Day 1641: A Different Kind of Blog

There are days like today every so often, when I'm hopelessly drowning in blog posts and I get a little frustrated with the kind of blog I write. Not only am I a topic-specific blog, but I'm a daily topic-specific blog, and I've worked very hard over the past few years to avoid repeating myself over and over again. It's hard, especially when I get behind, to think of original ideas that fit within the guidelines I've created for myself, and even when I'm totally caught up and I only have to come up with one blog topic a day instead of twelve, it's still frequently difficult to find something I feel people might want to read about in relation to Disney. 

But then there's also the realization that Everyday Disney isn't even your typical Disney blog. Many Disney blogs out there focus on news or tips and tricks for your Disney vacation, and while I myself subscribe to many of those blogs, I find myself jealous of how easy it must be to come up with continuous content in those cases. Here, I post once a day, and only once a day. If it's 3pm and suddenly Disney announces that they're closing Epcot permanently, but I already had a blog post up at 11 am, we're waiting until tomorrow to talk about it. Here, I find little bits of Disney in the outside world and bring them to life through blog posts. The problem is, sometimes the outside world doesn't directly line up with the Disney universe. Here, I strive to make the ordinary feel a little less ordinary and a little more magical, but sometimes one has to accept that, perhaps, a reader won't be interested in hearing about how salt can be related to The Magic Kingdom. 

Not every post on Everyday Disney is a prime example of the Disney magic either. Some are more about me than the parks and films. Some take place at a Disney Park and others don't. Some fit right in with what the other blogs are talking about and some fall completely off the beaten path. In other words, and not to toot my own horn here, I'm not sure there's another blog out there quite like Everyday Disney. It's a personal blog and a news blog and a special interest blog and a daily blog and more all rolled into one. 

Everyday Disney, like the Disney Parks themselves, is always evolving, and as we get closer and closer to year 5, it's time to really see what we can do. I've covered the basics, we've gone in-depth on the traditional, and now it's time to dig a little deeper to see what it is we're missing. So with new series like DCP Wednesdays, A to Z Disney, 50 States, and Random Disney Things, let's get exploring and keep going, because Adventure is Out There, and now it's time to find it. 

Have a magical day! 

P.S. - Think of this blog post as a sort of new Mission Statement for Everyday Disney. With a list of 314 blog post topics to work on over the next few months, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, and then I realized that it's time for a new mission in addition to a new look. So for the rest of 2017, the theme here at Everyday Disney is "Dig a Little Deeper," which is ironic considering it's same theme of the first blog post I wrote for the year, and it's time to find out who we are and what we're missing! 

Day 1632: Looking Ahead

Out with the old and in with the new. That's what they say, about change when we don't necessarily want to change, right? I'm a creature of habit, no doubt about it, and the past year and a half is a perfect example of that. I'm not particularly fond of new situations, I find myself irked when things don't go the way they always do, and when everything boils down, I'd likely be perfectly fine if things never changed, at least in some facets of life. A significant portion of me wishes I could maintain the life I've been living at St. Norbert College for not just the past year, but the past four. It was easy, it was comfortable, and above all else, it felt normal. 

And yet, I came to the conclusion on a plane ride back from Florida almost a year ago that my life is anything but normal. This is no ordinary life I'm living, not with the constant trips to Walt Disney World and the other traveling I do all over the country. Most aren't writing a blog and filming YouTube videos in addition to their schoolwork, only a few people are members of Knights on Broadway, performing more shows per year than most other ensembles on campus, and as far as I know, most don't have plans like I do for after graduation. 

What am I doing now that I've graduated you ask? That, my dear readers, will remain under wraps for a few more days until my official announcement on Friday, an announcement a very long time in coming, but for now you can plainly see the changes that have overcome Everyday Disney in the last 24 hours. I was already debating a rebrand of the blog a year ago, but wasn't at a point where I felt it was right. Now, with my special announcement and the upcoming five year anniversary of the blog, as much as my habit-wanting self tried to argue to keep things the same, I felt it was time for a change. 

As some of you may know, Everyday Disney hasn't really changed much in the past four and a half year, aside from the fact that I've found myself incredibly behind in my daily posts from the last year. In fact, below you can see a screenshot of what Everyday Disney looked like way back in the day, and then a screenshot of what it looked like with the 2015 redesign: 

As you can see, the colors and overall look of the blog have changed since it's beginnings in 2013, but since the 2015 remodel, things have remained the same, and even then it was just a re-do of that original design. 

