The Miracle Morning Review + My UPDATED Morning Routine

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Hello world!

I know! I have been MIA since December, but do not worry, I am fully back to work. So much went on in the last couple of weeks, and that is how life is. There will be ups and downs.

So, I am back.

I just finished reading The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and after reading it, I realized mornings are taken for granted. Yes. A lot of things can be done in the mornings which can help us have a great day ahead.

Reading this book has made me improve upon my morning routine. I do have a morning routine, but reading this book has helped me improve upon it.

I had heard so much of this book, I did not know where to get it, so I asked a bookworm, Nesta whether he had it and he “lend” it to me. Thank you Nesta!

The beginning of the book was quite tragic. Reading about an accident that happened, and how bad it was. It might make you want to stop reading, honestly. Reading it further made me realize, life is a big painful thing we are all passing through. The author of the book went through certain things that made life seem cruel.

Apart from that, this book was easy to understand, interactive and easy to follow. Most reviews were talking about the writing being so cringe worthy, but I liked it. He wrote it like he was talking to you one on one, and I think that is what we all need.

The book gives you easy step by step ways we can make our mornings exciting, fresh and fun. I recommend this book to everyone.

I give this book 4 out 5 stars.

Now unto my morning routine…

I have made some changes to it. I am currently trying to live life more fully. Not just by going places and having fun, but also, adapting habits that will make me happy, that will help me get closer to my dream life.

Since my alarm goes off at 4:44am, I will extend it to 4am, so that I can enjoy the miracle morning to the fullest. A few new things I would be adding are:

5 minute silence

Affirmations

Visualization

These are the few new things that I would be adding to my morning routine.

If you are finding ways of trying to have a perfect morning even if you are not a morning person, I recommend reading The Miracle Morning.

Let’s Chat: What do you dread most about mornings? What do you think about the book if you have read it? What would you like your mornings to be like?

Movie Review: It’s Okay That’s Love (Blogtober Day 16)

WARNING: THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS.

Everyone’s prone to mental breakdown if they suffer a traumatic experience, but everyone just acts like that would never happen to them.

-Jo Ding Min

Hello world and happy Monday. I hope you had a great weekend.

Today’s post is a movie review and it’s been long since I wrote any sort of review on the blog, even a movie review. I have for you a movie review and it’s a seasonal movie containing only 16 episodes. I love seasonal movies like that with less than five seasons and few episodes. The only long seasonal movie I enjoyed was Pretty Little Liars, and this movie had only one season.

Never judge a movie by its promotional ads. It is metaphorical

So, this drama series is K-Drama (Korean Series) and since my teenage years I have always been a big fan of Korean series and movies, so I was pretty excited to binge watch this. Sorry for so many conjunctions in that line, lolz xx.

Let’s begin with the review.

 I finished watching this Korean drama series about two weeks ago and I am watching it again with mum. Even though the cases were extreme, I managed to find humour in it. All the characters had some sort of mental and emotional problems and that alone opened my eyes to issues like this. It taught me that no matter where we find ourselves, someone somewhere might be experiencing mental or emotional problems due to experiences in the past.

A perfect example is a character named Jang Jae Yul, who was a writer and a radio DJ. The return of his brother from jail made him to start experiencing such mental breakdown. He was invited to a talk show and he was on the panel with a Psychiatrist lady doctor. They weren’t in good terms from the beginning. The funny part was when they became housemates for some months and soon, there was a shooting star of feelings. Through their relationship journey, they were able to fight and cure their emotional and mental problems.

Everyone else in the movie had other disorders that were not easily identified unless they were in a situation that made them exhibit those symptoms.

Know that someone out there is praying 24 hours a day, just for you.

-Jang Jae Yul

I enjoyed the movie a lot and learnt a lot. I will recommend this movie to anyone.

My favourite OST (Original Soundtrack) was Hero by Family of the Year.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Those of you who’ve been through many goodbyes including myself, there’s still hope for us all

-Jang Jae Yul

Novel Talk: The Redemption of Sarah Cain

Hello world!

I had a good weekend. It was good. Last week was kind of a mixed situation, both good and unpleasant. I am grateful for such a wonderful weekend to get away from the city and go back to Winneba to hide a little (just for a few hours).

