2016 Secret Santa

This year I again participated in Broke and Bookish's Secret Santa. It was a lot of fun last year so I was excited for this year. I sent off my package at the beginning of the month and eagerly awaited for my gift to come. Yesterday it came and it was amazing!!!!
Allison from Aliza Shandel really put a lot of thought into my gift. I got three books, tea, chocolate, bookmarks she calligraphed Jane Austen and Tolkien quotes on, and gloves she embroidered a T.A.R.D.I.S. and Doctor Who quote on and a flash drive with some fun reels and jigs. All of my favorite things!!!!
Here are a few pictures of the goodies!

Thank you Allison!!!!

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Back to the Future Book Tag

I saw this tag over on Spoonful of Happy Endings and had to steal it. :)

Name a book/movie/show that makes you want to go back in time when you were younger and enjoy it all over again? 

Book- Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Those are all some of my favorites and I would love to go back and experience the wonder of entering those worlds again. 

Movie- LOTR for sure. My siblings and I are rewatching the films right now and that was just something I mentioned the other day. Experiencing the world of LOTR on screen for the first time must have been incredible but I can scarcely remember the first time I watching the movies the first item and I grew up watching them! 

Show- Since I never really watched TV shows growing up I'm not sure. I guess I'll go with Doctor Who. It would be interesting to watch it for the first time again and see if my opinions of characters were different. 

What's your favorite sci-fi and/or fantasy book/show/movie?

Book- Well LOTR again for fantasy. I don't read much science fiction so I'm not sure I feel qualified to speak to that. Maybe Ender's Game? 

Show- I think the only fantasy show I've watched is The Adventures of Merlin, which is excellent. For sci-fi definitely Doctor Who! I also love Stargate: Atlantis.

Movie- LOTR and Star Wars! 

What's a moment in a book that takes place in the past or future that you'd like to revisit?

I would love to sit in on the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird. 

What's a fictional store, cafe, ect. in a book/movie/show that you'd like to visit?

Book- I'd love to visit the shops from Harry Potter. The Leaky Cauldron, The Three Broomsticks and all of those! I also think it would be cool to visit The Prancing Pony from LOTR. 

Movie-The cantina from Star Wars. ;) 

Show- The postoffice from Lark Rise to Candleford. 

Name an automobile or way of a travel in a book/movie/show that you'd like to take for a ride.

Book- A carriage from Jane Austen's books. Classic. :)

Movie- The Millennium Falcon! 

Show- The T.A.R.D.I.S. obviously! 

Favorite Fiction Sicentist

Rodney McKay from Stargate: Atlantis. 

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The Get to Know Me Tag

I've seen this tag on a couple different blogs and I decided to steal it cause that's what I do. :)

Vital Stats

Name- Lois :)
Nicknames- Lo-lo sometimes if my family is feeling obnoxious. Peppernut (big backstory there). Lego-lois (like Legolas... get it... it's hilarious... especially if you say it a million times). Lois Lane from my patients because they think it's absolutely hilarious and that I've never heard that one before. I have... too many times thank you!
Place of Birth- Kansas!

Firsts

Award- I'm not sure. Probably something from 4-H.
Sport- Ha! I did gymnastics when I was a kid but never played a sport otherwise except at home.
Real Holiday- I think the first memories I have of holidays would be Christmas but the first one I would have experienced would have been Easter.
Concert- Well there's a special story for this one but I don't actually remember it as I was just a wee lass but I've just heard it many times. Anyways, the local orchestra was preforming and my family was there and we were sitting in bleachers and I guess me, being the bouncy youngster that I was, was hopping between my dad's legs during it and I managed to fall through the bleachers. I hit the cross bar on the way down and my screams upon hitting the ground stopped the concert. I've been a show stopper ever since. ;) Anyways I survived with just a bump on my head and a great story. :)

Favorites

Film- Pride and Prejudice (1995) which is technically a miniseries but if I had to chose an actually movie that was a favorite I couldn't! A few of my favorites that I could watch over and over again though are McLintock, Charade, National Treasure and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
TV Show- Doctor Who
Color- Blue and all of it's variations
Song- Currently I think Celtic Woman's "When You Go". It's addictively catchy. Listen to it!

Restaurant- I don't go out to eat much but I do love Panera. For a real nice restaurant I always loved Macaroni Grill but they got rid of the one close to me some years back. :(
Books- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Currently

Feeling- Tired. :(
Single or Taken- Single
Eating- I had a salad... for breakfast... which was kind of weird but I was craving one.
Watching- Chocolat with my mom.
Wearing- My pajamas. The costume of queens!

Future

Want children? Very much so. But as the old saying goes... First comes love, then comes marriage THEN comes a baby in a baby carriage.
Want to be married- Very much so.
Careers in mind- Well I am currently a nurse and the only reason I see to ever change that is if I become a wife and mother. I always wanted to be a writer but I don't think that will ever happen. :)
Where you want to live- I love where I live. Kansas is a great state. :) Now England, Scotland or Ireland would be lovely too.

Do You Believe In...

