Note to self: The main reason I wrote this article was for myself…I didn’t want to forget ANY of these recipes 🥲especially the balsamic date vinaigrette and the roasted vegetables…If a week goes by without me writing these down I’ll never be able to find those “in-my-head” recipes again. Now that I’m about to write it all down….

CAVA has an amazing menu.

So many protein options.

Pretty good quality and quantity for price.

And amazing taste.

But as always…when I like something, I will remake it at home.

Because (nothing against restaurants) I can usually make it better 🤭

When I went to CAVA with my family I had a build your own bowl with (hol’up have to pull up the menu for this!): The base was spinach and brown rice, dips and spreads were tzatziki, red pepper hummus, and roasted eggplant dip, my main was steak, toppings were pretty much all them…Fiery Broccoli, Fire-Roasted Corn, Pickled Onions, Tomato, Onion, Cucumber, Cabbage Slaw, Kalamata Olives, Romaine, and Crumbled Feta. For dressing, I had Lemon Herb Tahini (really had a hard time choosing one of these); then of course I got the free side of pita to make sure I cleaned my plate up :)

When I made this at home I didn’t exactly make my order. Instead, I looked at CAVA’s menu online and picked my favorite protein and toppings then made a couple of the dips I wanted to try.

For the base I used spring mix, then made a brown rice and saffron quinoa.

For the protein, I did a Mediterranean lemon baked chicken as well as roasted veggies similar to CAVA’s.

For the sauces I made my homemade tzatziki and hummus.

The toppings/sides were spicy corn, pickled onions (yep, made those at home too!), Mediterranean pickles, pepperoncini, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, kalamata, and crumbled feta.

And the dressings…Mmmm…I’ve always wanted to try a date balsamic, so I made the date balsamic vinaigrette. Couldn’t stop with just one dressing, so I also added my Mom’s homemade Greek dressing and made a lemon herb tahini.

Since my family is on a diet, I made them pita crisps using these spinach wraps.

This took my sister and I over four hours to make…I mean it’s a whole buffet/build your own bar so we had to continue jumping from task to task. Oh! and of course there are tons of dishes to wash and dry but the bowls were worth the wait! This is probably the first meal ever that my entire family was admiring for every single bite. Every one of them got seconds (even the ones on a diet). They almost didn’t save enough food for one of my brother’s who was working when we were eating this. I had to put a bowl together for him to make sure he got to taste it!!

The recipes for each of these is below 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰👇👇👇👇

For the Brown Rice:

• 1 cup brown rice, rinsed

• 2 cups water

• 2 tsp salt, plus more if needed

• olive oil, for cooking

For the Saffron Quinoa:

• 1 cup quinoa

• 2 cups water

• 1 tsp salt, plus more if needed

• 1 Tbsp dried saffron

For the Chicken:

• 4 large chicken breasts

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

• 1 Tbsp dried oregano

• 2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp black pepper

• 1 1/2 tsp cumin

• 2-3 Tbsp Olive oil (enough to coat the chicken nicely)

• 2 tsp garlic powder

• 2 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp onion powder

For the Roasted Veggies:

• 1/2 head cauliflower, washed and cut into bite sized pieces

• 2 medium carrots, peeled, washed, and cut into bite sized pieces

• 2 medium zucchini, washed and cut slightly larger than the carrots (they cook faster and will get mushy if they are as big as the other veggies)

• 2 large green bell peppers, washed and cut into bite sized pieces

• 1 Tbsp dried oregano

• 2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp black pepper

• 1 1/2 tsp cumin

• 3 Tbsp Olive oil (enough to coat the chicken nicely)

• 2 tsp garlic powder

• 2 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp onion powder

For Tzatziki:

• 1 cup Greek yogurt

• ¼ cup sour cream

• 1 whole medium cucumber, grated with peel, strained

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp white vinegar

• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

• 1 Tbsp dill

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp black pepper

For Homemade Hummus:

• 1 - 32 oz can salted chickpeas in water

• 2 Tbsp tahini

• 2 tsp salt, plus more if needed to taste

• 2 tsp garlic powder OR 2 fresh garlic cloves

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

• 1 Tbsp paprika (optional)

For the Toppings and Sides:

• Spicy corn (1 cup frozen corn kernels, 1 /2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp paprika, 1/3 tsp chili powder)

• Pickled Onions (1 red onion, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar, 1 Tbsp maple syrup or sugar, 1 tsp salt)

• Mediterranean pickles

• pepperoncini

• tomatoes

• red onions

• cucumbers

• kalamata olives, halved

• crumbled feta

For the Date Balsamic Vinaigrette:

• 7 dates, pitted

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

• 2 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 3/4 cup olive oil

• 1/4 cup water, more as needed

For the Lemon Herb Tahini:

• 1/2 cup tahini

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

• 3/4 tsp dried thyme

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

• 1/4 cup lemon juice, plus more if needed

For the Pita Crisps:

• 3 spinach wraps

• 2 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 1/4 tsp cayenne (optional for a spicy kick)

Whew…that was probably alot, but now to the point of this article…

Time to assemble…go ahead and take your bowl and fill the bottom with plenty of spring mix (or green of choice), saffron quinoa and/or brown rice. Add your chicken and roasted veggies, followed by your toppings, sides, dressings, and sauces. Don’t forget to grab a few pita crisps to clean any extra sauce from your bowl :)

Hope you guys enjoy! Here’s my final bowl:

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• Like our dad, we are fantastic at math.

• Like our grandpa, we are extremely creative.

• Like our Mom, we enjoy caring for our family and cooking.

• Like our grandma, we LOVE healthy recipes, nutrition, and learning about good meals and natural medicines.

• Like the characters from the movies we watch, we are motivated to work together (specifically Sam and Dean here), and constantly improve our life, workout, and pursue our dreams.

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Combined, Mena and I always have the craziest ideas. We’ll see something and think “we can do that…but better?”

Yes! We accept the challenge and just do it.

On our vacation to Universal’s Epic Universe, we ate at the Toadstool Cafe in Nintendo Land twice. We never ordered dessert, but we’ve seen the servers bring them out to other guests. From Peach’s “castle” cake, to the Mt. Beanpole layer cake, we were inspired to recreate the Mt. Beanpole one, but as an entire cake rather than a serving.

We researched what type of cake it might have been and immediately put a recipe together: a triple layer sponge cake with three flavors — chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla; and then the best part: topping it with a silky, green matcha mousse.

The flavors were amazing together! None of them were overpowering or dominating the other. If you love matcha, then you know matcha and strawberry are literally two married flavors. Vanilla is very mild and technically a base flavor. Then there is the chocolate which simply adds an additional “bite”. Mena said it was like a Neapolitan cake.

For our recipe, we used three 8x8 inch square baking pans to replicate the shape of the cake from the park, but you could use 3 round 8 inch pans as well if that’s easier. Mena gets the credit for somehow creating this fantastic sponge cake! She added some Japanese baking techniques to help it stays fluffy and not dry out or become dense.

Now to the recipe…

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Hello! and welcome back! 🫶🌸

Recently, Mena and I have been testing so many of our recipes. Just a couple weeks ago we made our blueberry shortcake with convenient “one pan” biscuit-cake for the shortcake. We honestly did not expect it to work because biscuits require specific instructions to actually work.

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I was so happy when I saw how many of you loved the blueberry shortcake photography when I posted the recipe poll. I really tried to make the top look pretty :)

At first, I was going to just plop a little spoon of blueberry filling over each scored piece of shortcake, but realized it still looked kind of boring (?). So I took a toothpick and pulled the blueberries vertically and horizontally, then diagonally both ways to make a pattern. I guess that did it. The best thing about this shortcake was how it just got better then longer it sat! The first day we had it, it had a very rich, buttery taste from the biscuit and the heavy cream in the whipped cream topping. As it chilled over the days, the biscuit slowly absorbed the sugars and flavor from the blueberry filling and the whipping cream got firmer and sweeter.

The reason that we categorized this as a breakfast rather than a dessert is because, first of all, this is homemade and we always keep our sugar low when possible! So the blueberry filling really relies on the natural sugars from the blueberries, with of course, a little sugar added while it cooks (because this is still a treat!). What really helps it get sweeter, is sitting in the fridge…longer…for more days.

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Oh! And another suggestion! After tasting it I told Mena, “a little lemon juice or zest in the biscuit would really make the blueberry flavor pop!” So if you’d like to, you could add a teaspoon of lemon juice or some lemon zest in the biscuit batter.

That also reminds me…the biscuit will be a batter! Not a dough. It will be runny, BUT I guarantee you it will come out of your oven tasting just like a biscuit. Trust the process…

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Equipment for this recipe:

8x8 inch baking dish

Beaters for whipping cream

Mixing Bowls

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Every morning I wake up excited for breakfast (my favorite meal of the day). Then I sit down at my computer to get some things done from my to-do list: college assignments, replying to comments on Substack, writing Substack notes, updating other socials, checking my other businesses, checking emails, etc…

And the outcome is almost always just me waiting. For something. I do what I can, then I sit and realize that the things I wanted to happen that day (the things you could say were out of my control) did NOT happen. I’ve been waiting for specific emails, grades, deadlines, or even just a little bit of space in my day to actually do something that I want to do. I’d say more than 80% of my week is going to work and doing school. And of course, there’s my sister’s schedule, who’s working WAY more than me (bless her heart), giving us even less time to do things together.

Okay, I won’t go into all the “depressing details” about my teenage years, but for a while I basically feel like I’ve done nothing with my life.

I’ve come to realize that I actually do have goals. I have dreams. I have passions. I actually have hobbies and skills too! I can draw, illustrate, figure out problems, cook, bake, write (pretty well I think, no?), workout, and run multiple businesses. Yes, even with so many failures, I realized how much I actually know and how much more I could learn!

But how, why, and when? I feel like these things just magically accumulated in my life. They have become such a normal part of me that I forgot “failing” a business is actually the greatest lesson for future success; you’ll fail not getting paid for your passions is what actually makes it a passion — once you start making money on something you love, you no longer have the same feelings for it; it will be all about the money. This is exactly why I refused to start a cafe or restaurant like I previously wanted to…I LOVE being in my kitchen, and I’d never give that away for money!

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What I realized was there was something that pulled me out of my void, and slowly taught me to just take baby steps and keep trying things. I want to point out that I’ve been cooking since I could walk— fr— I remember the first thing I cooked: fried eggs and toast for my siblings, and I was so proud that I used a griddle and cracked six eggs successfully!

There were certain people over the years that continued to motivate and inspire me to keep going…to keep learning, and to just dream no matter what. Days seem to be flying (is time going faster, or am I actually busy?), and I can’t help but notice, that there is definitely a change in the winds—I feel like blessings are coming!

I recently posted a note about how I looked up my username (Lizzy the Ronin), and dang…I didn’t expect all those results to come up!! I’m still under 1k follows on my Insta (psstt let’s get to 1k! Pushing for 20k to start my YouTube cooking show and vlogs 🤭). And over here on Substack? barely at 200! (psstt don’t forget to recommend The Michi for gifts! The more people that subscribe using your recommendation, the better the little surprises you’ll receive from us😉).

To the people who have inspired me, I honestly can not fit them all in a single blog post! And, yes, it was extremely difficult picking my biggest inspirations…so I tried to pick someone for the different “categories”. I will list some honorable mentions as there so many people who have helped me recover from bad times 🥹💗

6. Florence Pugh: Fearless, Instagram Chef, and Self Stunts

Number 6 on my list is Florence Pugh. If you read my article on “5 Movies I Expected to Disappoint But Were Literal Masterpieces”, you probably remember me mentioning I didn’t really care for Florence Pugh. But when I checked out her Instagram page, I thought her cooking highlights were so cool! And of course, the way she did her own stunts in “Thunderbolts*” was so inspiring! I did kickboxing for a month, and I’d love to get back into it! I also want to learn martial arts like taekwondo, BJJ, aikido, Muay Thai, or Krav Maga. Weapon training and stunts would be cool too! Maybe learning a blade like katana, wakizashi, or tanto. Something simple like a bo staff or nunchaku might be nice to learn as well for diversity.

Recently, I’ve been focusing on calisthenics. I don’t know why, but I feel uncomfortable working out in public gyms, mainly because I don’t really know how to use any machines— I try to go for runs outside when I can. I’ll start with a light, 1.5 mile run, then do a 0.5 mile walk-sprint.