I am done reading The Redemption of Sarah Cain. It is a religious novel about a group of Christians I am hearing for the first time; The Amish. I don’t know of anyone in Ghana would belongs to a group like that. I have done online research of them because of this. They have interesting customs and traditions.

Anyway, since I have finished reading the book, I wanted to go on ahead and write the review, but I want to do something different. I want to write eleven quotes/ sentences I liked from the book. Here are five quotes I liked from the book (in no particular order)

Choose only the perfect ones, and your collection will become more important. Remember, there is only one sun and moon in the sky. Think how trivial a harvest moon would be if there were three.

Things done by halves are never done right.

In shedding nonessentials, one sheds vanity

Nary a promise for the morrow. Live ev’ryday as if it’s your last

Sarah had come to her relationship with Bryan a mere silhouette of a woman, hungry for acceptance, but too apprehensive to embrace it wholeheartedly.

There’s a healing that often comes from creating an heirloom.

The outside of one’s life is their shell. It can guide one to find the ultimate answer….within.  A person is always free to change his shell at any time.

God is sovereign, in all, over all, and above all. I do put my faith and hope in him.

Human beings often despite aloneness. We avoid isolation at all costs. Yet we must reconcile with solitude, learn to embrace it, so that we can hear God’s voice.

Treasures from the sea teaches us heavenly lessons.

A single powerful bolt of lightning split the sky, silver and sizzlin’.

Have you read the book? What do you think of the Amish culture? Maybe, you can tell me more about them.

Book Review: Hidden Rainbow + Something Closer to Red

“……If we had no trials, no troubles, how would God test our strength and genuineness?......”

                                                                                                Sister Lutz, Hidden Rainbow, pg. 317

The Testament was hidden under the mattress. Their world was dark and full of lost happiness, until they John and Anna brought it out and discovered ………..

THEIR HIDDEN RAINBOW

Hey there! I greet you.

I am so proud of myself. 14 Days of MarieAmour was a success! I was able to blog for 14 days straight including Sundays, which I haven’t done before. The highest I had ever gone before that was two days.

Whoa! Well done, Marietta.

I did it and I like it.

So, Monday was a rest day for me, from the trip, to the Vals celebration (which wasn’t a huge one, but I liked it), and no lectures on Monday. I did enjoyed my rest. I am gradually get back on track with my studies and blogging.

Another thing I am so proud of: I read almost 5 books in January. Yes! I know, but seriously, it’s nothing. I mean, back in my SHS days when I could read 10 novels a month, which can be 30 books in a term. It was normal, you know, especially when you are surrounded by two girls (Omay and Ella) who were possessed of reading romance. (I miss them!!!) Now, I have other loads on me and reading can be done only when school is out.

Sometimes, I miss my SHS life.

No worries, the main reason for this post is another novel review and a lipstick I am rocking. To tell you the truth, the novel’s title or blurb isn’t what attracted me to read, rather the author’s name.

Christmas Carol Kauffman.

Her name, how relatable it sounds, and I loved her already. I wish she was alive, like I would have searched for her, and we’ll become best friends born on the same day, but different years; 25^th December.

The book is a true story about a forbidden New Testament that shattered the calm of a Yugoslavian village.

John and Anna, a married couple who were born to Catholic parents were led to the truth, light and true happiness through the ministry of a Protestant missionary. The town was against such doctrines taught and the reading of the Holy Bible. When you are caught talking with a missionary like that, you would be severely criticized by the Reverend Father of the town.

I like Anna for her bravery, courage, motherly skills and heart. She has a beautiful soul, and though she was severely criticized by the neighbours, family, and the Catholic Church, she still believed in reading the Bible and believing in God and worshipping Him through Jesus Christ.

I would give this novel a 4.5 out of 5. It was well written and easy to understand, and it has made my faith to be stronger.

This is a lipstick I found at home, that has a colour closer to red. I found it in my mother’s makeup bag. I have made a goal to invest in a good red lipstick. I somehow think, a lipstick that is red, is not the right shade of lipstick for my skin colour, but there is no harm in trying, right?

