"One Step Ahead of the Slowpokes!"- A Dec '10/Jan '11 Trip Report! FINISHED 3/9 pg 38

[therussells08]

Originally Posted by rootbeer momma

I Want a D&B Disney sketch bag so bad!!! I kept going back to them when we were there in nov/dec but restrained myself. I just hate to spend that much on a purse.

Looks like you guys had a nice Christmas

I know they are so beautiful but so expensive! I would never spend that much on a purse either, so I was SO glad my mom would!

Originally Posted by TinkerbellLuvr7

omg great update!!!

You can't possibly be leaving us hanging like this!!!!!

Love the gifts I got the beauty and the beast DVD too! My parents also play santa for us as well. We still get jammies on Xmas eve like always. We open gifts and listen to xmas music on the radio and then turn on A Christmas Story which is also what we watch the night before too!

Can't wait to see what else there is..

and I'm glad you didn't have bed buggies!

Yay for getting the Beauty and the Beast DVD too! I love your Christmas traditions! They sound a lot like ours!

YES I am so glad we didn't have bed bugs too! Blech!

Originally Posted by eecteacher82

Great update! But seriously....are you really going to leave us hanging like that?! If so, you better update soon!

Thank you! I'm sorry about leaving you hanging! I am going to fill this TR with cliffhangers to keep everyone interested!

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

Love the update and hooray on getting the D & B cross body bag I soo want one. On a seperate note how could you leave at such a crucial point? I want to know what is in that box! Did it send you even further on ?

TanzUnited99

Thank you! Oh trust me, the rest of the morning had me on for sure!

Originally Posted by RachelNinja

What a cliffhanger! I mean, did you even leave any foreshadowing? Haha!

I am a huge fan of this "total immersion TR experience"! That's the only way they should be written, I think. I'm really looking forward to more! It excites me to see what you'll write about Disney since your Christmas morning is already so so so much fun!

Hmm ... I should update my TR ... I'm slacking so much! Chances are that you'll finish yours before I finish mine!

Haha nope, no foreshadowing! Sorry!

I am trying to model my TR after yours! I love how much detail you put into everthing you write, so I'm trying to do that too! I don't want to rush through my TR because if it's finished before I can start my next PTR I will be so sad!

I just read your TR updates and I loved them!

[therussells08]

Originally Posted by ChildAtHeart82

Great update! You got a lot of great gifts up to this point.

Thank you! I was so excited!

Originally Posted by SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE

Christmas morning looked like so much fun! I can't wait to see what this other gift was!

I think it's so sweet that you spend Christmas Eve night at your parent's house and that you still have Santa gifts. We live next door to my grandparents and I still go over Christmas morning to see what Santa left.

Thank you! I don't think I'll be able to stop staying with my parents on Christmas Eve until I have kids of my own. I just can't tear myself away from them! It's such a special time.

Originally Posted by Nermel9

Great update! Christmas morning looked like so much fun! Looks like you got everything you wanted on your Christmas list! Love the Dooney sketch, I'm so happy you got one! Can't wait to see what your next presents are!!

Thank you! I was SO excited when I got the Dooney bag! I just couldn't believe it, because I never expected it! I am trying to post an update now but Photobucket is being difficult!

Originally Posted by dancin_princess

I'm here! Now I'm going back to see what I missed. Happy I made it within the first 5 pages. woot woot

YAY! I am so glad you're here because you are important to this TR!

Originally Posted by dancin_princess

oooooo I love love love your D&B bag!! I cant wait to see what you opened next!

Thank you!! I love it too! It's my baby, haha!

[therussells08]

Originally Posted by luckylady

They say it's a small world and now I do believe it is. If my guess is right we live in the same town(as long as your in the big on and not the small one on the side of the base.) Love the presents you got. I think my 23 y/o DD would be green if she saw your D&G bag, so I won't show her. Did you drive or fly down? We usually drive but I"m thinking of flying next time. I hate that 9 hour drive. Can't wait to see more.

That is so cool that you live near me! Actually, I currently live about two hours from the base. I work near there, so John and I only see each other on the weekends! But still, we are close! That's so cool! Are you a military family?

Your DD is my age and it sounds like if we both like Disney and Dooney we have similar interests!

We drove down! We usually do, except for a few times when we were pinched for time. It is a rough drive, but it's just so much cheaper than flying! I would definitely prefer to fly, though.

Originally Posted by Tracy161

Don't ya just love Christmas morning?! Especially when it means a very Disney Christmas morning! Your gifts are great and I'm so happy that you got the D&B bag, it's beautiful!!! Can't wait to see what the even bigger surprise is!!!

Yes! Christmas morning is THE BEST! Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by Shannon84

I love Christmas time!! I was so excited to get the fancy Beauty and the Beast dvd too, that is my favorite Disney movie

Yay! I'm so glad you got it too! I'm really excited because if I ever get around to getting a Blu Ray player it has the Blu Ray disc too!

Originally Posted by mom2mek

Ack...cliffhangers....

Sara

I'm sorry! Don't worry, an update is coming very soon!

