February Focus ✨

Happy February Everyone! 💕

The first month of 2025 is in the books... and as usual, it flew right by me.

This week started out a little shaky... literally.  (Maine had a 3.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday that I definitely felt!)  But thankfully, it's taken a turn for the better.  I started the week feeling completely defeated and now I feel like I could take on the world. 

This year, I've definitely got my goal getter cap on and it feels like I'm a woman on a mission.  However if I'm going to get anything done, I've gotta get working on smaller goals in order to achieve the bigger things that I've got my sights set on.

Some of those smaller goals started this past week.  It's no secret that Eliot and I have been working behind the scenes on new business ideas.  This week, the groundwork for one of my newer ideas was laid out.  Accounts have been set up, the design process has started, supply lists have been made, and most exciting for me, product and sample brainstorming has begun!  I see a lot of fun happening over the coming weeks. 💖

I also see a lot of cleaning and organizing (both mentally and physically) in my future.  There are gonna be a lot of lists... and there's probably not going to be as much time for other things.  I'm committed to my 2025 goals and what I want for myself this year.  However, I want to assure you that I am still planning to continue posting on here more often.  I'm just not sure how often and how in depth the posts will be.  But I've already got 5 posts up for January and today will be post six.  Considering that I only had 12 posts for all of last year, I'm already halfway to that number and off to a good start!

That makes me feel really good, because my January was kind of a hot mess and all over the place.  I'm in that weird place where I simultaneously feel like I got a ton of stuff done, and also nothing done.  So I'll be trying to take February to re-focus and get myself set up for the rest of the year. ✨ 

It's time to get my February Focus on!  °o°

2025 Disney Goals

It's 2025... what a great time to feel alive!!!  

Today I'm back with one of my favorite annual traditions... setting goals.  I'm not super into resolutions, but goals I can get behind.  Each year, I write a bunch down and set out to accomplish as many of them as I can.  It's usually a pretty tall order, but I enjoy having some direction when the new year begins.

This year, I've decided to switch things up a little since I last posted my goals on here back in 2022.  Back then, I was still putting most of my goals on one list... and since then, I've expanded my lists.  I now have a Disney goal list, as well as a personal list and a blog list.  I'm not going to share the personal list because it's personal, and the blog list is pretty boring.  But I've made my Disney list more concise with goals to make everyday a little more magical.  So let's dive in to the fun stuff!

Melissa's Disney Goals for 2025

1.) Design a Miniature Scene

2.) Hang Disney Artwork and Pictures in Upstairs Hallway

3.) Beverage Station/Bar Set Up
4.) Decorate the House for the Holidays
5.) Paint Disney Nails

6.) Make Disney Home Decor for the House

7.) Use My Disney Planner
8.) Make Decor for the Holidays
9.) Make Disney Accessories
10.) Watch All of the Classic Disney Animated Movies
11.) Have Disney Board Game Nights
12.) Wear More Disneybound/Themed Outfits

13.) Watch All of the Marvel Movies
14.) Put Together a Disney Puzzle
15.) Design an Imagineering Project
16.) Watch All of the Live Action Disney Movies (Classic Re-Makes)
17.) Paint Disney Art
18.) Decorate House with Disney Touches
19.) Launch New Business Ideas
20.) Make Donkey Costumes and/or Outfits

21.) Read Disney Books

22.) Watch All of the Pixar Animated Movies

23.) Customize Clothing with Embellishments

24.) Finish Bathrooms

25.) Watch All of the Star Wars Movies

I'm pretty excited about this list!  Most of them are creative goals, and I really need to get some personal creativity time back into my life.  Eliot and I love our businesses, but sometimes I feel more like a production line than a designer.  So I want to make time to make things for me... simply because I love making and creating things.

