5 Ways I Princess & 5 Ways I Don't {the regal reads blog tour}

Hello and welcome, everyone, to this stop on the Regal Reads Blog Tour!  I'm so excited to be participating!

And this post is, of course, in honor of the release of Regal Hearts: Season One in paperback!


(^ me, trying and failing to make a cake for the book's birthday)

~ About the Book ~


Following the dramatic birth of her royal daughters, the Queen of Bella Adar is murdered by the merciless sword of an evil usurper. The helpless princesses are placed in the care of the URIA, an undercover organization who safely extracts and protects the girls from a tragic fate. Sixteen years later, Lena Bodner encounters a stranger who uncovers secrets from her past...

~ About the Author ~
Livy Jarmusch is a twenty-something author, singer, and songwriter. She enjoys crafting YA Christian fiction that is pure, lovely, inspirational, and of course, entertaining! When she's not writing, you can usually find her playing guitar, blogging, drinking peppermint tea, connecting with new friends, planning her next trip to Disney, or pinning images of Europe and Golden Retriever Puppies.
Connect with Livy via: her blog ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ YouTube ~ Goodreads

Doesn't that sound awesome?  You can add the book to your Goodreads shelves here and purchase it here!

And now, let's get into the post!


5 Ways I Princess

1. I can twirl with the best of them

Twirling, I feel, is an essential part of being a princess.  If you can't twirl, what can you do?  And thanks to 17 years of dance experience, I will say I'm a pretty great twirler.  And it always makes me feel like a princess!

2. I love pretty dresses

I used to hate dresses when I was younger.  Now, I can barely believe that.  I adore dresses, if only for the simplicity of throwing one on with a necklace and immediately looking like I tried.  Also a recent obsession has been with sparkles and floral patterns.  I'm not really sure why.  But hey, it makes me think like a princess.

3. I sing and dance around the house... a lot

Not as much as my sister, but I have been known to boogie down to my jams as I'm traversing my abode!  I have a feeling if I was a princess a la Disney movie, there would be much singing and dancing, and I've got that down!

4. I dream big

*sings along with gif* "I WANT ADVENTURE IN THE GREAT WIDE SOMEWHEEEEERE". 
No, but really, I have the capability of dreaming as big as any princess.  Partially, I'm sure, because I know "With God all things are possible".

5. I believe in happy endings

Maybe not in the way Disney implies, but I do believe that the ultimate ending will be happy.  Through living in Jesus, I know that I have an eternal home waiting for me someday.  The ending of my life will be a happier ending than I can ever imagine.


And, of course, here are

5 Ways I Don't

1. I forget things

(Sometimes whilst in the middle of doing the thing I've just forgotten) A princess should never forget all the things she has to do!  Granted, she probably has a ton of people who can tell her what she has to do and probably doesn't have to... but I do.  Anyway...

2. I'm clumsy

I mean, I guess Mia was too and she was a princess.  But seriously, I wouldn't be able to walk in a ballgown, much less look good while doing it.  High heels are my nemesis.  I don't know how princesses do it, honestly.

3. My hair is always a mess

And I do mean always.  Even when it's somewhat manageable, it's still frizzy and all over the place.  *sigh*  I can relate to Rapunzel, that's all I'm saying.

4. I love sleep

Like... a lot.  At any given point of any given day, you can find me thinking "I wish I was taking a nap right now."  Because I usually am.  And with my thyroid issues, lately I have been much more capable of laying down and snoozing right away.  And something tells me that your average princess isn't able to sleep all that much.  Which would be disappointing, were I an actual princess.

5. I'm not a fan of nature

If Snow White is any sort of princess guide, I would fail as a princess.  I'm allergic to almost everything that's alive, and thus, my first instinct would not be "run into the woods".  I would probably die in the woods, actually. 


And that's all for this post!  I hope you enjoyed!

Be sure to check out Regal Hearts!  Congrats, Livy!! I'm so proud!

~ Abby

The Nightmare Before Christmas {Spooky Reviews}

Welcome again, mortals, to another spooky review.

Today's review is of a film that is considered a Halloween staple, but Abby has only seen this current October.  And without further introduction, let's begin.

The Nightmare Before Christmas



Hey, y'all, your local Disney nerd has finally seen this film!  And... I'm not sure that I liked it all that much.  But I'm here to get my thoughts down, so here we go.

Brief Overview:
Jack is King of the Pumpkin Patch, but after yet another successful Halloween, he is feeling unsatisfied in his life.  When he accidentally stumbles into Christmas Town, he becomes determined to take over that holiday to give himself more fulfillment.

What I Thought:

I enjoyed watching this film.  I watched it with my little brother, which meant I had a good time.  I did know some of the songs already, so that led to some fun sing-along moments.  And I will say, it was sufficiently spooky.  Oogie Boogie, y'all.  *shivers*
But my main problem with this film was that it left me with more questions than answers.  How did the rivalry between Jack and Oogie Boogie start?  How did Lock, Shock, and Barrel start working for him?  How did the doctor create Sally?  Where is this forest with the trees that lead to different holidays?  Do the citizens of the towns never age?  If so, are the children in them always children?  Was Jack a child once?  JUST. SO MANY QUESTIONS.

The Characters

Jack Skellington -

Jack is, to be quite honest, an idiot.  I mean... he's trying his best... but he's really an idiot.  Just BE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, PLEASE.  PLEASE. But really, he's a pretty good protagonist. And I mean, you have to admire his stick-to-it-ivness.

Sally -

Sally is my fave.  She's just.  So good? And so pure?  And she just wants to help and be included and she's so sweet I love her so much.  Also her song is really pretty.


Favorite Quote:
"Jack, please, I'm only an elected official here, I can't make decisions by myself!