Still hiding in my room doing wall pushups, slowing decreasing the incline…yeah, I’m afraid of judgment :( Whenever I finally move into an apartment with Mena, I’d really love to get some minimalist home-gym equipment!

Home Gym Ideas!

5. Mena: My Partner here and my Support

You all know Mena right?? She’s my only sister, a little younger, but my biggest supporter!! Although I went through rough times, she was the only one actually present to pull me out. She comforts me, makes me laugh, motivates me, cares for me, trusts me, and makes me some really good surprise breakfasts and coffees 🤭

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We’re working on our cookbook together. If I’m not mistaken, I think this is the first project we are actually consistently working on together. We have ALL of the recipes, and she is reviewing them one by one to check for errors because she is the BEST person to help you with grammar and spelling (I’m guessing she’ll find plenty of those in this blog…).

We’re still working on plans for our future, so if you’d love to be a part of it, share our Substack, subscribe, follow, and if you really don’t want to miss out on our vlogs and cooking channel on YT, start shopping from these little Amazon lists I put together so you can start cooking with us as soon as we publish our cookbook and start releasing videos!

Kitchen Equipment to Cook with Us! :D

I will conclude with this: God blessed me with a little sister and I wouldn’t be where I am if she wasn’t here. God knows exactly what you need, so always trust His way and His timing.

4. CoryxKenshin: The Shogun & Inspo for Authentic Growth

At the moment…Cory is on a very long break. He is one of YouTube’s original creators who blew up from playing FNAF. People could say that was luck or “right place-right time”, but we all have that chance within our own niche. Cory’s lesson to me was that authentic growth is a million times more valuable than fake growth and trends. He’s one of the only creators that I know who is original and unique. His personality and editing style are so “him”, no one could replace him. The way his views skyrocket as soon as he uploads. No matter what the topic is, people will watch just because it’s Cory.

Considering he’s been taking so many very long breaks recently…it makes me wonder if he actually retired. What would that mean exactly? Well, first of all he deserves it. He has every right to make his own choices and retire when he wants. Creators, or even celebrities, are not entitled to telling their audience their personal life at all. But my point is…if the shogun is retired, that makes his samurai community a bunch of ronins 🥹 Which is EXTREMELY sad, because he was the one and only CoryxKenshin—the shogun; but I guess that makes my choice of using “ronin” for my followers pretty accurate then.

It was only recently that I realized I fr had a shogun (Cory), and maybe I saw that coming?

I’m just hoping I didn’t predict this! Cuz literally when I chose that name he’s suddenly been gone for such a long time 😭

I do miss him. His Security Breach playthrough was my comfort when I was sick a couple years ago. But he’s taught me tons of lessons that no other creator has. The only GOAT on YouTube. Even though trends are the “thing” now, across literally every social platform, I will never fall into posting that sort of content. Even though this is a totally different year and generation from when Cory started posting, he reminds me that success and growth are not defined by quick follower counts or what the majority of the world is expressing; when something comes from the heart it makes all the difference. That’s true passion and true success. He never had to put too much effort into growing his community or being “salesy” or doing “business talks”. There was never desperation. Just pure authenticity.

Take a little break for a moment…🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Don’t forget to check my other links on my LinkTree for more from me! Any support keeps me going! Feel free to browse merch on my Shop—from Michi Tees, Hoodies, and our Ronin Lifestyle Journal!

LinkTree

Oh! And I have something for you! Get 10% off our merch from the Michi Merch section of our shop! (total must be $30+). Use promo code MERCH10.

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3. Selena Gomez: The Multi-Hyphenate Entrepreneur

Selena has such a diverse portfolio of skills and professions. From running her own makeup line, to writing her own songs, she is the definition of a successful entrepreneur. Heck, she even had her own cooking show on HBO! Like her, I want to do everything; who doesn’t? When I was 14, I wrote a business plan for a luxury business I wanted to start, and Selena was the inspiration behind it. I wanted a brand that sold fashion garments, makeup, skincare, bags, shoes, jewelry, and more. I still have the business plan and I am still so impressed that I wrote all that just from Internet research (no AI, mind you! just those few years ago, AI wasn’t that big a thing!)…this was also two years before starting business school.

Although I still do dream of having a multi-niche business, I still haven’t settled on a specific area yet…In fact, I’ve just added more to the list! Now I sometimes think about starting a martial arts dojo, becoming a certified nutritionist or personal fitness trainer, or starting a line of healthy snacks, teas, powders, and supplements. My mind is everywhere; right now as you know I simply want to start small and publish recipes, my cookbook, and start a cooking show on YouTube (with fun little life vlogs!).

All of this chaos in my head will not stop me from dreaming! Selena could do it—so could I! Maybe not now. But when it’s God’s time, I pray that I will be successful and do it all. There is no limit; if it exists, it is possible!

2. Genevieve Padalecki: Focused on Wellness, health, and a balanced lifestyle

Genevieve is a not a popular actress, but her lifestyle and Instagram are so calming and balanced. Even though she’s married to Jared Padalecki (aka Sam Winchester from Supernatural), her social following isn’t massive. But her content is so simple and genuine. She shares lots of book recommendations, gardening, healthy living, workouts, and trips with her family. She’s another beautiful example of a celebrity who doesn’t boast. If I didn’t know who Jared was, I’d think she was just a normal Instagram creator posting about health and wellness.

Honorable Mentions: My Mother (who raised me well), Jensen Ackles, the Marvel Cast, and my Loyal Community on Substack

I couldn’t fit everyone into this blog so I put all of these together as honorable mentions.

Starting with my Mom, she is the sweetest! I used to think she was strict, but now I realize she was actually just raising me well. Simple things she reminded me to change like “fixing my attitude”, doing what I’m told, trusting God, and smiling more, have improved my life without me even knowing.

Sometimes I’ll tell her something random, like “I want to cook lasagna this weekend” (she proceeds to buy the ingredients…),

or “I want to be more independent” (she proceeds to give mother advice).

A mother’s love is different than any other kind of love. She sometimes reminds me of Thor’s and Loki’s mom, Frigga, how she loves both of them equally but for who they are without comparing one to the other.

I thought about putting Jensen Ackles as my number 1, but I’d consider him equal to the rest of the honorable mentions.

So, basically—he’s me.

Moody. Kind of stupid (not in a bad way, more in a “help me” way? I don’t know how to do this?).

And also, he knows how to present himself. He’ll do just enough for his fans, but never overdo it.

In a way, he commands respect and he gets it. And that’s somehow what I get—I’m a pretty quiet and reserved person; I’m not shy; I listen more than I speak, and I let my actions speak louder when they need to. When it’s time to talk I’ll talk. If I need to supervise or guide someone, I’ll do it. Otherwise, I’ll remain quiet unless spoken to.

The reason why I’m more quiet is that I’m an overthinker, which some may consider a bad quality in a person, but processing your thoughts quickly and keeping them to yourself is actually very precious and something you should be cautious of. I know some people who tend to overshare, and in the end, it ends up making them seem ridiculous. Not because what they said was bad or wrong, it’s sometimes just unnecessary or the act of demanding attention.

I will point out, though, that overthinking sucks when I realize my brain is working a million times faster than my computer—even when I type, it’s sometimes too fast for the computer to process, and the screen starts to freeze or glitch :(

or…maybe I just need a new laptop.

Finally, the Marvel cast; I’ll keep this one short. The Marvel cast reminds me of a family. They all support each other and protect each other. In interviews with multiple cast members, the interviewer will sometimes only focus on RDJ; but he won’t let the interview be all about him. RDJ directs the question to his co-stars instead of answering the question himself. Now that’s an example of humility and true friendship. I can’t deal with crowds, and sometimes my family gets overwhelming, but the relationship with this cast is perfectly balanced.

Oh, and watching the MCU these past couple years really healed something in me. Perhaps it was because I was so connected to these characters for so long (it took us about a year to watch the whole MCU), I was able to distract myself from the bad things in my life. And of course, the characters motivated me to work on myself more. They were always dedicated to a goal or a mission and they always got it done.

And finally…there’s my wonderful community here! My subscribers and followers here on Substack were my very first community to actually engage with my content. When I started seeing all the comments, likes, and connections here, I was genuinely amazed!

The subscriber count has been increasing at such a steady pace…and I honestly am so grateful for this. Massive growth all at once, is wonderful, but sometimes that could hurt the algorithm. I try to always offer value, authenticity, real connections, stories, and advice behind my work.

I don’t want this—my work here— to be a desperate business project. I want it to be a long lasting impression that guides people, brings them joy, puts a smile on their face, makes their day, and offers something so that they’ll come back for something even better next time.

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1. Sam & Dean Winchester (Loyalty & The Sibling Bond)

Their bond is obviously one of the strongest I’ve ever seen. The power of two is so remarkable, especially when they’re so close they’re constantly in sync that they are literally communicating with their minds.

That’s me and my sister; We’ve moved forward so much in life just because we have each other.

The Winchester’s loyalty too; trust in a relationship simply can not be skipped. No relationship can work without loyalty, honesty, and communication.

They honestly don’t have that great a life…yeah, when we watch movies or shows we think it looks fun, but it’s really only because we love the characters and the show was written so well; drama is interesting; but we have no idea what pain they’re actually going through.

Until you realize that you are in fact going through something similar in your own life. We all have our struggles, our demons, or vices, and our down times.

One loyal hand to pull you out of your void is sometimes the one thing we needed to keep moving. In my case, it was my sister; but then there was also all of you. 180 loyal subscribers and so many others in the world who have no idea the impact they had on one single soul.

To conclude…my life is better. It’s a blessing and a gift. The people who have helped me along the way, the acts of kindness I’ve received, the warm love shown…it’s an abundance of treasures. Nothing can compare to that. The only thing that I search for every day is peace. And what gives me that, is happiness. What gives me happiness, is love…it’s the true cycle of life…the way we should live. Without judging. Just caring for each other because we are all just doing our best. Growth can’t happen without support.

Let your thoughts come out as you and not someone else. If you need to be fake for someone because that’s what they want, then you don’t need that person. Be you and you’ll attract the people who love you for who you are.

I wish the best for all of you and I’d love to hear what peace looks like for you—let's share our thoughts in the comments.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

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I know…Christmas is going to be a little while (like six months?) but I’d really love to share these four Yule Log recipes ahead of time because when Mena and I made our first Yule Log, we were questioning the entire process, the cooking methods for the filling, and how to assemble it. We were just running out, having no idea what was going on.

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We’ve only made the Almond Yule Log, and our mother made the chocolate one, which is probably the simplest to make. For the White Peppermint Mocha and the Hazelnut, I wanted to be creative with the flavor profiles. The exact thought I had that sparked the idea for the hazelnut flavor was the Pirouline wafer cookies!

Of course I didn’t just want to copy their flavor 😏

I created a freaking Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse for the filling and a delicious Toasted Brown Sugar and Coffee Frosting! Cuz coffee and hazelnut?? YUM! I am super excited to try this Yule Log.

Hazelnut Yule Log

Here is the recipe for the Hazelnut Yule Log:

INGREDIENTS:

Vanilla Sponge Cake:

• 4 large eggs, room temperature

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1 cup flour

• 1/4 tsp. baking powde5

  Toasted Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse Filling:

• 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

• 1/2 cup finely ground toasted hazelnuts

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

• 1 tbsp. powdered sugar

  Toasted Brown Sugar & Coffee Frosting

• 1 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1 tsp. instant espresso powder (dissolved in 1 tsp. hot water)

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 2–3 tbsp. heavy cream (as needed for consistency)

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Could not wait to share this one!! Haven’t tried it with all the add-ins, but I’m hoping some of you guys will give ‘em a try 🥰🥰

Alrighty, so this is pretty much a simple breakfast cake that’s, of course, delicious with coffee, but it’s so moist and crumby! I hope you’ll make this recipe a couple times to try all the different add-ins ;)

Made this recipe? Tag us here and on Instagram — Lizzy the Matcha Ronin & Mena the Writer. DM us your pictures so we can see your result! Don’t forget to share feedback about the texture and taste cuties. ☕😘

If you’re just starting your cooking journey, check out my amazon affiliate kitchen shopping list for essentials that you might want to have on hand! For more fun shopping lists, follow my amazon associate account 💗🍵Lizzy the Ronin!

