How To Train Your Dragon Live Action Review

First, you need to know that How To Train Your Dragon is one of my favorite animated movies. It's one of those movies that isn't just for kids. It's real emotion, real people, real problems (if we were cartoons and dragons exist that is) so when I heard they were doing a remake I was… ok let's be honest, at first I was super excited. Then I was hesitantly hopeful. Then I was downright nervous there would be something that would ruin the whole movie for me like there has been with several of the last Disney remakes. Well. I’ve watched it twice with the original sandwiched in the middle and boy do I have some thoughts! Let me start by saying this review is going to be very short compared to my others, and it’s not for the reason you might think! So let’s go!

No Spoilers Review

So, I don’t have much to say and that’s not because it was a bad remake, quite the opposite! So much was exactly the same that there’s very little to compare! Same lines, same feel, same music, same characters, same scenery, same dragons, even most of the same camera angles! It was a true live action remake of the cartoon we love so dearly. THIS. This movie just set the bar for a live action remake and, honestly, I don’t know that anyone can ever reach it. It is the absolute best remake I have ever seen. And that includes the Disney ones I actually like. And that’s really saying something because I love the original so much that if they changed the wrong thing I would be extremely disappointed. Now, that’s not to say it was absolutely perfect. There were a couple characters who didn’t look quite right and that bugged me. However, they made up for it with their acting. The best part was that my parents (who had never seen the cartoon) liked the movie and I (someone who loves the cartoon) loved the movie. So, there’s your no spoiler's version. Go watch it because oh my goodness it’ll make you think dragons are real and you’ll want to go live in Berk with them!

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

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Alright. Let’s start with a breakdown of the characters. 

Hiccup - Hiccup was pretty perfect. You know right from the start who he is, he sounds right, looks right, and says all Hiccups lines almost identically. The only thing was that he’s not quite as awkward as the cartoon, but there were definitely still some iconic awkward Hiccup moments. And most importantly, his relationship with Toothless was just as special.

Astrid - Ok. Going in I was a bit annoyed because, come on, why does every single one of my favorite blonde characters not get to be blonde in the remake? In fact, all the blonde main characters in this movie got different hair colors. Clearly this character change bugged me the most, but looks are where that stopped. Her personality was perfect and her chemistry with Hiccup was there. The changes they made were well integrated. I liked that she was critical of everyone not taking things seriously instead of just Hiccup. She wants to be chief, which you get that impression in the original, but she never says it. She had more depth without damaging the original story. So, even though I wish she was blonde, she made a good Astrid.

Stoic - Perfection, he was even the original voice actor!

Gobber - pretty much exactly the same. No notes.

Twins - Tuffnut was right even though he's a redhead instead of blonde. Ruffnut looked nothing like the cartoon and didn’t really act right either. They were both redheads, so at least they looked related, but they didn’t look identical. There was a joke about their mom not being able to tell them apart, I don’t feel that was entirely necessary. Neither were quite as annoying as in the cartoon and they didn’t bicker enough. However, none of this ruined the movie by any means, it's just a comparison that should be made.

Fishlegs - He didn’t have the right hair color and wasn’t the same nationality. However, his character was perfect. He was still the chubby kid who knew the dragon stats by heart.

Snotlout - yup, exactly the same. They actually gave him a little more depth by sharing more of his relationship with his father, or lack thereof. This was a nice addition since it explains why he’s such a showoff, he’s trying to get his dads attention.

Toothless - Huge! But just as cute and full of personality as in the original. I now want to meet him. Not that I didn’t want to before, but now it feels possible because he looked so real!

The cgi and scenery were breathtaking. Seamless. We kept asking each other “how did they do that?” It seriously looked like they were living amongst the dragons. Huge, beautiful, actually flying dragons. It didn't feel fake at all. Like I said before, there was all the same music and even many of the same camera angles. It was perfect.

The only things they changed story wise was more background on why they were hunting the dragons and one missing scene where Hiccup and Toothless eat lunch with the little dragons. The only reason I even noticed was because that's the scene where he realizes dragons aren’t fireproof on the inside and that’s how he ultimately defeats the monster of a dragon at the end. Perhaps it didn’t make sense that the little dragon survived but the big dragon didn’t? I’m sure there was a reason they left it out and, honestly, with the exception of watching Toothless tolerate the little ones, it wasn’t missed. They also changed the grass that works like catnip on the dragons to dandelions that make them sneeze. I didn’t mind that change either. In the grand scheme of the movie the changes were so miniscule that I felt like I was just watching the same movie. It still bugs me that a few of the characters, mainly Astrid, didn’t look quite right, but they made up for it by being pretty spot on live action representations of their well loved animated counterparts. 

The story was nearly identical, scene for scene, to the original. I could quote it even though I had never seen it. I went to watch the original and kept feeling like I had just watched it! And isn't that really what we want from a live action remake? Sure, some of the things Disney added to their remakes added depth to the characters and story, but was it at the cost of what we love about the originals? You don't mess with a masterpiece. And this one didn't, it simply brought it to life. Move over Disney, DreamWorks just raised the bar!

Overall, no remake is going to be perfection, but this one comes pretty close. We needed more of this *gestures to the whole movie* in the live action remake craze. 

