Hello my faithful readers!

This is the post I’ve been waiting to write, the post I dreamed of, the post that will be the most important post of any post I will ever post……… 

NAH!  LOL! But I sure had you excited, didn’t I?  Instead I’m going to gush about my great vacation and tell you about how a little rest can clear a seriously cloudy head. Saddle up!  It’s been awhile so it’s catch up time.

January proved to be such a trying month.  Nothing bad but nothing fabulous was happening.  Besides my birthday, health issues of family members, the flu smacking me in the face, and some work ishes, it has also been super cold. Before I left for vacation on January 21st, I had the worst couple of work weeks EVER.  I don’t need to go into that here but let’s just say it made me ready to RUN out the door.  I couldn’t wait to escape to Florida.

Yes, Florida. Hubs and I make a yearly pilgrimage to what I call the promised land.  This year I swore I would not need a wheelchair or break my nose. Read about our splendid adventure last year in Nasalcation.  First stop was Tampa! We stayed with and spent tons of time with our fabulous aunt and uncle-in law; they spoiled us, took us everywhere and cooked for us like crazy. They are two of the most inspirational and also fun-loving people I know. We saw Book of Mormon, we visited the Salvador Dali museum, and we explored tons of Florida that I’d never seen.  Relaxing, sunny days suit a diva well. I especially loved visiting with 95-year-old Grandma.  She has such spunk and I’m so glad to hear her say I’m lovely.  Bonus.

Second half of our trip is to my most favorite place on Earth: ORLANDO.  Yes, I’m a kid at heart who genetically transformed my hubs into the Disney loving nerd by my side.  For those who do not know, I worked for Disney Cruise Line.  It was a lifelong dream realized and probably the most amazing time of my life.  I auditioned for two years before it was finally the right time and place.  I never gave up.  Singing with Minnie and Mickey is still my dream job. I made some amazing friends from all over the world and hope someday that the Mouse and I will reunite for some great work.

So back to our vacay part 2! Hubs and I stayed off-property at a mid-range hotel right by the new Orlando Eye.  It is going to be pretty incredible.  To start the week off, we had a romantic dinner at the California Grill atop the Contemporary Resort overlooking Wishes fireworks in Magic Kingdom.  Divine. Epic. The view and the food. All I can say is meat, meat and more meat. Add pork. And scene.

Monday started us at Epcot which supplies us with two of our favorite rides, Captain Eo and Soarin’, before we explored the countries and watched the Voices of Liberty soar to their usual awesomeness.  My dear friend Karen is a part of Voices and she never ceases to impress and inspire me.  We were lucky enough to enjoy dinner with Karen and her husband Chris at the new Trattoria al Forno at Disney’s Boardwalk. I wish we could do this more often with great friends like them. Sharing yummy food and lots of laughter with them was definitely on my list of favorite things that week.

The next day it was time for some Magic in my favorite kingdom.  Karen joined us and we met up with our friend Minnie.  Minnie. As in Mouse. Minnie gave me a good, mauling hug.  It was magical.  Later we met up with another favorite friend, Caroline.  To say that spending time with these ladies made my day is an understatement. I also got to meet up with Tiffany and her family who I’ve known my entire life.  She is my aunt’s sister so basically a cousin and such a sweetheart.  We enjoyed our favorite Dole Whip treat with her and her awesome family. Hubs and I were on our own for the rest of the day, always trying to do and see things we hadn’t before.  We partook in our cheesy favorites like the Carousel of Progress, the Peoplemover and, of course, Small World.  Hubs likes the crazy rides too, I like shopping.  It’s a win-win.  We had such an amazing day and all at our own pace.  We had a late lunch at Cosmic Rays and watched the sunset from the Peoplemover. We planned to go see the Parade from afar and get as close to the castle as possible for my favorite part of the evening, Wishes and Celebrate the Magic.  We fought our way through to the very front of the crowds to be the first people in front of the castle.  We could see all the fabulous floats but were able to park in the perfect position to watch Celebrate. Celebrate the Magic is a projected show on Cinderella’s Castle and it’s spectacular, maybe even more exciting than Wishes fireworks display.  The pictures I got from being RIGHT THERE are incredible and breathtaking.  The storytelling magic is what keeps people of all ages coming back to Disney year after year.   This show, followed directly by Wishes fireworks, really sealed the day as perfect.

Wednesday morning was character breakfast at Chef Mickey’s!  I had never been to Chef Mickey’s before so what a treat it was to load up on Mickey waffles and see all my favorite classic characters.  It brings me back to the old school cartoons I used to love to watch.  Anyone else remember Goofy eating corn on the cob in the trailer attached to the car?  Bueller?

