Author: xlifeoncloudninex

Birthday Voucher Purchases

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

For my birthday this year I received an iTunes voucher. I usually listen to music on Spotify but when I listen to music in the car, I tend to plug in a USB with my owned music. Here is what I chose to spend it on:

McFly – Greatest Hits

Not a band I would usually listen to but I decided to give them a try after hearing about their new album. I chose their greatest hits as they’re not a band I’m familiar with, well other than their earlier most famous songs. I’m pleasantly surprised! My favourite band is Fall Out Boy; McFly are more poppy than they are but they still sound like a band rather than normal pop. I like their happy music, it’s so uplifting. It’s nice to sing and dance along to happy-in-love songs nowadays. I think I will be checking out their full albums on Spotify. Very pleased with this pick.

Favourite song: Shine a Light

Good Charlotte – Greatest Hits

Another greatest hits album as I love a couple of songs at least from a few of their albums, these songs were nicely collated on to the greatest hits and it just made sense. For some reason I threw out their Good Morning Revival album that I used to own. What has struck me with the songs included on this album is that the lyrics are really trying to help people, I didn’t realise how kind and supportive this band were. This hopefully will continue to help me in my adult life, though it would have been great during my teenage years.

Favourite song: Hold On

My Chemical Romance Greatest Hits – May Death Never Stop You

Following on from throwing out albums, again for some reason I threw out The Black Parade years ago at the same time. This band don’t make the most cheerful music I have to say. There’s more angst to their music which can be motivating and I just like most of the songs. They are more metal than Fall Out Boy, with their guitar riffs. I don’t however like Mama or Cancer but they were included, so there you go. They were a band I liked as a teenager.

Favourite song: Famous Last Words

Sam Hunt – Southside

Saving possibly the best til last and also the one album that is not a greatest hits is Sam Hunt’s 2020 album Southside. I’ve been listening to this album on Spotify since it was released and Sam is an artist that I absolutely love and is in my top 5 favourite music artists. I think his sound is a merge between country and RnB, his voice is lovely and soothing. His lyrics to me are heartfelt and are his own personal experiences. Go check him out!

Favourite song: Kinfolks

All images are screenshots from Apple Music and are posted in the context of a review.

Thanks for reading,

Amy xx

Favourite Xbox Games of 2021

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

I have been playing a lot of computer games during 2020 and 2021. I prefer to relax indoors rather than venture outside to be honest. I have long loved computer games! I think it was 2011 or 2012 that I bought my first Xbox though. Prior to that I was a PC gamer. Anyway the games below are my favourite of 2021 so far.

Dead By Daylight

This is my current favourite game. I am absolutely obsessed with it at the moment and can’t seem to get enough. I think the gameplay is original; merging the objective of completing generator repairs, with running and hiding from the killer. The survivors can also block and sprint whilst the killers can set traps and temporarily become undetectable. Computer games are usually some form of RPG, shoot-em-up or strategy game. I find it very refreshing to play a game that doesn’t shoot a gun, or attack anything else for that matter. If you play as a survivor, that is. If you play as the killer then you injure the survivors and place them on to hooks as a sacrifice to the entity.

I always kind of like thriller films, as you experience anxiety and the thrill of the jump. That is also what I like about this game. It can help when I am feeling anxious in real life, as it focuses the anxiety on something actual.

When the developers added the Stranger Things chapter, that’s when I decided that I needed to try the game! The characters all start with their individual ’perks’, the benefits that they have in the game. There are four slots available for all characters in the game. The is a bloodweb where you can spend points earned or bought on items or perks. The characters can learn other’s perks, the items are universal to either a survivor or killer.

The best way to get a feel of the game is to watch a YouTube video of the gameplay.

https://deadbydaylight.com/en

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/dead-by-daylight-special-edition/c0n22p73qz60?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Now I am very late to this scene, this is the first COD game that I have owned and played on my own console! I have the Xbox Game Pass and had been hoping that this number would end up on the list of games. I was advised by my friend that sadly this was unlikely to ever happen, so when I saw that the latest version was on sale, I jumped at the chance to buy it. As it is so popular, there will always be a lot of people to play with. Although I like playing solo on computer games, it is nice to be social sometimes. My favourite gameplay mode is zombies. As a newbie I really struggle with player vs player multiplayer. Zombies can get a little scary when playing without a friend talking to you though.

Through the Xbox Game Pass, I’ve also played Conan Exiles, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Warhammer: Endtimes – Vermintide. I used to love Final Fantasy X so now that it has been released on Game Pass I hope to actually finish it this time round! I’ve also played Risk of Rain 2 with my siblings, but it isn’t on Game Pass.

