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 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 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 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 1017: Procrastination

Now that you've spent a bunch of time watching videos of kittens reenacting Disney movies and laughed at Disney Memes featuring Grumpy Cat, what other ways to procrastinate are there? Since we're Disney fans, you have to do it the Disney way too...so here are a few suggestions:

Plan an Elaborate Disney Vacation You Can't Afford

We all want to stay in the best suite at The Grand Floridian, go on private fireworks cruises, eat at V&A, drink around the world, and buy everything in every story, all while spending about a year at Walt Disney World, right? Alright, even if you're not that extreme, you can definitely spend a good amount of time planning your very own perfect Disney vacation.

Sing Along Obnoxiously to Disney Songs

Your roommates won't get frustrated with you singing Let It Go at the top of your lungs, will they?

Reorganize Your Disney Collection

There just has to be a better way for all your Disney stuff to fit on that shelf.

Make a Christmas or Birthday List of all the Merch

Speaking of Disney Stuff...go out and find some of your favorite gift ideas...for yourself...

Look at Pictures From Your Last Disney Trip and Cry

Or every Disney trip. So many memories, so many tears, so little time at Disney World.

Start a Daily Blog on Disney

Wait a minute...

Watch a ton of Disney Videos on YouTube

There's more than cats you know...

Go Through Your Closet and Find Every DisneyBound

Merida, Peter Pan, Emma Swan, Captain Hook (x3), Han Solo, The Blue Fairy...this could go on forever.

Try Out Some Disney Crafts

There's only hundreds out there to try!

Find Other Ways to Procrastinate

Honestly I'm just procrastinating right now...so I should probably get back to my own work.

Have a magical day!

Day 1014: Pardon Our Dust

Occasionally life sort of catches up with you and then it passes you and you never seem to catch up again. That's basically my life at the moment. I knew this semester would be particularly hard on me, but I wasn't about to give up on my committments. Everyday Disney, as well as my YouTube videos, are important parts of my life as well and the life I hope to build as I head into the future, but once and a while things just get a little behind.

So unfortunately Everyday Disney will be on a hiatus...but not for long! Due to an extremely rough schedule (I'm working 13-20 hour days straight with little sleep and only about 10 minute breaks for lunch and dinner), I'm left with very little time to sit and write blog posts. However, keeping this blog up to date is absolutely crucial to me, so all days will be made up and things will continue as usual on October 23, 2015. Until then enjoy a few days off, and then you can come back and binge read about all the Disney that's appeared in life in the meantime.

In the meantime, I'm genuinely curious what my readers are up to! Let me know in the comments what you've had going on, even if you've only been lurking up until now! Did you head on a Disney vacation? Is your schedule just as bad as mine? Have you found a new interest or hobby? Or have you been lucky enough to just sit and watch YouTube videos all day? Regardless of what it is, let me know!

And until October 23, just pardon our Pixie Dust. Exciting things are coming, I promise!

Day 1000: One Thousand

It's sort of strange to think that it's been exactly 1001 days since December 31, 2012. Back then I was still in high school, although I'd just mailed in my acceptence to attend St. Norbert College in the fall. I was a proud member of the Seymour High School Band, and while I'm not a member anymore, so much of this blog has been founded on the experiences of that group, and now I regularly volunteer for the group as a proud Alumni. I wasn't so insanely crazy about Once Upon A Time, and definitely not Colin O'Donoghue. Oh no, those were the hardcore Harrison Ford days, although I'd still gladly watch a Harrison Ford movie whenever, provided that I have the time. I didn't make YouTube videos yet, at least not on the scale that I do now. The very first vlogs were up already back in 2013, and since then I've gone to Walt Disney World four times and Disneyland once...and I didn't even think, on December 31, 2012, that I would go in 2013 at all. I hadn't met my freshman roommate yet, nor any of the college friends I now associate with as family, I still had yet to meet my spectacular Once Upon A Time friends, and Twitter was just a far off idea of social media.
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But most importantly, on December 31, 2012, I had no idea just where Everyday Disney would take me, and I certainly didn't think I would be here 1001 days later, still blogging about Disney. It's been a wonderful ride, filled with Spaceship Earth, CaptainSwan, Jungle Cruise Jokes, Mad T Parties, DisneyBounds, Vlogs, Fangirl Moments, Millennium Falcon references, and so much more, but the reality of 1000 days is really setting in. There are a lot of blog posts that weren't written on the day they're marked down as, as I get behind almost as frequently as I post on time. Internet problems, computer issues, and a few really bad schedules pretty much rule my entire life, so it's sometimes a struggle, but throughout all of it, I've somehow stuck it out. The other night when I was blogging like a mad woman trying to catch everything up before today (I went for about five and a half hours straight), I realized that, no matter how far behind I get, I would never think about stopping. Not now, and hopefully not for a very long time, if ever.

