International Women’s Day

This is a very important day in our herstory. It started in the United States in the year 1909, to recognize a garment strike in New York. While it started as a national movement it became international in the year 1910!

International women’s day is a day to celebrate women, their accomplishments, and their contribution to society. When women are empowered, they empower other women. Women could change the world. By getting into politics, inventing, or simply by helping their neighbours. This is an important day for every women, in every culture.

International women’s day makes me feel empowered, it makes me feel that I can accomplish my goals and my dreams. Other women have done it before me. Other women will do it after me. These views didn’t come to me over night by any means. I have some strong women in my life to show me the way. Each has taught me a different, but important lesson.

First of all, my lovely Nana. She has been there for me no matter what. She has told me stories of having nothing, and going to work every day for her family. She dropped out of high school to help support her parents and her younger siblings. This is what women are capable of.

Second, my beautiful Mom. She is the most supportive person I know. She gives up so much for her children and for her family. She even adopts friends of ours for a while if they need help. She is so giving, I have never met someone more giving in my life. She fights the school system to give my brothers the services they need and deserve. She is very determined! This is strength.

Third, my magical Mother-in-law. She is the most positive person I know, she spreads good and happy vibes wherever she goes. Her smile and laugh are contagious. She has shown me so many good ways to help with my stress and anxiety, I’m pretty sure I owe her my sanity at this point. When things aren’t going right she has this magical way of brushing it off. This is courage.

Lastly, my majestic Best Friend. I don’t know where I would be without my best friend. She is the one person I can confide in and know that I will not be judged. She helps lift me up when I’m down and is supportive of my decisions. Everyone needs a best friend like this. This is kindness.

Without these women I would not be who or where I am today. I likely would not have pushed myself to work in my career, I likely would not have gone to college and university. I owe everything that I am to these 4 lovely women.

Who are the inspirational women in your life? Happy International Women’s Day!

~Kelsey

Reference

Review: Fantasy Life

This game is one of my favourite games of all time. I have 140 hours in this game, one of the characters is 128 of those hours. There is a ton of things to do! The character creation is one of the best I’ve seen. The story and characters are captivating and hilarious. The dialog, while long, is hilarious. The monsters are cute, yet challenging. And, you can have pets; who doesn’t like pets?

Let’s start with the character creation. The character creation is amazing, there are so many options. There are more than 20 hairstyles in Fantasy Life. This doesn’t even include the hairstyles you get in the Origin Islands DLC. There is an array of colours to choose from as well, from blue to green take your pick! You can customize the colour of your hair, and eyes. I love that every character you make can look completely different!

After you make your character there are 12 different lives or classes to choose from! There are 3 different types of classes; combat, gathering, and crafting. The combat classes include paladin, mercenary, hunter, and magician. The gathering classes include woodcutter, miner, and angler. And the crating classes include cook, tailor, blacksmith, alchemist and carpenter.

What I love about this is that you can change your life whenever you want. And you can make all your own armour, weapons, potions and tools yourself without having to buy any if you don’t want to! This adds a level of challenge to the game as it takes a little bit longer to get the armour or clothing that you want to wear because you need to collect all the materials.

Most people start with a combat life, but this isn’t necessary. When I made my character, I started off as a tailor because I wanted to make my own clothes. I was still able to complete story quests with no issue, and could even kill smaller monsters with my dagger for materials.

Eventually however you’ll likely want to move onto other lives because there it opens a lot more quests. Reaching master rank is very rewarding, if you have the origin island expansion you can even progress further than that!

Speaking of customization, you can even customize your house! You start off with a small space, but if you speak with Pam you’ll be able to pay a fee to move into a bigger place of your own. My favourite house is in South Castele. It’s right next to the water and kind of has a yard. You can’t customize the outside but it looks nice! If you take up the carpenter life you can make your own furniture!

*Bonus Fact: there’s multiplayer!!*

I don’t want to give too much away regarding the story, as I think you should experience it for yourself. But, it’s fantastic. It’s basically about bringing people together through friendship and building relationships with trust and hard work. One let’s play I watched compared the game to an interactive story. There is a lot of dialog. I know that’s not for everyone, so I think it’s important to mention.

