October 17, 2014 by Stephanie

Friday Filter: My DVR Listings

Hello my name is Stephanie, and I am a T.V. addict.

Seriously.

I have a problem.

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I watch A LOT of T.V. When I look at this I wonder how we have a life outside of it, but we do I promise.

Here is my daily line up and some quick thoughts about the current season so far.

Sundays

Once Upon a Time- This is one of my favorite shows, and the first few episodes haven’t disappointed me. I am loving the fact that Emma and Hook are finally getting their chance. Has anyone else noticed though that while everyone else in Storybrooke wears clothes of today except Hook? He is still wearing his pirate get up while everyone else changes. Anyway, I love the creativity and how they layer all the fairy tales.
Walking Dead-I couldn’t watch half of the season premiere because it was too gory. I am glad that the group is back together. But where is Beth? Carol is whooping up on folks. Love seeing a strong female lead, but she can be scary at her determination to save her troupe. I have heard through interviews that this season is absurd, and they are almost to the point that they couldn’t air the content because it was so ridiculous. Even though it is gory, I am SUCKED IN. Also I don’t think the dude with the “cure” is going to live.

Mondays

Dancing with the Stars- I don’t know how they do it, but every year they seem to get more competitive. I feel that this group is pretty even with the contestants right now, well except Michael and Chong. I go back and forth on how I feel about Juliane being a permanant judge. She isn’t as bad as I thought, but I still am not sure about the change. I think it also screws Bruno over a lot because they run out of time before they get to his critiques. I am rooting for Alfonso! I also like Janelle, Lea, Jonathan, and Bethany. I have dreams that this blog goes viral so that I could be a star and be asked to be Derek’s partner like Bethany’s video blog status. A girl can dream right?
Castle- MY FAVORITE! It will be interesting to see how this memory loss unfolds. I have no guesses. But that is why I love this show. The mystery keeps me coming back, as does the humor and wit.
Jane the Virgin- To be honest, I only started watching this because the female lead was a guest on Ellen, and I fell in love with her. It is pretty charming.

Tuesdays

Awkward- Still stupid high school drama. Really I am there to see Tamara and her crazy fast talking. I just love her. It is a 20 minute show of ridiculousness, and I love it. It will be interesting to see if they choose to go past this season since they are all seniors. Rarely does a high school based theme carry over to college. (Can anyone say Glee train wreck?)
Forever- This is a new show this year. It is a mystery show which is no wonder why I like it. The main character however cannot die. He works at the NYC morgue to study death and hopefully find out why he has immortality. All while solving cases with the NYPD. Perfect. I enjoy this twist, and I am interested to see how he keeps his secret. Although is there a cop based drama that is not in NYC?
New Girl-While I am sad that Nick and Jess are no longer together, I understand why it had to happen. You don’t want to jump the shark to soon with the highlighted relationships. Winston is my favorite character though. I just can’t get enough of him!
About a Boy- Another 30 minute comedy that I love. I think the boy is a genius. He steals the show every week. The things that he and his mother (Minnie Driver) do are beyond ridiculous but so fun. This show will have you laughing the whole time!

Wednesdays

Nashville- I love this drama, plus it is fun living right up the road from Nashville. It is really odd though when the news comes on right after. Sometimes I forget that it isn’t the show. I am a Rayna and Deacon fan, so I am going to be really upset if this wedding with Luke goes through. I am loving that Derek Hough is guest starring in some episodes along side Hayden’s character. Also you can totally tell that she is pregnant in real life.

