I don’t know what the exact date is, but Justin informed me recently that we’re at approximately our one year Team Hypercube birthday. So… happy approximate birthday, gaming channel! I promise when I actually have kids someday, I will pay much more attention to these types of details.

In the year that we’ve been posting to this channel, we’ve made 284 videos. 85 episodes of Dokapon Kingdom. We’ve played 23 games, gained over 6,000 followers and hosted multiple live shows. It’s been an awesome ride and I will be the first to say that I’m extremely excited to see where the next year takes us with this project.

Here’s the the most recent Checkpoint Vlog we’ve posted on the channel:

And here’s Episode ONE of Dokapon Kingdom, for those late to the party:

Sometimes I find it crazy how much effort we’ve all put into this little project, how much it has taken off, and most importantly – how awesomely dedicated our fan base is. I adore this channel and I look forward to even more people joining in the fun in the future. Thanks for watching for the past year!

I’ve been a bit off the grid for the past week or so, and I’ve rather kept the reasons to myself. I’ve been trying to write it all down in a blog post, but it’s currently sitting, half written, as a draft in my post queue… so that’ll go up whenever I find the words.

Basically (as I’m sure you’ve gathered if you follow me on twitter or instagram) I was in North Dakota surrounded by family for a funeral. This post is not about that, however. It’s about what was happening at home while I was away.

Let me preface this by saying I have some of the most wonderful friends and roommates anyone could ask for. Last week when I was panicking, making arrangements, buying plane tickets – they asked me, “how can we help? What still needs to be done?”

I felt a crushing weight as I imagined my to-do list before my 6am flight left the next morning, and at the tippy-top of that list was my weekly “italktosnakes” video. I knew there wouldn’t be time in North Dakota to make one. I knew it wouldn’t even be on my mind.

“Leave it to us,” they said, wicked smiles on their faces. “We’ll make one for you.”

I didn’t even ask what they had in mind; just enveloped them in hugs, put my trust in them entirely, and a week later came home to this adorable, hilarious video — all ready for me to post.

I’m a lucky girl. For a lot of reasons, I’ve discovered over this past week, but today I am focusing on how wonderful it is to have such unwavering support in your friends. This is a new favorite video on my channel, and I hope you all like it too.

As a YouTuber, I often find myself saying the sentence: “Well, this is definitely the weirdest thing I’ve ever done for a video”. That single statement has included things such as “hatching” out of a fake “egg”, wearing a tutu, wrapping my entire living room in wrapping paper, being covered in fake blood and throwing paint at my friends – among many other things I know I am forgetting.

This time, though, I think I’ve taken it to a whole new level.

I’ll be transparent with you – Taco Bell asked me to make this video. They didn’t pay me… I just agreed for the fun of it. I appreciate and respect their keen marketing sense and their food is a huge guilty pleasure of mine, so yeah. When asked if I wanted to anounce the newest Doritos Locos Taco shell flavor, I said yes. And then proceeded to immediately text my roommate Justin, “Can you help me light a taco on fire?”

Bless him, he agreed enthusiastically without even asking why. THAT’S the mark of someone who’s lived with me long enough to know not to bother asking questions. Strangeness is the norm at our house, definitely.

Anyway, you can get the new Fiery DLT at Taco Bell early starting on the 19th, before it’s announced to the rest of the world on the 22nd. But the real point of this blog post is to make sure you watch this video, because I LIT A TACO ON FIRE. And apparently my hand, for a few seconds there. I didn’t notice until I started editing the video together. I promise though, we took all the necessary safety precautions, my gloves were fire proof, and we had a fire extinguisher within shouting distance.

While I was away at VidCon, my roommate texted me saying a large ominous black box had arrived in the mail for me… from Taco Bell. This box; we’re talking big. It’s big enough to hold at least six puppies comfortably, or thirty pairs of shoes, or at least two hundred soft tacos.

Being that I was gone for almost a week though, I really desperately hoped two hundred soft tacos hadn’t been rotting in my swelteringly hot bedroom. Here’s the unboxing video I filmed as soon as I got home:

I’m not exactly sure how or when it happened, but Taco Bell has sort of become that super weird best friend you can’t quite remember how you met but are glad you get to hang out with on a regular basis anyway. I met their head marketing guy at VidCon (he was incredibly nice), and was super impressed with their t-shirt printing booth. Did anyone see my friends walking around with those stupid tees with my face on them? Thanks a lot for that, Taco Bell.  -_-

Photo courtesy of Kassie King. <3

Anyway, the last thought I want to end on is that… sometimes I forget how weird my life is. Being a YouTuber for as long as I have starts to desensitize you to it – and the weirdness starts to become normal. For instance, Liz came home to this Doritos photo shoot happening in my room last night and she didn’t even bat an eye. “Oh course Justin is taking pictures of Kristina while she’s covered in bags of Doritos,” Liz thought as she arrived home from work. “Can’t wait to help her eat all of those Doritos,” was her only reaction.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever received in the mail? One time a friend of mine sent me a postcard from a road trip she was on that was entirely made out of tree bark, but I think ten bags of chips has stolen first place for me. Leave a comment and let me know!