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Thank you so much for testing this recipe! We can’t wait to hear what you think! Don’t forget to subscribe to get more delicious treats in your inbox, as well as updates for our first cookbook! 📕🔪🍴🍪💌

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If you’ve been subscribed for a while (Thank you so much!!!) you may know that Mena and I are on our way to completing our first cookbook! We’ve been on quite a long break (also due to sc…

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After experiencing instances of bad manners and etiquette, I wanted to highlight the importance of being polite and respectful. Simple good manners go a long way especially in the world of today.

As people become more and more entrenched in their phones and social media, they forget simple good behavior since the world keeps pushing the “me” concept. Social media says “look at me”, “I’m the best”, or “it’s all about me”. This is called-and I know some people hate to hear it-narcissism.

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It does not mean it is wrong to have social media or post on it, but rather to remember to be humble and grateful for what you have. Do not think you are better than others because of what you think you achieved; you may not see the whole picture. They may have other accomplishments they are not willing to share with you since you are constantly comparing yourself and putting yourself above them. They choose to succeed in the peace and quiet.

This is what I remind of and what she reminds me:

She wrote an article on this here:

The reason I choose to write about this though comes from something that happened recently to Lizzy. She was chosen as the winner of a scholarship from our church and thanked the group that rewarded it. Simple, right? Not exactly.

One of the ladies told our mom that no one has ever thanked them for the reward they received-ever. They have been giving this to young ladies for years and none of them ever said “thank you”? That’s just simple manners. Why wouldn’t you thank someone for free aid? Do these girls think because they have been going to this church longer than we have that they do not need manners? Or because they are Greek like the ladies of the group?

My sister and I have always wondered why we never fit in at this church with girls our age. The answer is that we are not Greek. They have their clique and they did not want to let anyone else in. But we realized we did not need them after finding out they are a bunch of fake friends; even to each other.

These ladies were so thankful that Lizzy thanked them, they suggested she apply to another scholarship, even though it is for high school seniors-she’s in her third year of college. I believe she deserves this more than anyone. They are excited for her to do it and seem to be keen to give it to her.

This brings me to my point: good manners go a very long way. Be respectful and polite to everyone, even if they are not the same back to you. I try to be grateful to recruiters who take the time to talk to me even if they do not hire me. I gracefully thank them for their consideration at the least. Imagine one day you try to apply again and they remember you were rude in an email-they most definitely will not hire you this time.

A simple thank you call or note
Respectful emails to professors or colleagues
Addressing people by their title
Addressing people as sir or ma’am
Letting someone go before you
Listening when someone needs to talk
Communication
Saying please, excuse me, thank you, and I’m sorry

All of these are ways to prove you are appreciative of what others do for you. To prove you are not only thinking of yourself. I have made friends in the past few years that I think I will never stop talking to because I was kind to them.

You leave a footprint or mark on this world and you can choose what you want it to be. Kind or rude? Well-mannered or ill-mannered? Grateful or ungrateful? Respectful or impolite? Retracing your steps and actions will prove what kind of impact you have made on everyone. Being kind means not expecting anything back but doing it anyways. This does not mean you let yourself get stepped on or used.

I wrote about this in my article on “The Steady Presence”, which I try to be for everyone. Someone to talk to, someone to rely on, someone to hug, someone to cry on.

Remember, when doing anything to be grateful and polite; your future may depend on it. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

Finding Purpose When the World Demands Fear

Last night, I had a beautiful, heart-to-heart talk with my sister, Mena. I was confessing to her that I honestly have no idea what I’m doing with my life. Here I am, studying entrepreneurship and business in college, expecting to graduate in the spring of 2027, and yet the path ahead feels completely blank.

Life update: Still no internships :,)

Plainly, nobody hiring. I’m not even exaggerating when I say I have applied to over 300 jobs since starting college, not to mention the countless times I’ve reapplied to the same companies. Last week alone, I sent out at least 30 applications. Each response was the exact same: a cold rejection email. Not to mention the endless amount of hours I spend applying, fixing my resume, emailing, and ending the day with nothing but anxiety, burnout, and fear.

Exhausted, I told my sister, “I’m done. I don’t know what else to do, or what I’m supposed to do. I did everything right. Even the social media algorithm won’t help me.”

Follow my Insta

But when you think about it, why should the algorithm help? Mena and I began talking about how social media is entirely saturated with copy-pasted content on Instagram and Substack. There are “following the girlies” posts absolutely everywhere, full of people wanting to be seen while offering literally nothing of substance. They promise they’ll follow you back, and the hollow loop just keeps spinning. No one is offering real value.

I jokingly told Mena, “The algorithm must have taken a holiday.” Truly, doesn’t it feel like the algorithm has been on a really long vacation—or just died entirely? Every single subscriber or follower you get nowadays has to be manually sourced by you. You have to go out and interact with each individual person first just to get a single follow in return.

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The Weight of Everything

Realizing this left me exhausted. I have put in the hard work, updated my resume, stayed consistent on social media, and constantly jumped between ideas. First niching down, then deciding to expand my niche, wanting to do literally everything: acting, modeling, creating digital products, launching a skincare brand, a fashion brand, a makeup brand, a matcha and coffee brand, health supplements, and healthy snacks. I’ve thought about becoming a certified nutritionist, a wellness and fitness coach, learning martial arts, doing photography, trying new foods, and writing novels, poems, and cookbooks. The list keeps going.

I simply wanted to believe that as many times as I changed my goal, God would give me a sign for one of them and say, “This one is for you! You found your purpose!” But instead of a sign, I only got more stress.

My only excuse for this never-ending brainstorming process was, “It must be my entrepreneurial mindset.” I wanted so badly to believe I was on the verge of finding my direction.

But Mena disagreed. And what she told me made me realize something crazy about being a girl; something the modern world forced us to forget.

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Remembering the Caregivers

Mena told me that, perhaps, women were simply not meant to work in the way the modern system demands. Remember when our primary role was to bring children into the world and raise them? Think about your mom, and how much she did for you.

I love my Mom. She didn’t just teach us and homeschool us; she taught us everything. She taught my sister and me how to cook when we were only five years old. She taught us some Taekwondo from the classes she took back in college. She taught us respect, love, forgiveness, and how to be kind. She taught us to read, write, pray, and love God.

I specifically remember a time when she was incredibly busy, and I asked her to draw me a giraffe because I loved animals so much as a little girl. She paused what she was doing and drew it for me. A year later, I remember coming back and asking her to draw for me again. This time, she told me she was too busy. I remember my little self thinking, “Mom is busy. I need to let her work.” So, I went and drew the picture for myself.

What I didn’t realize at that young age was just how deeply busy she truly was. My Mom was taking care of five children—four of us only a year apart in age, plus our baby brother. Yet, she somehow made time for everything.

Women are naturally wired to be the creative thinkers and the caregivers of this world. Historically, a man’s job was to provide and protect his family. Because of our nature, girls are constantly trying to do so much; we naturally play the mother role whether we have children or not. We naturally want to relax, learn new things, read a good book, do art, and create. These are skills we teach ourselves so we can share them with others to do good. They weren’t originally meant to make us money; they are things women enjoy because they bring peace and build knowledge to pass down to our children.

I’m not saying women shouldn’t work, make money, or start businesses. What I am saying is that women desperately need a break, and the modern corporate workforce was not built with our design in mind. Women process information and learn creative skills rapidly—it simply flows more easily to us. Men are often naturally more aligned with the rigid, mathematical structures required to manage the external household, finances, and labor.

Refer a friend

Moving From Fear to Corporate Anxiety

At some point, the world got twisted. Things changed, and suddenly every single individual was forced to fend for themselves. We have been completely abused by the corporate machine. As young women, we were fed a specific narrative: you must go to college, you must get a degree, and you must climb the ladder because you can only depend on yourself. So, we listened. We followed the rules.

Why do they do this? By locking us out without a second thought, they are feeding us endless anxiety. They are creating a cycle of deep fear, making us terrified that we are somehow not smart enough, not qualified enough, or simply not good enough. They demand our absolute dedication, yet they literally never even give us a chance to show what we can do.

Heck, it all starts with the colleges. They have no problem taking thousands of dollars from each student; yet they completely ignore any emails we send to them. Like…apparently you need someone to respond to emails…hey! I’m a business student! I’ll do it for you 😭

The honest truth is, we don’t even want to study anymore. We don’t want to work for these massive companies, and we don’t want to have a boss. Why? Because every time they reject us, they are systematically killing our motivation.

This is the solid proof that we only go to school and study for a degree out of pure survival and fear, rather than genuine curiosity. It’s a vicious trap. The moment they reject us, our inner drive dies, and we are left staring at our homework questioning, “Why am I even studying this? What is the point of all this stress if the door is slammed in my face anyway?”

The very foundation we currently live on is fear—and where there is fear, there is no freedom. No one is out there to help you. As I mentioned, I am about to get my bachelor’s degree in business, which means I am technically qualified to step into marketing, human resources, data analytics, management, sales, or finance. Yet, the system tells me I never qualify.

It makes me think of when Captain America said, “This isn’t freedom; this is fear.” Those are the exact words everyone needs to contemplate when making choices today. The world operates on a deliberate process meant to make us feel completely numb to what is happening around us. With AI advancing at lightning speed, we really have no idea what is real and what to believe anymore. We sit at home and watch disasters play out on the news, yet we remain generally unphased.

In times like this, we have to trust that God is in complete control. We have to redirect our focus strictly to what we can control.

Humility as a Guide

The bottom line is this: us girls are meant to be creative. We are designed to have sudden outbursts of beautiful ideas and little inspirational sparks at any given moment. We are meant to be thinkers, helpers, dreamers, and teachers. Women possess peaceful, kind, and forgiving souls. Don’t let the pressures of a cold, corporate world tell you who you have to be.

Mena reminded me that we must always let God take the wheel; only He can steer us in the right direction. And as we navigate this road, we have to change how we present ourselves to the world. We don’t need to shout over the noise by boasting, showing off, or being consumed by pride. The world has enough fake, superficial noise.

Instead, what we need to do is simple: we need to spread our passions in an honest, authentic way. When you create from a place of pure humility and truth, your message becomes deeply relatable. People can feel the genuine heart behind it. Your audience will connect with you, not because you claim to have a perfect, flawless life, but because you are real.

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Before we Continue…

🌸The Michi’s Recs for your Daily Dose of Value🌸

Speaking of breaking free from the hollow, copy-pasted algorithm, I want to take a quick pause to highlight a few incredible minds and spaces that are doing things right. These are creators who offer genuine heart, deep knowledge, and true value to your feed. Drop your guard, pick up a cup of tea, and go show them some love:

— my sister, co-founder of The Michi, and biggest support and motivation to keep going🫶

— she's the warmest angel sending her aura through touching words and her personal journey <333

— sweetest doll, who reminded me how beautiful life is

— I didn’t know how much I needed a cozy, unpretentious corner of the internet until I landed here. She brings so much fun and unfiltered creative joy!

View my full recommendations list: HERE

The Chawan: Japanese Matcha Tea Cup

Whenever the weight of the corporate world starts to feel like too much, I find myself thinking about the lesson behind traditional matcha cups: the chawan. If you look closely at them, you’ll realize something beautiful: they don’t have handles.

There is an ancient, deliberate reason for this. In the era of the samurai, warriors entering a tea house were required to leave their swords outside the door. When they sat down to drink, the handle-less cup forced them to drop their guards entirely.

Because there was no loop to hold with a single finger, they had to cradle the warm clay using both hands.

This handle-less cup also teaches the art of divine timing. Because your palms are wrapped around the clay, the cup tells you exactly when it is ready. If the tea is too hot, it will burn your hands, signaling that you are rushing. It forces you to slow down, and wait for the temperature to soften into something comfortable. It tells you that the best things in life cannot be forced or hurried. Therefore, never blow on the tea. Cooling it down too fast is like trying to swim against the current. You’re trying to do something when it’s simply not the time.

The modern world wants us to grab everything with one rushed, aggressive hand; chasing algorithms, collecting corporate trophies, and running on fear, so we are led to make the wrong choices. But maybe our true purpose is found when we stop fighting the system and simply choose to drop our weapons; outside, like the samurai; out of sight, out of mind.

Even when the algorithm refuses to help you, and the job market closes its doors, keep going. Keep going, but do it for grace, personal growth, and knowledge. Cup the moments of your life with both hands. Every mistake, failed attempt, or barrier is simply a lesson we can learn from to find a way around. It is not the end of the road.

