Feeling...

Homesick.

Let me clarify.

When I say I feel homesick, I don't mean for my hometown. I mean that I am pining to be in my favourite place in the world. I'm talking about... the World.

Walt Disney World!

My obsession with this wonderful, magical place began eight years ago last month. A family trip to celebrate my brother's graduation from college sparked one of the biggest passions (and expenses!) in my life.

I know that many people have many varied thoughts on Disney and all that it does, but I love it. I love being immersed in a completely different world. I love the theming and how everything in the World fits into whatever theme you happen to be experiencing at the time: even the trash cans! There is no other place that makes me feel like Walt Disney World. It's almost indescribable.

There are many ways to deal with Disney World homesickness. Some of these "solutions" include the Passporter Boards, different Disney Blogs, as well as Disney radio. I'm not talking about the Disney Radio that plays Hannah Montana/Jo Bros. I'm talking about an online radio station that plays music from the parks, resorts, cruise line, et cetera. Unfortunately, sometimes these pacifications can have the adverse effect. They can make you miss it even more. Right now, I am in the midst of an internal struggle. I smile as I listen to Illumnations via my Live365 radio station, but it brings about a lovely nostalgia, that then slowly, but almost always surely turns into a deep longing to not only hear the music, but to see the Spaceship Earth from the International Gateway at EPCOT, to smell the cinnamon and sugar pecans and roast turkey legs, to feel the mist coming off the giant water features of Fantasmic at Disney Hollywood Studios, and surely to taste that first bite of a Mickey bar...

I know I shall go back again, but not knowing when can be hard. Haha. I know this seems silly, but this is my literal happy place and my comfort. DH does not fully understand the true satisfaction and joy brought to me by this magical world... though my whole family is hoping that one day he will!

Alas... for now the boards, blogs, and music shall have to suffice.

Oh wagon, where art thou?

I fell off a little today. Dinner was Cici's. I wasn't too bad. I had like the equivalent of 2 normal slices of pizza, maybe 2.5, a salad, one cinnamon roll, and one brownie. Haha. My stomach is NOT happy though, I will tell you that much. Oh HFNHC, you are so good at making me feel so guilty. :-)

DH and I may go to Williamsburg for some Christmas shopping. I'm hoping to find an ornament for my Nestie Exchange, but I'm having trouble finding the right thing for her. :-/

11 more days till the family trip to Disney... Can't wait! We got our trading pins in the mail yesterday and we are going to have a BLAST!!! It'll be great to see everyone again, especially my precious niece. :-)

All for now. Though, I promise to post the new recipe (and pics) by the end of tomorrow!!!

Switched Allegiances

I have been blogging on wordpress for a little while now, but now that I have started on this path of clean eating and the c25k program (as inspired by the ladies on the health & fitness board on the Nest), I have found that many of the blogs I like to read from said board are on blogspot, not wordpress. These ladies have such wonderful recipes for clean eating that I just had to have an easy way to follow their food experiments and try them myself. I am so excited about this new lifestyle and knowing others are doing it and succeeding and have such great things to say about it helps so much! So, here's to those nesties, thanks for the blogs; they have inspired me to really commit to this new lifestyle.



That being said, H and I ran W2D2 of the c25k program yesterday afternoon before church and I made it all the way through, despite feeling like death at some points! Haha. I find that the 5th and 6th 90 second runs are the hardest for me, but once I get to the 7th, I feel great. Right now, the 1st and part of the 2nd runs are up a large hill, which is challenging, but it makes me feel all the more accomplished for making it up the hill. The third and fourth runs are usually down a very nice hill, which I appreciate. :-)



I'm still putting together this week's menu, but I got my Food Network Magazine recently and there is a fantastic looking recipe for healthy mac and cheese with cauliflower in it! If I try it out, I will definitely post the recipe. I hope it is as fantastic as it looks. :-) Yesterday, I went to Border's and got two new cookbooks. Ina Garten's Back to Basics and Ellie Krieger's The Foods You Crave (I think that's the title!). H and I looked through Ellie's book last night and it looks faaantastic. There is a turkey recipe that spirals a butterflied breast with the stuffing and I am going to try that one for Christmas since we'll be in Disney World for Thanksgiving (only 50 days till I see my niece... oh, and my brother and sister-in-law).



Speaking of Disney World (one of my many obsessions), my brother and I spent a lot of time talking about our trip and the Disney Vacation Club this weekend while he was in town with my niece (the cutest little 7 month old ever). It would be so wonderful to be able to vacation with friends or family in the same 2 bedroom suite for 5 days or so. The newest resort, Bay Lake Towers (on the Contemporary property), looks fabulous. I've always thought the Contemporary needed a facelift... it's the vision of the future, but from decades ago... But now, Bay Lake has come along and redeemed the Contemporary in my mind. Though, don't get me wrong, I love all things Disney, even the Contemporary. :-)

Scary moment just now: Accidentally closed this tab and lost the post, but then finally found where my drafts were... Phew. Crisis averted.