Lilo And Stitch Live Action Review

 Before I get into the real review, I have to say I am loving the dedication of the movie goers on this one. Every other person coming out of the theater ahead of us, coming in with us, and going in after had either stitch clothing, a Stitch stuffed animal, Stitch ears, or bought the Stitch popcorn bucket. The excitement over this one was huge and that excitement was contagious. After all the politics mixed up in the last several live action remakes, it was refreshing to have one that wasn’t being drowned out by bad reviews before it even hit theaters. With that, let’s get started!

The no spoilers review. There were a few scenes and characters left out that were definitely missed, however, the feel of the movie, the characters who were there, and… well… Stitch… saved the movie and made it so I can definitely say with confidence, go see it! I laughed and cried in all the right places and it wasn’t just because it held almost all the nostalgia of the original. The cgi was spot on and it really felt like aliens had joined our world. The theme of Ohana was strong and has me wanting to write a whole post on that alone.

Ok. If you want to go watch it without spoilers, stop reading, put on your Stitch shirt, grab that Stitch stuffed animal, and find yourself a movie theater! Then come back and read the rest because I’d love to compare notes!

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

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First, a little disclaimer. I usually watch the remake twice and the original once to compare. Since I watched this one in theaters and it’s not on Disney+ yet I only watched it once. If I watch it again and change my opinion on anything I’ll make a note at the end.

Disney may have redeemed themselves with this one. It may have had something to do with the fact that Lilo was actually allowed to be Hawaiian and Stitch was… well… still blue… but that’s all I’m going to say on that. Let’s get into it.

We start on the spaceship, just like the original, and all the aliens look pretty perfect, personalities are right, story follows the original, there were even a few characters I didn’t realize were in the original until I watched the movies back to back and they were in both. There’s one thing that bugged me about Jumba but more on that later. Stitch even gets himself free the same way he does in the cartoon, tricking the guns with his spit, stealing the red spaceship. Overall a very good start.

First scene with Lilo got me excited right off the bat. I don’t know for sure if it was an actual ocean Lilo was swimming in or not, but it definitely looked like it. In fact all of the ocean scenes looked completely real and amazing. Unlike that other ocean movie where the cgi was painful to watch… apparently it’s possible, so well done redeeming yourself on that one Disney.

The story line, for the most part, does follow the original. Some of the well known lines and scenes are cut short which, for nostalgia's sake is missed, for the actual storyline… their absence didn’t help but also didn’t hurt necessarily. For example, Lilo's iconic explanation of the whole Pudge the fish thing did happen, but not to as much length as the original. Lilo does adopt Stitch, but we don’t have the scene where she “pays” for him. The “learning to be good” montage is definitely part of it, but there’s no Elvis impersonation. The mean little girls are there, but they’re not as much of a focus of the story. Gantu is taken out completely, he’s barely in the original movie to begin with, but his absence does create a few problems of its own but more on that later. Nani drives a truck, not a bug… that probably bothers me, a bug owner, more than it will bother anyone else. But the part I missed the most, there is no Ugly Duckling story. I kept waiting for it and it never happened. The sentiment was there, so don’t freak out, but the story itself was missing. 

It wasn’t like they missed stuff and didn’t replace it though, there were definitely things added that I really like. There was more on the sister relationship, Nani’s history, and the reality of their situation after their parents died. There was more explanation on Cobra Bubbles and why he was there which I felt was a needed addition. Jumba and Pleakely have a cloaking device that made them look like humans which, even though it was hilarious in the cartoon that they tried to blend in, let's be honest, the humans in the movie can only ignore so much and thinking Stitch was a dog was already pushing it. I actually liked this addition. 

I noticed pretty much anything they changed in the remake was in an effort to make it more believable. Less alien encounters with humans, more complete storylines, and a realistic outcome for Lilo’s living situation. One of the things people are having the biggest problem with is the end. Nani doesn't “keep” Lilo. But before you freak out, hear me out, because I actually like this change. Lilo ends up going to live with their neighbor, who also happens to be David's grandmother, who was much like an aunt to both sisters throughout the movie. Honestly, this ending makes so much more sense. Lilo was going into foster care either way. Nani couldn't take care of her and it definitely wasn't for lack of trying. Going to college had been put on hold and trying to take care of Lilo, herself, and a house with a low level job as a teenager just wasn’t working. And yes, she’s a teenager. She’s only 18. And she didn't “give her away” she is safe and loved. Nani deserves to be safe and loved too and if she goes to school and gets a good job then she could easily have Lilo back. Plus, they have a portal gun that allows them to see each other whenever they want and go back to being sisters again, so honestly I like this ending very much. I’ll go deeper into this later, but it also expands the true meaning of Ohana and I personally love that. So if you haven’t gone to see it because of this, give it a try. It’s not as terrible as people are trying to make it sound.

Now let's dive into the characters. If I miss one you want to know about, just ask. I know this is a movie where the side characters are just as much a part of the movie as the main characters but I don’t have time to get into every one here.

Stitch

When I first heard about this movie I was worried there was no way they could make Stitch not look creepy. I was wrong. I still prefer the cartoon Stitch to this one when it comes to who I want on a shirt, but oh my goodness he was “cute and fluffy” as well as blue, same personality, same voice (literally, same voice actor) he was spot on and that was definitely a very good start. His character arch is identical and arguably even more emotional than the original. There’s a scene at the end where Lilo is trying to rescue him from the water but he’s too heavy. He knows she can’t stay down there much longer and he forces her hand free, sinking to the bottom while making sure she knows he loves her. I was in tears and I don’t cry during movies very often. He was the same “cute and fluffy” lovable, sweet, trouble maker we all love.

