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Top 10 Disney Christmas Memories 2013

As a part of our Christmas, my family packed up and headed on a family vacation to Walt Disney World! We went the second week of December which allowed us to see everything decorated but not have to deal with the killer crowds the two weeks surrounding Christmas. I have never been this time of year so I was so excited to see everything decorated and lit up in lights! I mean, Cinderella’s Castle is breathtaking on its own at night but with Christmas lights? Be still, my pixie-dusted heart!

 

Disney Christmas Vacation 2013

It was such an amazing week and while I could talk about it for days, I will share with you our top 10 Disney Christmas memories (in no particular order):

Landing!

I thought I had learned a lot about traveling from our first trip to Disney in 2011 but I was not prepared for the winter weather! It was such a stressful day of travel due to bad winter weather. We were flying out of Greenville, SC and my parents were flying out of Roanoke, VA and the forecast definitely had me biting my nails! Flying itself gives me anxiety but the stress of wondering if both of our flights would fly remotely on schedule gave me heartburn! My parents had the worst of the winter weather and while they had a delay, they landed in Orlando before lunch. Our flight was already scheduled to arrive 8 hours after my parents but while we didn’t have horrible weather at our airport, the flights were backed up because of delays elsewhere. We didn’t take off until almost 10:30pm but thankfully its only an hour flight. My parents were ready and waiting at baggage claim to pick us up and get the week of fun started! Aren’t glittery shoes the only way to travel to Disney?

Top 10 Disney Memories

The weather!

When we took off in SC, the temperature was hovering around 40 degrees but when we walked out of the airport at almost midnight, it was over 80! We were shedding layers as we walked to the car! We could not have asked for better weather the week we were there! It was warm enough to enjoy wearing shorts and skirts but we weren’t melting. It never rained. I’m not sure if we even had any overcast days! My joints were very happy with the warmth and sunshine!

Disney Vacation Memories

Tower of Terror & Expedition Everest!

I have always, always wanted to ride these rides but being that I was only 4 weeks post-op at our last visit, I wasn’t able to ride the bigger rides.While Abby wasn’t quite tall enough to ride and John definitely wasn’t going to ride so they checked out shows and characters while I got the chance to ride Tower of Terror (Hollywood Studios) and Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom) with my parents! Oh my goodness! These were amazing rides! I was worried about both of them being too jerky but I was pleasantly surprised! There was only one turn on Everest that was a tad rough (right after you started going backwards) but I was able to keep my hands up the whole time (earning me a $1 from a bet with my dad that I wouldn’t be able to do it). Tower of Terror wasn’t jerky at all surprisingly and the only thing that bothered me was the spinning stars that made me a little dizzy. I definitely give both rides 2 thumbs up! Hopefully by next visit, Abby will be tall enough for both!

Disney Vacation Memories

The Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights!

Oh my goodness. Seeing the dancing lights at Hollywood Studios is reason enough to travel to Disney World at Christmas! It was absolutely breathtaking! Words seriously cannot describe it! It was actually the very last year for the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights as Hollywood Studios began major renovations removing Streets of America (where the lights were set up) to make room for the future Star Wars area.

Disney Vacation Memories

Gluten-Free Barbecue!

I have mentioned before that I think WDW is one of the best places to vacation if you have Celiac disease (or other food allergies) because they are so allergen-friendly. And its not just one or two things that are available at the parks that are gluten-free but a HUGE variety throughout all the parks (Allergy-Free Mouse is a great resource). When you place an allergen-friendly order, a manager takes your order and that is the only person who has contact with your meal from start to finish! That attention to detail to avoid cross contamination issues is worth every minute of the wait! We didn’t eat in the parks much for budget reasons but stopping at Flame Tree Barbecue at Animal Kingdom was not up for debate! Their gluten-free barbecue is AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (and yes, it worth all-caps!). If I could have found a way to box it up and ship it home, I totally would!

Test Track!

This ride was definitely at the top of all of our favorite rides list! Even my not-crazy-about-rides husband loved it! When you shoot out on the outdoor track to hit top speeds, it is a total adrenaline rush! It was so much fun building your car and then being able to check out how your creation would work on the track! Abby took charge of the design process and we basically ended up with a glittery Barbie jeep with a lift-kit! We killed it on all categories except being eco-friendly! Oops! We still earned 1st place!

Disney Vacation Memories

Meeting All The Characters!

Abby had the opportunity to meet a lot of the characters on our first visit so this year we put the princesses she didn’t have a chance to meet at the top of our to-do list! The top ones on that list were her girls Rapunzel, Ariel, Brave, and Jasmine! Her level of excitement in having her turn to meet the princesses was written all over her face! She was so enamored with all of them! She was wearing her Tangled wedding dress when she met Rapunzel so she thought that was amazing and maybe earned her some extra time posing for pictures! Abby was totally a natural in front of the camera! She ate it up!

Disney Vacation Memories

Introducing Abby to some “big girl” rides!