As you all know, I'm into home decor and interior design, so those are obviously some pretty big ones for me.  I'm also hoping to work on more costumes and fashion designs this year.  It's been a while since I've watched most of the animated Disney and Pixar movies.  I haven't seen Star Wars in a very long time... and I've never seen most of the Marvel movies.  (One of my personal goals was to get more steps in... so I figure I can crush that while watching some of these movies!)

I've decided that my 2025 Word of the Year is ABUNDANCE.  It suddenly came to me a few weeks ago, and I just felt very connected to it.  It feels like the past few years have been filled with an abundance of sadness, change and uncertainty.  So this year, I'm manifesting an abundance of wonderful things like joy, peace, productivity, money, creativity, happiness, and magic.

I'm really hoping that I can cross a good portion of these off this year... 

It's time to thrive... let's do this 2025. °o°

Photos taken from the Disney Store's website from items in their 2025 collection.

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°

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.  

Photo Source: Disney

Over the past ten years, I've had to make some tweaks to the original list.  There was my first revised list when my priorities changed.  Then, I checked in again at the halfway point.  My last revision and update was two years ago when I reached the 3/4 mark. After the coronavirus pandemic, there were a few things that didn't make sense to keep on the list.  But I wasn't too worried about it... a lot can happen in 10 years!

Here's the list for those of you who haven't seen it:

30 Things To Do During My 30's (Updated List):

1. Visit Disneyland During the 60th Anniversary 
2. Buy Our First House 
3. Go On Our First Disney Cruise
4. Get a Puppy
5. Have Kids
6. Attend a D23 Expo Convention
7. Take My Parents to Disneyland for the 1st Time
8. Go to Disney for Dapper Day
9. Ride a Horse
10. Get My Photo Taken with Every Disney Princess
11. Go to 10 Different NHL Hockey Arenas to Watch the Sharks
12. Go on a Christmas Disney Cruise
13. Visit Walt Disney World During the 50th Anniversary
14. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
15. Go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
16. Get Our House Organized and Decorated
17. Read a Book in French
18. Finish 5 Disney Races of Any Distance
19. Go to Aulani
20. Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum
21. Swim with a Dolphin
22. Go on All of the Opening Day Attractions at Disneyland in One Day
23. Reach Gold Level in Disney Cruise Line Castaway Club
24. Study French for 365 Days Straight
25. Travel Somewhere New
26. Sew Myself a Dress
27. Learn 10 New Crafting Techniques or Mediums
28. Go to Magic Kingdom on 10/1/2023 for the 100 Years of Disney Celebration
29. Launch Other Business Ideas
30. Take Nice Photographs at Walt Disney World for Our 10th Anniversary

I was originally planning to do three blog posts with a recap of 10 goals on each one.  My idea was that I could go into more detail about accomplishing each of the goals I was able to.  But right now, I simply don't have that in me.  A lot of these you've already heard about on here anyways... and I'm not going to get into the things that I didn't accomplish.  There are various reasons we didn't check some of these off... and I've become a lot more of a private person than I used to be a decade ago.

So without further ado, here are the simplified results of my list.

30 Things To Do During My 30's (Updated List):

1. Visit Disneyland During the 60th Anniversary ✅ 
2. Buy Our First House ✅  
3. Go On Our First Disney Cruise ✅ 
4. Get a Puppy ❌
5. Have Kids ❌
6. Attend a D23 Expo Convention ✅ 
7. Take My Parents to Disneyland for the 1st Time ✅ 
8. Go to Disney for Dapper Day ✅ 
9. Ride a Horse ❌
10. Get My Photo Taken with Every Disney Princess ⚠️ (Work in Progress)
11. Go to 10 Different NHL Hockey Arenas to Watch the Sharks ⚠️ (WIP)
12. Go on a Christmas Disney Cruise ✅ 
13. Visit Walt Disney World During the 50th Anniversary ✅ 
14. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon ❌
15. Go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party ✅ 
16. Get Our House Organized and Decorated ❌
17. Read a Book in French ❌
18. Finish 5 Disney Races of Any Distance ✅ 
19. Go to Aulani ❌
20. Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum ✅ 
21. Swim with a Dolphin ❌
22. Go on All of the Opening Day Attractions at Disneyland in One Day ⚠️ (WIP)
23. Reach Gold Level in Disney Cruise Line Castaway Club ✅ 
24. Study French for 365 Days Straight ✅ 
25. Travel Somewhere New ✅ 
26. Sew Myself a Dress ❌
27. Learn 10 New Crafting Techniques or Mediums⚠️ (WIP)
28. Go to Magic Kingdom on 10/1/2023 for the 100 Years of Disney Celebration ❌
29. Launch Other Business Ideas ❌
30. Take Nice Photographs at Walt Disney World for Our 10th Anniversary ❌