Which meant that with everything going on, I figured that Everyday Disney wasn't just in need of a new mission and purpose, but was in need of a whole new look as well. Hence the new design (and logo!) for Everyday Disney. Over the next few months there will be plenty of changes, but more on all of that Friday. Trust me though, this announcement will change everything I've known and everything Everyday Disney is about, and in the long run, a new normal will form the same way it did when I moved to college four years ago. The point is, things do change, and I'm fairly certain my life has a long way to go before it resembles any kind of ordinary, but for now, it's time to keep moving forward and look ahead, because the journey is just beginning. 

Have a magical day!

Day 1512: A Significant Moment

It's time for another blog post focused on my Creative Writing Seminar, although since I haven't had a chance to write another blog post since the last piece focusing on the class, it's almost as though no time has passed at all. Regardless, this week we've been challenged to discuss an important moment in our writing history, and, for me at least, there are few moments that could top the stirrings of Everyday Disney back in late 2012.

Prior to January 2013, and really prior to later that year, blogging had never been my strong suit. The most I'd written in the blog post category could be found in the expectations section of any number of high school syllabi, and that meant that even the first few months of constant blogging were pretty rough, although that's not why starting Everyday Disney takes the cake on my list of significant writing moments.

Like many of my peers, I can definitely recall moments as a kid where I'd make little books out of blank paper and a few staples or where I'd seek out a spare notebook from the depths of my basement to scribble in. I'd typically write stories about dogs, probably from the dog's point of view, but what can I say? I watched a lot of Air Bud as a kid...and I really wanted a dog. I suppose one could suggest that these early days were important because it gave me an opportunity to explore my imagination, but in the overall scheme of things, that just wasn't the most significant part of my writing journey, and that's okay.

Fast forward to my high school years, where, amongst all that horrible blogging, I discovered not particularly that I liked writing as much as it just came naturally to me. I can still recall sitting in an Intro to Business class, of all places, happily typing away at a paper or letter we had to write for an assignment, and my friends, who sat on either side of me, commenting on just how quickly I was moving along. I figured they just meant my typing, because I've always been notoriously fast and loud at typing, but in reality they were talking about the actual writing I was doing. In a trend that would continue throughout the remainder of my high school years, where my peers would struggle with what to say on an in-class essay or any essay in general, I'd quite contently work my way down each page, writing, writing, and writing some more.

By the start of my senior year, I was locked in an internal debate about what I'd major in when I headed to college the following fall. I knew I was good at writing, and I knew I liked writing, but I also knew that music would be a good fit for me, and history was constantly knocking at the door as well. But trying to achieve a triple major sounded like a horrible idea, so I did the best I could and dropped the official major for History in favor of focusing on English and Music. That decision wouldn't have come, however, without Everyday Disney.

To this day, I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking in the last few weeks of 2012 that made me so eager to write a blog post a day for an entire year. It was a lot of work, I'd be going through a lot of changes, the internet at my house was slower than a turtle on a bad day, and I had no prior experience with blogging. Little did I know that there was one day to fix at least a few of those problems. Blogging every day was, at first, really difficult and taxing. It still is on some days, especially now as I head into the fifth year and frequently struggle with coming up with brand new topics that I have yet to cover, but the more I blogged, the easier it became. Because of the consistency of writing a daily blog, I was able to keep writing even when it seemed like my muse was floating away, and that's a lesson you can only learn through continuous writing. You have to push through it, and I wouldn't know that without my daily blog. In addition, I've gained writing experience, found a voice of my own, expanded my vocabulary, learned what it means to write professionally on a regular basis, meet deadlines, and continue to pump enthusiasm into posts even when you're writing them at 11 pm on a Monday night and all you want to do is go to bed.

Was Everyday Disney the only important moment in my writing journey? Goodness no, and to be honest it doesn't have all that much to do with creative writing specifically, because there are plenty of other elements at play there, but when it comes to my writing as a whole, I'm incredibly thankful that 17-year-old me decided to start a daily blog about Disney...even if I'm behind for what seems to be the hundredth time.

Until tomorrow...or the next Creative Writing Seminar blog post,

Have a magical day!

Day 1493: A New Challenge

I write...a lot. 

For my wonderful regular readers here at Everyday Disney, this probably isn't much of a surprise anymore. You know quite well how I am capable of rambling on for what feels like days about some Disney-oriented topic that probably didn't require a five-page explanation. Alright, so perhaps my blog posts aren't that long, but in the four years I've been writing here, I have discussed my writing more than a few times, and really, things haven't changed much. I'm still writing for Everyday Disney, as well as The Odyssey Online, multiple classes, video scripts, in a personal journal and, for the most part, anywhere else I can find a spot to jot down a few ideas or a quick story. 

But as we start a new month and as I write the first in a new series of blog posts (which I'll explain in a moment), I've decided on a new challenge for the month of February that will encourage me to actually keep up with daily blog posts, tie in my coursework with Disney in a whole new way, and will be, I believe, rather interesting.

