Disney Princess Series: Rapunzel

Hello family, friends, followers, fans, and fandomeers! I'm very happy to be returning to the blog. Thanks for the patience. Let's catch up before we get started.
For starters, in more or less a month my niece will be born! I can't wait to meet her.
Emily did great in her performance of The Music Man. You've never seen a better Marian. She got rave reviews all around.
I went on an incredible vacation this summer with my family! I still get so excited when I talk about this, but I finally lived my dream of seeing the Bonnie and Clyde car. It was a wonderful experience witnessing even more history behind the people I have studied so much about. Hoping to go back again someday (especially since I had the audacity to not sing one single Bonnie & Clyde song while I was there?! Unthinkable.). We spent two days at Disney California Adventure and Disneyland which were absolutely fantastic and so fulfilling. For those of you in the loop, it was during that crazy heat wave, but still super awesome. It's always a great day at the happiest place on earth! So glad I got to make my return to Disneyland after three long years of being away from my fave. We stopped right outside the Seven Magic Mountains on our way back. The best time with the best people in the best places.
This summer I was enrolled in an institute class at UNLV, Pearl of Great Price A. I went with some awesome friends and it was a great time. Very socially fulfilling and it was fantastic to be able to study the gospel there every week. I learned a lot.
I recently just lost my job because my employers work from home and have just moved away. I'm spending some time at home and getting our lives organized before getting a new job.
Now to address the subject on everyone's mind. How are the mission papers coming along?
As I said I was going to in the previous post, I made a return to counseling. It took me about a month to get into one but I'm honestly so glad that it did, because I saw someone that was able to help me a lot and I learned so much. It was a really great experience.
I'd like to also thank everyone that was so supportive during that time. I had a sort of confession moment on Instagram (@itsanadventur) before my first session about what was really going on with me and you were all so supportive of what I was about to do and very kind. You guys were all calling me brave and I have never really thought of myself that way before. Thank you all for those of you saying I'm awesome for what I'm doing, and supportive of this work I'm putting in to serve a mission. It is more comforting and encouraging than I will ever be able to express or you will ever be able to understand. Thank you.
I finished counseling at the end of August and then went forward to do the pre-mission evaluation. It took longer than I thought it would but it went very well. I am now in the final stage of submitting my mission papers. They are all completed. I recently submitted them to my bishop and had an interview with him. I now will have two interviews with my stake president. My mission papers should be submitted in about a week.
If you have any questions about how the process I'm going through works, feel free to ask! With that said, the personal details of my mission application process have been very costing. Someday I'm sure I'll write a whole blog post just about this, so someday the full details will surely all be yours. But it's quite honestly too soon. I'm very excited to serve a mission. It will be happening very soon. And once I have a mission call I will be more than happy to talk about it with all of you! But while we're in this waiting game I won't be wanting to talk about my mission very much, since I don't even know what it is yet. This has been a very slow-moving process for me and once I know more about my mission I would love to discuss it with you all. Thank you again for your continuous support and love! And thank you for understanding.
Today, guys, we're back to talking about our favorite ladies, the Disney Princesses, and today's princess is Alan Menken's return to Disney Princesses (with lyrics by the marvelous Glenn Slater), the (as far as I remember) fiftieth film to come out of Walt Disney Animation Studios, an absolute cutie and fan favorite. She's Rapunzel and we absolutely love her. I'm weak for her story, honestly; Tangled has a plot that really gets me going every time.
Okay, so can we talk about how efficient Rapunzel is with her time?! Not usually the sort of thing I highlight when we're talking about why we love the Princesses but seriously. This woman wakes up at 7:00 AM, sweeps til the floor's all clean, polishes, waxes, does laundry, mops, shines up, sweeps AGAIN, and all in fifteen minutes?! I mean, how?! We love and support a hard-working woman.
Rapunzel's super well-rounded too. The amount of random tasks she does in "When Will My Life Begin?" is incredible. This girl can do it all. The Nancy Drew of her generation.
Sadly, though, Rapunzel is an abusive situation; Mother Gothel has her trapped in the tower and convinced that the outside world is dangerous. Maybe if Rapunzel hadn't taken up candle-making, Mother Gothel wouldn't have had as much power as she did in "Mother Knows Best" with all those spooky effects. But it was a jam while being simultaneously tragic and comical so we'll allow it. The interesting thing about this is that Mother Gothel and Rapunzel obviously frequently have this argument, about Rapunzel going outside. We know that Rapunzel is a strong believer in fate and destiny (while Flynn is a strong believer in horses) and that is a contributor to why she so badly wants to go outside, especially to see the floating lights which come out on her birthday every year. There is no way that's a coincidence, right? Rapunzel's also a reader as we find out at the beginning of the film. I really think this contributes to her dreamer quality and her intelligence. Like, you can tell she isn't quite buying into all these things Mother Gothel's saying. They don't make sense to her. That's because she knows better. She's a dreamer and an intelligent one at that.
