Happy Monday Friends!!
When I last left you - we were talking Disney preparation.
Today's post leads us to an extensive packing list I have prepared to ensure that you will not forget a thing if you ever take a trip down to Disney!! Of course you can add or subtract any items that you may need or not need - this is just a general listing.
Depending on the time of year you are going you will need to pack either warm or cold clothing - or in our case both. We are traveling to Disney in early March so it will be chilly in the morning and late evening but warm during the day. Our packing list looks like this.....
Clothing:
7 day outfits with shoes and accessories
7 sweaters or light jackets
7 sleep outfits
7-10 pairs of underwear/bras
1 bathing suit for each of us.....just in case we can go swimming
Swimsuit coverup
Socks
Exercise clothes for working out at the hotel gym
We are lucky enough to be staying at a resort where we will have a small refridgerator inside it. For purposes of curbing our spending we will carry snacks and mostly eat breakfasts in the room.
Food:
10 granola bars
10 pop-tarts
10 larabars or zbars
1 box of cheeze-its
Sprite and Coke
Bottled water
2 bottles of wine
Peanut butter crackers
String Cheese
Bread
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Items for the Parks:
Panchos
Small backpack to carry everything in
Park Tickets/Magic Bands
Credit cards/cash
Dining reservations (if inside the park)
Driver's License
Camera
Additional Items:
Hotel reservations
Phone Charger
Camera charger
toys for kids
DVD Player
DVDs
Paper towels
Trash bags
Washcloths
What would you pack on your week long vacation to Disney?
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Disney Madness!!
If any of you follow me on any social media outlets then you know I am pretty obsessed with Disney world. I try to go every few years and will be making the trek back to the land of mouse in just 39 days!!
I've been on Disney overdrive for at least the past month - although I'd probably admit to longer than that. I've been planning this vacation for at least a good 4 months now. I decided in the past week that I need an outlet for my madness so I decided I would start over here and see if this fills my void.
I've made a very meticulous spreadsheet used to calculate every possible expense for this trip - this spreadsheet was started 4 months ago too by the way and has only gotten more and more tedious as the months have gone on.
My original spreadsheet called for all the possible travel options there were to get to Disney world. First I started out with the following 4 options:
#1 - Drive to Disney and Stay at Disney resort
This called for calculating gas to and from Orlando, hotel costs, food costs, parking fees for Universal because we are going to spend one day there, spending money, and Universal tickets.
#2 - Drive to Orlando and Stay off Disney property
This called for pretty much all of the same costs of #1 but also parking fees for each day at Disney - unless the resort we stayed at had a shuttle to Disney or Universal then we could cut some parking fees.
#3 - Fly to Orlando and Stay at a Disney resort
This called for calculating airfare, hotel and food costs, transportation to Universal and back to Disney, spending money, and luggage fees.
#4 - Disney world Magic Your Way Package
This option is the "all-included" Disney package - you can have resort, tickets, and airfare all packaged in to one deal for one price.
In the end we made the best financial decision for us to drive to Disney and stay on the property. It seemed like the best deal for us and while we are not particularly looking forward to the 12 hour drive we will be OK too. Our plan is to leave at 3am Memphis time and drive all day long. We should reach our Disney hotel around 4pm, just in time for check-in which is the plan. The last time I took B to Disney I did the drive all night thing and it did not work out well at all. B slept in the car the majority of the time and so when we got to Disney she was ready to go and see. All Mommy wanted to do was go to bed. It got our vacation off to a very tiring start so I learned my lesson. Plus I like to drive during the daytime more anyway so it works out better.
So that is how we plan on tackling our trip - tomorrow I'll post my extensive packing list that I'm going to start on this weekend!!
I've been on Disney overdrive for at least the past month - although I'd probably admit to longer than that. I've been planning this vacation for at least a good 4 months now. I decided in the past week that I need an outlet for my madness so I decided I would start over here and see if this fills my void.
I've made a very meticulous spreadsheet used to calculate every possible expense for this trip - this spreadsheet was started 4 months ago too by the way and has only gotten more and more tedious as the months have gone on.
My original spreadsheet called for all the possible travel options there were to get to Disney world. First I started out with the following 4 options:
#1 - Drive to Disney and Stay at Disney resort
This called for calculating gas to and from Orlando, hotel costs, food costs, parking fees for Universal because we are going to spend one day there, spending money, and Universal tickets.
#2 - Drive to Orlando and Stay off Disney property
This called for pretty much all of the same costs of #1 but also parking fees for each day at Disney - unless the resort we stayed at had a shuttle to Disney or Universal then we could cut some parking fees.
#3 - Fly to Orlando and Stay at a Disney resort
This called for calculating airfare, hotel and food costs, transportation to Universal and back to Disney, spending money, and luggage fees.
#4 - Disney world Magic Your Way Package
This option is the "all-included" Disney package - you can have resort, tickets, and airfare all packaged in to one deal for one price.