Thursdays

The Biggest Loser- This is a great reality show. I think it is great to give these people another chance and some focus to get their life back on the healthy track. They really do get results. There isn’t a whole lot of drama between the contestants which is nice. I hate when they have that. This Comeback Canyon with Bob is genius too! I love the twist it provides to the show. Also, I want Jen to be my trainer. She is gorgeous!
Grey’s Anatomy- I am over this show. I am only staying with it because I have watched from the first season. I mean really, Meredith has another unknown sibling?
Scandal- I am still on the fence of how I feel about this show this season. It is kind of all over the place. I am team Jake though. Olivia needs to stay away from Fitz. With the Gladiators all over DC now, it has definitely made things interesting. My only hesitation is because the story lines are so nuts sometimes.
How to Get Away With Murder- I have no idea what is going on half the time with this show, which is why I watch it every week. That and Dean from Harry Potter being one of the main characters. A lot of mystery shows follow the cops, so I like that this is following law students. It definitely adds another layer to the story which is fun to watch. Plus who doesn’t love the firecracker of Viola Davis?
Parenthood- I cannot believe this is the last season! I love the family emphasis on this show. Why some of the things are definitely over done for ratings, for the most part they keep things fairly realistic in the emotion department. I love the cast too; the acting is spot on. I don’ t think there is an episode that I haven’t cried though.
Bones- I started watching this show on Netflix this summer, and it is possibly one of my favorite shows now. I LOVE Temperance. Her relationship with Sealy is just the bee’s knees. This is another murder mystery show, go figure that I like it. I love the twist of following the science and anthropology behind each case. And it is a funny show, and smart. I am guaranteed a laugh each episode. I am still in shock at the loss of Sweets. I bawled when I realized he was really gone, but I am happy that he (John Francis Daley) is pursuing another dream of his. If you aren’t watching this, you should be.

Every Day

Ellen- Full of laughs every day. Hopefully someday I can be on her show. I entered every military/pregnant contest last year…

Not On Right Now

Bachelor- I am so excited Chris is the Bachelor. Whoop whoop Iowa love!
Switched at Birth- It will be interesting to see how they do the college storyline. And maybe they will mention something about the Royals!
Pretty Little Liars- I don’t trust Ally.
Chasing Life- This is a cute little show about a woman in her twenties who gets cancer and how she and her family deal with it. I don’t think cancer is cute, btw, but this show is. But that is to be expected for ABCFamily.
Hart of Dixie- I need some Southernness in my life! And I still believe that Zoe needs to be with Wade.
So You Think You Can Dance- I loved that Ricky won this last season!

Do you watch this much TV? Do we watch the same shows? Any other shows that you think are great?

December 13, 2013 by Stephanie

Friday Filter-My TV Guide

So the seasons are starting their Winter hiatus. How did this become a thing?

Anyway, I figured I would give a brief update on where I am at with all of my TV shows.

Sundays

Once Upon a Time-Still one of my favorites out there. I am having a hard time watching “Henry” in his “Pan” moments. I also kind of want Emma to be with Hook more than Neil.
Walking Dead-So glad the Governor is gone…or is he? Also, I may have teared up a bit when Hershel died.

Mondays

Dancing with the Stars-My man Derek and his partner Amber Riley won! I have an obsession with Derek Hough and also Tristan MacManus. I want them both to be my dance partners, and I honestly watch the show more to see them than the “stars.” Maybe they will help me fulfill my 30 before 30 task of dance lessons.
Castle-My favorite show currently. I called it that Beckett would return to New York, which happened in either the third or forth episode of the season. If you do not watch this show and you are looking for something new, ADD THIS ONE!
Hart of Dixie-I watch this show at lunch every Tuesday. It is such a pick me up. I just love the quirkiness of the small town. I am glad Dr. Hart’s family has come around!

Tuesdays

New Girl-I am really enjoying Nick and Jess together. Winston is my favorite. He generally makes or breaks every episode for me.
The Biggest Loser-I am in love with this season. I mistakenly tried watching this at lunch a few times, and ended up crying in the Union dining court. Whoops. I am rooting for all of them, but really mostly Rachel.
Awkward-I stopped watching consistently after the third episode. I have them all on the DVR ready to binge watch the Awkwardness. I just need to be in the right mood right now for teenage affairs.

Wednesdays

Super Fun Night-I honestly forgot that I started watching this. My DVR stopped recording it for some reason, so I haven’t seen it for a few weeks. It isn’t a bad show, but I am obviously not missing it.
Nashville-I watch this every week live, and I am slowly getting Tom hooked. I really wish Rayna and Deacon would just be together though. Also, I am hoping that I see them on my excursions to Nashville. Real life right?

