The Disney Magic Tag ~ In Which I Do Another Tag!

So, um. . . . I may or may not be a little late for this tag. I was tagged a little while ago by Syberyah, but it wasn’t too long ago.

Right?

Oops.

Sorry, Syberyah!

Better late than never, right?

The last time I did a tag was almost a year ago and, I dunno, I’ve kind of missed it. So, I’m excited to be doing a Disney tag! I love Disney movies and I’m looking forward to answering these questions!

So without further ado, the Disney Magic Tag!!

Rules:

1. Link back to the blogger who tagged you. ✔

2. Tag 1-5 other bloggers. ✔

3. Answer the questions. ✔

4. Use a Disney-themed picture for your graphic (any will do). ✔

Questions:

1. Which era of Disney is your favorite?

Hang on a sec because it’s been a hot second since I last researched the eras of Disney. Lemme Google it real quick.

. . . .

Oh gosh, this is hard. I love movies in all of the eras. I think it’s a tie between the Revival Era and the Post-Renaissance Era. The Revival Era because, I mean, c’mon, they’re great movies, and the Post-Renaissance Era because there are a lot of really good, underrated movies in that category. But really, I don’t have a favorite because they’re all fantastic.

2. Which Disney movie is your favorite?

I-I just got out of my mouth that I don’t have a favorite because they’re all fantastic. What part of “I don’t have a favorite, they’re all fantastic” do you not understand???

I think humor-wise, either The Emperor’s New Groove or Hercules is my favorite. Although WOW is Hercules inaccurate. One of these days I’m going to make a blog post or a video or something of me watching Hercules and just ranting over all the mistakes.

Actually wait, am I allowed to count Hamilton? Because, I mean, it’s on Disney+. . . .

Update: Guys, I just watched Encanto and I think I’m in love.

3. Which Disney character is your favorite?

These are getting so painfully specific. It’s impossible to choose a favorite. I see myself in SOOO many characters, there’s no way to pick just one.

(Although, if we’re counting Hamilton, Jefferson. Jefferson all the way.)

‘Nother Update: Either Camilo or Luisa from Encanto. I could see myself being friends with them.

4. Which Disney song is your favorite?

Yes.

5. What was the first Disney movie you ever watched?

I think it was Hercules. In the nursery. At church. I was, like, two. I have no recollection of this.

6. What Disney movie have you seen the most times?

Oh, easy. Robin Hood. I was OBSESSED with this movie when I was little, until they took it off of Netflix. I mourned. Like, legitimately mourned. And then, we got Disney+, and I think that was the first thing we watched, for old times’ sakes.

7. What kind of story do you want Disney to make a movie out of next?

Heck if I know. They’ve made so many different types of movies. Although I would love a Disney princess that raps instead of sings. That would be epic.

8. Which Disney show is your favorite?

Bluey. Several of my friends are in agreement with me that Bluey is the best show in Disney+. If we’re only doing Disney Channel shows, I guess I would have to say Jessie, because that’s the only one I’ve really seen anything of? And I’ve only seen, like, four episodes.

9. Which Disney movie is your least favorite?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Cinderella are kind of boring. Also Bambi. I feel like that one doesn’t have that much of a plot. Oh, and Lilo and Stitch. Like, it’s cute, but I’m not that big of a fan of aliens.

10. Which Disney movie are you most excited for?

Okay, I looked up a list of upcoming Disney movies in the next seven or so years. These are the ones I’m excited for.

1. Better Nate Than Ever: This one looks fun. Plus, Nate’s Broadway-driven. I can relate. 🙃

2. Turning Red: The trailers are so entertaining XD

3. The Little Mermaid: Guys, they’re making a live-action version of The Little Mermaid???? Eep!

4. Once on This Island: I’m 98% sure this is a Broadway musical. Which means, we get another musical turned movie! I hope it turns out good.

5. Hercules: *squeals* GUUYYYYSSSS THEY’RE MAKING A LIVE-ACTION HERCULESSSSS!!!!!

6. Magic Kingdom: This looks so cool. I wonder if they’re going to make it like the Kingdom Keepers book series? That would be fun.