In the end we made the best financial decision for us to drive to Disney and stay on the property. It seemed like the best deal for us and while we are not particularly looking forward to the 12 hour drive we will be OK too. Our plan is to leave at 3am Memphis time and drive all day long. We should reach our Disney hotel around 4pm, just in time for check-in which is the plan. The last time I took B to Disney I did the drive all night thing and it did not work out well at all. B slept in the car the majority of the time and so when we got to Disney she was ready to go and see. All Mommy wanted to do was go to bed. It got our vacation off to a very tiring start so I learned my lesson. Plus I like to drive during the daytime more anyway so it works out better.
So that is how we plan on tackling our trip - tomorrow I'll post my extensive packing list that I'm going to start on this weekend!!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Life's Teachable Moments
Happy Wacky Wednesday Friends!!
In my last post I talked about wanting to be more involved in being a better mother this year. I've started this by using B's questions about life as teachable moments. I've been doing a lot of reading lately about how children who have open relationships with their parents and good communcation prosper the most.
In just over 2 weeks we have had some prettyweird exciting teachable moments.....come along on our journey.
This week alone Brea has been very interested in all problems women face with that time of the month. At least once a day we have had in depth conversations about it. I figure it will happen to her one day too so why not start answering questions and preparing her now.
We have also had an in depth talk regarding birth control and why women use it. That one was really eye opening for her and almost led to the "Where do babies come from?" chat.
I've noticed in just the two short weeks I have been open and honest in answering any of these life questions that our communcation has improved. What a wonderful thing!!
Sorry to those of you who see my child on a regular basis and have children of your own.....she may have shared the love and knowledge. :)
In my last post I talked about wanting to be more involved in being a better mother this year. I've started this by using B's questions about life as teachable moments. I've been doing a lot of reading lately about how children who have open relationships with their parents and good communcation prosper the most.
In just over 2 weeks we have had some pretty
This week alone Brea has been very interested in all problems women face with that time of the month. At least once a day we have had in depth conversations about it. I figure it will happen to her one day too so why not start answering questions and preparing her now.
We have also had an in depth talk regarding birth control and why women use it. That one was really eye opening for her and almost led to the "Where do babies come from?" chat.
I've noticed in just the two short weeks I have been open and honest in answering any of these life questions that our communcation has improved. What a wonderful thing!!
Sorry to those of you who see my child on a regular basis and have children of your own.....she may have shared the love and knowledge. :)
Friday, January 3, 2014
New Year's Resolutions
Happy Friday friends!! I hope you all have had wonderful weeks and even better NYEve's and Days. I was thinking the other day about New Year's Resolutions and what not. I've decided this year not to so much make a New Year's Resolution that I will most likely not keep but instead set some goals for myself this year that I hope to accomplish. I figure if I put these in writing and publish them out into the world then I'm bound to them.
So without further ado here are my Top 5 goals to accomplish this year:
1. Be a better mother - As I've said before I'm a single mother and it takes a village to raise a child but I'm definitely going to put more effort into lifting up my child and teaching life lessons this year.
2. Be a healthier me - I've slipped somewhere over the past year into old habits and as I get older my body does just not bounce back as fast as it used to. With that being said, I am making an effort to exercise at minimum 3 times a week for no less than 20 minutes and also to eat better and cook more homemade meals.
3. Travel more - The last half of 2012 and most of 2013 were pretty much travel lacking which makes me very sad. I used to be one traveling fool and I miss going on trips and visiting new places. My self fulfilling goal this year is to visit one new place, that should be easily attainable.
4. Relax - If anyone knows me on a personal level they know that I can tend to be a bit high strung in all aspects of my life. This year I am focusing on chilling out more and things just flow the way they are supposed to be. I have no problem admitting that I am somewhat of a control freak and I'm going to try to let go a little more this year.
5. Run a half marathon - I am not a good runner whatsoever so completing this task will be one amazing accomplishment. I'm thinking late summer early fall is when I will try to complete my first half. I'm going to start training for it as soon as the weather is nicer outside and not so cold!
What are you New Year's Goals?
So without further ado here are my Top 5 goals to accomplish this year:
1. Be a better mother - As I've said before I'm a single mother and it takes a village to raise a child but I'm definitely going to put more effort into lifting up my child and teaching life lessons this year.
2. Be a healthier me - I've slipped somewhere over the past year into old habits and as I get older my body does just not bounce back as fast as it used to. With that being said, I am making an effort to exercise at minimum 3 times a week for no less than 20 minutes and also to eat better and cook more homemade meals.
3. Travel more - The last half of 2012 and most of 2013 were pretty much travel lacking which makes me very sad. I used to be one traveling fool and I miss going on trips and visiting new places. My self fulfilling goal this year is to visit one new place, that should be easily attainable.
4. Relax - If anyone knows me on a personal level they know that I can tend to be a bit high strung in all aspects of my life. This year I am focusing on chilling out more and things just flow the way they are supposed to be. I have no problem admitting that I am somewhat of a control freak and I'm going to try to let go a little more this year.
