Day 1136: Back and Forth

While trying to balance so many parts of my life all at once, it seems that I keep going back and forth between what comes first. Of course, my school work comes long before anything else, and my schedule here at SNC certainly keeps me busy between classes, work, and meetings, not to mention homework and practice time! Meanwhile, Everyday Disney tends to fall behind, and why I'm just not quite sure.

It's pretty easy, I suppose, to just shove off a day of blogging with the intent of making it up the next day, but then one day turns into two, and suddenly we're down the rabbit hole. In other words, it seems that in my attempts to become more organized and develop new, healthy habits, my blog continues to flounder in the background, and that's something I've given a lot of thought to over the past few weeks. Still, Disney becomes a part of my daily routine, as though that hasn't already been demonstrated by the years of blogging that I've somehow come up with since January 2013, and a lot of those posts were made up after the fact. I mean, really, we can't forget how I literally got behind only a week or so into the daily blogging game due to sickness, and while I haven't been sick recently (*knock on wood*), blogging goes back and forth between being caught up and falling behind.

And then I thought about how this, the simple act of falling behind, might also somehow relate to Disney. I fall behind in things all the time - my weekly practice schedule, rushing to 8 a.m. class twice a week, when playing my solo in Sweet Georgia Brown, you name it - and so does Disney, even if none of us like to admit it. We all, obviously, need to set goals for ourselves, and opening dates or daily blog posts are always good goals. But if we achieved every goal we made, then life wouldn't be as interesting, or at least I don't think so. Disney will often set opening dates and then push them back by days, weeks, or even months, allowing for more time for development. After all, Star Wars was just delayed a number of months to give more time for production, and it wasn't all that long ago that the opening date for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was pushed back and back until it finally opened much later than initially intended.

I suppose, then, that falling behind isn't all that bad...even if I do intend to try and keep my goal of consistently staying up to date with my blog posts.

Have a magical day!

Day 1036: A Lot of Thinking

After coming up with almost 60 blog post topics in the past few days, I was left with this one, lone, blog post that I had no idea what to write about. I've gone through Tumblr and Pinterest and Facebook and Twitter, Throwback Thursdays, Pictures, Instagram, and basically my entire room at college with no luck. It turns out, nothing of any interest happened on this day, and considering the fact that I'm a busy college student, that assumption probably isn't all that far off.

But then I realized that I should probably give an explanation as to why many of these blog posts have a note at the bottom that says the post was written on a different day, and honestly, you can find a ton of those notes throughout the years of this blog. We're all busy people in this world, and things get behind, especially when your blog is important enough to keep up with, but not important enough to come first on your totem poll of things to do.

It does matter, however, and by the end of the year, I get really antsy about making sure there's a little 365 next to the year when I'm finished, although I suppose 2016 will be a bit different. Plus, I think the fact that we're still here after almost three years proves that there's enough Disney to go around for everyone every single day...it's just a matter of figuring out what those things are and then documenting them.

The hard part is definitely trying to keep things different, and while, on occasion, I'll come up with something entirely new that somehow popped up in my life at the most random of times, more often than not, the Disney in my daily life amounts to nothing more beyond the mug on my shelf and the wish to head on Spaceship Earth (or do anything at Disney World) instead of homework. That's not, however, the point. What we do here at Everyday Disney is celebrate the ways Disney pops up in life, whether it's an everyday occurrence or something that just happened randomly once. It's about celebrating the Disney that surrounds us all the time, whether we're in the parks, watching a Disney movie, or sitting in a class about Music Theory. Somehow, Disney connects it all together, and I'm still amazed at it, no matter how many days I have to sit at my computer to catch up when school put me behind on everything, the blog included.

My point here is this: even if I don't know how Disney was a part of my life on November 2, 2015, I do know it was there somehow, and that's why having the little 365 at the end of the year is so important...because it was there, and that's reason enough to celebrate.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 31).

Day 823: The Future Is Real

One of the scariest things, in my opinion, is the future. It's just out there in the great, wide unknown, taunting you every step of the way. Today was definitely one of those days when the future felt wide open and terrifying all at the same time, especially as I worked on my resume and cover letter for job applications as I head into the summer and upcoming school year. But the entire process has also made me think a bit more about Everyday Disney and what blogging has taught me about the future and how to approach it. After all, because of the success I've found with this blog and thanks to the skills I've learned developing it, I can list Everyday Disney on my resume, which is huge in my world. After all, this blog is pure proof of the things I've learned over the past two years, as Everyday Disney has been as much of a learning experience as anything else, and that only makes me more excited to continue moving forward and trying new things.

