The Snow Queen & Annual Tacky Christmas Party 2013

Life had been so good lately.. very busy, but very good!



Ashli, Jessica and I went to see The Snow Queen ballet to celebrate Ashli's 25th birthday. I was really beautiful. This was the first time i'd been to a ballet.. i enjoyed getting all fancied up and going!

Later that day we had our Tacky Christmas Party.......





For the last 7 years my friends and I have done a Tacky Christmas Party. We like to do this each year as a way to all get together and celebrate the Christmas season. It's really hard to spend time together through out the year since we are spread all over the place so this is our way of celebrating not only Christmas, but our friendship.  Its something very special to me and I hope it continues each year even as we age and our families grow.

This year we celebrated with a spaghetti dinner and lots of treats and snacks to enjoy before and after the meal.  We decided to each bring a game for our Dirty Santa swap.  We've been trying to take turns hosting a game night once a month to help us get together more often so we thought it would be fun to bring games to add to our collections. After Dirty Santa we decided to open up some of the games and try them out. PS:Heads Up and 5 Second Rule are really fun! I am incredibly thankful to have these people in my life. My friends are really incredible and I love getting to have this annual tradition with them.


Here are some shots from the night:

                                                        Our attempt at a group shot!

Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for this year, but I guess as i've gotten older the more i've really appreciated my parents so I wanted to share a few shots of us from Thanksgiving day because they are truly wonderful and while i've always loved them.. i haven't always understood and grasped the magnitude of what all they have done for me and now that I do all I can be is thankful.  

26th Birthday

I am SO BEHIND on posts, so I'm going to try to catch up!

My 26th birthday was all of 2 months ago, but i've got to include a few snapshots from that day.. it was a lot of fun! It was spent surrounded by friends at a halloween themed costume party complete with a chocolate fondue fountain! Duck Dynasty characters, Ellen, Sophia Grace and Rosie and the cast of New Girl and Star Wars were all in attendance. It was truly an honor ;) I was instagram..via Pinterest inspiration!

The Red Era

The "Red Era" has been a fun little time. I LOVE that Taylor has been on a pattern of releasing new albums every 2 years. I can reflect back on my life and look at each of those two years along with the music that was playing in the background... so each of those little time periods holds distinct memories associated with her music.  

September 20th & 21st I attended her last two sold out shows on the North American leg of the tour.

It was an unforgettable experience!

Many people rag me about how many times I attend Taylor shows, but it's absolutely one of my favorite things to do. It doesn't get old and I think that speaks for itself about the sort of entertainer she is.  I was in the pit for the friday night show. It was on my bucket list to see a big show like this in the pit or front row. Well I was pretty much front row right there in the middle of the stage. It was by far the best view i've ever had at any show.  The picture below is from the instagram picture Ed Sheeran posted after he opened the show...i'm in that little collection of people to the left side of the runway part of the stage. You can actually see my face,but its kinda of hard for me to point out like this :)

 I can't explain how fun it was for me to experience this up close. Music is one of my favorite things and I love the way Taylor makes her shows 100% entertaining from the lights and sounds to pyro and theatrics. Each song is like a story and Taylor performs them in a very storybook sort of way...you can feel and see the emotions she felt when she was writing that song.  These were my 9th and 10th shows and I'm not done...i'll continue to go as long as she continues to play. Say what you wish, but this girl is relevant. I'm so thankful for her music. 

                                              We are never ever ever getting back together

                       "This path is reckless...This slope is treacherous... and i like it"

                                                         " Drop everything now"

Loved that she rocked the Country Music Hall of Fame shirt 

                                                       Loved this outfit!

"They tell you that you're lucky, but you're so confused cause you don't feel lucky you just feel used"

                                                    "Nothing safe is worth the drive"

                         This is a non-zoomed photo. This truly shows how close I was. so incredible!

  Then BIG SURPRISE of the night Rascal Flatts came out Friday night to sing "What Hurts the Most" with Taylor. This is also a non zoomed photo of them singing right above me!

 Saturday night Hunter Hayes came out to sing "I want Crazy"

Taylor and Rascal Flatts 

 Ed Sheeran pranked Taylor on the final night closing number. Gotta love Ed

Ed Sheeran: He sort of melts my heart. His voice is so gorgeous 

                                               
So thankful for the memories i've made and the places I've been to see Taylor perform.

