::adult Disney Feb 2019::

We has a wonderful adult sneak out.  I had the great opportunity to attend a conference about Substance Use Disorder at Disney.  Of course I jumped at the change.  New rule - I only go to conferences if they are in Disney!!!!  What a great way to sneak out, learn some stuff and have some Disney time.   I love this collection of pictures because I have obviously embraced my new pose.  I have exactly the same set up in all pics.  I've love to be embarrassed, but I am no in love with my new body that my pride kinda shows.  I've lost a good 50 pounds over the last year and I am living full blast.   

We have been trying out a new gig.  We fly out at 530AM so we arrive around 8AM and have the whole day in Disney.  This works well with adults, but would suck with kids.   As part of my professional side of my new gig I have been trying to look more the part.  I've been getting my nails done often.  I had to add some Disney flair.  

We got into Saratoga Springs, threw on some ears and got our butts to the park.  

First stop was Epcot.  They were right in the middle of the Festival of the Arts.  We love all the festivals at Epcot.  I can't pick a favorite.  This may be a favorite unique opportunity that I have ever had at a festival.  Paige O'Hara, who was the voice of Belle, is also an artist.  She was selling some prints of her work and was then signing them.  Lily is a huge fan of Belle and I knew this would be a dream come true present.  We waited in line forever, but it was well worth it.  Lily came unglued when we gave it to her when we got home.    

Passholders have collectible magnets that they can get when they are in the parks.  You can bet I RAN to get our Figment magnet.  My mother is a huge Figment collector and I have to make sure I had one to give her.     

They next day we walked to Disney Springs and were sitting outside the shop when they opened the dress shop.  

I tried on five different dresses, but fell madly in love with the new Trader Sams dress.  I never buy the matching accessories with the dresses, but this time I gave in to the matching purse.

Then we headed over to Holly Wood Studios to see Toy Story Land for the first time.   It's so adorable.     

Big news!  Some of the beer stands stock my new favorite beer - Kona Long Board.   I was maybe overly excited.  

The next day we knew we wanted to go tour around the monorail hotels.  We love a long monorail ride so we took the bus to Epcot and then the  monorail to the transportation center. 

Josh gets pulled for extra security every time.  EVERY single time.  They don't realize that he is a big sweetheart.   

I got wear my Pandora ears for the first time.   Josh got a little fed up getting poked in the face all day.   

We had to jump on the People Mover because it is our true love.  

The People Mover is the best chill and enjoy ride.  

I kept my traditional picture on Buzz going.  He still beats me every time.  

I tried a cake pop.  Gorgeous to look at but not worth the calories.  

This is my friend Kayla.  She is a social worker that I work with in our treatment program.  She is gifted and a warrior for change.  We have a recent grant for our program and are so lucky that we got to go to this conference.   I made her take a selfie with me to prove that we did actually go to the conference.  

Josh had to fly home to parents our people.  I had a day and a half in Disney by myself.  It was bizarre to be there without my person or my shorties but I still had some fun.  At lunch break from my conference I walked over to the Poly to see my little buddy.  

I got myself over to Hollywood Studios.  

I had my favorite Disney snack and my favorite Disney beer.  

I was a little excited to get to ride Slinky Dog for the first time.  

Dinner was at Enzro's Hideout.   A really cool place I have wanted to try.   I sat at the bar and spent some quality time watching the bartenders make drinks.  I am fascinated with bartending, and it was great to just watch them try to make awesome drinks super fast.   Someday I am going to take a bartenders class.    

I picked up some desert and took the boat back to my room.  

The next morning I finished off my conference and then jumped on the front row of Pirates.  

My friend Becky was starting off the first day of a girls trip.  We got to ride the People Mover, have lunch, and have some monorail time.   

I waited for the Magic Express while reading some Harry Potter.  It was very relaxing but I was ready to get home to my babies.  

::sunday funday and chick days::

We loaded up Rosie, Poppy and the kiddos and headed to Rural King to buy too many chickens.  Rosie thought the snow was awesome. 

Free popcorn, chicken feed, and 18 baby chicks.  

We got three Polish chicken hens!!!  

I've wanted some for years.  They are ridiculously hilarious looking.  

SERIOUSLY!!!  Look what they grow up to look like!!!!  HILARIOUS.  

We got these 3 straight run silkie babies.  They may be roosters or hens.  Time will tell but their little fluff butts will be sure to please.

We got six Midnight Marans.  I love Marans because they lay super dark brown chocolate colored eggs.  We will see how these little guys work out.  

This is what they grow up to look like.   They even have a little feet fluff, which is always cute.  

We also got six Americana chickens.  These guys are not the prettiest ladies BUT they lay blue eggs, which is the greatest.  

And they cameo into a rabbit.  

They also get placed in empty succulent planters.  

::I'm wicked in love with my new planner - Ink + Volt::

1.  I have had different little places reach out to me before about doing sponsored products or post.  I ain't getting my door beat down by Disney or anything, but little places.  This is not something that I am interested in.  I don't do this.  If I express an opinion on here it has no bias but my own crazy bias.  