Thursdays

Grey’s Anatomy-I will go week’s without watching and then binge watch 3 episodes while Tom plays video games. I am apathetic about the show, but I am still hooked enough to come back to see what’s up. I am invested until the end.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland-I just wasn’t into this show. I stopped after the third episode I think. It was too Willy Wonka for me. There was not as much overlap into the original as I was hoping so I didn’t feel I was missing anything by not watching.
Crazy Ones-I really enjoy this show. It is ridiculous, but it is short enough and light so I will watch it when I need a quick pick me up. Robin Williams is totally worth it.
Parenthood-Max working with photography? Perfect. I see myself in Julia with her struggles of being a stay at home mom (except without the mom part obviously). I just love this show.
Glee-I stopped watching this show two episodes ago. I think it was the muppets episode that I just couldn’t do it anymore. I am not sure what is going on but it has just gone way downhill for me. The music also doesn’t really call to me anymore, so there was no reason to keep watching the absurdity. I was really sad about it, which is why I held out as long as I did. The last couple just did me in.
Scandal-I am in a constant state of shock with this show. I have drug Tom into the goodness! I caught him up on the first couple seasons so he knew what was going on. If we weren’t married, Tom would want to work in CIA/Huck like jobs. Scary I know, but that’s what it is. So he loves it for that, and I just love it for all the OMG moments. I did not see last night coming!

Every Day

Ellen-this is the best part of my day. I watch it in small segment–a little before I go to work and right when I get home. And when I don’t get through it, I will binge watch that week’s episodes on Saturday mornings while Tom is sleeping in. I just love Ellen so much. She is great and fantastic, and a great role model for human beings. I want to dance with her/meet her/embarrass myself ridiculously for her. Also, when I am home alone, sometimes I think Tom is secretly in the house to video tape scare me like Ellen would do. He has gotten me more times than I would like to admit-no video yet, just lots of scaring and screaming. So I am in a constant state of panic because of Tom being inspired by her pranks. Thanks Ellen.

Not on right now

Pretty Little Liars- CAN.NOT.WAIT.
Switched at Birth-This comes back soon too. I love this show for so many silly reasons. One being that it is based in KC. They mentioned World of Fun (not the real Worlds of Fun) once. Although they are in KC, Kansas, and not Missouri. But I will forgive them for their ignorance when showing the KC, MO skyline. Here is your education on Kansas City. Yes it has Kansas in the name, but most of the city is actually in Missouri. All the sports teams are in Missouri, all the famous BBQ-Missouri, all the jazz history-Missouri, all the goodness-Missouri…haha JK (only kind of)

So there you have it. I only weeded out a couple shows. What can I say, I am TV junkie!

September 20, 2013 by Stephanie

Friday Filter-TV Review Premiere Week 1

One of my favorite things about fall is all the shows coming back from their summer hiatus.

The next couple weeks shows are beginning again, so I figured I would do my initial reactions to the season openers.

Ellen Season 11

I adore Ellen. A life bucket list item is to get on her show (preferably the 12 day give away). She is truly a role model for life. I usually end up having a marathon every weekend to catch up on her daily shows. It is a constant reminder for me to laugh and live in the moment. She always has the greatest YouTube clips too! She has had some good guests the past two weeks. And like clockwork, I cry every episode and also bust a gut laughing so hard. My favorite story so far is the Homeless to Howard story. Look it up if you haven’t seen it. Just wonderful. I also am loving that she is doing different Deejays everyday. It really spices things up, although I do miss her daily razzing of Tony. I love the message that she ends with every day. “Be kind to one another.” I am so glad she is back!

Dancing With The Stars

This is my favorite reality show out there. I love love love this show. Every season I groan and mumble that I don’t really like the cast, and then opening night happens and I am hooked. To be honest though, I actually did have a lot of favorites before the season stated which is not typical. This will be a tight race because there were so many high marks that first night. I don’t think I can ever recall a 9 in the first night let alone how many 8s there were. I am interested to see how this new format will go with only having it one night. Now that I don’t have Monday night meetings, I can get to the voting apps much easier, but still, I am just not sure. Besides watching the stars out of their element, I come back each week for two reasons. One) I love dancing, and I secretly wish that I had done more of it when I was a kid instead of just choosing basketball. And Two) I love Derek Hough and Tristan Macmanus, who are two of the professional dancers. I have always swooned over Derek, but Tristan may be stealing his place…It must be the darker hair and accent. Also who wouldn’t love a show that Tom Bergeron hosts? So happy to see this back!