God- Yes
Miracles- Yes
Love at first sight- Really? No.
Ghosts- No
Aliens- No
Heaven- Yes
Hell- Yes
Yourself- I believe that I can do nothing except through Christ so I guess no. I believe in God and his ability to work through even me. :)

Want to do this tag? Be a Lois.... steal it! ;)

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Movie Review- Doctor Who

For the 42 challenge I'll be reviewing the Doctor Who movie.
When I first heard about the Doctor Who movie I heard it wasn't that great... in fact awful. I thought people were probably overreacting.... they weren't. The movie was supposed to be an attempt to reboot the show... I see why it failed.
I liked Paul McGann as the Doctor... he was the best part of the movie. Sure the dialogue he was given wasn't great but he did the best he could with it. I would have loved to have seen him more as the Doctor besides that tiny clip before Day of the Doctor. I think with a good script he could have been a great Doctor. Also a nice nod to Sylvester McCoy in his little bit before he regenerates. Though that was the lamest way the Doctor has died yet!
The T.A.R.D.I.S. interior was interesting though... I'm not sure whether or not I like it or not... it was different.
The companion Grace Holloway wasn't bad but wasn't great. It's kind of cool that she's a medical doctor and that she was operating on the Doctor. I thought it a little funny how she ended up messing up the surgery because of his two hearts. When he pulls that probe out of himself though.....
The Master is the villain of the story but he was just super weird.... not in a funny way like in the New Who but in a really creepy and utterly stupid way. I was not at all taken with him... not that you're really supposed to like the Master but the whole thing with him was ridiculous.
Chang Lee the young Chinese-American just doesn't make any sense. Why is he there and why do we care? This of course brings us to the whole Eye of Harmony thing and that the Doctor is half human. I'm not sure I'm totally against the Doctor being half human though I know it's a controversial point and one fans like to pretend didn't happen. I don't think the movie is considered canon so we can pretend it didn't happen if we want to. ;) The Eye of Harmony thing though was just weird and dumb.
I think the film just suffered from a bad script and not the greatest acting jobs.
If you're a Doctor Who fan you might enjoy watching it just to see what it's like but you'll probably be disappointed. If you're not a Doctor Who fan... you'll just be confused and probably never want to watch Doctor Who so don't because I promise you the show is so much better!

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Classic Doctor Who TV Reviews

Earlier this year while on the way to Colorado for a family ski trip, my cousin and I watched a few classic Doctor Who episodes. It was very interesting to see the roots of the modern day Doctor Who and look at how far it had come. Here's my reviews of them for the 42 Challenge.

An Unearthly Child

The very first episode of Doctor Who with William Hartnell playing the Doctor. It was so cool to see this episode and see where it all started. There's the introduction of the T.A.R.D.I.S. the first companion Susan (his granddaughter) and the whole Doctor Who world. There wasn't any alien involvement in it except a tiny peak into the next episode at the end of it. It was still quite enjoyable to experience it though. 

An Ark in Space

A fourth doctor episode with Tom Baker playing the Doctor and Sarah Jane as his companion. This is a very popular Tom Baker episode so that's why I chose it to watch but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was funny in parts for sure and I love his scarf..... that thing is so long! The special effects are lacking... but that's not their fault. It is funny though that they used bubble wrap as the slug slime stuff in this one. I read that they chose bubble wrap as it was a new invention at that time and everyone thought it was so cool.... sadly bubble wrap does not look very cool or sci-fi nowadays. Overall it was enjoyable but I'd like to experience a different Tom Baker episode to see more of him... maybe Genesis of the Daleks.

See what I mean about he bubble wrap! 

Earthshock

A fifth doctor episode with Peter Davidson playing the Doctor. I liked this episode and I really liked Peter Davidson as the Doctor. I can see why he was David Tennant's favorite. It was interesting to see the older Cyberman... they look... different. The companions in this one are Nyssa, Tegan and Adric. 

Dragonfire

A seventh doctor episode with Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. This was one of McCoy's first episodes as the Doctor and also introduced a new companion Ace. I liked McCoy as the Doctor a lot and I also really liked Ace. She was lots of fun. Mel Bush was also a companion in this episode. Overall I enjoyed Dragonflre.

I hope to see more Classic Who episodes in the future and especially explore some of the other Doctors. 

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TV Review- Doctor Who Season Nine

After a rocky last season, it was great to see a more solid season in season nine of Doctor Who. For the 42 Challenge I'll be reviewing it. Since several of the episodes this series were two parters I'm reviewing the two parts together.

The Magician's Apprentice and the Witch's Familiar

These episodes sees the reappearance of Missy (aka the Master) along with of course the Doctor and Clara. Davros, the creator of the Daleks along with is creations show up for a classic episode. I love how this episode showed the Doctor giving mercy to Davros as a child which caused Davros to instill a sense of mercy in the Daleks. A solid beginning to the series. 

Under the Lake and Before the Flood

I really enjoyed these episodes and that they had a deaf person and sign language! Very different but lots of fun. Plenty of scare as well. :) And the notecards that Clara made for the Doctor are so perfect. He needs them... he never says the right thing... much to our enjoyment. :)

The Girl who Died and The Women who Lived 

I preferred the Girl who Died over The Women who Lived but they were both enjoyable. The introduction of Ashildr (aka "Me") is interesting. Personally I'm not a fan of Ashildr but I do find her interesting. She's so sad and angry... I pity her. I think the Doctor is right on not taking her with him in the T.A.R.D.I.S. and I hope she doesn't become the next companion.

The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion

Maybe my favorites of the series, especially The Zygon Inversion. I love the Doctor's speech in it. Clara as Bonnie is well done and you can really see Jenna Coleman's acting talent in it. 

