meet Corbin's son. It turns out that when everything happened with Corbin, he was in Afghanistan and is now home, honorably discharged. Abbie and Ichabod first are trying to do yoga in order to calm themselves and find out ale will help calm Ichabod more. At the bar they go to, Corbin Jr. is there and he has started a fight which gets him banned. They follow Joe out and then hear a police call about a disturbance in Pioneer Point where Joe's license plate has been spotted. Taking the call, they drive over there and encounter some sort of creature as they get there. It has run off but two victims have been taken and Joe is injured, talking about something his dad had said. Abbie visits Joe in the hospital and he tells her to just go away. In the archives, research is done to see what kind of creature the two encountered before Joe and it isn't found until Ichabod remembers Daniel Boone saying what he thought his brother might be afflicted with. As a Native American legend, the two now believe that Joe is a wendigo as what happened to his platoon overseas is exactly what happened in Pioneer Point. He wasn't there to kill and maim though. He was looking for something that his father wanted him to find. Abbie and Ichabod get to him as soon as he finds what he was meant to. They confront Joe and explain to him their roles in the upcoming war. Joe starts to run and when Ichabod gets hurt and bleeds, Joe changes into the wendigo creature. They run and escape Joe but then capture him and wait until after he changes. Ichabod and Hawley go to the Native Americans that will help them. Hawley isn't very well received but Ichabod, having his first-hand knowledge, is able to respect them and get the knowledge needed to help Joe. Henry goes to where Joe is being held and ambushes while Ichabod and Hawley are out. Joe goes with them so that Abbie and Jenny can stay safe. Henry causes Joe to undergo another wendigo transformation and if he doesn't get the correct treatment, he'll permanently be a wendigo. Ichabod and Abbie go on a hunt where they act as bait and Joe follows them as a wendigo, driven by the blood. It's because of Abbie's belief that Joe is able to be human again. Ichabod got a skull from the Native Americans and got some blood from Joe in order to have him become human again. It turns out that the bone pipe from the crazy Piper of the third episode Henry ground up and sent to Joe which caused the wendigo transformations in the first place.

Whoo, so much and that was only six episodes. I love this show.

Laterz,
Trina
"Trust is the only currency with any value."
-Ichabod to Abbie, Sleepy Hollow 

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

O Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Hey y'all!

Alrighty, so for today's Tunes Tuesday, I did say I was going to keep it festive and so I'd like to spotlight an old holiday album but one that I hold dearly as I first heard it as a child. Growing up in the milennium, there were a few things that I know if you didn't do/hear/watch it yourself, you heard/had knowledge of its existence. One of these things is the sister duo, Aly & AJ. They came out with a holiday album and I absolutely love it.

My favorite track on there has to be "Not This Year" cause sometimes that's how I feel. Of course, the whole reason for this holiday has religious basing but for those who don't believe or celebrate it in that way, it can be so consumed with gift-getting and everything so this song is definitely for the people who feel Scrooge-y but are not actually in fact, Scrooge himself. That is probably a really bad way to put it but it's true.

I also love "We Three Kings" because it's my favorite Christmas carol. Especially when I'm at Mass, I really love to sing that one. I'm not sure what it is about the song that makes me love it so much but it's just been my favorite since I was little. I suppose what I love about it is that it is very low in key and not overly loud or high voice wise as I'm a mezzo-alto but a little bit lower. I can't hit all the crazy high notes but I can hit some.

To put it short, this is a great holiday album, sung by two really great people. Hope your holidays are going fabulously! Mine sure are.

Laterz,
Trina


"And the lights are cool but they burn out/And I can't pull off the cheer"
- Not This Year by Aly & AJ 

Monday, December 22, 2014

The Battle of Five Armies

Hey y'all!

So I'm sure that y'all saw my tweets about it but this weekend I saw the last Hobbit movie as well as when it opened on Wednesday. So obviously this movie monday, it's Hobbit time. I will say first, this movie was not as long as I thought it was going to be. It was only 2 1/2 hours, at that. That's insane for a Jackson movie considering I plan on having 3 hours of my life consumed each time. Quite happily, I might add.

Also, I don't know if you guys have fully stalked me on my Instagram, but a year ago around this time, I saw Hobbit 2 with my little plushy Bilbo. I wished to do the same for the last movie, but alas, he was nowhere to be found! You can imagine my dismay at not having located him and seeing the last movie without him. I'm planning on making it up to him by having a Hobbit marathon once the last one comes out on DVD.

