25 Days of Christmas Movies

January 10, 2023

By now most of you know that I love movies. I’ve written blogs about Spooky Movie Season 1 & Round 2 and about specific actors: Jim Carrey / Emma Stone / Adam Sandler, but I have yet to do a blog about Christmas movies. So here we go…

I somehow watched 25 movies during December for the 25 days of Christmas. This was much more difficult than my binge watching in the past, now that we have an active ten month old!

Here are the movies I watched in order of viewing with my suggestion to watch or skip.

December 1st - Spirited (Apple TV) - 2022

An original, musical take on the classic, A Christmas Carol. Will Ferrel (Ghost of Christmas Present) attempts to make a new redeemed man out of Ryan Reynolds (The Unredeemable). Worth a watch!

December 2nd - Surviving Christmas (Amazon) - 2004

Ben Afflek (rich man without family) wants to celebrate Christmas with a family after his girlfriend decides not to go with him to Fiji. He ends up at his childhood home, now occupied by James Gandolfini and Catherine O’Hara. Worth a watch!

December 3rd - A Charlie Brown Christmas (Apple TV) - 1965

A classic Charlie Brown film, but does it get better than the soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi? I’m not sure it does! Definitely watch!

December 4th - Christmas Do-Over (Amazon) - 2006

Groundhogs Day, Christmas style. Kevin (Jay Mohr) gets stuck with his ex-in laws who do not like him and gets to experience it over and over again thanks to his son Ben’s wish. Probably can skip this one.

December 5th - A Christmas Story (HBO) - 1983

You’ll shoot your eye out! Based around the child, Ralphie, who wants a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun for Christmas. Classic Christmas movie that plays for 24 hours every Christmas eve and Christmas day on TBS? No one has cable anymore though, so you’ll have to load it up on streaming or DVD. Worth a watch!

December 6th - A Christmas Story Christmas (HBO) - 2022

The sequal to A Christmas Story is….. not good! I guess it was maybe nostalgic for the original cast who fills out most of the cast in this one. You just feel bad for Ralphie and his buddies…they have not gone places in life. Skip this one!

December 7th - Klaus (Netflix) - 2019

The animated story about how Santa Claus came to be thanks to the need to deliver mail from one particular postman, Jesper, in the lonely town of Smeerensburg. I watched this on a plane and it was a good heartfelt film. Worth a watch!

December 8th - Gremlins (DVD) - 1984

Is this a Christmas movie? This Stephen King thriller is based around Christmas time and involves some Christmas tunes and decorations, so let’s count it! Follow the three rules and everything will be fine. Skip this one for the Christmas season, but add to spooky movie season.

December 9th - Jack Frost (HBO) - 1998

A boy’s father (Michael Keaton) who plays in the Jack Frost band, passes away and comes back as a snowman to be a better dad than he was when he was alive. I remembered this film being a decent movie growing up, but it is pretty corny watching in 2022. Skip this one.

December 10th - Falling For Christmas (Netflix) - 2022

New Lindsay Lohan movie, I would call it the 50 First Dates of the Christmas season. A very wealthy woman (Lohan) gets in a skiing accident and develops amnesia, ending up at an older lodge. Worth a watch!

December 11th - Jingle All The Way (DVD) - 1996

When two dad’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad) wait until the last minute to get the most sought over Christmas present of the year, Turbo Man, they have to go to great lengths to make it happen. I forgot how great this movie is. Definitely watch!

December 12th - A Bad Mom’s Christmas (DVD) - 2017

Mom’s are tired of doing everything for Christmas, so they are taking it back! Varying mom’s show their varying styles of how they do Christmas. Which Mom do you most identify with? Worth a watch!

December 13th - Holidate (netflix) - 2020

Being single during the holidays can be tough. Instead of being single, these two agree to be each other’s platonic dates all year long, only to fall for each other. Worth a watch!

December 14th - Love Hard (netflix) - 2021

Die Hard and Love Actually meet. Another fun new Christmas movie that involves a LA journalist being catfished by a less attractive nerdy guy. Will they end up together anyway!? Worth a watch!

December 15th - Santa Claus is Coming to Town (DVD) - 1970

Animated classic of how Santa came to be from the mailman’s perspective. Pretty old, so skip this one!

December 16th - How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (amazon) - 1966

The OG Grinch Stole Christmas. Not as good as I recall, but still a classic of the grumpy grinch who steals Christmas from the Whos. Worth the watch since it is so short.