Sleep no More

I'm so-so on this episode and it seems the general opinion on this episode is all over the place... some love it some hate it. I'm in the middle somewhere. It was kind of boring but the concept was quite... original... and the twist at the end was unexpected. I am interested to see if they'll continue on with where the end of the episode left off.

Face the Raven

What to say about this episode? It was a good episode, great plot... but.... SPOILERS!!!

Massive spoilers below!!!

Clara died!!!! I mean we all knew she was going to leave sometime this series and my guess was that she would die but still... it was sad. Her speech to the doctor at the end was beautiful. Overall though I did feel like there was something lacking in her farewell. The question is though... is she really dead? I guess we'll find out. :)

END SPOILERS

Heaven Sent

What a cool episode! Very different then the others with mainly just the Doctor appearing in it the whole time. Quite chilling as well. And the reveal at the end! Ahhhh! I couldn't wait for the next episode! :) 

Hell Bent

Not what I expected. I do feel like after so much build up about finding Gallifrey when he actually found it he was just focusing on Clara... not on Gallifrey. It was a little anticlimactic. I'm not sure how I feel about the Clara twist either. I think it worked for the most part though. The Doctor really needed to let go of her and how they concluded that was pretty well done. Overall I enjoyed it. :)

There's my thoughts! Now I'm excitedly anticipating the Christmas special and the return of River Song!!!!! :) 

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Top Ten Theme Songs

I saw this over at Meanwhile in Rivendell and being a tag stealer and a theme song lover I stole it. No regrets. ;) To make it simpler, I'm excluding themes from actual musicals. They are in no particular order.

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit

Duh! That music is so good! Howard Shore created a masterpiece when he wrote that music. The shire theme always just makes me feel at home. :)

Doctor Who

Because Doctor Who! What else matters? ;) I love the theme music, the tenth and eleventh doctor's themes and all of the companions themes but especially Clara's. 

Jurassic Park

I could listen to it's theme music all day long! I can't get enough of it. :)

Indian Jones

So much fun! So much action! So much Harrison Ford! ;)

Star Wars

John Williams' greatest masterpiece. :)

Harry Potter

I really feel John Williams' music really captures the magic (no pun intended) of the books. :)

Leverage

Because Leverage! And once again... what else matters? ;) Such a fun theme. :) 

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

I grew up with this movie and I grew up with that music. The opening sequence with the lady embroidering and the music playing was a favorite. :)

Little Dorrit (2008)

I think when trying to get me to watch this miniseries my cousins raved just as much about the music as the actual show. Now I know why. :)

Lorna Doone

A magnificent soundtrack.  The "love theme" is one of my favorite musical pieces ever! It actually makes me emotional... which you all know doesn't really happen to me often. It's at 7:37 in this video and you should definitely listen to it. :)

So I reached ten and realized there are so many more I want to include!!!!

So honorable mentions! 

• Pirates of the Caribbean
• North and South (2004)
• Wives and Daughters
• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• The Chronicles of Narnia (LWW) (2005)
• Gods and Generals 
• The Sea Hawk
• Robin Hood (1938)
• Charade

I love listening to soundtracks from movies and TV shows. :) 

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Top Ten Tuesday- Freebie

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is a freebie so I'm going with my Top Ten Literary Couples! :)
When I'm reading a book or watching a movie a lot of what I look for in a couple is respect and a great sense of humor. :) I think that is reflected in this list. :)
Obviously I couldn't just stop at ten! So here you go in on particular order!

1. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
2. Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
3. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
4. Eowyn and Faramir from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
5. Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey
6. Mr. Knightley and Emma Wodehouse from Jane Austen's Emma
7. Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park
8. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth from Jane Austen's Persuasion
9. Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferris from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
10. Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
11. Molly Gibson and Roger Hamley from Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughers
12. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and others
13. Arthur Clenham and Amy Dorrit from Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit
14. Mr. Thornton and Margaret Hale from Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South
15. Beatrice and Benedict from William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
16. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series
17. Sir Percival Blakeney and Marguerite St. Just from Emmuska Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel 

And for the fun of it.... movie and TV show favorites as well! 

1. Parker and Hardison from the TV show Leverage
2. Amy and Rory from the TV show Doctor. Who
3. The Doctor and River Song from the TV show Doctor. Who
4. Martha and Mickey from the TV show Doctor. Who
5. Nick and Nora from the Thin Man movies
6. Han Solo and Princess Leia from the Star Wars movies
7. G.W. McLintock and Katy McLintock from the movie McLintock
8. Patty and Canoe from the movie That Darn Cat
9. Marjorie Winfield and Bill Sherman from the movies On Moonlight Bay and By the Light of the Silvery Moon.
10. Dr. Bradford and Paula Bradford in the movie The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

I'm sure I missed some great ones so comment and remind me! 

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I Mustache You Some Questions Tag!

I saw this tag over at Spoonful of Happy Endings and you all know I love tags so naturally I couldn't resist!

Four names people call me other than my real name

1. Lo-Lo- Mostly my Dad :)
2. Peppernut- A nickname since birth... long history behind it.
3. Lega-Lois- After Legolas from LOTR.... that has a long history to it as well.
4. Lois Lane- Please just do NOT ever call me this! I've never seen any Superman movies and I know minimally about Superman but I promise you basically everything I know is relate to people always relating my name to Lois Lane! I'm sick of it! Don't do it! Rant over. ;)

Four jobs I've had

1. Waterer at a nursery
2. Student worker at my college's library
3. Pig farmer (not sure what my title was actually) at a pig farm
4. No more yet but hoping for a nursing job soon once I graduate! 

