The Magic, The Memories and You!

Check out (most) of the new Magic Kingdom castle show.

Jonathan managed to record most of it before his flip cam battery died.

I think my favorite part is around the 2:25 mark. Although the train scene is pretty neat. And the consensus is that the rocket scene rocks!

Castaway Cay

We barely made it to Castaway Cay because it was so windy. In fact, the captain had to rearrange the entire itinerary. We made it there a day late, but we still made it!

Thankfully, the wind died down so it was comfortable. It was still kind-of chilly though.

The island had some Christmas decorations, but not too many. I was actually mildly disappointed at the lack of decor.

Although the tram was sure in the Christmas spirit!

Jodi Benson!

Jonathan, his parents and I just got off a wonderful (and cold!) 4-night Disney cruise.

Check out who else was cruising with us ... Jodi Benson, the voice of The Little Mermaid.

We bumped into her in the lobby, then again in the lunch buffet line (where we got our photo with her. She mentioned she was doing a show and autograph signing the next day (for a private group, but hey, she invited us!) so we went to that too.

She was so sweet and nice. And her voice was amazing! She same songs from a bunch of broadway shows and 90's Disney movies. We really got lucky that this private group was on the same cruise as us! I felt quasi-guilty crashing their private concert, but heck, Jodi 'personally' invited us! (ha ha ha!)

Laundry Strike - Day 60-63

Day 60 - Holy moly, I made it to week 2!

Day 61 - Making some new friends at the Magic Kingdom. Seriously, how cute is Flynn Ryder (character from the new movie Tangled)?

Day 61 - Ok, ok ... you got me. I'm wearing the same shorts as the day before. But I didn't watch them (hence, the laundry strike is still on!). And I'm just running in and out of Walmart ...

Day 62 - Skirt Tuesday. This is the skirt I made a couple months ago.

Britt-ish Designs!

Yes, I labeled this post as "celebrities".

I met the super uber talented Britt of Britt-ish Designs at the Magic Kingdom today.

If you're still scrapbooking with glue and paper, get with the program!

Come visit Britt's blog and join the fun!

P.S. Josh - if you're reading this, she didn't spend too much at Property Control. :)

Joe Rhode

I met super Imagineer Joe Rhode on the cruise.

I was actually stalking Bill Farmer (the voice of Goofy) at the time, and Joe Rhode is standing right on front of me. So why not ask him for a photo.

I'm wearing my super cool uniform, while Joe looks very daper and island-y.

Joe is the mastermind behind Aulani, the Adventure's Club, Expedition Everest and pretty much the entire Animal Kingdom park.

Cheers Joe!

Squeak, squeak!

How cute are these little guys from that Pixar short film?

On the SS Member Cruise 2010 they were hiding over in the Route 66 area of the ship.

Hi Grandma!

In case you thought I was cool ... here I am knitting on the beach at Disney's Castaway Cay.

Ironically, I'm knitting a scarf.

Just the article of clothing one needs on the beach!

Hey, when you're on a cruise for work and you get 2 hours off, you head for the beach, but don't get too dirty! No time for a shower before your shift starts.

Protein Spill!

If you work at Disney, you know what a 'protein spill' is. If you're not privy to that lingo ... it's a fancy way to say 'barf'.

So I just got home from Disneyland in California. They have a new show called World of Color. They sell cute popcorn buckets full of rainbow colored popcorn as a souvenir.

Jonathan bought one at 10am on Sunday morning. We started nibbling immediatly.

At noon I felt kind-of queezy. I figured it was because I had been eating like crap all weekend, and it was 100 degrees outside.

By 1pm I can barely function, so I found a quiet corner and laid down. All of a sudden, I felt "that feeling" and took off running outside to find a corner. I got within 10 feet of a bathroom and "protein spill!" I felt like a 5 year old who just puked in public.

Let me tell you ... that puke was GORGEOUS! There was a rainbow at my feet! Red, yellow, blue, purple ... just beautiful. I almost took a photo of it ... then I realized that was gross. Ha ha ha.

My M.O. is that the second I puke, I'm totally fine. So, after that embarrassing moment, I was totally healed and spend the next 11 hours at Disney. If you're doing the math, we left at midnight.

Who is this red scallywag?

A week ago I got off a Disney cruise. Cruises are the way to vacation, and nobody does it like Disney! It's normally a tad more expensive, but I really think it's worth it.

I was lucky enough to have a great travel companion ... Big Red! Big Red is our office's version of 'flat stanley'.

I handed Captain Jack Sparrow Big Red and said, "can you hold this and look confused?" To which he replied, "I'm always confused."

Rock on Captain Jack!

Laundry Strike - Day 16-23

Wow - a whole week has gone by, and I still haven't done any laundry! This week was quite easy. I was on a business trip and wore a uniform for 4 days in a row! I actually had to wash the uniform over the weekend, so the washing machine got a little bit of work.

