Tuesday, December 31, 2024
There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
Monday, December 30, 2024
2024 Goals and Year In Review- Transform & Emerge 🦋
It's been a while since I've done a year in review post. (I think the last time was all the way back in 2021...😳) Eliot and I were traveling to Walt Disney World for New Year's Eve of 2022 and I ran out of time. And I just stopped blogging all together after my Dad died in August of 2023. So now I'm back in what feels like uncharted territory.
After quite a few personal gut checks, I don't think I want to do a year in review like I have in the past. In years before, I would share highlights of each month with you, linking back to previous blog posts. There aren't many blog posts to link back to in 2024... and to be honest, I would rather forget a good portion of this year.
But something is calling me to write this post, and I believe that I've finally figured out why. I think it's because I learned a lot and grew a lot as a person. So here goes...
I'm going to to be 100% transparent, I spent the majority of 2024 pretty much miserable and wallowing in my own puddle of feelings. The emotions I've experienced vary from the highest of highs, to the lowest of lows. It was a year of transition for me, as my family still had a lot of "firsts" to go through without my Dad. We had more birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays to navigate. For the most part, I'd like to think that I went through them with as much grace as I could muster.
I didn't share my 2024 goals or my words of the year at the beginning of 2024, but I still wrote some down. I knew 2024 was going to be a year filled with a lot of change, so I chose TRANSFORM and EMERGE for my 2024 Words of the Year. I've never chosen more than one word before, but I felt it was necessary this time. All I could picture was a butterfly. It starts out as one thing, and then transforms into something completely different. It's still the same little caterpillar that formed it's chrysalis, but it emerges as a butterfly, new and beautiful in it's own way. 🦋 This was what I hoped for myself.
And I honestly didn't think I was going to get there. I was running out of time... 2024 was rushing past me and the end of the year was sneaking up on me.
But Eliot's and my two week vacation, our trip to Walt Disney World, spending time in my favorite place, being surrounded in holiday magic and voyaging on the Disney Wish sparked something in me. I left for that trip a caterpillar, somehow I unknowingly put myself into a magical Disney chrysalis, and I returned home a butterfly. 🦋
I actually feel like me again. And it's been a long time since I've felt like myself.
The mental and emotional toll of the things I've experienced over the past two years would be a lot for anyone. And it's just an unfortunate part of life that I've experienced all the things that I have... right about at the same time. I know that there's still a lot of emotions and feelings left for me to navigate and process through. And that won't change... emotions and feelings are a never-ending and ever-evolving process.
But I feel like I've finally transformed and emerged into the new version of myself. The version who has been through some pretty intense stuff the past two years, but is ready and more equipped to take care of herself moving forward. 💖
So I guess if there's any goals that I'm glad I accomplished this year, it was this one. °o°
Sunday, December 29, 2024
Looking Back At My 30 Things to Do During My 30's List
Well, I wasn't sure if I'd ever get back to this list. But something was calling me to come on here and bring some closure to it... so here I am.
I had originally planned to do this blog post as a six months to go check in. But since that came and went back months ago when I wasn't actively blogging, we're just going to wrap this up and move forward. So now as a newly 40 year old, I'm officially saying goodbye to my 30's and my 30 Things to Do During My 30's List.
For those of you who are new here, ten years ago I decided to make a list of thirty things that I wanted to do during my 30's. I decided to make this list after discovering that a lot of people make 30 things to do before turning 30 lists. I didn't do it before I turned 30, so I decided to make one for while I was in my thirties. Then, I kicked off my 30th year with a Rapunzel and Tangled themed birthday party. Instead of turning 30 with dread like most people do, I chose to look at it as the next big adventure.
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Photo Source: Disney |
- Visit Disneyland During the 60th Anniversary
- Buy Our First House
- Go On Our First Disney Cruise
- Get a Puppy
- Have Kids
- Attend a D23 Expo Convention
- Take My Parents to Disneyland for the 1st Time
- Go to Disney for Dapper Day
- Ride a Horse
- Get My Photo Taken with Every Disney Princess
- Go to 10 Different NHL Hockey Arenas to Watch the Sharks
- Go on a Christmas Disney Cruise
- Visit Walt Disney World During the 50th Anniversary
- Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
- Go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
- Get Our House Organized and Decorated
- Read a Book in French
- Finish 5 Disney Races of Any Distance
- Go to Aulani
- Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum
- Swim with a Dolphin
- Go on All of the Opening Day Attractions at Disneyland in One Day
- Reach Gold Level in Disney Cruise Line Castaway Club
- Study French for 365 Days Straight
- Travel Somewhere New
- Sew Myself a Dress
- Learn 10 New Crafting Techniques or Mediums
- Go to Magic Kingdom on 10/1/2023 for the 100 Years of Disney Celebration
- Launch Other Business Ideas
- Take Nice Photographs at Walt Disney World for Our 10th Anniversary
- Visit Disneyland During the 60th Anniversary ✅
- Buy Our First House ✅
- Go On Our First Disney Cruise ✅
Get a Puppy❌Have Kids❌- Attend a D23 Expo Convention ✅
- Take My Parents to Disneyland for the 1st Time ✅
- Go to Disney for Dapper Day ✅
Ride a Horse ❌- Get My Photo Taken with Every Disney Princess ⚠️ (Work in Progress)
- Go to 10 Different NHL Hockey Arenas to Watch the Sharks ⚠️ (WIP)
- Go on a Christmas Disney Cruise ✅
- Visit Walt Disney World During the 50th Anniversary ✅
Ride in a Hot Air Balloon ❌- Go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party ✅
Get Our House Organized and Decorated ❌Read a Book in French ❌- Finish 5 Disney Races of Any Distance ✅
Go to Aulani ❌- Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum ✅
Swim with a Dolphin ❌- Go on All of the Opening Day Attractions at Disneyland in One Day ⚠️ (WIP)
- Reach Gold Level in Disney Cruise Line Castaway Club ✅
- Study French for 365 Days Straight ✅
- Travel Somewhere New ✅
Sew Myself a Dress❌- Learn 10 New Crafting Techniques or Mediums⚠️ (WIP)
Go to Magic Kingdom on 10/1/2023 for the 100 Years of Disney Celebration ❌Launch Other Business Ideas ❌Take Nice Photographs at Walt Disney World for Our 10th Anniversary ❌
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Santa’s Workshop Elves
Friday, December 6, 2024
It Was All Like a Dream... My Birthday Wish Come True. ✨
It's been about a week since Eliot and I got home and settled back into the "real world" after what was probably the most wonderful vacation I have ever taken. 💕
We've had a lot of magical memories at Walt Disney World, down in Florida and out at sea on Disney Cruises... but nothing like the wonder that was those two weeks. It was probably the longest vacation Eliot and I have ever taken, and this was definitely the longest trip that we've taken just the two of us.
And it couldn't have come at a better time. Now that we're home, we're 100% focused on getting through holiday orders for both of our shops. Then, we'll have the holiday season. Before we know it, we'll be at New Years and another year will start. So this break from our everyday lives was at the perfect time.
I still haven’t been able to process everything and how much I really needed this. 💖
2024 has been a rough year for me, full of a lot of transitions and personal heartbreak. I've had a lot of stuff to process, and I desperately needed some magic in my life. It was like my soul was calling out to the only place it knew I could get filled back up.
And filled up it was. It feels like the magic brought me back to life again. ✨
I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to put the feeling that I have into words. But I am so thankful for our magical trip and for getting to spend two weeks with my favorite person at some of my favorite places in the entire world! ✨🏰🌳🎥🌐🛳🏝🐭✨