I think I did pretty good.  Some of the things I didn't accomplish were out of my control, and some of them just weren't high priorities anymore.  A few of them were works in progress, with me completing most- but not getting the entire list completed.  I'm happy with what I did accomplish!  Plus I had a ton of cool experiences that I wasn't expecting to do that definitely made up for the things I didn't do in my 30's.  Here's that fun list! 🙂

Other Cool Things That I Did In My 30's

- I Saw the San Jose Sharks Live in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016 ✅ 

- I Saw Alan Menken in Concert (twice) at the 2017 D23 Expo ✅ 

- I Saw the Disney Princess Panel with the voices of Moana (Auli'i Cravalho), Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), Ariel (Jodi Benson) and Belle (Paige O'Hara) at the D23 Expo ✅ 

- Eliot and I Took a Photo with the Descendants Cast at the 2017 D23 Expo  ✅ 

- I Was in Disneyland For It's Actual 62nd Birthday Celebration (in 2017) ✅ 

- I Celebrated My 33rd Birthday in Walt Disney World (in 2017) ✅ 

- Happily Ever Hatter's Explosion of 3D Printed Mouse Ears Created An Entirely New Genre & It Allowed Me to Quit My Job, Be My Own Boss & Work at Home Full Time ✅ 

- I Attended the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose ✅ 

- Eliot and I Touched the Stanley Cup During All-Star Game in San Jose ✅ 

- I Saw a Few of the Disney on Broadway Concerts at the Festival of the Arts ✅ 

- I Went to Tons of Regular Season Games at the Shark Tank and on Road Trips ✅ 

- I Went to the Sharks Western Conference Final in 2019 ✅ 

- I Saw the Disney Princess Concert of Broadway stars... twice! ✅ 

- I Saw Two of My Favorite Childhood Bands That I'd Never Seen Live (Backstreet Boys in Bangor, ME in July 2022 and Hanson at the 2023 Food and Wine Festival) ✅ 

- Eliot and I Met a Bunch of San Jose Sharks and Sharks Legends ✅ 

- I Met Disney Imagineer Joe Rhodes at the 2022 D23 Expo ✅ 

- Daddy and I Saw the Entire Cast of Frozen Get Inducted as Disney Legends ✅ 

- I Celebrated the End of my 30's Aboard the Disney Wish! ✅ 

All in all, my 30's were pretty good.  They weren't really what I was expecting when I first set out to make this list.  But even with those jaded visions of things not coming to pass, they were still good overall.  (And losing my Dad in my 30's was definitely not on my Bingo card...)  Now I'm ready to put my 30's behind me, and look ahead to the future and what exciting new experiences and things my 40's will bring!

And that's a wrap on my 30 Things to Do During My 30's List! °o°

365 Days of French

Bonjour mes amis!  Today, I am celebrating a giant milestone that I set in my personal goals... I have successfully hit 365 days of learning French!!!

Ok so if we're being technical, my one year anniversary was actually last Thursday since I first started using Duolingo on February 16th last year.  But my app thought that I skipped a few days, so it "froze" those.  Today, I officially hit the 365 day mark!