Abby has grown quite a bit since our first visit to Disney and she was so excited to cross the 40″ mark so she could ride some of the “big girl” rides! She absolutely loved the Goofy’s Barnstormer roller coaster that is part of the new Fantasyland and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad coaster in Frontierland! She also thought the Star Wars ride at Hollywood Studios was a cool ride because she got to shoot the bad guys! Two “big girl” ride fails were the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom and Splash Mountain! I had never ridden the Dinosaur ride before but it was quite a dark, rough ride so she came off the ride in tears. Mom fail! The reason she didn’t like Splash Mountain was because she didn’t like her butt getting wet from the seats! Mom scored some points back since I packed some spare bottoms! This is the before shot of Dinosaur when she was all smiles (I am so glad that we do not have an after):

Disney Vacation Memories

Meeting Anna & Elsa

Meeting the princess & queen from Frozen needed a spot all its own! Throughout the entire week, the longest line we waited in by far was to meet Anna and Elsa! We waited around 1 1/2 hours but a cast member shared that during the busier times the wait was a minimum 2 hours! I cannot imagine what the lines were the week of Christmas! Pure insanity I’m sure! Just before it was our turn to go in, Abby had her face plastered to the glass as she anxiously awaited her turn! When she was greeted by Anna and Elsa, I don’t think anything else in her world existed! You could just see the wonder in her eyes! As we were leaving she turned to me and said, “Mama, that was worth every single minute of the wait!” That definitely made it worth every minute for us too!

Disney Vacation Memories

 

Being a Family!

I soak up every minute we are able to be together as a family and there is just something magical about making memories together at Disney. Before we took Abby the first time in 2011, I never understood how people could visit year after year and not get bored. Then we took Abby and I saw the magic. I have always loved Disney but this visit definitely infused my veins with pixie dust for life! One of the most important lessons I learned from our first trip to Disney was to take the time to take it all in and just enjoy yourself! Put down the camera every once and a while and focus on seeing the wonder through your child’s eyes and making memories together is an experience I will never, ever trade for anything. Our first visit in 2011 was a total family affair (which was amazing) but we went this year with just my parents. When you live away from your family, it makes those times together even more special! I am super close with my parents and love any time that I get to spend with them! It was just a magical experience and I honestly cannot wait to plan our next visit!

Disney Vacation Memories

Now to finally figure out this whole couponing thing so I can start saving and planning for our next trip!

bloggingchronic illness

Tips For Attending A Conference When You Have A Chronic Illness

As you all know, I recently returned from my first trip to Type A Conference in the beautiful city of Atlanta! I wrote about my first trip to a conference when I shared tips on surviving a blog conference when you are an introvert but this was my first multi-day conference and it was a lot larger than my previous experience. Type A is bigger than Bloggy Bootcamp (my first conference experience) but still significantly smaller than BlogHer. This experience definitely proved my little introverted self would absolutely NEVER make it at BlogHer. I think the last BH conference surpassed 3000 attendees! Yikes! I only had to hide in the bathroom and cry once at Type A 🙂

While the trip definitely exhausted me and it took me nearly a week to recover, I still think that the trip was very worthwhile and I don’t think having a chronic illness can keep you from having a blast. You just need to modify your plans to accommodate your needs. Here are some things that I recommend paying attention to when you consider attending a blog conference (or any time of conference really):

1- Travel. I lucked out that Type A was only 3 hours away from home. There were conference attendants from all over the country who had a much heftier travel agenda than I had so for that I am thankful! If you are going to be traveling from a significant distance, be sure to add some buffer time in your schedule. Consider traveling in a day early and/or staying an extra day to allow yourself time to rest before the festivities.Type A kicked off Friday morning but I arrived in Atlanta around dinner time on Thursday so I was able to catch a quick dinner and spend the evening resting so I would be ready to go the next morning.Not only does driving wear me out but driving in Atlanta drives me absolutely batty which makes me more anxious which makes me stress which makes me more likely to flare. Because I knew this, I hooked up with some bloggers from the area to carpool down. I was glad to help pay gas and parking if it meant I didn’t have to drive! By the time time Sunday rolled around, I was so tired that I was twice as glad that I was not the one driving. Had I been driving, I would have definitely added in a rest day before traveling for safety.

2- Its ok to miss sessions and events. I know you want to soak in as much knowledge, networking, and good times as possible when you attend a conference but it is ok to take breaks. Your body needs breaks. Conference rooms chairs are not the most comfortable and walking back and forth for sessions and around the expo area can take a toll on your body and the last thing you want to do is push yourself too far and land in a strange ER. Conferences typically publish the schedule well in advance so pick out the sessions and events that are the most important to you and build your personal schedule around that. Allow yourself to be flexible and most importantly, don’t feel bad about making your health a priority. Would I have loved to been more involved in the night events and late night parties? Absolutely but I would rather leave early to get some rest in order to be able to fully enjoy the sessions and events I did go to. It is really important to listen to your body and go with the flow.