"I'll be one of the many saying you made us proud"

Vacation Part II

Back in September I took a little road trip to Florida to visit family and friends.

My first stop was in Gainesville to visit Angie and Pam.  I did some relaxing by the pool and soaked up some Florida sunshine before my sun allergy caused me to take cover in the shade.

After a couple days in Gainesville I headed over to Orlando to catch up friends and go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! I didn't go to a Halloween party while I worked at Disney so this was something new and exciting... I also had not yet seen all of the new parts of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom.
                                   

Reunions with friends make me so happy!!!

 Freddy,Trisha and me at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

 Saw Alex at work as we were heading into the party

Downtown Disney reunions 

 The Halloween party was amazing.. I FINALLY got to meet all 7 Dwarves!!!

The Boo to You parade was incredible..lot of fun characters and happy haunts!

After the countless hours I spent as a Photopass photographer at Epcot.. I got pretty decent at photographing this ball :) 

One of my trip highlights was having lunch at Be Our Guest with Lauren... I completely geeked out over how real this felt. Disney nailed it on this one. 

I went to Gaston's Tavern to try out a Lefou's Brew...its an interesting combo of applejuice and marshmallow and maybe a few other flavors.  It was worth trying.. BUT I don't know that I would get it again. haha 

Another trip highlight was breakfast at O'Hana with my girls...i love them so much and am grateful for the friendship we share even though we are miles apart now. 

I love being able to go back to Disney and get in some magic and spend time with everyone.  It's always a wonderful experience and so special to get in some quality time with friends that I don't get to see very often. 

Blog swap alert

Swap alert: anyone can join

Check out The Great Christmas Exchange on  http://www.oakandoats.com 

My Disney Side

I think we all have that thing in life we are just zealous about.  Chances are you have more than one thing..I know I do. Recently I was thinking on those "passions" in my life..the things that make me who I am and the things that just simply bring me joy.  I think our interests and passions are what make us so unique. Some of our passions/hobbies spark from our natural born talent, some are just things that have developed over time and some are trades we've worked really hard to be good at for years and years.  I get joy out of seeing others fulfill their passions.. I LOVE seeing someone in THEIR element. You can see it all over someones face when they talk about and do what they love. This is one of those life joys we so often forget to appreciate.  It is just really cool to me to see someone doing their own thing or succeeding in their skill of expertise or just simply thrilled with the newest art they have created.  My friends and I are all extremely different in fact none of us really share the exact same passions. While we all appreciate each others interests, we each have something that make us different. I love this about my group of friends. We have each just kind of found our thing that brings us joy or little hobbies that thrill our souls. Thats the way life should be. If you haven't found yours yet. Keep searching. You will know it when you find it.

 I wanted to write a little bit about one of my passions/hobbies how ever you want to look at it.


There are a few things that I would definitely say i'm specifically "geeky" about and one those things is Disney.

                                                 so here's the story...


It all started well...at birth. My parents clothed me in Mickey and Minnie from the time I was born and surround me with numerous toys and accessories sporting the famous Disney characters. It's really no wonder that I turned out the way I did. My earliest memories involve these characters.. these are faces that i've known as familiar since I was in my crib. I have many pictures to prove how early this Disney love started so i'll share a few of those now...

As you see the Disney name and brand has been a constant in my life so it is no wonder that these characters feel so warm and familiar...after all i've seen them my whole life.  It didn't really dawn on me until I was in my 20s why I never really "grew up" or "grew out" of appreciating these characters like I did other characters from my childhood. I never "got over" Disney. For awhile I tried to pretend that Disney movies weren't still my favorites to pop in although they were...Beauty and the Beast still to this day remains one of my favorite movies of all time.  I recently just settled into the fact that that the Disney name has always been there and it always will be there. It holds some of my fondest memories, dreams and most importantly it holds the nostalgia of the good sweet parts of my childhood.  It's the whimsy of it all that I can't let go of and I don't really think I  want to.  I think if we let completely go..we may truly forget what it means to live.  Disney as a whole taught me how to dream and how to believe.  The characters came to life through films,books and music. Those characters even taught me valuable life lessons.