However, that's not all that Everyday Disney and daily blogging has taught me, so I figured I would make a post out of it. Planning for the future, in regards to my career, education and Everyday Disney itself, has been a huge part of my day today. Plus, just as in anything else, Disney plays an important role in what I've learned here.

1. Appreciate the Here and Now

I have a quote on my desk that reads "Don't Count the Days, Make the Days Count," something that I've sort of adopted as my motto for this school year. Megan and I occasionally talk about the depressing fact that in just over two years, I hope to leave Wisconsin and I will no longer be a simple five minute drive from my best friend, not to mention the fact that we currently live together at school. I'll be going out into the Great Wide Somewhere and, if everything works out, I won't be coming back. So I have to appreciate where I am right now. When you're a daily blogger, especially on a topic like finding Disney in everyday life, you have to really stop and think about each and everyday. It's not just a question of "What in my day involved Disney?" It's more complicated. It might be "What made me smile today?" or "What's going to be the most important connection for the blog post." When you do that, when you stop and reflect on your day, you're collecting memories of moments that you'll cherish when you are far away and alone. It's the same reason I keep a journal, because it allows me to come back and say "I remember that day! That was fun!" You get to do that with a daily blog too, and it all definitely helps you appreciate the happiness that currently surrounds you.

2. Keep it Positive

We all have bad days, and if you go back through the continuation of Everyday Disney, I'm sure you can pinpoint my own "Bad Days." There are plenty of them, moments where I'm frustrated, some where I'm just downright angry and some posts where I'm on the verge of tears. But ultimately, we can't focus on the bad things in our lives. We have to keep smiling, and that's one of the reasons I adored participating in Jennifer Morrison's 101 Smiles Campaign, where you posted a picture of something that made you smile every day for 101 days. It's not until a project like 101 Smiles that you really realize just how many opportunities you have to be happy, When you blog, you have to maintain that same positive atmosphere, because it's going to be more approachable for readers, and it's through happy moments that you're going to connect with your readers.

3. Look For the Little Things

Just like finding an appreciation for the here and now, Everyday Disney has certainly provided me with the ability to look for the little things. As huge as a company like Disney is, by day 823, there's only so many things left for you to talk about on a daily basis, and let me tell you, it only gets harder. You have to be relevant and original at the same time, all while sticking to your brand and connecting with an audience. As I said a while back, finding legitimate references to Disney that are different from the 800 other references you've already talked about is incredibly difficult, but the second you start looking at the little things that happen in your life, a new world opens up. Sometimes that means talking about the most random Disney Deja Vu, like a train whistle or the food you ate for lunch. Other times it might mean a new Disney-related project you're working on. And, if you're like me, it might include surprising your father and brother with a trip to Disney World in June. They all make for relevant topics, if only you figure out how to word them and relate them to the blog as a whole.

4. Organization is Key

I remember, earlier this year, sitting for around six hours in the basement of my college library on a giant computer table trying to record and organize every single day of Everyday Disney. If, at the end of the year, your blog post total is 363, you've obviously missed something, and that's ultimately going to reflect badly when a new visitor realizes that, since you're a daily blogger, there should be 365. So I found a new system, and I now keep a record of every post I write for a number of reasons. Beyond that, I constantly have a list of new goals I want to accomplish and improvements I wish to make, as well as a rough idea of topics that might appear in future posts. Without that system in place, everything would be absolutely chaotic, and I can tell you right now that nothing would get done, not by a long shot. After all, keeping 100 blog posts straight is difficult, much less 800.

5. Keep Moving Forward

Looking back at where you came from is great, and it can be really inspiring, but don't let it hold you down. If I go back to the early days of Everyday Disney, sometimes I cringe at my writing, a topic I wrote on, or my blatant unprofessionalism in those early days. However, back then Everyday Disney was definitely more of a personal blog, a quest to blog about Disney everyday for an entire year and find the little ways my favorite thing has woven its way into my life. Now, things have gotten much bigger. There's an Instagram Challenge going on, I'm listing Everyday Disney on my resume, and I'm writing a post about what daily blogging for the past two + years has taught me. If the things I've learned so far are any indication, Everyday Disney is going to keep growing, and I'll keep growing right along with it. I don't know what it will become, and I don't know where I will end up, but you can bet I'm going to keep blogging about it every step of the way.

Have a magical day!

Day 639: How I Blog

Believe it or not, October 1 is the absolute LAST day I have to make up. That's right, this is the last post that has been randomly sitting on my document as not finished for the last how long. Every single post previous to it has been completed, whether the topic on that day is relevant to that particular moment in time or not. After I finish this post, I'll have officially completed the 669 blog posts that equal October 29 (as today's actual blog post won't be written until later tonight). I've been sitting at my computer since 10 this morning, with a short break here and there to eat or talk with a roommate. It's now almost 4 in the afternoon, and I've got other things going on this evening that mean I finished just in time.

