Quote of AWESOMENESSS: “Essential oils, the awesomeness it holds is absolutely amazing.” – me (psst… it’s aka L.O.A.S.H)
Doesn’t it just kinda annoy you when all the stressful events in life just like to show up on your face. You know what I’m talking about. Your skin is important and taking care of it is important. I can’t say how many times my face gets irritated and stressed from just, you know, life. But, I have a secret! This is what I use to keep my skin under control and happy. Essential oils! However, one specific product that I use that has worked absolute miracles is called: CORRECT X. This ointment helps keep my skin clean and moisturized at the same time it helps my skin recover from irritation.
Just click the name above, order, and have your magic delivered to your door! It’s worth an investment because of its gentle formula which calms irritation, nourishes the skin (really well, I may add), moisturizes, and helps protect against additional damage. The best part is, it’s chemical-free!
Magic Ingredients in Correct X:
#1, Frankincense: This oil was used since ancient eras. Along with many other uses, it helps with beautifying (in a natural way) your skin.
#2, Helichrysum: This precious oil is known for its healing, fusing, and regenerating power. It helps with reducing blemishes and aids with that healthy, happy skin.
#3, Melaleuca: Helps with cleansing and resolving. This oil is A.K.A tea tree and is great for soothing skin.
#4, Cedarwood: Native Americans have been using this oil for hundreds of years. It has a sweet and woody aroma to it. It works as a facial toner and promotes healthy skin.
#5, Lavender: Mmmmm, I love lavender. It gives off a fresh and flowery smell that absolutely lightens my mood. This oil is good to calm the mind as well as soothing occasional skin irritation.
Quote of today’s blog: “A boss has a title, a leader has the people.” – Simon Sinek
(just an FYI but there were just so many quotes that I had a tough time choosing, phooey)
This may be a tad bit long but rest assured that it’s definitely worth reading!
Joining the M.A.P Leadership Academy was honestly an AWESOME idea (which, btw, creds go to my mom who told me to go). Oh, and, in case you were wondering, M.A.P is A.K.A Monrovia Partnership Area. It is about a 7-week academy (but only on Wednesdays every week) where we learn so much about leadership, volunteering, helping in the community, and more. Today we’ll be talking about how the first day went by. It gets a little emotional at the end (so brace yourselves).
Okay, so the first Wednesday we met, we had introductions to everyone and some ice breakers. Did you know that the person who facilitated the academy made an inspirational speech to us? Did you know that that same person was there when they held their very first M.A.P Academy for adults? Yup, he was. Very cool, I know. His name is *ahem, drum roll, please* Ed Nicholls. He shared with us about leadership, and I will be telling you what I learned from him.
I’M VERY EXCITED I MIGHT PEE.
Okay, I’ll chill now. Soooo, let me start by saying you are a leader. Whether you are doing something good or not, your actions which people see is still leading them. When you step outside your door, when you are buying milk from your local milk shop (is this a thing? a milk shop? oh well..), and when you go on with your life as you do, you are leading. So, wouldn’t you want to increase your capacity of leadership and improve the skills which you already have? I’m taking that as a yes. Let’s do this.
What you need to start building in your life would be a team. Your team. This team will be there during those tough times and those happy times. This team will be there as you go through the struggles and rough times of life. This team works as your motivator. Those in your team are those you look up to, those who inspire you to GET BACK UP AGAIN. Some people to add to your team could be:
Martin Luther King
Abraham Lincoln
Mother Teresa
Hellen Keller
Your parents
Nick Vujicic
You might be saying right now: “wait, wait, hold up…”
Your team consists of anyone that inspires you. ANYONE. Feel like you don’t think you can get back up again? You feel like the odds are against you and everyone’s just out to get you? Think about your team. Those people you put together in your heart and mind. Let Hellen Keller’s will to strive despite the challenges and hardships in her life keep you going when the going gets tough and you prove to yourself that the tough (a.k.a you) can get going. Let Nick Vujicic motivate you to keep fighting, believing, and keep pushing forward when you start doubting what you’re capable of. As you face your next challenge in life, close your eyes, think about how that person (whether it be your mom, dad, sibling, best friend, cousin, etc.) or people you have in your life have shown such strength and kindness and use that to KEEP. MOVING. FORWARD. to LEAD. WITH. HEART. to GET. BACK. UP.