3- Dress comfortably. These days I am hardly out of yoga pants so I was really looking forward to wearing some real clothes and feeling cute and put together but I still had to take into consideration what I would also feel comfortable in. I have two large incisions that can make sitting for extended periods uncomfortable with certain waistbands so I had to take that into consideration when picking out my outfits. There would also be some walking around the expo area and between sessions that make comfortable shoes a must. Thankfully everything for Type A was in the same general area within the hotel but I know some conferences are more spread out. My go-to outfits for this conference where dark wash jeans, blazers, and fun accessories. I have decided that blazers are my secret weapon for feeling confident and put together!

4- Make sure you have the medications you need. While most hotels have a gift shop or convenience area where you can purchase Pepto and Tylenol, I am a strong believer in being a spoonie girl scout and being prepared. I also recommend traveling with your prescription medications in their original bottles. Heaven forbid something should happen but in case of an emergency, a doctor or responder would be able to know the medications you are taking versus having a pill case with a bigger variety than a bag of Skittles. You don’t necessarily need to bring a full bottle but I would bring enough for the days of your trip plus one as a spare. If you require prescription pain medications, I recommend traveling with a mini pill safe or keeping them on you just as a precaution. I also travel with a variety of OTC medicines as well as a precaution. I felt like a walking pharmacy as I had everything from Excedrin to Dramamine. I would also recommend wearing a medical alert (if needed) and installing an ICE app on your phone with your pertinent medical information in case of emergency (especially if you are not traveling with someone who knows your history).

5- Be yourself and HAVE FUN! I always worry about being known as the “sick blogger.” Many within the Type A community know my story, especially when I had to back out of last year’s conference at the last minute because of my bowel obstruction surgery. I was met with “How are you feeling?” on several occassions (versus the traditional “How are you?”) and at first I felt a little self-concious because I didn’t want to be known as that girl but I can to the realization that 1- while I am not defined by my illness, it is a part of who I am and shaped me into the strong woman that I am and given me the purpose for why I attend blogging events, and 2- these people are completely genuine, care about me as a person, and Type A really is a family of bloggers. Hopefully by knowing me and my story, they will be more aware of chronic illnesses and will be able to better support a friend or loved one who may be impacted by illness. I have to admit that I also loved being the blogger with purple hair! A tip if you have purple hair (or another unnatural hair color) – bring your own pillowcase to avoid color rub on the hotel sheets! I would hate to know what the Westin would have charged me for a pillowcase considering a bottle of water was $3!

Hopefully these tips will help if you decide to attend a blog conference (or any kind of conference) someday! If you have attended a similar event with chronic illness, what tips would you add to the list?

p.s. – if you notice over there on the sidebar, I have opened up A New Kind of Normal store on Zazzle! I am a very visual person and love having visual reminders to stay strong and keep up the hope especially when I am having a hard day! Let me know what you think!

bloggingchronic illness

HAWMC Day 9: Keep Calm

We have all seen the “Keep Calm & Carry On” posters if you have been on the internet any length of time. Actually you now can find a multitude of products that include the phrase “Keep Calm” and followed by something like “Eat Cupcakes,” “Blog On,” or “Go Shopping.” I just so happened to be fans of all three!

For today’s assignment we instructed to create our own Keep Calm poster. As I write this post, this is the first time being back online as my family and I had a mini-getaway and I decided to go completely unplugged. No phone. No text. No twitter. It was very refreshing and it inspired me to create this poster:

Keep Calm Custom Poster

And by “Get Away” I mean get out of the house and go somewhere. It doesn’t have to be anywhere far away or fancy. In fact, as a spoonie, I would recommend not going very far – just far enough to feel away from home but not far enough to spend your spoons traveling.

Right after church yesterday morning, we packed up for a mini-trip just the three of us. We had reserved a hotel about an hour away and we were looking forward to the king sized bed and indoor pool (which was disappointing because the water was freezing!). Last night we just hung out in the room after dinner and played, talked, and snuggled. Then a miracle happened – we all fell asleep at 9:30 and slept until 9am. Seriously that is a miracle in our family! We all needed sleep! After taking our time to get ready, we spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon strolling and doing a little bit of shopping before returning home.

Our trip was nothing fancy. Nothing too expensive or glamorous however it was exactly what we needed. The last couple weeks have been rough health-wise and had really impacted the time we have been able to spend together as I’ve had to spend more time in bed because of pain. So this day away was just what we needed. I highly recommend trying to plan a mini-trip into your calendar and your budget. Again, nothing needs to be expensive or fancy as the focus of the trip will be on relaxing as a family and I can guarantee you will come home thankful for the time together.

Have you ever taken a day trip just to get away?

disclaimer

Information posted here should not be considered medical advice. It is not intended to replace consultation with physicians or other healthcare providers. A New Kind of Normal covers my personal experience and because every person's experience is unique, it should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare.

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