Jumba

First looks: Creepy. But how do you make an alien with four eyes not creepy? The real issues started when he opened his mouth. Not only does he not have an accent, his voice is too high. Not as high as Pleakleys, but too high for Jumba. I actually found this to be very distracting and often got confused as to who was talking, especially when he was in his “human form” His personality was right though. Evil genius to the core. Unfortunately that was taken to an extreme and his character arc was eliminated. For what I assumed was to streamline the story, Gantu was taken out entirely, leaving a space open for a villain, not that Gantu was truly a villain because he was just following orders. Regardless, Jumba filled that vacancy and never had his moment of redemption. I see no reason why he couldn't have had a moment at the end where he had a change of heart and helped Stitch. Thankfully this was the only character I felt fell flat.

Pleakly

Pleakly was pretty spot on actually. I like the cartoon one better, but the quirkyness of an “earth expert” who really knows nothing about earth was still there. I missed seeing him swarmed by mosquitos but if they did that in a live action it would be terrifying, so taking that particular scene out was probably a good choice. The mosquitos being an “endangered species” was still an important plot point, just not as much as the cartoon.

Lilo

Lilo was adorable. I had no problems seeing her as the Lilo we all love. I have to say, she was toned down a bit, but honestly, original Lilo is pretty intense. It would be hard to show that in a 6 year old girl and not a cartoon. She looks right, sounds right, screams a lot. I wish they had gone a little further on the “no one understands her” point, but I may have just missed it because I only watched it once. She is definitely her own person, causes plenty of trouble, and speaks her mind, and that is all Lilo. 

Nani

First thought is she looks younger than the cartoon, but in reality she's the same age, 18. She was just about to go off to college when suddenly she has to take care of her 6 year old sister. She tries so hard and you can really see that in this one. It's more realistic. She and Lilo have such an interesting dynamic simply because of the huge age gap, then you add in that she’s switched from big sister to mom, and she’s still a teenager. It’s as much Nani’s story as it is Lilo’s and this version really focused on that. Part of her story arc is that she looses sight of the meaning of Ohana because she feels abandoned by her parents. I’ve seen a lot of comments criticizing this choice but honestly, it made it more real. Lilo and Nani were grieving in different ways and we seem to forget Nani was hardly an adult. She comes around though, when she ends up being the one to save Stitch from drowning after he sacrificed his life for Lilo. The original everyone turns on Stitch when Lilo gets captured, most of all Nani. The live action included an opportunity for a fixed relationship between Stitch and Nani and I loved that. She saw him as family, Ohana, not just Lilo’s friend. Her character was well rounded and realistic.

David

Honestly, no notes. He was sweet and slightly confused, just like David. 

TuTu

At first I thought this was an added character, but I was pleasantly surprised when I happened across an interesting bit of trivia. The woman who plays this, what I realize now is more of a “reimagined character” is in a lot of shows and movies that I love, she adds some light and laughs to any role she plays. Including, ready? The voice of the old woman who runs the fruit stand in the cartoon. In the live action she is David's grandmother and plays a pretty significant role. When the girl's parents die, she steps in to help them. She brings Lilo to the farmers market, allows her to get a “dog” aka Stitch, and encourages Nani not to give up on her dream of being a Marine Biologist. She is the neighbor who takes in Lilo at the end when it becomes clear Nani can’t do it on her own. The one thing that confused me about this new storyline is that she didn’t just take her in earlier, but maybe Nani was stubborn and lied about how bad things were which would totally match her character. Whatever the reason, she was a pleasant surprise.

Cobra Bubbles

He was not the first social worker which had me worried he wasn’t even in the movie at first. However, his storyline ended up making so much more sense. He goes undercover as a social worker because of the alien activity. As far as his character, I was happy. And he does take on a kind of uncle role at the end of the movie, just like the original, which was nice.

I think what I loved most about this movie was the expansion on the meaning of Ohana. It really focused on both sisters and life without their parents, Stitch and finding where he belonged, and friends who become family. Nani had to learn that, yes, Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten, but that includes her. She shouldn’t put her dreams on hold just because life didn’t go as planned, she shouldn't be “left behind” or “forgotten” either. She also had to learn how to accept help from friends who were like family, that it’s not all about blood, and she doesn’t have to do it alone. Lilo learns that Ohana means encouraging Nani to follow her dreams, even if it means being apart for a little while. And Stitch learned about Ohana as he watched Lilo struggling to save him, he put her safety above his own and in the end that’s what ended up saving him. He treated her as family and was welcomed in as family in return. Sometimes family isn’t always together, sometimes it’s broken, sometimes it’s not all about blood, sometimes it’s a bunch of weirdos deciding to be weird together. The original did have that sentiment, but this remake really did a good job at bringing it home for almost all of the characters. I could probably write a whole post on this concept alone. There’s a lot there. But for now, don’t listen to those other critics who say the theme of Ohana was left behind in this remake, it wasn’t, if anything it was made even better. Ohana means family, and family still means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.

Overall the movie left me wanting it to be more complete scene wise for nostalgia's sake, I miss my ugly ducklings, but as a movie on its own it was done well and did add to the original without taking away too much. The theme of Ohana was real and raw. It wasn’t perfect, I don’t think you’ll ever find me saying I prefer a remake over an original, but it’s good. “It’s broken, but still good, yea, still good”

Changing Time

 

I don’t like change. I never have and likely never will. And every time there is a big change in my life it takes a long time for me to adjust and feel “normal” again. Except, I never feel normal… But that’s not the point. The point is, on top of every schedule change, life event, relationship struggle, job issue, health problem, all the normal changes guaranteed to happen to any human living on this planet, we have to throw a time change in there. Why?