Overall Rating: 3.5 citizens of Halloweentown out of 5

I did enjoy this, and I'm glad that I can say I've seen it.  But it wasn't my favorite movie ever.  And I doubt it ever will be.  But hey, at least now I'll understand all the references.  Yay.

Have you seen this movie?  What did you think?  Let me know down below!

~ Abby

When The Beauty Loved The Beast

A week ago today, I got to see what was arguably my most anticipated film release of 2017.  Disney's live-action adaptation of their 1991 masterpiece was absolutely everything I had hoped for.

^ literally me when I eat lunch by myself

But it got me thinking...

What could such a well-known love story teach us about the greatest love story every told - God's love story with humanity?

 



I've discussed this fairytale in detail before, but until now, I never truly thought about why the story has been so popular for so many years. 

In this post, I hope to come up with a few reasons why it might resonate so deeply with so many people for so many generations.

1. We can all relate to the Beast.

 

"The crown has fallen from our head.  Woe to us, for we have sinned!"
~ Lamentations 5:16

Think about it.  Isn't the fall of the Beast an amazing comparison to the fall of humankind?  This person, who was once beautiful and popular, has been cursed, forced into hiding because of his hideous form.  He is cruel, mangled, forgotten.

Once, we were perfect, made in God's image.  We walked with God as a friend, we were close to His heart.  But then came a choice.  A choice that changed mankind forever.  And a curse descended, scarring and making monstrous that which was once beautiful, rending a chasm between God and His creation so wide that humanity had no hope of mending that bond unless God Himself chose to build a bridge.


2. The Beauty chooses to stay.

"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them,

because they were like sheep without a shepherd. 

So he began teaching them many things."

~ Mark 6:34

Perhaps she didn't come there under the best circumstances.  Perhaps she came only out of love for someone else, sacrificing her freedom so another could go free.  But a friendship, and eventually a love, grows between the Beast and the Beauty as the two discover that they have more in common than they could have imagined.  Soon, it becomes not her sentence that keeps the Beauty in the Beast's palace - it is that she has chosen to stay.

Jesus didn't have to come to Earth.  God didn't have to care enough to send him.  And to me, that's one of the greatest parts of this story.  Mankind had certainly earned being forgotten, much like the Beast.  But God... those two words hold so much meaning, don't they? But. God.

But God did not abandon His creation.  But God chose to come and chose to stay, for longer than He needed.  Could He have come, fully grown, ready for the sacrifice?  Absolutely; He can do anything.  But God lived among us, perfect and beautiful even when we didn't see it.  The Beauty chose to stay.


3. The Beast changes.

 

 "...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ..."
~ 2 Peter 3:18

 

 I've seen many people try to pass this story off as one about an abusive relationship.  Yes, at first, the Beast holds the Beauty against her will, forcing her to pay a debt that she did not owe.  But the thing that differentiates between Beast and Gaston, to use the example of the Disney film, is that the Beast changes.  He loves Belle, and he wants to impress upon her just how much.  So he changes, becomes a better man than he was before the curse.  Gaston, who might at first seem like the perfect match, never leaves his egotistical, self-absorbed personality.

I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to be like my dad.  I've been told throughout my life that I have my mother's looks and my father's personality (my sister being the opposite of that).  And when you want to be like someone, you start to change.  It's inevitable.

In the same way, when we draw closer to God, we become more like Him.  We lose a bit of our beastliness.  The hardened shell around our hearts starts to soften, and we begin to reflect the light that we have come to love to the darkness that surrounds us.

4. The Beauty comes back.

"In my distress, I called out to the Lord; I called out to my God.
From his temple, he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears."
~ 2 Samuel 22:7

To go again to the Disney movie, at one point, Belle runs away.  It comes about in a way that the servants guessed it would, with the Beast overreacting and scaring her away.  Finally having enough, Belle declares "I can't stay here anymore!".  The result is an attack by wolves that could easily have been the most disturbing and disappointing end to a Disney film ever.  But the Beast intervenes, for reasons that are never quite explained (in my mind, it's because Mrs. Potts says something gently sassy and makes him realize the error of his ways, but that's just me).  While he succeeds in saving Belle's life, he ends up severely injured.  There is a moment of hesitation when Belle realizes that this is her opportunity to escape.  But her compassion stops her.  She brings the Beast back to his castle, helping nurse him back to health, and in this, discovers that there is more to this monster than she assumed at first glance.

 

In the fairytale, the Beast, falling in love, sends the Beauty home.  He knows that she misses her family, who is having a tough time without her.  So with a trunk of magical treasure that will keep her and her family secure for years to come, the Beast tells her to go, and she does.  But soon the Beast is dying, his cursed life running out, and he needs help.  Somehow, she knows, and though he doubts she will, she comes back.  She breaks the curse, and realizes her true feelings for this man she's come to love.

The amazing thing is not the compassion of the Beast in sending the Beauty away.  It's that the Beauty came back.  She goes away, seeming to have forgotten him, but when he is dying and in need a friend, she returns.

How much is that like Jesus?  We call out in our time of need, he helps us through.  And we send him away, figuring we're good for now.  And soon, we lie dying in the garden we've built for ourselves, thinking we're cultivating roses when the only things to grow have been thorns.  And Jesus comes.  And he loves us, like he's never stopped doing. 

^ the gorgeous lyrics to the "Finale" of the new film

I hope and pray that you have learned something from this post.  It was so much fun to write, and to really look critically at one of my favorite stories of all time. 

 

If you haven't seen the new "Beauty and the Beast", I highly recommend it.  If you have seen it, what were your thoughts?  Let me know in the comments below!

 

 

(also, I was planning for this post to be out a couple days after I saw the film, but there was an incident involving my clumsy fingers, my laptop, and the floor... but all is well now!)

 

~ Mia