December 17th - Home Alone (DVD) - 1990

Eight year old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) gets left home alone by his family and has to protect his home from two of the dumbest burglars around (Harry and Marv). So many classic lines and scenes. Definitely watch!

December 18th - Die Hard (DVD) - 1988

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) ends up in the middle of a heist at his ex-wife’s Christmas Party in LA. The heist is led by none other than Hans Gruber, aka Snape (Alan Rickman). Definitely watch, but not with the family.

December 19th - Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (DVD) - 1992

Just one year later, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) gets left home alone, but this time in New York City. Just by chance, the same two burglars (Harry and Marv) cross paths with him. This is where the Home Alone series should have ended. Definitely watch!

December 20th - Miracle on 34th Street (DVD) - 1947

A friendly old man gets hired to play Santa Claus at Macy’s and ends up getting put on trial for his sanity when he continues to plead that he is the real Santa Claus. Will his lawyer get him off? Worth a watch!

December 21st - National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (DVD) - 1989

The Griswold family is back at it again, this time for a family Christmas celebration. Things most likely do not go smoothly which will bring the audience plenty of laughs. Worth a watch!

December 22nd - The Muppet Christmas Carol (DVD) - 1992

The Muppets bring their own rendition of the Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Worth a watch with the family!

December 23rd - The Polar Express (DVD) - 2004

One of my favorite Christmas films. A young boy, who has no name, jumps on a train in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, and goes on an adventure to find out if Santa is real and to regain his spirit in Christmas. Definitely watch!

December 24th - Elf (DVD) - 2003

Bye Buddy, hope you find your dad! The funniest Christmas movie around. Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrel) travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his real father, Walter Hobbs. His father is on the naughty list and in order to save Christmas, Buddy must get his biological family to have more Christmas spirit. A must watch!

December 25th - How The Grinch Stole Christmas (DVD) - 2000

The best version of The Grinch with my favorite actor from childhood, Jim Carrey. The Grinch plans to ruin Christmas for all the Whos in Whoville. A perfect Grinch performance by Carrey. Absolutely must watch!

And that concludes my 25 Days of Christmas movies. Which movies did I miss? Any new movies that you will now watch?

Happy watching and Merry Christmas!

Josh

Summer of Sandler - Ranking all 44 movies worst to best

August 25, 2022

One of the most legendary actors of the 1990s, and one of the highest paid actors of all-time, Adam Sandler. Some hated him, some loved him, but we all grew up with him. My dad was never a fan, however I think he is hilarious and his movies are still some of my favorites to this day. Rachel and I geared up in summer of 2022 for the “Summer of Sandler” and watched all 44 of Adam Sandler’s movies from June to August.

This movie marathon stretched from his first movie in 1989 to his latest in 2022. Over that 33 year period, we decided to focus on films that Sandler has a lead role in, so you will not find the following in our list: Coneheads, Mixed Nuts, Dirty Work, Deuce Bigalow, The Animal, The Hot Chick, The Zookeeper, Top Five & I am Chris Farley. I own 25 of his movies, watched a bunch more on Netflix and even rented some from the library. We watched a few of his old SNL skits and also watched his latest Netflix Stand Up featuring hit song, Phone Wallet Keys! You can find his full acting catalog here.

Without further ado, our ranking of all 44 Adam Sandler movies from worst to best.

#44 - You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (DVD) - 2008 - Terrible, just terrible. Sandler plays a former Israeli hit man named Zohan who comes to America to cut hair and sleep with old women. Very bizarre with a not so funny plot. Locking up Sandler’s worst movie.
IMDB: 5.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 12%

#43 - That’s My Boy (Hulu) - 2012 - Funny concept, but a really bizarre movie with teacher/student sex, incest and very annoying characters. Sandler plays Donny, the long lost father of Andy Sandberg. There were a couple funny scenes that made me laugh, which slightly edged this movie into second to last place.
IMDB: 5.5
Rotten Tomatoes: 20%

#42 - Ridiculous 6 (Netflix) - 2015 - This movie was ridiculous… It had a few funny parodies of a western classic, but the first hour of the movie was a struggle to get through. Sandler plays Tommy, an outlaw raised by Native Americans who finds out his Dad slept around, enter the rest of the star studded cast. Not too terrible when the action picked up, but way too much racism and prejudice throughout.
IMDB: 4.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 0% (who even knew this was possible)

#41 - Grown Ups 2 (DVD Library) - 2013 - The sequel that should not have been made! This entire movie took place in 24 hours, had no plot and was pretty much a dumpster fire. Great cast though, Salma Hayek looking good!
IMDB: 5.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 8%

