December 2023 Archives

2023 Game Goals in Review

Posted on December 31

It’s that time of year again… where I look at the goals I set at the beginning of the year and see how well I worked toward meeting them. This year… well… I’ll let the results speak for themselves.

Bundle Madness Broke my Gaming Goals for 2023

Posted on December 27

One of my top gaming goals for this year was to reach 75% of my Steam backlog played. I would have done this, and more, had I not been so quick to jump on bundle game deals. It was just tough to pass up the prices for games that I’d already been interested in when they hit the bundles.

BookWyrm in Review – 2023

Posted on December 26

One of the things I tried to do better at this year was reading (or listening to) books. I used to be a voracious reader when I was younger, but over the years, that’s fallen by the wayside as I’ve had to juggle so many things that are in want of my free time.

On the Final Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 25

Merry Christmas – here’s the final day of Giftmas for this year! I left the biggest box for last, and there’s a bit to talk about with this one.

Merry Christmas 2023!

Posted on December 25

Wishing you and yours the best of holidays and into the year to come!

On the Seventeenth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 24

It turns out there was another present that I had not accounted for – or rather, it had gotten lost amongst the other boxes. Though I looked the tree over several times for it, I’d mistaken this silver box as empty because it was so light, and it wasn’t taped shut like many of the unopened boxes were.

On the Sixteenth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 23

I’m getting down to the last couple of presents, and I think I’ll be wrapping up (see what I did there?) this blog series tomorrow on Christmas Eve! But for today, I picked this rather large box.

2023: This Blog in Review

Posted on December 23

A whole lot of stuff happened with this blog in 2023, and I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out. My major goal was to finally finish moving all the content off my old WordPress blog to this HTML site. With some buckling down, I did just that.

My 2023 Holiday Breyer Horses

Posted on December 22

Each year, Breyer releases a number of holiday horses, just as they do for Halloween. While I did pass on the decorator horses, I had the official holiday LE pre-ordered months ago.

On the Fifteenth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 22

Getting into some of the larger stuff that I saved for last now.

On the Fourteenth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 21

Many of the gifts under the tree are larger at this point, and this was the last of the smaller ones that I could find. It also felt important, with the curly ribbons and the special tag, so I’ve held off on it.

BDO: Obtaining the Doom Dream Horse

Posted on December 21

I’ve written about how I spent a little over two years straight logging into Black Desert Online to finally awaken my choice dream horse – the Pegasus. Not long after that, BDO up and gave out to everyone the very same dream horse I’d spent all that time trying to earn.

On the Thirteenth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 20

Well, we’ve passed beyond the initial 12 days of Giftmas, so the titles are going to be a bit more clunky from here on out. That’s fine, though right?

Steam Year in Review for 2023

Posted on December 20

Like last year, Steam has pulled together yearly stats for everyone’s playtime in 2023. As much as I struggled with the fact that I added way too many bundle games to my backlog this year, I actually did quite well when it comes to my year in review.

On the Twelfth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 19

I noticed a smaller bag up front today, and when I touched it, noticed it had something mysteriously squishy inside. So, this was my pick.

Search for Simplification in 2024

Posted on December 19

One of the things I’d like to achieve going into the new year is to work at simplifying the things I do, especially on a daily basis. I’m looking at eliminating stuff I spend time on that I really don’t need to (such as daily log in to games I don’t really play).

On the Eleventh Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 18

Today, I chose this lovely thin box to open as it’s caught my eye over the days many times. I really do like the boxes my sister chooses and often hold on to them for empties as decorations.

On the Tenth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 17

Since I opened the other gnome tin yesterday, I decided to keep it consistent and open this one as well. They were also both out in the front under the tree, so quite a visible choice.

On the Ninth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 16

Today I decided to unwrap something easy, so I went with one of the super cute gnome tins that my sister is famous for.

On the Eighth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 15

It’s Friday, so I decided to pick out a larger gift today. A good thing that I did because this gives me more holiday time to enjoy it this year.

Thoughts on the 2023 Quest Calendar

Posted on December 15

I just wanted to jot down my thoughts about the 2023 quest calendar – The Voidspark Chronicles. This is the second yearly quest calendar that I’ve played through, and I believe the third quest calendar made by Sundial Games.

Nintendo Switch Review 2023

Posted on December 14

It’s that time of year again when I wonder where all the time went and why I didn’t spend more of it with my favorite console, the Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Switch Review is up, and while it wasn’t terrible, I really should have done more.

On the Seventh Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 14

This cute little package has been sitting at the front of my tree, poking at my attention for days. Today, I gave in and decided to unwrap it.

On the Sixth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 13

I decided to do something different today, so I went for a bagged gift. This snowfellow was particularly charming, so he was my pick.

On the Fifth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 12

Today I went back to picking a smaller gift from under the tree. This was stately and stylish, but also curious, so I selected it.

On the Fourth Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 11

It’s actually been pretty warm weather around my house the past few days, but that’s changed as of this morning. Due to my home’s layout, my Christmas tree is right next to one of the heating/air vents. Up until today, I haven’t needed to run the heat much.

Palia: Holidays & Nintendo Switch Launch – Giving it Another Try

Posted on December 11

Last time I wrote about Palia, I was having trouble finding a hook to keep me in the game. This is odd, because it seems like the type of game that would really appeal to me. And yet, I kept bouncing right off of it.

On the Third Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 10

I couldn’t do it. Ever since I was teased that there was more than just coal in the coal bag, I’ve been too curious about what else was inside. I did feel around, and noticed the coal candies that I expected, but today, I investigated further and found that there was indeed something else, flat and somewhat solid, hidden there.

On the Second Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 9

I wouldn’t normally go for a larger present this early on, but the cat was taking interest in it last night, so I decided to play it safe and eliminate the one that caught his attention. Ironically, it has cat wrapping paper.

Light No Fire – My Next Big Survival Sandbox (?)

Posted on December 8

I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to the Game Awards this year, other than to vote and be happy that Baldur’s Gate 3 won so many awards. However, I did take a glance at things that were announced. Unlike last year, there was one game that caught my eye.

On the First Day of Giftmas…

Posted on December 8

I think it was the Elf gift tag that attracted me to open this one first. That, and it’s a smaller gift that I placed up front of the tree. I try to open things that I think my cat might get too interested in first if I can.

Giftmas 2023 Has Arrived!

Posted on December 7

My sister and brother-in-law love to send a bunch of gifts every year, for which I’m always grateful! In turn, I like to blog as I open a present a day (I counted 17 this year, not counting the bag of coal), so that they can be involved in what I call Giftmas.