Let’s chat: Did any part of this message sit heavy on your heart today? If you’ve been feeling the corporate burnout or are trying to find your own unhurried timing, please leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and chat over a virtual cup of tea. 🍵✨

If this piece brought a little bit of peace to your day, consider subscribing to my newsletter or sharing it with a friend who needs a reminder to drop their guard.🌸

P.S. You can also browse my current collection of digital guides and creative recipe cards over at our Shop.

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Love you all! 🫶✨🌷🍵

Dear Readers, Writers, and Critics,

Hi, it’s Lizzy…and this is something I’ve been dying to share; because why keep these gems hidden…?

Let’s be real. In 2020, there was a phase where movies had become less…everything. Less emotional. Less relatable. Much less worth it to go see. Not only did they have terrible stories, but there were simply no exciting movie ideas.

What movies or TV shows came out before 2020? Well, we got quite a few interesting films like the original Puss n’ Boots and Coraline.

During 2020, we got…well…nothing too worth it if I remember correctly. There was a huge Disney mess that included so many terrible Marvel movies and TV shows. According to IMDb, the top worst movies include mainly Marvel: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Black Widow, Thor: Love and Thunder…Marvel wasn’t doing very good at the time.

After that rough era, we got so many amazing films that we never dreamed we’d ever get: FNAF, Puss n’ Boots: The Last Wish, Transformers One, The Super Mario Bros Movie (and now we have the Mario Galaxy Movie!), and of course the latest Marvel movies, Thunderbolts*, the Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Doomsday coming out this December.

Now I specifically stuck with Marvel here because they used to create masterpieces. Every single film since Iron Man to Infinity War was spectacular (don’t you dare try to convince me Endgame was good). Then they sucked for a while when they started killing off characters. Have they redeemed themselves? Read until the end to see…

On a personal note, I want to go over 5 movies that I expected to disappoint me, but turned out to be phenomenal masterpieces that I simply can’t stop rewatching.

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#5: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

My first time watching the first Puss n’ Boots movie was sometime after, or around the time, the second movie came out. The first movie was alright. But the plot twist where Humpty Dumpty was the villain was kind of boring. Out of all the fairytale characters, it could have at least been someone a little bit more scary. DreamWorks usually does a really great job with character development and storylines, but this movie was a bit drawn out, and yeah, the villain really made it suck. When a movie makes you feel like this, it makes you question the second movie. I kept asking myself, “should I even watch the second one?”

The only reason that I did sit down to watch the second movie with my family was because my older brother kept promising to me that it was not only better than the first, but much different. It was, in fact, much different. It had way more characters, balanced humor, better villains (not to mention, Death was one of the best animated villains of all time!), fantastic animation style, and of course, the story following Puss in Boots’ attempt to save his final life with the Wishing Star.

I can’t admire this movie enough; the character arcs between Puss and Kitty; Jack Horner, the Three Bears and Goldilocks all going after the star for their own purposes, Perrito being the perfect emotional support for Puss during hard times…so well tied together. Personifying Death as a wolf made him the perfect enemy to Puss and his arrogance with his lives, as wolves are one of the most common and terrorizing predators to cats.

In general, I love that the story was such a simple idea of using the “9 lives of a cat” and using well-known fairytale characters one the side. Speaking of the other characters, can I just say Florence Pugh voicing Goldilocks was one of the best casting decisions? Her accent made her character so distinct and was a cool feature to give her. If I remember correctly…even the bears had a British accent? That was crazy…

Speaking for Perrito, side characters, especially the comic relief, can get annoying very quickly. Perrito did get slightly annoying at sometimes but he never crossed the line. There were “break” scenes were he’d be helpful and more serious, like when Puss had a panic attack.

Finally, Jack Horner, the other villain after Death, was a nice addition. It kept the “worldly” plot moving, while Puss’s motive came from Death. Each group (the bears and Goldi, Kitty and Puss, and Jack Horner), were all motivated by something very different. Jack Horner only wanting the star for greed was an understandable and common motive for anyone who has too much power.

Therefore, despite not caring for the first Puss in Boots, The Last Wish easily earned its spot on my list of masterpieces I'll constantly rewatch.

#4: FNAF 1

How could they possibly turn this mobile game into a movie? Five Nights at Freddy’s is one of the most popular and highly rated horror games and has been played by almost every known gamer or streamer. Despite it’s popularity, no one knows the real story behind the mascots or characters. Honestly, the only characters that really have names are the animatronics. We know a few others like Mike and William Afton, and Vanessa (from Security Breach). Elizabeth Afton is another somewhat known character, and is said to possess Circus Baby after she was accidentally killed. Then we have the animatronics and their possessors: Freddy (possessed by Gabriel), Bonnie (possessed by Jeremy), Chica (possessed by Suzie), and so on…

There are endless theories and rumors about the stories and characters. Not only are there video games, but websites, books, graphic novels, and other canon FNAF content out there that was made by the founder, Scott Cawthon.

So how were they able to make a movie? Let me begin by reminding you that Scott Cawthon was involved with creating the FNAF movie. According to the games and the characters I mentioned above, the movie really did not follow much of it.

From what I know, based on only watching the first film, Mike is not William Afton’s son. Mike has a sister named Abby. Vanessa is William’s daughter. We all know Vanessa was only in the Security Breach game, and I agree with most people that she was a little unnecessary in this movie…

Besides the character choice and the songs used (the fort scene made me cringe by the way…), the movie was overall scary for a PG-13 film. I loved the animatronic designs. They looked exactly like the ones in the games, so to whoever designed them, thank you! And thank you Blumhouse for not hiring whoever designed the first Sonic (whoever that was better be fired).

The movie followed the five nights played in the game, where the difficulty slowly gets more intense every night. Like I mentioned for Puss in Boots, they did a really good job turning “five nights of security watch” from a video game with literally no backbone, into an almost 2 hour movie.

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#3: Transformers One

I wish I could put this movie, along with the next, as number one all together…I had a hard time sorting these last four movies out, but I did my best with it. Around six or seven years ago (sorry…), I watched the live action Transformers. I was younger, and this was one of the first live action movie I ever watched alone; I was intrigued. I enjoyed the fight scenes, transformation scenes, and Megatron was my favorite character. Present-day me didn’t realize how cringe Megan Fox was in the movie…I’d honestly never go back and watch it again because of her.

In 2024, Transformers One came out, and oh boy! I was excited for this movie for real. Starring Chris Hemsworth as Optimus? and Scarlett Johansson? I just finished watching the MCU before watching this movie, so I was really looking forward to this cast.

This movie gave the same vibe as the Lego Movie, but with a much more relatable and less “kid-friendly” message. Optimus and Megatron’s (at the time, Orion Pax and D-16) relationship was extremely relatable. How they met at work and became best friends. Their arcs flowed so smoothly; Optimus leading to hero and Megatron leading to villain. Although Megatron became the villain, it’s honestly understandable to realize exactly why he did. His backstory and transformation (character transformation, not literal transformer transformation), were valid. His build-up to despising Sentinel Prime, only to become just like him once he tasted true authority and power, was devastatingly well-written.

I could personally relate to Megatron in this movie, and if I’m being honest, I’d have a hard time too if I was given the opportunity to change something that was controlling me. I think we all could relate to his character’s feelings in a sense (maybe not in such an aggressive way though). What I love most about this movie, was how clean it was so that really any age could watch it, but the message was so deep, that even older generations would find it personally relatable. The struggles presented in this film were literally identical to the problem’s we face everyday with real power and control that the world has.

#2: The Mario Galaxy Movie

Before you tell me the first Mario movie was better…no…no, no, no…

The first Mario movie was, in fact: good. But it lacked (or had too much) of certain things that the Mario Galaxy movie fortunately fixed.

Starting off with the characters lives, Mario and Luigi’s introduction in the first film wasn’t bad. They were in New York, we got to see Pauline on the news, and they had a family. Mario hated mushrooms. Was that detail necessary…? I mean, I guess, considering he HAD to start eating them more if he wanted to be in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Can we all agree Toad was slightly annoying in the first movie? He kept talking…he could not shut up—

And this is why I loved the Mario Galaxy Movie better: Yoshi. He. did. not. SPEAK! I was so so grateful they chose to keep him with only the “Yoshi sounds”. Yoshi also took the spotlight from Toad in this film and was extremely funny. He was my favorite character…I’m not kidding when I say every Yoshi scene made me crack up.

All of the new characters coming in so fast in just the second movie were so exciting: Rosalina, Bowser Jr., Yoshi (whom I already mentioned), and even the un-Mario characters: Star Fox, R.O.B., the Pikmin, Little Mac, Mr. Game and Watch?? No way we’re going to have a NCM (Nintendo Cinematic Universe!! 🤭🤭🤭). That would be craaazzyyyyyy! Oh, and we’re already getting Daisy in the next film??

Usually I don’t like when movies shove a whole handful of characters in a single movie at once (especially for marketing purposes), but we all have our “Mario childhood” and I’m certain everyone went crazy over the character reveals.

If you want to read more about our thoughts on the Mario Galaxy Movie, read Mena’s article below 👇

Honorable Mention: Coraline

Before getting to #1, I want to do what all “top (whatever)” lists do online, and add my personal, honorable mention. Coraline is an older animated film that came out in 2009. It’s a stand-alone film with a "beautiful Tim Burton aesthetic" that focuses on the story of a young girl who hates her current life and family. It was quickly considered a modern classic, and it’s a family friendly horror favorite that my family and I love to rewatch during October. My first time watching this, I was fourteen or fifteen years old, and it gave me goosebumps. The button eyes were a terrifying signature that Coraline was forced to comply with if she wanted to stay forever with her “better” family.

The film had so many crazy and disturbing scenes. The fact that Coraline noticed the button eyes the first time she saw her "other family” but she didn’t let it bother her. She continued to visit this alternate world to feel happy. I have no words to describe how eloquently this film was written.

Tim Burton never fails with his films. Therefore, if I had to add a few more honorable mentions I’d go with Corpse Bride, Alice Through the Looking Glass (just like how Death was personified in Puss in Boots 2, Time was also portrayed effectively in this film), Sleepy Hollow (1999), and, although this one is not created by Tim Burton, Van Helsing (this is another film like Coraline with that gothic “Tim Burton” aesthetic).

There are so many amazing older films that are literal masterpieces that can be rewatched over, and over, again. A remake could never do these films justice.

#1: Marvel’s: Thunderbolts*

I have a hard time deciding whether The Dark Knight, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, or Thunderbolts* is the best movie ever written, but for the sake of this specific article (films that surprised me and were actually masterpieces), Thunderbolts* was a film I was ready to start criticizing and complaining about.

Florence Pugh? ugh.. (I don’t know why I had personal beef with her before watching).

Who’s U.S. Agent? Where the heck is Captain America? (I saw the posts about how Walker looks like Carl from Up).

Okay…that Bob looks okay I guess… (I thought he looked a little like Tom Holland).

Oh my gosh! Ghost is in this? She sucked in the second Ant-Man! And who’s the other lady with a mask?? (Taskmaster, who died early…yay!)

Why is David Harbour in this movie? (I just could not see Hopper from Stranger Things as an actual Russian).

Bucky? Why is he with these weirdos? (Bucky was my favorite MCU character and I was not ready to hate on him…).

All of these thoughts were going through my mind when I started the movie. I was ready to pick on the smallest details. But to my surprise, I was surprised! I hated that Yelena was such a cool character. The fight scene filmed from the top down? That was an experience Marvel hasn’t offered. It was giving John Wick 4 when they did the overhead shot for a full shoot out scene.

The story was so “old times MCU”. Remember when Marvel used to have grounded fights? Less CGI? When the actors did their own stunts? I admired Florence Pugh when I found out she actually jumped off of the Merdeka 118 building. She is now my favorite female actor. She’s got a pretty cool personality (and accent, like I mentioned for Goldilocks).

Moving through the movie, Bucky wasn’t exactly an MC. I enjoyed that he was a side character more because it just made more sense for his narrative arc. Bob is a whole other story. His depression and addictions made him an emotional character. He had an eccentric personality and I loved his relationship with Walker. Their hate for each other was valid, and Walker was a well written character based on his events from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Ghost was redeemed in this movie, and she, along with the rest of the group, had a well structured character arc. From criminals, to enemies, to friends, and finally to becoming a family and the new Avengers, the Thunderbolts* really proved that Marvel could pick itself back up.

This movie didn’t get the love it deserved while in theaters (I do think Marvel deserved this for their past films and shows), but enough people did go and see it and were able to spread their positive experience about it. I chose this to be my number 1, because this was probably the only film ever that I judged based on the cover (the trailer, posters, critical reviews, past Marvel films…).