#40 - Going Overboard (DVD) - 1989 - Sandlers first ever movie and my first time seeing it. Originally titled Babes Ahoy, this movie was a tad bit better than the old home movies I used to make with my buddies, but it was his first ever movie, so we have to give it a little bit of love. Sandler plays a yacht server named Schecky Moskowitz who wants to be a stand up comedian.
IMDB: 1.8 (his lowest rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 11%

#39 - Anger Management (DVD) - 2003 - Most people would probably rank this higher, as it has a good amount of funny moments, but the constant negativity and Sandler being taken advantage of was just too much to enjoy. Decent plot with Dave Buznik (Sandler) being sentenced to anger management with Jack Nicholson, but nearly every scene gets under your skin, was hard to watch and gave you an uneasy feeling in your stomach.
IMDB: 6.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 42%

#38 - Jack and Jill (Netflix) - 2011 - My first time seeing and honestly it wasn’t as bad as everyone made it out to be. I think if Sandler didn’t play both Jack and his sister Jill in this film, it would have been received better… but he did, so I guess that's why most hate this movie.
IMDB: 3.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 3%

#37 - Eight Crazy Nights (DVD Library) - 2002 - Perhaps this is one of those movies, like most of Sandler’s, where if you saw it when it first came out it is a classic. But to me, this was maybe my second time ever seeing it, it really wasn’t that great. Some of the musical ballads were decent which resulted in this film landing just above its prequel, Jack and Jill. Get it? Because Sandler plays both old man Whitey and his sister in this movie too.
IMDB: 5.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 12%

#36 - Shakes the Clown (Amazon Prime Rental) - 1991 - Sandler plays the role of Dink the clown who tries to help his friend Shakes, an alcoholic clown causing trouble in the neighborhood, every way he can, even battling against the mimes. I may have ranked this early 90s gem higher, however, Sandler plays more of a supporting role, despite still having a good amount of lines and screen time in his second film ever.
IMDB: 5.6
Rotten Tomatoes: 43%

#35 - Men Women and Children (DVD Library) - 2014 - I had never heard of this movie until the Summer of Sandler. This movie was decent in some aspects, as it covered high school children and their relationships with their parents from a few different families perspectives. Sandler was one of the main characters, Don Truby, but there were so many different story lines that he did not have a strong enough role for a higher ranking.
IMDB: 6.6
Rotten Tomatoes: 33%

#34 - I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (Netflix) - 2007 - Sandler plays Chuck Levine, one of two straight NY firefighters, pretending to be in a gay relationship for healthcare benefits. This film had some classic Sandler lines and scenes, but there was way too much homophobia and homophobic slurs, which they address as being wrong, but still, a little over the top.
IMDB: 5.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 14%

#33 - Blended (DVD) - 2014 - Sweet, heart warming story about two families that end up vacationing in Africa together after the single parents go on a bad first date. Sandler plays Jim and links up with his recurring counterpart, Drew Barrymore.
IMDB: 6.5
Rotten Tomatoes: 15%

#32 - The Cobbler (DVD) - 2014 - Another first timer for us. I was surprised that this was more of a dark comedy, but it was a pretty funny concept with some good drama. Sandler plays Max Simkin, a cobbler who discovers a secret about his family shoe repair machine.
IMDB: 5.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 10%

#31 - Bedtime Stories (DVD Library) - 2008 - Cute kid’s film where Sandler aka Skeeter Bronson starts to make up his own stories to tell his niece and nephew which end up become a reality in his hotel handyman life.
IMDB: 6.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 27%

#30 - Hotel Transylvania 3 - (DVD Library) - 2018
#29 - Hotel Transylvania - (DVD Library) - 2012
#28 - Hotel Transylvania 2 - (DVD Library) - 2015 - Grouping these three animated flicks together. Overall pretty good movies. Number 3 was by far the least enjoyable, with the sequel number 2 coming in at the best movie. Hit closest to home as two of the vampires have a baby and are a new young family. Sandler is Dracula and is constantly adapting to life with a daughter, Mavis.

