I Participated in the World's Largest Secret Santa Gift Exchange

On this little place called the internet, there is a strange and mysterious place called reddit. It's a website that is really hard to explain. It is kind of like an anonymous Facebook meets Pinterest meets news site meets discussion forum. It's a website for everything. Because it is so hard to explain, I'll let CGP Grey from YouTube explain for me in this very informative video:

So, now that you know what the heck reddit is, I can explain reddit's amazing Secret Santa gift exchange. I believe that the Secret Santa event started on reddit around 5-8ish years ago, and over time it has exploded into this massive, crazy thing. Here's a TED talk about how the world's largest Secret Santa was created by the creator himself. The video is about 16 minutes long (just warning you), but I found it really interesting.

The main concept is you sign up with the site redditgifts.com, fill out a likes/dislikes section, and answer a few questions about yourself like "What's your favorite color?" or "What is your favorite author or book?" or "What's your favorite movie?" for example. Then you wait until matching day. This year matching day was on December 1st. Some random person will get matched with you, read your info, and "friendly stalk you" online. Meanwhile, you have your own match. (Which is not the same person matched with you.)

The suggested amount to spend on your giftee is around $25 not including shipping, but there are people that go way above and beyond (you'll know if you watched the TED talk above). So if you're lucky you'll get matched with a rich person or celebrity. This year's Secret Santa had Bill Gates, Snoop Dogg, and Alyssa Milano among others participating, which is beyond cool.

My own giftee was actually not one person but an entire family of eight people. Six kids! Not exactly a follower of the rules. I much rather would've preferred someone that I could have "friendly stalked" with some interesting interests, but you get what you get. My giftee didn't really fill out their likes/dislikes section either, which left me irritated and annoyed. But, by God, once my brain starts going, the creativity comes out. I opted for a pieced together "family night in" kit. I got all the stuff needed for s'mores, a box of popcorn, a tin of Swiss Miss hot cocoa, a Pictionary card game, a giant Mad-Libs book, and after a quick message to my giftee for information, I got everyone's favorite candy. I was also able to pick up some of these cool Christmas party cracker things for the kids at TJMaxx. To make it more fun I wrapped everything. Even the bag of marshmallows, because be honest... who doesn't like ripping open gifts? I spent around $45. Not bad for gifting to an entire family of eight people.

On your match page on redditgifts.com, you are provided with your giftee's address. You must also ship your gift out by a specific date. This year's ship by date was December 19th. I, of course, procrastinated until the very last day. I really hope that my giftee and his family are happy with the gifts.

Anyway, I actually received my gift from my Secret Santa today. They sent me a color changing constellations mug, of which I used almost immediately for a nice cup of chamomile mint tea. Mmmmm. In case you were wondering, I absolutely love me a cup of hot tea. (I apologize for the terrible image quality. These were taken with my phone. Horrible from a self proclaimed photographer, I know.)

 Also included in my Secret Santa box was an envelope with a card. Inside was a note and an Amazon gift card for $10. Remember earlier where I said something about "friendly stalking?" This is where that came into play. My Secret Santa mentioned in their note about using the gift card to buy books for my new Kindle, which I'm sure they found out by searching my reddit history. I had recently posted in the /r/Kindle subreddit about my new Kindle and how excited I was about it. It is really nice to see such a thoughtful/quirky gift.

Overall, I'd say that the whole reddit Secret Santa has been a positive experience. I really enjoyed getting creative and shopping for a complete stranger (or in my case a family of strangers). Plus, I get the advantage of possibly being a Guinness World Record holder. Once they get the final numbers and counts in, it will be the world's official largest Secret Santa gift exchange. And that is cool. I will for sure be participating again.

Just in case you were curious and wanted to learn more, check out the /r/SecretSanta subreddit on reddit. In addition to Secret Santa, they also have various other gift exchanges throughout the year including smaller themed exchanges and another big one called Arbitrary Day. So you don't even have to wait all the way until next year!

Book Review - Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson

So last night I finished the first book in the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. I was lucky enough to get a good deal on all three books for only $5.75 for the Kindle which is a fantastic deal. This was the first book I have read all the way through in a very, very long time. So take my words with a grain of salt. Also, these are my own personal opinions. If you don't agree, let's have some friendly debate in the comments section, otherwise, write your own review. I've noticed that sometimes people on the internet can get kind of testy especially since they don't have to worry about the normal social conventions that usually apply when speaking to someone face to face... but I digress.

“Tresting nodded as he watched the crow of lazy skaa, some working with their hoes, others on hands and knees, pushing the ash away from the fledgling crops. They didn't complain. They didn't hope. They barely dared think. That was the way it should be, for they were skaa. They were—
Tresting froze as one of the skaa looked up. The man met Tresting's eyes, a spark—no, a fire—of defiance showing in his expression. Tresting had never seen anything like it, not in the face of a skaa. Tresting stepped backward reflexively, a chill running through him as the strange, straight-backed skaa held his eyes.
And smiled.” 

The story begins in the prologue with our mysterious hero, Kelsier. He's a very likeable character with both a serious side and an eccentric sense of humor, in spite of a tragic past. Later on we are introduced to the secondary protagonist, a sixteen year old girl named Vin, who is working for a thieving crew. She lives in a brutal world, but she survives through her smarts and a strange ability that she refers to as her "Luck."

The world in which the story takes place is ruled by an immortal tyrant/god called (what else?) the Lord Ruler. A bit of an unoriginal title, in my opinion. The heroes are members of the lower caste, or slaves, called the skaa. Kelsier is the leader of a special thieving crew of an interesting cast of characters. Through coincidence Vin and Kelsier meet, and Kelsier takes her under his wing.