Plot time! (*Note that if you have already seen the movie, this timeline of sorts is completely out of tune with how the movie happened. I'm literally just typing and trying to not write about details from the other two movies)

In the last movie, The Desolation of Smaug, Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Oin have been left in Laketown so Kili can recover with Bilbo and the rest of the Company at the Mountain. Smaug has taken off and he is headed to put the fear back into Men as per a dragon is wont to do. Bilbo is distraught at the obvious danger the other dwarves and the people are now in.

Once Smaug has been defeated by the combined efforts of Bard and his son, Bain (and it took a lot, let me tell you), Laketown has been left in ruins and they are trying to rebuild. The entirety of the survivors move into Dale, which is much closer to the Mountain since Laketown was burned to ruins. Thranduil comes with aid but it is not out of the goodness of his heart. There is a treasure in the mountain he wants, jewels made of pure starlight. Thorin starts fortifying the castle, knowing that there are others who now will come to the Mountain for the treasure it holds, which is immeasurable, really. Kili and the rest of the Company rejoin their brethren now that Kili is much better.

The dwarf king has gone insane. His mind has been addled with what they call the "dragon sickness" and all he wants is the Arkenstone and for the gold to stay safe so that no one else will take it from him. He doesn't care about the other dwarves or that a war might brew and he has the chance to stop it. When Bard rides out to the Mountain, he asks Thorin to make good on his promise to the people of Laketown and just give them enough of the treasure so that they will be able to rebuild.

Thorin refuses him and that night is when Bilbo goes to Dale to give Bard and Thranduil the Arkenstone, the one thing Thorin desperately wants. Gandalf has returned and is in Laketown after being held captive at Dol Guldur. He found it when he was alone in the Treasure Room with Smaug in the last movie. He's held onto it seeing how Thorin has changed. The two accept and ride back to the Mountain in the morning. Thorin and the Company do not believe it is truly the stone until Bilbo comes forward and speaks out of his actions. Thorin feels utterly betrayed and if not for Bilbo being ingratiated into the group, he might've actually died when Thorin ordered him thrown from the ramparts where they stood.

Bilbo escapes and runs to Gandalf's side, who has ridden along with Bard and Thranduil to confront Thorin a final time. Dain, Thorin's cousin, comes along with his army and at that time as well, the army of Orcs is seen. So while the Elven and Dwarvish armies and the army of Men are fighting the Orc one, Thorin and the Company stay in the Mountain. The Men fight in Dale while the women and children barricade themselves. The other two armies fight in the fields against the other part of the Orc army. It isn't until Thorin comes to his senses that the Company then breaks the bridge and joins the fight.

Since Thorin has now come out of the Mountain, he, Kili, Fili and Dwalin go to fight Azog to finish off the fight. Legolas and Tauriel have already come back from their journey to Gundabad and warned of the other Orc army on its way. Gandalf knows that Azog is setting a trap and that Thorin needs to be warned. Bilbo offers to go and uses the Ring not to be seen. Tauriel also heads that way. Once the Hobbit's there, Thorin tries to call back Kili and Fili, who he sent to scout, and instead sees Fili in the hands of Azog. He's then killed. Kili throws himself into the fray and starts to fight Bolg.

Tauriel fights other Orcs in her way to get to Kili. She's injured and that's when Kili comes to her aid, but he is killed in the process as well. Legolas has already found a perch to start shooting people out but he runs out of arrows before he can help out Tauriel. He does manage to kill Bolg though, and that helps me feel way better about everything else. Thorin is currently engaged in a battle with Azog at the moment and Bilbo has been knocked out so he's out of the battle. That calmed my nerves immensely. I was extremely nervous for Bilbo and his state of well-being so to know that he was out of the way was great.

After all that, Legolas says he cannot stay. Thranduil urges him to go on and find Aragorn, who is known as Strider then. Of course, a lot of people had issues with this cause it doesn't work out timeline-wise. If the actions in The Hobbit happened 60 years before The Lord of the Rings trilogy, how old is Aragorn really?! Personally, I don't care. I love these movies, I think Peter Jackson did well once again, and that's my final stand on this whole thing.

Thorin gains the upper-hand several times during the fight but it is only until he is at a stalemate that he has Azog stab him in order to finally kill Azog fully. Bilbo finds him and spends Thorin's last moments with him. The Battle is finally over and everyone gets together to put the pieces back. Bilbo decides to leave for The Shire and the rest of the Company gathers to tell him goodbye. He offers them a place anytime for them at Bag End and heads out. 