I am so proud of myself.  I studied French every single day for an entire year.  Even on the days that my app "froze" my progress, I still studied it.  (A few of those days were Disney days and since we're night owls, I did a few of the lessons after midnight... But I also did a lesson the following day- even though the app had already counted it!)

I feel like I've made great progress over the past year.  They changed the overall layout of the app a few months ago.  So with the new update, I'm starting Unit 9 of French Foundations 1.  There are 17 units in this section, so I've still got a ways to go.  I did stop with learning new content over the busy holiday season, but I'm getting ready to dive back into new material.  (I feel like I haven't soaked in the most recent lessons as well, so I've been doing a lot of review and challenges to get more familiar with it.)

Overall, I think that I'm still in territory that I learned back in high school French.  But it's been so long that I'm still remembering everything.  The grammar is getting a bit more complicated too, so I've wanted to wait until I could really focus on learning it.

I'm also hoping to start integrating vocabulary flash cards and my text books into my learning.  I also haven't physically written anything down in French yet, so I also need to start practicing that.  The other thing that I'd like to work on is using the symbols to indicate accents more.  I haven't been using them since my phone autocorrects a lot of it for me.  I know where most of them go, but I haven't been typing them into the app, so I need to get much more familiar with that!

I'm also considering downloading Babbel to accommodate Duolingo.  I know that they are rival apps, but I really just want to learn French.  I've heard that Babbel is much more conversational, so I'm thinking that combining the two might help me progress faster.  But I'm very happy with how I've been learning French from Duolingo so far!

I just found out a few weeks ago that my father-in-law Rick is using Duolingo to learn Spanish!  He must have heard about it from me, because Eliot's family hadn't heard of it when I was using it during our California trip last March.  I'm glad he's also learning a new language.  I'm trying to convince Eliot to do it with me.  But since he's dyslexic, he has a hard time reading to begin with.  He keeps joking that he's barely got a grip on the English language, but I bet he could do it if he really wanted to.  At this point, Eliot is stuck listening to me babble to myself in French pretty often anyways!

It's been a great year of learning French.  On to the next 365 days!!!  °o°

2023 Disney Goals

It's 2023 and I'm jumping with glee!!!  In my opinion, there's no better way to start off the new year at Walt Disney World.  And if there was ever a year that I needed a little bit of pixie dust to jump start my year, it would be this one.  2022 was a great year, but the past few weeks have definitely left me feeling drained and in need of some magic.

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Each year, I look forward to making my goals for the upcoming year.  It's something that I've always looked forward to.  I feel like they're less rigid than a resolution, which just feels like a promise you make to yourself that's usually broken.  Instead, I make a list of goals of things that I'd like to accomplish each year.

Most of my goal lists are similar.  There are a lot of goals that move from one year to the next.  Some of them are one and done goals, but a lot of them are things that I really enjoy.  Thus, they find their way back to my list each year whether I accomplish them the previous year or not!  And I wouldn't have it any other way!

If you're curious and would like to see what my past lists have looked like, you can read my past Disney goal posts at the following links: 2014 goals, 2014 recap, 2015 goals, 2015 recap, 2016 goals, 2016 recap, 2017 goals, 2019 goals, 2019 recap, 2020 goals, 2020 recap, 2021 goals, 2021 recap, 2022 goals, and my 2022 recap.)

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For 2023, I decided to spice things up a tiny bit.  I've added some goals that haven't made an appearance before.  I took a few off, or combined them so that I'd have more room.  I've continued my tradition of adding another goal to match the year.  (20 for 2020, 21 for 2021, etc.)  I'm pretty excited about how this final list turned out.  I think adding a few new things has really rejuvenated me and made me excited for this year!

So let's dive in and see what I've got on tap for 2023...

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Melissa's Disney Goals for 2023

1.) Go to Walt Disney World for the 50th Anniversary- This is always a goal of mine, but I really wanted to make sure that Eliot and I enjoyed Walt Disney World before the 50th Anniversary Celebration ends in March of this year!

