Halloween at Disneyland!

This week we took a road trip to California with Steve and Raquel. We arrived in LA Sunday Morning and had some time to kill before we checked into our hotel so we hung out in Hollywood for a couple hours and did some sight seeing. Our plan for the day was to check into our hotel and sleep, check out Downtown Disney, and then go sleep some more. Instead, we decided we couldn't wait til the next day to go to Disneyland, so we went that night!

We walked to the park from our hotel room, and when we got there I was overwhelmed with emotion! I missed Disney SO much. Keith and I both were so happy to be there. We were able to do a lot of new things that night; Mr Toads Wild Ride, Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, and The Indiana Jones Adventure. They don't have those in Florida! And of course, I was reunited with my favorite ride - SPACE MOUNTAIN, and my favorite treat - DOLE WHIPS! AMAZ-A-ZING.

On Monday we went to California Adventure! It was fun! It was our first time there. Unfortunately they are doing a lot of new construction and the things that they do have open are things we have done before. There just wasn't a lot to do. We did get to see World Of Color! That was really beautiful. I loved it.

Tuesday was the big day - Mickey's Halloween Party.
We got all dressed up in our pirate costumes and headed over to Disneyland for the Party. We rode some rides and took lots of pictures. We got a lot of attention for our costumes. People wanted pictures with us and little kids were admiring us. It was pretty cool! When the sun went down, the party started. I wanted to start the party by going back to the front of the park so I could record the music and decorations down Main Street. As the four of us were walking, we were stopped by some cast members. They told us that they really loved our costumes and asked us if we wanted to be on the Grand Marshall's float in the DISNEYLAND PARADE! Of course we all agreed. We couldn't believe it! AND we got the entire conversation on video! They told us when and where to go and all that. We killed time on some rides until it started.

We went backstage to get on the float and we were able to see how everyone gets ready for it. All the princesses and Mickey and Minnie and all the other characters were there just socializing with each other. It was so cool. The parade started and we got to smile and wave to all the cute little kids in their costumes. They were so happy when we waved at them! It was so fun. We got our pictures taken in the float and were told we could get a free copy at the end of the day. It was a magical experience for sure!

At the end of the night we were looking for unique things to do. We saw that in Frontier Land there was an area where you could take pictures with Pirate characters. Little did we know that it was JACK SPARROW we could take a picture with! I ran over to the line to meet him. It's super rare to be able to take a picture with Jack Sparrow. Rumor has it that they had to stop meet and greets with him because women kept groping him. lol... So I jumped at the chance to meet him. When we all got in line, a cast member came and told us that he would be leaving in a couple minutes and that Peter Pan and Captain Hook would be taking his place. This was our last chance to meet Jack, and we missed it! I was SO bummed.

At the end of the party we went to collect our photo from the parade. The photo place was next to a backstage entrance, so we saw some characters go by as we were in line. The next thing I know, Jack Sparrow himself walks right up to all of us in line and starts playing with our pirate hats and messes around with us! I asked him if he would take a picture with us and he said "Well, I don't see why not." It made my whole vacation! After the photo he said goodbye and went backstage. That day was all about being in the right place at the right time. It was such a good day!

Day 12 - Something I am OCD about.

I'm a pretty easy-going gal. I don't have many worries or anxieties towards things. I like cleanliness in the home, but it can wait to be cleaned. I like to look my best, but most of the time I'm pretty confident with skipping my makeup and hair routine so I can have more time do eat or relax before I go to work. When a picture on the wall is crooked, I don't obsess over it like some people I know. So this was hard to think of something I might be "OCD" about. Of course I don't have any REAL obsessive compulsive disorders, so here is just something that bothers me sometimes -

PICTURES. I just thought of this one. I am really picky about people taking pictures of me when I can't do it myself. A couple of months ago at Hollywood Studios, I was trying to take a picture of myself with the Tower of Terror in the background. Sometimes those work out and sometimes they don't. In this case, they didn't. Anyway, so this guy at the ice cream stand next to me is like "Hey, why don't you just ASK someone to take your picture for you?" All angry-like. I said "I don't trust people" jokingly, and he asked "Why? It's not like they're going to run away with your camera."

But you see, that's not why I don't trust people. It seems like most strangers take awful pictures. I think you know what I'm talking about. They have you pictured from your shoulders and up with like 10 feet of empty sky. And then some people want to stand REALLY far away from you to get your whole body plus other things. Most times it isn't necessary.

I think everyone needs to take a photo-taking course of some sort. Maybe later I'll post some tips for everyone!

If you have any tips, let me know and I'll add it to that post. :)

A recent picture of us.

These are the most recent pictures of us that turned out decent. They were taken July 23rd - the night we went to the Disney concert in Park City for a date. :) Keith doesn't like to take pictures like this with me very often. I love it!

It's official.

We're going to

...in less than three weeks!

I'm so FREAKING excited!!!

We're going to celebrate Halloween at Disneyland and go to Mickey's Halloween Party! Last year at the Magic Kingdom was seriously the most FUN we've ever had. Disneyland is my favorite park, so I'm excited to see how the Halloween parties compare. Also, I've never been to California Adventure, so It will be fun to experience something new! YAYAYAYAY!!!

I really love Disney, you guys.

...if you couldn't already tell.

Things are looking up!

Keith and I were having problems with our job situation since we moved to Utah. Keith was getting $80 docked off from his paycheck every week, on top of the fact that he was getting maybe 20 hours a week. I got the call center job which pays $7.25 an hour with possibilities of bonuses, but only the people who were really persistent and could be there all day every day. I was starting to think it was hopeless and was about to quit the job completely.

Now things are looking better. Keith is done paying for tools, so there's an extra $80 a week, and he's getting TONS of hours! Last week he got the biggest paycheck since we've been here. Hallelujah.

For about a week and a half, the call center was not up and running because they were fixing the computers we use, so that was a little scary. When it was back open for business, they had gotten all of the kinks out of the system that were making the computers crash and whatnot. I'm thankful for that, because now we are getting more money! Before the break I was making barely $8/hr, and now my average rate is $13/hr! Yesterday I made $17/hr and I was SO excited. I'm considering making it my full-time job!

I applied at Hobby Lobby and the manager seemed really excited to hire me. He told me he'd get back to me once corporate clears me to work there again. Also, the Disney Store wants me to work for them too. I would rather work at the Disney Store, but again, I have to wait for approval from Walt Disney World. :D

I've also been working extra hours and trying not to shop as much to save money. It's hard, but it's totally worth it. We're planning to go to DISNEYLAND for Halloween! Last year at the Magic Kingdom was THAT good. I'm SO excited.