I'm going to count every word I write in the month of February, and here's the how and why: 

As I round out my final year at St. Norbert College, I've returned to working toward a degree in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis and am enrolled in a creative writing seminar. It's more or less an extension of a fiction workshop course I took last semester, which reminded me why I love writing in the first place. This semester, we're required to write a few blog posts in addition to our regular writing exercises, which I took as a brand new challenge, figuring it would be fun to really intertwine my coursework with what I'm already doing here. 

And as for the first blog post topic? You guessed it - writing. 

When I really sat down and thought about my writing though, I realized that much of my writing style has been, at least in some way, shape or form, influenced directly by Disney or through some connection to the company. In particular, through reading Anne Lamott's bird by bird, I've noticed a few direct examples of this. 

I write like I'm directing a film. Lamott notes that, when writing, she'll frequently imagine a scene as though it were on film. What would the background look like? How would the characters be situated in the scene? What would they be wearing? What would the lighting be like? In all reality - what would it look like if it were a movie instead of words on a page? When I read this, I couldn't help but smile because thank goodness someone else does this too. Working as a videographer and photographer on the side, I'm always picturing exactly how everything would look as though I were in the Disney studios creating a storyboard to make my work into a movie. 

I also rely on the details, similar to the way Disney-Pixar so carefully creates the shadows and reflections that make films such as Finding Nemo or Cars so realistic. I do my research and ground my works in reality, even if the characters and events of my writing are completely fictional. If I'm writing a piece I want to set in Ireland, I'll search the internet until I find the exact location I'm looking for. If I'm writing a piece on a car salesman in the 1950s, I'll search out that perfect name for his wife, what suit he probably would be wearing and what car he'd be likely to drive. I'll do research to the point where, if you read my piece, you'd probably believe that I'd been to Ireland or actually lived as a 1950s car salesman in a former life (spoiler alerts: I haven't been to Europe and I'm fairly certain I wasn't a car salesman...I think). Anne Lamott discusses this too, only for her the topic is gardening, and she works to insure that her writing is as accurate as the apples that are growing on a tree in the fictional backyard, despite the fact that she has fake flowers outside her own home. 

I write with the knowledge that it won't be the final product. Mickey Mouse, as you may or may not know, wasn't Walt Disney's first hit character, meaning Mickey Mouse wasn't the first draft. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was, and he was stolen from Walt along with his workers just before the creation of the mouse we know and love today. But Oswald taught Walt important lessons, and served a purpose of his own. Our first drafts don't have to work out, because they're just paving the way for the spectacular drafts yet to come. Reminding myself that even the creators of Tangled and The Lion King probably had, as Lamott notes, "shitty first drafts," keeps me going through the day. Maybe I won't get it right in the first draft, or the second, or the third, but if I keep working at it, eventually I'll find my own Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, although, perhaps I should aim for Mickey in this metaphor.

The point here is this, because this blog post is getting much longer than anticipated - my writing is constantly evolving, but no matter how far off track I get, I'm always grounded by the habits and strategies I've picked up along the way, the most important one of which is writing a lot. As I tally up the words that make up blog posts, articles, assignments, and journal entries throughout the month of February, I'm excited to see just how much I'm writing, and to reexamine what I'm writing as time goes on, because I'm sure that, as always, it will be quite the adventure.

Expect to see more blog posts from my Creative Writing Seminar in the future. Each will be tagged with #sncEngl425 if you want to hone in on just those posts - or if you're one of my classmates and don't feel the need to listen to my sometimes lengthy spiels about Spaceship Earth.

Have a magical day!

Day 1380: How Time Flies

It feels like just the other day I was starting the semester, or even better, just the other day that I was in Florida for National Youth Event at the end of July, and here I am now having completed another trip last week. 

But the world (and work) must go on, and I've found myself once again falling victim to the lapse in blog posts, which is a constant strain since I'm always aware of the fact that even when my homework is done and the latest vlog is edited, my music is practiced and plants watered, there's still something I need to be doing. Problem is, I'm usually too tired to sit down and write one blog post, much less the 50+ that are now missing from Everyday Disney. 

It probably doesn't help that I've been writing other places too, and most of my free time these days, what little there is, is spent sleeping, actually eating a meal, or with my friends. It's a constant balance, but at the same time, being at Disney last week reminded me that I sort of miss writing for this blog. It was easy, exciting, and while occasionally a lot of work, still just as, if not more fulfilling than some of the other work I do during the week. 

This does put me in sort of a pickle though. I hate not having my blog up to date, but the thought of postponing work on Everyday Disney until next January or later seems appalling, especially with the prospect of applying for the Disney College Program in a few short months. And truth be told, Everyday Disney got me through my last major transition in life - high school into college - and moving ahead without it feels absolutely wrong. 