Four movies I've watched more than once (I've watched plenty more than once but these are my favorite to rewatch and probably the movies I've rewatched the most... not necessarily my favorite movies).

1. Pride and Prejudice 1995
2. National Treasure
3. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
4. Charade

Four Books I would Recommend (so many but I'm narrowing it down!)

1. The Bible (of course!)
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (duh!)
3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Four places I have visited- I'm not much of a traveller as evidenced here. Not that I don't want to travel because I do, I just haven't much. 

1. Costa Rica
2. Canada
3. Colorado
4. Yellowstone National Park

Four places I would rather be now

1. England
2. Ireland
3. Scotland
4. Italy

Four things I don't eat (actually two... I'm not a very picky eater)

1. Bell peppers
2. Fish (I do eat it sometimes) 

Four TV Shows I watch (A lot.... But I'll just include some of my favorites and of course I couldn't keep it down to just four)

1. Doctor Who
2. Leverage
3. Stargate: Atlantis
4. Psych
5. Monk
6. Firefly

Four things I'm looking forward to this year (2015)

1. Graduating from nursing school!!!
2. Startin a job as a real nurse!
3. Regaining my sanity ;)
4. Spending more time with my family once I'm free from the clutches of school! 

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Me and My Music

I love music! I would say I have a good variety of music I listen to but then again there is still some music I definitely don't listen to by choice. Because I know you really care what music I listen to ;) today I'm going to share about my music.
I'm just going to run down each playlist of mine because that's how I like to separate out my music on iTunes.

Allison Kraus

This is music from a CD that my best friend gave me. I don't listen to it a ton but every once and awhile the mood will take me. One of the songs on the playlist is separate from the disc and I listen to it a lot more often but that's mostly due to fact that it is in my Indulgences playlist also, which I'll get to later. :)

Bach

I grew up on Bach and while he is not my favorite of the classical composers (okay I know technically he is a baroque composer not classical but sometimes I just group them all together so there!). The harpsichord really grates on me for some reason and a lot of his music is harpsichord music. However, I do like playing his music on the piano because it's on the piano.... not a harpsichord. ;)

Beethoven

I love Beethoven's ninth symphony a lot! It's not something I listen to all of the time... normally just when the mood takes me but it is one of my favorite classical pieces (again, I know it's romantic time period not classical but get over it! ;)). I also have some of his piano concertos. 

Bolero

I have one piece by Bolero- Ravel. 

Call Me Madam

This is one of my many musical soundtracks that I have. I was addicted to this one for awhile. As my friends and family know, I normally will be stuck on one song or one CD for a long time, not getting tired of it until long after everyone else is. Call Me Madam was one of those for quite awhile. It has a lot of fun music.

Celtic Woman

I'm a big fan of the Irish women's musical group Celtic Woman. I even got to go to one of their concerts once. I have multiple CDs of theirs. 

Christmas

This is a bunch of instrumental christmas music I got for free for a reason I don't remember. 

Christian

This is my playlist of various Christian music. I have everything from hymns to Hillsong. My favorites on there are When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (to the tune of The Water is Wide), Bless the Lord O My Soul, and Blessed Be Your Name. However, my favorite hymn of all time is Be Thou My Vision... I'd just rather sing it than listen to it. 

Classic Rock

This has a bunch of random classic rock songs. Beach Boys, Frank Valli and the Four Seasons, Billy Haley, a couple Elvis Presley songs and more. This is what I listen to when I want to swing dance. :)

Copland

I don't listen to him a lot but when I do it's Hoe Down... it's a lot of fun! 

Disney

This playlist has a crazy assortment of Disney music! Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (the story is kind of dumb but the music is incredible!), Frozen, Tangled, Enchanted, one song from Hercules (I hate the movie though) and one song from Mulan. It's always fun to listen to a little Disney music. :)

Doctor Who

This is my odd collection of various Doctor Who music including the show's theme song, the companions' themes, the doctors' themes, and a couple parody songs. 

Dvorak

I'm not quite as big of a fan as my younger brother but I do enjoy Dvorka's 9th symphony. My brother is seriously obsessed with it!

Fiddler on the Roof

The story makes me sad but I love the music! 

Gaelic Music

This is a collection of music by Gaelic Storm and The High Kings, two gaelic bands that I love! I have a ton of favorites in this playlist and I listen to it a lot! Gaelic music is just so fun! 

Gilbert and Sullivan

One day a few months ago I went on a kick and listened to nothing but Gilbert and Sullivan all day! So then I had to upload more of their music onto my computer to add to my collection. They're all in separate playlists by the title of the operetta. This playlist just is a "best of" collection. If you aren't familiar with Gilbert and Sullivan you should be! They were a duo who wrote operetta's together. Sullivan wrote the music and Gilbert wrote the lyrics/play. They're hilarious plays and so much fun and the music is just the same! 

Grieg

I love Grieg's piano concerto and the piece "Morning". 

Haydn

He has some great symphony's that I should probably listen to more than I do. 

Home for Christmas

This is Celtic Woman's Christmas CD. I just didn't want to put it in the same playlist as their other music as it's Christmas music. 

