My Top Ten Favorite Books

I have loved reading since I was 4, and that is one of the reasons Belle is my favorite princess. I have loved that she reads books and then I would get excited because I read a lot of books too. I always felt like Princesses did not read a lot.Then I watched Beauty and the Beast, and realized that even if the other princesses didn't, Belle did. That made me feel less nerdy and more like I could still read all the time and be a princess. (Although I am watching Star Wars episode 4 while I am writing this, so I am still pretty nerdy.)

My top ten favorite books are kind of a mix of different genres. Some are by the same author, Sarah Dessen, because she's my favorite. Some are sad and some are adventurous. However all of them have saved me at different points of my life, from whatever horrible thing I was facing. 

10: Coal Miners Bride by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. This book is amazing, this was probably my first favorite book. I read it at least 10 times all the way through and would carry it with me everywhere. 

9: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen. Told you she would appear on here. She is one of those authors that sucks you into their world and you never wanna leave it. This books is one of many that amazed me.

8: The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I loved the Twilight books, not the movies, but the books were good. However The Host was a wonderful piece of art in my opinion. I was not bored once in the 700 pages the book had. 

7: The Vampire Diaries (the original first 4 books) by L.J Smith. The first 4 books of this series were practically my whole world for a few months. I read them over and over again, along with listening to Paramore's Brick by Boring Brick album. The author sucked you into a world that just was terrifying yet wonderful all at the same time. The new books and show however disgrace the first 4 books.

6: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I read this book at the end of my sophomore year of high school. It was a summer reading book before Junior Year started, and I expected not to like it. And yet I fell in love with it. I was so impressed with how Mark Twain had written it, I loved it from the start to finish. 

5:  The Fault in our Stars by John Green. If you haven't read this books, do not walk, run to the nearest book store to get this. It is amazing and beautiful. I have not read a book like this before. It makes you cry but not just for sadness, so many other reasons as well. I cried for last 30 pages or so. And yet I am going to be reading it again soon.

4: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book is amazing. This whole series is brilliant. If you do not like the movies, still read the books. They are way better trust me. 

3: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. Another example of her amazing writing. I have every one of her books and read all of them. 

2: Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. This book was one of Nicholas Sparks best in my opinion. I adored the whole story and felt compelled to keep reading. When I got to the end I was blown away at how well his story was written.

1: Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. This one is my favorite book ever. I love every book on this list and read them all probably twice each maybe even more. Yet this one is something that stands out to me and makes me happy each time I read it. 

If you made it this far, thanks! If I had to pick one of them to read I would say any of them are good choices. Just reading any book gives me happiness and safety. I hope it does the same for you. :) 

Why I Want To Be A Mother

I am almost 19 and my goal in life is to be a mother. Since I was 4 I have been taking care of kids, my little brother was born when I was almost 4 and he has been my baby since. Every day I take care of my siblings while my husband and my mom work. I am used to taking care of kids and I love doing that. Most people my age freak out if you mention kids because in our society today the social norm is to have babies in your mid to late 20's. After you have in the eyes of your peers "grown up" to their standard. Young women are told that we have to be all for the whole women's rights and how women are just as good as men. And I am all for that, I believe that women should be allowed to do whatever they want. I believe I should be able to do whatever I want too.

I want to be a mother because that is my choice in life. I believe every woman has many choices to make in their lives. I am just making one of my many choices. I have my entire life to make a decision about my career and going to college. Yet I do not have my entire life to make a decision about having a child. I may only have a few years or 10 years. I do not know. However I am making that decision now. I am ready to be a mother, I am ready for the late nights of babies crying. I am ready for all the diaper changes, the runny noses, the temper tantrums. I am not thinking that it is going to be all fun and games. It is going to be hard work, it is going to be a thankless job. And yet it is what I have wanted to be since I can remember. Some girls grow up wanting to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher. I want to be a mom. 

I want my profession to be a mom. I want to wake up every morning and go to work raising my kids. I want to earn my promotions with each child I have. I want to have the arms of my children around my neck instead of diamonds. I want my "clients" to call me Mommy. I want to be their magic doctor who kisses all the boo boos away and who checks for monsters under the bed. I want to take them to the doctor when they're sick and cuddle with them. I wanna take them to Disneyland and see their faces when they see their favorite characters. I want every day to learn something new about their little personalities and see them turn into beautiful, caring adults. And when I hear them say "I love you mommy" I will know that it was all worth while. That will be my paycheck, my bonus and my college degree.

I know that I am almost 19, I know that society thinks I should be partying and going to college. I plan on partying, like birthday parties with Disney Junior characters and juice boxes, instead of beer and dancing. I plan on finishing college at some point. However my goal in life is not to spend it doing something I am not happy doing. I plan on spending my life being happy and doing what I feel will make me happy.

Monsters University and College Dropouts.