#3
IMDB: 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 62%

#1
IMDB: 7.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 44%

#2
IMDB: 6.6
Rotten Tomatoes: 55%

#27 - Funny People (Peacock) - 2009 - Pretty good movie and would have ranked it higher, but coming in at 2.5 hours, the movie kinda dragged and took too long to finish. Sandler plays a washed up all-star comedian, George Simmons, who is on the verge of dying, and dealing with a young relationship.
IMDB: 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

#26 - Bulletproof - (DVD Library) - 1996 - Sandler, Archie Moses, teams up with Damon Wayans, Keats, on this film to bring a 90s crime action comedy to the people. Of course there are plenty of cheesy 90s scenes, but that is what makes it so great.
IMDB: 5.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 8%

#25 - Hubie Halloween (Netflix) - 2020 - Sandler continues his trend of playing a somewhat slow character, the town goof, Hubie Dubois. This film has all the odes to the classic Sandler flicks and was a solid, childish spooky movie. I enjoyed the upbeat soundtrack as well, but very cheesy and corny throughout. If you don’t know his old movies this would be a pretty bad one.
IMDB: 5.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 52%

#24 - Just Go With It (Netflix) - 2011 - Sandler is Danny, the plastic surgeon, who isn’t shy about dating around. Jennifer Aniston is his assistant who jumps on a trip to Hawaii with her family in order to try to help Danny out with his newest girlfriend. The kids really made the movie with some hilarious lines.
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 19%

#23 - The Do-Over (Netflix) - 2016 - I had never seen this one before, but it involved some great action and comedic lines from Sandler and Spade. These two fake their own deaths to try and start over, re-viving their SNL days together. This was one of the first Sandler movies we watched, is it ranked too high?
IMDB: 5.7
Rotten Tomatoes: 9%

#22 - Sandy Wexler (Netflix) - 2017 - Agent Sandy Wexler struggles to manage any of his clients, then one of them blows up and becomes famous. Sandler’s annoying voice makes another appearance and you feel bad for his character throughout, but a decent movie that is supposedly based on the actual real life talent agent who discovered Sandler.
IMDB: 5.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 27%

#21 - The Longest Yard (DVD) - 2005 - Sandler’s second best football movie with an all-star cast and the likes of Michael Irvin, Nelly, Chris Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Burt Reynolds, Cheeseburger Eddie and more. Sandler, former NFL player and criminal, Paul Crewe, and his fellow convicts put together a football team to play the guards. Some quality quotes and hard hitting football action in this one.
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 31%

#20 - Little Nicky (DVD) - 2000 - Another early Sandler classic from childhood. Sandler plays the Devil’s son, Nicky, and has to save earth from his power possessed brothers. Yes, Sandler talks like an idiot once again, but this time because he was hit with a shovel… Some hilarious lines from the usual characters, oh and quite a rocking soundtrack!
IMDB: 5.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 21%

#19 - Punch-Drunk Love (DVD) - 2002 - After re-watching this, I forgot the anxiety and stress it holds similar to that of Uncut Gems. Sandler plays Barry Egan, a lonely struggling individual who makes the mistake of calling a phone-sex line. I enjoyed the cinematography and simple story line to the film, but also hard to not feel bad for the guy. Not your typical Sandler film.
IMDB: 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%

#18 - Uncut Gems (DVD) - 2019 - High anxiety, with phenomenal acting by Sandler. He plays Howard Ratner, NYC jeweler who just can’t seem to do anything right. A gambling addict, who constantly is cheating people in attempt to overcome his debts. He finally hits it big on a bet with all-star NBA player KG.
IMDB: 7.4 (highest rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

#17 - The Meyerowitz Stories - 2017 - The story of the Meyerowitz children and their dying father and what will happen with is storied artwork. Each of the children’s stories is told as they return to NYC for an event to celebrate their father. Sandler plays the son Danny. My first time seeing it and I was impressed!
IMDB: 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% (tied for his highest rating)

#16 - Grown Ups (Netflix) - 2010 - Just a bunch of dad’s teaching their kids how fun being a kid can be. Get rid of those electronics and have some old school fun outdoors! Five friends reunite after the passing of their legendary basketball coach, Sandler plays the best youth hooper, Lenny Feder.
IMDB: 5.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 11%

#15 - The Week Of (Netflix) - 2018 - Two families come together for the marriage of their two children. Sandler aka Kenny Lustig, tries to play host to all which doesn’t work in his favor. First time seeing this and it had some hilarious lines and painfully cringey and awkward scenes between Sandler and Chris Rock.
IMDB: 5.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 26%

#14 - Murder Mystery (Netflix) - 2019 - Fun spinoff of the Murder on the Orient Express, but has some great action and a twist at the end. Sandler, Nick Spitz, and his wife are headed on a Euro trip and end up on a billionaire’s yacht and get tangled in a mysterious murder. One of his best newer films, featuring Jennifer Aniston once again.
IMDB: 6.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 45%