2.) Hang Disney Artwork and Pictures in Hallway- Eliot and I have so much Disney artwork.  We've been talking about hanging it up forever... so I made it a 2023 goal.

3.) Work on My Scrapbooks- I would be happy to organize my scrapbook stuff even if I didn't have time to work on it.  Hopefully I can make progress this year!

4.) Decorate the House for the Holidays- Eliot and I have so many decorations... this truly brings me joy and I'd really like to do it in some capacity this year!

5.) Paint Disney Nails- This is another new goal.  I used to paint my nails all the time for different events or holidays.  I've definitely gotten away from it though... so I decided this was going to be one of my new 2023 goals!

6.) Make Disney Home Decor for the House- I have so many ideas for things to make in our house... and the lists only grow.  Hopefully this year I'll make a few!

7.) Use My Disney Planner- I didn't buy a new one yet, but I'm hoping to utilize the ones that I've had for the past two years.  I used to love having a physical planner!

8.) Make Disney Decor for the Holidays- I also have a bunch of ideas for holiday themed decor.  I'm hoping that I can make some of that this year.

9.) Make Disney Accessories- I have so many things that I want to make myself.  I'm hoping that I can cross a lot of those things off this year!

10.) Watch All of the Classic Disney Animated Movies- It's been forever since I've watched some of the animated classics like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.  This year, I'd like to actually watch all of them again... and with Disney+, I think it's possible.

11.) Have Disney Board Game Nights- Eliot and I have made time for a lot of other things, and I'd like to start playing board games every once in a while.  We have so many of them that we've collected through the years!

12.) Wear More Disneybound/Themed Outfits- I'm not making myself stick to a certain number of outfits because I think that's holding me back.  Instead, I just want to utilize more of the clothing and accessories that I've collected over the years!

13.) Have a Disney Themed Party- Maybe this will finally be the year?

14.) Put Together a Disney Puzzle- This is another new goal. Eliot and I used to love putting puzzles together, and I'd like to get back into it!

15.) Design an Imagineering Project- Eliot and I used to brainstorm tons of different ideas of things you could build in the parks.  I always wanted to actually draw one out one day.  Even if it's a small project... I'd love to actually make this happen.

16.) Read Disney Books- I have so many of these that I'd love to read.  I read one last year and I loved it... so this year I'm looking forward to making more time to read!

17.) Paint Disney Art- We don't have a Painting with a Twist the town over from us anymore, but I've been saving up a ton of ideas for my own paint nights at home.  I'm hoping that I can make more time to paint because I miss doing it!

18.) Decorate House with Disney Touches- This is always a goal of mine.  I have so many ideas and I only keep thinking of more.  I've also gotten a lot of inspiration from other people's houses from my Facebook Group, Pinterest and Instagram.

19.) Launch My Clothing Line- I have so many ideas for this.  I really need to sit down and make time to dive into it.  No more fear!  Just dive in girl.  You've got this!

20.) Launch Our Home Decor Business- I have a direction that I'd like to head in and I think that Eliot and I have the ability to make it happen.  Hopefully 2023 is the year!

21.) Create New Products for Happily Ever Hatter- Ahh, I have so many ideas for this!  I literally can't wait to get our tax refund so I can buy some more supplies!

22.) Watch All of the Pixar Animated Movies- Like the animated classics, I'd love to watch all of the Pixar movies again.  I've seen most of them more recently, but I'm always looking for more ideas and inspiration!

23.) Customize Clothing with Embellishments- This is my final goal and another new one.  I've been really inspired by a few Instagram accounts of people making their clothing their own by adding patches, rhinestones, vinyl, etc.  I have a bunch of ideas written down, and I'm hoping to play around with some of those!

