Lifestyle Favorites of 2016

Hi, everyone! Today, I'm sharing some of my favorite lifestyle, media, and science favorites from 2016! This favorites post is far shorter than my makeup favorites post, so feel free to jump right in!  

Rather than post about my beauty and skincare favorites, I figured a nice break was needed after my long makeup favorites post. My plan is to have my beauty and skincare favorites up next week. Let's get started!

Youtube Channels

Game Grumps

The dynamic duo of Dan and Arin really changed the YouTube video game sphere for me this past year. Most of their videos are Let's Plays, my favorite gaming videos to watch, featuring witty banter and crude humor between the two. These guys have a blast in every single video and make me nearly die with laughter in each one I watch. They truly have a talent for entertaining. The humor on Game Grumps is of a more mature variety, so just know that fact before deciding to watch a video. while I don't find their humor offensive, I can easily see how it might make others uncomfortable. There's also a large crew behind these guys, including people like Suzy (Arin's Wife), Ross, Barry (former editor), Kevin (new editor), and Brian (in a band with Danny). These guys always make fantastic content, and I can't wait to see what the new year brings to the channel!

Shovel Knight Co-Op: Bouncin' Away - PART 1 - Game Grumps

Jacksepticeye

Jacksepticeye (pronounced "Jack Septic Eye") is a YouTuber best known for making Let's Plays of video games. How did I ever live without this fantastic person in my life?!? This bundle of Irish adorableness makes my day every single day. I'm not kidding. The quality of his content is unparalleled. Despite the massive success he's had in the past year alone (currently at 14 million subscribers, way to go!) Jack generates a wonderful family around his channel. He's extremely modest about his success and truly lives to provide joy to others. His sense of humor is witty without being exceedingly vulgar, and his positive energy is truly inspirational. I've seen firsthand how easily YouTubers get caught up in the fame and recognition of their profession, but Jack has never been that way. His channel is a place where everyone can sit down, relax, and watch some top-notch videos. Just be warned, his voice is super loud. Might want to turn down the volume on your earbud when you first start a video. Congrats again on the 14 million, Jack!

NUCLEAR EXPLOSION?? | The Final Station #3

SORTEDFood

This channel featuring four knuckleheads from across the pond feeds my inner foodie like you wouldn't believe. SORTEDFood is a channel where four British men, one of which is a chef, cook delightful appetizers, meals, and desserts easy enough for the inexperienced amateur in the kitchen. Ben (the actual chef), Jamie, Mike, and Barry all add their own energy to the show to make it into the most fantastic conglomerate of jokes and cooking that I've ever seen. Every time you watch a video, you truly feel as if you're having a laugh with your best friends. They cook a wide range of meals from all parts of the world, including Portugal, Britain, France, Japan, America, and a whole lot more! What more could you want?

How to Make Cronuts

Video Games

Party Hard

Speaking of video games, this game was my absolute favorite one of 2016. Word of warning: this one will not be to everyone's tastes. This game is a strategic scenario where you are "The Party Hard Killer" and advance through different levels where you must kill each person without getting caught. The game is a cartoon-style, so it slightly lessens the murder factor. The main reason I love it is because it's a strategic game. Seriously, check out a play through of it (Jacksepticeye does one) and see what I mean. My brain loves strategy-based games like this one, so it's no surprise it became my favorite game of 2016. Here's another Jacksepticeye video of him playing Party Hard!

EVERYONE ON THE PARTY BUS | Party Hard #6

TV Shows

Lucifer

This show is a standout gem of this year. I've watched my fair share of crime and cop shows, and very few include an interesting twist like what I've seen in Lucifer. Rather than cover the police and forensic angle of crime, the added supernatural twist brought on by Lucifer makes this show interesting. Granted, there's still a lot of cop-centric storylines, but I love that the producers have given Lucifer's own backstory ample, if not equal, screen time. This portrayal of Lucifer is quite possibly my favorite one. Although he's the devil, he's given a far more human-like personality, and you can really see how he feels guilt and love towards the people in his life, which most renditions of this character don't include. My only complaint is that I wished they delved more into Lucifer's backstory, like how he fell, what hell looks like, etc. The good news s that from what I can see based on promo videos, they plan to cover those parts this coming season.

Source

Science Stories

Discovery of Gravitational Waves

I'm just going to say it right off the bat: this was the biggest science story of the year. Einstein predicted the existence of such waves way long ago, and this year, those suspicions were proven correct. Although I'm not a physicist, I still find this story amazing. The nature of our world and the universe has long been a mystery, and with the discovery of these gravitation waves, scientists have a better understanding of how the fabric of space-time works. Scientifically, it's really an amazing time to be alive. Here's a video where you can hear the actual noise made when these waves were detected. What you're hearing is essentially the cosmic noise of our universe. Cool, right?

Lifestyle Changes

Managing Anxiety

This semester was challenging on a number of levels. I've referenced this in my previous posts, but I've had to deal with some minor anxiety issues. Paradoxically, while this was the toughest semester with the addition of this new element into my life, it also ended up being one of the my most personally rewarding semesters. My friend group expanded to include new and fantastic people, and my friendships with my current friends grew into far deeper friendships that somewhat threw me unexpectedly. Now, I've become very capable at identifying what specific things bother me or triggered my anxiety and in turn, I can fix them before they snowball into bigger issues. It's been less than stellar to 

My final 2016 favorites post will be up by next week! Come back then to check out my beauty and skincare favorites!