Day 920: The Newest Additions

Every once and a while things just seem to be in your favor and something you tried to do months ago that felt like it would take weeks actually ended up only taking a few hours...completely by chance. When I wrote "About Me Page" on my to-do list for the day, I didn't expect to sit at my college for almost four hours working out the kinks on not just one, but two new page additions to Everyday Disney, but that's how things ended up. And after hours of HTML work, picture editing on my computer, composition of new pages and a little bit magic, the newest additions to Everyday Disney are finally here!

When I signed on for my third year of blogging here at Everyday Disney, I knew that I wanted to change things a little more. The first year was very much a personal challenge, and the second year wasn't much different. But as I headed into 2015, I knew I wanted to make Everyday Disney more than just a personal hobby. I wanted to create something I could put on resumes and continue with professionally for a very, very long time. With that decision came the need for new elements and pages around the blog, especially with the addition of the Everyday Disney Challenge on Instagram.

First up was the Instagram live feed that's been in place underneath the 2015 header since the beginning of the year. I was given the idea by a different website that connected to an Instagrm through the same system, and after a bit of work I had it integrated here at Everyday Disney. The feed connects to my Instagram and brings the last 25 photos I've posted directly here and displays them on the blog, great for the Everyday Disney Challenge!

Then today I finally got around to the two new pages of the blog that I've been intending to add for at least a year or two now: the About and Photos pages, both of which you can now find links to in the right side bar of the blog. The About Page details the inspiration of how Everyday Disney came to be and a brief introduction to who I am without having to go through hundreds of blog posts, and the Photos page includes collections of my official OUAT DisneyBounds and Month by Month albums of the Everyday Disney Challenge. Over time new photos will be added to the page, and the About page will continued to be updated as it grows outdated.

As for other new pages that could make apperances in the future, it's up for debate, but for now I think we'll stick with just the two. After all, if you really want more Everyday Disney there's over 900 blog posts to go back and read from over two and a half years of blogging. It's a great accomplishment in my life, and I'm very excited to see where Everyday Disney continues to go in the future.

If you're a reader of the blog and are just lurking out there, this is one of those times when I ask for you to come out of the woodwork! Make your presense known! Leave a comment, share a post, send me a tweet, whatever you feel like! I love being a part of the Disney community and I love interacting with fellow Disney fans, and that means all of you!

Don't forget to check out the new pages and...

Have a magical day!

Day 554: About Me

This blog post needs a subtitle:

About Me

A Year and a Half Later

It's been a really, REALLY long time since I first introduced myself, and honestly, this blog is the chronicle of the past 22 months of my life, so really you shouldn't need any further introduction. But since introducing my blog to a few of my friends here at college, I've realized that I'm quickly approaching 700 blog posts, and maybe we should do a refresher, especially since my life has changed an unbelievable amount since Day 2. Want to know how much? Go read Day 2 before reading this post!

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

(Might as well say "Hello Lizzie!" all over again!)

I'm 19 years old, and I live part time in a small city in Northeastern Wisconsin and part time at my college in De Pere, and yep, Wisconsin IS obsessed with cheese. It's October as I write this and while winter coats have come out for several days in the past few weeks, almost every day actually, it hasn't snowed yet...it's also not Friday either...and apparently the cold never bothered me anyway. I did indeed grow up in a family of four people, my mom and my dad, my brother Jonathan and, as Hook would say, meself. I'm the oldest of the two kids (or at least I assume I am...I hope that didn't change from 2013), but my brother is now 15. Gosh he's getting old. I've gone to the same school district my entire life, but I obviously now go to college, which is a smaller private school. Within the change coming here, my friend group changed more times than I can count, and honestly, many of the friends I had back then are no longer included. It's sad, I know. But I've still got plenty of wonderful people around me. 

My obsessions, outside of Disney of course, include music (I'm a music major who plays saxophone, oboe and piano), photography (I think it's mostly instagram now...), reading, writing, movie watching, making videos and ONCE. UPON. A. TIME. I'm not a senior year in High School anymore, but rather a sophomore in college, and alongside music I'm also an English major. I'm still hoping to do the Disney college program and would LOVE to have a long-term career with Disney. 

Now, my obsession with Disney itself probably hasn't changed too much. I still don't have ONE favorite Disney movie, and my favorites are still "Beauty and the Beast," "Lady and the Tramp," "The Lion King," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Indiana Jones," and "Star Wars," with the additions of "Tangled" and "Frozen."  I'm still a member of Disney Vacation Club and a regular Annual Passholder, but I've been to Disney 25 times in my short 19 years. My favorite park will always be Epcot and my favorite attraction will always be Spaceship Earth. It was, after all, my very first Disney World attraction back at the young age of 1. I still collect all things Spaceship Earth, Han Solo is still my favorite Star Wars character and Harrison Ford is still one of my favorite actors. 