7. Marley: Bro, I am all for these stories told from another POV, and A Christmas Carol told by Jacob Marley? Yes pleaseeee!!

8. NATIONAL TREASURE 3: HELP I’M SCREAMINGGGG I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONGGGGGG!!!!! THEY BETTER NOT SCREW IT UPPP!!!!!!!!!!!

9. Bob: The Musical: This title. . . . y’all, I’m dead. But the story seems cool. The summary kind of makes me think of Soul.

10. Aladdin 2: Excuse me, did you say Aladdin 2? Does this mean we get more songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul? Please, please, please!! I love their music!

11. Robin Hood: A “live-action” Robin Hood? Now this will be interesting.

12. Rapunzel: So long as they don’t cut our beautiful Flynn Rider out of the story completely, I think this movie will be really cool! Plus, after performing in Into the Woods, Jr., I have a special love for the OG fairytales.

13. The Sword In the Stone: AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE TELL ME THEY’RE GOING TO LEAVE MERLIN AND ARCHIMEDES BECAUSE IF THEY DON’T–

14. The Paper Magician: This has potential to be amazing. Although, I’ve never read the book series. *adds to TBR*

15. The Grimm Legacy: Also haven’t read this series, but the premise sounds epic.

16. Prince Charming: They actually used the word “satirical” to describe this. I’m literally so excited. Ooh, what if it ends up with a similar feel to The Princess Bride? Or Monty Python?? Can we have that please????

17. Genie: NO. I CAN’T. I MAY JUST HYPERVENTILATE.

18. In the Land of Imagined Things: Literally, the only information we have is the title, but that’s pretty good information, if you ask me. Like, that is one heckuva phrase right there.

19. Peter and the Starcatchers: Ok, I’m going to be completely honest here. I am a sucker for anything with powers. Which means that I’m probably going to like this movie no matter what.

20. The Museum of the Weird: This sounds freaking epic. And they said it was influenced by Night at the Museum, which is such a fantastic movie.

21. Imagining Nathan: This could be a really good movie about anxiety or PTSD, and I hope they do a good job with it, because those things are hard to portray sometimes.

22. Matched: This sounds SO much like the matchmaking system in Keeper of the Lost Cities. I’m here for it.

23. Something Wicked This Way Comes: That TITLE!!

24. Nottingham and Hood: Sounds cool. I love Robin Hood.

25. Happily Ever After: See, these sequels to “happily ever after” are always so cool. I’m excited for this one.

26. Opposite Day: Anything “opposite day” has great potential for humor. Like, seriously.

27. Time Zones: Eep!

28. Floors: Double eep!

29. Happy Birthday: I’m a sucker for flashbacks, and if this whole movie is going to be one flashback after another, I absolutely cannot wait.

30. Something Cliqued: Now this sounds like an epic adventure. It reminds me of those TikTok POVs where the person’s consciousness is placed in someone else’s body as part of a coming-of-age thing.

11. Which Disney movie has the best message?

Not sure. I don’t always agree with Disney messages. I did like the themes in Encanto, even if they were a little cliche.

12. Which Disney princess is the best?

I relate to Anna a lot, but I love Ariel and Belle. They all have a piece of me.

13. Which Disney prince is the best?

I mean, Kristoff obviously, but does he count? He’s not technically a prince. No, no, Eugene. Also not a full-blooded prince, but I love him to pieces.

14. Which Disney character do you most want to be like?

Heck, all of them? They all lead way more exciting lives than I do. I love Camilo. I could see myself being a female version of Camilo. Already got the sarcasm mostly down.

“IsAbElLa, YoUr BoYfRiEnD’s HeRe!!”

15. What Disney costume would you wear?

Belle’s dresses are soooo pretty. I’d love to play Belle in a theatre performance just for the costumes XD I also like Julieta’s dress, from Encanto.

16. Which Disney character do you most relate to?

Oh gosh. Well, Anna could be my twin sister. I struggle with feeling friendless a lot, and her goofy nature is literally me XD I also relate to Luisa, because, I too am the older sibling, and Surface Pressure is a bop. When I was younger, I totally got where Ariel was coming from, because I wanted to be a mermaid, a dog, a fairy, etc.