Afterwards, we headed over to Hollywood Studios.  Studios has always been a favorite of mine but I found it almost sad. Sure it still had the Great Movie Ride, The Muppets 3-D,  and Toy Story Mania but the Sorcerer’s Hat that I wasn’t attached to was gone.  There were so many empty areas where there used to be great things to do.  Thank goodness they still had Fantasmic and great places to eat!  Because we got fast pass, getting great seats to the show were no problem and we loved every second of the 20+ minute show of water, lights, fire and characters. What a great end to an epic 3 days of parks.

Thursday was going to be intense.  We were going to explore the unknown of Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade all in one day.  We rushed the park at opening time and hit up Minion Mayhem.  So much fun, those minions!  Then we hightailed it over to Diagon Alley.  I couldn’t believe how much I liked it.  After many years of protest, I’m finally into the Harry Potter books and Diagon Alley was better than I had dreamed.  It was CRAZY authentic.  Not as much to do as at a Disney Park but whoa was there a lot to buy and just look at.  Butterbeer was on the menu first thing and it was delicious, hot, cold, and frozen which we had all three of. We explored every inch and then headed to Hogsmeade via the Hogwarts Express.  I definitely liked Diagon Alley better but Hogsmeade was incredible.  They really created something special over there.  We did a loop around Islands of Adventure where my husband got to hop on a few of the crazy roller coaster rides he loves so much. Then back to Hogsmeade to the Hogwarts Express back to Diagon Alley for a final spin and THEN the rest of Universal.  To say we were BEAT at the end of this day is an understatement.  We were wrecked.  We got home and passed out.

On Friday, we slept in and headed to Downtown Disney before we had to go to the airport. On a side note, Downtown Disney resembles Hollywood Studios as it is in complete disarray in its transformation to Disney Springs.  I hope it becomes a more magical place than it was when we just saw it.  I was just so happy the Christmas shop and Mickey’s Pantry were still there!  Discovering Marketplace Co-Op is dangerous though!  I wanted everything!

This is the part you’ve been waiting to read.  The part that makes this blog make sense.  Did it sound like we rested? Just enough. Did it sound like we had a ball? Yes. Did it sound like we forgot our worries? YES. And that is what mattered. That’s why we went.  We forgot about the selling of our condo, the work drama, the career dreams, the kid plans, the money woes, the what ifs, and anything else that ever plagued our minds.  Hubs is a patient and sweet man so after we had packed up the car on the way to the airport and I burst into tears, he tried to comfort me.  He tried so hard to tell me things would be okay. But they wouldn’t be okay because I realized I wasn’t okay. Our vacation was over and I had to deal with everything I had been saying is fine for months.

I have a list of things in my life I’m unhappy with: my job, not having space, not fitting into my cute dresses from my 20s, that I’m not singing all the time, that I’m again not feeling right physically, that I don’t see my friends and family more, and that I hate things.  I am a hater. I’ve been letting the things that I’m unhappy with take over my life. And with all of this hate, where is the room for love?  I love my husband. I love my family and friends. I love so many parts of my life and my routine but I used to have way more love than this. I never used to be such a hater. When you have this many things you are hating on, you need to tackle it.  It’s funny because I feel happy as a person but when I over think about everything that’s in process, that’s when I become impatient about all I want to do. It’s like waiting in line for your favorite ride at Disney. You’re not going to enjoy it if you just worry about your Fast Pass time for the next one. That’s what I’m doing. Focusing on the next instead of the now. You cannot wait for things to just magically fix themselves but some things just take time. It’s the waiting that is just so hard for me.  I always feel like I’m waiting for life to catch up. I wish it would just run the fuck faster but I HAVE to learn to accept the things I cannot change for now. Life is a process and one I don’t want to rush.

So I’m taking it a day at a time and embracing change.  I’ve done well avoiding responsibility by way of my new obsessions with Pottermore.com.  The changes in my life might be gradual and I’m reminding myself to not hate change and to have patience. Hubs and I are both looking forward to more love, more life, more space, and more change this year.  The resolutions I’m always working on aside, I have a lot going on in my brain but right now, I’m focusing on one thing. What do i love?  Love is all you need.  Love is a many splendored thing. Love is transformative. I love love and need more, more, more of it. That’s what I’m gonna think about. This week it’s Pottermore. Embrace my process and grab onto the changes within your power right? Life is too fucking short. Life is too fucking precious to spend it hating. I gotta start loving more and worrying less and when life is lagging behind, I just gotta fill it with more love. I should call it the Love Project 2015. 🙂

And now, back to finalizing my album songs…. That’s right. Faith, Trust and Vacation is all you need. Oh, and love. Lots of love.