New Girl

Ok so I may just say that all these shows are my favorite…I really love this show though because the character Jess really resonates with me. She is a little dorky and awkward, which is basically my life. The season ended last spring with Nick and Jess finally getting together! So there was much anticipation to see what would happen to these two beloved and must be together characters. You are always nervous though to put two main characters together because you don’t want to curse your show and have reached the pivotal point to early. I honestly was not that engaged in the first episode. I think I may have anticipated too much. It was still funny, don’t get me wrong; I laughed. But I always expect a laughter that will make milk come out of your nose, and that just didn’t happen this week. Maybe I was having an off day. Work is hard; Tom was gone, who knows…Anyway, I only assume though that it will continue to get better in the wittiness. Hopefully Schmitt decides on a woman instead of dragging two women along on his journey of love. Winston just may be my favorite character, and he was awesome as usual with his puzzle masterpiece. So I still liked it, I just wasn’t as wowed as I hoped for this season premiere.

There are a whole bunch coming next week! Tom watch out! This lady is takng over the remote…or DVR!

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with this work or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

Come back on Sunday for “Autumn on My Mind.” Sunday’s episode is about fall activities that you do in your community. You can see the full schedule here.

July 1, 2013 by Stephanie

“My Job is Freedom”

Another dose of Talks with Tom.

With deployment, one misses out on a lot of TV programming. Seasons come and go. And in the past you would just miss out on them forever, or until the next year when the DVD was released. Then you had to spend a nice chunk of change on that. Oh, or Hulu may or may not have your show, but you can only watch the last 5 episodes and hope they don’t go to HuluPlus.

That is until recently.

My friend Susan introduced me to a site that allows you to watch ANY episode, from ANY season, at ANY time. As a TV junkie, this is a life changer. And when I say any, I will admit that I have not looked for every show out there, but it has yet to fail me.

I introduced Tom to “Project Free TV” so he could catch up on the Walking Dead and Gold Rush.

The trouble with the site though is that it can be finicky and not load as lickity-split as Hulu or a network site, or the unrealistic expectations we may have as millennials.

Tom was near the end of the season for Walking Dead when we had this conversation.

Tom: This shouldn’t be this difficult. (talking about uploading a video)(groaning and impatient foot-tapping commenced)

Me: Well, if it is that easy, why don’t you figure out how to post episode videos online on your own?

Tom: That’s this guy’s job. This is his only job in life, and he can’t do that? How hard is it to be awesome at your job? My job is freedom, and I am pretty awesome at that. I have that down pat. I’m just saying.

Happy Independence Day everyone! I hope that we can all celebrate our freedoms this week, and that videos will upload at your command.

And what can be more than American than a weekend was full of home improvements?

We inherited a pair of dressers from my grandparent’s over Father’s Day weekend.

This weekend we did a makeover on these bad boys.

Before…

They were this old plastic wood, so I first primed them with this stuff.

Then I painted on a light orangey brown satin finish paint. I did two coats of this. Tom had to help with some parts because I am not the “smoothest” or most patient painter. You can tell the edges that I worked on–>globs of dried paint are left in my wake. But I did paint 95% of them fairly successfully! It was just a lesson in my on-going curriculum of patience.

And after…

We ended up keeping the same knobs (just taking off the fancy plate things that were on there). It would have cost too much to replace around 25 knobs, but that is an option if you are trying to redo dressers to make a different look.

I wish I had taken a before and after of our bedroom/closet to show how dramatic of a change it was going from living into laundry basket chaos to a much more organized and structured closet. We can actually see everything now in it’s place.

They aren’t perfectly brand new. You can still see nicks and wear and tear from the years they spent in my grandparents’ home. But we gave the pieces a facelift and hopefully a new life with just an afternoon of time and a little bit of paint. And as Tom says, “They are just showing some character.” (He also said that about my globs. He’s a keeper.)

I am excited this week to see what is happening on base for the 4th of July. Red, white, and blue baby!

What are you doing for the 4th?