Day 225: LillyBelle

Today is a special day in my house. No, my birthday is past, and it isn't time for me to move in yet, and it isn't a holiday. No, instead it's my cats birthday! So I've been waiting the entire year for this post, because I figured that the best day to talk about my kitten would be on her birthday, which just happens to be all the way in August.

So here she is! This picture was taken as close to her birthday as possible, so it's basically what she looks like now.

Her full name is LillyBelle Marie, and I'll be telling you multiple things about how she got that name. First we'll start on the reasons she got her name initially. First, when she was born, her name was just Lilly, and I named her that because the Lilies were blooming in our backyard. Then we added the "Belle" part later because that was my name in French Class and she wears a little bell on her collar. The Marie was added as her middle name after she had kittens, one of which is named Marie. But that's the name because that was my best friend's name in French and her favorite Disney character, Marie from the Aristocats. 

But, those of you who are Disney fans (which I'm sure many of you are), will probably pick up on the Disney references too. I assure you, as much as I love Disney, this was not intentional. In fact I didn't realize half of it until just a couple of months ago. Disneyland fans may recognize her first name as also the name of the Caboose on the Disneyland Railroad, the LillyBelle, named after Walt Disney's Wife, Lillian. But here's the funny part. Lillian Disney's middle name was Marie. Like I said, totally unintentional, but super awesome! 

Lilly's turning four today, but she actually wasn't a member of our household until she was around 8 months old, if I remember correctly, which I probably don't. That was so long ago! You see, she was born the August before my Freshman year, and just a couple of days before school started I got a back injury that pretty much prevented me from moving. As a surprise to try and make me feel better, my mom and brother brought two of the newest kittens in to visit, one of which was Lilly. After that, when she was a little older, she would come in on Sunday afternoons and take a nap on me while I watched the afternoon movie on TV. And then on Christmas morning she came in. It didn't take long after that for me to convince my parents to let us keep her in the house full time. 

Now, Lilly is a fan of her three favorite toys, Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Chicken, the first of which I got in Colorado for her first birthday and the second of which is the same toy with just a different animal that I got her for this last Christmas. And then there's her brand new toy she got for her birthday today, Mr. Turtle. She loves that turtle. Other than her toys, she LOVES tuna. Like no joke. It's her favorite food. And she still loves to watch movies with me, especially Star Wars. Although whenever the part where Han gets tortured in Episode 5 comes on, she either won't watch or leaves the room. She hates that part. 

I sure am going to miss her a lot when I go to college (I mean it's hard to leave her even when I leave for 10 days for Disney...and now I have to leave like an entire month). But that's my adorable little kitten, and as much of a dog person I am, I wouldn't trade her for anything else. Then again, she is basically a dog in a cat's body...LOL. 

Here's today's Disney History: 1942: Disney's 5th full length animated feature Bambi has its U.S. Premiere at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. 

Have a magical day!

Day 199: The First 24 Hours

A couple of weeks ago I talked about the night BEFORE your trip, but I feel like it's just as important to talk about the night AFTER! I mean, as exciting and amazing as the night before was, the night after is just absolutely depressing. Honestly half of us probably lay in our beds crying our hearts out because our room doesn't smell like a Disney Resort, and then, in those first 24 hours, we feel like doing absolutely nothing because it just doesn't compare to anything we did at Disney. But at the same time, we want to try and find things that remind us of our home, with limited success.

In my first 24 hours after I got home from Florida, I did most of what I just talked about. I got home late in the evening, so my first 24 hours was started mostly by sleeping. Luckily, as soon as I get home it means I get to see my cat, which is always great. I mean, isn't she just adorable?

Not the greatest quality, I know, but I took it as soon as I got home. It's like the first picture I took that wasn't something on my vacation (because yes, the flight home counts too!). She's normally mad at me for like ten minutes and then follows me around the house obsessively to make sure I won't leave again.

Generally I unpack right away, because everything smells like Disney and I love Disney...and a bunch of stuff I bought is in there, so of course I want to open it and get it all out! I kind of put some of it away, make a pile of everything I bought, and just kind of go from there. My clothes go in the laundry, and my pillow and blanket go on my bed.