When he's back at Bag End, they are having an auction to sell Bilbo's possessions since he has been gone so long. He has an altercation with his cousin, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins (which I love. It's one of my favorite parts of the movie, to be honest. I just think it's hilarious) and takes back his Hobbit Hole. The movie ends with him being old and reflecting upon his adventure and Gandalf knocking on his door. Pretty much, the start of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Alrighty, this is super long, but what else did you expect of a Jackson movie? If I left out parts, I'm not too concerned cause this blog post is just an overview, not an actual play-by-play, no matter how much it may seem like one.

Laterz,
Trina

"You know very well who I am, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. And those are MY silver spoons!"
-Bilbo to Lobelia, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Week 16

Hey y’all!

So here is Sports Sunday 2! I’m excited for this because my team still has a chance for the play-offs!! (Even though we lost to the freakin’ Colts) and so that makes me happy. Cause that means more football!

First off, this is last week’s real vs. projected winners

Packers v. Bills
Jaguars v. Ravens
Buccaneers v. Panthers
Bengals v. Browns
Texans v. Colts
Raiders v. Chiefs
Redskins v. Giants
Dolphins v. Patriots
Steelers v. Falcons
Broncos v. Chargers
Jets v. Titans
Vikings v. Lions
49ers v. Seahawks
Cowboys v. Eagles



Well dang. I predicted pretty well. 11/14 games predicted correctly! I’m pretty proud of myself :)

And here are my players and how many points they scored each

QB Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears) 3
RB Alfred Morris (Washington Redskins) 1
RB Chris Ivory (New York Jets) 11
WR DeAndre Hopkins (Houston Texans) 11
WR Steve Smith (Baltimore Ravens) 9
TE Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs) 17
FLEX Kelvin Benjamin (Carolina Panthers) 25
D/ST Patriots D/ST (New England Patriots) 42
K Cody Parkey (Philadelphia Eagles) 14

Bench Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks, QB) 11
Bench Shane Vereen (New England Patriots, RB) 11
Bench Dan Carpenter (Buffalo Bills, K) 31
Bench Jared Cook (St. Louis Rams, TE) 1
Bench Steelers (Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST) 25
Bench Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City Chiefs, WR) 15
Bench Latavius Murray (Oakland Raiders, RB) 4

So pretty much, my defense saved me cause I finally won. Thank goodness for the Pats D. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda ticked at both of my quarterbacks, but I know for next year, not to pick either of them.

As my family's league is in the playoffs right now, of course I'm in the consolation bracket but I've won a game already so I'm advancing! Hopefully, I'll win this week as well.

Here's my lineup for this week:



QB Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks)
RB Alfred Morris (Washington Redskins)
RB Chris Ivory (New York Jets)
WR DeAndre Hopkins (Houston Texans)
WR Steve Smith (Baltimore Ravens)
TE Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs)
FLEX Kelvin Benjamin (Carolina Panthers)
D/ST Patriots D/ST (New England Patriots)
K Cody Parkey (Philadelphia Eagles)

Bench Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears, QB)
Bench Shane Vereen (New England Patriots, RB)
Bench Dan Carpenter (Buffalo Bills, K)
Bench Jared Cook (St. Louis Rams, TE)
Bench Steelers (Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST)
Bench Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City Chiefs, WR)
Bench Latavius Murray (Oakland Raiders, RB)

*I switched my QBs because since Cutler has been doing horribly, he was benched this week.

Moving on to Thursday's match-up: Jaguars v. Titans

Alrighty, so I have to be honest, I don't like either team. But I definitely dislike the Titans more than the Jaguars. So the fact that the Jags won is pretty okay with me. I do have concerns about the Jags as the Texans face them next and since we still have a shot at the playoffs, they would love nothing more than to knock us out of the running.

Both teams are part of the AFC South and the Jags are 3-12 while the Titans are 2-13.

Another thing, this week we had Saturday Night Football. Y'all. I was so excited. I'm not a big fan of college ball so I love Winter Break cause it means NFL all the time.

So here are Saturday's games recaps:

Eagles v. Redskins - I was surprised that the Redskins won but proud cause I have an RB from Washington. Both teams are in the NFC East. Eagles: 9-6, Redskins: 4-11

Chargers v. 49ers - Well, I was kinda ticked at the 49ers, because now the Texans need the Browns to beat the Chargers since the 49ers couldn't get it done, even though they were beating them the whole freakin' game. We just need the Chargers to lose once, goshdarnit. The Chargers are in the AFC West and the 49ers are in the NFC West. Chargers: 9-6, 49ers: 7-8

Onto today's games and whatnots!