I really can’t explain how shocked I was when I finished watching Thunderbolts*. I wanted to go back and rewatch it immediately after it was over. This is one of the only Marvel movies that I’ve rewatched more than three times already (and it’s a newer one…) 🤭

Closing…

To summarize my shock, these films are real masterpieces that I didn’t think I needed. Just like I say whenever I find a new song: “Who was keeping this masterpiece from me??”

Thank you guys so much for reading! Let me know in the comments what movies you were expecting to despise, but ended up loving and rewatching hundreds of times.

But then…there’s the job struggle—

it’s a very common problem today that jobs are simply not available…or no one wants to hire…whatever it is, job hunting is difficult for everyone. There are no internships, part time or full time jobs, or even entry level positions for someone with a bachelor’s degree.

I’m going to share everything Mena and I plan to do to keep our move efficient, comfortable, and stress free.

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#1: The Sisterhood Trust System

Moving out with someone you trust is the best thing you can do to make your move easy! If you know someone who will agree with everything (who pays for what, how the bills are split, how many cars you have, how often you will go out to eat), this will help keep your budget on track.

Mena and I agree on literally everything. We never overspend and we’ve been shopping alone for groceries. From what we’ve seen, things are not cheap; but there are work arounds to keep your mental and physical health at it’s best even on a low budget; Even if it means learning to like things you may not be fond of.

#2: Have a Slow Growth Mindset

In a world where it is easy to overconsume and reward yourself for the littlest accomplishments, spending should be limited. It’s really not wise to go and buy everything all at once when you move out. The first thing to do is to have a checklist of items you need (not want) to take with you. Go through your closet, drawers, desk, and throw away any junk. You don’t want to move your clutter to a clean apartment and create a new cluttered area for yourself. Give yourself space to breathe and a new environment to work in.

Even for utensils and tools; start with easy to make recipes and buy simple appliances and tools like plate and silverware sets and basic knives and kitchen tools. Apartments are small, so only buy what you absolutely need!

#3: Take Care of Yourself

I like to call this rule the “Simple Joys” rule. Just because you moved out and have more responsibilities, it doesn’t mean you have to get rid of all your pretty candles, mugs, or even give up the time to make a pretty presentation with your food. The environment does not have to be a “survival-only.” Your space should be “you”. It’s your own personal space and you have your freedom live aesthetically as you wish.

Considering health…we all know that the “good” groceries are more expensive than that junk stuff. Chips, canned and packaged foods, and watered down ingredients are much cheaper than fresh produce. But why should we give this up for the sake of keeping our budget?

There are plenty of substitutes out there that don’t cost hundreds of dollars. You don’t need to settle for "convenience” foods and pre-packaged snacks or expensive pre-made meals.

We continue to buy whole ingredients. Here are our 5 Diet Swaps to keep our meals and snacks healthy and cheap.

—Sweet Tooth Craving Swap: My Mocha Yogurt for Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is so addicting but we all know it doesn’t have the best benefits or quality…it has very little nutrition with all the sugar and oil that is packed in it. In just two tablespoons of JIF peanut butter there are about 170 calories.

In my Mocha Yogurt Dip recipe, there is only about half the calories…double, if not triple, the nutritional value due to the enzymes in yogurt, and the healthy fat and protein from the cacao. It’s so much lighter, gives you that coffee kick your constantly craving even in the afternoons, and packs in the probiotics. It’s the perfect "sweet treat" that actually fills you up. Peanut butter is easy to start binge eating from the high sugar content. But the yogurt dip keeps you full faster and longer while eating less. Not to mention, it pairs well with apples and celery!

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—My Beloved Anxiety Relief Swap: Butterfly Pea Flower Tea for Matcha

Yes…matcha is drastically expensive. I’m talking about the good quality one; of course you can opt for the culinary grade, but that stuff is gritty and super bitter (and not a very pretty green 😢).

I recently tried a gorgeous, natural blue tea called butterfly pea flower tea. It has this pretty blue hue when it’s steeped and it tastes super sweet even without adding sugar!

It has pretty much the same benefits as matcha, except it’s blue and it’s cheaper. It has delicate floral notes and mild earthy taste. Overall, it’s very soothing for your mind and it really helps me cope with my anxiety. Me and Mena made a drink inspired by Castiel from Supernatural with it 😁

The blue tea matches his tie (and those big blue angel eyes)…then we added our Special Signature Silk Cream on top…then added Dalgona to match his coat. I was disappointed because the dalgona sank below the silk cream, but Mena pointed out that it looks like the ring of fire that traps the angels! Oh—and we enjoyed this Cass inspired tea with our mocha protein pancakes 😊🥞Yyyyyummers!

Check out our Mocha Protein Pancakes Recipe Below:

—The Junk Food Swap: Member’s Mark Veggie Straws for Lays Potato Chips

Don’t worry. You can still enjoy your junk, but without the junk! Sam’s Club has their Member’s Mark Veggie Straws that have 140 calories in 38 straws, as opposed to 160 calories in only 28 oz of potato chips, which is only about 15 chips. Not to mention, you don’t even need 38 veggie straws to feel full. After a small handful, maybe like 15 straws, you’re already satisfied. Whereas, if you eat Lays potato chips, its easy to eat twice as many as the serving size states and still feel unsatisfied.

The Member’s Mark veggie straws have 100% avocado oil, while Lays potato chips have canola/vegetable oil. Yes, the veggie straws are colored—but naturally!! 😝(with natural colors from beets, turmeric, and tomato). So if you still want that “junk food experience” go for Member’s Mark Veggie Straws because they’re high-quality but cost-effective for a late-night study or movie snack.

—The Health Swap: Fiber and Greens for Dense Fruits

To keep smoothies hydrating and extra good for my skin, I’ve been swapping heavy sweeteners and bananas for spinach or cucumber. It adds so much fiber and makes the smoothie super refreshing and filling! I'm not a doctor, of course, but I listen to my body, and it definitely craves that iron-rich spinach energy! It’s a powerful superfood full of iron, and necessary minerals and vitamins packed in.

—Honorable Mention: Eat Your Tomatoesss!!!!!!!!!🍅🍅

Why do so many people hate tomatoes? I mean, I guess considering it’s not exactly a vegetable because of how juicy it is (wait, is it a fruit?), but it’s so good for your skin! I tried a tomato skincare mask one time, and while I was waiting to take that uncomfortable thing off, I did some research about tomatoes. Apparently tomatoes have a high concentration of lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that protects against UV-induced damage, sunburn, and premature aging. I’m a very, very white girl (or should I say…I have a very fair complexion 😌) and the sun damages my skin quickly. I’m not one of those people that gets pretty freckles and a golden tan :(

So now I love tomatoes! a simple Tomato & Cucumber salad with olive oil, salt, and pepper is one of my new favorite salads. It’s hydrating, refreshing, and it’s a natural and affordable way to give yourself a “spa day”. I always like to think of it as this: you don’t need makeup or skincare if you take care of your body from the inside out. If you take care of it from the inside (what you put in), you will have a natural exterior glow. Eating healthy can be a little pricey, but it’s better than eating junk and trying to eat healthy, then buying such expensive makeup and skincare products. I’m not saying don’t treat yourself; I’m just saying you don’t need to have so many layers on if you take care of yourself properly…

Mena tells me I have “natural eyeshadow”, and my lashes are really dark, thick, and long. Think about that when you want to eat healthy; it’s not just going to make your skin glow, but it will also give you natural healthy hair, lashes, nails, and even better metabolism and mental health.

—Summing up the Swaps…

Final Note…

If you’re struggling to find a good paying job, or a job at all, remember you’re not alone. Life has been hard for everyone, and we can guarantee your worth more than what you think! You’re skills, education, and experience all have massive value…companies just don’t want to see it.

Mena and I have talked to so many people about opportunities and we’ve talked to people our age to see how they’re doing with jobs; no one can find anything…we’re all in this together. Just remember that there is reason for it though; I feel like this generation will be rewarded with something great!

But there was something crazy I noticed a little while ago…

Something crazy I’ve noticed? During Covid, so many young adults and students shifted from climbing the corporate ladder to starting their own small business; whether it was simply e-commerce and digital products or an actual brand where they worked with manufacturers to develop a product (like their own coffee or makeup line), they’re doing it! There is proof that us, young adults, this young generation have a huge potential for success—

And these people oftentimes, don’t have much education. Master’s degree? What’s that? People are getting certificates and technical degrees in as little as a few months, maybe two years max and they get out with a full time job or their own business/practice! Today, I feel like certifications are more valuable than higher education/Master’s degrees. And there are so many options! Nutrition, health, fitness, cosmetology, hair, skincare, mechanics…

Skills are coming back with more value than they every had! It’s beautiful to see that so many young people are using their passions to bring value back to these lost trades. Another thing I’ve noticed, is that, as I mentioned, people have their own businesses where they don’t need a team of “business people” or “accountants” to manage their business for them. These people are doing everything themselves, and this is likely why there aren’t many internships…

So again, if you’re struggling to find a job, don’t give up. This is an era where people are being extremely independent. Find something you enjoy and turn it into income. With honestly, authenticity, consistency, and a solid brand, you can walk your own path without taking a single step on corporate’s. Yes, it’s a path for you—not a ladder…because a ladder requires more effort…a path is straight and the goal can be clearly seen ahead; a ladder ends; meaning, you can only make it so high where you top off and your experience and education will not have any higher benefit. You top off. Whereas, a path keeps going, and it could have endless possibilities; it could branch off and offer multiple directions…you have the freedom to choose your way.

Perhaps it’s time the corporate ladder burned…No more lies or manipulation; do your thing and you make what you get out of it. You treat yourself how you want to be treated in your business and you treat your customers and clients how you wish to be treated. Be courteous, fair, and honest.

Yeah, we’ve all shifted to social media, but with our own businesses, we can bring back social connections, chivalry, real relationships, and valuable skills back. Stop the selfish “me” attitude and go give to others what you haven’t been given. Because we’re all in this together, as I said, and we all want something better. So let’s give each other a hand, and walk our own path.

Concluding With These Valuable Tips…

To survive a move, Mena and I want to offer these specific tips:

Are you navigating a big life change right now? Or maybe you have a "Simple Joy" that keeps you grounded? Drop a comment below—

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After writing my article on “Love”, commented and was captivated by my section on the Steady Presence. I promised to highlighted this by giving it its own article where I can explore it more in depth. As mentioned in said article, this is my favorite to contemplate and work on.

Before we get into it, however I’m going to place my definition of love here for contemplation:

The Steady Presence: a Detailed Look

While I was in our Adult Spiritual Enrichment class on Sunday at Church, we listened to a priest talk about almost exactly what I wanted to say. The perfect example of this type of love is Jesus.

Jesus will forgive you no matter what if you are sorry. He is all-merciful no matter how far we stray or how much we hurt him. As long as you repent and try to do better He will forgive you. He knows we make mistakes and can easily be lead away from the straight and narrow path, but when we pick ourselves back up and get back on track, he is there.

A beautiful poem highlighting this very kind of love is “the Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson. God is compared to a hunting hound who is eternally in pursuit of the sinner. The sinner is trying to escape God with worldly pleasures and sins but finds only disappointed. But God does not force the sinner to come back; he pursues him from afar, waiting. The misery comes from the futile run from God, not from God himself, but the encounters with it are designed to bring the sinner back to Him. God is relentless, faithful, and deliberate, when pursuing us. He wants us to come back and wants to forgive us.

Since Jesus is all-merciful in this way, and He has committed no sin or offended us in any way, how can we not be merciful to others? How can we not forgive others for what they do to us? We certainly are not perfect so we must pray for the courage to find it in our hearts to forgive each other.

To love someone does not always mean hugging and kissing them and forgetting that they hurt you, but rather forgiving them and hoping for the best for them. If someone physically hurt you, for example, you are allowed to distance yourself and have time for yourself. This is where you pray; you pray for the strength to forgive them and not hold a grudge against them, making peace in your heart with them.

If they choose to keep hurting you, then this is on their soul. They have chosen the path to destruction since you have done everything you could to help them. You must remember to take care of your own body which is a sacred thing, and protect it from harm.

This is love takes waiting and patience; waiting for the person to see you, to see that you have been there for them. It takes patience to see them fall, run, or hurt themselves so many times before they realize you have been there all along.

