Stephen Adams

All the cool kids are doing recaps on how their 2025 went, what they learned, what meant something, and what they want to change moving into 2026. I’m not much of a cool kid, but why not give this a try and see if I can come up with some fun things I did. I guess I could just make a list. Yeah, let’s make a list first.

• Sold my 1991 F150 and bought a 2021 Ranger
• Went to Las Vegas and met some podcast heroes of mine
• Went to Disney World for a week with some of my favorite people on the planet
• Had my 40th birthday and it was spectacular because my wife is incredible
• Went to the mountains in Gatlinburg. It was beautiful
• Got back into serving in my church which was incredibly fulfilling
• Brought my best friend into my small group and it has been wonderful for us all
• Went on the annual small group camping trip and learned we had what it takes to camp in the rain
• Rode horses a few times with my dad
• Remodeled our office. First time putting in vinyl flooring
• Hosted seven panels at Dragon Con
• Launched and completed two seasons of 24 FPS Presents… with Travis
• Got promoted to Principal Software Engineer
• And probably a lot more stuff…

Well that’s quite the 2025 when you put it into a bulleted list. I’m not sure I did everything I ever set out to do or if I met all the expectations that I had for my year, but I’d be willing to say that’s pretty good stuff. I took a lot of trips this year. I had more paid time off than usual because my parents were closer so we didn’t have to take four days to go see them every once in a while. More on that later.

Rating: ★★★★★ (5.0/5)

There are a lot of movies based on true events out there. Some of them are factual, some of them are basically complete fabrications, and some of them are entertaining. This one manages to be both factual, engaging, and incredibly entertaining. How could you really expect anything less when we’re talking about the GOAT true events director, Ron Howard. This is the guy that made Apollo 13, for crying out loud. I love this movie. It’s perfection.

Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)

I hadn’t thought about this movie in a long time other than to think, “that was a good one.” Then my son was curious about it. I think he saw it in a meme or something and wanted to know what it was all about. He’s ten and loved Winnie the Pooh was really small but has just forgotten a lot of it over time. You definitely don’t have to twist my arm to get me to watch anything with Winnie the Pooh in it. That character holds a dear place deep in my heart. I adore him.

Rating: ★★★½ (3.5/5)

Exposition! In case you forgot what happened over the last thirty years of Mission Impossible movies, Tom Cruise and company are here to tell you all about it in an exposition packed cold open thanks to a tape from IMF.

Speaking of the tape from the IMF. Did anyone else wonder how they got Ethan the tape if he’s on the run and they don’t know where he is? I mean, if they used a dead drop they could stake it out, if they sent it to him then they know where he is, and if they picked someone to take it to him wouldn’t they just follow? I had a lot of issues with that, so let’s just put that in the back of our minds for a minute.

We did it again! We streamed all day on 12/5/2025 and managed to raise $2070 for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. I’m so thankful for all the people that came out and contributed some of their hard earned dollars to helping make some kids’ Christmastime a little bit brighter.

We played some great stuff this time:

• Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping
• Squats for Tots (more on that in a minute)
• A Short Hike
• Peak
• Hollow Knight (sam’s stream)
• Dungeons and Dragons

We were cruising along and getting hyped for our 3rd annual Squats for Tots event which involves me and Ashley doing a squat for every $5 that someone donates to the charity. Seems like a good idea, right? It is a good idea because for the last 3 years we’ve nearly hit our goal during that 2 hour block alone. The bad idea part is when you’re 40 and haven’t exercised a lot in the last few months and are more out of shape than you’ve been in the last 3 years you’ve done then exercise. The “you” in this situation being me.

Rating: ★★ (2.0/5)

I don’t even know what to say.

The second one was fine. This one was so dark so much of the time. I was also thrown off by Mads Mikkelson taking over as Grindelwald. Not mad about it, but it was a bit jarring. They didn’t even really keep the bleach blonde hair and blue eye. If you’re not keeping up with movie news and casting decisions, I think it would have taken a minute to get your bearings here.

Rating: ★★★ (3.0/5)

I was way more into this movie than the first one. That being said, I don’t have a clue what it was about and I watched it just a few days ago. Something about finding out who Creedence really was and Grindelwald having secret meetings.

It was pretty cool to see everything happen in Paris. That whole city was a fun setting for some magic stuff.

Rating: ★★★★ (4.0/5)

One of the things I love to ask people who I know are film fans is, “What M. Night Shayamalan movie was the last one you enjoyed?” The reason is that there are people that think Unbreakable was the last good movie he did. Some people give up at Signs. Others make it all the way to The Happening before they throw in the towel. For me, The Village is the last good movie he made. Up until Split of course.