Indulgences

This is the playlist I'm probably most embarrassed to admit what songs are in it. This song has the widest assortment of songs. I called it Indulgences as it has music that I feel are indulgences.... duh! However, it's morphed into favorites/music I don't know what playlist to put it in. It started out with three songs and has now grown to 25 songs but it's fluctuated a lot. For example, I used to have my Piano Guys music in there but I moved it out when I got so much of it I thought it deserved it's own playlist. So what am I embarrassed about in this playlist? My pop music. It's dumb music I know but it's so catchy that I get sucked in! I don't listen to the bad pop music never fear, it's just dumb. I do have some classic country music in there as well such as Devil Went Down to Georgia. I have a lot of parody songs in here too. I also have one Julian Smith song and one Rhett and Link song. The majority of the songs in this playlist are in my top twenty-five most listened to songs. I just listen to this playlist a lot. I'm trying to get away from that now. 

Mendelssohn

I have his Midsummer Night's Dream music as well as his Songs without Words and The Hebrides. I love them all! 

Messiah

Meaning Handel's Messiah. I don't think I need to tell you that this music is amazing! 

Mozart

Probably my favorite classical composer! I have a lot of his music. 

Music Man

I love the music from this musical but the storyline is kind of dumb! I was definitely on a kick with this one for awhile. 

My Fair Lady

The music in this movie is amazing!!!!! And it's a hilarious movie. :)

Opera

This playlist has a wide assortment of opera music. This is definitely a playlist that I have to be in the mood to listen to. I'm very selective about the opera music I listen to as well because some of it is just boring.... I'm sorry opera lovers. 

Orla Fallon

Orla is a former member of Celtic Woman and this playlist contains one of her Christmas CDs. 

Pachebel's Canon

This is a CD that has a million different variations of Pachebel's Canon. 

Paganini

I listen to his music every once and awhile. I have his violin concertos.

Patsy Cline

I have a deep love for Patsy Cline's music. It's kind of an indulgent music. It makes me feel sentimental and romantic. :) My Dad is actually a big fan of Patsy Cline as well which I found funny. 

Pavarotti Christmas

You know Pavarotti? Famous Tenor? Yeah, well this is a collection of him singing Christmas music. 

Piano Guys

Here's my collection of music by the group Piano Guys that I mentioned earlier. They're music is a lot of fun and is great for listening to when I'm studying because it is pretty much all instrumental. 

Pirates of Penzance

One of the aforementioned Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas and probably my third favorite. :)

Praise and Glory

A CD full of instrumental hymns that are beautifully arranged!

Rhapsodies Enesco/Liszt

This playlist contains a collection of rhapsodies by Unesco and Liszt... if you couldn't gather that from the title. ;) Rhapsodies are tons of fun to listen to. :)

Rubenstein/Rachmaninov

I'm not sure why both composers are in the same playlist but I'm going to assume that it was because they were on the same CD. They have great piano concertos.

Saint-Saens

Some beautiful piano concertos.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

My favorite musical! It's just so hilarious, fun and quirky and the music is great! 

Singin' in the Rain

Probably my second favorite musical. The music is classic and the movie is hilarious! 

Smetna

So I'm looking at the music in this playlist and wondering why it's entitled Smetna. There is only one Smetna piece in it and the other three songs are by different composers. I'm just going to assume that they were all on the same CD again. 

Sound of Music

Another musical! :)

Soundtracks

One of my favorite playlists and a great one for when I am studying as all the music on here is instrumental except one song. Now you may be asking the same question my brother did, "Why is this one called Soundtracks when you already have separate playlists with soundtracks from musicals?" Good question. This playlist has soundtracks to films that aren't musicals. It contains lots of LOTR and The Hobbit music as well as music from period drams such as Little Dorrit, Pride and Prejudice, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Lorna Doone and then additionally has some music from John Williams such as the music from Jurassic Park, Indian Jones and Star Wars. 

Tchaikovsky

Probably my favorite composer from the Romantic time period. I love his 1812 overture, Capriccio Italiano and Marche Slave. I also have his music for Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. Additionally I have his piano concerto and violin concerto, which are also great!

The Gondoliers

Probably I shouldn't have "The" in front of that title, which is why it got alphabetically placed down at the bottom of the list as I didn't for any of the others. However, there we are. The Gondoliers has my favorite music from Gilbert and Sullivan. It's so beautiful, fun and catchy. 

Vivaldi

I love his four seasons. I have a variety of his music. :)

So that's all the music I have! :) I wish I had Gilber and Sullivan's "The Mikado" on my computer but though my family has the CD I have't gotten ahold of it yet to put it on my computer. I also need to get "The Phantom of the Opera" on my computer.

Please don't ask what songs are in my top 25 most played because I'm too embarrassed to admit to them.... especially the top one. However, I would find it humorous if you guys commented and tried to guess them! If you guess enough right I might even admit to them! I'll be impressed if you can guess, which pop songs I listen to.

I hope you found this post interesting! Do you listen to any of the same music I do? Do you have some music recommendations for me?

With all these reasons to comment, you really don't have an excuse not to... just saying. ;)

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Blessed with Books

For a crazy circumstance in which I didn't think I was doing anything that incredibly helpful or selfless, I was given a $50 gift card to Barnes&Nobles as a thank you! Well that's like a book lover's dream come true is it not? Funny thing is $50 can go really fast when buying books. Since it was something special, I wanted to get nice books and go with quality over quantity. Here's what I got!