LillyBelle is still my only house cat, and there are still some cats in the barn, or so I hear. 

What's really different? Once has become a HUGE part of my life, and Colin O'Donoghue and Jennifer Morrison have both taken their places in my list of favorite actors. They're like my life now, and I've gotten twitter notifications from both (it's weird to think back to a year ago when I hadn't gotten a tweet from Colin and now I have one framed on my desk...because yes I'm weird). Oh, and I really love Fairy Tales in general now. I took a class on them last semester and fell in love with OUAT and the stories it's based on. 

In other words, the last year and a half has been pretty great, and now, if you're just beginning Everyday Disney, you know at least a little bit more about me and my updated life. 

Have a magical day!

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

Day 530: Blog Challenge

Writing a blog specifically about Disney and how it fits into my everyday life makes it a bit complicated to try and search for generic blog post ideas, and you can't really just write about something and NOT relate it at least a little bit to Disney (although I'm sure I stretch it enough from time to time). But I had a lot of blog posts to make up, so I tried to make some of the generic ones a little less generic...or at least reduce some of the ideas into one blog post.

So since (technically in the future) I've done some challenge posts, I figure I'll do one more...31 Days of Blog Posts, all in one day. Thank goodness this one is a little bit easier to do.

1. Introduction

I think this is a bit pointless at this rate, don't you? I'm Lizzie. I love Disney. I write a blog about it. End of Story.

2. 20 Facts about Me (My Addition: That you probably don't already know)

1. I have an obsession with Ritz crackers (I'm eating some right now).
2. I really love corgis and golden retrievers.
3. Post It Notes are like my Life Support.
4. My favorite kind of Snapple is Snapple Apple.
5. I tend to write a lot of stuff by hand and am OCD about my handwriting.
6. I go through pens like some people go through gallons of milk.
7. I don't like tea...unless it's chai or CaptainSwan tea.
8. I hate airplanes. HATE THEM.
9. I can't stand being too hot...I prefer being just a bit cold, but am not a fan of the cold either...
10. I don't really drink soda. I stopped drinking it about a year ago.
11. My desk at school is generally fairly clean, but my desk at home is a disaster.
12. Lotion is necessary in cold weather...but makes my hands feel super weird.
13. I'm actually seriously good with hairstyles.
14. Some people like shoes...I like jackets (especially leather ones).
15. I love making cupcakes, but very rarely actually eat them.
16. I'm not a huge fan of cookies.
17. Someday I'm going to own cats named Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker.
18. I literally could not live without my phone. I am that person.
19. I'm 100% terrified of going on Tower of Terror.
20. I go to bed at roughly the same time every night (ironic because tonight is not one of those nights!).

3. Meaning of my Business Name

Well, I don't have a business, but I do have Everyday Disney, which is a representation of the fact that Disney makes it's appearance in our daily lives, somewhere, somehow.

4. Earliest childhood memory

I remember a blue balloon outside of Mama Melrose's at MGM Studios. Literally, that's the earliest thing I remember. Unless that was on a trip after the time I stayed at the Grand Floridian. I remember that. Aside from Disney? I've got nothing until I'm a bit older.

5. My guilty pleasure

Spoilers. Can't live with them, can't live without them. During hiatus, I need them like air, and during the season I feel like a complete idiot for looking at them. It's a problem.

6. 3 Personality Traits I am Proud Of

Persistence: I'm not one to give up on something I really have my mind set on, no matter how impossible it may seem. If I'm going to write a daily blog about Disney, I'm going to write a daily blog about Disney.

Go-With-The-Flow Attitude: I'm a hyper person, but I'm also pretty calm. I go along with a lot of things, simply because I know that the small things won't matter in the long run anyway, no matter how big they seem in the moment.

Helpfulness: Although it's sometimes a bit frustrating that I seriously do not know how to say "no," I also feel like I'm a generally helpful person, and I like that about myself. Helping other people is one of my favorite things to do.

7. 10 Favorite Foods (in no particular order)

1. Right Now? Ritz Crackers
2. Zebra Domes
3. Cheese
4. Turkey Shwarma
5. Irish Nacho Bar (yes it's a thing...just go along with it)
6. Butterfinger Cupcakes
7. Ice Cream
8. Nacho Cheese
9. Bagels with Cream Cheese
10. Bacon

8. Old Photo of Me

9. Piercings and Tattoos? 

Nope, I've got nothing here.

10. First Celebrity Crush

Harrison Ford. I'm an old soul.