I know most everyone struggles with the time change. I’m not convinced anyone actually likes it. It messes up every kids routine, confuses pets, no one can get anywhere on time, it is proven to cause more accidents; I see absolutely no reason for it whatsoever. And people like me, people who can’t handle change, we struggle more than most. Do you know how long it takes me to get used to the time change? The time it takes to get to the next time change. I’m not even kidding. I JUST got settled into a schedule. I JUST got used to the time being the way it is. And now we’re going to change it again? Am I not allowed to function? I’m beginning to wonder…

Our bodies have a natural rhythm. Our clocks may change automatically, but our bodies don’t. And it isn’t healthy to keep forcing it to readjust like that. Honestly, I think it’s a conspiracy to keep us exhausted, sick, confused, and dysregulated. Why else would we keep doing this to ourselves at this point? To our kids? Our pets? They don’t understand why dinner is an hour later or earlier. Why all the sudden they’re exhausted an hour earlier than normal or aren’t ready for their nap till an hour late. Not to mention the effect it actually has on daylight entirely depends on where in the country you live. Will someone please tell me what the point is? Because I don’t get it. It certainly doesn’t save us time; it wastes it more than anything. It should be called “Daylight wasting time” because we waste so much time trying to readjust, we might as well not even bother.

I don’t care which time we stay on. I honestly don’t. There are such things as lights and curtains. I want to settle into a schedule, my natural rhythm. I want to give my body a fighting chance to thrive. Don’t you? Can we just see what it’s like to have a year with no time change? Can we do that? Can we have a trial run? Does it really matter what time the sunrise is as long as it rises? Does it really matter when the sunset is as long as you survived another day to see it?

Learn With Me

 

The time has come again to choose a new Daily Challenge for the New Year. 2024s challenge was one of personal growth. Doing one thing for my Physical, Mental, and Spiritual health every day. These are all things I hope to bring into the New Year with me, as I do with all of my challenges, but what to focus on this year? To figure that out I usually look back on how this challenge went.

Spiritual Health

I had a goal to grow closer to God this year. I have yet to make it through the whole Bible and I struggle with praying. So, this year I read or listened to something relating to God every day, usually before even getting out of bed. Starting my day with God helped me understand Him better, helped me understand myself better, and focused my mind on what’s really important before (sometimes after) my brain started running through everything I had to do that day. I stuck to this goal and even expanded on it towards the end of the year. I added writing in my prayer journal every other day to my schedule. Writing down my prayers helped me stay focused and gave God more room to speak since he is often in the middle of my writing already. I plan to bring this part of 2024’s challenge into the New Year and possibly expand upon it. But it’s a habit now, not a challenge, so what to do for 2025?

Physical Health

I have always struggled with exercise. I don’t play sports; I rarely find time to swim which is my favorite form of exercise, and who has the time or desire to go to the gym? But this year I knew I had to do something. My hip is bad and I’m not even 30 yet, I have two little ones (not my own) to run after, and I hope to run after little ones of my own someday too. I knew I needed to start taking better care of my body or it would stop taking care of me. So at minimum I stretched 3 to 5 minutes every morning, before even eating breakfast. On good days I did a 30 minute workout in the morning or did my stretch then went for a walk or a swim later in the day. I wish I had the determination to do more than a quick stretch, but even that made a difference. It’s now been months since I threw my hip out last. I am tired still, but my energy is steadier from day to day. I will certainly be bringing this new habit into the New Year with me, as I have seen too much improvement to ignore. But that’s not my new daily goal this year.

Mental Health

I found I needed to give myself permission to do things I enjoy. I didn’t have the time, or the money, or I felt I just didn’t deserve it. But if my episodes of depression, burnout, and meltdowns taught me anything, it’s that my mental health is just as important as anything else. So I made a goal to do something for me every day. Not surprisingly, this is the goal I had the most trouble with. Not the actually doing things for me part, but remembering to do one every day. I’d be writing down my progress on my goals at the end of the day and not be able to come up with something I did for me. So what I wrote down wasn’t always as “for my mental health” as it was supposed to be. However, successful or not, this did help me slow down and remember to do something that made me happy, especially when I was feeling stressed or overwhelmed. I basically developed a list of things to do in case of a mental health emergency and I know that will be very helpful in the future. This is also something I hope to work on, but more with the intention of maintaining a healthy balance, not necessarily every single day.

So, three very good goals that turned into habits I will be taking into 2025 and many years to come. But what about my new goal? Well, I have two of them, but they are both part of a larger goal. To learn. To learn about topics, learn about myself, to learn about others, to learn how to communicate. Since 2020 there has been a drastic decline in communication especially. We can’t manage to have conversations with each other without ending up in an argument or ending friendships. So many topics are off limits and our world is suffering. We are suffering. I hope that in doing the first part of my Daily Challenge Of 2025, One Question A Day, we can learn how to have conversations again. We can learn new things about each other and about ourselves as we try to answer the questions. And the second part of my challenge is to add more reading to my schedule. I plan to read a few pages in a book every evening. This doesn’t include my bible reading in the morning or the fiction books I read for fun before I go to bed. These will be devotionals, books about how to write, informational books that I can learn something from. There is so much to learn about, and I want to make time in my schedule to do that.