There’s probably more, but my memory fails me.

Taggees:

Liesl @ Quote Unquote

Bea @ The BeaHive

Danny @ The Right Kind of Writer

Well, I hope y’all enjoyed that! It feels nice doing a tag after so long. What would y’all’s answers be?

🎵 THE ENTIRE ENCANTO SOUNDTRACK I CAN’TTTTTT 🎵

Tips On Bullet Journaling ~ In Which I Attempt to Edumacate People on Organdizing Their Lives

Wassup, peeps? How is your Heartbreak Month going? Good? Bad? Mediocre? Dragon-slaying epic? The-life-of-a-slug boring? Somewhere in between?

Today, I am going to give y’all some tips on bullet journaling, including my struggles with maintaining my bullet journal and how I eventually found a system that worked for me! I’m not sure if any of y’all needed or wanted this (well, besides Pearl. Hi Pearl!) but maybe it’ll be helpful in the near future!

So, without further ado, lettuce jump in!

*boing*

I first found out about bullet journaling towards the end of 2019 from my sister, who had found out about it from one of her friends on the online coding community, Scratch. It immediately piqued my interest. I loved art and organization (well, mostly) and bullet journaling seemed like a fun way to document my life. It was different than keeping a journal and I would have a more specific map of what my life was like day by day. As is often the case with inspiration, I jumped in feet first.

I do that a lot.

I found out about AmandaRachLee from the same source, and I decided to watch her videos for inspo. I was thoroughly impressed with her bullet journaling style and she really seemed to love bullet journaling. I was sure it would work for me! After all, it worked for so many people, and they appeared to be having so much fun coming up with themes and making spreads each month. After church one cold Wednesday night, me and my sister forced our dad to take us to Wal-Mart so we could buy a dotted notebook and a few other supplies. We arrived at home with our arms full of pens, paper, and big, fat dotted notebooks. (Mom gave us a weird look.)

I started this new project like I start every new project: by hoarding ideas. I filled up pages and pages of notebook paper with ideas for spreads, from potential monthly themes to “Stuff to Google”. I was thorough. I scoured every result that popped up on Google, watched dozens of videos (mostly AmandaRachLee), and continued writing down ideas. Before long, I was ready to start.

Not gonna lie, it was tedious. I went a little hogwild with the spreads. But I had so much fun imagining myself filling them out and looking through the pages years from then with gray hair and laugh lines. (Really, that was the only thing that kept me going.) It took a few days, but I eventually had all my spreads done, including all my January weekly spreads. (I was prepared!)

However, as January ticked by, I soon became bored with my bullet journal. I wasn’t really using it as much as I would have liked. I was only 14 and definitely not as busy as all the other people using bullet journals. I didn’t have too many tasks and events to keep track of, and I couldn’t understand why it just wasn’t working for me. By the time February rolled around, I was pretty much done. However, I made my February spreads to see if maybe I could do better.

I didn’t.

So, for the next several months, my bullet journal sat unused. I was disappointed and confused. Why hadn’t I been able to make it work? It worked so well for all these other people! They were using their journals every day, taking them everywhere they went, writing down everything. The best guess I had was that bullet journaling was too art-heavy to hold my interest (because, although I loved art, I wasn’t in an art mood very often, which made arting hard), and I just wasn’t busy enough to find much use in bullet journaling.

Fast forward several months later to November of 2020. I was attempting National Novel Writing Month for the first time ever, and, on top of that, November was a very busy month for me. I decided that this was as good a time as any to try to get back into bullet journaling. I pulled out my old bullet journal, brushed off the dust, and made all the spreads I thought I might need, this time including some new ones and getting rid of the old spreads that I didn’t see much use for. I was pumped! I was sure it would work out this time. I worked on my spreads for three whole days, without losing inspiration once, and I was very pleased with the finished product. And for the first week or so, I was faithful. I wrote down things I needed to get done, prior commitments, and kept track of my word count for NaNo.

I was pumped!!

And then, I wasn’t.