Since I've spent the last how long working on the blog and I gave a bit of a glimpse into my process of making up these posts a while back, I figured I would go into a bit more detail, simply because I'm feeling really accomplished right now.

As I mentioned on a post a long while ago, I have a Google Document that lists every single day I've had to make up since April 18, 2014. Think about that for a second. It's the end of October. That's how long this has been going on. I took a "month off" in June, which I then made up later on in the year (such as just a few minutes ago actually). On that list, a blog post remains in bold lettering until it's completed, making it easier for me to see what day I'm working on, what date it's for and what the title is.

But before the post can even have a title and then be written, it needs a topic, which is a whole other story. I have an entire notebook set aside just for Disney stuff, and there's already been more than a few pages dedicated just to trying to come up with blog post topic ideas. Sometimes, such as right now, there are several blog post topics already lined up. I have topics ready to go for today, tomorrow (October 31) and the day after, meaning that although I won't actually sit and write those posts until later, they already have titles and topics associated with them. They stay in that bold format until I actually hit publish though! 

Once a blog post is published though, the title of the post gets added to a HUGE master list of all the titles I've ever used on any post. The point in this? It helps to make sure I only use each title once, therefore separating every single post from all the others. If I already used the title, I need to find another one that still fits. Luckily, the search feature makes it really easy to figure out if a title is already taken. 

The process of actually sitting down and writing the posts is actually the quick part most of the time. Once the topic and title and date are set, I just have to sit and type for a while. And once it's posted, it means it's time to hit the social media and share it all. Of course, lately that hasn't been an option because of how far behind I was, but with this last updated blog post, I am very excited about the fact that my social media presence for Everyday Disney cannot only continue, but expand. Thank goodness.

I can't believe I'm caught up. You literally don't know how excited that makes me. Hundreds of days, all completed. Finally. I guess there really is a little bit of Disney every single day, isn't there?!?

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 30).

Day 557: Most Popular

In my search for what to write about in these last few posts I have to make up, I came across a lot of suggestions to go back and look at my most popular posts. It's sort of difficult to say which are the popular ones, simply because there isn't a surplus of comments or shares on this blog (now is the moment I'm staring you all down). I can, however, look through the posts and see which had the most views, which was quite the entertaining opportunity, and I'm pretty glad I did this.

The Most Popular: 

My most popular blog post of all time, based on views, was Day 42: Disneybound Day!

Why this is, I have absolutely no idea aside from the fact that Disneybounding is a HUGE thing right now, and I certainly hope it stays that way. The funny part is this blog post was soooo early on, probably helping it to get more views simply because it's been up longer. However, I see the pictures featured on that post just about every day, since they are right alongside my signature, which appears at the end of every blog post. I have to scroll past those very pictures to get to the one I need every time I write. Funny how life works that way.

And in case you were wondering, that post has over 500 views, compared to the average 200-300 views on the other popular posts featured here and the general 20 or so views I get on daily posts.

Popular Themes: 

Oddly enough, I feel like I talk about OUAT a lot. I mean, I really do, after all. It's my favorite television show, a go to subject at the dinner table and in car rides one way or the other from college and it's just plain a part of my life these days. It makes perfect sense that it weaves it's way into my blog then.

What I didn't expect when I went through the blot posts, however, was the extreme interest any time OUAT was brought up. Many of the highest view totals come from these posts, including the following:

Day 498: The Memes of OUAT
Day 391: Colin O'Donoghue
Day 448: The Tower
Day 336: Save Henry

Also, fun fact, this particular post - Day 335: Ship Names - has a lot of views for some reason or another. It's not the highest by any means, but it does have a significant number of views, and I had to comment on this fact because I happen to remember writing this post. It was really late and my roommate last year had already gone to bed. I'm a loud typer, so I moved to the hallway, where I sat on the floor and wrote about ship names. I decided my ship name was Lizney (Lizzie & Disney). It makes sense, even now.

Super Random Popular Things: 

Then there are the posts that are popular for no reason other than people are probably searching for something that happens to be a keyword on the post. After all, just because there's a pageview doesn't mean the person is actually reading what I'm writing. I won't blame anyone for skimming or skipping a post or not reading in general either though...I write a lot. I know that. I know that to the point where I don't proofread anymore. So please, ignore my small mistakes. They happen. Typos and all.