Days 16, 17, 18 19 & 20

Here's me in my snazzy uniform shirt. And that's Joe Rhode - super awesome Disney Imagineer! He created Expedition Everest (among many things).

Day 21 - Back to work. Since I just got off a cruise (for business - awesome huh!), I wore my fat pants. If you've ever been on a cruise, you know what I mean.

Day 22 - "I traded my boyfriend for a Yeti". Classy.

Day 23 - Headed over to my friend Kelly's house. Her house is always chilly, so I took a chance on wearing a long sleeve t-shirt (even though it's 90 degrees outside). My gamble worked out, I was quite comfy!

The REAL Last Tour to Endor

Jonathan is a member of D23 and for only $5 a person they had a party for members to be the last people (besides the Cast Members I'm guessing ...) to ride Star Tours.

Dramamine - check
Sea Bands - check

Let's do this!



They let us walk really slowly to the ride, taking photos of everything. Same with the queue, nobody was in any rush at all, which was pretty cool.

The best part - a stormtrooper sat on the ride with us! This photo is Me, Sheri and Alice. Lucky Alice got to sit next to Mr. Loveable. He was holding his hands up (weeeeeee!), shaking his fist at the Rebels and facepalming when the Dark Side was defeated.



After the ride they gave us a "official last ride" patch (awesome!!!) and all the Cast Members were making a bridge of plastic lightsabers. Random, but cool.



The other perk of this D23 party was being at the park ALONE at night. I brought my tri-pod and experimented with some night time photos.

More hugs ...

I had some time to kill at Studios over the weekend, so I figured I'd go meet Lotso again. He's just so darn cute and huggable!

Epic Fail

I shouldn't laugh at this ... but it made me giggle.

Remember when there was just one giant lap bar? So if you are small-ish and you sat by somebody who was large-ish you had to hold on for dear life! That's what made Tower of Terror extra scary.

Failblog is one of my favorite websites. Check it out!

I like hugs

Jonathan and I met Lotso today at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Holy moly - he's so fuzzy and soft! I'm not one for stuffed animals, but I kind-of want one.

He signed my autograph book *heart*Lotso*heart*

I love you too buddy.

Lots-O-Huggin' Bear

Why didn't I get a Lot-O-Huggin' Bear when I was little?!?



Oh right ... b/c this commercial is fake!

Pixar, you're a genius. And Toy Story 3 is going to rule.

Hitler Reacts to the Fantasyland Expansion

"... first we loose the Adventure's Club, and now my beloved Toontown Fair."

I feel like a total jerk typing this ... but I kind-of agree with Hitler. Only on the Fantasyland stuff ... not the WWII stuff! Just to be totally clear. *doh*

FYI - watch out for a couple f-bombs.

Who ever makes these Hitler You Tube videos is a genius.

Project 365

If you're not facebook friends with me, I'm taking the "Project 365" (taking a photo a day) challenge. So far, I've only had one day where I was about to go to bed and though, "crap, I haven't taken a photo yet!"

One of the unexpected perks I've discovered is that I often take 4 or 5 photos a day, just to make sure that the photo I choose is a good one.

So I give you: February 10, 2010 ... the rejected photos.

I sleep in socks. I've discovered that most people find this to be very odd, but socks are the key to warmth. I always seem to wake up with one sock dangling off my toes. It's a physics miracle that the sock hasn't completely fallen off, yet it always stays on. I got these awesome socks for Christmas.

This is what I do with my days off. I sit at our kitchen table and screw around on the computer. My feet barely touch the ground in the chairs, I so always sit with my legs folded up like this. It's doesn't get much sexier than this! I'm rocking my Bears sweatshirt, my striped socks, PJs I bought at a thrift store and no shower.

It's been officially 1 month since the WDW marathon, and 30% of my

toenails are still pretty ugly. They don't hurt, and they don't look like they are going to fall off. I hope they get better before flip flop season. Since I live in Florida, flip flop season is all the time!

I gave Jonathan his Valentine's day gift early, since I had an entire day at home by myself. I made these cheesy Princess and the Frog inspired cupcakes. Those are supposed to be little frog eyes sticking out of water. All I know is that they are delicious!

If you're reading this on facebook, this is my blog uploading to facebook. If you have a blog, I'd love to add it to my google reader!

Notes from the WDW marathon ...

I really wish I brought a notepad and paper with me during the marathon. I tried to remember stuff, but I'm sure I forgot it all. Mostly, I remember my hamstring ripping away from what ever hamstrings are attached with.

If you've never done a marathon before - I highly recommend it. While you're in the process, it seems like torture, but when you're all done it's a great feeling! As my friend Hiromi said, "Very spiritual ... yet at the same time and awful experience." Yesterday I swore I would never do it again, but today I'm all pumped to have at it again!

Pre-race: People are wearing shorts and the temperature is in the 20s!!! I'm prepared wearing 6 shirts, a scarf, hat, gloves, sweatpants and shorts. Also, pre-race is the last time I saw any toilet paper (remember that for later ...)