The photos I took for this blog were not as bright as I expected. The harmattan fog in January did not favour my photos, they look as if I used a filter called harmattan to edit my photos. Eek. Can you imagine? A filter called Harmattan to edit photos. It would be whacky.

Have you read the novel? What do you think of having a photo filter called Harmattan? Which red lipstick brand would you recommend?

Ps. Enjoy some snapshots of the video I planned not to upload for the novel review. Hehehe.

Book Review: Santrofi on National Service

Good morning, world. It is another beautiful day of sunshine and more blessings. I hope you are doing great. For me, I am gradually getting back on track from all the melancholy I was experiencing since the beginning of the year. Actually, I don’t know why I was experiencing that. I think it’s because a relative of mine fell seriously sick, but she is better now. That explains my drastic weight loss and all the uninspired days, but I’m all good now, and ready to face 2016, and live the sweet sixteen life with good intentions.

I have finished reading Santrofi on National Service, a novel, in which I just used a day to finish reading, since I was less busy on that day. It was ok, in my opinion. I am getting ready to do my National Service, next year, and this year is my internship.

It is a story of a young sixth form man, who was posted to the Upper West Region for his National Service. He was born and raised in Accra, and he had never left the capital before. His father refused to let him be a footballer, just like the post I wrote a few days ago, but his posting to a small village in the Upper West made him know his calling and what he is capable of, in terms of changing lives.

What I hate about the book is how the protagonist was very successful (or should I say, too successful) at everything (teaching, being a role model, at playing football). It was unrealistic to me. How can a person succeed at everything without any flaws and suddenly be a champion. Even superheroes have downfalls. The only downfall he had was when his longtime girlfriend broke up with him, which was so painful and when a student tempted him to sleep with her.

One lesson I learnt is that you can make a change at the area where you were posted.

 I would give this novel a 2.5 out of 5.

Have you read it before? What do you think about it?

Book Review: No Sweetness Here

Hello everyone! Sorry, I have not been able to post lately. A loved one has been ill for a long time, and I was disturbed. She is getting better now, thanks to my Heavenly Father and prayers of loved ones. Thanks to Sadia, Thomas, Papacy and Aikon for taking care of her.

Due to this situation, I finished reading this novel late, but I am finally done, end I enjoyed it.

No Sweetness Here is a book of short stories written by Ama Ata Aidoo. There are eleven stories in all and they were beautifully written. They are stories about the Ghanaian society issues, and one thing I love about the book is that, though they were written in the 1960s, we can relate to it in the 21^st century Ghana.

The short stories include Everything Counts, For Whom Things Did Not Change, In the Cutting of a Drink, The Message, Certain Winds from the South, No Sweetness Here, A Gift from Somewhere, Two Sisters, The Late Bud, Something to Talk About on the Way to the Funeral, and Other Versions.

It was difficult to pick a favourite and a least favourite. Maybe, I’ll choose In the Cutting of a Drink or The Message or oh, Two Sisters too was good. My least favourite was No Sweetness Here. Okay, it was not my least favourite, but it is a story I wish not to read again because there was no happy ending, and the woman lost everything.

Though, there are spelling mistakes and other errors, which might be the fault of the Publisher/Printing Press, these collection of short stories is one of the best I have read. I might even consider writing a book of short stories like this.

I’ll give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Serial Review: Pep Talk

It's amazing how you get to meet people with incredible talents.

Meet Awo Dede, a lady whom I was in the same secondary school with, and in the same boarding house. I knew she was doing General Arts, but never knew she had a creative imagination. Anyway, I don't blame her. It's not her fault. She's just like me, we write, then hide it, lol. Awo Dede, I totally understand.

Awo Dede has started writing a blog. Yay! Yoo-hoo! This blog has a serial in it. The title is Pep Talk. The write up is beautiful, amazing, weird and fantastic. I love it. Read episode 1 here and episode 2 here.

The story is about a girl who has reincarnated. I love the imagination of the spirit world. I have never imagined the spirit paradise that way. She used a bit of local dialect too and underneath the story, she wrote the translation of the sentence for those of us who don't understand. Really, Awo Dede is Talent. (I do not mean, talented. She is talent itself)

One thing I didn't like about everything is, there are no images. Apart from that, everything is amusing and arrrhh-mazing. I even bet she can write vampire stories. Tell me, Awo-dede, if you are reading this. Do you like vampire /werewolves stories?