So, will you go on this journey to learn with me this year? To learn how to communicate again? Learn about yourself? Learn about others? Or do you have a different challenge you plan to take on this year? I thank you all for another year of sharing my writing and I wish you all a very happy New Year!

Family Dinner

 

Life is busy, everyone has different schedules, how do you find time in the week for community and family? My answer is Church Sunday morning and Dinner Sunday night.

Church has always been the place I get plugged in to the community. It’s where my neighbors all see each other on Sunday morning and talk about what is going on in the community and what we want to do to for said community. It’s where we lift each other up in prayer and celebrate with each other over healing, accomplishments, and birthdays. Community is an important part of any week and I’m glad my church is my community.

I’m not sure when it started or how it happened, but somehow my whole family (all my family that lives in the area) usually have Sunday nights free. So, what better way to stay in touch then to have Sunday night dinner? It doesn’t happen every single week, but for the most part we find ourselves all pitching in to put some food on either our table or theirs. We spend the time catching everyone up on our week, discussing plans for family outings, just enjoying each other’s company. And on the weeks we don’t end up doing it for one reason or another, I find I miss it. It’s nice having one night a week where we actually sit at the table and enjoy a meal.

I have to be honest; I don’t always pray before I eat, but when we have family dinner we pray. And if we forget, my 4 year old cousin reminds us. It’s usually a simple prayer, thank you for family and for this food amen, but it’s an important part of the evening. Family, community, and God. That’s what Sundays are for. That’s what every day is for. What would life be without the people we love and the God who created us? It would be pretty empty. So, take some time this week to pour into the community and your family because tomorrow, well tomorrow is another Monday.

A Day Of Possibilities

 

“Time isn’t a straight line. It’s all… bumpy-wumpy. There’s loads of boring stuff. Like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays. Big temporal tipping points when anything’s possible.” ~Dr. Who

Every week needs a day that’s full of possibilities. A party? A concert? A day at home with countless options? A day where you can stay up late or go to bed early, do absolutely nothing or go on a fabulous adventure, get deep into a craft project or binge watch a favorite tv show. The day is there just waiting for you and the choice is all yours what you do with it. It’s a “temporal tipping point when anything’s possible” as Dr. Who says. And for my family, and many others, that day tends to be a Saturday.

Saturdays have always been special for me. Most weeks they fill up fast, but it’s always good reasons. It’s when we have birthday parties or family adventures. It’s usually when my craft sales end up being or a musical event. Then sometimes we have the rare occasion when we have absolutely nothing planned and we get some house work done, take on a project, or play games. No matter what we end up doing, Saturday tends to be full of laughter and celebration, of one kind or another.

Saturday is an interesting day. It’s the end but also the beginning. It can salvage a bad week or set the tone for the new one. It truly is a tipping point, full of possibilities and opportunities for change. I think it’s important to have a day of the week where anything is possible. A day when we take time to celebrate life. Whether it’s at a party or enjoying the quiet of a day unplanned, take some time this week to believe that anything is possible, especially on a Saturday.

Life Is A Mess And A Miracle

 

“Who made this BIG mess?” ~Big Comfy Couch

Have you ever had one of those days where your life feels like a mess, nothing is working out, you can’t find that thing you put somewhere safe but now that you need it you can’t remember for the life of you where it is? Then you look around and realize the dishes are piled up, there are clothes all over the floor, and why on earth are there sand toys on my desk? Well, for me that tends to happen on a Friday. Well… it’s not always sand toys… but there is usually something weird on my desk… Anyway, Friday has become the day I clean, organize for the upcoming week, and maybe get a project or two done that I didn’t get to earlier in the week. It’s a day of catch up and clean up so that I can truly enjoy the weekend ahead. Because, as I’ve come to realize:

"The world looks a lot nicer with clean windows" ~Grammy

Of course this goes way beyond cleaning windows. I have found that when my space is a mess, my mind quickly follows. It’s not exactly a conscious thing either. It’s waking up to a pile of clothes on the floor and just letting the pile get bigger as I can’t decide what to wear for the day. It’s realizing I forgot to hang that dress back in the closet and throwing it on top of the pile is so much easier than shoving it in my overstuffed closet because it’s late and I want to go to bed. It’s digging through the pile on my desk for that one clipboard with my lesson plan on it that has now gone missing. It’s realizing my water bottle is still waiting to be washed but now I need to leave or I’m going to be late. It’s remembering my bathing suit is still hanging on the line and it’s supposed to rain tonight. All these little things start adding up, making my everyday life feel like more of a mess than it already did. And my life often feels like a bit of a mess. It feels like there’s nothing I can do to clean it either. How do I clean the things I have little or no control over? But I do have control over something.

"My life was a mess... But I could clean my room" ~To All The Boys I've Loved Before

So, I added cleaning to my schedule. Because life is busy, work takes up so much of my time, family takes up the rest, cleaning becomes an afterthought if I don’t add it to the calendar. Sure, it still piles up sometimes, not every Friday offers the time needed to clean up every mess I happen to make over the week, especially if the week involves any sort of costume… but it helps keep it from getting out of control without monopolizing my weekend. I need time to enjoy life too. Life will always be a bit of a mess, there’s no escaping it, but we can always do our best to keep the messes we can clean up under control. And it doesn’t have to feel like such a chore either. Cleaning up can be freeing, rewarding, sometimes it can even be fun.