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I'm pretty excited about these goals!  I'm always excited for a new year filled with possibility, but I think the addition of a few new goals has reinvigorated my zest.  I'm looking forward to a year filled with lots of creativity!

Since I started writing my goals down on my blog, I also started a tradition of choosing a word of the year to accompany my goals.  At the end of each year, I've found a word to focus on for the upcoming year... and it usually ties in to my overall goals for that year.  In the past, my words have been create, growth, blossom, dream, imagination, conquer, positivity, purpose and balance.

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I usually have to really think about it before I find a word, but this year's word just came to me almost immediately.  When I was thinking about the year ahead, one thing that just kept coming up over and over was the future.  So I've decided that my 2023 Word of the Year is: FUTURE.  Eliot and I have our sights set on a lot of dreams... so now's the time to start focusing on the steps that will create that future.

Here's to another new year.  Let's do this 2023... time to make it a magical one.  °o°

Final Recap of 2022 Goals

Another year is drawing to a close.  It never fails; they seem to fly right by.  Of course, with the end of another year... brings another recap of how my goals turned out.  This year, I think that I did pretty well with them overall.

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I always love looking back at how the year went.  Making goals and seeing how I did is something that I've always enjoyed doing.  And tt's been a tradition here on my blog ever since I started!  (You can read my past Disney goal posts at the following links: 2014 goals, 2014 recap, 2015 goals, 2015 recap, 2016 goals, 2016 recap, 2017 goals, 2019 goals, 2019 recap, 2020 goals, 2020 recap, 2021 goals and 2021 recap.)

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I went into 2022 optimistic about how they'd go.  And for the most part, I was able to achieve quite a few of them.  Here are my my 2022 goals if you need a reminder:

Melissa's Blog and Disney Goals for 2022

1.) Go to Walt Disney World for the 50th Anniversary

2.) Get Two Puppies

3.) Work on My Scrapbooks

4.) Decorate the House for the Holidays

5.) Celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary

6.) Make Disney Home Decor for the House

7.) Use My New Disney Planners and Journals

8.) Make Disney Decor for the Holidays

9.) Make Disney Accessories

10.) Have Disney Movie Nights

11.) Have Disney Board Game Nights

12.) Disneybound/Themed Outfit Challenge

13.) Have a Disney Themed Party

14.) Take an Online Class

15.) Design an Imagineering Project

16.) Read Disney Books

17.) Paint Disney Art

18.) Decorate House with Disney Touches

19.) Launch My Clothing Line

20.) Launch Our Home Decor Business

21.) Create New Products for Happily Ever Hatter

22.) Be More Creative in the Kitchen

So, without further ado, let's jump in and see how I did!

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Melissa's Blog and Disney Goals for 2022

1.) Go to Walt Disney World for the 50th Anniversary

I just squeaked by with this one.  Eliot and I are literally at the Magic Kingdom today, and this is the first time we've been able to be at Walt Disney World for the 50th!

2.) Get Two Puppies

This didn't pan out this year... but I'm hopeful for next year!

3.) Work on My Scrapbooks

I didn't even have space to attempt this.  Maybe next year!

4.) Decorate the House for the Holidays

We didn't get the inside of the house decorated.  But Eliot and I were able to get quite a few of our decorations up outside in our front yard and on our porch for Christmas.

5.) Celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary

This didn't exactly go as planned since we cancelled our 10th anniversary trip to Walt Disney World and then Eliot was very sick on our actual anniversary.  But we've made up for it since then and we still have a lot of time to celebrate this entire year!

6.) Make Disney Home Decor for the House

I've been working on a few personal projects.  I don't think that I've posted about any of them on my blog, but I'll definitely be trying to share more of them when I have time to!

7.) Use My New Disney Planners and Journals

This is a disaster and I haven't bought anything for next year.  I've gotten really good at using my computer and my phone but I've totally failed at using a physical planner.

8.) Make Disney Decor for the Holidays

Just like the home decor, I've been making stuff behind the scenes.