Those qualities can get you just about anywhere. How incredibly strong is Rapunzel? Wow, she's absolutely fantastic.
Because she's so intelligent, Rapunzel was quick-thinking with her frying pan when Flynn broke into her tower and thoroughly questioned him with the help of her loyal chameleon friend Pascal before placing her trust in her one way out of the tower and to see the floating lights. A deal was made, and our princess used her powerful mind to get out of the tower and into the world she's been waiting for years to see.
And she loves it!
But like all of the best things in life, it's not all smooth sailing when you first get out there. Rapunzel was overjoyed to get out of the tower, but then she freaked out a lot, and honestly that segment where she keeps going back and forth about whether or not it was a bad idea to leave is way too relatable. It honestly used to always remind me so much of band camp. When you get home after a long day of marching and you're all like "I am never going back!!!" Only to wake up the next morning to say, "I have to go back."
I think it's really important to note here that strength is not the absence of weakness. That was a really crazy and scary thing that Rapunzel did. Flynn even tried to convince her to go back. But Rapunzel knew what she wanted and nothing was going to stop her from getting it. No ruffians or thugs were going to get in her way. In fact, she bonded with them. She used her dreamer quality to connect with people that were very different from her, because she saw that they had human hearts in common. Wow, she's so brave.
*in the voice of that guy who narrates the Pokémon TV series, if you know you know* Our story continues as a royal guard catches up to Flynn, who has recently robbed the palace of the crown that Rapunzel is holding hostage in her tower so Flynn will take her to see the lights. The pair is chased into a cave which begins to flood with water and leads to the tragic death of Rapunzel and Flynn... if it weren't for Rapunzel's quick thinking.
After a quick confession between the two, Flynn reveals that his name is actually Eugene, while Rapunzel says that oh yeah by the way SHE HAS MAGICAL GLOWING HAIR. Which lit up the cave and allowed them to escape. Thanks for coming through with those problem-solving skills, Rapunzel!
As the next series of events unfolds, our princess displays hopefulness and courage as she not only develops her relationship with Eugene, but stands up to Mother Gothel once and for all, and while she's scared of giving Eugene the crown (WHICH MOTHER GOTHEL BROUGHT TO HER JUST TO BE LIKE "HE DOESN'T ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT YOU HE JUST WANTS THIS CROWN"), she goes through with it and it ends up working out for her! We love and support a gal who faces her fears and finally lives her dream of seeing the lights. What a wonderfully positive woman.
However, tragedy strikes as Eugene's former partners in crime, the Sabbingtons, capture him, say he escaped with the crown, and then try to kidnap Rapunzel only for Mother Gothel to rescue her. Rapunzel goes back home to the tower, devastated about how she was wrong about everything.
(BUT SHE WASN'T. SHE WASN'T WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING.)
Shortly after her return to the tower Rapunzel realizes her TRUE IDENTITY. She is the lost princess. She confronts Mother Gothel about the matter (we love and support this brave princess), but is bound and gagged in her own tower. Meanwhile, Eugene escapes prison (thanks to their friends, the ruffians and thugs of the Snuggly Duckling) and travels to Rapunzel's tower to save her!... where he is attacked by Mother Gothel and slowly dies.
But not before Rapunzel shows her courage in the face of evil one more time, and agrees to stay with Mother Gothel forever if she is allowed to heal Eugene. Wow, we are so impressed by a loving and brave princess! It's a super tragic moment, especially when Eugene displays that love and bravery right back and cuts her hair off before she can heal him. Wow. We're crying. And so is Rapunzel, because Eugene (her new dream *insert many tears*) dies.
Did you guys know crying is a gift? Being able to express emotion and release negativity is difficult, and a talent. And it especially came through for Rapunzel today, as her magical tears healed Eugene! Mother Gothel fell to her death, Rapunzel was reunited with her family, and all ended well.
We love Rapunzel because she faced her trials with love, honesty, positivity, and courage. In the words of another princess we all know and love, "Have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbow will come smiling through."
Wishing that for all of you and sending you all my love.
--Lizzo