"Life is a mess and a miracle. So pick up a broom and dance" ~The Rise And Fall Of Mount Majestic

And before you know it, you’ll be able to see the floor, you’ll find that thing you were missing, you’ll remember why those sand toys are on your desk, you’ll see the world through clean windows, and you’ll realize maybe your life isn’t such a mess after all, especially since tomorrow, well, tomorrow it’ll be Saturday.

Little Guy Day

 

Thursday has a lot of meanings for me. It tends to be a pretty heavy workday so I can have a fun weekend, it often meant finding live music or doing some writing, it has a strange connection to food, and for some reason I associate it with pirates… but recently Thursday has become a day for children. And that is what I’ve decided to focus on for this particular day of the week.

When my nephew (son of my “sister by choice”) needed a babysitter, I was hesitant at first, it would mean getting up early and I am certainly not a morning person, but I really only hesitated a second because I love my nephew. So, Thursdays became known as “little guy day” and it’s been that way for a year now.

Watching him grow and turn into his own little person has been such a blessing. I’ve grown to know his quirks and his tells of when he needs a nap. I’ve learned what upsets him and when he’s overwhelmed. I know what brings him joy and I smile because they’re a lot of the same things that make me happy too. Rubber ducks, grilled cheese sandwiches, Irish music. I only see him once, sometimes twice a week, but I realize I’ve had such a big influence on him. Some directly, some because his mother practically grew up at my house and I influenced her. I’ve certainly taught him a lot, but then I realize, he’s had a huge impact on me too.

You can learn a lot from kids. They don’t know what society thinks is normal; all they know is what is normal for them. Imagination is allowed to run wild, naps are the norm for when they’re grumpy and need a break, cuddling a stuffed animal or wanting their mom is an acceptable method of soothing. They don’t know if it’s weird to get super excited over a tiny thing. They don’t know if it’s weird to want to see the same movie or listen to the same book 100 times in a row. They don’t know if it’s weird that they liked this food yesterday but today it just doesn’t taste good. And we just roll with it as adults because; they’re kids, that’s what they do. What if, instead of giving them a pass because they’re kids, we gave it to them simply because they’re human? And what if we gave a pass to each other because, kid or adult, we’re all human?

Humans are allowed to get excited about things that seem boring or insignificant to others. We’re allowed to enjoy the same thing over and over because it brings us comfort. We are allowed to change our minds about what foods we like. We are allowed to take a nap or a break when we get overwhelmed. We’re allowed to want our mom or a favorite stuffed animal when we’re upset. We’re even allowed to play. Right…?

We should be allowed all these things, but I’ve found it’s not the case for adults. We’re told to grow up or get over it. We’re allowed to do all these things as kids, it becomes our norm, part of our identity, but then we’re expected to just grow out of it. Well, maybe we shouldn’t. Maybe we’d all be a little happier if we held onto that childhood innocence, creativity, and determination. Maybe if we held onto what made being a kid great, we’d be better adults.

My cousin is starting school this fall, and she’ll be getting off the bus at my house once a week. Ironically, it happens to also be Thursdays. So, my Thursdays are now officially for the kids in my life. I will watch them grow, teach them new things, let them teach me things, I will smile as they find joy in discovering this world we live in, and I will encourage my inner child to make an appearance more often. I hope you have some kids in your life who remind you being “childish” isn’t always a bad thing. I hope you have days full of pirate ships and superheroes and watching Disney movies cuddled on the couch, whether there are kids involved or not. I, for one, will be looking forward to all the adventures to come in my “little guy days” and now my “little girl days” otherwise known as Thursdays.

Day Of Rest

 

The world is spinning, work refuses to take a break, family and friends need attention, suddenly it feels like the week is 8 days long and not one of them is free. No matter who you are, what your job is, or what your life is like, no one can maintain that. Everyone needs a day of rest. Even God, who created the entire universe and every little thing in it, had a day of rest and asks us to do the same. The way our society is set up makes this complicated, but even more important. For most, this day of rest has been Sunday. That’s just become the expectation. But what if you work on Sundays? What if Sunday is when you have to take care of all the housework? What if Sunday is just not a day you can rest? But did you ever stop to consider that day of rest doesn’t have to be a Sunday? Maybe for you, like me, it’s on a Wednesday.

I never intended for Wednesdays to become what they have. I didn’t set out and say “I will take Wednesdays off” It was never on purpose. But somewhere along the way that’s exactly what happened. My college classes, my work schedule, my body’s natural rhythm just all synchronized to give me Wednesdays off, for several years in a row. So, here we are, with Wednesdays becoming my Day Of Rest.

As I get older and my responsibilities become more and more demanding, I realize my brain is having a hard time keeping up. This has always been the case to some extent. I usually worked my school schedule to give myself an “easy day” where I got to only work on the subject I enjoyed. Or as a teenager and young adult I’d make sure to get my work done, but also balance it with things I wanted to do like play computer games or work on my writing. Without realizing it I was balancing my responsibilities with the breaks I needed. Now, however, in the midst of several jobs and other adult responsibilities, finding that balance without physically putting it on my calendar has become impossible. Even then it’s a challenge.

With more responsibilities comes more possibility for burnout. In my case (autistic, read more about that in previous posts) the possibility and aftermath of reaching that stage is even more severe. I can’t just go on a vacation or have an afternoon off and be ready to go for another month, another week, or even just a day. Depending on how many things are on my plate and how long it’s been since I had a proper break, the length and type of rest needed to function may differ. And if I don’t get it, my brain gets foggy, my body gets slower, my emotions climb to the surface, and once I start to slip into a breakdown there’s no telling when I might be able to function properly again, proving to be no help to anyone until the proper rest is had.