If you choose a combat class and choose to grind (a lot of this game is grinding for materials) you will likely level up pretty quickly. If you like a challenge I suggest you be a little bit careful that you don’t level up to high for the area you’re in unless you want the game to be a lot easier. That being said, the bosses for the combat classes are fairly challenging. I struggled and died many times to some of the bigger monsters. You may want to carry a ton of life cures so you don’t have to go back to a save point!

I love that the player can have pets. You can only get cats and dogs with the main game, but each new land has a different ‘skin’ for the pets. I managed to get a pink dog and a pink cat! You can have up to three pets. If you get the dlc it unlocks 2 more pets, birds and dragons! Each land has a different skin for these as well!

There  are also mounts for the player to unlock! When you start the game, you can’t have a mount until you accumulate enough bliss, this is done by completing story quests. When you have enough, you can go to the stables and unlock your first mount. Each land has a different mount. I won’t spoil this for you as it can spoil what the lands are like!

Overall, Fantasy life is one of my favourite games of all time. It’s cute, funny, and entertaining. There is so much to do, you’ll never be bored. If you get the dlc there is even more to enjoy and do. It’s completely worth it! Your character and house are extremely customizable, there are so many lives to choose from, the monsters are challenging, and lastly you can have 3 pets!

10/10

~Kelsey

 

*The Images in this post do not belong to me!*

Review: Ready Player One~Ernest Cline

(Spoilers ahead!)

I enjoyed the book overall. I feel like the ending was somewhat anticlimactic. They beat the bad guy and got millions of dollars. The battle wasn’t as epic as I thought it could be. I felt as though all the main 5 should have been more involved as opposed to just Wade.

When Wade’s trailer gets bombed he doesn’t seem all that phased by it. He’s just kind of like ‘meh I hated them anyway’ and continues with his life. He didn’t even seem to care much about his elderly neighbor who he really liked.                        

When he goes into hiding I’m surprised that the sixers can’t find him easier. They know he’s still alive, and they know what he looks like from his school photo, so I feel like they could have done more. They even didn’t catch him when he was in their own facility. How did they not notice someone was hacking into their files? They obviously did not have a good security system. I’d also like to know why they’re allowed to enslave people who are in debt…

Despite my harsh critique, the overall story is captivating, and I found myself unable to put the book down. While you’re reading it you’re in the book, you believe everything and don’t really question what’s going on. It’s after you’re finished and thinking about the trivial things that it makes you question the story. I recommend this book to any video game or 80s fan!

I’m excited to see what the new movie released March 2018 will bring!

*4 / 5*

~Kelsey

About Me

Every good blog needs an about me section or at least a post about who they are as a person. I kind of did an introductory piece about what the blog was going to be about but I also believe it’s important for those reading to know who is behind the writing.

My name is Kelsey, I was born in 1992 in a smallish town in Ontario Canada. I have many passions and dreams. For instance, I’d like to own my own practice one day and help more people that need it. I also want to travel and do the simpler things like start a family.

In my spare time, when I’m not working, I enjoy reading, playing video games, playing board games, writing, and of course spend time with friends and family. When it’s not winter outside I like to enjoy the sun and go on walks etc.

After I get the blog off the ground a little bit more I may look into other forms of social media as a way of spreading positivity and knowledge to more people. I think it would be interesting to do videos or something in the future as well. For now, however I’m going to stick with this platform and see where it takes me.

Writing is a huge passion of mine. I’ve been wanting to do a blog for quite some time. I’ve had several on tumblr but those turn into strictly reblogging pictures that other people have taken or created. While it was kind of about my interests it didn’t really capture what i’m about. And doesn’t really share my viewpoints or thought processes.