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

What a beautiful edition am I right?

Beowulf translated by J.R.R. Tolkien

I just read Beowulf translated by someone else earlier this year and I loved it but I'm excited to get a translation by one of my favorite authors. 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

I re-read these a couple years ago and was blown away by the absurdities and wit that Carroll created in these two books. 

Two Doctor Who Bookmarks

Because I work my love of Doctor Who into everything. ;) These were just nice little bonuses. :)

Overall I'd say I'm incredibly blessed with books! :)

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I'm 21!

This past week I celebrated my 21st birthday!
Did I have a first drink? Yes I did! I had a little bit of wine... maybe four ounces and about that much of a light beer as well. Neither were much to my taste but I think I will try some other alcoholic beverages in the future. I was thankful to have that first drink with my family and friends. We also had a chocolate peanut butter cookie dough cake, which was delicious! To top the day off I got a Doctor Who T-shirt and Doctor Who trivial pursuit as well as the book The Valley of Vision, which is a collection of Puritan prayers. I will be making my way through it this year.
On my birthday my sister and I began our fifth game of Canasta. We had both won two games and our competitive natures are going into this last game, which determines the winner of the best out of five. Unfortunately she won the fifth game so we have started our sixth and we're going for best out of seven now. I'm determined to win!!!
The family also played a game of Apples to Apples on my birthday, which was fun as always. I didn't win... I rarely do, but it was still quite enjoyable. Apples to Apples is just one of those games that is fun even if you don't win.
All in all it was a great birthday! I still need to get my license renewed but I have a 45 day grace period and there's no way I'll wait until the last moment for that... right? I mean... I don't have a history of waiting until the last moment... do I? ;)

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Top Ten Characters I Would Want to be for Halloween

I don't really celebrate Halloween (except candy of course, any excuse to eat candy ;)) but if I could, here are my top ten characters that I would dress up as for Halloween.

Literary

1. Eowyn or Arwen from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
2. Anne Shirley from L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series
3. Lizzie Bennett from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
4. Mary Poppins from P.L. Travers Mary Poppins series
5. A hobbit from Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings

Non-literary

1. Clara Oswin Oswald from the T.V. Show Dr. Who
2. Amelia Pond from the T.V. Show Dr. Who
3. A Weeping Angel from the T.V. Show Dr. Who
4. The T.A.R.D.I.S. from the T.V. Show Dr. Who
5. Rapunzel from Disney's Tangled (after her hair's been cut obviously) ;)

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Top Ten Things I Love about Doctor Who

Last autumn I started watching Doctor Who after months of being told to by my "friends" and "family". ;) Finally I relented and it now has become my favorite TV show. :) If you are lucky enough to be my friend on Facebook you will see that I talk as much about Dr. Who on there as I do about Jane Austen and J.R.R. Tolkien here one my blog. However, today my blog breaks that trend and gives you the top ten things I love about Dr. Who.  Disclaimer right off the bat, this is the only sci-fi show I've ever watched and I'm actually not very familiar with Sci-fi in general (Star Wars, Ender's Game) so this is from a non-sci-fi geek who is just enjoying a great show. :)

1. Number one! The Doctor! Duh! It's kind of important if the main character is amazing! My favorite portrayal of the Doctor currently is that done by Matt Smith but I enjoy all of them. I enjoy the Doctor because he is compassionate, caring, fun and quite dorky. :)
2. Then of course his great companions! My favorites are probably Amy and Rory followed by Clara and then Donna but I like Martha too. They're so caring but quirky in their own way but all with their own issues. It's great to see how they grow as characters throughout the story. 
3. The T.A.R.D.I.S. The space ship with an attitude! 
4. The Weeping Angles- That actually is more of a love-hate relationship. They're my favorite villains but oh my goodness they're scary! My Dad got us a weeping angel mask and I tell you what when you have a little sibling sneak up behind you wearing that and you unknowingly turn around and see that it is terrifying! 
5. The historical characters the Doctor meets- The historical character episodes aren't my absolute favorites but I do enjoy them... especially the Agatha Christie one as she is one of my favorite authors and the references throughout that episode are hilarious! 
6. River Song! Not really a companion but she belongs on this list somewhere so here she goes. River is one of my favorite characters in Doctor Who. She's an interesting compliment to the Doctor that I would have never conceived but really works. Some of my favorite lines from Doctor Who are from her including, "Spoilers" and "Hello Sweetie". I may or may not say "Hello Sweetie" when I answer my phone (only when I know the person obviously). 
7. The Silence- Great villains and I really get a kick out of all of those memes with them. Maybe those memes are actually what I really love about the Silence. P.S. For those Whovians reading this, I totally made tally marks on my arms for April 23rd! 
8. The Sonic Screwdriver- It can work on anything but wood! 
9. I also love the sanctity held for life in the show. That's refreshing to see. 
10. And finally I love Doctor Who because of the great witty writing that makes me laugh every episode. :)

I didn't know how on earth I can give you a good synopsis of the show so if you're absolutely confused right now, just watch the show! ;) Thanks for reading! :)

Linking up with Mama Kat.

