"I brushed my teeth, and I don't have cooties." An August DFTW and Disneymoon TR

[docsoliday1]

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Oy! I see I have a LOT of catching up to do. For whatever reason, the DIS has decided to stop alerting me on several threads and that is the case here also. Thanks @disneyAndi14 for referencing me in this thread...at least I got THAT alert. A lot of reading to catch up, so I probably won't reply much, but wanted to comment on this one...AMAZING picture with you and Lilo matching!!!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Whew! What a day! Sounds like so much fun, but it's no wonder you were wiped out by the end!

It was a wild day, indeed! But definitely a fun one!

Oy! I see I have a LOT of catching up to do. For whatever reason, the DIS has decided to stop alerting me on several threads and that is the case here also. Thanks @disneyAndi14 for referencing me in this thread...at least I got THAT alert. A lot of reading to catch up, so I probably won't reply much, but wanted to comment on this one...AMAZING picture with you and Lilo matching!!!!

Welcome back! And thank you! I had a lot of fun coordinating my Disney outfits on this trip

 

[Steppesister]

Only have one day off this week and struggling to catch up, and get my update posted AND study a bit. But, I sure have enjoyed reading your chapters you've put up since I last checked on this thread. You've been one busy girl!!

I've read up through pg. 48 and will keep chipping away as I can. I can't quote a ton as my family might get upset they don't get dinner if I do, but this...

Once we were settled in, we took a run to Walmart to pick up an external hard drive so I could make sure I backed up my photos and videos from the wedding. We got back to Orange Lake, then realized that we needed another item I'd forgotten to buy for a *aherm*special project*aherm*. So we took another quick trip out to the Publix grocery store near the timeshare to get a thermometer. We returned to Orange Lake again...and I won't go into details about what happened there that afternoon, but I'll just say that it was kind of an arts and crafts project involving sculpture and cloning, and it's highly inappropriate to discuss on the boards here!

So funny!!!

As we were walking away at the end of the show, "Promise" played, and it was the first time I'd listened to our wedding song since we'd danced to it, which was very special.

And I had to comment on this. Most people are oblivious to this song at the end. It's very romantic and the words perfect for a love song to end the night.

 

[ariane37]

OK, trying to get caught up after our vaca

Fortunately, we didn't have far to go...we were having breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at Ohana! We got ready quickly and made our way downstairs.

You guys look adorable!

This was our first time eating at Beaches and Cream, and I knew it would be small inside, but I didn't realize quite how small!

We just ate there for the 3rd time. I'm still shocked by how small it is when I walk in lol

nd then made the drive to Orange Lake to settle in at the timeshare.

I just had a client stay there and they loved it; did you like it? Was it even your first time staying there? You change resorts 15x each trip so I can't remember

and I won't go into details about what happened there that afternoon, but I'll just say that it was kind of an arts and crafts project involving sculpture and cloning, and it's highly inappropriate to discuss on the boards here!

However, there was lots of variety here, and everything was cooked pretty well. They also had a good assortment of breads, and also desserts, but N had to enjoy those for both of us.

Just ate here for the 3rd time last week, I'll save all details for my eventual dining report but we thoroughly enjoyed it and lots of choices, for non-seafood eaters, too.

At the end of this meal they also bring you hot towels, which @ariane37 knows well, since her son, Chris, is pretty obsessed with them!

LMAO we showed our server last week the pictures of Chris with his beloved hot towels from our last trip

Messy eaters?

No, more like a weird kid

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Glad to have you back!!!! Sounded like a super busy day!

Perfect Hawiaan pic!

The food here was pretty good, but it was standard Disney breakfast fare.

That picture is why I keep cancelling this reservation. It just looks meh to me. And the eggs.... where they cooked in a rectangle pan and then sliced up?!?

Nailed it! Perfect Lilo picture.

This was our first time eating at Beaches and Cream, and I knew it would be small inside, but I didn't realize quite how small! We wanted to make sure we had room for ice cream, so we split a burger, and then split the gluten/dairy-free version of the No Way José sundae. It was impressive, and beautiful, and delicious! They offer several types of dairy free ice cream, and the Tofutti is definitely the best for both taste and texture if you can tolerate soy, so that's what we got...I can still almost taste it...

This is how we would do beaches and Cream as well! And since we are usually on the dinning plan, why we always end up not going there. But it looks great!

then realized that we needed another item I'd forgotten to buy for a *aherm*special project*aherm*. So we took another quick trip out to the Publix grocery store near the timeshare to get a thermometer. We returned to Orange Lake again...and I won't go into details about what happened there that afternoon, but I'll just say that it was kind of an arts and crafts project involving sculpture and cloning, and it's highly inappropriate to discuss on the boards here!

Ok, I am clueless. I mean it's your honeymoon.... soooo... but arts and crafts?

The little guy in the family started nagging his mother, and in this exasperated voice he said, "We don't need to meet the same characters every time we go to Disney, riiiiigghhhhtt?" I laughed, because I keep meeting the same characters again and again on subsequent trips, and I know I'm not the only one who does this.

Ha. I secretly love when the you can tell that hte parents are the one who want to meet the characters....

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Love seeing both sides of the selfie action.

tehehe

The thermometer is used to check the temperature of the water when mixing components to make a silicone mold.

Ok, now that makes me even more confused. Oh well! Some things are better left a mystery, I guess...

 

[amalone1013]

Hope life is treating you better! The rough patches can reallllllly knock you on your butt unexpectedly.

You guys had an extremely busy day! Your sundae looks delicious. I really want to go to Beaches and Cream now...