Keep gaming,

Amy xx

New Hairstyle for 2021

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

Every year or so I fancy an update of my hairstyle, I’m not sure why but I tend to get bored and want to try something different or tend to to-and-fro from no fringe to fringe.

Lockdown has stopped most people from having their hair done but to be honest I don’t usually visit the hairdressers more than about once, maybe twice a year anyway.

My hair has got rather long again, down to my bum. Although it looks lovely at this length, it is rather irritating whilst being as knotty as it is! I don’t even mind that it takes longer to wash and dry for the most part. I am someone who needs a style that is low maintenance because I have never been very good at styling my hair.

Styles that I have been researching this year, are mid-back styles with lots of layers, especially round the face. The main one of interest has been the shag. I’m not particularly interested in fashion, but I noticed that it is a style that was popular at least in 2020, I’m not sure about this year.

Here are some of my favourites:

I got my hair cut back in mid May so this post is a little delayed. In the end I asked the hairdresser to cut my hair to a style that suits me best. Here is what they went for:

I usually steer away from a blunt cut of one length as I’ve always preferred layers but I think the blunt cut suits me past a certain length. The hairdresser also explained that after a certain length of hair, it is just length and provides nothing more to the face. My face needs layers round it, so the face framing layers were a joy to see. The face framing layers are great when your hair is up as the bits look cute and feminine.

Take care,

Amy xx

The Maze Runner Book Series

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

I have recently put down the last of The Maze Runner series that I will read for a while. I have read:

The Maze Runner

Like most people, I found the first book in the series to be the most gripping. I zoomed through the book, unable to put it down and hungry for more. Thomas wakes up in a box surrounded by eyes of other boys, in small glade surrounded by huge walls. Why has he woken up here? So many questions. By the end of the book you are left feeling that experiencing the maze was surely enough torture for the teenage Gladers, right?

The Scorch Trials

I enjoyed the second book. I was rather surprised at how different the storyline was, having watched the films before reading the books. The storyline is much better in the book, in my opinion. I remember being shocked and upset that the trials hadn’t finished following the escape from the maze. The anxiety and trepidation stays with you, just like in the maze, too.

Death Cure

An eye-opening book on the state of the world in The Maze Runner Series. Incredibly scary to think that the whole world is crawling with crazy cranks! I have wondered though whether given a few more decades, if the cranks would all have died due to their brains shutting down? In that case would the immunes truly be safe after all. I don’t want to post any spoilers but I will say Newt, oh Newt. I was frustrated with Thomas as to why he didn’t choose to have his memory restored. Also the thing with the brain confused and worried me at the same time. The ending was rather anti-climatic but it is the ending that is probably the nicest the author could write. I finished the entire trilogy in a couple of weeks which is rather quick for me.

The Kill Order

I got a bit bored whilst reading the next two instalments to be honest. There is almost constant action in this book which as I said somehow got boring. Saying that though the characters and story have really stayed with me, I can’t explain how or why they touched me so much. The events are just awful, pure terror and I guess I just feel so sorry for the characters, they got so far and then things progressively got worse. Rather heartbreaking.

Fever Code

As I said above I got bored half way through this book, whilst The Kill Order had almost constant action, Fever Code was a lot slower with a lot less action. It was quite nice to read the events of the Gladers leading up to the maze trials and how they got to Wicked. I was very surprised by the twist at the end! The talk about memories was very sad. I enjoyed the supplementary information provided by the prequels. There is obviously more information that could have been released, explaining why a cure hadn’t been found. Also why Dr Paige eventually changed tack in regards to the immunes after her scheming.

I endeavour to read Crank Palace at some point, but I don’t think my heart can take it at the moment. Plus I would like to move on to a different story in a different world. It is a series that will stay with me I have to say, to summarise.

Signing off for now,

Amy xx

Scentsy

Posted on by xlifeoncloudninex

I have recently got in to Scentsy! Another company that is a bit of hype at the moment. I got pulled in partly because they have a Disney collection, partly because I love scented candles (I know they’re not the same thing) and lastly because I know the person selling well. The scents themselves are rather strong but I get round it by only having them on for a short while. Although some scents are rather subtle. There are so many different scents, a lot of them are so comforting whilst others inspiring! There are just so many to choose from. They don’t only sell wax melts and warmers but also bath salts and little USB scents with plug in fans. I find these so versatile as you can use them anywhere there is a usb slot. I’m finding that the scents are really picking me up in this lockdown/post lockdown world we are living in at the moment. The newly released Stitch and Moana scents are giving me summer vibes which I just love.

Amy xx