12:00 pm - Ravens v. Texans, Browns v. Panthers, Bears v. Lions, Buccaneers v. Packers, Chiefs v. Steelers, Dolphins v. Vikings, Jets v. Patriots, Falcons v. Saints

3:05 pm - Giants v. Rams

3:25 pm - Bills v. Raiders, Colts v. Cowboys

7:30 pm - Cardinals v. Seahawks

Predictions:

12:00 pm - Texans, Browns, Lions, Packers, Steelers, Dolphins, Patriots, Falcons

3:05 pm - Giants

3:25 pm - Bills, Colts

7:30 pm - Seahawks

Why:

12:00 pm - I'm a Texans fan, first and foremost. In my experience, the Panthers haven't always been amazing and the Browns have a better record. The Lions have been doing well this season. The Bucs aren't that good... The Chiefs are good, but the Steelers are better. This one threw me but I predict the Dolphins because their record is better. Pats are always good. The Saints have just... I don't even know this year. So, Falcons. 

3:05 pm - The Rams have been off-and-on and the Giants have been doing okay even with all of their problems. 

3:25 pm - Um, the Raiders are playing? The other team will win. GO. COLTS. PUMMEL THE COWBOYS. 

7:30 pm - C'mon, Hawks, because Wilson hasn't been doing that amazing this year. I need this win.

Okay, and this is still super long. Oh well. Happy Football Sunday!

Laterz,
Trina


"Football is football and talent is talent. But the mindset of your team makes all the difference."
-RG III, Washington Redskin QB

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Style Saturday

Hey y'all!

And thus begins StyleSaturday #2!!! This Saturday I'll be waking up super early to go with family to see The FINAL Hobbit, which I'm so psyched for, as well as eating at the Hobbit Cafe and then heading off to work. So a busy, busy day that I will probably need lots of coffee for :/

Anyways, seeing as I'm probably going to be doing a lot, I created a few Polyvores that you may view below. I probably will not follow any of them. No kidding. I really don't have my dream closet and so I'm making these Polyvores as both style inspiration pieces and as ideas to spring for when I'm shopping for me (after I've gotten healthy, though. That's what I'm really waiting on)

Here is the final product!
I Am Death


River island top
$19 - riverisland.com


Helmut Lang elastic waist pants
bernardboutique.com


Roberto Cavalli black booties
couture.zappos.com


Garnet earrings
diamondwave.com




Dragon Rider headpiece, Black scale with Pink and gold highlights,...
etsy.com



So this is what my dream cosplay would be. I absolutely love these pieces (especially the shoes. The. Shoes) and I would walk around practically anywhere wearing all this. Hopefully, y'all enjoy and it inspires you to dress up as one of my favorite characters, Smaug.

Happy Hobbit Weekend!

Laterz,
Trina


"I am fire. I am Death."
-Smaug

Friday, December 19, 2014

Feature Friday

Hey y'all!

Wow, so it has been a really, really long time for one of these!! Now once I'm more independent (a.k.a. at college with access to a car and living in my own place), these will get way more interesting. But for now, these posts will be about YouTube people I enjoy watching, books or a game that I've been addicted to. That's my life right now, besides work :/

This friday is all about Miss Meghan Rienks. She considers herself a personality channel but she's a little of everything so I highly enjoy her. As y'all know, I love watching beauty gurus on there and so that's how I first caught wind of her, from one of her routine videos.

She is a real hoot, I must say. I've been binge-watching a TON of her videos (not her vlogs though, I haven't started on that channel yet) and she is just so funny without even trying that she keeps me entertained for hours. 

She is participating in Vlogmas, as a lot of YouTubers are, but as I mentioned before (in a side note, mind you) I haven't started watching her vlog videos, so I'm not sure how they are. They are not horrible, that much I know. She's too much to not have great videos vlog-wise too.

Okay y'all, be sure and go check her out!! As always, adventure on and comment if I should check out anything :)

Laterz,
Trina


"Frozen mangoes are the best!"
-Meghan (although I'm not sure if that's the exact quote :/) 

Thursday, December 18, 2014

T.V. Thursday

Hey y'all!

I have not been keeping up with a bunch of my t.v. shows and in preparation for this post, I didn't get a chance to catch up with practically anything. So these are entries gleamed from my drafts so if they sound odd... Well, I worked instead of watching t.v. You're welcome for this much getting done.

Here we go, y'all. It's a few, honest.