So I'm exploring new ideas about what to blog about, sort of like the scientists in Living With the Land are exploring new ways to grow crops, or Walt Disney Imagineering is exploring new attraction ideas for the parks. There are a lot of days to fill, but luckily there's one thing we aren't running short on, and that's Disney. 

Dual blog posts begin tomorrow, with a current post and a make-up post every day of the week! 

Have a magical day!  

Day 1283: Disney Cave

Since I spend most of my days writing this summer, I tend to migrate around my apartment. I try to leave the bedroom for sleeping, but that doesn't mean I'm without options. Actually, I have four great spots to do my work right in my apartment, and each has it's own bit of Disney associated with it! 

First, there's my desk, which you've already been introduced to and is pretty self explanatory. I love to sit here when I really need to get things done, but otherwise I'll usually be somewhere else. Most of the time I end up sitting on our couch, which is really pretty comfortable. Plus, the coffee table right in front of it gives me plenty of space to spread out if I need to! 

Then there's the other, less common options of the kitchen counter and balcony. The counter is a part of the kitchen, and honestly is usually piled with dishes, especially if I've been baking. It is where I sat for pretty much the entire first two weeks of living here though. The balcony reminds me a bit of Old Key West, and as I continue to watch the various old videos, I've come to find that I apparently really liked the idea of sitting and eating outside as a kid. That balcony seemed awesome to a young Lizzie. 

Outside of the apartment, I'll head to the library on our campus a lot, which is where I sit to upload videos. There's also a local coffee shop called Luna that I frequent these days, and because it's only a couple blocks from my apartment, it's not hard to walk there. And then, as always, there's the music lobby, which I haven't been to much this summer. That'll have to change! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1274: Adulting

If you're a part of my generation right now, you've probably been struggling with adulting just like the rest of us. If you have no idea what adulting really is, just think of all the chores adults are responsible for that children may not be. I'm talking like making dinner, doing the dishes, watering the plants, getting all the work done, and so on and so forth. The little jobs we actually need to do to survive. 

My laptop, HAL9000, which you've all heard plenty about over the past couple of years, died last week, which led to me waiting for a new laptop, affectionately named Lafayette (yes after the historical figure now prominent in Hamilton). Having a laptop that actually works and stays on for more than 15 minutes at a time is a huge relief, mostly because it means I can finally get work done. HAL dying, however, has created an additional list of blog posts that should have been done a week ago, especially problematic since I'm struggling to catch things up as it is. Plus, I'm leaving on a week and a half long trip to Colorado in just 10 days, so I have to plan for that as well. Long story short, with everything piling up that I have to get done, the realization that adulting is hard is more prominent than ever. 

Luckily, on the other hand, I have Lafayette, and Frank got me that awesome new mug in the picture above to help keep me company while I spend constant days blogging. Even the addition of a new mug like that is enough to help keep me going with these blog posts and videos, especially since there's so many exciting things happening in July! 

I do think I could do without another set of dishes from dinner later tonight though...

Have a magical day! 

Day 1270: A Day in the [Regular] Life

I've fallen into some sort of a routine these days, relishing in some of the summer sun while also spending most of my day inside at my couch or desk or counter writing blog posts, editing videos, and transferring tapes. Honestly, it's enough to keep me busy, but it does get sort of redundant. Still, it just goes to show how different my life at home is in comparison to when I'm on a trip somewhere. 

Here at home, I start my morning in any number of ways. Sometimes I'll head out for a run, which I'm trying to do more of, and sometimes it'll just start with breakfast and an episode of The Office or some other Netflix show that I happen to be watching. For breakfast I'll invest in some greek yogurt with fresh fruit, or maybe some cereal or a smoothie. And when I'm on the go somewhere right away, I'll be sure to grab a package of applesauce that I can eat on the move. From there, if I've gone for a run, I'll take a shower quick and then get ready for the day, and by the time I'm finished with all of that I'm usually ready to tackle some writing. 

Sometimes "writing" will mean video editing, or brainstorming for new blog posts and videos that I can work on in the future. It's usually something to do with Everyday Disney or the YouTube Channel, but once and a while I do have other work to get done, especially regarding upcoming trips and my soon-to-start last year of college. 

I take a break at one to eat lunch with my roommate, since that's when she has off of work and returns to our apartment. That gives us both a break that's just under an hour before heading back to work. By the time she returns to our apartment again at 4:30, I try to have whatever work I'm doing finished, although that's not always the case. Sometimes I'll end up writing until late at night, or I'll spend the evening transferring another of our home videos. And every once and a while I'll be lucky enough to sit out on our balcony and read a book or watch a movie with my friends. 

