Face lift for my Blog

After returning from our much needed vacation from Hawaii, I have given my blog a little refirb and HOPE (I'm gonna try really hard!) to post at least 3 times a week.  My posts will consist of the following:

1.   Disney news.  There is always something exciting going on at Disney!! When you call the Mouse, I answer so I know a lot of what is going on at Walt Disney World and the Walt Disney Company.   I am looking forward to going to the D23 Expo and sharing what is going on from there and I also hope to be more involved volunteer wise with the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.  That place is amazing and if you a Disney fan you need to plan a trip to go there. TRUST me, you will looove it!

2.  Digital Scrapbooking.  My goal is to do AT LEAST one page a week.  I love all you can do with digital and now that's pretty much the only way I scrapbook.  I of course, like many of you have plenty of scrapbooking supplies still and enjoy making cards and other papercrafts.

3. FOOD Glorious food.  I'm always on the search for meals to serve my family that are tasty and healthy, but I have to do it without them knowing..shhhh.  I'm going to take a recipe from different food blogs, which there are so many wonderful ones, each week and fix a meal and do a review.  Looking forward to this and changing up what we eat, and hopefully put us on our way to eating a little bit healthier.

4.  Finally, an occasional post about my amazing kids, because sometimes I just like to brag because they are both pretty talanted and overall awesome.  I also have really gotten into Instagram, which I have linked on the side of my blog.  If you have an iphone it's a great app to share your photos and to view and comment on others.

I hope you enjoy my occasional blurps in the blogosphere.  And now I will dream about my mornings in Hawaii, when I had a Starbucks (in my awesome Starbucks "Aloha from Hawaii" cup!) and read at the beach with just me and my Nook.  Mahalo!

Feeling a Little Nostalgic

I was thinking about why I was such a Disney Nerd, and how I have passed this Disney Nerdiness on to my daughter. Other Disneyphiles such as myself I am sure agree. It's about the feeling that you get while you are at a Disney Park. When you are not there are always chasing that Disney high. Thinking of things that remind you of the being there. The smell inside of Pirates of the Caribbean, the chills you get when you see the castle the first time walking in the park, the warm feeling you get when you are with your own children and get to experience it through their eyes. The memories you get to bring home, and with me being a scrapbooker getting to relive them and enjoy them over and over again. The excitement as you plan for another trip, counting down the days.

As a child, I was fortunate to be able to go to Disneyland at least once every few years. These were some of my favorite childhood memories because my family was together and everything was right with the world. As I got older and spent time as a teen there, it was an escape from what was going on around me. As an adult the minute I stepped on Disney property I was able to forget all my troubles, and for at least a few days I could live in Fantasyland.

I began to find there is so much more to Disney then just the parks. There is the whole culture over the years and this fascinated me. From the animation, to the music, the movies, the merchandise, the food and Walt Disney himself. I was intrigued with cast members that worked with Disney to create help create these wonderful memories for guests and worked with Walt Disney to build what we now know as Disney. And of course the details. Mickey doesn't skimp on the details.


Luckily I came across an opportunity that was perfect for me. I finally got to be a part of the Disney team. After visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum, I realized how lucky I was to be even a small part of Disney and how really proud I was. I love being able to help with Walt's dream and if I can make one guest smile and feel the magic like so many others did for me growing up, then it's all worth it.


That's me with the hat on visit to Disneyland circa 1971 with my family.

D23

I was at my great aunt's funeral and I reconnected with a distant cousin that I haven't seen in a long time. We got talking and it turns out she was a D23 member and invited me over to take a look at her Disney room and all her magical treasures! My jaw dropped when I saw her Steam Boat Willie, he was HUGE! She had several Giuseppe Armani figures that are just beautiful, exquisite pieces of art. Snow White and the Dwarfs and Pinnocchio , but by far the most lovely was the Beauty and the Beast figure pictured here.

She had many pins that were framed and arranged around the room. Her latest find were the Vinylmation collectibles since being a member of D23. I was loving every minute and taking in every detail of what she was sharing with me. I think I have a new Disney buddy!! As I was leaving she was so kind to gift me my first Vinylmation. It was available to D23 members during the first expo in 2009. Thanks Jane! This really made my day. I have a feeling he won't be my last.

So guess what I asked DH for Mother's Day? A membership to D23.

And yes, I am kicking myself for not becoming a Charter Member.

For more info on D23 go to : D23 Official Community for Disney Fans
For more info on Vinylmation go to : Official Blog for Vinylmation

ETA : I did get what a wanted for Mother's Day!! Thank you to my wonderful family!!

My favorite Disney photo

One of my favorite things to do when I'm at the Disney parks is take pictures. This picture is one of my all time favorite. Leo and MK were riding the Teacups at Disneyland and I was clicking away when I noticed this couple. I was so pleased at how the picture came out. I love how the woman has her hands up with reckless abandon, laughing and the gentleman has a huge smile on his face. It pretty much sums up what Disney is all about. Something about the Disney magic that takes over you no matter what your age.

Kim Possible

On our last visit to Epcot,Maggie had a blast doing the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. It’s an ultra interactive quest at Epcot based on the Disney Channel animated series, Kim Possible. She got to transform into a secret agent, join Team Possible and help save the world from super-villains with the help of a high-tech "Kimmunicator". Maggie’s mission (if she chose to accept it) sent her to England where she defeated the villian and saved the world! She was so focused and she took her job very seriously. Out of everything we did in Epcot this was by far her favorite! She wanted to spend the entire day looking for villains.

Back from the Magical Kingdom

We are back from Disneyland and it as always was quite an adventure. I had a few issues with my feet because of terrible blisters (I wore Crocs that were well wore in, I think it was because of the 105 heat) so I got to experience the Magic Kingdom via scooter which was slightly embarrassing, but after a while I got over it and just enjoyed myself. A lovely lady in line for scooters kind of put it all in perspective. She always uses a scooter because it makes her happy and if she didn't have one she would be awfully cranky after walking so much and when mama isn't happy no one else is. She also said that she had a wheelchair and it was all fun and games for the first 15 minutes and after that the kids just abandoned her so the scooter was the way to go!! Now I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed having the freedom of zipping all over Disneyland and California Adventure! I wouldn't do it again though I think unless absolutly neccessary. It was VERY hard to manuvour through the shops. So I had fun, but my heart wasn't into our Disney adventure as it usually is. I was dissapointed with myself, but my wonderful family bore with me and wouldn't leave me behind!! A couple photos of the kiddos. Of course it's too much to ask for them to sit still and take a decent picture LOL! MK was very adventurous and went on all the rides even the Haunted Mansion! She liked them all EXCEPT Indiana Jones which she thought before we arrived she would be riding 4 or 5 times at least! She was pretty scared poor thing. She did enjoy the Indiana Jones show which was so so but she did get chosen to be in it which was fun. It was funny we pretty much knew she would get chosen because she always does. I'm not sure how she does it!! I think our next Disney adventure will be to Disney World hopefully in the next year or so. I will have better walking shoes for sure!! But as usual I always have a feeling of forgetting all my troubles when I am in the Magic Kingdom. It's a great escape from reality for a few days.