Forever
    
   "Skinny Dipper": This episode was crazy for me. Before this episode, it's when Henry got into a cab and he ended up with "Adam" as the driver. In the beginning it re-capped what had happened in the previous episode and then started from when Henry was in the cab. So we see Adam driving and Henry urges him to stop the car since Adam is driving recklessly. He then ends his life by shooting himself in the head and disappears which leaves Henry in the car. It careens off the road into the water and Henry dies by drowning. He's revived and comes back in the water naked, of course. Henry gets caught by NYPD and then things happen. I have to admit, during the drive, I was on the edge of my seat. I thought Adam was going to deliberately kill Henry or something, which is irrational of me (ah, I can't even believe I'm typing this) since he's practically immortal, but still. Yeah, this post is going to have a lot of italics cause it was an emotional time for me. (Y'all know I get attached to my characters. I watched it with my godmother, which made it even more overwhelming). I was worried!! Anyways, so he comes back and basically, "Adam" starts killing people and soon enough it looks like Henry's in charge of the murders. He finally tells the truth to Detective Martinez but modernizes it by saying that "Adam" is a stalker. NYPD buys the story and goes to try and get the stalker. It turns out that the actual murderer is a mental hostpial patient that "Adam" was the therapist for!! SO YES. We have seen Adam. I REPEAT, WE HAVE SEEN ADAM. I gasped aloud and my godmother said, "I knew it! That guy was too creepy." Adam was the therapist and he even had a session with Henry. The moment I saw Adam's face, I wanted to go into the T.V. and just shield Henry from everything. AUGH, I felt so enraged and confused and upset and just-argh. Just argh, y'all. (Season 1, Episode 11)

Marry Me

"Pilot" - I have been looking forward to this show but I wasn't sure I was going to be constant with it until my dad had me watch it with him. Voluntarily, of course, as we both appreciate Casey Wilson's brand of humor and were excited to see her new show. I have to say, it was hilariously entertaining and surprised me. I laugh at practically everything so when my dad laughs, it's a good sign that the show is funny. As we were both cracking up, this episode was pretty good. Annie and Jake have been together for 6 years and Jake chooses to propose while Annie doesn't realize it and goes off on him, in the process badmouthing their friends and family who are hiding waiting to surprise the happy couple once they've been engaged. Unsure as to where they stand, she comes up with the idea of proposing to him and coincidentally gets Jake fired from his job. Annie and Jake then end up at the restaurant that they first met at separately without the other knowing. This is a sign they take to mean that they really are meant to be together so Jake proposes then and there. It's been a week since the first botched proposal and their friends and family are once again waiting for them. They are at another location and are getting ready to leave when the two show up. They all go in after Annie reconciles with them to have a drink and celebrate the engagement.

New Girl

   "Injured": This episode was hilarious, as usual. Jess and the guys were playing tackle football when after they huddled, Schmidt threw the ball and Jess tackled Nick. The fallout of that was Nick's back being hurt and Jess trying to help him. Of course, he refused the help and stated he didn't have insurance and so couldn't go to the doctor. Jess offered her doctor friend, Sadie, to give an unofficial opinion and then she and Nick went to the office.  Sadie saw them and unofficially prescribed some pain meds (heavy-duty menstrual cramp meds) to help with his bruised spine and noticed something when Nick was drinking water to swallow the pills. She mentioned that something might be wrong with his thyroid and Jess and her planned for Nick to have an ultrasound. The gang, Cece included, then have a crazy night because Nick thinks that he might be dying thanks to Jess, Schmidt and Winston getting all teary-eyed and upset at the idea. Jess asks Nick what he wants to do and he says he's not spontaneous. If he did something, he'd be the responsible guy. Everyone ends up at the beach and Nick just runs into the water. They spend the night on the beach and go to the doctor's in the morning. (Season 1, Episode 15)

   "Table 34": Jess and Nick wake up from the aftermath of their kiss. They have an awkward morning-after encounter while everyone else is still asleep. When Jess goes back into her bed, Sam wakes up and Jess deigns not to tell him about what happened the night before. She then goes to Cece's and blurts out what Nick's done. Winston goes into the kitchen, where Nick is, and Nick tries to tell Winston what happened, but Winston is so ecstatic that he was with Daisy last night, that Nick barely gets a word in. Jess rants to Cece about the kiss and deliberates over whether or not she should tell Sam and if she likes Nick or not. Cece tells Jess about the dating convention she's going to when Jess asks about her plans for the day. Schmidt has decided that he's going to attend the same convention that Cece is going to and has dressed for the occasion. Believing Jess won't be there, Nick decides to tag along and Winston wants to go as well. When Nick sees Jess, he does his panic moonwalk and gets out of the room. Winston gets mad when he follows Nick and hits him when he confesses that he kissed Jess. Cece and Schmidt have a confrontation where Schmidt tells Cece he's still in love with her. Nick finally talks with Jess and apologizes for the kiss. They get into a minor discussion about how the other felt about the kiss and both sides try to say that the kiss meant nothing. Sam arrives because  They all go in to the convention and start all of the intended activities for everyone there. Jess and Nick fight the entire time and things get pretty heated. (Season 2, Episode 16)