Such random popular posts include:

Day 316: Supersize Me
Day 259: Bulletin Boards
Day 171: Must Watch Movies
Day 339: Happy Birthday Walt!
Day 385: Frozen Appreciation

Weird, huh?

In general, it was quite interesting to look at what was the most popular based simply on pageviews. I can't control which ones people read in particular, but I simply hope that at some point there's something enjoyable for every Disney lover out there, even if I am really long winded.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 29).

Day 528: 101 Things

I figured that since I needed blog posts, and one of the suggestions for blog post topics was "list things!" there was no better thing to list on a blog post I have to make up from literally four or so months ago than a really awesome list of all the things I did instead of blog. There were, after all, TONS of things I probably did instead of actually sitting down and blogging.

So, in no particular order, here's 101 things I did instead of work on my blog:

1. Homework
2. Eat
3. Sleep
4. Drive my Car
5. Read
6. Watch Movies
7. Watch YouTube Videos
8. Watch Television
9. Watch Once Upon A Time (yes this gets it's own number...)
10. Check Twitter
11. Check Instagram
12. Check Tumblr
13. Check Facebook
14. Go on Pinterest
15. Go Shopping
16. Write in my Journal
17. Write something completely unrelated to my Blog
18. Read other blogs
19. Go to Marching Band Rehearsal
20. Go to concerts
21. Go to Disney (does this even count?)
22. Edit Vlogs
23. Film Vlogs
24. The Ice Bucket Challenge
25. Plan my next Disney Trip
26. Surf the Web
27. Laugh with my Roommates
28. Go to Class
29. Practice my Instruments
30. Practice Piano even though I really didn't have to
31. Go for a walk
32. Play with my cat
33. Do something completely ridiculous with my brother
34. Make cupcakes
35. Make coffee (or go get coffee)
36. Make CaptainSwan Tea
37. Organize my closet
38. Do Laundry
39. Organize a Disney Sing-Along with no one other than myself
40. Read my own blog
41. Wash the dishes
42. Make attempts to write blog posts and then get completely distracted
43. Think about Harrison Ford
44. Think about Colin O'Donoghue
45. Think about OUAT in General
46. Listen to Music
47. Make Dorm Door Decs
48. Clean my Bedroom
49. Watch my roommate put on a fashion show
50. Go to Panara
51. Eat Swedish Fish
52. Leave Awesome Voicemails
53. Find holes in the door
54. Obsessively Tweet the OUAT Cast
55. Clothe Melvin (You'll get there eventually)
56. Have Ridiculous Water Fights
57. Think about Blogging but Never actually do it
58. Watch Disney Vacation Planning Videos
59. Prepare OUAT Disneybounds
60. Talk about Disney
61. Talk like Captain Hook
62. Make List about how I'm like Jennifer Morrison
63. Hang head in shame as Megan stares me down for not blogging
64. Stare at the ceiling
65. Unlock my phone (think about how much time that must add up to!)
66. Attempt to make Squirrel friends
67. Injure myself
68. Sit Silently Wishing I was at Disney
69. Have super intense conversations with my friends
70. Listen to Illuminations
71. Make attempts to educate everyone around me about Disney
72. Redesign my Blog
73. Make To-Do Lists
74. Sneeze
75. Yawn
76. Eat Muffins...IT'S A MUFFIN
77. Rant About Crying Kitten
78. Play Clue
79. Paint
80. Eat Ice Cream even though that's a completely awful idea
81. Complain about how I'm behind on my Blog
82. Debate how long it would take me to drive to WDW
83. Talk with my Family
84. Look at Disney merchandise on eBay and Etsy
85. Take a Shower/Bath
86. Collapse on the floor because Once and Life and Hook
87. Sit casually looking around my dorm room for inspiration
88. Wish that I could eat Ice Cream
89. Wish that I could eat something in general
90. Try to figure out what to do with my life
91. Explain to other people why and how I'm going to work for Disney
92. Make various attempts to memorize the narration for Spaceship Earth
93. Practice Drawing Treble Clefs on my Whiteboard
94. Spend a half hour deciding what music I want to listen to while blogging
95. Learn Random Facts about Random things I probably didn't need to know about
96. Make Paradox Jokes
97. Watch Daniel Radcliffe Rap
98. Hide in Fear
99. Slide hangers under the door...forcefully
100. Teach my roommate how to moonwalk
101. Make Ridiculous Lists of all the things I do instead of blogging.

This list was relatively easy to make...which is probably not the best sign, but I've been bloggingfor the past how many hours so that's at least good, even if I did get distracted by the Swedish Fish and Twitter and Colin O'Donoghue and Roommates and Coffee.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 29).