I play a lot of video games. I have many of the Nintendo systems as well as an Xbox One X. Nintendo is my jam. The games are fun and very colourful. Their stories are usually well written and captivating. On my Xbox I’m currently playing Monster hunter worlds. You can find my review about that here. While I do enjoy my consoles I also play on the PC. I just recently got my hands on Civilization VI. I’m very excited to try that one out and do a review.

I hope that this post was insightful! Thank you so much for taking the time to read about me and what I enjoy doing. If you have any questions, please post in the comments and I’ll try and answer them to the best of my ability!

~Kelsey

Review: Monster Hunter World

Monster hunter world is a great game for seasoned players and newbies alike. Both can pick up this game and have a great time with it. There is so much to it that I have 60 hours or so into the game and i’m not even close to being finished with the main story. This does not include the many hours of side quests and investigations that can be completed.

The game has a lot of little tutorials that you find kind of by yourself as you click on certain characters. It doesn’t give you everything right from the get go. If you want to learn more about eating and food buffs you have to talk to the cat, if you want to learn about armour upgrades you have to go to the smithy. Some of the tutorials are not very obvious.

One of these not so obvious tutorials was that I could go in the tent in the campgrounds and pick up more health potions or even change my armour if i need to. I didn’t learn this until I was watching a friend of mine stream Monster Hunter. I was very frustrated when I found out about this because I probably could have died a lot less.

Despite that short coming it’s very easy to pick up and play. There are a number of different weapons. Personally, I use the dual blades. I like the speed and freedom of them. I don’t have to wait 800 years to attack something. I do however, die a lot. When using the dual blades you have to be up close and personal; If you’re going to use them you need to be good at dodging.

If quick isn’t your speed they have a lot of other weapons as well. They have a hammer, which I tried. it’s very slow (at least for me), but it does a ton of damage to your target. The great sword is also a good choice, its one of the easier heavy hitting weapons in the game to use.

As for ranged weapons they have the light and heavy bow gun. I tried to use them but I wasn’t very good at them. The bow is also an excellent choice. Your weapon choice all depends on your play style! There is no wrong way to play!

I strongly suggest that you try this game if you haven’t already. It’s currently out on the Xbox One, and the PS4. It will be out on PC in fall 2018

Have you played Monster Hunter? What did you think?

~Kelsey

Relaxing Hobbies

Here’s my top 10 list of relaxing hobbies that can help you with self-care!

1. Journaling can be exceptionally relaxing. It allows you to get rid of all that negative energy! It’s a place where you can vent about whatever you want and there will be no judgement. It will also help you to think more critically and really reflect on your emotions.
2. Reading can help reduce stress. Reading can be a healthy escape from stress and can help when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
3. Cross stitch can help calm down your mind. It forces you to focus on what you’re doing which leaves your mind little room to worry!
4. Knitting isn’t just for old ladies! The repetitive movement can help you to relax and really get in the zone!
5. Colouring can be a fantastic way to reduce anxiety and depression. It’s another activity that forces you to focus in!
6. Play video games! Some video games are exceptionally relaxing such as Animal Crossing, or Stardew Valley!
7. Baking! What’s not relaxing about quality food?
8. Painting allows you to be creative and express emotions! You can use any colours you want and may even surprise yourself!
9. Gardening can be rewarding as well as stress relieving! If you plant fruits or vegetables you can harvest and eat your own food!
10. Owning a pet! This is a huge responsibility, but experts agree that owning a pet can help with anxiety and depression. Pets make excellent companions!

What do you like to do to relax?

~Kelsey

 

References: here, and here!

How to tell if someone is a negative influence

Sometimes it’s hard to determine if someone is a negative influence in your life. This is especially difficult if you have been close with someone for a long time. You don’t see all the negative behaviors or attitudes and may even make excuses for that person. Here’s 10 Tips on how to spot negative influences!