And that's about it really, because after that I watch another episode or two of The Office before heading to bed. Not nearly as interesting as when I go to the Disney Parks, and hardly as interesting as during the school year: although this is much less stressful. 

Have a magical day!

Day 1228: Working Travels

When I'm traveling, blogging ins't always the easiest thing to do. Sometimes I'll be at conventions, and when I go to Florida I don't even take my laptop along anymore. I never get around to using it anyway, and that means it just takes up unnecessary space in my luggage. So if I want to blog on the go, in that case, I have to use my iPad instead, which definitely ins't the most efficient way of writing. 

However, while on vacation or traveling anywhere, I'm always at work for Everyday Disney, gathering topics, seeing movies, filming vlogs, writing and filming video scripts, seeing new things, completing challenges, and taking just about every picture under the sun. In fact, the way I travel now is pretty drastically different from how I've traveled the rest of my life. Now it's definitely more about what I can do for Everyday Disney or my YouTube channel than just experiencing things, mostly because I've learned over time that sharing the adventures is way more fun than keeping them to myself! 

And actually, sometimes, traveling makes work much more difficult. Since I only have a select amount of time in the Disney Parks, I have a lot to get done in a short amount of time. That's pretty different in comparison to the amount of time I can take to do things when I'm just sitting at home. Plus, when I return I always have to make up for lost time and add blog posts that go along with my latest trip, and then there's vlogs to edit, and the list goes on and on. 

So while there may not be blog posts while I'm away, just remember that I'm always off working on something. I'm just lucky because what I'm working on just also happens to be what I love to do. 

Have a magical day!

Day 1225: The Ins and Outs

Finals week is upon us and I don't think I've ever known so much about music history. 

Unfortunately, four of my five finals are falling on the same day, which isn't really a situation I'd like to find myself in. Plus, they're all early in the week, which gives me less time to study. What this leaves me with is a ton of studying to do with not a lot of time, so I've been listening to my fair share of Disney music to keep me sane. 

It seems that as the years go on, things get both harder and busier...which probably isn't surprising considering the fact that, theoretically, junior year should be harder than freshman year. The great part about it though is that it almost motivates me more...to a point. Because I have so much more going on, my will to prove that I can handle it all increases, meaning that I study a little harder to achieve that 4.0 and spend a bit of extra time making sure everything is in order for the end of the year meetings across campus.

Although it doesn't give me much more time to blog...

Have a magical day!

Day 1191: Randomly Generated

I'm always searching for a good blog post topic, and every once and a while, when I have really serious writer's block, I'll head over to a blog topic generator to see if it'll spark any ideas. Plenty of blog posts have been created this way, although I usually don't use the exact topic I'm given. It's more often a play on some topic, or something that was inspired by one of these topics. 

Well, needless to say, things can get pretty interesting on these websites, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorite randomly generated blog post topics that involve Disney: 

I feel like this one is kind of true for every topic, but while Wikipedia can be a useful starting source for basic information, it's not about to tell you everything you might ever need to know about Spaceship Earth or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

I don't even think this one needs a further explanation because we all know the world would end without Disney...

And then things got interesting. Then again, maybe Darth Vader's Guide to Disney wouldn't be all that bad after all. I mean, he has been to Disneyland! 

And then there was this gem. So ironic. 

But my all time favorite blog post topic suggestion I've found seems both improbable and also really interesting all at the same time, and maybe once I'm finally caught up on Game of Thrones a blog post on this exact topic will appear here on Everyday Disney.

If you want a good laugh, there are plenty of blog post topic generators out there! Go give one a try and see what crazy ideas you come up with! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1188: The Best Part

Yes, the above picture is of my setup in my college library not long ago, but that's beside the point. We're here to talk about blogging, and why, while usually drastically behind on my blog, I really love what I do. Between Everyday Disney and my YouTube videos, as well as being a full time college student, I keep myself busy in more ways than one, but the best part about being a Disney blogger, especially one that writes something like this, is that I not only have the freedom to do my work at my own pace and my own way, but I get to explore and participate in what I love while doing it.

I mean, where some of my fellow students spend their free time doing things they might have to do, or, let's be honest, just watching Netflix all day, I get to go to movies under the premise that it's so I can blog about them. When I'm in the Disney parks, my blog has forced me to explore new things, some of which I'd never even heard of, and some of which have become some of my new favorite activities while I'm there. I get to meet new people, see new sights, and am constantly taking pictures and improving my writing as we go. Plus, it's really great to have something on the side to devote my time to, just so I'm not spending all my time in classes and doing homework. It's almost like a break from the daily grind, and that's usually a huge relief during the busy semesters at college.

I love blogging, even when I get behind and end up writing 20 posts in one day to try and catch up, and I'm always excited to see where my blog will take me in the future.

