Frieren Beyond Journeys End

I didn't expect I'd love Frieren as much as I do. What stood out to me is the opening where the heroic group returns from their last great adventure to retire. 

And the only elven member of the group, Frieren, must part ways with her friends. She has a naturally longer life and has many more adventures ahead of her. The show takes place after the journey ends, and it continues for future generations. 

I love the statues of Himmel. Frieren is full of loving memories of her past.

Frieren has a natural childishness to her. She values lost books and unique spells. She makes a point of focusing on peaceful ways to enjoy her long life, especially after her troubles to save the world and make it safe.

My favorite character is Eisen. He is another character with a long lifespan. Frieren adopts Eisen's ward, Stark, into her inner circle. Stark is a great asset, but Frieren has an effect on her companions that is of great value besides her powers alone. 

 It is beautiful to watch. The way her young companions grow up so much alongside her is what makes the anime so interesting. And there is cool battle scenes. 

Weekly Diet Check-in

Diet Check-in

I've been woking on my diet and exercise this year since January. I have changed the way I eat drastically. I was eating a lot of pasta and cheese and crackers. And I was doing only a 30 minute walk maybe five days a week. I've come a long way since then.

My new schedule is easier to track since I incorporated it into my daily calendar. I'm able to track daily workouts, and I was able to incorporate a drink tracker because I wasn't really aware of the calories I was getting from having a sweet cocktail every time I went out.  I note my total hours dedicated to exercise that month, and my correlating number of drinks and weight.  

In my weekly schedule I added a workout tracker to note calories burned, my step count, and what type of workout I did per day. This has been a new addition to the tracking. I'm taking it really slow when incorporating diet and exercise to my daily schedule because I don't want to hyper focus on it if it's going to stress me out.

Here is a breakfast I did this week. I try to incorporate more berries and vegetables into my diet. I made malt-o-meal sweetened with honey and loaded with fruit. Banana has been important in my daily diet to help prevent cramps.

Or a packed lunch I made from frozen and fresh veggies. Veggies are still veggies even if they aren't raw and unseasoned. I made stir fry veggies over quinoa made with chicken stock, and pork gyoza. 

I threw some hot dog and spam in the pan because I had leftovers in the fridge. This is a really quick and salty meal. But it's important to relax and remember that all food is good for you. Incorporating the veggies into my leftovers is still a good choice.

The most helpful way I passively track calories without having to think about it constantly has been the apple watch. Tracking my activity throughout the day is easier with the watch. I log my meals on the phone, and whenever I get a chance I log my active calories burned and workout times into my physical calendar. I feel like I'm more likely to hold myself accountable when I use a physical tracker than just the phone. 

Besides accountability, the physical calendar tracker is just a low impact way for me to view my progress at a glance.  I don't have to see any extra data or open my phone and risk entering a rumination cycle or doom scrolling. Keeping only the data I actually need in my purse has been helpful to avoid overthinking. 

 

Birthday Dinner

 Birthday Dinner

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We went out after work for my mother in laws birthday dinner. The steakhouse was eclectic.  

Reading Manga Alongside the Anime

Manga I'm Reading Along With the Anime

Yona of The Dawn

I've been slowly borrowing Yona of the Dawn from the library.

I love the ensemble of over-powered dragons who double as potential suitors. The whole gang has to get together to save the world, but essentially they are all young adults with unimaginable trauma and the weight of the empire on their shoulders. I love them all.

Generations of the lineage of the legendary Dragon Warriors have inherited powerful traits. But there is a curse aspect to each ability.   

Unfortunately, the anime is way behind the manga, so there are a lot of scenes that I really wish were animated. And to be honest, the anime is a little more light hearted than the manga; although, there is a lot of comic relief in the manga. Especially between the Dragon Warriors and Yona in camp that really develope their relationship. I really hope to see more of the manga animated.

My favorite relationship dynamic, of course, is between Yona and Hak, her bodyguard sworn to protect her. They grow closer and closer, but the expectations of their roles keep their emotions restricted to moments of rash flirtation between sparring and camping out beneath the moon together. It's completely romantic.

Reading Manga Alongside The Anime

 Anime I'm Watching Alongside The Manga

A Sign of Affection

I first read A Sign of Affection at random because I found it at Barnes and Noble while browsing. I don't think I

knew that I loved romantic manga still at that time. I grew up reading manga like Nana, but I didn't keep reading romance for whatever reason. 

It's important to not feel like you've outgrown your childhood

interests, I feel like. Especially the soft and cozy, romantic mangas.

Yuki and Itsuomi form a connection through traditionally unconventional

ways because Yuki is deaf. She wears hearing aids and uses sign language and messenger to communicate. The way she navigates the world and relationships is influenced by her disability, and the story follows Yuki at a crucial coming-of-age time in her life where she is becoming independent. Her world is growing bigger.

I'm in love with Itsuomi. He meets Yuki where she is at, if you know what I mean. Like not just that he wants to

learn sign language to better get to know her and communicate. Itsuomi takes things slow and never asks for more from Yuki. And the way he uses his huge, corny-finger-tattoo hands to talk in such a simple, meaningful-gestures kinda way is totally sexy too.

Meet Me!!

 Introduction Post

Hello, thank you for visiting my blog! When I saw that girlies were back to our roots making online diaries on Blogspot of all places, I had to join in. I feel like I've returned to my old ways but in the best of ways, you know? 

 

I love writing. But I haven't wrote consistently in years. The last time I truly enjoyed writing might have been when I was posting to my personal blog about art and anything that I was interested in at the time. Or especially in confessional style Tumblr posts. 

My Favorite Books 

I had to narrow down to my top eight favorites. I read over 100 books usually every year!

1. Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
2. The Lighthouse Witches by C. J. Cooke
3. Turtles All The Way Down by John Green
4. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
5. Ready Or Not by Cara Bastone
6. Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
7. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Bali Kaur Jaswal
8. The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

My Favorite Movies

 

I'm a huge horror movie fan! Here are my top four favorite movies of all time.

1.  The Fly (1986) dir. David Cronenberg
2. Emma (2020) dir. Autumn de Wilde
3. Crimson Peak (2015) dir. Guillermo del Toro
4. An American Werewolf in London (1981) dir. John Landis

Other Interests

I love to collect stationary, and I use the Hobonichi weekly calendar for planning. I love sketching; however, I almost never draw lately. I collect books almost compulsively. I also collect Canon mirrorless cameras. 

Flowers In My Apartment

Flowers In My Apartment 

6.2.26

I feel cleanliness like a pressure in my chest. I want to be neat, but the little items just stack up, and the ring dish becomes full, and my mail becomes bookmarks; interspersed between. 

Then, I think maybe I need to romanticize my little space while I have it. It isn't so ugly.