I got bored with my bullet journal AGAIN!! My spreads sat unfinished and unappealing, and I felt bad and upset. What was wrong with me? It was my fault, right? Dozens of other people were using this exact style of bullet journaling, and it worked just fine for them. It was definitely my fault that I couldn’t get it to work. Discouraged, I gave up again.

In December, I participated in a “Secret Santa” gift exchange, organized by several of my online girl friends. My “Secret Sister” sent me a lovely, light blue dotted journal and some new pens. Since I wasn’t into bullet journaling anymore, I wasn’t sure what to do with my new journal.

Then, I remembered seeing something about a reading journal online.

Excited, I researched reading journal ideas. Keeping a reading journal seemed to be way less intense than keeping a bullet journal, and I was thrilled at the idea of keeping track of all the books I read in a year. I made all the spreads I thought I would need, and set about filling them out.

And then, guess what! I STOPPED KEEPING UP WITH MY STUPID READING JOURNAL!!!!

In February of 2021, I once again gave up.

BUT, there are always second chances! Or. . . . fourth chances. . . .

June was an insanely busy month, what with me attending two summer camps, and us church-hunting. And, I’d recently re-discovered AmandaRachLee’s channel, which meant I’d been blasted by inspiration yet again. I decided to try out bullet journaling yet again. And I actually stuck with it! For all of two weeks. I was using all the same weekly spreads as Amanda and mirroring how she planned out her day, but for whatever reason, it still didn’t work for me. And that was when I gave up bullet journaling for good. I just didn’t understand why I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to do it so badly, but it just wasn’t working out.

Throughout the rest of the year, I carried on with my life. I started taking college classes and continued with blogging and made new friends and just lived life.

But then, something changed.

I decided to watch all of Amanda’s bullet journaling videos over again, because of how relaxing and entertaining they are. However, I noticed something in her first few videos that I hadn’t noticed before. When she first started bullet journaling, her style was very minimalistic. Hardly any color or doodles, and no theme. She said that before she started getting all fancy and going crazy like other bullet journalists, she just wanted to get the hang of the system.

I did a massive facepalm right there at the computer.

I’d been so excited to use pretty themes and add color and detail, I hadn’t realized that it was better to leave that stuff out so I could get the hang of the system first. I made a mental note that, if I ever did get back into bullet journaling (and I doubted I would), I would make sure to START SIMPLE.

Another thing I noticed in Amanda’s videos was that her weekly spreads were very different when she first started. Rather than having a two-page spread with each day of the week in its own little section, she divided one page into the days of the week, and used the other page as a flexible space to write down her daily tasks and events.

Basically, instead of this. . . .

. . . . her spreads looked like this.

I made another mental note about the state of her spreads, and continued watching the videos.

Another story thread comes into play here: A family friend was training to be an organization and time-management “counselor” per se, and she needed someone to practice on. My mom signed me up, and we met together every couple of weeks and worked through her curriculum. In the workbook, there was this interesting sheet. It was a daily task sheet.

It looked something like this (this is not an exact copy of what was in the book because that’s copyrighted, but it’s similar enough):

On the left, the time increments of the day are written out, so you can map out your day. On the right, you have room to write down any phone calls you need to make, letters you need to write, etc. and space for important reminders. The blank space in the middle is for writing out any tasks you need to get done. It’s very helpful.

I started using the daily task sheets to help me schedule out my school. And I enjoyed it! And it worked! I would fill out the sheet each morning, then pin it up on my bulletin board to look at while I worked on all my school projects. (I also discovered that I have a better day when I’m ahead of schedule 🙃)

SUDDENLY, 💡💡💡!!!!

IDEA!!!!

Why couldn’t I translate the daily task sheet over to my bullet journal? Why couldn’t I use Amanda’s old bullet journaling style and fit it into. . . . ?

I got right to work.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I found the perfect bullet journaling style for me! Would you like an example/journal tour? Then keep scrolling!

Once I found a system that worked for me, I stuck with it! I’ve been using it for four months, and I haven’t changed my style too much. That’s one of the important things I’ve learned with bullet journaling: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Don’t exhaust yourself by switching up your journal every month. (Because trust me, that really is exhausting!)