Feeling fired up? Yeah, we’re just getting started…
Here comes more of the good stuff. The 8 leadership qualities that will help you on your awesome journey to awesomeness:
Purpose
You need to be living your life on purpose. Put your heart into giving back and helping others who need help.
Attitude
I cannot (and I mean CANNOT) stress enough how important one’s attitude is. Your attitude is your weapon, it’s your greatest friend. YOU (and only you) choose the reaction you give to certain people and certain situations. Think of it like this:
Example: You walk into the kitchen humming your favorite song when you decide to open the fridge. Your eyes narrow down to the bottom shelf where you target the slice of cake you left the other day to eat. To your dismay, there’s a vacant spot which totally baffles you. You walk to the dining table, scratching your head with slight annoyance. Then there right on the table is YOUR SLICE OF CAKE. Your little sister has chocolate all over her face as she takes another bite into YOUR CAKE, despite having a fork in her hand.
So what would be your reaction?:
Start shouting and expressing all your boiled up anger which may have also built up from other things that may have happened during the day and dump that on your sister
Grab the plate, eat whatever is left, and walk away (in anger)
Laugh at how you would have done the same thing, sat beside your sister, ask if she would like to share the remaining, and talk about unicorns (or smthg, I mean idk about you but this is usually what I’d talk about to spark a convo)
I’ll be referring to situations when you feel the need get mad as -> CAKE situation
At times we tend to answer 1 or 2. We all sometimes overreact during situations then, later on, look back and regret it. It happens.
You might say “uhuh, yeah easy for you to say… it’s just cake…. my situation was different, I needed to get angry”.
LOOK I just used cake as my example but we know we’ve had some situations like this. And, no, you didn’t have to get angry that one time at that person. When you are faced with a CAKE situation, think of it as a fork in the road and you can choose either to take a deep breathe and act with kindness or do the opposite. Choose kindness. We react so quickly without thinking twice it becomes a habit that we don’t even realize because we convince ourself that that small outburst was just nothing and didn’t really mean much. If we keep a negative attitude during small CAKE situations, we will bring that same negative attitude to big CAKE situations. In other words, choose positivity, inspire others with your smile, be friendly. You might not think much about it but a smile is a powerful tool and can go a long way for many people. There are many dark places in our world, people who need repair, be that light, be kind 🙂
Character
Ooooh, this is a good one. Build your character. This is your foundation. You need a solid foundation. When you do something, do your very best (every day). To strengthen your character you will need dedication. Have impeccable honestly. INTEGRITY! Our character goes down to what we do, not what we think, not what we say, but what we DO. And, honesty is what a person with character has as the cores of their foundation. Being a person with character also means to be kind, to be an encourager.
“an encourager?,” YES an encourager.
Don’t give up on others.
Believe in them and don’t ever quit.
Balance
Balance is important in keeping your life together. You need to prioritize and organize. Each area of your life you have to find a balance. Think about the 6 Fs:
Faith
Family
Friends
Finance
Fitness
Fun
Keep balance in your mind, body, and soul. Something that has really helped me would be keeping a journal. In my journal, I would design something that would be helpful to me to keep the balances in life as well as doodle and creatively express myself on paper every now and then. It’s good healing to just write down what you’re feeling at times.
Forgiveness
It’s hard. I know. Sometimes you feel like someone has done you so wrong, like someone has disrespected you, like someone has just acted like a total DOUCH and all you want to do is punch them to the OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE AND THEN GIVE THEM ~THE~ STARE- I know, but we are all capable of forgiveness. It will make you feel so much better if you just forgive rather than hold in all that anger and carry that weight. People are generally good but it’s their environment that they’ve grown up in that may have them acting in a certain “mean” way. People have good intentions, the problem may be the way that they implement. So, when you just start building that tower of hatred or annoyance towards someone for some reason, think about how they just may be badly implementing their good intentions rather than jumping to conclusions and being mad. Forgiveness is a gift and people do struggle with it. But, great leaders make peace and not war, they forgive and work on what has caused the problem.
