We made it! Merry Christmas to you all, and happy last day of Blogmas. Thank you for reading the posts I have created for the past 25 days. It has been a pleasure to participate in this challenge for the past three years. Today I leave you with something wonderful and full of joy. My last post for this Blogmas, and most likely the last post on this website forever, is a review and thoughts on the new Disney film out this month, Mary Poppins Returns.

Mary Poppins Returns is the long waited sequel, not a reboot, to the classic Disney film, Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins came out back in 1964. So why on Earth did Disney make a sequel in 2018, 54 years later? Well the truth is, after the success of the original film Walt Disney wanted a sequel. But the author of the Mary Poppins series, P.L. Travers rejected the idea. She was approached multiple times about a sequel but never gave her consent. If you've seen Saving Mr. Banks, you know that P.L. Travers and Walt Disney disagreed frequently about the original film. But in 2015, the Walt Disney Studios President at the time reached out to Travers' estate to see if they would approve a sequel. And voila they did! And thus, Mary Poppins has returned!

The premise for this sequel has the Banks children all grown up, Michael Banks has his own children and recently lost his wife. Michael is on the verge of losing his childhood home where he and his children live. Michael and his sister, Jane, search for a bank certificate so they may keep their house. Meanwhile Mary Poppins returns to look after the Banks children. Since Michael and Jane have grown up, they do not remember all the adventures they had with Mary being real, instead they think it was all just their imagination and dreams.

Since the movie takes place when the original children are grown up, it makes sense that no one in the original cast reprised their roles. Ben Whishaw plays adult Michael Banks, Emily Mortimer plays adult Jane Banks, and the marvelous Emily Blunt plays the iconic Mary Poppins.

When it was announced that Emily Blunt would be playing this classic character, there were many reservations. How could anyone live up to Julie Andrews? Well, somehow Emily Blunt managed to do so. She's stern, proper and charming all at once. Emily Blunt actually read the Mary Poppins book series and gathered her inspiration and take from there. While it is impossible to outshine Julie Andrews, Emily Blunt shines in her own way, and has become another lovable version of this character.

Also starring in the film is the talented Lin Manuel Miranda as Jack, a lamp lighter who was Bert's protege. Even though I may be slightly biased, I truly think Lin Manuel Miranda is the star of this film. He's charming and a wonder to watch. No one can sing and dance so enthusiastically as Lin Manuel Miranda does in this film.

While it is sad not to see Julie Andrews in the film, we get a surprising cameo from Mr. Dick Van Dyke himself! Sadly Dick Van Dyke doesn't reprise his original role as Bert the chimney sweep. However, he does kind of reprise another role. In the original film, Dick Van Dyke also plays Mr. Dawes Sr., a banker. For the record, I had no idea he even did this, and I grew up watching Mary Poppins religiously. In Mary Poppins Returns he plays the older version of Mr. Dawes Jr. the son of Mr. Dawes Sr.! This cameo is short but absolutely wonderful. At the age of 93, Dick Van Dyke can still dance like he did in the original.

For the adults who love Mary Poppins as a child, Mary Poppins Returns is full of charm and nostalgia. The songs are great, not as good or iconic as the original, but good nonetheless. The movie itself honors the original and introduces this classic character to the new generation so they can love her as much as current adults did when they were kids. If you need a feel good film to watch this holiday season with your family, go see Mary Poppins Returns!

Merry Christmas everyone! We finally made it to the last day of Blogmas! 25 days of blogging was certainly tough. But I accepted the challenge and somewhat conquered it. Ending the Blogmas series is bittersweet. I love producing content daily and I hope my posts were enjoyable. But I'm also happy to take a break and rest and relax for a couple days. I've brainstormed some future blog posts ideas already, and I can't wait to share them with you! Also I've decided to take a break from vlogging and Youtube because honestly, my heart isn't into it and I want to focus on my writing.

I hope Santa treated you all very nicely with wonderful gifts and presents. And if you didn't get exactly what you wanted, well there's always next year and all those after Christmas sales. While the gifts are very nice, they're not the most important part of Christmas. Instead, we should cherish the time we have with our family and loved ones. And that is why this Blogmas post is extremely late today. I spent the entire day with my family and I have no regrets, because that's what this holiday is all about.