I have a lot of people that surround me every day, and some are more supportive than others. For me, even with 23 credits, two jobs, three clubs, volunteering, AND personal projects, Everyday Disney is a serious part of the routine. It's a part of my life, and taking it away would be like ripping out my heart. It stands for something, whether it be my persistence, my learning, or my will to do whatever it takes to follow my dream of working with Disney for the rest of my life. It is all of those things, for sure. After all, when my high school band talked about going to Disney, I pushed them harder than they had ever been pushed up to that point, and I've definitely learned more than one or two things about life and blogging in the past two and a half years. But I think it stands for something more than even that; it stands for the love all of us have for Disney.

Everyday Disney is fueled on that love, and the connections so many of us can make through it. Disney can be experienced alone, quietly in our own homes with a fuzzy blanket and a cup of tea while watching a Disney movie, or joyfully striding through one of the parks with no one other than a pair of Mickey ears and a dole whip. But Disney is also about community. It's about loving one another, having fun together, and making memories that will last a lifetime. That's what Disney's all about, and how lucky am I that, for the past 1000 days, I've gotten to share my love with all of you? I honestly hope that you, as a reader, have gotten something out of this blog, whatever it may be, because as much as I write this blog for myself, I write it for all of you too. When times are tough and all I want to do is ride Spaceship Earth, you guys are there to listen (even if I do sometimes feel like I'm talking to a brick wall), and when there's some sort of exciting news to share, we get to experience that together too. I can't express enough how absolutely thankful I am for everything Everyday Disney has brought me over the past 1000 days, and I'm certainly excited to see where the next 1000 go too.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading Everyday Disney.

Have a magical day!

Day 971: Wayback Machine

I've recently started a second on-campus job, which means a couple of things. First and foremost, I have even less time to get everything done, although somehow I manage it all, but secondly, and more importantly for this blog post, I attended a training session for the website program we use on campus for our college website. In this training session, the instructor used Wayback Machine to show me what the website looked like before the integration to the new site that's been going on for about three years now, and it occurred to me that I honestly don't remember what Everyday Disney looked like even last year, much less in 2013. So I headed over to Wayback Machine to see what the history of my blog looked like, and I was sort of amazed at the similarities and differences between the versions!

As you may know if you're been a long time reader, I update the main design of Everyday Disney once a year, at the beginning of the year. But before we get into the changes, let's look back to what it looked like in 2013!

Because it's sort of difficult to get the entire blog in one shot, I only took pictures of the top, but you get the idea. This screenshot, from October of 2013, was right around the time of some of my all time favorite blog posts, and features the original header for the website. I can't even express to you how much time I've spent over the years arranging and rearranging that header for various projects. This Version 1 header was focused mainly on the blue, grey, and green theme that you can still find throughout the rest of the site. And over on the left side bar, you can find the Version 2 Social Media icons created for the blog. I updated them after creating the Everyday Disney Facebook page, but an earlier version was on the blog before that!

2014's theme was a lot more like what you see on the blog today, although it definitely is an inbetween version. The header featured the two years of the blog to celebrate two years of blogging, an element I ultimately took away in 2015 in favor of extended word use to fill up the space. This Version 2 header does, however, bring in the new color scheme that I've fallen into over the past couple of years. While still matching the color theme on the rest of the blog, this new header brought more life to the page! And of course, you can see another generation of the social media icons over on the side.

And finally we hae the blog as it appears today. Like I said, the header became more block like as I got rid of the years in favor of the extended words, and underneath I incorporated a live feed that links up with my Instagram to help celebrate as I work on my #EverydayDisneyChallenge! 2015 is all about sharing our love of Disney through pictures, so in addition to that I've incorporated two new pages, both of which you can access from the side bar. Not visable, but obviously right there if you're looking to the side of this post, you can find the new social media icons as well, which match up in the watercolor style with the page links.

Ultimately, however, I did find it interesting to see that the fonts and post headers have stayed the same throughout. As often as I'm on here working on a blog post, I rarely change or update the design itself, largely leaving that to the end of the year updates. I do, on occasion, recreate the social media links or pages, but otherwise I try to keep it consistant. After all, what really matters here is our love of Disney!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on September 19 due to a tight schedule).

Day 801: More Or Less

When you're stuck in the middle of midterms and then spend days trying to catch up on the rest of your life because you spent all your time studying for midterms, the amount of Disney in your life changes drastically day by day. Of course, you can see that easily from the blog posts, but let's be honest, the topics on Everyday Disney range all over the place, and some posts are certainly better than others. When I'm making up blog posts for days I've missed, it's sometimes a serious struggle to think back to what kinds of Disney were included in my life over the past week, or sometimes month and, if your including last year, the entire summer. I have my standards too. My favorite posts are often like one featured earlier this month: Day 792: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, which will probably end up on my list of favorites from the first half of the year, simply because it involves a major realization of how Disney has weaved it's way into my life deeper than I ever thought possible.