5. Run a half marathon - I am not a good runner whatsoever so completing this task will be one amazing accomplishment. I'm thinking late summer early fall is when I will try to complete my first half. I'm going to start training for it as soon as the weather is nicer outside and not so cold!
What are you New Year's Goals?
Monday, December 23, 2013
Hustle and Bustle of Christmas
Happy Monday all my friends! Today on my lunch break I finished all of my Christmas shopping thank goodness!! Let me just tell you traffic and the stores were crazy, lines everywhere you looked.
My favorite snag of today was that most of the DVDs at Target were $4.50! I was so excited to see some of my favorite movies there on sale. I snagged a few - one of my personal favorites Love and Other Drugs with Jake Gyllenhall and Anne Hathaway.
One of the extremely hard to find items for Miss B this year was a personal fan for her room. In the dead cold of winter!! I went to Wal-Mart and asked for a fan and was greeted with a weird look by every employee I came into contact with. Thanks Miss B I'm that weirdo trying to find a fan in December. Luckily today at good ol' Target I found a perfect fan that will sit on her bedside table and keep her freezing the night away! Woohoo!! I also picked her up a handheld fan for her stocking, so she can take that with her when we go on our Disney trip in March. (Sooooo excited!!)
Now that I am finished completely I have to say it feels good. I cut it close every year running around and budgeting for Christmas. This year there were more people to buy for as well with our lovely Ryan and his family coming into our lives. It feels good to give and I hope everyone enjoys their little happy I've gotten them.
It's sometimes easy to get into bad spirits with all the running around and financial stress. I know I haven't been in the best spirits the past few weeks. I've had to stop though this past week and take a look at the bigger picture. I'm feeling much better now and thinking the rest of this year will be a great time.
Merry Christmas friends if I don't write again!!!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Just How Sore Am I?
UPDATE:
After yesterday's workout I knew I would be somewhat sore today seeing as how I have not worked out in a few weeks.
I can tell you that the workout I posted yesterday absolutely gave me a full body workout. The areas that were most affected based on my soreness are:
Shoulders
Lower Back
Glutes
Thighs (entire area)
Based on those factors alone I would say that this workout should achieve some results after two weeks. I'll certainly let ya know!!
After yesterday's workout I knew I would be somewhat sore today seeing as how I have not worked out in a few weeks.
I can tell you that the workout I posted yesterday absolutely gave me a full body workout. The areas that were most affected based on my soreness are:
Shoulders
Lower Back
Glutes
Thighs (entire area)
Based on those factors alone I would say that this workout should achieve some results after two weeks. I'll certainly let ya know!!
Monday, December 9, 2013
Getting Back On My Fitness
Happy Monday friends. I hope you enjoyed your weekend. I got some much needed rest and an added snow day on Friday, yippee!!!
Now that I'm feeling rested and well I decided over the weekend that I have slacked in the fitness department as of late. The scale is reflecting my slacker attitude as well. What did I do? Oh I took to my wonderful Pinterest Page and started pinning all kinds of new workouts that I think I can tackle.
The Challenge:
I am committing to taking on one new workout every two weeks that I have pinned to my Pinterest Page. I am committing to working out no less than two times a week for the two weeks. If I like the workout I will keep it in my normal fitness routine. If I don't like the workout I will of course throw it out. I will also be blogging here to let you know what works and doesn't work, for me of course!
So join in on the challenge if you want to and we can all get lean and fit together!!
Monday December 9th, 2013
Today's workout I chose a tabata interval workout. It was intense let me just tell you and I am sure I will be feeling the workout tomorrow. Take a look below and see if this is a good workout for you. I am doing this workout for the next two weeks and will post results when I'm done. I picked this workout because it can be done in less than 20 minutes and it torches calories. Tabata Interval workouts are the best at getting your heart rate up and also targeting your trouble zones that we all experience.
Now that I'm feeling rested and well I decided over the weekend that I have slacked in the fitness department as of late. The scale is reflecting my slacker attitude as well. What did I do? Oh I took to my wonderful Pinterest Page and started pinning all kinds of new workouts that I think I can tackle.
The Challenge:
I am committing to taking on one new workout every two weeks that I have pinned to my Pinterest Page. I am committing to working out no less than two times a week for the two weeks. If I like the workout I will keep it in my normal fitness routine. If I don't like the workout I will of course throw it out. I will also be blogging here to let you know what works and doesn't work, for me of course!
So join in on the challenge if you want to and we can all get lean and fit together!!
Monday December 9th, 2013
Today's workout I chose a tabata interval workout. It was intense let me just tell you and I am sure I will be feeling the workout tomorrow. Take a look below and see if this is a good workout for you. I am doing this workout for the next two weeks and will post results when I'm done. I picked this workout because it can be done in less than 20 minutes and it torches calories. Tabata Interval workouts are the best at getting your heart rate up and also targeting your trouble zones that we all experience.
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