Each month, I figure out what kind of theme I want to use (preferably something simple to draw and play around with), and then make my cover page! This month’s theme was cherry blossoms, and, since I love cherry blossoms, I went a little crazy with the cover page.

Now, for the monthly spreads! I typically make this mini calendar to stuff all my events on, and the notes area below is just for deadlines and any important details. In December, I used it to work out when I needed to send out all my Christmas cards. It’s flexible for whatever you need! If you want a bigger calendar, you can make a double page spread, but I find the little calendar works just right for me!

On the right is my future log, which is really just a brain dump for things I need to get done. It usually ends up being filled with letters I need to respond to 😅 I don’t think I’ve ever filled it up all the way, but I just like the extra insurance of a large amount of space. I have an irrational fear of running out of room to write XP

Next, I have my trackers! On the left is my habit tracker and on the right is my mood tracker. I just drew little boxes in the shape of the month for my habit tracker and I fill in the box for each day that I complete the task. Yes, I am slacking on a few habits, and yes, I am quite ashamed.

My mood tracker changes each month. Last month, my theme was fireworks, so I tracked my mood by how high a firework shot into the air! (It was fun to fill out) This month, the size of the blossoms reflects my mood. Sometimes I do a color for my mood, and other times I get creative! Trackers are fun to play around with.

My last two trackers are my water log (because I can’t resist a good pun) and my sleep log! I aim for at least five cups of water every day, but I gave myself room for more than that. I’ve tried several different layouts for this, and the graph layout is my favorite. The height of the flower petal shows how many glasses of water I had in a day. Yes, I know it’s painfully low, but we’re working on it.

The sleep log is for tracking my sleep schedule. The dotted lines mark my ideal sleep schedule, and the color is my actual sleep schedule. I know it’s pathetic, but I’m working on that too.

Now for the weekly spreads! These usually look the same throughout the month, but sometimes I spice it up a little. I block out the days of the week (skipping Sunday, because I rarely get out my bullet journal on Sundays), and make a little box for my to-do list, which houses the tasks from my future log that I want to get done that week. Sometimes I do all of them, sometimes I don’t. It just depends on what happens during the week.

As you can see, on the left, in the block for the day, I write down all of my schoolwork for the day, estimate how long it’ll take me (by using those little black-and-white clock thingies), and I check it off whenever I get it done.

On the right, I write a header for the day, then plan out my tasks using my estimates for how long a project will take me. Oftentimes, I end up finishing early because I overestimate the timing for a project, but hey, it feels good to be ahead of schedule!

And yeah, that’s basically it! I’m so glad I finally found a system that works for me, and it’s helped me stay caught up on school and penpaling. I hope this post helped out one or two people who might be stuck in their bullet journaling journey, and let me know any other tips you might have for bullet journaling!

Thanks for reading!

🎵 otherside by Lena Raine (finally got around to listening to this and I was not disappointed) 🎵

Heartbreak Month ~ In Which I Shall Recap January Two Weeks Late

Hello everybody, welcome to Heartbreak Month, everyone’s favorite month! Refunds are available at the front.

I don’t like Valentine’s Day at all, because I never get anything from any boys (well, besides my dad and my brothers but they don’t count 😜) but I think I would like it a lot more if there was actually someone to give me a Valentine. If I do end up getting something from a boy, I think I will probably melt like chocolate in a warm room. And then have a heart attack because what did I do to deserve a cute little heart-shaped thingy and a profession of love???? But anyway.

January Memories

January was kind of boring, to be honest. I’m flipping through my journal reading the entries and yeah, not much happened.

I did get a late Christmas card from one of my guy friends, which made my day! He’s very sweet.

Oh, and I participated in Crazy Writers’ Week, and my team won! I didn’t help as much as I would have liked, but I got a couple thousand words written, which felt good. Most of those were on blog posts, but hey, those are important, too!

I have discovered SO MANY new songs, so my playlist is bursting at the seams. Also TWENTY-ONE PILOTS!!!! Somehow, I’ve only just now discovered them, and I have no idea how I went through 16 years of my life without hearing one Twenty-One Pilots song. But hey, better late than never!