11. Most Proud Moment

Marching Down Main Street USA with my High School Band, for sure. I'm so absolutely proud of everything that group has accomplished and how far they've come since my Freshman year. I'm glad I got the chance to be a part of all of that.

12. If I won the lottery...

I would go to Disney World, and Steveston to watch OUAT film, pay off my college education and then give the rest to charity.

13. Favorite Quote

At the moment..."Life is made up of moments. Good ones; bad ones, but they're all worth living." - Prince Charming, Once Upon A Time

14. What is in my handbag? 

Oh gosh...running off of memory here: my wallet, money, Disney autograph book, keys, sunglasses, receipts, a pen probably, and aspirin for sure, although I'm sure there's something else in there.

15. Timeline of my Day

Depends on the day, but generally I get up, go to class, watch some Netflix, go to class, go to class, go to class, practice my instruments, come back to my dorm, do my homework, work on something or other on the internet and then go to bed. Oh, and eating is in there too. Lots of eating. Snacks are important.

16. Dream Job

Working for Disney...in any part of it. Imagineering would be spectacular, but I'd settle for literally anything that makes use of my talents. I'd also totally love to work as a writer on a television show or film, although something tells me I've got a long way to go before getting to that point.

17. Favorite Childhood Book

The Ghost Family Meets It's Match. I don't remember much else aside from the fact that it was about a family of ghosts that has to deal with the new family that just moved into their house...only to eventually find out that the new family is a family of warewolves. I borrowed it from the school library probably hundreds of times.

18. What am I afraid of? 

Planes, tornadoes, spiders, falling down stairs, you name it. But especially those first two.

19. My Worst Habits

I procrastinate like no other (I am, after all, writing a post from June in October...). That's probably my worst habit. I also tend to bite off more than I can chew, which can be a problem from time to time.

20. Where I Want to be in 10 years

Hopefully I'll be out in California with a job with Disney. That would be ideal. Other than that I don't really know. Life is weird like that. It changes all the time, so who knows where I could be.

21. Something I Miss

Right now? My cat. I miss her sitting on my lap while I work, even if I am allergic to her. I also really miss Disney, and I miss the friends I used to have, although I guess I can't really say that because maybe they were never really my true friends to begin with. And my brother a bit. College is weird, not seeing him everyday.

22. 10 Favorite Songs (In no particular order)

1. Promise/Illuminations
2. American Dream
3. Rude
4. Shake it Off
5. When Can I See You Again
6. Perfect Stranger
7. The Entire OUAT Soundtrack
8. On Top of the World
9. Don't Deserve You
10. Charley's Girl

23. Pet Peeves

I can't stand betrayal. I'm talking like you make it seem like you really care about someone and then just completely turn against you. That annoys me so much. Uh, road rage really gets on my nerves, as does swearing. I mean, go ahead and swear, I just don't do it personally. Oh, and totally when people feel the need to share every element of their relationship with the entirety of the internet. Keep your personal life you yourselves people.

24. A Difficult Time In My Life

The past year really. The transition to college is rough for a lot of people, but there were a lot of alternate factors that just made life pretty difficult for me. My friend group changed and there was a lot of stress and rumors and just...drama in general. So glad it's mostly over.

25. Best Physical Features

I've been told I have really great hair.

26. 5 Favorite Blogs

Oh man...I don't know. I don't think I can even choose some because I don't really read any of them regularly since my schedule is constantly changing. It's more of a "I read like 100 different blogs at completely random times and don't ever follow just one."

27. What Makes Me Feel Better, Always

Colin O'Donoghue. My roommates figured that one out. OUAT, but more than anything: Disney Music and Disney Parks anything. I also love driving around in my car.

28. Last Time I Cried

I cried while laughing last night. Does that count? Because if not I have no clue.

29. Top Things On My Bucket List

Visit Every Disney Park in the World
Meet Everyone on my "Famous People I want to Meet" List
Work for Disney
Move to California
Perfect the Art of Cupcake Making
Write a Book

30. Favorite Comfort Food

Hmmm...Ritz Crackers? Boy I'm just really loving the crackers today, aren't I?

31. Weird Quirk of Mine

I love driving. Like, if I'm in the car, 98% of the time I'm driving it. I just don't like riding in cars, so I drive everyone everywhere. I prefer it, and I love driving with no real destination but rather just sort of discovering new things. It's a great way to see the state I live in and it's super calming.

I honestly don't know how I could write about one of those things every day. I mean, I guess I could have had longer answers for some of them, but at the same time, there's no way I could make an entire post about some of that.

Then again...I'm pretty sure I could. After all, I've had some blog posts about some pretty darn ridiculous things.

Have magical day!

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