My favourite race though are the bretons.
Let me guess, because of the 25% across the board magic resistance? Bretons are like the equivalent of turning down the difficulty slider by one level without doing so.
Try making a dark elf who has additional fire resistance so they're basically immune to fire, have a little shock resistance, and no cold resistance at all. When you see those ice mages fire blizzard your direction, the extra challenge gets your pulse racing.
Having a character with a specific weakness can make the game a lot of fun.
A lot of people find using a 2handed warrior challenging, because of the slower swing speed, but if you are good with positioning, you can land hits on enemies without them hitting you. The easy way to practice at this is to brawl with Uthgerd the Unbroken at the Bannered Mare in Whiterun repeatedly, trying to avoid her every punch, it teaches you good 'stick and move' fundamentals.
So go Two-Handed, Block, Light Armor, Restoration, Smithing, Enchanting, and Archery. Or dump archery, wear an Amulet of Talos, have the Blessing of Talos at all times to have a 40% cooldown reduction on shouts, and learn a lot of offensive shouts. Could probably fit in another skill if you did that, some just for the hell of it, like Speech or Pickpocket.