Mile 1: There goes sweatshirt #1

Mile 2: Adios sweatshirt #2 and my scarf. "This isn't so bad!"

"Is that guy wearing a really fancy, Norwegian style sweater?"

Mile 3: "My hands are kind-of hot, I guess I don't need my gloves any more"

The water stop water was partially frozen!

Mile 4: "I want my scarf back!!!"

My 3rd shirt is thrown to the side of the road.

Mile 5: My face is partially frozen.

I'm desperately looking for gloves that somebody threw on the side of the road.

Some guy wearing JEANS passes me. Jeans?!?

Mile 6: The sun finally rises!

"Why does my back hurt of all things?"

Mile 7: A high school band is playing the theme song from Rocky. It rocks and totally pumps me up!

Mile 8: "Is somebody stabbing me in my quads? I really think somebody is ... I'm never doing this again!"

Mile 9: I finally found a glove on the side of the road. It was a super nice warm winter glove. I could only find one, but it was awesome!!

Mile 10: I made it inside the Magic Kingdom. Sweet!

Mile 11: Tiana, Naveen and Louis (Princess and the Frog) are out posing for photos. It's impossible to meet Louis inside the park. I wish I had brought my camera.

Two of the Country Bears run along with us from Diamond Horseshoe down to the Jamboree.

Mile 12: It's 9am - I should be at work, but instead I walked 12 miles.

I make the hard decision to throw my hat away.

Mile 13: I think my hamstrings are going to detach.

I stop my 'walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute' routine and start a similar 'walk 5 minutes, run 30 seconds'

Mile 14: I eat 1/3 of a banana. I don't even like bananas, but they are giving them out.

"What's that loud stomping noise?!? Oh, it's my feet slamming against the ground."

Mile 15: The piano guy that plays near Casey's Corner is randomly on the side of the road.

Mile 16: I've had to pee for about an hour, but the lines for the port-a-potties are so long. I finally give in and wait 4 minutes. No toilet paper anywhere!

16.5: I wipe my nose. I realize I just went to the bathroom, didn't use toilet paper, and didn't wash my hands (nothing to wash with). Gross.

My walk/run routine is getting really hard.

Mile 17: "There are tons of hills inside Animal Kingdom - this is awesome!"

They are giving out cold sponges. Why in the world do I want a cold sponge in 30 degree weather?!?

Should I shed my 4th shirt? I don't, and it was a great decision.

"Only single digit miles left!!!"

Mile 18: "Crap, I thought this was mile 19, but it's only mile 18."

Mile 19: They are giving out more bananas. I eat the entire thing this time.

We walk up a massive hill outside Animal Kingdom. I walk backwards for about 1 minute to shake things up.

Mile 20: "I could come in last place ... as long as I finish, I'm cool with that."

It's amusing to say to yourself, "awesome, only 6 more miles to go!" When is it normal to say ONLY 6 more miles?

I can't believe I kept up the walk/run routine. It's a miracle. I decide to power walk the rest of the way.

Mile 21: I see a chubby guy dressed as Mr. Incredible.

"If and when my hamstrings detach from what ever they are attached to, I could still limp 5 miles and finish."

Mile 22: I decide to go to the bathroom again. Again, no TP.

Mile 23: I get a 2nd wind from out of nowhere. It doesn't last too long.

They give out a box of raisins. It could've been a box of broccoli and I would've devoured it.

"I've got this thing in the bag - no problem!"

Mile 24: Walking along that water's edge between Studios and the Boardwalk was super cold!

Mile 25: I get my 3rd wind. I pick up the pace and breeze thru Epcot.

A crazy Japanese lady dressed up as Donald Duck is right next to me. I bust my butt to pass her, so my 'crossing the finish line' photo isn't with her in it.

Mile 26: I've passed Donald Duck lady.

"Where the heck is the finish line?!?"

.2 miles & a sprint later: "Woo-hoo!"

If you're still reading this, congratulations. This might be my longest blog ever.

Wish me luck!

So if you're reading this at 4:30am on Sunday, then you're inside and I'm outside waiting for the Disney marathon to start.

I signed up about a month and a half ago on a whim. I've done it before (and it was super hard!!!), but I kept thinking, "can I do it again?" It's not every day that you are able to push yourself to the extreme and accomplish a goal. It's a pretty cool feeling to say, "heck yeah - I did this!" Well, hopefully I can say that again tomorrow.

I'm scared to death and really nervous, because you have to keep up a certain pace, otherwise they remove you from the course. I'm not out to set any land speed records, I just want to finish on time ... and get that awesome Mickey Mouse metal!

So, wish me luck! Hopefully this afternoon I'll be back with some photos. I plan on 'running' with my digital camera. (I use the word 'running' very loosely. There will be much, much, MUCH more walking than running.) Although my stupid camera batteries die so quickly. I'll probably get 3 or 4 photos taken before they die. Then I'll have to lug my stupid camera with me for another 15 miles. Stupid batteries!