Thanksgiving, Birthday, Christmas and the End of the Year

Man this year has been crazy. For all those that might have wondered where I've disappeared to or if I ended up in a ditch somewhere, I am happy to report I am alive. Since my last post, things have been crazy. Not only all the approaching holidays, but my continuing lessons in Swedish have escalated into more work and more focus. I decided to host both Halloween and Thanksgiving, and with Thanksgiving being the first time I've ever hosted (cooked) a big meal with a lot riding on that turkey coming out edible, it was a lot of pressure.

Then at the beginning of December, my sister came to visit me, which meant the world considering this would be the first time I wouldn't celebrate Christmas and New Years with the fam. For my birthday week, we popped down the Berlin, Germany to visit the Christmas markets and for my sister to visit a country she's always wanted to go to. Safe to say, Berlin isn't what I expected, and I would probably never go back, but maybe the temperature being the coldest it had been in Germany this month didn't help matters. But we got to see the Brandenburg Gate, the remains of the Berlin Wall, and Museum Island whose architecture was the most impressive of all. Despite going for four days, it was constantly a busy day.  

After our Germany trip, it's been the Christmas rush ever since. Getting gifts, decorating, meeting people. It's all been exhausting. But I didn't have to cook, and I didn't have to host, so that was a silver lining. And now we fast forward to the end of the year. Man it's been a ride. I didn't get my next book published this year, but I know that will be my new year's resolution. I guess settling into a brand new country is harder and takes more time than I realized. As I slowly fit in here, both with the people, the culture, and the way of life, I'm hoping this coming new year will help me find my footing. I appreciate everyone who continues to support me or listen to my ramblings because it means more than the world to me. But to cap off this year, I'm going to do one of those year in review things and fire off a list of things I loved or hated this year. 

Best Movie I Saw: Bullet Train (I haven't seen Glass Onion or Everything Everywhere all at Once)
Worst Movie I Saw: Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (Thor 4 might be worse, but this movie was also my most disappointing I paid money to see)
Best Song I Couldn't Stop Listening To: About Damn Time by Lizzo
Worst Song I Wanted to Stop Listening To: ABCDEFU by Gayle
Best TV Show I Saw: The Sandman
Worst TV Show I Saw: She-Hulk
Best Book I Read: The Observer Effect by Nick Jones
Worst Book I Read: Kurtain Motel by A.I. Nasser (See my review on why I disliked this one)
Best Game I Played: Guild Wars 2
Worst Game I Played: Lego Lord of the Rings (Played on PC with no controller)
The Thing I was Most Excited For: The anime Bleach returned after 10 years hiatus
The Thing I was Least Excited For: MCU Phase 4
My Favorite Place I Visited This Year: Sweden
My Least Favorite Place I Visited This Year: Berlin (only because it was so cold)
What I'm Looking Forward to in 2023: Releasing my Next Book
What I'm not Looking Forward to in 2023: Tax Season


I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and I'll hopefully be back with more exciting news and releases!

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