It can also be the other way around: you finally realize someone has been there for you, waiting for you to notice. They have watched you make mistakes and dealt with your faults and yet they still wait, patiently.

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The Steady Presence: Examples

Now that we have looked at this enduring love in detail, we can look at a few more examples. The first one I described is the greatest love there is: Jesus’ love for you.

Once again we can see this love in the relationship between Thor and Loki. Thor who watches Loki make mistakes again and again, only harming himself. While Thor waits patiently for Loki to see him so that he can forgive him and they can be brothers again.

This is a minor example but Hermione’s love for Ron in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is also like this. When Ron starts dating Lavender, she still loves him but distances herself from him so she won’t be hurt. She waits for Ron to see that she loved him all along. He does see this pretty quickly though.

In Spider-Man 1-3, we see this love as well when Ursula cares for Peter Parker even while he is so invested in Mary Jane that he does not realize it. She is there for him when he needs someone, baking cake or cookies, or telling him Mary Jane called to cheer him up. She wants to see him happy even though he doesn’t notice her or love her back.

During Blair’s relationship with Prince Louis in Gossip Girl, Dan also displays this type of love. He is an unwavering presence while she navigates her stressful relationship with the Prince and her ever present feelings for Chuck. Even though she is not romantically involved with him at the time, he is the anchor she needs during this period of her life. He always made sure she was ok, addressed her feelings for the others before he started anything with her, and stood by her side the whole way.

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I also try to be this steady presence for my sister. No matter what I will always be there for her. There are sometimes I ask myself why I am doing something and it is the same answer every time: because I love her and because she wants this. Even when I do not understand what’s wrong or why she won’t talk sometimes. I will be everything for her: someone to talk to, someone to support her, encourage her, a quiet assurance, a shoulder to cry on, and most importantly, a friend and mentor.

Thank you guys for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments

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Dear ronins, travelers, and writers…Hear me out on this:

“Hey! I’m new here. Let’s connect.”

“Follow for follow?”

“Supporting all the girlies who interact with this post.”

Why do platforms have this desperation epidemic now?? It’s hollow and soul-sucking—just a friggin empty noise; an endless loop to nothing…

We see these new trends all the time where specific people somehow get caught up in the algorithm and they’re lucky enough to blow up. Yes, some of us are lucky for very few trends and maybe a couple pieces of content “blow up” but then when the trend dies (and very quickly") we die too.

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Then comes new creators, or not new at all sometimes, but they want to beg for follows and engagement. I see these Instagram reels with “follow for follow” or “Let’s connect”. How are people still falling for this?? OK, the first time I saw it and I thought ok, sure I’ll drop my niche and username…but no follows. Ever. These people never follow you back; and when you go to their account it’s filled with all these “follow for follow” reels and posts, like why are you constantly begging? Why is this your content? Where is your creativity? Where is your value and uniqueness? I’m just going to follow because you’re on a roll with begging?

There’s nothing to follow! Just comments filled with “follow me..I do this..”

Guys! This really doesn’t work. Stop being desperate. Period. When you start a social media and start creating content, don’t show up expecting mass growth and 100 followers every day. It’s a business. If you start a social media for the sake of followers or sales then quit it. You have to come with a purpose; with a reputation; with a brand; with a voice. What makes you special from the crowd? If you’re going to be like everyone else and beg for “follow for follow” how is that really going to work out for you?

Say you post a reel asking “Follow for follow” and assume you get a thousand follows from it. Now one thousand people expect you to follow them back; and if you don’t they’ll likely unfollow. Also, since they only followed for a follow back on their end, your engagement will suck. Think about it. They did it for a follow, and they most likely don’t even care about your content. They’ll never like your posts, comment, or share. Why would they? You were just one out of a billion of those desperate people begging for a follow.

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So please, this will hurt you and the algorithm! If your engagement sucks but you have thousands of followers, the algorithm will bury you. You want to have something that has people coming back for you. That has them wanting more. They should be the desperate ones begging for more content from you. Think about CoryxKenshin. He takes year long breaks and his community misses him like crazy. When he drops a new video after months, his views jump from zero to millions within an hour sometimes.

Don’t ever degrade yourself; be you, be real, post your content. Here on Substack I’m already seeing it…people posting “Let’s connect notes.”

—Stop!—

I immediately know that I don’t want to subscribe or follow these people. Why? I don’t see them offering anything for me. That’s how businesses work. You have to have something to offer.

As an entrepreneur student, I’ve learned that when you are desperate you seek validation in the wrong ways. This makes you vulnerable. You’re basically telling your audience that you don't love or respect yourself enough. You’re showing that you need to rely on other factors to fill your needs. No matter how hard you are struggling you are good enough.

Little note from me because, yes, it resonates with my content:

A Ronin doesn’t beg for attention; they command it through the quality of their work.

Rule #1 for New Content Creators: Create for Fun, Not the Follows

You chose to create an account on your chosen platform for a reason. So post your passions. Promote them and let your work be seen. How can you create merch without a brand? I remember when I started content creation, I had no idea what designs to create or what would even actually sell. This was years ago when I started so many crappy accounts with the most random content.

After quitting social media for over two years, I wanted to try again. That’s when I came here on Substack. When I tried to create a Substack account a few years ago I thought “I want to write, but it’s too much…I don’t even know what to write about. How can I stay consistent without ideas?”

So coming back, I had something to offer. A brand. A voice. I had something to share. A community that supports people. If you’re a long time follower of The Michi then you know exactly well that the purpose of this is to help you escape the world and its problems. It’s a place where we all come together to find peace and happiness. We don’t need to let people control us. We sometimes just need a space to breathe, be seen, be loved, and find people like us who just want to support each other and grow physically and mentally. Just a little push in the right direction could help…

When you create because you love to see the final design exist, or the result of your words actually putting a smile on someone’s face, that energy is what attracts a real audience. Your audience should have a genuine reaction to your content. They may not follow right away, but the more they see your content they will see you in it. And at some point they’ll think “It’s such and such! I’ve seen their posts show up so many times on my home page.” They’ll know you for your style and voice. And if they really love it, they will in fact subscribe. In time. Nothing happens right away. This is why you need credibility. Not begging and being vulnerable and worthless.

If you do it only for sales or subscribers, you will burn out. If you do it for the joy, you are already successful.

Building the “Michi” (The Strategy)

Me and Mena are drowning in so many different hobbies and passions. Cooking, binging movies, baking, reading, writing, music, working out, drawing…We want to bring joy to you through our personalities no matter what content we share! Recipes, film reviews, fun rants, poems, fashion…it’s an endless list…the endless road (The Michi).

This is where the Japanese-Ronin aesthetic came from. But again, it didn’t end there…We did a Southern crossover to create a recongnizable identity across all our platforms; YouTube, Substack, Instagram, and our Shop. This ensures brand consistency which is important for cross promotion. Otherwise, how will your audience find you?

Cross-promotion is something very important that you should really do if you want to grow. Each platform/channel needs to feeds the other (YouTube for visuals, Substack for depth, Shop for merch). Take advantage of each social media. Every platform has a bio. Add your links! Heck, use Linktree to keep it neat!

Check out my Linktree to see how easily browsable it is:

Lizzy's Lintree

Both Substack and Instagram have been buried so deep with spam. People seem to confuse engagement with spam. They seem to think “Because someone did this, it will work for me.” We are all unique! Don’t let others define how you succeed. Build your own story. Build rapport and community by offering value (whatever your good at, offer it!) rather than just asking for likes. Be your own person.

Have a Marketing Strategy for Community & Growth

I knew I needed to do something to get to know my subscribers better. What’s better than doing an engagement campaign with them? That’s why I started the Michi’s 30 Week-Challenge! For me, I personally wanted to push my limits. But since one of the major goals of the Michi is to help people become better and find happiness, I wanted to offer to do it alongside you. Every week is another mission for personal growth. Even if you can’t do the mission for the whole of the seven days, putting in the effort is what matters. You took the first step to change. Shared challenges build a community that actually trusts you, which is the ultimate “engagement strategy.”

Join the 30 Week Challenge!

The Heart of the Brand (Yes! If you have a favorite show or movie, let that guide you…)

Why the sister bond? Simply, me and Mena have been very close. I know. Sibling bonds are so underrated. But Sam and Dean love each other…no…they literally die for eachother. Loki and Thor love each other. We want to spread that sibling bond. It’s so underrated, but it’s so strong and powerful.

Read Mena's Article on Love

Mena has been by my side forever, and she is the only one who is there for me when I’m struggling or just need a hand. Sure, siblings have fights, but they’re honestly pretty easy to make up from.

Sometimes you don’t even have to say sorry…it goes like:

Sibling 1: “hey…”

Sibling 2: “Me too.”

Not a single “sorry” in the conversation but they understand each other so well, yet they both apologize.

Like I mentioned, our vibe is the ronin aesthetic to promote our value of persistence and discipline, but with a Southern twist. We lean into the that sibling “Winchester dynamic.” CoryxKenshin is the Shogun, his community is the Samurai. At the Michi, I am your guide, and Mena is your companion and support. For me and Mena as creators together, she is the Sam to my Dean. You don’t have to do it alone; even if you don’t have a sibling, if you have a close friend that you have a deep connection with, that’s still support from someone else and it can strengthen your dreams.

The Michi is structured like a “Family Business”. Like I said, a close partnership makes the brand stronger and more resilient. Me and Mena are the leaders, but without a family of supporters, we are nothing. That’s why we appreciate all of you. Each and every single one. When we help you, your support and encouragement is what keeps us going to give you more of the content you love. It’s an endless road…there are bumps we need to get over, and cracks that might take a little courage to jump…but you have to keep going.

From everything that you’ve read, understand this lesson. Open your heart. Find people you trust and share it. Even if its just a single someone who you know will walk the path with you. Who will go through the failures and mistakes. They are all lessons for improvement. Get up and try again. We are all here to offer each other a helping hand when we fall. Brush off the dirt, and continue the path, even stronger than before.

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Going Full-Time: The Vision

Many content creators find success posting content full time and can fully support themselves with it. I know some people that have judged me and told me “it won’t get you anywhere” or “you can’t just depend on that.”

Again, this is why you need a brand. Not a trend. Trends fade, and so will you. Have a brand that is consistent and marks you. Because you can’t fade unless you let yourself. So, again…be your own relatable self. Don’t go for the money or the follows. They will come. Just keep learning and keep growing. Don’t ever give up if it’s your dream.

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For me and Mena, we are still working on content consistency…Substack has been the easiest platform to stay consistent on considering YouTube requires much more tasks (setup, recording, editing, scheduling). So we’ll be over here for a while…until we finish college. We’ll keep sharing our content with you to keep you motivated.

Now…we are excited to announce that we do have more merchandise and digital tools in our shop! If you love our content, don’t hesitate to share it with someone you think might benefit from it. Help us grow our Ronin family and offer a hand to those who need it. The road doesn’t end…so bear with us, and remember to offer kindness and support to everyone.

The Michi Shop

Our items are things that actually help people (planners, organizers) or that you wear yourself to keep you motivated and on the path of the Michi…from Lizzy and Mena Matching Tees (for you and your sister!) to express the bond you share, to content creator tools like our all in one tool for Content Creation on all platforms (me and Mena use it for our content and it’s a lifesaver!).

Don’t forget to subscribe and join our 30 Week Challenge. Even the smallest effort…simply commenting that you will join that weeks challenge (even if you don’t do it that week) is a step you took that moved you forward. It’s an effort.

“Stop looking for a shortcut and start looking for your path. Build for the love of it, protect your brand identity, and let the right people find you at the end of the road. Let this article be the foundation to your future. See you at the Michi.”

With love,

Lizzy the Ronin and Mena the Writer

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In the past few years I have watched my sister sketch some beautiful pictures, including her gowns. I’ve always admired her talent but never thought I could do it. It always seemed to hard or took too long. I guess I never had the patience to sit down and really learn.

On Saturday, I had a shower thought: I can draw if I really want to. So I began. I asked my sister to teach me the basics: how to start, structure, and then to detail. It took a lot of control over my normally aggressive hands to have smoother, lighter strokes.

This was one of the reasons I disappeared from here for a few days…

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My Sketches…

I’m going to share a few sketches with y’all and my progress. I’ll also share the reason I wanted to start sketching in the first place so stay ‘til the end! Here is the first one I drew:

Lizzy picked something from our room, her bottle, and showed me how to start it. Her sketch is on the right, mine is on the left. We started with marking the top and the bottom of the picture, and then a general skeleton, and then added the details. This one I think is my least favorite, probably because it’s my first one.