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Top Ten Bookish Things (That aren't books) That I'd Like to Own

So many possibilities for this one. :) I'm warning you, there's extreme geekness in this post. ;)


1) Bookshelves. Tons and tons of bookshelves. I'll need them for all the books I'll inevitably have (once I'm graduated from college and have money... ya' know). I'd like to get some of those really unique ones and maybe some built in ones like the one pictured.

Picture found here. 

2) Jane Austen bookmarks! Geek moment. Take a look at these I found on Etsy! I love them as they're take from original front pages of Austen's books. :)

Find it on Etsy

3) With the same thought, I really want some Doctor Who bookmarks. Geekiness to the extreme!

Find these on Amazon!

4) And this scarf from Etsy?!?!?! I need it... I'm convinced I do. I told my parents it can be my graduation present. A scarf with a map of the Lord of the Rings! Can't get much geekier then that!

Find it on Etsy. 

5) I love this tote bag off of Etsy too. It would be such a fun book bag!

Find it on Etsy! 

6) Of course I would love my own little book nook in my house someday.

Picture found here.

I ran out of time being busy with school so all you get is ten... believe me though, given some more time and I would have exploded the internet with more geeky stuff. ;)


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The Best Part of my Day

By the time I get home from school/work it's normally about five, maybe later and I've been gone from my house once about seven thirty that morning. I'm tired, normally somewhat cranky and very hungry. Without a doubt, if everything goes how I want it to, I'll eat supper and watch an episode of Doctor Who… because Doctor Who makes everything better. That, there is my best part of the day. It's the de-stressing moment of my life. If I get to eat popcorn and watch Doctor Who that's even better. For me, what makes my day great is when I have a chance to relax after an emotionally tiring day. On Wednesdays when I go to prayer group that is the best part of that day because it is a great time to let go of all my worldly concerns and spend some time with God, remembering that He's in control of those and He'll be taking care of them, not me.
So that's the best part of my day. Today I'm linking up with Mama Kat. Be sure to check out her blog.

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Goodbye First Semester of Nursing School!

I know that I woefully neglected my blog past week but I was incredibly busy preparing for my nursing final and my Grandma ended up in the hospital as well (she's fine now). However, I am very happy to say that I am finished with my first semester of nursing school! It's been a really crazy semester and lots of fun but I am so glad to be done. There's so much that I want and, more importantly, need to get done before school starts up again and I'm guessing that I'll be lucky if I get half of it done judging from past breaks. I spent yesterday afternoon after my final watching a lot of Doctor Who, as I had stopped two weeks ago after the end of the fifth season so I could focus on studying. Today I managed to not wake up until about 1:30… I didn't set my alarm and when one lives only with a sister who works until midnight so naturally sleeps in always, you can sleep for a very long time. Who knows how much longer I would have slept if my sister hadn't woken me up. Because I slept away valuable Doctor Who watching time, I have only been able to watch two episodes today so far. Instead I have been doing the many dishes that accumulated whilst I was studying, cleaning up my room, and doing laundry. There's so much more I need to do besides that but I'll get there. I have family coming on Friday so I have to get my house all spiffed up before then.
I'll just close with a little list of things I want to get done over the break. :)

1. Write on my book… because I have not done any writing since starting nursing school. 
2. Read a lot… because I should and because I'll have the time, and most importantly BECAUSE I LOVE READING!!!
3. Finish all current episodes of Doctor Who…. because I'll have the time, and because it's awesome. :) 
4. Crochet something… because I'll have time. 

Notice how those all are "because I'll have the time"… yet I imagine that despite my having the time, the only one that is for sure going to get done is the Doctor Who one…. :)

P.S. If you haven't liked my blog's Facebook page be sure to do so! The link is in the bar on the right hand side. :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Monthly Report Card- October 2013

It's been a crazy, long yet short October. Yesterday was Reformation Day. Normally my family would have a cookout and read the story of Martin Luther but it's been raining for the last few days so that didn't happen. However, we were able to watch half of the movie Luther instead. Does your family have any Reformation Day traditions?
So resolutions…. yeah…

Read through Philemon, Hebrews, James, and 1&2 Peter-A

Yes I did! I had a freak out moment where I thought I was supposed to get through the Johns as well and started reading 1 John but then I looked at my resolutions again and realized it was not so. :)

Read or Re-read at least three books-A

Achieved…. just barely. I read The Pursuit of God, The End of the Third Age,  and Mere Christianity. If you know anything about those books you'll know they're very skinny short books. Kind of wimpy reading this month but at least I read! HOWEVER, do not underestimate those books! They were all very good, especially The Pursuit of God. I highly recommend it. 

Write a blog post per week-A

Achieved! Probably not very interesting posts but one can't ask for everything now can they?

Pray Daily-F

When I say F I mean F. It was a failure in the highest extent. Need to whip that goal back into shape next month!

Study!-C

I don't feel like I did so well the first half of the month but the second half I did better. I had a conversation with my tutor from A&P/Microbiology/Pathophysiology (best tutor ever) and she told me more or less I needed to get my act together and work harder if I wanted to do well. I needed that. She's the best. :)

Stay more organized-A

I think I did quite well with that. I have some gel pens now that I have way to much fun using to write in assignments and stuff in my calendar. :) 

Keep up with my Spanish-C

Okay… I ended up stopping getting the Spanish devotionals as they were beginning to clutter up my inbox as I never had time to get to them. So not so good. Maybe someday when I have more time (like that's ever going to happen). 

