2014 was a good year. Better than I could predict. I have today a bachelor in Psychology. I started a masters in Clinical Psychology and I am proud of myself for achieving it. I started a relationship with an amazing someone that makes me beyond happy. A great gift in the form of a baby was brought upon my family and she melts our hearts. I flew for the first time and it wasn't as bad as people paint it! I had the opportunity to visit and get to know two beautiful cities in Europe. I changed some food habits that I maintained through the entire year. I lost almost 20kg and I feel more confident in my own skin. 2014 brought me joy, love, stability, a new lifestyle and lots of new exciting experiences I never thought I'd have. On this last day of 2014 I thought it would be fun to put together some of the things I liked about this year.
Music
To be honest there are so many songs being released at every moment that I don't remember them all so it's possible that there's better songs besides these, but I remember these so it must mean they've left a mark. Here we go:
Movies
I prefer tv shows instead of movies. I didn't watch that many spectacular movies this year apart from these:
I am a huge fan of the fantasy genre (Harry Potter fans, anyone?). I really enjoyed the movie Divergent. It had its downs but overall I loved the world where the movie is set, can barely wait for the sequel. The Giver was a huge surprise. It might even be my first movie of 2014. It was one of those movies that when it ended, it left me thinking. Thinking how our world is beautiful, full of colours, experiencies, feelings that make our time worthwhile. I learned that simple things such as coming down a set of stairs on a board (who didn't do that as a child?) can bring so much joy. In the end it left me crying, but not of sadness - of awareness of how life is good because we get to experience this beautiful world we're on. I fully recommend this movie. The Hobbit, well, for fantasy fans it needs no comments. It's a cult movie, one that sets a stop on the journey we started in Lord of the Rings and brings a cycle to an end. Sadly. It will be missed. I really enjoyed the final instalment but some things could have been better - did anyone see Legolas defy the laws of gravity? The Hunger Games is a movie right up my alley, I waited for it eagerly and it didn't let me down. I haven't read the books yet so I get very excited all the time to see what happens in it because I don't know the ending of the story.
TV shows
As I've told you, tv shows are my thing. I follow quite a few and I love the excitement every week when I know there's a new shiny episode waiting. Since I can't list every single one, and I'd even be embarrassed because you might think I have no life and I just sit around watching tv shows, I'm going to make a top6 of the shows I've been following this year or finished.
1 - Game of Thrones - Need I say more? Didn't think so. Let's just say I've been trying to get my brother to watch it for a while and he always said he didn't want to. He decided to try an episode out of curiosity and he watched all the seasons in a week I believe and is a total addict by now.
2 - Breaking Bad - I know I'm a bit late to the parade on this one, but I only started it this year and finished it 2 or 3 weeks later - that's how good it is. And there's plenty of Aaron Paul, so. Great plot and character development, humor in the right places, drama and action that will keep you coming back to watch some more and when you notice you've watched an entire season in one day and don't even know what to do with yourself because it's so darn good.
3 - The Walking dead - Don't think I know anyone that doesn't know about the walking dead. It's a show I really enjoy, it gets me on the edge of my seat never knowing what's going to happen and it's very entertaining.
4 - The Originals - In my honest opinion, this spin-off is so much better than the show that gave it origin - the vampire diaries. Klaus is such an interesting and deep character, the kind you really want to hate because he does evil things but you can't help loving him for his troubled soul. And in this show the vampires actually behave like vampires which is nice. No sparkly stuff.
5- Vikings - I didn't think I would like it in the first few episodes but I love it. The title is pretty self explanatory - it's about vikings and their misadventures. Very interesting characters that you get involved with and root for, with just the right amount of unpredictability.
6 - Outlander - The one I've started more recently. The story and character development is a bit on the slow side, but after a couple of episodes it pulled me in. Set in Scotland in the 18th century, with beautiful landscapes and reenactment of the era. This show is very alluring, I'd love to say more about it but I don't want to risk spoiling it for you. But try it out and let me know.
To end this I wish you a happy new year. 2015 is going to be a good year. I hope you make some of your life goals happen, and that you have more moments of true happiness than sadness. I hope you meet new interesting people or that you strenghten old friendships. I want you to get excited, to love, to do some of the things you always wanted to do but you never did. I honestly hope that on the 31st of December of 2015 you're looking back at your year and think "2015 was a darn good year".
Love, Filipa