9.) Make Disney Accessories

I did make myself a few things this year... no where near what I'd love to.  But I did make myself a few hair clips and brooch pins from our Happily Ever Hatter supplies.

10.) Have Disney Movie Nights

Ok, so I didn't have formal "movie nights" but I did watch a bunch of movies.  I've realized that Eliot isn't home when I want to do many of these things, so a girl's gotta do what a girl's got to do.  I was my own movie date with my couch and the donkeys.

11.) Have Disney Board Game Nights

Like the movie nights, we didn't have game nights.  Although, Eliot and I did go over to my cousin's house to have game night.  They just weren't Disney games.

12.) Disneybound/Themed Outfit Challenge

This is another disaster.  I have so many clothes and I never seem to wear them.  I did make more of an effort this year though... Hopefully I can get our master bedroom straightened out this winter so I can easily get into my outfits, accessories and jewelry!

13.) Have a Disney Themed Party

We still really aren't in any shape to host a party, but hopefully that will change sooner than later.  (Right now, our house looks more like a workshop than a house...)

14.) Take an Online Class

I did take a few online classes this year.  They aren't the super exciting creative ones that make sense to share a lot about here on my blog... but I did enjoy them.  Maybe I'll take some crafty classes next year!

15.) Design an Imagineering Project

I didn't even think of this... I'd love to design something though!

16.) Read Disney Books

I did finally read a book this year!  And when I started it, I devoured it in like 2-3 days.  I want to read it again, and dive into a few of my other Disney books.  I have a ton!

17.) Paint Disney Art

I didn't even think of this either... although I have a bunch of great ideas!

18.) Decorate House with Disney Touches

I'm slowly working on this... at pretty much a snail's pace.  But it's slowly happening!

19.) Launch My Clothing Line

Blah, this is just getting embarrassing at this point.  I really need to get this done!

20.) Launch Our Home Decor Business

Oie... let's be real with this one.  Eliot and I can't seem to agree on a starting point for this business.  He has ideas, I have ideas and we haven't been able to pick a direction to go in.  I think that I finally found the perfect project that combines both of our ideas though... so I'm hoping that I can get something drafted out in the coming months!

21.) Create New Products for Happily Ever Hatter

I was able to make some new products in the form of mouse ears.  It wasn't exactly what I had in mind at the beginning of the year... but I am making some progress towards that with gathering supplies.  I also thought of many ideas for even more new products this year... so there's a lot happening behind the scenes!

22.) Be More Creative in the Kitchen

I was definitely a bit more adventurous in the kitchen.  I haven't really played around with baking and desserts much, but I have cooked more.  Hopefully I can keep making progress with this next year!  I love experimenting!

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And there you have it!  Overall, 12 out of 22 isn't awful.  It's not as great as I wanted to do, but I definitely way better than the 6 out of 20 that I got done last year.

I also continued to do the seasonal bucket lists that I started last year.  I've made a lot of progress on those.  So if you include all of those, I've gotten a ton of goals done this year.  And this is the first year that I actually felt like I made decent headway on not only my goals, but with living the type of year creatively that I want to.

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Finally, I also made sure to really focus my energy towards my 2022 Word of the Year: BALANCE.  I've been struggling with trying to balance our work lives and our business lives.  This year, I really focused on it, and for the first time since we started our Etsy shops, I actually feel like Eliot and I had some balance in our lives. 

I didn't stress out when I didn't get blog posts done on time.  I didn't stress about orders that were late.  (Ok- so I did a little, but I also acknowledged that I'm a human and that I can only do so much.)  Eliot and I took time to enjoy each season.  We took time to enjoy each other's company.  And I really feel like I was fulfilled in my personal life... which is something that I've struggled with for years.

So overall, 2022 was a wonderful year.  I definitely feel life I'm going down the pathway that I'd like to be heading in.  Thank you 2022 for the memories and love.  °o°