Have a magical day!

Day 1155: Leap

It never occurred to me when I started Everyday Disney that it'd be the fourth year of the blog when we finally hit a Leap Day. However, I guess I didn't necessarily plan to continue past year one. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what to blog about today since it's literally just an extra day that doesn't entirely exist. My blog count at the end of the year will read 366 instead of 365 and that'll probably trip me up when I'm rounding out the last blog posts. Meanwhile I mostly just spent my day sitting at my desk doing homework. What an exciting life, right? 

I suppose once could have spent their Leap Day doing any number of fun things, like watching a Disney movie marathon, or planning a Disney vacation, but in all regards, it's sort of like an extra day to catch up on things, which is nice when there's so much going on and it's barely a month into the semester. Let's see though, what else could you do on an extra day of the year?

I suppose you could go to the Disney Parks, especially if you live close enough to just go for the day. That's not really an option here in Wisconsin. Watching Disney Parks videos is fun, like a vlog on YouTube or a vacation planning video. It's not quite the same, but it's something! 

I already mentioned the Disney Movie Marathon, but you could also do that any day of the year...so it's not really special to Leap Day. Same thing with planning a Disney trip, because let's be honest, we all do that constantly. 

DisneyBounding somethng special could add some magic to the day, but so many of us do that already, and with the March DisneyBound challenge coming up that's probably not always an option. 

Personally, it's just made me think a lot about just how many days I've been blogging. An extra day seems like nothing compared to everything I've done so far. And actually, Leap Day doesn't seem very special after all...unless you're Irish. Then it's a whole other thing...

Have a magical [leap] day everyone! 

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 1134: Why I Love Mondays

Before you get on my case, let me tell you that I most certainly still am not a huge fan of the first day of the work week. Mondays bring a whole new start to what will probably end up being another never-ending week of classes, homework, and projects to work on, and that is probably unappealing to everyone, no matter who you are.

However, this semester, Mondays have a certain charm to them. It's one of two days a week where my evening is, usually, blissfully free of meetings and practicing and work, as I attempt to get my readings for the week out of the way on the weekend, and since I have a bit of time open, I've dubbed Monday nights more or less "Disney Nights." Since I'm frequently busy on the weekends, Everyday Disney will often get behind, and with my weekly YouTube videos now going up on Tuesdays, Monday nights work perfectly for finishing touches on vlogs and other videos as well as catching up on blogging.

The result is a night that is filled with Disney this and Disney that, whether it be catching up on blog posts from across the internet, writing for Everyday Disney, editing a new video, sorting through pictures, watching a bit of The American Adventure on my computer, or finally drinking out of my Animal Kingdom Starbucks mug for the first time. I did something similar in high school, where one of my study halls was basically dedicated time to working on Disney related projects, as that was back when Everyday Disney was just starting out. These days, time to dedicated specifically to Disney is harder to come by, so something tells me I'm going to treasure these Monday nights more than I ever have before.

Here's a fun game though! How many references to Disney can you find in the above picture? I'll tell you right now that if you really look closely, you can probably find at least 10, and that's just a little bit of my desk setup in my new apartment, which I really need to photograph one of these days to share with you!

If you had a free night to dedicate to Disney though, what would you spend that time doing? Catching up on a Disney related show (I'm looking at you Agent Carter)? Would you watch an old classic Disney movie (I've been dying to watch Hunchback for weeks now)? Maybe you'd start a Disney blog of your own...or, you know, you could go back and read some more of mine! Whatever catches your fancy, let me know in the comments below!

Have a magical day!

Day 1102: Work Stops for No One

I sort of feel like I've been working forever.

First, I had the end of last semester, then it was Christmas, then catching up Everyday Disney before the end of the year, then the band trip video, and now I'm about to leave for Florida with a whole new set of challenges to face when I return. This is, I suppose, a part of life, but it certainly hasn't help my brain process the fact that I'm heading to Florida in just a few days. While packing and such, I kept wondering what in the world I was doing, because I certainly didn't feel like I should be packing for Walt Disney World.

It's actually sort of a weird feeling for me. Part of my mind chimes in every so often with a "you're going to be at Disney in three days" and then another part seems to just laugh at that prospect, because with everything else going on there's no way I could be going to Disney. But when I do remind myself I get excited, and then promptly forget about the trip before going back to whatever work I have to be focused on. Usually I'm bouncing off the walls with excitement about going on a trip.

Then again, the fact that I don't even know what day of the week it is half the time probably has something to do with my confusion about leaving for Florida. In fact, I haven't been able to figure out what day it is for about a month...actually since Once Upon A Time ended for the midseason. That's when I really lost track of what's going on. Luckily, my work has kept me from getting bored over J-Term like I usually do. My freshman year I ended up watching almost the entirety of How I Met Your Mother, and last J-Term...I went to Florida? Gosh, I don't even remember what else I did!