My second one, which I did right after the first is a cat. I wanted to ask Lizzy for another lesson but she seemed busy so I looked up “simple drawings to practice” and found this little guy. I was impressed I could draw it to be honest but I’m not a fan of his face. He’s cute I guess…

I found this one after I drew the cat picture and thought, why don’t I give it a shot since her face isn’t showing? I wanted to practice drawing the human body but faces make it extremely difficult. Lizzy said the shading on this one was very good for a beginner so yay!

I drew this one before work on Sunday. Once again I wanted to practice drawing humans but she’s a little disproportioned. I thought her hat was really cute. I also practiced drawing plaid. The face was a little hard to draw, to keep it cute. I named her Eliza after Lizzy…

This was my fifth sketch which I drew yesterday since I had a few hours. It took me about an hour and fifty minutes to do. I was extremely impressed with my work on this one. I love the trunk and the branches. I think it’s my favorite one and Lizzy loved it as well. Wanted to give our little bonsai seeds a little encouragement; they can see what they will become.

My sixth drawing, done right after the bonsai. I asked Lizzy to give me a challenge and she presented me with a swan picture. I am most critical of this one because it didn’t turn out how I wanted it to. I think the feathers should have had more room but that’s the books fault for being so skinny! Also was not impressed with the shading on the neck. Lizzy likes it so I kept it but otherwise, I am very disappointed in you “Swan Lake”!!!

This one was done in the car on the way to our brother’s graduation ceremony. I wanted to start learning to draw Marvel characters and thought Groot would be easy. He was fun to draw, a little challenging but I love the result. He’s either my favorite or second favorite one I’ve done so far after the bonsai. My mom loved this one too.

Lizzy’s Masterpiece

This is NOT mine but I did start it. I started structuring the picture, but then I had help me. She drew all the details, the eyes, nose, mouth, hair, all the shadows. I think this picture turned out perfectly. I wanted to draw a portrait since the facial features really stand out in these kinds of pictures which would give me practice drawing them. I chose him to draw, because his features really do stand out.

The Inspiration

Now for the big reason for all of this! I want to draw a picture with all the Marvel characters I love. Each of them will have their own page and it may be set up like the Doomsday one I saw on Instagram.

I thought this was amazing the first time I saw it. I think it was done on the computer though or at least some part of it. This is my inspiration. I want to put my favorites into a masterpiece though. Like what’s Marvel without Captain America, Black Widow, or Black Panther? I do want them to have more of a cartoon look than anything.

So that’s it; that’s my goal. I’ll share my progress as I go about it.

Thanks for reading, and lemme know what y’all think! Any tips for drawing?

I’m sure a lot of you have seen the new Mario movie in theaters or will be watching it on streaming soon. You’ve probably heard from critics that the movie had great visuals but a lack of plot. First, I would advise you to watch the movie yourself without reading the reviews, and then judge it as I did myself. I think some people go into the theater with the critics in their ears saying how bad it is and they start to look for it. So - judge it for yourself first. Don’t let people tell you what to think.

Another piece of advice - listen to me. I don’t think the movie was that bad! Seriously, it was a pretty good and I’m going to get it into that in just a second. But first, let me tell you about the day.

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Our Wonderful Day…

My sister and I realized we were off the Friday of opening weekend so I bought us tickets. It was at a smaller theater in our city so they were pretty cheap. We both decided we were gonna need some snacks, specifically popcorn, to enjoy it thoroughly, but you know how expensive that movie theater popcorn is. So we made some ourselves! Two flavors: a salty, garlic, yeast flakes, and a cinnamon, maple syrup, nut flavor. Yes, we managed to sneak these into the theater but honestly, they could care less about the snacks you bring in.

Before we went to the theater though, we went to an ice cream shoppe since we had coupons to use. I know this sounds like a lot, and it was but we shared seven different flavored scoops of ice cream. Here’s a pic of them.

The flavors were coffee, dragonfruit slushie, cookie butter, Mexican chocolate, Blondie, chocolate peanut butter brownie, and toasted coconut. Lemme just say, all of them were amazing!! They had flavor unlike some ice cream that just tastes like a mouth of sugar.

Random, but we were listening to Lana Del Rey that day, and it gave it a certain vibe, specifically her album, Honeymoon. My sister says this is one of her favorite days we’ve ever spent together.

My Review of the Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Now, onto my honest review of the Mario Galaxy Movie. I loved it. Yes, the visuals were amazing, colorful, and I think true to the games. But I also appreciated the new characters, the music, and the humor. Let’s go through some of the characters…

The new characters

Yoshi - We’ll start with none other than Yoshi, who was teased at the end of the Super Mario Bros. Movie. Yoshi may be my favorite character in this movie, as he was the most accurate to the games and he was also funny. Lizzy loved him; she laughed every time he showed up. Donald Glover did an amazing job with the voice. I was afraid he was going to talk when they first found him but he stuck to his Yoshi noises.

Bowser Jr. - Perhaps my third favorite new character, Bowser Jr. was also pretty true to himself. His voice was close to how he sounds in the games and I love how he used the paintbrush to create, and trap characters when he was fighting. I know his plan to destroy the universe was a little bland, but I do appreciate that they highlighted the relationship between Bowser and Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr. has been one of my favorite characters in Mario Kart and Smash so it was amazing to see him on the big screen.

Fox McCloud - My second favorite new character and not technically a Mario character, is Fox. I think he fit well where he was placed in the movie. I know people argue that he shouldn’t have had so much screen time, but he didn’t really take over the story. I liked how his personality was portrayed, and he reminded me of a mix of Star Lord and Thor.
Lizzy found him relatable when his ship crashed and he was crying over it, telling himself, “It’s just a dent…” She loves her “baby” (our Mini Cooper) that much as well.

Rosalina - This is where I slightly agree with the critics - I think Rosalina needed more screen time as the movie is called the Mario Galaxy Movie. Her character was pretty good though - protector of the cosmos, “mother” to the Lumas, and sister of Princess Peach. I know some people don’t like the sister of Peach part of the story, but I don’t mind it. It wasn’t really confirmed canon either way so whatever they decided.
I just hope that Brie Larson voicing her isn’t to make the public like her again so they can put her in Doomsday…I don’t want Captain Marvel in that movie.

The Cameos - I found myself enjoying the cameos in this movie despite critics claiming it was a “cameo heaven”. Fox’s cameo, of course, was great. R.O.B.’s cameo was funny; it reminded me of the sloth in Zootopia. My mom loved this scene in the movie. The quick glimpses of other characters we got were cool as well - Pikmin, Little Mac, and Mr. Game and Watch - it feels like they are building an NCU, Nintendo Cinematic Universe. Daisy’s cameo was unexpected at the end but also expected, as I was wondering when she would show up.

The Music

The music in this movie was far better than the first - no unnecessary 80’s pop songs, but rather music from the games. It gave every scene the right feel. When Mario and Peach were forced through Bowser Jr.’s obstacle course he created, it didn’t play a random pop song but stuck to the Mario Galaxy scores. Illumination seems to have paid attention to what the fans wanted in the first movie.

The humor

This is one of the hardest parts to get perfectly in new movies. They seem to always overdo the humor because they think no one will enjoy a movie if they aren’t laughing every five minutes. I thought this movie did a pretty good job balancing the humor with the seriousness.

Toad wasn’t as annoying as he was in the first movie. He was loyal to Peach, staying by her side throughout the whole journey, and was genuinely hurt when Mario and Luigi found a new friend. Speaking of Peach, I thought her lines were less cringe than in the first one as well. Since Bowser wasn’t constantly after her, she had something else to focus on, and Bowser did as well. She focused on Rosalina, while he focused on Bowser Jr.

The Visuals

I LOVED the “levels” the characters went through - Peach and Toad in the cube-shaped casino. It felt just like a “level” in one of the games. Bowser Jr. drawing the level for Mario and Peach was also well done as it showed it in 8-bit and then what they were doing in real life. I also enjoyed the scene when Mario and Peach had to pass Bowser on the bridge. And then he turned into Dry Bowser?? I just wish the design for Dry Bowser was better, closer to the Mario Kart version or the Mario Party 10 one.

What I didn’t like

One thing I didn’t care for in this movie was the way they excepted things too fast. It made the plot feel sped up or like they couldn’t decide if they wanted a certain thing to last too long.

For example, when Mario meets Fox, who is about to take Peach and Toad to the Space Junk Galaxy, he is jealous at first, but then suddenly decides Fox is cool. It’s like they weren’t sure if they wanted jealously to be a theme but then decided on the spot.

Another scene where this happened was when Mario and Luigi found Yoshi. Yoshi was scared of them at first but then just decides they are cool once again. They also like him pretty quickly as well; besties at first sight.

Bowser was also making quick decisions - being good to Mario I thought was a trick, but he was genuinely good. When Bowser Jr. shows up, however, he decides to go back to his old ways - just like that.

Overall, the movie was fun, visually pleasing, and enjoyable when you want to forget your worries. I highly recommend watching if you haven’t already! Can’t wait for more movies in the NCU if this is what it’s going to be. Let me know what y’all thought about it.
This will probably be a video as well in the future; I’m glad I have somewhere to get my thoughts out for now though.

The results are in from Instagram, and the Chia Chai Banana Smoothie was the clear winner! (If you missed the vote, make sure you’re following me on Instagram at @lizzy.thematcha.ronin and my sister @menathewriter)

Lizzy's Instagram

Mena's Instagram

I was Hungry. This Drink Was My Tummy’s Calling…

Long story short, I was picking up a letter from one of my professors at the college and me and went to take a look at the cafeteria’s menu and we saw a chia chai smoothie. I thought “mmmm…that sounds fire.” But since I worked here before, I knew the chai came from a concentrate that had added sugar. Don’t need all that…and it was pretty expensive too.

Mena suggested we go home and craft our own version for lunch; and so glad we did…it’s my new favorite smoothie now! It’s thick, creamy, incredibly filling, and provides the protein and caffeine boost I need for a workout. Plus, I made sure there is ZERO added sugar in this! The bananas have PLENTY of natural sugar!

What You Will Need

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• Ripe Bananas: For natural sweetness and energy. The riper, the better!

• Chai: Forget the concentrate. Simply steep your own tea bags in water for pure flavor.

• Vanilla Extract: To make the chai and banana notes pop.

• Milk & Yogurt: For that smooth consistency, protein, and a refreshing calcium boost for strong bones.

• Chia Seeds: To keep you full and add those essential Omega-3s and fiber.

Now that you know exactly how these function and help your body, let’s make this delicious treat!

Read more

I made them a few months before Thanksgiving last year and they loved them so much they wanted me to be in charge of them for the big day! Usually our oldest brother would make them but mine turned out to be better than the usual.

Whenever I make this, my three brothers will ask why we don’t have it more often, and usually end up eating the whole pot on day one. This recipe is a lifesaver literally for me-they’ll stop being annoying at least long enough to eat them and say they’re delicious.

Soooo….now I’m going to share my secret with y’all!

Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make it perfect:

• golden potatoes (you can use russet but it won’t be as buttery)

• warm milk (if it’s cold it will react with the hot potatoes, leaving it lumpy)

• cold butter (you’ll let it melt in the steaming potatoes)

• salt to taste (I use salted butter so watch the salt! It’ll still need plenty but taste it as you go)

• chives, scallions, or parsley (this are optional but make it pretty!)

The process

Here’s the basic process, step by step, with some tips:

• Peel the golden potatoes, chop into bite size pieces. Place in a pot, fill with water, and turn on the heat. You’ll want to chop them small so they will boil faster. They are done when you can easily slide a knife through them.

• Heat milk in a small saucepan when the potatoes are done. Drain the water from the pot by placing a lid on it, leaving it open for water to escape.

• Leave the potatoes in the pot while adding the rest of the ingredients. Add cold butter to the potatoes, letting it melt.

• Use a mixer to blend the potatoes with the butter, and with the mixer still on, add the milk slowly so it won’t splash.

• Add salt to taste; Kosher helps break up the potatoes more so they will be smooth.

• Serve with your choice of chives, scallions, or parsley.

Recipe

Servings: 10 (or 5 if you have ravenous brothers)
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

4 lbs golden potatoes
1/2 to 1 cup milk
8 tbsp salted butter
salt to taste
chives, scallions, or parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. Peel 4 lbs golden potatoes, chop into bite size pieces.