Perseverance
I’ll leave you with this on perseverance:
BE ALL IN- never quit.
Team-Spirit
Are you in a team? Are you? Yes, you are. In your family, you’re in a team. Doing a group project with some classmates? That’s a team. We are all in a team. We are all in this together whether we like to be or not. So, love what you do and love who you do it with. When you’re in a team, you help one another. When one of your team members is having trouble with something, you don’t just stare at them blankly with hints of disappointment, you run up to them, smile, and show them they’re not alone and that they’ve got this. When one of your team members struggle to shoot the ball in, give them the chance to keep doing it, keep practicing, believe in them to shoot in the ball (whether that be hypothetically or even physically if you are in a sport). You are in a team. And, when you’re in a team you make everyone around you better. Your home, your family, your friends, your team. Don’t leave anyone out and walk away just because you don’t like their attitude or something they’ve done. Remember, keep that team-spirit up.
Legacy
This wraps up the 8 qualities of being a leader. Your legacy. This is your story. Start building it now. How? Oh, I’ll tell you how. Invest in others, encourage others, help people, KEEP caring. Don’t leave anyone out. Everyone is fighting their own battles, don’t judge and assume what and why someone does something. Remember what I said at the beginning? Live with a purpose, help others. Keep that in your heart and use it.
Being a leader is having a purpose, keeping a good attitude, holding your character firmly in place, keeping balance in life, having the ability to forgive, never quitting and persevering, letting everyone play the game and showing team-spirit, and building your legacy. Never give up on yourself, never give up on others, and above all stay kind and good and encouraging. Finally, I want to end with a short film which they showed us at the end of Day 1. This really moved me and inspires. Here you go:
Hello, everybody! Ok so lets fast forward. Woke up, ate some breakfast, prepared, got my raincoat (it was raining hard out there) and left (of course with (aunt) Kristine and Saoirse).
Oh, I was so excited.
We were all scared we would miss us our 3:00 pm bus going to the Harry Potter. We didn’t, of course, thanks to our speed walk. There was a diversion on the bus which meant we had to get out of the first bus and ride the second bus. While waiting for our second bus, we bought our ticket at this booth which seemed to be decorated with harry potter pictures and stuff.
~~~~~ 1 YEAR LATER ~~~~
Just kidding.
Anyways, the bus (FINALLY) arrived and we were informed that it would take one hour to arrive at our destination. Fortunately for us, there was a Harry Potter film that showed inside the bus.
One hour later and we stepped off the bus. A sort of magical breeze blew in my face the moment we stepped out. A building came into view. The sign read The Making of Harry Potter. It was so cool. I ran up to the building, happily. I felt myself totally fan girling here.
Outside there was a ticket machine where we printed our tickets for the Harry Potter. We got two tickets and proceeded inside. Our first mission that came across all our minds was: Eat. Right Now…. It was quite convenient for us because as soon as entered, a coffee shop lit up in the distance. We ordered some cheese touts (which were basically bread and grilled cheese) and one caramel and chocolate cupcake.
We grabbed the food from the Pick-Up area and immediately lined up to enter the Studio Tour. I heard “Oooooh”s and “Ahhhhh”s the closer went to the big door leading to something quite interesting. Well, I would have predicted it was something AWESOME judging from all the “OOOOOH”s and “AHHHHH”S. But, anyway, while we were still waiting for our turn to enter, there was a display of Harry Potters room that lay under the stairs. When it was our turn to get inside the room we all scurried in.
The host was talking about the movie and J.K. Rowling (the author). Do you know J.K Rowling? She started out unemployed and living a hard life then became a multimillionaire in five years! She’s best known for her series the Harry Potter. She actually first wrote about her first ideas on a piece of tissue on a train going to London in 1990.