My day of rest usually includes having time totally to myself to rest physically, but also mentally and spiritually. Time to focus on God: read the Bible, pray, and spend time in his presence. Time to focus on my body and its needs: Exercise, being intentional about eating good food and at the right times, waking up and going to bed at my usual times instead of messing with it for the sake of schedule. And focus on things that bring me joy: Writing, organizing things, working on one of many hobbies, spending time in nature. If you know me personally, you would recognize this plan as my daily challenge this year, and you’d be right. I do my best to make each of these things a priority every day, not just on my day of rest, and I encourage you to do the same. However, my day of rest is when I focus solely on these things and nothing else. I give myself time to really get sucked into my different tasks rather than putting my day on a timer.

I know this sounds like an impossible task, finding a day when you can focus solely on yourself, but I promise you it’s worth it. God tells us we should work, and be there for our friends and family, and love strangers and enemies alike, but He also tells us to rest. To take a break from work and other obligations and focus on Him. He doesn’t demand it has to be a Sunday, or a Saturday, or one Tuesday a month. Maybe for you, like me, it’s Wednesday.

Twister Tuesday

 

“One of those ways being to drop him right into a life-threatening situation. Or, as he usually called it, a Tuesday.” ~ Once Upon The End, James Riley

New York State recently had quite the week of Life Threatening Situations. Technically it started on a Wednesday, but for me it started on a Tuesday. We had a string of thunder storms that produced tornadoes. We had several within a 30 mile radius of our house and one only a couple miles away. Our power was out for days, buildings destroyed, businesses closed down and will have to move locations in order to reopen. The states tornado count for the month of July jumped up to 22 which was completely unheard of. We get a bad storm now and then, we’ve had close calls with small tornadoes before, but this was truly bizarre for us.

Thinking back, I have been hit with some rough Tuesdays several weeks in a row this summer. And when the next Tuesday came around and people were still recovering from the storms a week before, I was hit with a new fear of Tuesdays. Were Tuesdays just going to continue throwing me into life-threatening situations? Or at least life-altering ones?

That feeling changed when I met up with my friends that Tuesday night. We talked about what was going on in our lives, we were honest about what was worrying us, we laughed with each other, and most importantly we took a moment to pray. God blessed me with these amazing girls to help me though the storms. He uses the people in my life to keep me safe and sane and I am grateful for that.

I hope God has blessed you with people to help you through your rough days. Someone who will remind you that tomorrow is another day, and that God is in control. My friends reminded me of that on that Tuesday night. I know God is with me always, especially on the life-threatening and life-altering days, or as I usually call it, a Tuesday.

Monday

 

I don’t have Mondays very often. I mean, obviously I have Mondays as in the week starts with Monday, but I don’t have what everyone dreads as Monday. Start of the week, back to work, just a blah feeling. My schedule has always allowed for a slow start to my Monday so that my weekend doesn’t end quite so abruptly.

Well… Today was a Monday in every sense of the word. I woke up not feeling well. My whole day I was just in a fog. I couldn’t convince myself to do anything. I get in the car and the radio is talking about the blah Monday feeling. I realize I forgot my water. There’s a power transformer on fire on my way out of town. Not long after I’m informed (not surprisingly) that our power is out… again… The pool was absolutely freezing. I was so cold I audibly shivered through my whole second class.

It becomes increasingly apparent that my coworker is having just as much of a Monday as I am. Neither of us knows what we’re doing or what comes next, we’re both freezing, so we just laugh it off and make the kids swim. I joked with her that it would take all three of us instructors to make one competent one for the last class of the night. She agreed with a laugh.

Something about realizing we were both having a Monday made it a little more bearable. We were able to laugh about it and do the best we could. I think sometimes that’s what we need. Someone to say yeah, I’m having a hard day too, let’s make the best of it.

I hope you didn’t have as much of a Monday as I did, but if you did, I hope you had someone to laugh about it with. And if not, well, as I told my coworker as I left work, I hope tomorrow will be less of a Monday. Which I hope is true because it’ll be a Tuesday.

Just Keep Walking

In bible study this week we ended up on the topic of walking God’s path and how, in the beginning especially, it can feel really difficult. Am I doing it right? Do I know enough about the bible to have this conversation? Why am I still struggling so much with sin? The questions outnumber the answers and we just continue stumbling along this path full of weeds, rocks, and tree roots.

I know what it means when we say we’re walking God’s path for our lives. What I didn’t know, was that the Greek word for walk in this context, peripateō, doesn’t really refer to walking one long path. It actually means to walk around, to walk the same path over and over again. This made me see my walk with God differently. We’re not walking one long continuous path; we’re walking to God over and over again. We’re breaking down the weeds, pushing the rocks into the dirt, wearing down the tree roots, until the path is smooth and clear. Following God is like a muscle that needs to be exercised, or a path that needs continuous tending. Life may never get easier, but walking God’s path will if we just keep walking.

As the conversation went on my mind did what it always does, making connections and continuing the analogy. What happens when we stop walking a particular path? The weeds take over, rocks find their way back, and new trees grow, before long the path isn’t so easy to walk anymore. Suddenly we’re stumbling our way along all over again. Maybe we say we went for a walk yesterday, so we don’t need to go today. Maybe we only go once a week because life is busy and we don’t feel like getting out of bed. Maybe we stop walking all together. If we stop walking, stop tending the path, stop walking with God, the weeds will grow up around us and life becomes so much harder to walk through.