Normally I stay at Old Key West, and that means that no matter how many airplanes my pillow was on the way home, it still smells like my wonderful home resort. Sadly for me this time, Bay Lake Tower wasn't quite as strong (then again I was there for three less days too!), so my pillow just smelt like airplane. But don't fear, my blanket still smelled like the wonderful Bay Lake Tower. (And as of the beginning of August, it's still faintly there because I don't touch it for anything other to smell it, and then I fold it back up).

But what else happens in those first 24 hours? Lots of nothing actually. I think I spent a large portion of mine just laying on my bed doing absolutely nothing because I couldn't figure out what it was I wanted to do. My brother had Epcot music playing through the entire house (ok, I gave him the idea). It's just that when you leave Disney...everything else seems so...boring and awful.

Probably because it is compared to the awesomeness that is Walt Disney World.

Here's today's Disney History: 1965: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln opens to the public (the day after its official dedication) at the new and specially constructed Opera House on Main Street USA at Disneyland.

Have a magical day!

Day 2: My Own "Small World"

Hello!

My name is Lizzie, and I am obsessed with Disney.

(Here's where you all say "Hello Lizzie!")

Anyway...I'm 17 years old, and I live in a Semi-Small town (officially a city I guess) in Northeastern Wisconsin, which for those of you that don't know, is indeed a State obsessed with Cheese, and while we don't get snow all year long, it is still rather chilly here during the winter months. Ok, maybe it's more than a "little chilly."  I've grown up in a family of four people, my mom and my dad, my brother Jonathan and myself. I'm the oldest of us two kids, as my brother is younger than me by 4 years, making him, of course, 13, and just barely a teenager. I've gone to the same school district my entire life, and while my group of friends has changed multiple times since I was just a little girl, I am happy to say that I'm surrounded by a great group of people that I love and very much care about.

My obsessions, outside of Disney of course, include music (I play Alto Saxophone, Oboe, Piano, some guitar and I can sing), Photography (specifically Animal Photography), drawing, some painting, reading, writing, movie watching (Disney of course!), technology, making videos and a few more that I'm sure you'll hear about in time. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I'm a Senior in High School clearly looking at a future in either Music or English, with a possible Business something thrown in there, and I plan on doing the Disney college program and hopefully someday gaining a job in the Disney Company. While I'd love to be an Imagineer, I'm not sure I'm creative enough, but that's a topic for another blog post.

Now, for my obsession with Disney. While I'm going to be working on a FAQ page soon, which will include much of my background surrounding Disney, I'll give a brief description here. I don't necessarily have ONE favorite Disney movie, but just a few titles are "Beauty and the Beast", "Lady and the Tramp", "The Lion King", "Pirates of the Caribbean", and of course the new Disney additions of "Indiana Jones" and "Star Wars." As a member of Disney Vacation Club and a regular Annual Passholder, I have been to Walt Disney World a full total of 23 times in my short 17 years, which includes two trips on Disney Cruise Line. I traveled to Disneyland for the first time in 2011, and am hoping to go back this next summer in 2013. I do have a favorite park and attraction, which, as you will learn in time, I am truly obsessed with. It's Epcot for the park, and it's Icon, Spaceship Earth stands as my all time favorite attraction. It was my very first Disney World attraction back at the young age of 1, and since then I've been on it over 130 times, and yes, I have the dialogue from the current version memorized. With this obsession, I am a collector of all things Spaceship Earth, and while this is really another topic for another post, I am currently very excited about the newest additions to my collection, a 30th Anniversary Spaceship Earth iPhone case and a 30th Anniversary Park Map and Button. As I said before, I am also a fan of both Indy and Star Wars, with Indy and, of course, Han Solo, as my favorite characters respectfully...which, if it isn't obvious, mentions that Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors. I own books, movies, and just about everything Disney I can get my hands on and afford at the same time, but that will all be explained in a later entry, I can't make this too long, after all. (I just realized as I proof read that I say "a different post/entry" like three or four times...funny!)

I own one house cat, named LillyBelle (yes, named after Walt's wife, Lillian, and a reference to the Disneyland/World Railroads), along with an ever changing number of barn cats, each with their own unique name and personality. Maybe sometime I'll introduce all of them.

Aside from all of that, it basically sums up my life...Disney, Disney, Disney and more DISNEY. Which I suppose is fitting now that I am starting this DISNEY blog.

Have a magical day!