Ardentli.Net

Woo-hoo! I’m so completely and totally excited about FF13 having an official NA release date! 3/9/2010! I’ve been waiting for this game forever (basically since FFX since FFXII proved to be such a huge disappointment) and I’m psyched that it’s being released on Xbox360 so I don’t have to shell out for a useless PS3 just yet. For those of you who are gamers and haven’t checked out the Final Fantasy series I’d highly recommend it. I’ve been a fan since I was 13 when a friend introduced me to the then new Final Fantasy VIII. The storylines are epic and aimed at males and females. I’d highly recommend the series (though honestly if you’re an RPG fan and haven’t heard of FF you’ve been living under a rock).

I’m a little weirded out by the new news that came out regarding the game’s theme song. Apparently they decided to go with a song by Leona Lewis (who I admittedly haven’t heard a single song from till yesterday) for the NA and EU releases. I was really surprised by this since they typically try to keep the Japanese songs they use in the game or try to get the singer to translate the song to English. Either way the song kind of grew on me, but I still can’t visualize the song in the game just yet. Unlike a lot of the rabid fanboys/girls I am not throwing rocks and starting drama with Square’s decision to go with this song versus the Japanese theme song. I’m just praying for a better game than what was delivered a few years ago with FF12. *shivers*

Either way here are some videos so you can compare:

Japanese theme song

Leona Lewis’ My Hands

FF13 Game Trailer

Exciting! I miss good RPGs. There are so few these days.

It’s amazing how incredibly attached I am to some things I use/eat on nearly a daily basis. These are eight lovely items I don’t think I could live (or at least function coherently) without:

1. BlackBerry – These are so rightfully named CrackBerries! I am pretty much addicted to the internet so having a portable, mini-browser traveling around with me all day is an absolute must. I’m surprised I lived this long with a regular cellphone. I bought a BB this summer in Boston and have been using it pretty much religiously since! I’d say my most used applications on it are WeatherEye (for checking the weather before I go out), the internet browser, UberTwitter, and this one application I use to check local movie listings. Of course I do the standard texting and phone calls, so having such a multi-functional device is awesome. It also makes for an awesome event reminder and alarm clock!
2. Medicated Chapstick – I use this daily. My lips dry out for some odd reason all the time regardless of how much I drink water so I use Chapstick even during the summer. By far the best lip balm I’ve found (and I’ve tried tons) is just regular Chapstick Medicated. The menthol in it just soothes me. I have about 2-3 Chapsticks with me at all times.
3. Laptop+Internet – I use it daily. I probably use it a little less thanks to my BlackBerry, but I enjoy surfing the net and keeping in touch with people online! I feel like computers have become to ubiquitous and outright necessary in our lives it would be odd NOT to list this.
4. iPod – I love listening to music when I work out. The right mood music just makes the time fly by and really pumps you up to burn those extra calories. <3
5. Micaiah/Diglett – My kitties! I really do love both of them to death! Pets are supposed to relieve stress and bring you joy and they most certainly do.
6. Popcorn – Ughhh, I have no idea why I love popcorn so much. I probably eat it every other day. I don’t like movie theater popcorn with butter on it. My favorite is butterless with salt. Tasty, tasty!
7. Facebook – I’ve used FB since it came out in 2004 and I was still a highschooler. This was back in the day where you could only register if you had a university email address so I had used my first college’s provided address to sign up. I check FB periodically as I enjoy keeping in touch with people I went to high school with (especially since I went to high school overseas and I live in a different country now). It’s nice to hear how successful everyone has become and how everyone has changed since graduation.
8. Video Games – I know that sounds kind of dorky, but I honestly love a good RPG! I liken them to really good fantasy books that are interactive. I’ve been a gamer since I was in first grade and here in my early twenties I see no sign of enjoying them any less as the years role on.

What are some things you can’t live without?

Not really a true update of my life, but I thought any of my readers that are online gamers might want to hear this. I picked up AION Online a week or so ago and it’s quite fun! I’ve been updating my gaming log over at Arrode.com with stories about my in game experiences. If you’re looking for a fun MMO to hold you over till FFXIV is released this just might be it!

Know what’s always a great pick me up? Yankee Candles!

Yankee Candles

Yesterday I went by the mall and picked up two of their fall-scented candles: Spiced Pumpkin and Macintosh Spice to add to my old Autumn Wreath scent I bought last year and hadn’t used completely up. I’ve had the two burning pretty much all day today and yesterday and now the apartment smells awesome and happy (if happy can be a smell). I also picked up Clean Laundry as a scent for my car. :3 Nothing like having the smell of fresh laundry when you hop in the car for your ride to classes in the morning. For those of you who haven’t sniffed Yankee Candles I suggest you do. They seriously smell exactly like whatever

The weather’s getting cold and fast here in Rochester. We’re supposed to get snow tomorrow, but we’ll see. Rochester weather is ridiculous; it could be sunny and 80F tomorrow and blizzarding the next.

Woohoo, so Tim and I had a great time at Disney World last week. I don’t have too much time to summarize the entire excursion, but we spent 7 days in Orlando, Florida enjoying all Mickey Mouse had to offer.

Coronado Springs Resort

We left for Disney on August 30th (Sunday) at 7am and arrived at our Disney resort, Coronado Springs, around 11am. We were super tired from having to wake up at 5am to catch our flight, so like old farts we took a 3 hour nap and headed out to Hollywood Studios in the afternoon.

Hollywood Studios

I really did like Hollywood Studios a great deal and we got to most of the attractions that evening before it closed. Next up was the Magic Kingdom which we covered almost completely. Space Mountain unfortunately was closed. Otherwise it was a ton of fun, albeit incredibly hot and sunny.

Magic Kingdom

The following day we hit Epcot for the first time. We spent two days there as the park is massive. Tim and I both agreed that it was our favorite out of the four main theme parks. I really liked the whole cultural bit they had with all the separate countries and the ethnic food was awesome.

We also tried Typhoon Lagoon one day. I don’t have any pictures of it and it’s a fair water park, but I’ve been to better before. I really think Disney should have consolidated the two water parks into one since Typhoon Lagoon by itself is meager in its offerings when I compare it to water parks like Caribbean Beach in Korea. The final park we visited was the Animal Kingdom which was a lot of fun. I’m a huge fan of zoos and it had a great off-roading safari ride. I also got to pet goats and cows in the petting zoo which is always a win situation with me.

The last place we checked out while there was Downtown Disney. It’s not a Disney park and it’s open to the public. It’s mostly a shopping and dining area themed Disney style. We had an awesome authentic Irish dinner there that was arguably one of the best dinners we had while on Disney property.

All in all, the entire trip was really, really fun and a much needed vacation for both Tim and myself. This is honestly a crazy brief entry as I’m a bit busy tonight, but I wanted to get a few pictures up to people who wondered how my trip went. The rest of my pictures are posted on my Flickr and trust me, there are manyyyy.