2. Place in a pot, fill with water, and turn on the heat.

3. Boil until able to slice through easily with a knife.

4. Heat 1/2 to 1 cup milk in a saucepan.

5. Drain potatoes and add 8 tbsp butter. Mix with electric mixer.

6. Add milk slowly, while still mixing.

7. Add salt to taste.

8. Serve with chives, scallions, or parsley as garnish.

Why it may have not come out right

If it is lumpy, you may have not boiled the potatoes long enough, the milk was not warm enough, or you did not mix it long enough.

If it is watery, you may have added to much milk. That's why there is a range of milk; you may need more or less.

Thank you for reading! Let me know if you try this recipe and how it turns out! Would love to hear your thoughts!

When I watch the MCU back in 2024 I was impressed with Avengers 2012, so much that I thought nothing could top it - nothing did. But in my head I thought these movies must keep getting better and better since everyone loves them so much. Sadly, I was disappointed. After I watched Infinity War, which was amazing by the way, I was so hyped for Endgame but then I watched and to me it just fell off.

And that’s what we’re gonna be looking at today. A dive into why Avengers Endgame didn’t feel the same as the others and why it ruined the MCU afterwards. We will also look at the best part of Endgame for me.

Nostalgia Bait

First of all, let’s look at Endgame as a whole. It was more of a fanbase haven than an actual good story. It was a crowd pleaser movie from the nostalgic quotes, to the time travel scenes where we got to visit the past MCU movies again, and the most fan requested scenes.

It was a replay of famous lines like: “I am Iron Man”, “On your left”, “Avengers, assemble” and “I can do this all day”. When these quotes were said, they honestly didn’t fit the scene. It was more of the movie saying, “remember this?” or “remember you liked this?”

Also, random thought: how did Sam know he would be on Steve’s left? Did he specifically ask Doctor Strange about it?

Sam: “Hey, man, can you make sure the portal opens on his left?”
Doctor Strange: “Why?”
Sam: “Just do it, man. It has to be on his left.”
Doctor Strange: “Sure…” -proceeds to open it on his right-
Sam: “On your lef-wait-COME ON, MAN”

Another focus of this movie was the shots with certain characters or team ups. For example, they focused on everyone being in the same frame when Steve said “Avengers! Assemble…” rather than how everyone got there and once again how Doctor Strange knew where to place people.

Also during the battle the all female team up made no sense. How did they all get to the place at the same time for the sake of the shot? Weren’t some of them busy fighting in another section of the battle? How did Pepper suddenly know how to operate an Iron Man suit?

The Snap

When Thanos snapped in Infinity War, it was in fact not random like he claimed. This man said, let me keep the main six Avengers - Tony, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, and Clint - and delete the rest. How did it erase Clint’s whole family and most of the Guardians? I think we could have gotten a much more interesting movie if some of the originals were gone or if we got stuck with the side characters.

Like imagine Star Lord, Drax, Mantis, Doctor Strange, and Peter Parker have to get back from Titan to Earth. And then they team up with Bucky, Wanda, Sam, T’Challa, Groot, and Shuri. That would be chaotic but fun and it could also set up the future MCU projects much better than they were.

Think about it: the next projects were Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Wakanda Forever, Wandavision, and Guardians 3. These characters could have been explored better and could have become the next Avengers they are going to be anyways.

The Time Jump

Why did Endgame start with Thor killing Thanos, and then a five year time jump? Before I get into the time jump, Thanos was killed to early. Period. He was killed within fifteen minutes, right? Like that’s it? He snapped and then was beheaded. I do understand why Thor did it so quickly though-that was the most believable move from a grieving person-not just forgiving the villain and letting them get away.

The buildup from Infinity War was wasted. It felt like everything just calmed down and became normal again. Like it took the Avengers five years to do anything about what happened? They needed Ant Man to get them off their ass-sorry no swearing, butts?

What were they doing this whole time anyways? Tony started a family, ok. Clint became a Ronin - like Lizzy. Bruce turned himself into an idiot - well an in between of himself and the Hulk - basically an idiot. Natasha and Steve did nothing. Thor became a drunkard and gained weight, which I honestly find the most valid. He killed Thanos yes, but that did not give him his brother back or the rest of his planet.

So they waited for the little guy to tell them what to do, and then suddenly Tony figured out time travel!

The Time Heist

Speaking of time travel, I don’t think it should have worked. They basically cheated to fix everything back to the way it was. Thanos collected the Infinity Stones fair and square, which surprised me in Infinity War. I didn’t think he would actually be going to get them. I thought he would send people to get them for him. Kudos to Thanos-he should’ve won.

Also, during the time heist, when they went back to 2012, why did the Ancient One decide to give the Hulk the time stone. Why did she suddenly trust him?

That’s it? Her job is to protect the stone. It doesn’t matter if Strange gave it up. And she hadn’t even met him yet. How did she know to trust him?

When Thor took his hammer from 2013 when he was talking to Frigga, what happened to that Thor? Did he just lose his hammer?

Why wasn’t Loki allowed to create another branch in the timeline? The Avengers messed it up as well. Why did the TVA tell him they were just “supposed to”? So Loki’s birthright was once again to die just like Odin told him?

How did Thanos bring an entire army with him to time travel to 2023 with just one Pym particle from Nebula? Did she ever tell him which year to go to?

The Character Arcs

Like I mentioned before, the characters did not have great arcs, especially Thor and Hulk. Captain Marvel was unnecessary but I’ll get into that in a bit.

First of all let’s look at Thor’s character. Thor’s arc was depression because he lost his brother, Heimdall, and the rest of his planet. It’s not that I don’t understand this arc, I just find it boring for Thor. He just became a drunkard and gained weight? I feel like old Thor would have kept fighting to get his rage out. He also handed over the reign of Asgard or the Asgardians to Valkyrie and became simply just silly, leading to the infamous Love and Thunder movie.

Next let’s look at the Hulk. Hulk or Bruce became smart Hulk - the worst decision Marvel could’ve made for this character. He lost his complexity, anger, and seriousness. He became a nerd that just likes to take pictures with fans. What happened to his love for Natasha? I feel like after she died he should’ve Hulked out as normal. All he did was throw something. What happened to “I’m always angry”? I also feel like he was there just for humor, so the audience would have something to laugh at. Isn’t this the same guy that tried to kill himself at one point because he couldn’t find a solution to the Hulk? He didn’t care that half the universe got erased and that it was partially his fault?

Finally, we got Captain Marvel - the most unnecessary character in Endgame. She doesn’t even have a character. She was just there to move the plot when it got stuck, for example, when Tony and Nebula were stuck in space, finding Thanos, and then appearing at the end for the final battle. She didn’t even help during the final battle. Wasn’t she supposed to be extremely powerful? Why didn’t she snap? Thanos survived and I’m sure she was more powerful than him.

The Character Deaths

After looking at the character’s arc, I think we need to examine the deaths in this movie. Natasha, Tony, and Thanos to be specific.

Natasha’s death was cheapened since they went back to 2014, grabbed a Gamora and brought her to the present. If we got Gamora back, who was also sacrificed to the Soul Stone, why can’t we go back and grab Natasha? I thought her death was sad until Gamora came back and ruined it. The Soul Stone also doesn’t make sense because if you are willing to sacrifice the one you love, you don’t love them. It should have been more of a trick question - do you love this person enough to sacrifice yourself for them? Just like Clint and Natasha did - but neither of them should have died. When Thanos did it he should have gotten nothing.

Tony’s death - the most dramatic and saddest of them all - at least according to some people. I didn’t feel his death like everyone else did. First of all, the addition of Morgan Stark felt like they were trying to add to the weight of it. I think it could have been heavier with just Pepper as she was there since the beginning of his journey to becoming a better man and Iron Man. It almost felt like he didn’t think of the daughter he would leave behind with no father and that he didn’t love Pepper as much anymore. After all his message at the end was directed to Morgan with “I love you 3000”.

They also decided to cut the scene that would’ve made this death feel like it was worth more. The “Take a Knee” deleted scene hit me harder than the rest of the movie. Even the most of them saw Tony as egotistical and the one to not make the sacrifice play, they were all proved wrong. What hit me the hardest about this scene was that Captain America, who never agreed with him, T’Challa, an actual king, Doctor Strange, who had a comparable ego, and everyone else bowed to him, acknowledging his sacrifice.

The last death I want to look at is Thanos’ death at the end. It didn’t feel the same as this wasn’t our Thanos-this was just some 2014 ghost that didn’t really do much yet. It wasn’t satisfying to kill this Thanos as he didn’t snap and like he said, “I don’t know who you are…” to Wanda.

Honorable Mentions

A few other thoughts I had before I get to the best part of Endgame. Bucky should have became Captain America. He was Steve’s childhood best friend after all as I highlighted in my previous article “Love”. Didn’t Steve see his change from being a killing machine back into the man who was once his best friend? He overcame 70 years of brainwashing to what? Be a sidekick again?

Steve deciding to stay in the past also ruined the timeline. Why was he allowed this when Loki wasn’t? Also he didn’t know Peggy that long but he decided to go back in time and risk everything to be with her? Did he let Bucky get captured by Hydra again or did he go back and save him before that? That would have created another Bucky, right?

The poster was misleading…

Extremely random thought: how did Loki know what Tony smelled like? In the Loki show he said he knew there was another Tony Stark in the room when he took the Tesseract. He only talked to him once. Does Tony where that much cologne? Also why did Loki’s character change so much in the show? He was still the one right after the invasion of New York. He became the nicest guy ever - no more tricks. I think this needs its own post…

The Best Part of Endgame: Rhodey and Nebula

Finally I bring you to my favorite part of this chaotic movie: Rhodey and Nebula. I loved that this movie focused on them, two side characters. Like I said they could’ve done, they brought out their characters extremely well in this movie.

Rhodey had the best humor in the movie compared to Hulk, Thor, and even Scott. His “So he’s an idiot” was the funniest line to me. Rhodey’s “Why don’t why kill baby Thanos?” was better than going through that whole complicated time heist. He thought of all the lives that could be saved by simply doing this. They all made questionable decisions so why was this one any worse?

Rhodey and Nebula’s conversation on Morag is grounded, serious, and interesting. They share the trauma of having cybernetic parts: Nebula’s body parts were replaced or “upgraded” according to Thanos, while Rhodey’s legs were fixed by Tony after his fall in Civil War.

Nebula: “I wasn’t always like this.”
Rhodey: “Me neither. But we work with what we got, right?”

This conversation hits harder than any that Thor or Hulk had. It’s deep without that need for silly humor.

Nebula’s arc was also fascinating as she has to fight her past evil self to help her present one and her sister that still hates her here. She had to confront her past while Steve and Tony got to see good parts of their pasts: Peggy and Howard. She is the one that suffers the most during the Time Heist. She has to kill one of her halves while Bruce decides to put his two halves together to create “smart Hulk”. Her character couldn’t rely on nostalgia since she wasn’t in many of the older movies. She is evidence of characters Marvel used to create.

Conclusion

I know everyone loves this movie so fight me in the comments but also this is just my opinion. Let me know what else you guys noticed. I was also thinking of doing a video on this on our new YouTube channel Lizzy and Mena. Maybe if we reach 50 subs I’ll do it but I need the support. I also need the space for it since our family is always so nosy…

Anyways! leave your thoughts in the comments.

Today was an amazing day! Honestly, there is always so much happening behind the scenes that it’s hard to fit it all into a single post.

That’s exactly why I would love for you to join The Michi Chat! 🥷📖

Think of this as our little meeting room (or dojo) where the conversation never stops! This is where me and Mena will be hanging out to share updates that don’t always make it into the articles.

Here’s what’s waiting for you in the chat:

• Real-Time Progress: Me and Mena will share the progress of any long-term goals we have in life! (Currently trying to grow five bonsai trees…if they start to grow we’ll definitely share an update if you want to see the adorable little trees!)

• Mena and Lizzy’s Latest: We’ll be sharing our favorite recipes, newest items in our shop, promotions, and getting your input on what you want to see next from us!!

• Your Direct Line: Have a question or just want to vent about your own achievements this week? We’re excited to hear from you!

We want this to be a place where we all see results and progress together. We are so close to hitting our 200-subscriber goal, and we want you in there with us as we grow!

It’s fun, chill, and encouraging, and it’s the best way to stay on the path.

Me and Mena will be hanging out there... see you inside! 🍵

Jump into the Chat here!