Over the next couple weeks I’ll be sharing my favorite things from 2010. These items weren’t necessarily new in 2010 but they were either new to me, extra awesome this year, or on my own holiday shopping list or wish list. The lists will be grouped by different personality traits I would use to describe myself so that you can use them as holiday gift inspiration as well.
Wii
I got my Wii in January this year and I am just obsessed with it.
- Wii
- Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board
- EA Sports Active 2
- Super Mario Galaxy 2
- Zelda Twilight Princess
- Guitar Hero III
- extra remotes and nunchuks so you can play with your friends and family
- Energizer Flat Panel Induction Charger
Nintendo DS
Last week, my awesome new boyfriend who I found via eHarmony (but how much I’m in love with eHarmony is another story) asked me if I ever played Pokemon when I was little. I was like do you mean do I ever still play Pokemon because I’ve had my neon green Gameboy Color and Pokemon Red cartridge out all year. He’s semi-permanently lent me his extra Nintendo DS and a bunch of Pokemon stuff.
- Nintendo DS (If I got my own, I’d pick Metallic Rose Lite)
- Pokemon Pearl is what I’m currently playing
- he also brought over Pokemon Heart Gold
- and strategy guides
Playstation 3
The boyfriend just put his Wii on loan to my little sister because he’s asking for a Playstation 3 for Christmas. His family will be getting that for him while I pick up a game for him.
- Playstation 3 320gb with Playstation Move Bundle
- Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2
Computer Games
If you know me you know I’m into two types of computer games: Blizzard games and Sims games.
- Cataclysm is almost here
- World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King are cheap to get people caught up to Cataclysm
- Starcraft II also came out this year, my boyfriend, brother, and sister are really into it but it’s not quite my style. I do love the cross game chat with WoW though.
- The Sims 3 World Adventures and Ambitions expansion packs give The Sims 3 a role playing game twist
- I’m also looking into Sim City 4 with the Rush Hour expansion pack after hearing rave reviews from my brother and my boyfriend
Arcade
The new boyfriend has also gotten me hooked on weekends at Dave & Busters to play Sega’s Derby Owners Club World Edition horse racing and breeding game. To be able to tell my Dave & Busters card apart from his, I stuck on a Mabel’s Labels sticker and he instantly wanted labels of his own so I’m getting him a pack too (I have the Colorful Sticky Labels with owls and I got him space ships and my sister horses). I know Mabel’s Labels look like they’re for kids but they’ve got tons of applications for adults like keeping duplicate cards separate and labeling your electronics and accessories so you know which cords go with your stuff and which cords don’t.
Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links.
This is a guest post from my friend Jaycie at Coupon Geek. Jaycie’s posts about Wii fitness games were my inspiration to get a Wii and try it out myself. Today she’s sharing with us what she loves about Wii fitness.
When I decided that I would become a SAHM, I thought I’d have all this time to get in the exercise I needed to get back into the shape I was in pre-baby. After all, the baby sleeps and then when they get older, you burn calories keeping up with them, right?
I was in for an eye-opener when I found that I had little time to workout. My son was a very active baby and I found myself just too exhausted to exercise. My hubby had picked up a Wii in December of 2006, right when they first came out. I remember him freezing in line hoping to get his hands on one. We were hosting Christmas that year and we thought it would be good entertainment. I had no idea that it would basically turn into my own personal trainer.
I was so excited when I heard they were coming out with the Wii Fit. I did a pre-order for one and picked it up the day it was released. It opened up a new world for me. Exercise was now fun. 30 minutes on it flew by and I began to see changes. By the time I lost a good portion of my “baby weight,” I became pregnant with my daughter. Soon after she was born, I picked up a copy of EA Sports Active (which is my favorite one now) and I let them whittle me back into a healthier weight at that time of 116 lbs on my 5’2” frame.
Having two little kids (and being a blogger) leaves little opportunity for me to rush off to a gym. And the closest one to us is about a 30 minute drive. So I am very thankful that Nintendo has invented the Wii. I find it’s a great workout and I love that my kids are able to see me taking care of myself. I’ve also found other things that we can actually play together such as Just Dance and Wii Sports.
I figured that a gym membership would run us about $35 a month or $420 in just one year for one person. Instead, we have invested much less than this to have our own mini-gym at home. There are so many games to choose from now that it fends off the boredom from repetitive routines.
In the end, all that matters is that you do try to fit in some exercise into your weekly routine. It can be as frugal as a free walk outside or you can choose a higher-priced gym or even using video games or DVDs to help. Staying in shape is worth the investment for the chance at a longer, healthier life and extra time to spend with your kids being able to watch them grow up. So I hope that whatever path you do choose, that you find one that helps keep you motivated to workout and to stay healthy.
A couple weeks ago, one of my Wii remotes got a low battery warning. Wii remotes take 2 AA batteries and I only had 1 left and at that moment I realized that I really don’t ever want to buy disposable batteries again so I started looking into rechargeable options.
I’d seen some Wii remote charging stations in the past but didn’t really like that idea because you have to take the silicone cases and motion plus packs off the remotes to use most of them.
But after browsing around the Wii remote charges on Amazon for a while, I discovered the perfect solution: a wireless charging pad. After you put in the special rechargeable battery packs that come with the pad, all you need to do to charge them is set the remotes down on top of the pad. You don’t even have to bother unplugging your nunchucks or lining them up exactly. It couldn’t possibly be easier.
The Energizer charging pad comes in a 2 remote model or a 4 remote model. I currently only have 2 remotes but I expect I’ll eventually get more so I went ahead and got the 4 remote charger. I’ve been using mine for a few weeks now and am absolutely thrilled with it.
265 readers
2931 followers
484 fans
Here at 