Regardless, there's something to be said about working like this. It's exhausting, first and foremost. You get to a point where you never want to look at your computer again, even if it's just to watch Netflix. People text or message you about meeting up for something and you carefully pick through your planned out day to make sure you can allow yourself an hour or two for lunch and some shopping. But I think more than anything, work like I've dealt with this J-Term almost makes the actual semester seem easy...although I do enjoy having the whole of the coffee shop area in our library for myself.

The great part though? Everyday Disney will be caught up before I go to Florida, the band trip video will be done, I'll film a bunch of new YouTube videos while at Disney, and things will get a little bit easier...I hope.

Have a magical day!

Day 1101: Traveling HAL

By now I think we're all familiar with my dear laptop HAL9000, and if you're not, long story short, he's the perfect embodiment of his name. Constantly dying in some way or another (our current struggle is the battery), but when it comes down to it, I love HAL, because without my laptop, life gets pretty hard, and aside from a terrifying finals week experience, few moments showcase this more than when I'm traveling.

Back in High School, I'd almost always have my laptop with me when I headed on a vacation, regardless of where I was going, and now, when I head on Band Trips, the laptop comes along so I can gather all the pictures and video on my computer and back them up day by day. However, for the past few trips to Walt Disney World and Disneyland, I've left good old HAL at home. After all, I have plenty of other stuff to carry anyways, and with me spending as much time as possible in the Disney Parks, I don't really have time to sit down and do any work on my laptop.

This does, on the other hand, mean that it's pretty hard for me to blog. I do bring along Honey Lemon, my iPad, in an attempt to get some work done (and usually that amounts to work on video scripts if anything), but blogging is much more difficult on an iPad than it is on a laptop. It just doesn't function as well in that format, although I can make it work. Usually, I turn around and put the blog on hold until I return and then I go back and bring in some key highlights of the trip to make up the blog posts that correspond with the days I'm away, and I like to think it works pretty well.

I debated bringing HAL this trip, but eventually decided against it for one key reason: I do have work to do while in Florida. There's videos to film and pictures to take, but I'm also there for a chillcation with one of my best friends, and I've been reminded time and time again over the past few days that I should just have some good old fun. I've spent the last week and a half staring at my laptop all day long, so me leaving HAL at home is me leaving the work behind too. I can deal with real life later.

Have a magical day!

Day 1086: To The End

Well look who's finally back! (Me, the answer is me).

With less than 10 days left in 2015, you'd better believe that catching up Everyday Disney has become a number one priority on my list of things to get done in the next 18 days before my trip to Walt Disney World. There's honestly a lot to get done in addition to the 59 blog posts that have yet to make an appearance here on Everyday Disney, but I start to get jittery if it's December 31 and my blog doesn't say 365 posts for that year. So here I am, about to do a blogging marathon between now and Christmas. My theme and motto? Give me blog posts, or give me death!

Regardless, let's give you a quick update about my life over the past couple of months. I did something similar back in October (or November, I honestly don't remember), but since there have been multiple things going on, all of which contributed to the fact that I now have almost 60 blog posts to write in a couple of days, I figured we should do a rundown.

HAL Died...Again...

If you've been around for a while, you know very well the struggles I've had with my beloved laptop, HAL9000. In typical HAL style, he decided that the week before finals would be a wonderful time to stop working, and I ended up having to finish my semester at SNC on borrowed computers. It was an interesting experience to say the least, and I do believe I ended up using about 8 or 9 different computers in the span of two weeks.

My Roommates

I've been blessed with two years at college that were, amazingly enough, roommate problem free. It seems, however, that this semester brought the end of that, as for the past month or so (three weeks especially) I've been dealing with some pretty bad roommate issues. I'm not going to go into the details, but it's been a very emotionally exhausting experience, and led to me commuting for the last week of the semester. Goodbye time to work on the blog.

Finals

Speaking of the end of the semester, I can't make a list like this without including finals week, which was more like finals WEEKS. In fact, the last week at SNC wasn't all that bad...it was the week before that that caused real problems. Amidst those roommate problems, I also had a portfolio for my English class due, multiple papers, and then, of course, finals to study for. In other words, in addition to being emotionally exhausted, it didn't take long for the mental and physical exhaustion to kick in too, leaving me sound asleep every night before my head even hit the pillow.