Scorpion

     "Shorthanded" - Scorpion is seriously one of my favorite shows for fall T.V. I love the genius and the fact that everything is higher thinking. Happy is hands down my favorite character. Sh'e hilariously blunt and serious. When Paige says she wants to grow up to be her, my sister said, "I want to be her!" I think she's a fabulous role model for young girls and women of all ages as to her skills and knowledge. Enough about that, this episode was too much. It cracked me up with the wit and banter and also what happened... Sylvester drove. I think the Human Calculator is the absolute cutest thing so whenever he's in distress, it's adorable. To see him driving at 1 mph or however slow he was going was so precious. Thank goodness Walter got himself out of jail just in time to take the wheel. ...I knoooow, I skipped parts. But that was my favorite! Synopsis is: Walter and the team go to Las Vegas separate of Agent Gallo to try and prove themselves as independent and that they did not need Gallo's help with their endeavors. They get there and think they've solved the problem by firing an employee that is losing the casino money just by being a dealer. When a robbery takes place, Walter gets framed for it. He is then in jail and the team kind of falls apart without their leader. Paige takes control and gets them going on the task to free Walter. Toby and Sylvester go to try and win the bail money while Paige and Happy pair up to find evidence that Walter didn't do it. Meanwhile, Walter ends up in jail with the aforementioned employee and after a bit, the two reconcile and Walter helps the employee come up with a way to be a baker, like the man wants. He then helps Walter escape jail by setting fire to a piece of rayon using items in the jail cell. Walter meets with the team that have successfully started going after the casino's files on their own. Four get out while Toby unfortunately plays bait and gets caught. Toby's captor turns out to be the actual mastermind behind the whole plot; turns out, that the casino's owner's daughter feels slighted and wants to run the casino down into the ground. Toby sends an encrypted text to the team and Walter calls in Gallo to help save Toby. They end and Toby and Walter reconcile as they had a bit of a falling out while Walter was still in jail. (Season 1, Episode 4)

Told y'all it wasn't too too much :) Happy T.V. watching!

Laterz,
Trina

"Luck doesn't exist. Math and science does."
-Happy from Scorpion 

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Workout Wednesday

Hey y'all!

Alrighty, I gotta be honest, today I work 9-2 and then again from 6-10 so I knew I was not going to be able to workout besides walking my brother to school and then walking back home. So I decided today's post would just be about what food I was eating and how healthy that was.

Meals Today:

Breakfast: Eggs with veggies & oatmeal with brown sugar & milk & a grande pike place roast from Starbucks with sugar and skim milk

Lunch: Lean Cuisine Chicken Teriyaki Stir-Fry

Snack: Margherita Flatbread from Chili's

Dinner: Pizza :( (I knoooow, I was doing so well, but I was tired when I got home)

I also drank a ton of water because, as you know, water really fills you up and so I always try and drink a ton everyday. Usually, if i get a big glass of water, I can just stick a straw into it and then it's gone in a matter of minutes and I can get my day's daily dose of water iiiin about a couple of hours.

I am really trying to be more healthy y'all, but it is not an easy feat. I know, I know, the fact that I'm living at home should not limit me, I should still be able to be healthy, but really, I hate cleaning, especially after cooking, and it is just too expensive for me to be buying my own groceries. Plus, I usually work at such odd hours that I'm so freakin' tired and I don't want to do anything but watch YouTube videos or read something while curled up in my bed. (a.k.a. I am super freakin' lazy)

So here is my attempt. For sure starting in January, just like everybody else, I will be working out, and really trying to make an effort. Yes, I should be starting right around now but I can't. Especially with this next week I'm working a bunch of hours and there's just no time unless I wanna start going into sleep-deprivation mode which is not a pretty Trina, y'all. I promise.

Hope you had a great Wednesday! Work out extra hard in the gym for me, lovelies :)

Laterz,
Trina


"Your body is your most priceless possession... So go take care of it!"
-Jack Lalanine 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Tunes Tuesday

Hey y'all!

Welcome back to Tunes Tuesday! I've been having phone issues so I kinda lost all my tags so I won't be able to do a Shazam thing for ya but since it is December, I decided my tunes posts should be holiday-themed!!

