Category: blogging

Sunday Devotionals and Life Update

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It has been an unconscionable long amount of time since I wrote in this blog and I apologize for that. I have been still keeping up on my movie blog at rachelsreviews.net and on my podcasts but for some reason I have not felt the desire to write in this personal blog for a while. It’s been such an unsettling time and I think there is a part of me that expects it to be over and then it keeps stretching out more and more. Now this week in Utah it is quite possibly at its worst ever. It’s exhausting.

What’s also exhausting is my projects as a podcaster and critic. Somehow Hallmark and Lifetime made their full slate of holiday films in 2020 so I am as busy as ever working for the Hallmarkies Podcast. I am extremely proud of every last interview and recap we have produced and I hope if you haven’t you will take a look. I am also very busy as a film critic and podcaster for my own content at Rachel’s Reviews.

I think part of the reason why I haven’t felt much need to write a personal blog lately is I haven’t had any personal life to write about. My whole life has become work/my creative enterprises. Anything that I had to pull me away from those goals has gone away. Church? Gone. Movies? Gone. Friends? Gone as far as time goes. Book club? Gone. You get the idea. Luckily I am very fulfilled by my work and it is a lot of fun (and interactive) so it’s a pretty good situation to be in. It just doesn’t give me that much to opine about here. Maybe I will try and do better. If there is anything you’d like to hear from me on let me know. If not, keep watching me talk and talk and talk (and write and write and write) on my other platforms.

In the meantime, I have created a series of Sunday Devotionals with my friend Chris. We are each of different faiths but religiously inclined and so after church was canceled we created 28 devotionals to discuss God and Christ-centered themes in a non-denominational environment. It was a great experience and I miss it since we stopped. It’s only on hiatus now so we will be back for a Thanksgiving and Christmas episode. Still, I’d love for you to check them out and respond in the comments. I put a lot of heart and soul into each one of them so let me know what you think .

I’m very thankful to Chris for doing the devotionals with me and for anyone who did listen to them. They really helped me get through a tough time.

What have you been doing to keep yourself afloat during these times and have you found it strangely difficult to write about them like I have? I will try to do better. I really do love this little personal blog. Let me know how you are doing. Sure love ya! Rachel

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The Experience of Being Hated (‘Shazam’, ‘Dumbo’ and More) — Rachel’s Reviews

Hey guys! As many of you know who follow my channel or other social media, I’ve had quite the last week! It’s ironic because at the beginning of March I wrote a piece on my other blog chronicling my life experience becoming a film critic. It had always been a dream of mine and it […]

via The Experience of Being Hated (‘Shazam’, ‘Dumbo’ and More) — Rachel’s Reviews

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10 Year Blogging Anniversary!

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I am very excited because today is a special anniversary for this blog. I have officially been blogging on smilingldsgirl.com for 10 years! I can hardly believe it. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was quitting my job and trying to figure out what to do next. It was such a strange, surreal time for me, and I needed an outlet to express my feelings. A blog seemed like the perfect solution and it has been such a blessing in my life.

I have been able to work through very tough times (I have even vented on occasion). I have shared the joyous times. I have gone through phases and diets and started my separate movie blog http://54disneyreviews.com and then my youtube channel. My time may be more divided now than it was originally, but I still love and value this blog. It gives me an outlet to share my heart and just talk about the silly things that come into my brain (that is what I promised in the header after all: my silly thoughts on life!).

I feel like you have all gotten to know the real me on this blog. You know my tastes, beliefs, opinions, interests, weaknesses, strengths and even my politics on occasion. I am so grateful for every last comment and like and for anyone who has taken the time to read my silly thoughts. There is nothing that brightens my day more than when I write something and it touches someone or makes them smile.

Thank you so much for the last 10 years and let’s have 10 more! Sure love you all!

Modern Friendshipping

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So April has almost come and gone and it has been a jammed packed month. The Hallmarkies podcast has been doing great and we currently have a whole bunch of interviews and podcasts stored up ready to be played over the next month or so (or if one of us gets sick). Doing all this prep work, while still producing 2 shows a week (regular episode and tv recap) has been a bit overwhelming but very satisfying. I have also been keeping up my personal channel and had some great interviews/discussions and reviews on there.

As I was looking over the month it occurred to me amongst all the busyness very little of it was with in-person human contact. There are things I did alone like go see Hamilton so at least I was out of the house but with actual people it is pretty sparse:

I saw Ready Player One with Amber and then again with my book club friends (I missed book club this month because I didn’t have time to read it).

I saw Isle of Dogs with my friend Phaedra and that was a delight (both movie and time with friend).

I had Easter with my parents, grandma and brother.

I went to see Camelot with my parents and two of my friends were in it.

I attended study group for church (and church)

And that’s it! The rest including my job were all online. But oddly I do not feel malnourished or socially bereft. In fact, quite the reverse. In just the last week I will have done 5 podcasts including an interview with friends from Israel and Australia. I think it is pretty cool! I also posted to my movie blog and to rotoscopers.com and contributed to other social media posts.

I don’t know. What do you think? What is the right balance of in-person interactions with online? I know mine will never be close to equal but I at least try and make an effort to get outside and see friends in-person. It’s tough but I do the best I can.

Decade of Smilingldsgirl Ideas?

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I am very excited to announce that in just over a months time I will be celebrating a major milestone for this blog. It will be a decade since I first started it on 5-12-2008! Can you believe it? 10 years I’ve been writing “my silly thoughts on life, family, politics, work, religion, music, swimming and more.” That just blows my mind! I know I’m a bit more sporadic than I used to be but I think I still keep it relatively current and updated. I still try to have a lot of variety in this blog and just write about the things I want to talk about. Often they don’t get very many hits but I enjoy the process of writing.

So, here’s where I turn to you. I would like to do something for the next 6 weeks to celebrate that milestone. I was thinking I could revisit some of my most popular posts, or I could write about each of the silly thoughts I proposed in the title, or I could try to post something every day for 6 weeks. That would be a challenge!  I could do something on movies, Disney, being Mormon or single or any number of topics. I could have topics in a hat and draw one out each day.

What do you think would be fun? What would you like to see from me? I would love to hear your suggestions and thoughts.

NPR Ideas Series