I can't wait to read the continuation, if there would be one. How would it continue, how would it end? I don't want to spoil the fun, so bookmark her blog and follow her on Twitter for more information.

Stay sweet.

Episode Review: Abanga

The first episode of Abanga was premiered in August. Before the premiere, we were slowly counting down to its first episode.

The first episode, called "German Burgar Wahala" is about keeping Ghana clean. It begins with Abanga himself collecting rubbish scattered around and complaining of how Ghana is filthy.

He tries to flag down a taxi, then his eyes catches someone throwing an empty Voltic Mineral water bottle out of the car.

A patriotic citizen like him, goes over to chastise him for the dirty act. The so-called"German Burgar", tries to defend himself.

What I like about the episode

1. There is no long talk and they go straight to the point.
2. The two girls who were watching the scene and laughing within themselves.
3. Abanga has a hidden dimple. Oops! Ignore that.

The Abanga Series was created by Kingsley Kojo Antwi (popularly known as Kojo Poet) with his production team 41 Dreams Films. In an informal setting,I asked him, what inspired him to create this educative series. He said

"Abanga will be touching on sensitivity societal issues. Every episode comes with different issue"

Do you want more Abanga?

Spoiler: The next episode is about Domestic Violence Against Women. Tell your friends about it by using #SayNoToDv Against Women and #AbangaE02. The second episode would hit your cyber screens next week.

Stay tuned!

Movie Review: La Bamba

LaBamba Movie Poster

Para bailar la bamba

Para bailar la bamba

Se necesita una poca de gracia

Una poca de gracia pa(ra) mi pa(ra) ti

I recently watched about one sweet musician called Richard Steven Valenzuela (Popularly known as Ritchie Valens) who used to do the Chicano rock and roll music. He was a singer songwriter and a guitarist.

Ritchie Valens

My mum once told me the story of this guy. A movie was made to tell his story. The time she told me the story, she had forgotten the title, but said, he made a song for his sweetheart, Donna.

Lou Diamond Phillips played the role of Ritchie in the biographical movie, La Bamba. At the beginning of the film, there was a scene, like a memory, which turned out to be a nightmare for him throughout the movie. Some teenage boys were playing basketball in a school yard. Above them, two airplanes collided, falling into the school yard and killing one of his friends. This made him have the fear of boarding an aeroplane.

Ritchie was a cute 17 year old guy who loved to play the guitar, was full of life, smiles and stayed with his mother, half brother Bob and other siblings. He loved a girl called Donna at school, but her father was having issues with their relationship. He wrote a song for her with the title 'Donna '. They were so cute together.
Unfortunately, because he became famous (which made him drop out of school ), he had to be taking planes in order to go on tour. On that fateful night of February 3rd, 1959, when he went for the Winter Dance Party tour with some other musicians, he boarded a plane with them, during a storm (he even had the flu). The plane had a crash, leaving no survivors. That's when my heart broke, that's when music died. He was just 17!!!!!

I wish to tell you the whole story from A-Z, with every detail, but watching it would be better. If you're a little emotional like me, you better hold a handkerchief, because you would shed some tears.
I loved the love-hate -jealousy relationship between Bob and Ritchie. Though their mom was more on Ritchie's side than Bob. (Because Bob was a drunkard, irresponsible and snatched away Ritchie's first girlfriend, Rosie, from him), there would be some obvious jealousy around, but Bob loved his half brother and was ever ready to help Ritchie succeed in his career.

I'm already shedding tears as I type this, listening to his music too, 'Come on, let's go', 'La Bamba ', 'We Belong Together ' and 'Donna '. Please watch it, and I bet you, you'll love him.

May his soul rest in peace, and we love you, Ritchie Valens.

Oh, Donna

Oh, Donna

Oh, Donna

Oh, Donna

I had a girl

Donna was her name

Since she left me

I've never been the same

'Cause I love my girl

Donna, where can you be?

Where can you be?

Bob and Ritchie

 Please, watch it!

Have you seen the La Bamba movie? What do you think about it?

Stay as sweet as Ritchie Valens