A glass dip pen I ordered back in December finally arrived, and it’s so much fun to use! Although the ink is pretty messy. I stain my hands every time I write a letter XD

January was the month of really weird dreams. I mean, I am the queen of weird dreams, but I had some really weird ones, starring me, my characters, my friends, and members of the Dream SMP? Also, Jason Derulo was in one of them. Why? No one knows. But he was. If y’all want, I might could make a series of my strange dreams. It would be enjoyable, for me and y’all! XD

Yeah, that’s basically it. Like I said, not much happened. Well, besides school and penpaling.

WAIT I ALMOST FORGOT

I wrote a rap song. RAP!! I have SUCH a hard time writing rap (no idea why), and I am SO pleased with my new song. It doesn’t have a name yet, but I like it a lot.

January Goal Recap

1. Write a song that’s not a love song ❌

When I wrote this goal, I wanted to write a worship song or a lullaby or something, but I didn’t do either of those. The rap song I wrote wasn’t specifically a love song, but it was kind of a breakup song, which I count as the same thing. I actually haven’t been writing that many songs lately, because I don’t have much inspiration, and I kind of miss it.

2. Catch up on at least 5 school projects ✔

Success!! I don’t remember the exact number (and I’m too lazy to go check) but I do know it’s at least 5. Today, I caught up on a quiz that was due MONTHS ago and three different science experiments, and I did a couple of other projects this week, and the past couple of weeks. It feels good to get that out of the way.

3. Write some of those flash fictions I’ve been wanting to write ❌

Heh, no. I haven’t had much time for writing lately, unfortunately. I kind of miss it.

4. Get to know my friends better ✔

I didn’t do as good on this one as I would have liked, but I finally got the phone numbers of three of my church friends and a friend who I haven’t seen in over a year! And I started penpaling with said friend, after almost a year of inactivity, AND got a new penpal in ✨Maryland✨! She’s amazing and I love her.

However, I also slapped one of my guy friends for no reason, and I think he’s scared of me now, so that isn’t winning many friendship points. But you’ll have to wait till next month’s recap for that story 🙂

February Goals

1. ACTUALLY WRITE A SONG THAT’S NOT A LOVE SONG OR A BREAKUP SONG OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT BECAUSE I AM SO DONE WITH MYSELF

Ahem.

2. Post three other posts besides this one

The other day, I made a list in my journal of potential blog posts and it’s actually kind of long. And if y’all have any ideas or things you wanna see, let me know! I’m always on the lookout for new ideas!

3. Draw two of my friends

I drew one of my friends last month, and I think he liked it! Plus, it was nice getting back to drawing because I hadn’t really drawn anything since September, when I was filling pages with Keeper of the Lost Cities fanart. Besides, there’s nothing quite like receiving a drawing of yourself! Well, when it’s well-done. No one likes a bad drawing of themself 😅

4. Watch Encanto or something so I can listen to the music without spoilers

I’m so tired of the hype around “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” or whatever it’s called, and I really want to listen to the soundtrack because it sounds pretty cool, but that’s hard to do without spoilers. So, I need to watch the movie first.

5. Reply to that one email from, like, December

It’s long, and I’m kind of low-key scared of it 😂 Don’t worry, Allison, I didn’t forget about you, I’ve just been procrastinating like crazy! XD

6. Not fall in love during the month of love heartbreak

I just got over a crush (thank goodness!) and I am not in the mood for another one right now. *hums off-key* SiNgLe PriNgLE fOr LiIiiiIiIiiiIifE!!!

Current mood ^^ XD

January Stats

Blog posts published: 5
Letters written: 7
Letters received: 3
Art done: 1
Words written (outside of blog posts): 1339 (not counting words written in letters, in my journal and bullet journal, and for plotting because counting hand-written words is a hassle)
Journal entries: 10
Songs in playlist: 339

This post is really short, especially for a recap post. Maybe February’s recap will be longer. We shall see next month when I post it. I already have several stories saved up, so it shall be spicy. 🔥🌶🔥

Thank you for reading, friends, and happy heartbreak month!

🎵 Memories by Maroon 5 🎵