[luckylady]

Originally Posted by therussells08

Are you a military family?

Your DD is my age and it sounds like if we both like Disney and Dooney we have similar interests!

No we aren't. We both did our time as kids an he was Navy before we were married. DH works out on the base tho. Yes DD loves DIsney and is not happy I don't want to go agin this year, well maybe if I can fly. She graduated last month from UNC-W and is getting ready to take the GRE. Better her then me.

[Tinkermom76]

OK I am joining in! I would love to go to WDW on Christmas morning (good way to get out of cooking )

I can't believe you left us hangin like that

[saralexander97]

I'm excited to hear about Disney during Christmas. We will be taking the kids in December. I can't wait to read more.

[therussells08]

When we left off I was just getting ready to open my next gift! I won’t make you wait any longer to find out what was inside!



It was another Disney shirt! Don’t worry, while it was wonderful, it wasn’t the real doosy of a gift I was talking about! Still, I really loved it. I am a huge Winnie the Pooh fan, and Eeyore is my favorite. Also, purple is my favorite color! I was thrilled to have another shirt for my trip.

Next, my sister opened another gift. She's a big reader, so she was excited about this one.



She got Stephen King's book, Under the Dome. Now, you know I love to read because I'm an English teacher. However, this thing just looked a little too thick for me! I usually love thick books, but I think my brain was fried because I read the back of it and that was more than enough for me!

Let's see what else I opened up...



The next two gifts I got were from my sister and they were both total surprises!





I got a Jim Shore figurine of Peg from Lady and the Tramp and Nana from Peter Pan! These still weren‘t the doosy gifts, but they were still great! Both of these movies were some of my favorites from my childhood. Also, when I was a little girl we had two dogs named Minnie and Mickey. Oddly enough they were both girls, but we loved Disney so much even then we had to give them those names. Mickey was a big golden retriever and she always reminded me of Nana because she was so gentle and caring. She loved to take care of my sister and me. Minnie, on the other hand, always reminded me of Peg. She was a little Pomeranian and she was really sassy and frisky. I was so excited that Stacy bought me these figurines because they will always remind me not only of Disney but of my first pets!

*Note: Please don't think that I'm the only person in my family who got Christmas presents. It's just that John took control of my camera because he knew I wanted Christmas morning in my TR (I picked a winner, didn't I? ) and he wanted to make sure he got pictures of all of my stuff. I just didn't want you to think I was like the evil stepsister!

The next gift I opened from my sister was a TOTAL shock, but it still wasn't as surprising as what I got later! If you read my PTR you know that I am an avid Disney pin collector. I got hooked on my first Disney trip and I have been addicted ever since. I even got to go to a weekend pin trading event at Disney in 2008. Anyway, ever since I started collecting I have had a "holy grail" pin. This is the pin I have always wanted but couldn't find anywhere. It is a Tower of Terror pin with Goofy on the front in black and white as the host. It says "Going Down" and has the elevator behind it. I saw it on the pin pics website once and I instantly wanted it but I could never find it! Well, guess what I got!



I was so surprised and so happy, as you can see by my huge crazy smile! My sister said she found it on Ebay and won it in a bidding war, so I was really grateful! Stacy bought me some truly amazing gifts, and it was so special to me because she put a ton of thought into them!

Alright, let's check out some more gift pictures!



John got a t-shirt for some video game he is obsessed with. Don't ask me what it is, because I have no idea!



My mom got a Harry Potter desk calendar! We are all big Harry Potter fans (except for my dad) so this was a cool gift! She looks so happy, and I love how she is surrounded by cozy dogs in this picture.



Stacy got a perfume set from John and me. We also got her and my dad tickets to a Penguins hockey game but we don't have any pictures of them opening those. I wish we did, though, because they are huge Pens fans (my dad is from Pittsburgh) and they were SO excited!



Stacy also got a really pretty blanket with Ariel and her name on it! She loves The Little Mermaid, so she was super happy!



John got a Space Mountain shirt for our trip! That's another one of his favorite rides, and it was a great idea because he didn't have many Disney shirts for the trip!

After all of this we were finally done opening presents! Everyone got a ton of stuff that I don't have pictures of, but as you can see just from the pictures, it was an amazing Christmas! I got True Blood Season 1 on DVD, a calendar, a reed diffuser, and some really pretty clothes for work and probably more stuff I can't remember.

Before we finished up we had to open stockings! Each year we all draw names for stockings, so everyone is only responsible for one person. My dad drew my name, and he did a great job!



Toy Story 3 on DVD!



Disney Sing It! Family Hits for the Wii! I also got a few gift cards and some candy! It was an excellent stocking!

This was definitely a VERY DISNEY CHRISTMAS! Now it was time to get ready and head to John's parents' house. They only live about twenty minutes away, so we showered and dressed and were on our way at about 11:30.

I took a picture of my Christmas gloves my best friend gave me in the car. I was so jazzed I just had to do something to keep myself busy!



This is about the time that I got the most surprising Christmas gift of all. Are you ready for it?

...