2.  I have started a new job.  I am now the Region Perinatal Substance Use Coordinator.  It is an awesome job and I feel honored to do it.  I LOVE it!  I will give more details about it at some point, but it means a much more complicated schedule that needs to be carefully tracked and maintained.  I need a planner that can be as versatile as my life.  

History - skip if you don' care
I have gone through a 100 different phases of planners.  As a highschool kid I had the school issued planner that did the job I needed.  In early college I has a thick old zip up Franklin Covey planner that could have stopped a bullet.   Back in the day, I had one of the first available Palm Pilots.  That little beauty was high tech awesomeness at the time and I thought I would never have a paper planner again.  That progressed into a color Palm Pilot, that still had no access to the internet.  Why would you ever need access to the internet on your digital planner?  Then I started doing my planner digitally on iCalander and printing off copies of it.  Once I had an iPhone I had the baby copies of my schedule and the active copy on my phone.  This was for when I was working on a nursing unit where I was not allowed to have my phone with me.  I get INTENSE anxiety if I am without my planner, so I toted around two copies of my schedule.  This worked all through grad school.  Sometime about six months ago I started to feel really intense anxiety about my schedule.  By that point I was out of school and working as a Nurse Practitioner.  No longer did I have restrictions that made it so I couldn't have my phone with my schedule on it.  But having, just my phone schedule was not doing enough to soothe my anxiety.  I needed a paper planner.  I got one from the store and set it up.  It was very calming.  I have always taken great comfort in the act of filling in a new planner.   It is one of my favorite things to do.  The part of my soul that chews straws to pieces and has to organize my pens by color LOVES transferring data into a new planner.   I'm not saying it's right, but it is some OCD that hasn't ever gotten severe enough to interfere with my life.  I think of it as a friend that keeps me focused, not a cross to bear.  

I've been challenging myself to doodle.  It makes me happy, so I am adding little drawings around my journal.  

I fell back in love with having a paper calendar again.  The basics of my schedule are still on my phone, but the details are in my planner.   My work schedule/meetings all gets done through Outlook schedule, so there is a copy of that on my phone at all times as well.  But the joy of having a planner with thick paper pages that is appealing to touch can not be replicated in my phone.   It's a texture thing and I love it.   

My sister inlaw got a new planner right around the turn of the year and she knew that I would like it.  She recommend it to me and I couldn't get one quickly enough.  I had actually already bought a paper planner for the year, but poor little guy had to get pushed aside for my fancy new friend.   My new BFF adorable little best buddy planner comes from Ink and Volt.   Link here for the website.  It is essential that my planner have thick paper.  I need to write in various color pens and it can not bleed through.  This planner deliveries.  

This planner challenges you to a weekly reflection or mental exercise.  I have seen other planners do this, but they usually have a religious affiliation.  This planner works for all religions or lack there of.  At first I thought the week reflection would be a burdeon to stay up on, but I have enjoyed it.  I also use part of the exercise page to remind myself of something I liked about the last week.  

Each month has monthly goals and a monthly challenge that you are going to work on every day.  You pick anything you want for these.  Or nothing, skip it if you want.   No one is going to grade your planner.   Do it or don't.  Doesn't matter if it doesn't sing to you.  Goal setting sings my heart song.  I LOVE GOAL SETTING.  It makes me happy.  So, every week I do it.  And every week I love it.  There is a section about "reflect and celebrate" that I use to write one memory of something I want to remember front the last week.  They final part of this page is a Review section about goals you have previously set.  This keeps me accountable to look back and think about what my goals where and what may have changed about that.   

There is a month in review page at the start of each month.   I struggle to keep the full month view updated.  I write the big stuff on them, but I have so much going on that a month in review never feels detailed enough.  

Then my favorite pages, my happy place.  My joy and happiness.  The week on two pages.  It's so pretty.  The planner divides it into three sections, morning, noon and night.  I tried that for one week but it felt like chaos.  I changed those sections into work, kids, other.  I'm trying to not get locked in to certain color pens having certain jobs, but my crazy slips on that some times and I find myself writing work in reds/pinks, kids in blues, other in anything else.  Orange for workouts and green for food.  SERIOUSLY, I'm trying not to get too locked in to that.  My OCD is a slipper slope and I know I could end up being a person that flips light switches on and off in even numbers, I try to challenge myself to not slip too far.   

I knew my little planner was going to get trashed, so I decided to sew her a coat.  I used a thick green wool flannel with a bird liner.   I added an elastic band to keep the planner closed while it is swimming around my bag.   My planner goes everywhere I go.   It is a reflection of me at any meeting I get it out for.   I wanted to cover to be neat and tidy, but I wanted it to be something I made.   Ink and Volt have an AWESOME cover, but it was expensive and I just couldn't pull the trigger.  I'm excited to make more coats for her as the seasons change.     

She comes with two place mark ribbons.  I use them for the current full month and the current week. 

My planner cost $45.  That is by far the most expensive planner I have owned in many years, but I think it was well worth it.  This thing is well made and thoughtfully made.   She's dear to me and I will have another one next year.