#13 - Mr. Deeds (DVD) - 2002 - When your long lost Uncle dies and you inherit billions, but you are too nice and don’t care about the money… Who doesn’t love the all-around good guy Longfellow Deeds? If I didn’t watch this movie a bunch growing up, not sure it would be ranked as high, but that is what the Summer of Sandler is all about!
IMDB: 5.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 22%

#12 - Click (DVD) - 2006 - Michael Newman takes control of his life with a remote! This one makes you realize you need to live in the moment and love your family. It may bring a tear to your eye throughout, but has a feel good ending and who doesn’t love a golden retriever!
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 34%

#11 - Pixels (DVD Library) - 2015 - This movie really surprised me as it was my first time seeing. It was like a super-hero action movie, but based around something that would never happen. Wait… is that all super-hero movies? I thought the overall plot, acting and comedy were top notch, as Brenner (Sandler) and his gaming buddies from grade school set out to save the world! Highly recommend, especially if you are a classic arcade game lover, want to see Kevin James be president, or love Q*Bert just as much as me!
IMDB: 5.6
Rotten Tomatoes: 18%

#10 - Airheads (DVD) - 1994 - Sandler, plays the dummer, Pip, and his fellow bandmates of the Lone Rangers stick up a radio show in order to be able to get their demo tape played on air.
IMDB: 6.1
Rotten Tomatoes: 29%

#9 - Spanglish (DVD) - 2004 - Beautiful and sincere romantic comedy. Sandler plays a 4-star chef, John Clasky, who falls in love with his non-english speaking live-in nanny. Definitely one of his best serious roles… do I say this about all his serious roles?
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 54%

#8 - The Wedding Singer (DVD) - 1998 - When rewatching this one, Rachel and I both never realized it was made in the late 90s and not the 1980s when it takes place. Robbie Hart is the wedding singer and brings us many legendary lines and quotes. Love Stinks!
IMDB: 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

#7 - 50 First Dates (DVD) - 2004 - Sandler, Henry Roth, meets the girl of his dreams, but there is one problem, she doesn’t remember him every day because of a head injury. Love the concept of this movie and the execution by Sandler, Barrymore and the rest of the cast. Forgot how good of movie this was.
IMDB: 6.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 45%

#6 - Hustle (Netflix) - 2022 - Sandler is back with his latest movie, an Inspirational story about a NBA scout, Stanley Sugerman, and a rising basketball star. Phenomenal acting and probably Sandler’s most well-produced, serious film. Definitely watch this new one!
IMDB: 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% (highest rating)

#5 - The Waterboy (DVD) - 1998 - Football! When a hidden talent farm boy in Louisiana goes from serving water to making tackles. Tons of classic lines and hits. Everyone wanted to play like Bobby Boucher growing up.
IMDB: 6.1
Rotten Tomatoes: 33%

#4 - Big Daddy (DVD) - 1999 - This one has always been fun and cute, but really hits different when you have your own child. Sonny Koufax takes custody of a child to impress his girlfriend and ends up doing an original, but great job raising Julian aka Frankenstein. Shoutout to Hooters, McDonalds and Scooba Steve!
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 39%

#3 - Reign Over Me (DVD) - 2007 - This one cuts deep. Wow such a great movie. Sandler should have won an Oscar for his work in this serious drama playing the role of widowed Charlie Fineman. One of my favorite movies of all-time.
IMDB: 7.4 (highest rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 64%

#2 - Happy Gilmore (DVD) - 1996 - A golf classic with so many historic lines and scenes. 9th green at nine. Ben Stiller as a nurse to Happy’s grandma. Only 364 days until hockey tryouts. I can go on and on. Who hasn’t tried the Happy Gilmore drive on the course? Just a straight up gem.
IMDB: 7.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%

#1 - Billy Madison (DVD) - 1995 - That Veronica Vaughn is one piece of ace! Absolute classic. I can nearly recite every line from this one. Sure my Dad hated Sandler and this movie growing up, but we all loved him and this movie. Chris Farley and Norm McDonald with some great additions. Billy has to prove to his dad he should own their million dollar hotel company by re-doing all 12 grades in just weeks.
IMDB: 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 41%

And that concludes our Summer of Sandler. My favorite thing about Sandler from watching all of his movies is that he creates them just how he wants to. Despite the critic reviews, he doesn’t change his style. It’s just him and his buddies making movies (and a lot of money) they think would be funny. I also love how Sandler includes many of the same actors in his films. Whether they are small roles or large roles, you can always find a familiar face. Some of the obvious ones are Rob Schneider, Steve Buscemi, Jonathan Loughran, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and his wife Jackie Sandler. Others I wouldn’t have realized if not for the Summer of Sandler include Henry Winkler, Shaq, and Dan Patrick.