It started to SNOW! That might not seem like a big deal to anyone but me, but I have NEVER EVER EVER had a white Christmas! Now don't get me wrong, we've had some leftover black sludge that used to be snow on Christmas before, but never fresh falling snow! I was so shocked I almost cried! It's really hard to see it in this picture, but I promise it's there!



This might not seem like that big of deal right now, but just wait for it! We got to my in laws' home and did our Christmas with them. I don't have any pictures, but we had a great time. I got a really awesome gift: Kodak's version of a FlipCam! This bad boy is the best camera I've ever gotten. Not only does it take HD videos, but it also takes really nice quality pictures. Plus, it's purple! It ended up saving my tail on our trip too, since the camera I usually use ran out of memory one day into the trip! It was also really fun watching my niece open up her gifts. She is six and so fun to buy for! I live vicariously through her, so I bought her stuff I would have loved. We got her Beauty and the Beast on DVD and a Belle doll that sings a song from the movie. We also got her Disney Princess earrings, since she just got her ears pierced. She loved everything!

When we left my in laws' house at about 1:00 the snow got really surprising! When we entered the house it was a nice flurry melting on the windshield and our tongues. When we left an hour later, we saw this:



Everything was white! It had piled up so quickly! It was gorgeous, but instantly my stomach did a little flip flop. What would happen if it kept coming down? Already the roads were getting a little slippery, and we weren't planning on leaving for Disney until several hours later. Would we get snowed in?



We drove back to my parents' house at a snail's pace. It was getting deeper and deeper by the second, and my nerves were getting worse and worse!

Up Next: Did my surprise Christmas gift from Jack Frost put a freeze on our departure? Stay tuned to find out!

[therussells08]

Originally Posted by luckylady

No we aren't. We both did our time as kids an he was Navy before we were married. DH works out on the base tho. Yes DD loves DIsney and is not happy I don't want to go agin this year, well maybe if I can fly. She graduated last month from UNC-W and is getting ready to take the GRE. Better her then me.

Congrats to your DD for graduating! I graduated from Appalachian in 2009, and John's cousin is currently enrolled at UNC-W!

Originally Posted by Tinkermom76

OK I am joining in! I would love to go to WDW on Christmas morning (good way to get out of cooking )

I can't believe you left us hangin like that

Thanks for joining in!

Don't worry, new update posted! Although, it's another cliffhanger!

Originally Posted by saralexander97

I'm excited to hear about Disney during Christmas. We will be taking the kids in December. I can't wait to read more.

You will love it during Christmas! The decorations are AMAZING!

[Nermel9]

OMG I love the Peg figurine! She is so cute, she's one of those random Disney characters that I just love! Nana is adorable too!

Yay for your pin, that's amazing that your sister went through all that trouble to get that for you! I sometimes think about getting into collecting pins, but I just can't do it for some reason! I'm starting to collect snow globes and ornaments from my trips instead.

I can't believe you got your White Christmas you were hoping for, that's fantastic! You had such a great Christmas morning, and after all that, you still got to leave for your Disney trip, what a fun day!

[ChildAtHeart82]

Yay for getting a white Christmas! DW is a big fan of Eeyore too. He's probably her second favorite Disney character after Belle.

[TanzUnited99]

Glad to find out what was in that box. Sounds like you had a great Xmas and you got snow to top it all! We had a snowy Christmas and it has started to snow again today.

I know what you mean about the enjoyment that comes with younger ones opening gifts. I have a sister half my age and love her face when she opens presents!

Look forward to reading more...hopefully the snow doesn't affect your travel to the happiest place on earth!

TanzUnited99

[RachelNinja]

WOW, what a Disney Christmas! I hope to one day have a Disney Christmas too! I did get a Mickey and Minnie 2010 snowglobe (the mistletoe one), but I ended up returning it to the store. I think I'm going to use the money to get a t-shirt instead!

How do you guys do Christmas gifts? You all just get a bunch of gifts for each person? I think that's really fun. I meet with my extended family, and we get a gift from each family (so I'll get 3 actual gifts). I'm not that big of a fan because it's usually something that matches what the other girls get (ex. an aunt will find an item and just buy it for all the girl cousins). That means that there wasn't as much thought involved like the gifts you guys get!

I told Howard that I'm very excited for us to have our own Christmas (even if it's with my immediate family). Howard and I know each other. AND my mom gets us good gifts too! This past Christmas, she got both of us the fancy memory foam neck pillows because we'll need them for our Amtrak ride!

[lauren_elizabeth]

You definitely got some awesome Christmas presents! The D&B bag is adorable I've been looking at the totes for months now!

Yay for having a WHITE Christmas! That's so exciting!!

[Shannon84]

That is awesome that you had a white christmas!! I grew up in the Northeast with snow all the time so I always take for granted that some people have never experienced the white Christmas!!

It looks like you had an amazing Christmas! We actually got DBF's sister the same Ariel blanket this year I love to get people personalized gifts

[ChildAtHeart82]

So, I've had that same Stephen King book your sister got for awhile and haven't gotten around to reading it yet. It is definitely a thick one!