So, this is one of my favorite holidays songs but I'm not sure if counts?? If y'all don't know, I love a mixture of different genres but one of my absolute favorite bands is Bastille. I actually saw them live when they were here in Houston at NRG Park Arena and aaaahhhhh, it was amazing.

They have a song called "Tuning Out" which starts out with lyrics from "O Holy Night" and I just love Dan's voice, really. That's what makes this one of my favorite holiday songs. It is also very mellow and really chill. The song is just relaxing to listen to and it's definitely been on my Spotify playlist, That One Song and I admit to having listened to it on repeat for, um, quite a while...

So, that's it for today's post! They'll get longer once I get used to writing again.

Laterz,
Trina


"Fall on your knees/O hear the angel voices/O night, divine/O night, that leads to morn"
-Bastille, "Tuning Out" 

Monday, December 15, 2014

Movie Monday

Hey y'all!

So it has definitely been a superfreakin' long time, but here is my movie. I saw Penguins of Madagascar Thanksgiving afternoon so yes. This is a really long time in coming and it should have been typed out and published a few weeks ago. You can wring my neck and slam my head in later, thank you. I do not disagree with you.

But oh my gosh.

If y'all don't already know, I'm about the childish 20-year-old out there, which, apparently, you're not supposed to really advertise but I would honestly rather go to the movies and watch a children's movie than what is considered an adult's. I find I always have more fun watching those instead of watching some... I dunno, I just like kids movies better.

Also something to know, I am a HUGE fan of Benedict Cumberbatch. Which, honestly, who isn't these days? (I will say I have been a fan of his for years. YEARS. So I feel justified in watching anything with him and that being the sole reason in doing so) So I have to say, I was really excited when I heard he was going to be a voice actor and especially Penguins? Oh man. I was psyched.

As to how it happened on Thanksgiving of all days, I had Thanksgiving with my mom's side Thanksgiving Day and came home the same day. My mom decided we should go see a movie so my siblings and I went to go see Penguins.

And it was amazeballs.

The plot was new and I liked how it went from where the Penguins actually started and then went through the Madagascar movies and went further. Benedict was the best and I just really enjoyed it. Ken Jeong was in the movie as well and he has always been a favorite of mine to watch on Community

If you need a movie to watch with kids or just to have age-appropriate entertainment for someone or multiple someones, this is a great movie. If you're a fan of the Madagascar series, oh man, watch this. Cause if you're a fan, you most likely are a huge fan of these little birds. It's exactly what you expect from a Madagascar movie and filled with plenty of laughs considering these penguins are always a source of great comedic relief.

Erm, I think this is it for today, cause I haven't been keeping up with this and I'm pretty sure this is about all I talk about.... Anything I should add, please comment and lemme know.

Laterz,
Trina


"Debbie! (Dave.) Dave!"
-Skipper and Kowalski, Penguins of Madagascar 

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Sports Sunday

Hey y'all!

Alrighty, so I know that I have been supposed to be keeping up with this blog but I promise that now I'm going to! (I know, I've been making and making these promises, but this time is for realsies. Super-duper promise this time) I did promise that I was going to start doing a post eeeeverrrryday and I'm going to do this.

So this is going to be Sunday!! It sounds weird, but I'm highly addicted to sports. I haven't always followed every sport as well as I could have but right now, American football is what's up. My team is definitely the Houston Texans and even when I move wherever in my lifetime, it will be the Houston Texans. Please don't ask me to change or anything. No, I am not a Texans fan just because of J.J. Watt but maaaaan, am I glad we've got that guy.

First off, please, do not take my word as gospel as right now, I currently have a record of 3 wins and 11 losses. That is 11 straight losses. Second, no, I'm not a horrid fan, I just don't have a good lineup and as the league I'm in with my family is 10 teams total, there's not much room for improvement as everyone picked up who they wanted in the draft and, of course, they're not gonna give up the good players. (We play in the ESPN Fantasy Football League, if anyone cares)

This is my current line-up and bench:

QB Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears)
RB Alfred Morris (Washington Reskins)
RB Chris Ivory (New York Jets)
WR DeAndre Hopkins (Houston Texans)
WR Steve Smith (Baltimore Ravens)
TE Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs)
FLEX Kelvin Benjamin (Carolina Panthers)
D/ST Patriots D/ST (New England Patriots)
K Cody Parkey (Philadelphia Eagles)

Bench Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks, QB)
Bench Shane Vereen (New England Patriots, RB)
Bench Dan Carpenter (Buffalo Bills, K)
Bench Jared Cook (St. Louis Rams, TE)
Bench Steelers (Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST)
Bench Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City Chiefs, WR)
Bench Latavius Murray (Oakland Raiders, RB)

For those who don't know, the NFL (National Football League) has games on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. Since Sunday was my off day that I didn't have something for, I decided sports would be my sundays because I'm obsessed. I can watch any sport because I played a bunch of sports and I just love sports. It's one of my favorite past times. But as the NFL isn't super conducive to this, I'll probably just say predictions of what I think about the Sunday and Monday games and comments of the Thursday game.