Now, back to the present.
The host then asked which house everybody would like to be in. You could hear a few kids screaming Slytherin, nobody picked Hufflepuff, some picked Ravenclaw and finally, the rest picked Gryffindor. Yes, I chose Gryffindor. What would you choose?
We went inside a kind of movie house place, and the seats were perfect. They joked “Okay, everybody. We are going to play all the movies of Harry Potter back to back!”, and just in case you haven’t watched Harry Potter, it is about 2 hours and a few minutes each movie! I actually wouldn’t have minded if it weren’t a joke. Anyways, they played a short film where some parts were time-lapse of how the place was built and how long they took. I’d say it was pretty interesting.
When the film finished we went to the great big doors that would lead us to the Great Hall, and the person who opened it was one of the birthday celebrants in our group. Did you know that the Great Hall in Harry Potter is where they ate their food or made announcements in the movie? I can’t begin to describe how honored I was to be actually standing here.
Interesting/Awesome Fact: This (the hall and I guess the studio) has stood for about 10 years already
The table was filled with delicious food. I wanted to munch it all down. I know, I know I just ate but it looked all so good. But unfortunately for me, it was fake food.
We followed the guide who showed us all the clothes that the movie actors wore such as the robes and stuff. We saw all the special effect such as the green screen. Have you ever heard of the green screen? They use it in movies to make the backgrounds. For example, if you were to be flying away from a dragon on your magic broom stick, all you had to do was sit on a broom stick in front of a green screen. Once the perfect lighting is set on the green screen than just about anything you could imagine could become a reality.
One of my favorite parts of this studio was the hut of Hagrid. It looked exactly the same compared to the movie! Well, it actually is exactly the same because this was the same hut that they used in the movie!!
There was also all the faces of the small creatures (I think they were goblins) that were in the bank. They even showed us the snake looking door that led Harry Potter into the Chamber of Secrets. Every turn that you took would show another awesome thing from the movie. The room of Severus Snape was displayed and there was a pot that was being mixed with a rod that no one was holding……… magic?
We got a Harry Potter passport where we had to stamp into each page each place you go to, and there were even these small quizzes inside.
The other room we went to was the town place where Harry went to get his money, owl, and his wand in the first movie. In the town, there was the candy store where some of the candy would turn you blue or make your voice sound like an animal. I remembered in one of the Harry Potter films I watched I saw them eat some chocolates that could make you sound like a lion or a chicken.
The next room was the train that Harry rode to his first trip to Hogwarts! I never imagined it was beautiful. There was actual fog rising from the bottom of the train as if it were about to run off. I asked Kristine where nine and three-quarters were, and she said there is no such thing. Or is there?
We went through a tunnel, and I honestly wanted to scream ‘Nine and three-quarters!!’. I was scared passing through the wall would break my nose. I pass through quite well, no need to worry.
Outside, there was this place where you could take a picture of the flying car that Ron and his friends rode or the flying motorcycle where Hagrid rode with Harry to keep him safe. After this, I explored around.
Here are the places that I stamped on my harry potter passport:
Hogwarts Express (the train)
The Sets (The Great Hall)
Special Effects Area
Backlot
Creature Effects
Art and Graphics
Props
Costume
Last but not least…… The Studio Shop
Before we end this, I just want to talk about the Studio Shop. I honestly wanted to buy….. everything. There was hats, shirts, wands, jelly beans (in ALL flavors), glasses (which looked the exact replica of Harry potters), wizard hats, keychains, necklaces and more. I just ended up looking around the shop for 30 minutes before leaving.
I had such a fun and amazing time on the actual set of Harry Potter. I think that you would enjoy it as well! If you would like to visit it, you could buy tickets at their site: Warner Bros Harry Potter.
Magic Ointment a.k.a Correct X
Life of a Secret Homeschooler | A.K.A | L.O.A.S.H 
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