When it comes to my family, I spend as much time as I physically can with them. Especially since we only get to be together during the holidays. All my brothers are older and have lives of their own so holidays are the only times when we can all be a happy family together. So I appreciate those few moments we have together.

Yes sometimes my family can drive me crazy, but I still love them to death. And I wouldn't trade any of them. Because I'm lucky to have such an amazing family, while some people aren't as fortunate. When you're opening up your presents think about all the people in the world who are alone during the holidays. I'd choose being with my family on Christmas rather than receiving all of the presents on my wishlist. That's because the holidays don't mean anything without our family and loved ones. And maybe that's the first sign of growing up and maturity when it comes to the holidays.

For the first time in forever, we broke out old traditions and played games as a family. Something we only do maybe once a year, but when I was little, it was something we did every weekend. But when you grow up you start to get your own life, the traditions start to dwindle. But once you don't have them as often, you end up appreciating them a lot more.

Just a little food for thought I guess. Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays, and it always will be. Sure I love getting and giving presents (who doesn't?) but the best part really is all the memories you make with your loved ones. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who read or skimmed or even looked at one of my Blogmas posts. I really appreciate it, and it was a lot of fun! Maybe I'll do it again next year. Who knows? Until next time.

Another Pinterest quote perfect for today's topic: regrets. Some people live their life full of regret, wishing they could have lived their lives differently. Others have none, and seem not to care about the consequence of their actions.

But the best way to live life is to have a balance. Sometimes we have to do stupid things to learn important life lessons. Because if you don't learn from your mistakes, how will you grow?

Some of us focus way too much on work, and we sacrifice our time with our loved ones because we're workaholics. Some of us don't speak up even when we know we should, but we stay silent in order to spare someone's feelings, but that just ends up hurting us instead. Some of us make mistakes when it comes to love, we give the wrong ones chances to get to know us and then we become damaged goods.

Those are some major regrets that we could end up having when we turn old and gray. But there's also those silly regrets that don't keep us up at night. Like the embarrassing outfits we wore when we finally learned how to dress ourselves. Or maybe that one time when you forgot to take a sweater and it ended up storming.

Personally speaking, I like to do my best to not live a life full of regret. I calculate all my decisions and think how it will benefit me or hurt me in the long run. This is all because I've learned from my own mistakes and I'd like to think I have grown as a person. Every day I think to myself, will I be proud of the person I am 50 years from now? So here is a list of things I've done that I regret, but I indeed have learned from them.

Questionable Fashion Choices: I'm not going to lie, in middle school I dressed like a train wreck. If I could go back in time I would knock some sense into my young mind. I was searching for my voice through my clothing and I wanted to find a way to express my creativity. I wanted to stand out, and I did that in a unique matter. Those bad fashion choices did help my style evolve, so I guess it's not too bad. I know I probably won't dress worse than I did back then.

Saying Things Without Thinking: When I was young I use to say things before I clearly thought it out. Now I am far more calculated. I'd say things I never meant, and I'd speak on impulse. Now I don't do that, I think of the consequences of something I might say and how it would make others feel.

Not Saying How I Truly Feel: This is a more recent one, I learned to control my mouth but lately I've come to the point where I don't share how I feel because I'm too afraid of making people upset or angry. I'm currently searching for a balance, and I'm slowly getting there.

Being My Own Worst Enemy: They say your toughest critic is yourself, and boy is that true. I've always been so tough on myself, but recently I've started to change that. I started believing in myself and man that really feels amazing.

Making Others Happy Instead Of Myself: I always want to make everyone around me happy, but sometimes I'd forget to put myself and my needs first. But as Hailee Steinfeld says in her song Love Myself, "gonna love myself, no, I don't need anybody else." Why rely on someone else to make you happy, when you can make your own happiness?

We're human beings, we're not perfect. We have flaws and we make mistakes, but we must accept them and live with the consequences so we can grow. Then if you have the opportunity to make the same mistake, hopefully you've learned from it and won't make the same mistake twice. Until next time.