Here goes nothing.

Thursday's game: Cardinals vs. Rams

So I only have a Rams TE on my lineup and he's on my bench at that so I didn't actually watch the game on thursday. But maybe I should have freakin' watched it as I'm currently losing to my uncle 25-0. The only good thing about this is that I haven't played any of my players and 2 of his only scored 25 points! Hopefully, that will be in my favor this week and I'll finally get a stinkin' win...

Long story short, the Cards won, 12-6, with 1 TD and 2 field goals and my Rams TE only got 1 point so I'm so thankful he was on my bench cause I would have been severely ticked at him. Both teams are part of the NFC West and currently the Cardinals are in 1st place and the Rams are in last. (Side note: there are 16 teams in the NFL and they are split up into groups of 4 in 4 separate conferences)

This season, the Cardinals, obviously haave been killing it and the Rams have kind of been up-and-down. If I had been listening to sports radio talk shows, as I normally do, I would be able to say so much more about this, and I apologize in advance.

Okay, Thursday done.

So, today's games are going to be as follows:

12:00 pm - Packers v. Bills, Jaguars v. Ravens, Buccaneers v. Panthers, Bengals v. Browns,  Texans v. Colts, Raiders v. Chiefs, Redskins v. Giants, Dolphins v. Patriots, & Steelers v. Falcons

3:05 pm - Broncos v. Chargers & Jets v. Titans

3:25 pm - Vikings v. Lions & 49ers v. Seahawks

7:30 pm - Cowboys v. Eagles

Predictions:

12:00 pm - Packers, Ravens, Panthers, Bengals, Texans, Chiefs, Giants, Patriots, Steelers

3:05 pm - Broncos & Jets

3:25 pm - Lions & Seahawks

7:30 pm - Eagles

*Note: These predictions are not only with how I know how teams are doing but also because I am not a fan of other teams and obviously, I will always predict that the Texans are going to win

Why:

12:00 pm - The Bills haven't been doing amazing this season and Rodgers (Packers QB) has been having a FABULOUS season. I don't really see much changing. While the Jaguars are definitely full of good players, c'mon guys. It's the Jaguars. They're not winning unless it's the Raiders. Or the Buccaneers. Maybe at that. That being said, I think the Panthers will win as Cam Newton has been doing alright this season. Nothing too bad. I was kind of undecided so I went with my gut and it said the Bengals. I dunno why (It's probably because I abhor Manziel and yes, I'm a firm believer that the Texans did not need him) but gut said so. The Texans is an obvious choice as I am a huge fan. I will say this, even though we haven't had a super awesome season, we still have a chance at playoffs as long as we win all of our remaining games. The Colts are also in our division so beating them definitely helps us. As mentioned earlier, the Raiders just aren't good. So of course, I'm going with the opposite team. In this case, the Chiefs. Plus, I do have a Chiefs player so he best get me some serrrrrrious points this weekend. The Giants have been a little shaky with Eli Manning's inconsistencies, but I still think they're a good enough team that they can beat the Redskins. While the Dolphins have shaken their "Oh man, you are horrid" aura, I will still be apart of the fanbase that saw the Pats at their highest point where it seemed that no one could beat them and they just kept getting the Superbowl trophies. (Plus, this is Chris Evans' team. I will forever be a partial fan of theirs). Last but not least, I think the Steelers will win since the Falcons just haven't been doing too awesome this season.

3:05 pm - Peyton Manning. Need I say more. The Tennessee Titans are always going to be an adversary to me. As such, go Jets.

3:25 pm - The Lions have been having a better season and have some better players, Simple as that. Again, the Seahawks have been having a better season and they are last year's Superbowl champs. I'm waiting on a bit better playing but they haven't crashed and burned so kudos.

7:30 pm - This is another way over-opinionated prediction. The Cowboys are playing? Crush and pulverize them, Eagles.

And I'm gonna stop. Holy crackers, this post is so freakin' long. I'm done.

Laterz,
Trina
"Winners never quit and quitters never win"
-Vince Lombardi

P.S. Omg, I am so sorry for all of this. I had no idea it was going to be this freakin' long. Well, this shows off my true passion, I guess, which is hilarious because I mostly spend my time reading and listening to music.