Without giving too much of the story away, I can tell you that this book has the most unique magic system I've seen in a while. Both Kelsier and Vin are called Mistborn, a select group of Allomancers (magic users), or people who can draw power from different metals by "burning" them. Normally Allomancers can only burn one type of metal, but Mistborn can burn all types. Burning different metals creates different effects. For example, when burning brass, the Allomancer is able to sooth the emotions of others, hence they are called Soothers. Pewter makes the body stronger and so on. I've never seen a magic system quite like it in any other story, but who knows, maybe I need to read more.

In this corrupt society, what else does the roguish Kelsier want to do? Why take down the government of the Final Empire and the Lord Ruler with the help of his crew, of course.

With that bit of information, I think I'll stop there. Wouldn't want to give anything away... What is even better is that there are a couple more books to go in the trilogy, and I can't wait to get started. But even if you didn't want to go on to the next book, the story wraps up quite nicely. There are a few unanswered questions at the end, but you aren't left with a staggering cliffhanger like some obnoxious books will do to you. So, would I recommend this book? Absolutely positively.

Why Reading Feels Good Again and Some Random Memories from a Childhood Bookworm

It has been quite a while since picking up the written word. I've been spending a lot of time in front of a screen lately, either computer or television. I watch my shows or obsess a bit too much over Facebook, reddit, or Pinterest. I am a complete and utter nerd or geek or whatever the heck you want to call it. I watch anime even though I am a 28 year old mother of two. (I don't exactly fit the profile of the overweight neckbeard-type that you'd expect to watch that kind of thing. But I'll speak more on that another time.) I think it is a way to avoid reality sometimes. Those screens allow you to completely zone out.

Either way, let's rewind to Black Friday, that consumer driven day after Thanksgiving that companies will do anything to get you to spend your hard earned dollar. I fell into Amazon's Black Friday trap of "Kindles only $49 this weekend only!" or something along those lines. I bought a Kindle Paperwhite for about $20 or $30 off the original price. Around $99ish I believe. I am a complete cheapskate, so this was a bit of an abnormal purchase for me. I filled the thing up with some classic novels that are free because they don't fall under current copyright laws or something along those lines. I attempted to start reading "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens, but my brain almost imploded after just a few pages. I will set that one aside for another time, or at least until I've gotten used to reading again.

There was a time in the past when I wasn't afraid to pick up a book way over my reading level. I remember the first time I did just that. I think I was in second or third grade. The books at my elementary school library were color coded for each grade level or reading level. I was poking around in the bookcase with the fifth grade books, and found a pretty book with a girl riding a dolphin on the cover. It was "A Ring of Endless Light" by Madeleine L'Engle. It was way over my current level, and there were A LOT of pages. I checked it out anyway. I remember trying to read the book that night, and only understanding some of it. The words were long and confusing, but I got the general gist of the story. I loved it. I was able to brag to my teachers and friends that I had read a hard book all the way through. It made me feel smart and a bit better than my peers, and to my third grade ego this felt good.

Thus began my love affair with books. I had an almost insatiable craving to read as I got older. I remember a particular instance during Summer vacation after I was in seventh grade. We had gone to the library the day before, and I had checked out a large stack of YA books of different genres and sizes. I mostly had an affinity to fantasy and adventure. I can't remember how many I checked out, but it had to have been about 8-10 different books. I charged through all of them in one day. When my mom got home that night, she was partly annoyed and impressed that I wanted to go to the library again for a new stack of reading material. I had gotten to the point to where I had achieved quite an impressive speed in my ability to read.

I was the one in my high school classes that got into trouble by my teachers because instead of paying attention to the lessons my face was obscured by some random novel. I kind of miss those days and those stories that I read. I got married right after high school. Then I had children about a year after that. Nowadays, I have two children, the average stay at home wife. Well, maybe not that average. I homeschool my oldest, a little seven year old computer gamer named Kaleb. He isn't even remotely interested in reading. It breaks my heart a bit. But it is honestly probably my fault that he's not interested. I hardly read anymore, and children learn what they observe. And that is where the guilt comes in. So, I bought a Kindle and two days ago, bought a trilogy of books for super cheap on the Kindle store. I began to read a fantasy novel called "The Mistborn Trilogy" by Brian Sanderson. It is bringing back all that nostalgia from when I was younger, and read books like normal people drink water.

I haven't finished it yet, and I'm nowhere near as fast a reader as I was back in my high school days, but damn it feels good to read a book again. Even if I have changed from reading a traditional ink and paper novel to the new technology of an e-reader. So here's to new stories, new books, and new adventures.

Sleeping Fox Drawing

A drawing I spent about 2-ish hours working on. Sketched in pencil, then inked over with art pens.

Textured Abstracts - Winter Colors ATC Swap

Red Zentangle ATCs for Swap

I created this series of ATCs for a swap at the ATCs for All forums.

Creamy Hashbrown Casserole

This recipe is a perfect Thanksgiving side or a brunch main course. Creamy and cheesy everyone will love it.

1 package frozen shredded hashbrowns (1 lb. 10 oz.)
1 finely chopped onion
1 (10.5 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10.5 oz.) can condensed cheddar soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (separated)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees grease a 9 x 13-inch pan
2. Combine all the ingredients except for one cup of cheddar cheese.
3. Spread the hash brown mixture into the pan and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of the casserole and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
5. Enjoy!