Everything Else

In addition to all of that, I've played in multiple Christmas performances here at SNC, as well as a Christmas Cantata off campus. I'm singing with my church choir for Christmas Eve, went to see Star Wars, am helping out with the High School Band, and am trying my hardest to keep up with everything else. Unfortunately, my totem pole of priorities pushes Everyday Disney down the more busy I get with school, so it usually comes in last, even after the YouTube Videos, which have also stopped at the moment other than a random one here or there. But now that the semester is finished and I have a bit more free time (ha!) I can quickly make my way through the posts that should have been done months ago.

Oddly enough, with the exception of a few days further back, most of the posts still go along with something that happened that specific day. I went back through my Twitter to try and determine what went with each specific day, and I was luckily able to identify what was going on in my life for the past few months with relative success.

So...here we go. One blog post down, 58 left to go.

Have a magical day!

Day 1082: Goodbye Semester

Even after three years, it still amazes me how fast time can go by. Honestly, it feels like the beginning of the semester was last week, and here we are at the end, and I'm very glad we are. This semester has been an absolute rollercoaster, and I'm beyond thrilled that it's finally over. I'll never really understand why I thought taking 23 credits was a good idea, although the 22 for next semester certainly showcases I apparently didn't learn my lesson. And it's been a weird semester too, but let's focus on the fact that it's finally done and all the things that I can now do because I don't have to go to class or focus on schoolwork for a month and a half:

Watch Disney Movies

Getting through all the animated Disney films in order takes a lot longer than expected. If you watched them all back to back it would apparently take you somewhere over 3 days if you watched them all straight back to back, and since I'm just over halfway through after about a year and a half, I really need to finish them. The good news? I'm pretty sure one of my favorites, The Great Mouse Detective, is next!

Film YouTube Videos

If you follow my YouTube channel, you know very well that there aren't a ton of videos up at the moment. The good news is that I have pages filled with various ideas for videos. The bad news? I haven't had a chance to film any of them. However, since the semester has concluded, it'll be much easier for me to find time to film, and with a trip coming up soon as well, vlogs will appear too!

Everyday Disney

Obviously my blog is behind...and I'm obviously working on catching up as we speak. So this one could really go without saying.

Read a Book or Two...Or Three...or Ten

I have so little time to sit down with a book these days, and in fact I had a conversation not long ago with a friend about how if you actually have time to read for fun you don't have enough to do. That perfectly describes my life! There's about seven books that I've had sitting around for a while though and I'm excited to finally pick them up!

Then again, I'm not sure I have time for much of any of this after all. Updating Everyday Disney alone takes a couple of days (especially with how many blog posts are currently missing), and YouTube videos can take anywhere from an hour to 10 hours to create. Plus I have a band trip video to work on, a Disney trip coming up soon, a music library to organize, performances to play, and a boatload of other little things to finish. Yeah, it's about to be a real interesting J-Term.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 22).

Day 1077: Am I The Interesting One?

We all know that I work really hard to keep my Ego in check. As a music major, and especially as a saxophone player, it's pretty easy for things to get a little over the top. But lately I've been trying to figure something out, and the more I think about it, the weirder it gets.

It all started when we were writing biographies for our classmates for Literary Theory and Writing. Instead of writing a biography for ourselves, especially when we already have an introduction that does almost the same thing, we wrote them for other people, which led to asking a bunch of questions and so on and so forth. Anyway, as I talked with my partner about my background and my goals and such, I realized that maybe, just maybe, I'm kind of interesting.

I don't really consider myself to be an interesting person. In fact, I figure I'm relatively ordinary. I grew up in a small town, I look forward to my coffee every morning, and spend most of my late nights at my desk working (although I would give anything for a Netflix binge and some pizza, especially pleasing if I can eat said pizza without my lactose intolerance getting in the way). As the saying goes, I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like anyone else.

But is my "ordinary" actually something the rest of the world considers extraordinary? Gosh, now I'm really starting to sound egotistical.

And then I had a discussion with one of my friends about people we know from high school, and as other went on about this friend doing this and that, I realized that I have very few friends who seem to be off doing really awesome things. But we all have friends like that on Facebook. And that's when it hit me: am I  the one off doing really awesome things? After all, in the matter of one year I've continued with a third year of straight blogging, started a roughly successful YouTube channel, met the creators of The Dust Storm, talked with Colin O'Donoghue on the phone, met my favorite saxophone player (again), went to Disney World twice and Disneyland once, met a bunch of my favorite YouTubers, and managed to balance it all alongside a busy college schedule. Of course, the fact that I plan on moving to a different state so I can pursue my dream of working for Disney doesn't hurt the whole "I'm interesting" thing either, but boy does it seem weird to be calling myself interesting.

After all, when everything boils down, I'm just another average Colin O'Donoghue and Harrison Ford fangirl who loves Star Wars and everything Disney and would give anything for a giant plate of homemade spaghetti and meatballs.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 22).