Granted, not every post can be like that, so often times I settle for other ones, such as a discussion on a movie that I watched recently (Day 793: Guardians of the Galaxy), or a post focusing on the March Disneybound Challenge (Day 794: Be The Character). Sometimes Disney is in my life in really obvious ways, (Day 799: In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room) and other times you wouldn't even catch the reference if you weren't in the loop (Day 800: A New Leather Jacket & A Little Yellow Bug). The truth is, some days have more Disney than others, although luckily, more often than not, I have a topic that goes along with every single day lately, some are just bigger than others.

But there's one thing that we must remember: this is just the Disney in my life. It doesn't mean it's the Disney in the lives of others. I know plenty of people lucky enough to visit the parks weekly, or daily even. I know cast members, I know Disney Vloggers, I know others who blog about Disney, although in a different way than I do, and the list can go on forever.

The point is this: More or Less, Disney is always there. Some days I'll sit down to think up a blog post topic and realize that there's nothing in my day that was particularly spectacular, so I'll go back and look at other parts of my life. Often times that means Instagram or Pinterest or Once Upon A Time, but there's always something there. After all, we wouldn't be on Day 801 if there weren't 801 things to talk about, and that's just scratching the surface.

So I have a question for any of you readers. Where do you find Disney in your everyday life? Do you find it in the pictures on your desk or on your phone background? Are you, like me, participating in the March Disneybound Challenge? Are you gearing up for your next Disney trip or are you avidly watching YouTube Disney Vlogs such as mine (new ones should be up within the week...I promise this time!)? Let me know in the comments or in a twitter message or an instagram picture (you can, obviously, find me pretty much everywhere @epcotexpert).

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on March 16 due to Midterms).

Day 681: Two Years Ago

To be 100% honest, I almost didn't blog on time today, although I've spent the last five and a half hours or so working on my blog. See, I joined one of my friends in the library this evening and since we were sitting at the giant computer table in the basement, I figured that I would use it to write a blog post: this blog post as a matter of fact. Only, I noticed a bit of an issue when I started...the title for the latest day was 681, but the blog post count itself only showed 680. It meant that somewhere along the line there was still an issue, and I can't believe I didn't notice it over the past couple of weeks. 

So for the past five and a half hours I spent my life recording every single blog post in a giant spreadsheet that includes all the dates they're posted, Day numbers and titles. It. Took. Forever. Honestly though, it was probably a good idea. I found a couple of other errors, and now, and I swear this is the last time I'll say this, the blog appears to be all correct. The funny part? I found errors as far back as month 1, as in January of 2013. Yep, fixed those and am all up to date. 

In other words, at the beginning of this adventure I actually had an idea of what this blog post was going to be about, but at this point my brain is just kind of mush. I'm still sort of debating stopping this writing at the moment and picking it back up tomorrow because I don't even really know what I'm writing about. I have no clue how Disney has fit into my day, other than the fact that I've spent the last five hours looking back at all the old blog posts. 

I suppose, therefore, I'll talk about that. A long while ago, my friend asked me if it was weird looking back at the old posts. I mean, we're talking posts from over a year ago, and it is. I looked at just about every single post in the last year and a half. I didn't read them all, but I looked through them all, saw pictures of them all and added them all into the new master file I have. A part of it feels like "That was sooooo long ago," but the other part is like "That was THAT long ago?" It makes for an add combination. 

And since we're being sentimental today, I suppose I'll also mention that two years ago today (so a while before this blog even existed) was one of the most important days in my life. As far as I can tell from Timehop, two years ago today was the exact first day we decided to audition for Disney Performing Arts. We had a band council meeting and the entire thing was discussed and we set our minds to it. Now it's all over and done with (other than that band trip video which causes me pain and suffering constantly because it's just taking forever and I feel bad about that fact), and it's just a weird thing to look back at. In case you were wondering, I know this because of a Facebook Status I posted that day:

"Even though I've put so much of myself into this...I haven't asked for much in return...and if I have, it's for the opportunity to learn. now I've been blessed with even the possibility of not only a learning experience, but also for my greatest dream to come true...and I hope there is an understanding that this time, if I'm let down it will completely crush me. I've kept my hopes down for three years...and I thought that this would never come true...but due to the conditions...it's now a possibility...but if it falls through, it wouldn't be like before, it would be ripped from my hands. But I know I have a job to do...and no matter what I still have to do that job...and I will do everything I can to make my dream possibly for everyone else, even if I can't participate in it myself."