My love for Disney grew even deeper when I accepted a photopass role in the Disney College program in spring of 2010. I spent my last semester of college planning for the big move to Florida. I graduated then left home and everything I had ever known for the adventure of a lifetime. The memories and friendships I gained from this experience actually gave me back so much more than I could have ever asked for. I extended in January 2011 and stayed for one more semester working in Vacation Planning. The 10 months I spent in Orlando at Walt Disney World will always rank pretty high up on my list of amazing life opportunities.  I can't begin to tell you the things I saw and experienced while working at WDW. I am convinced that the people I met (from guests to other cast members) are some of the best.  I am left with friends from all over the world and these lasting friendships are what I am most thankful for about the whole experience. I could see the difference I was a part of and the memories I was helping create daily for families. Watching memories unfold for people never got old to me and still even now when I go back to visit the oooo's and ahhhh's from the crowd as they experience Disney magic for the first time just makes me so happy. I guess its because I know I am witnessing something special.. Something those kids will always talk about.. Something those parents will cherish long after their kids are grown and gone and that's memories in the making. Some people think I'm silly.. Some just don't understand,but if you get the chance to experience what I'm talking about you'll understand. 

I admire the empire that Walt Disney himself built around all of these important things adults so often forget to appreciate: Memories, Whimsy, Faith, Dreaming,Magic and simply believing in things that can't be explained. I believe in the company..what it represents and the traditions it works so hard to maintain. 

 I personally believe happiness lies somewhere between the worlds of grown up knowledge and child like wonder. Keeping our minds young and igniting wonder is something we sometimes forget to do as adults. Our minds get busy with the daily grind the worries and stresses of life and we simply forget to just let our minds rest and to be happy over little things like bubbles, fireworks and ice cream cones. Those little joys in life are all around us and the Disney Company is what reminds me to step back and not take life so seriously. 

Our time is so precious. Make fun memories and cherish them. It's doesn't have to be at Disney world. Hopefully it will be doing whatever it is that you love and are passionate about. Take time to find something you are passionate about and pursue it. All those things you keep wanting to do. Go do them.  

  

Vacation part one

I'm on the road to see some of my favorite people. It kind of feels like coming home! I'm so excited! 

Parkland

I love the Kennedy's and this movie looks amazing. I can't wait to see it!

Nesting

"You don't find a happy life.. You make it"

I'm finally getting settled into my new place...or as I like to call it "nesting" -in fact i'm actually doing something I have pictured myself doing for a long time..relaxing on my new couch under a cozy blanket..updating my blog. I'm extremely content in this moment.  I don't have internet yet so a personal hotspot from my phone is doing the trick tonight. I'm finally getting used to the sounds of my new home and i'm most thrilled to say miss Georgia is finally adjusting to the big move as well. Who knew a cat would have such a hard time transitioning? I certainly did not realize and....I was not prepared.  To paint you a tiny picture it was somewhat like (what I would imagine) having a new born baby would be like....late night "crying", constant attention and big messes.

I'm counting down the days til my vacation. I can't begin to describe how ready I am to see some of my favorite people. September is going to be such a fun month with lots of adventures and I can't wait for it to arrive, but while I wait here are some little moments of time i'm thankful for right now:
*Unending love from my friends- i've officially hosted two little events at my new place and they were both perfect. I love the people in my life.
*A Mug swap :) (i love love love getting mail)
*Photos that warm my apartment with beautiful memories
*Walking in an afternoon rain shower
*Duck Dynasty- i laugh out loud over this show. it does my soul good
*A mother that is supportive even when I don't deserve it
*Making an apartment a home. I'm thankful for the resources to provide for myself and make a home as hard as it may be at times to do it alone. When I step back and see how far i've come i'm absolutely humbled.

Music to my ears: This is a section dedicated to my current musical obsessions
-"Karmas coming back for me" Megan and Liz    Check it out here
-'Roar" Katy Perry
-"State of Grace" Taylor Swift
-"Beautiful" Ben Rector
-"Birthday" Selena Gomez
-"Living Louder" The Cab  (I highly recommend this song )

I'm working on:
-blogging more
-eating more fruits and veggies
-making an updated bucket list
-Scrapbooking regularly
-Uploading more photographs 

Mug Swap!

I am so excited about this little event I just read about that a fellow blogger hosts annually! It's a mug swap..who doesn't love a cute mug?! You have to sign up by August 7th so hurry on over and sign up!!

Get all the details here :  ACUPPAKIM