So keep walking. Keep walking until reading your bible isn’t a chore anymore. Keep walking until the songs you’re singing aren’t just words on a page. Keep walking until your prayers flow freely. Keep walking until God answers those prayers. Keep walking until the gifts God has given you are so strong you can’t help but use them. Keep walking until the joy in your heart is so much you need to let it overflow onto everyone around you. Keep walking until a conversation with God becomes as natural as a conversation with your best friend. Keep walking until you feel God walking beside you, because he always is. Keep walking until the path is so worn that others can follow in your footsteps and find the same amazing God you have.

Just.

Keep.

Walking.

Daily Challenge

 

They say it takes 30 days to make or break a habit. At least, I think I’ve heard that somewhere. Either way it sounds about right. 30 days, 1 month. So what do you think you could do with 365 days? 12 months of doing the same thing every day could create some real change don’t you think? Well, I certainly think so, and I’ve got proof.

For the past several years, nearing 10 years actually, I’ve been doing daily challenges. Sometimes they’re private goals, things I need to work on for myself. Sometimes they’re more public, announced on Facebook so others can improve right along with me if they so choose.

The first year I wrote a Page A Day in a journal, it encouraged me to really reflect on what was happening in my life every day. Then it was One Good Thing A Day, it made me more positive, even on the bad days. An Adventure A Day helped me take more risks and be more adventurous. The next year is when I started being more public with my challenges. I shared A Quote A Day. It made me really think about what I was reading, and I think it improved my writing too, as some of the quotes were mine. That year was followed by a Bible Verse A Day. By the end of the year, I had read most of the Bible and better understood what it meant. I got closer to God that year and it encouraged me to continue to do so. The next year was so full of darkness I decided to remind everyone that Every Day Is A Reason To Celebrate! I love all the crazy holidays and I got to share that love with all my friends! It brought a little joy to a dark time. I also drew pictures for every day, so I got to work on my artist skills.

Last year was my No Such Thing As Normal Challenge. Every day I shared something about how we’re all different. This was my most in depth challenge yet and I learned so much! I talked about autism, adhd, procrastinators, all the personality types, love language, and more! I learned so much and I know others did too. This year I decided to do a Photo A Day Challenge. Each month held a different theme focusing on a fresh start, love, nature, humility, appreciating the people around me, etc. It opened my eyes to the beautiful world we live in and all the people and things I have to be thankful for. It helped me be creative in my photography too and I think I’ve grown through the process, stopping to really see something long enough to take a picture rather than just let it pass me by.

Each one of my daily challenges has helped me grow into the girl I want to be. Slowly but surely, one day at a time, one month at a time, one year at a time, I grow into who God created me to be. And I take a little bit of each challenge into the following years. Instead of writing in my journal every single day, I make a point to write every couple days. Maybe I don’t write down something good every day, but I catch myself trying to see the positive more than I used to. I don’t share a Bible verse every day, but I do still try to read my Bible or a devotional every day. I understand myself, and others, better now because of my various challenges, and that’s growth that should be continued and shared.

I haven’t totally decided what my daily challenge will be this year, but consider this your encouragement to take on a daily challenge with me. Look at your life and find something you want to work on. Gratitude? Knowledge? Peace? Creativity? Joy? Whatever it is, there’s a daily challenge that can help you get there. Let’s not just start this New Year with high hopes of a better you, let’s end it with real results that will last for years to come.

First Draft

 

I recently finished the first draft of the book I'm writing. Finishing the first draft is a big deal. Most of my novels never get that far. I probably have 30 books in various levels of completion, and I have only finished the first draft of 3 of them.

I remember the first book I actually finished. It was my first chapter book; it was where it all started. I finished the first draft while I was sitting in a class my mom was teaching. I could barely contain my excitement as I sat there in the back of the room, bouncing in the hard school desk as I got closer and closer to writing that final sentence. I bit my lip to keep from squealing as the final word was on paper. Back when I did most of my writing with actual pen and paper. As soon as I knew I wouldn't disrupt the class I jumped up and down and told mom the news.

I had just as much excitement with the next book I finished and now this one. But the excitement only lasts a little while before getting hit with the realization that now I have to edit. And re-write. And re-edit. And hire an actual editor. And try to get it published. Suddenly the monumental accomplishment of finishing the first draft doesn't seem so monumental.

I never actually edited that first book, or the second, and I am editing this most recent one but I’m dreading the task. I only finished that first draft a week or so ago, yet already the excitement has now totally worn off and I've moved on to the next step. Why are we so quick to stop celebrating? I've been working on this particular book for about 10 years or more. Ten years! And I finally finished, and I only celebrate for 10 minutes? It deserves way more than that! And it got me thinking, what else haven't I properly celebrated?

Sure, we celebrate the big things, the holidays, the birthdays, the weddings and graduations, and we celebrate them for a full day at the very least, if not a whole week or even months! But what about the little things? Or rather, the more personal things? The things we slowly work away at for years, sometimes without even knowing it. Or the things we accomplish privately. Or completing a big step in an even bigger project, like my first draft. Don’t they deserve a celebration too?

So, here’s your reminder to celebrate those moments, those victories. And to let yourself celebrate them for more than just 10 minutes. Yea, it might just be the first draft of many, but every story has to start somewhere. So let's celebrate!