Not too terribly this months for goals but room for improvement. It's been incredibly busy and I really didn't make it any better by deciding to start watching Doctor Who (which is amazing and you should become obsessed with it too). However, I made a very mature decision to not start the next season until my next test is over… which is this coming Monday so I really don't have to wait that long but it seems like a long time to me. Does anyone know the Doctor Who withdrawal symptoms? I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing some… anxiety, depression, moodiness…. ;)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

Happy and Hopeful

I was thinking about writing a negative post about all of the things wrong with the world right now... not just my little world but the world in general... you know what I mean. However, I figured since there was enough negativity going around without me contributing I'd post something happy and hopeful. :) So since I normally like to think about the negative things in life, I'm going to counter that by posting five positive things going on in my life right now (besides the "still alive", "have a great family", ect. ones). Comment on what is positive in your life right now!

1. I have a really great prayer group that meets weekly that has not only helped me with prayer but also just support and friendship. After our hour or so of prayer we will talk afterwards, catch up on how we're all doing, talk about books, movies, ect. and I absolutely love it! It's a really great time to just wind down as I spend some time with God and then some time with my fellow Christians. 
2. I didn't fail my return demonstrations (have to do it in front of a teacher) for NG tube insertion and catheter insertion. For me that's a big deal as I always think I'm going to fail everything. 
3. I can now drink my coffee black. For me that's positive as I never used to and I would dump a heart attack's worth of sugar and creamer in it. No more! That's what being an nursing student does to you... I want every spare centimeter of my cup to be full of pure black coffee.
4. I have an electric blanket to snuggle up in at night. Since I'm always cold this is very important to me as it is absolutely frigid in my house every night.
5. And finally but certainly not lastly I JUST STARTED WATCHING DOCTOR WHO AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH IT!!!!!!! :)

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.

TV Shows

I've mentioned quite a lot on here about the different TV shows I watched so I thought I might share a little about them as well as mention ones I want to watch in the future.

Monk

Is the first modern TV show I ever watched. It follows an obsessive compulsive detective as he solves crimes while ultimately trying to figure out who killed his wife. This show has occasional mild bad language, some not the most modest clothing at times, a couple episodes where there was some suggestive speech, and of course a little gore. I would consider it very family friendly though. My younger siblings are always allowed to watch these as long as we have screened it before. There are just a couple episodes that I would really consider not worth watching and as for the rest they should be fine depending on maturity level. 

Psych

Follows Sean Spencer, a private detective who has convinced the world he is psychic to explain his incredible observation skills taught to him by his ex-police officer father. This show has more occasional mild bad language, some not the most modest clothing at times, some suggestive speech a few iffy scenes, and a little gore. There are only a couple episodes I can think of off the top of my head that one of them I wish I hadn't watched and the other I was warned not to watch and didn't. Psych is definitely for a more mature audience but is still relatively clean. 

Castle

Follows Rick Castle, an author of mystery novels who is called in to consult after a murder uses a method described in one of his books to kill somebody. Of my three cop shows that I have watched, this is the least clean. I have put them in order of cleanest to least clean. This show has more occasional mild bad language, more not so modest clothing at time, some suggestive speech and some suggestive scenes, and some gore. I have not watched all of Castle. I have watched the first season and part of the second as well as random bits here and there. Because its not always the cleanest its hard to consistently watch it and while I do like Castle, there are shows right now that I enjoy more. You are more likely to find episodes in Castle that should be skipped. 

Human Target

Only ran for two seasons which made me very unhappy. It follows an ex-assassian who reformed and now saves people with the help of another ex-assassian and an ex-cop. This show has occasional mild bad language, some not the most modest clothing at times, a bit of suggestive speech, and some gore and violence. For its subject matter, this a pretty clean show. I always really enjoyed it and it is so disappointing that it only ran for two seasons.

Foyle's War

Take place during World War 2 and follows a police officer solving crimes during that time period. This show has occasional mild bad language, some more mature themes, and some gore and violence. This was a pretty clean show as I recall and quite historically accurate. I was watching through it during my first semester at Butler but stopped and I can't remember why as I know I really liked it. Someday I need to finish it. 

Sherlock

Is amazing! It is the modern day telling of the story of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. In this show off the top of my head here's what I can think of; some british language, some references to homosexuality and some gore. This is all omitting the first episode of the second season that should NOT be watched. I haven't seen it but I have been informed by everyone that it is inappropriate so I'll take their word for it and skip it. 

Stargate SG-1

I just started this last month and I am steadily working my way through it. Do NOT watch the first episode of the first season. Besides that, so far what to look out for is some not so modest clothing at times, some mild bad language at times and some suggestive speech/scenes in a couple episodes that isn't terrible but I'd just fast forward through. This is my first sci-fi show to watch and I am enjoying it so far. I really can't think of a good synopsis so maybe you should just look it up on Wikipedia. :)

Shows I want to watch/thinking about watching

Doctor Who

I know you can't believe I haven't watched that yet. That is what I plan to watch next and I am really looking forward to it. 

Call the Midwife

My library just got this recently but then someone checked out the first season before I could run it by my Dad. But it looks very interesting and I am going to give it a try. 

Elementary

This is also a modern retelling of Sherlock Holmes but it takes place in America.

Stargate Atlantis

This follows after Stargate SG-1.

What are your favorite TV shows? Any other recommendations? Warnings? 

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.