I have loved Disney movies since I was a little kid. They were my favorite movies and I definitely drove my parents crazy with how often I watched them. My dad can still sing all the songs from the Little Mermaid. As I got older I loved them even more and focused on their deeper meanings. One movie that sort of recently helped me make some decisions was Monsters University. 

When Monsters Inc came out in 2003, I was 8 and it quickly became one of my favorite movies. I loved Sully and Mike and Boo. Disney did not make a sequel to this until my 18th birthday. I actually was so excited I went on my birthday, opening night, to see it. And I am not a big fan of theaters on opening night, so that is saying a lot. I instantly loved it and thought it was adorable. I also thought it was helpful. I started college in the fall and was really nervous about it. I had been home-schooled my whole life and I was also painfully shy due to that fact that I was bullied. I didn't want to go to a big class and be bullied some more. When I saw that Mike was bullied and pretty much told he sucked, and then he went to college anyway, it made me feel better. I decided to go and figured if small Mike could do it, then I could too. My dream had always been to go to college, to graduate and to be successful in school. I walked onto campus the first day and said "I'm officially a college student!"

College went okay but was not what I was expecting. There isn't a guide book that they give you as soon as you turn 18. It would be helpful if they did though. You are told you are an adult and pretty much thrown into the big world. My parents prepared me as best as they could, and I didn't go in full force either. However it was still scary. I had imagined college to be this perfect, wonderful place that was going to make me feel important and smart. After my first semester, I realized it did not make me feel any of those things. It made me feel small and unimportant. I did not like the people I was around and I felt just alone. I walked on campus and dreaded classes instead of being excited. I also dropped a class because I could not handle the pressure. I was disappointed and depressed. 

I turned to Disney again to see if good ole Walt Disney had left me a manual somewhere in one of his stories. I wanted someone to tell me how I felt was okay. A lot of people I know would have been upset with me for wanting to quit so early in the game. Yet somehow I knew that college just wasn't for me. I came home one day and turned on Monsters University again and watched it till the end. Mike and Sully got kicked out of college and yet they became the best Scarers in their profession. I knew that I couldn't use that as an excuse for giving up on my dream. But maybe my dream had just changed a little. I thought long and hard about my decision. Prayed about it, discussed it with close friends and family, and then made my decision. I was dropping out of college. It was not a proud moment for me, and it wasn't something I shared with everyone. I didn't want people to look at me with disappointment. 

I finished the semester and then walked away. Most people regret their choice, maybe I will later on in life. However, I realized that Walt Disney had left me a manual on being an adult. It just wasn't the manual I was looking for. He tells us to follow our dreams and do what makes us happy. I was doing the opposite of that. I was doing what I thought everyone wanted for me, even what I thought I had wanted. Until I realized it wasn't what I wanted. I am going to do what makes me happy now, and if I change my mind later, then it is my choice. Even though it was not a popular choice, it was mine to make. That is what being an adult is about, it is about making decisions for yourself. Ones that will make you happy for the time being. Not make you happy 10 years from now. I am going to make decisions that will make me smile and make me happy. Because our lives are short and we really do not know how much time we all have left. Every day is gift and every tomorrow is a mystery. Walt Disney taught me a lot, and so has Mike and Sully. If I have learned anything important in my life, it is to follow YOUR dreams. No matter how big or small they are. They are yours and no one Else's. 

Introduction to my blog

I wanted to write an introduction that says something about who I am, and what this blog will be about. I have always had a hard time with introductions because I am shy. So to most people that means I don't have anything important to say. I want to write this blog because I want a place of my own to say things and tell things that are important to me. I want to prove that I have important things to say and that I have my own opinions. This blog will be a place where those who are quiet can be heard. Just like how princesses in movies are always quiet or hidden away, and in the end they always become brave and say what they have to say. In a way we are all princesses in training. One day I hope to be a "princess" in the sense that I can say how I feel and stand up for my opinions. 

My name is Danielle Harvey, I will be 19 in June and I will also celebrate my one year wedding anniversary in June. My husband's name is Matthew Harvey and he is a real life prince charming. I am currently not in college right now, I am taking a few months off to figure out what I want to do.  I am passionate about writing. I have always loved to write, which is why I wanted to write a blog to begin with. I am also passionate about becoming a mom, which will hopefully happen in the near future. I love all things Disney and have always wanted to be a Disney princess. My favorite princess is Belle and I strive to be like her all the time. I have 3 amazing siblings who I spend every day with and a small dog who thinks he is a princess. His name is Flynn Rider and he has the perfect smolder to go along with it.

I have wanted to start a blog for the past few months and could not come up with a name for my blog. I just recently went to Disneyland with my family and my husband. We met a ton of the princesses there and then it finally clicked. I have always wanted to be a princess and everyone kept calling me and my sisters princesses. I realized that every girl is a princess whether she is real royalty or not. We are just all in training. So maybe this blog will be a journey on my way to becoming a full princess, who is kind and caring to everyone I meet. 

So if this introduction interested you, then maybe some of my other posts will too. So stick around, I promise to be interesting in my next post.

With Love,
Danielle