1. You have low self-esteem. If your self esteem is lowered when you’re with a person it’s a good indication that they are making you feel that way. This can be unintentional of course, but it’s not healthy all the same. You may need to have a talk with this person or cut them out of your life completely. You’re worth so much more! And you deserve to be happy!
2. You follow their lead in a negative way. This can include doing drugs, drinking when you don’t want to, making fun of other people (bullying), or participating in illegal activity. If you wouldn’t normally do these things the person you’re spending time with could be a negative influence!
3. Your other relationships are suffering! Does your friend get jealous when you hang out with anyone else? Do they treat your other friends or family with disrespect? If so they may be trying to cut you off from your other relationships. This is not a sign of a healthy relationship.
4. They’re impossible to please. If you give everything to the relationship and they are ungrateful or say you don’t do anything for them, it might be time to move on!
5. They’re self-centered. Do they ignore you? Do they always bring the conversation back to themselves? Are you always there for them, while they’re never there for you? If they never listen to your opinion or believe that they’re always right they’re probably a negative influence! Your opinions and thoughts are valid!
6. They use you for what you have. Do you have a friend that only talks to you when they want or need something? Do they get angry when you can’t do them a favour? Do they borrow items and then don’t return them? Do you ask for a favour and they refuse even though you’ve done multiple favours for them? This is a sign of an unhealthy relationship!
7. They want you to change. If they’re your friend, they should accept who you are! You are a unique person, anyone would be lucky to have you as their friend! You shouldn’t change for anyone!
8. They lie to you. If someone is lying to you they’re not a very good friend. Healthy relationships are based on the foundation of trust. If you can’t trust that person it may be time to say goodbye!
9. You feel tired after hanging out with them. If you feel drained or even sad after hanging out with someone you might need to reassess your relationship with them!
10. They manipulate you. They always seem to find a way to get what they want. This can be getting you to go to the bar with them, (continued, page 9)

or even continuously forgiving them when they’re wronged you. You have the right to say no!

Even though it may be difficult, it’s healthier for you to say goodbye to a bad friend. You may want to simply quietly stop talking with them.

If you usually initiate the conversation, simply stop messaging them. If they notice they’ll approach you, and if not then your plan was successful!

If they approach you, all you need to do is tell them that you no longer want to be friends. Try to focus the conversation on you and your feelings, and try not to place blame on the other person. It will make it easier on the other person if they don’t think they are entirely to blame.

Cutting people out of your life is never easy but it’s necessary in some cases to improve your own happiness.

Never put your own happiness in jeopardy for someone else. You can’t do anything for anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself first. Think of this as an important part of self-care!

~Kelsey

References: here, here, here, and here!

Positivity

Being positive can be difficult for some people. Especially when everything going on in the world seems a little dark and gloomy. Here’s a couple tips on how to be more positive

1. Write down negative thoughts. This will help you get them out of your head. It can be a very releasing experience and it helps you look at them more critically. You can get started but buying a notebook!
2. Train your brain to think more positively. When you think a negative thought about yourself think about the thought critically. Is this thought true? Is this thought helpful? Does this thought make you feel good? Try and give yourself compliments!
3. Don’t compare yourself to other people. When you compare yourself to other people it can lower your self-esteem. You are unique! Celebrate that uniqueness and share it with others!
4. Listen to music that gives off the same mood you want to be in. Music can really help set your day up to be positive one
5. Be kind to others. Giving others, your attention or gratitude can really make the difference to someone. Sit with the person that’s eating lunch alone, talk to the old lady at the bus stop! Buy the next person in line’s coffee! Take a chance you never know whose day you’ll make!
6. Eat healthy! Eating healthy can make you feel good all by itself.

Hopefully these 6 tips can lead you on your way to positivism!

What do you do to be positive?

~Kelsey

The Fairytale Library

I’m finally starting my blog after 2 months of trying to figure out the perfect name. Fairytale Library sums up who I am, and basically what this blog is going to be about.

I want to discuss a wide range of topics that i’m passionate about. These topics include:

• Books
• Movies
• Video games
• History
• Mental health
• Positivity 
• And possibly even product reviews in the future!

There may be more as we continue this incredible journey together. Please let me know in the comments below if there is a particular topic that you’re interested in, or something you want to know more about!

~ Kelsey