Movie review: "Frozen II"

I'll shamelessly admit that I was among the thousands (millions?) of people who were eagerly waiting for the Frozen sequel; I, like many others, made conjectures about what the brilliant writers and animators could do with one of my favorite Disney movies...
So naturally, we went to see Frozen II on opening night, happily ready to see the greatness that was to come...
Before everyone starts throwing the word "amazing" around, I'll go ahead and write my honest (and objective) review of the much anticipated sequel...
Let's be honest, Frozen II had VERY big shoes to fill; from the storyline to the incredibly catchy songs and marvelous characters, it was a challenge to begin with, and I'm sad to say that the sequel left much to be desired. While I know that hardcore Disney fans will probably disagree with me, Frozen II was lacking the magic of the original and had many things wrong with it.
I will begin by saying that the storyline is way too somber and even complicated for younger audiences; on top of that, and in typical Disney fashion, there was a political agenda to be pushed.. (few will catch this!).. the story was not cheery at all and at times Elsa seemed to be off...even Olaf (the sweetest and funniest character) verbalized anger.. character development was lacking overall and some of the scenes were very cheesy and seemed disgruntled and incoherent.
But once I realized the storyline was poor, I decided to settle for good music; I was waiting for THE song.. that one catchy song that would make me sing Frozen for years to come...and it just never happened.. even though some songs were deep and passionate, there wasn't even ONE catchy song and at times the movie seemed more like a musical with the excess singing, including a Kristoff song resembling an 80's solo from a boy band... (what was that about?!)...
The animation was beautiful and some of the details on the characters were very impressive.  There were also funny moments (mostly around Olaf) and some quick jokes that made for a somewhat entertaining movie despite the overall letdown.
I know I'm a harsh critic, but let's keep in mind that this was a movie we waited six years for, one that was hyped up for years too and I guess I was expecting more... it dragged on and it didn't completely capture my attention; the story took wait to long to take off and the plot never really climaxed enough to make me want more...
I'm sorry, Frozen II... I wish I had better things to say about you!  This one gets 2 out of 4 stars from me! :)

Go see it and tell me what you think! :)

He doesn't buy me flowers...

If someone had asked me what I thought romance was about when I was in my teens, I probably would have answered "flowers and chocolate"... heck even when I got married that's what I considered romantic and I most definitely wanted that in my life, all of it, the chocolates, the flowers, the greeting cards, the over-the-top gifts at birthdays and anniversaries.  I wanted the romantic meals, surprise getaways, anything that spelled "ROMANCE"...because that's what perfect men are about.. right?
Well... my husband of 14 years (Happy Anniversary, by the way!) does not buy me flowers... or chocolates...or over-the-top gifts...we rarely do romantic dinners and he's definitely not the surprise kind of guy...
He is, however, the kind of man that lets me sleep in every Sunday and as soon as I make a peep he brings me breakfast in bed, every single Sunday.  He is the one who texts me a random "I miss you" in the middle of the day and doesn't stop sending heart emojis until I respond "I miss you too!"; he does the dishes every night and makes sure that everything is put away because he knows I hate cleaning the kitchen.... and I don't even have to ask!
He has no idea how to put a travel itinerary together and forget planning a surprise getaway but he helps make sure I go to each one of the places on my travel bucket list simply because he knows I love traveling and he wants to make my wishes come true....and he poses for the pictures too! ;)
He's not a great cook and he could honestly eat rocks if I served him that every day, but he can make a mean avocado toast and boil some eggs and makes sure to serve me that with a lot of love and care whenever I'm not in the mood for cooking.
See in the past 14 years I have come to realize that this is the kind of love I want to experience in life; the love of a partner that gets me a blanket when I'm cold even before I know I'll get cold (ha!), the man that caresses my back when I'm tired; I want to feel the kind of love that is unwavering, the good kind of love, the one that doesn't need to impress me because it's so strong that it needs no charades or explanations.
And that's my Iggy; a man with a noble heart, a man that lives to make me happy, a man that has worked his butt off for years to make sure I can stay home with the kids, one who supports all my crazy ideas and encourages me to soar higher, one who tells me every day "your happiness is my happiness" and really means it.  He shares with me the kind of love that only he and I can understand; he holds my hand every Sunday at church and cries simply because he feels "so blessed" for having me as his life partner; he is the love of my life and I thank God every day for making him for me!
So on our 14th anniversary, I have a completely different definition of romance; I know now that it isn't about the flowers that wilt, or the chocolates that get eaten, or the flickering lights of a candlelight dinner or even about the surprise getaways that pass.
Romance is about the things that don't fade, the beats our hearts skip and the love shared between two people whose sole purpose is to make the other happy!
I love you, Iggy! Thanks for making me the happiest woman on earth for the past 14 years... I can't wait to see what the next 100 bring...
Happiest of Anniversaries..here's to many, many, many more!

I’m trying...I REALLY am!

When a framed 1000+ piece puzzle that had taken 6+ people and 3 days to finish came randomly falling off the wall, I thought to myself “that’s it...my week is officially crappy!”...and then my husband calls to tell me that he is stranded in Colombia because he lost his passport and can’t return as planned...ugh!
The puzzle debacle and the infamous phone call came on the heels of a few difficult days; I recently found out Gaby is being bullied at school yet again and is showing symptoms of anxiety, days after I had to pull Olivia out of cheer because, well, adults don't know how to adult; days after the time change that always messes me up, and unending headaches and back pain that prevent me from consistently sleeping for periods longer than three hours...
Despite the fact that I could barely function because of my headaches and lack of sleep, or that my daughter asked to be picked up early from school 3 days in a row because she couldn't deal with the bullies and I don't know how to help her,  life goes on and we gotta keep trying...
But putting on a face is not always that simple and we've gotta come to accept that sometimes it's ok to crumble; it's ok to want to sleep it off or not want to talk to anyone for a few days...
I'm trying.. I really am.. I'm trying to keep laughing when my kids tell un-funny jokes, I'm trying to stay awake when I have to help my daughter with a math lesson I don't understand, I'm trying to clean up the cat's litter box when I can barely bend over because my back hurts so much, I'm trying not to cry myself to sleep because I'm so exhausted and tired of my husband being gone so often every month...I really am trying...but I'm at my wits' end
And when I get tired of trying and feel overcome by exhaustion and defeat, I think of all the times where I have tried and succeeded, I focus on the moments when my kids are proud of me for simply trying and that makes it all worth it and it makes me want to try again and again!
So in my search for ways to fight the overwhelmingness, I came across this article from Motherly and it was very reassuring, not only because it helped me realize that I am not alone in feeling "done" sometimes, but it also gave me a few good tips on what to do when feeling like life comes out at me harder than I can handle...sometimes it really is all about breathing, moving and slowing down!!
Here's to hoping next week is better than this one! :)