Sandler almost always plays one of two roles in his movies. A rich guy who wishes he had a simple life and doesn’t care about his wealth, or a pretty dumb guy.

Another takeaway I had while watching these films is that depending when you first saw the movies had a large impact on the rating. Many of the films I consider “classics”, Rachel was not as big of a fan. But we both had a fun time watching all of Adam Sandler’s movies this summer and recommend everyone with a spare 77 hours do the same!

What movies did I rank too low? Too high? Let me know what you think… and prepare for the Fall of _____.

Josh

Give Thanks

December 2, 2014

Tuesday November 25th, I finished my latest audio book, Catch 22. A classic novel that invented the phrase That's a Catch 22. The book was pretty good, about airplane pilots and their struggle to complete all the necessary missions without being crazy, taking place during World War II. When I got home from work I realized I forgot my parking pass, had to end up writing a note in my window and praying my car would still be there in the morning.

Wednesday November 26th, short lived anticipation, my car was there. After a free lax day at work, I picked up some Beck's Black Sapphire Beers and celebrated Black Wednesday with my friends in Brian's basement. The idea was proposed that we go to DT napes like we did the year prior, but I vetoed the idea and explained how after 5 minutes of being out amongst the crowds we left for a friends basement, so why not just cut out that middle step? We played some ping pong & cards against humanity. Brian's dad was kind enough to bring us down chips and dip, popcorn, and other treats. Thank you Keith, but no thanks to you Brian, JK thanks for having us over. Check out the funniest card of the night in my opinion.

Thursday November 27th was here. Thanksgiving. Rachel and I spent our first Thanksgiving together, and ended up doing the double Thanksgiving which I was not disappointed in since I got double meals. It was wonderful spending time with both sides of our family, although it felt a little strange having to either leave early or arrive late, but was a pleasant day overall. I guess I can say what I am thankful for as well. I am thankful for the most wonderful woman in the world, my fiance Rachel, my family, friends, and enjoying every minute of this wonderful life that I have been blessed with. After the meals, we went out and got some black friday shopping deals. Most of the crowds were gone by 9 pm and all them dvds we wanted were still around, so it was a success hitting up Walmart, Target, & Meijer. Also we picked up a sweet mirror, some tupperware, and a whole bunch of frames. Wow am I becoming more and more adult every day or what?

On Friday November 28th, I went to work and then hit up some Black Friday Shopping Deals again, stopping at Disc Replay and Target. Picked up 9 movies for $19 bucks so that was solid, even though the more and more I buy, I think how my collection will soon be obsolete with all these streaming options and digital movies. But I guess some people did the same with VHS and still watch those so... long live the DVD! Everyone at my parents house seemed a bit under the weather, so I cooked up some soup for dinner and then Beth and I watched Despicable Me 2. I ended up falling asleep on the couch around 8 and eventually made my way to my own bed and slept many hours.

Saturday November 29th was a big day for Rachel and I as we checked out our first wedding venues with my mom and both her parents. We then had lunch at the Morton Arboretum, I picked up that Caribbean Jerk Chicken Sandwich. The cafeteria style restaurant reminded me of good old Richie Marketplace and even came equipped with lunch trays. Lovely. Rachel and I did some more wedding planning once back at the rents house and then realized I couldn't go get the pizza we had ordered since I had one too many wines, so my dad drove. Rosati's pizza for dinner. Around 8 pm I headed over to Phil's for some Halo action. After a couple of games, and a couple of drinks, Rachel finally agreed to play and we had fun playing halo until about 1:30am. Rachel and I had some pretty awesome names, guess which ones they were below! We then played some fusion frenzy and ended with drinking games and got back to my place around 3:30a.

On the last day of November Rachel and I celebrated the end of the month with a trip to McDonalds, 2 mcchickens and a mcdouble for yaboy. We took care of some things around our place and then had a tasty chili chicken dinner over rice. We then entertained ourselves with 4 episodes of Mad Men. Nearing the end of season 1.

On the first day of December, I added to my photo collection with some new frames I got on black friday.