This status is incredibly important for me, since there was so much drama surrounding the band trip, with words put not only in my mouth, but the mouths of those around me. The situation, as you know, was not good in any shape or form. But throughout the whole thing, I constantly related back to this thought, and it's nice to know that the whole time, I was indeed telling the truth. This point has stuck with me since the first day the Disney trip came up in conversation, and it held true until long after the trip itself was finished. 

Right now though? I really need to go back to my dorm room and sleep. I need to sleep...so darn much. 

Have a magical day!

Day 659: A Look Back

Alright, time for a (not so) funny story.

This is about the third time I've tried to write this blog post, and here's the story as to why it hasn't actually been posted before, well, now.

The first time I tried to write the blog post I had every intention of doing so. In fact, the edit screen for blogger was open for about two days on my computer, but because of a French test and rereading half my blog, that sort of got pushed to the background. It was going to be about the free stuff we randomly get at Disney, since I had a discussion with a couple of my friends at dinner the other night about that very topic. But because I try really hard to make sure that I don't specifically write two blog posts on the same thing, I had to go check to see if I had, indeed, written a previous post about free stuff at Disney. Now, technically I didn't, but everything I would have talked about had already been mentioned at least once, so that idea kind of fell through.

Especially since that led to me rereading (or at least skimming) the first 100 blog posts or so. It's funny because so much has changed since those early posts. Megan and I were both discussing it. I was 17 then, 19 now. I was in High School and now I'm well into my second year of college. Some of those posts are barely 100 words and now if there's a blog post with 100 words...no, wait. There's never a blog post with under 100 words. Not even under 500. It just doesn't happen. And people think writing 800 word papers is difficult. HA!

Anyway, I spent a good amount of time over the past couple days just sort of looking back, and it's weird to think that in only a few short months (just over two really), I'll be ending the second year of Everyday Disney and starting what I hope will be the third, and best, year yet. There's a lot planned for 2015, and I'm excited to get there...if I can ever catch up with the fact that it's 2014 and there's still a few posts to be written from June. In all honesty, if someone comes along someday and reads this blog post from 1 to whatever, I wish you luck. The middle of 2014 probably makes no sense considering the fact that some where written in June, others in August and some in October. I can hardly keep it straight.

Still, things will always keep moving forward around here, at least with a little luck. Disney is still an every day fixture in my life, and I really don't see that changing any time soon. Thank goodness, right?

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about the second time I tried to write the blog post. In fact, the entire thing was finished, but something went wrong with my internet and I had to restart my computer...and then it didn't save anything. You'd think that with all the internet capability we have today blogger would be able to retain the information I typed in even after I clicked save, right? Oh well, that's alright. I'm pretty sure this post was way more entertaining than the last version anyway!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 23).

Day 562: Wait...what?

I'm no stranger to having to make up obnoxious amounts of blog posts, meaning that I'm also not a stranger to having to sit and brainstorm for what seems like hours on end to come up with what I'm going to talk about. I mean, there's enough of Disney in my everyday life that if I was actually able to blog every single day on time I wouldn't have a problem. After all, I've had a wide range of topics since the beginning of Everyday Disney, and there are probably thousands of others still out there. But when you sit down and write five or ten or even more blog posts, you get sort of...confused.

This particular blog post is number 562, although technically today I would be blogging Day 640. That's a huge number, right? I mean, how long does it take you to count from 1 to 640. A long time I'd wager. But is it really possible that all 640 of those blog posts are different and unique and have their own individual topic? Sure. Is that how it really is? No, probably not.

You see, Disney is an extremely diverse topic. I could talk for 50 some days alone about the animated movies, and spend over a year focusing on every little aspect of Walt Disney World. In fact, I could probably spend a FEW YEARS only on Walt Disney World. But I don't have the time to do that sort of thing and it really wouldn't be relevant. This blog is about how Disney fits into my daily life.

Which means that from time to time, things start to repeat...sort of. A while back, sometime earlier this year, I made it a goal to never use the same title twice. It means that I have a giant list with, yes, all 640 blog post titles, or at least I will once I finish catching up. And while that is generally a pretty good way to keep track of if I already blogged about something, it's pretty easy for things to slip my mind.

In other words, when I do have times like right now, where I have what seems like an endless number of posts to write, I forget what I've already talked about and what I could bring in that would be new. It's so confusing sometimes to be completely honest, and I worry about you guys reading the same thing over and over again.

But then I realize that as much as I talk about one thing or another over and over again, if I talked about it last year you probably don't even remember me talking about it, unless it was something very specific, such as the day I talked about River Country on my brother's birthday, or the days that showcase my Favorite Things or my Disney Collection. I can't just repeat those all the time.

I do want to make it known that I spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out things for each individual post. And you know what? I should seriously sign a contract that says I'm never going to get behind again because this has been ridiculous. We all know I won't stick to it forever though, whether it be because of the internet or time or school or whatever else.

I can try though.

Have a magical day!

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