I had to do some googling for your arts and crafts project but I think I figured it out

I love your joy dress! Such cute photos!

I'm feeling you on the hobbling, I've been doing that myself this evening...

 

[krysenchips]

Hi Meghan! Just wanted to say Hi over here. I'm Krystal on facebook who showed your QS technique of getting the kid's meal on Kenny's group!

Loving your report and hope life gets better!

 

[missjackiemcg]

We got back to Orange Lake, then realized that we needed another item I'd forgotten to buy for a *aherm*special project*aherm*. So we took another quick trip out to the Publix grocery store near the timeshare to get a thermometer. We returned to Orange Lake again...and I won't go into details about what happened there that afternoon, but I'll just say that it was kind of an arts and crafts project involving sculpture and cloning, and it's highly inappropriate to discuss on the boards here!

So funny LOL

Nice to see some updates from you Hope things are a bit brighter for you these days!! If it helps, I FINALLY began my TR LOL A good distraction anyway!

 

[pooh'smate]

I wanted to bring home a little Figment. So here he is! (He was much more excitable and less sleepy than I was at this point!!)​

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Figment is one of my dd's favorite characters and she picked out that Figment to come home with us on our last trip. On a totally different note Facebook suggested we become friends the other day because apparently we like Disney and we also have a friend in common (which is why I think it was suggested in the first place). I noticed on the side of my facebook page it said people I have things in common with or something like that I wasn't really paying attention but then I saw your picture and I was like hey I know who that is lol.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Only have one day off this week and struggling to catch up, and get my update posted AND study a bit.

Oh, I can imagine how this must have felt! Seems like there are never quite enough hours in the day...

And I had to comment on this. Most people are oblivious to this song at the end. It's very romantic and the words perfect for a love song to end the night.

Agreed! I hadn't paid all that much attention to it for years, but then a few years ago I started listening to a lot of Disney soundtrack stuff while I was studying and then working at my braille job, and I started to notice these little gems more. Then having it in the wedding made it extra special!! It's such a sweet song.

I just had a client stay there and they loved it; did you like it? Was it even your first time staying there? You change resorts 15x each trip so I can't remember

We've stayed there a couple of times now. The first time was on our little whirlwind weekend last May where we met you and Steve. And we've had great experiences there! (We're actually going back around Memorial Day for Nathan's work next month, and again for a few days in August!) My grandmother owns there, so I think that probably helps because they aren't as pushy about getting us to do timeshare spiels. But I think if you're firm with them upfront about not wanting to get the sales pitch, they're usually pretty good anyway. The facilities are really nice (though we've yet to use the pools!) and friendly staff, never had problems with noise, etc.

We really do change resorts too often... In May it'll be just the timeshare until Nathan has to leave, then I'll be at ASMo for a couple nights...but then in August we'll probably end up three different places...which is still a HUGE improvement over the honeymoon trip! lol

That picture is why I keep cancelling this reservation. It just looks meh to me. And the eggs.... where they cooked in a rectangle pan and then sliced up?!?

"Meh" is a fair assessment. I think its biggest draw is definitely the characters, especially Lilo, who you can't typically meet elsewhere I don't think... But yeah, the food was just fine. And I'm pretty sure we didn't even really touch the eggs. They were by far the worst of the offerings. Definitely seemed like fake eggs (possibly mixed with some percentage of actual real eggs?), baked in a pan in the oven and then cut up. Blech. I'm the scrambled egg queen in our house, so I'm picky.

This is how we would do beaches and Cream as well! And since we are usually on the dinning plan, why we always end up not going there. But it looks great!

Maybe if you ever get there without the dining plan or you need to conserve credits or something, you'll make it happen! It's really a great spot! But I understand why you end up skipping it with how you tour.

Ok, I am clueless. I mean it's your honeymoon.... soooo... but arts and crafts?

Nothing like getting a little creative on your honeymoon!

Ok, now that makes me even more confused. Oh well! Some things are better left a mystery, I guess...

Hahah yeah, some things are probably just better left unsaid. But it was a unique experience, and it involved some laughs, which is always a good thing in a marriage I think.

Hope life is treating you better! The rough patches can reallllllly knock you on your butt unexpectedly.

You guys had an extremely busy day! Your sundae looks delicious. I really want to go to Beaches and Cream now...

I had to do some googling for your arts and crafts project but I think I figured it out

I love your joy dress! Such cute photos!

I'm feeling you on the hobbling, I've been doing that myself this evening...

It's been wild! Thanks for the support!

Nothing like a little creativity to spice up a honeymoon!! It definitely caused some laughs

And thanks! It's such a sweet dress, and Joy's reaction was awesome

Hi Meghan! Just wanted to say Hi over here. I'm Krystal on facebook who showed your QS technique of getting the kid's meal on Kenny's group!

Loving your report and hope life gets better!

Hi Krystal! So cool to make the connection from one digital community to another!

So funny LOL

Nice to see some updates from you Hope things are a bit brighter for you these days!! If it helps, I FINALLY began my TR LOL A good distraction anyway!

Thanks, Jackie! Great to see you've started your TR! I'm currently "watching" and will be over there to read up on your trip soon!

Figment is one of my dd's favorite characters and she picked out that Figment to come home with us on our last trip. On a totally different note Facebook suggested we become friends the other day because apparently we like Disney and we also have a friend in common (which is why I think it was suggested in the first place). I noticed on the side of my facebook page it said people I have things in common with or something like that I wasn't really paying attention but then I saw your picture and I was like hey I know who that is lol.

I'm a big Figment fan! Purple is my favourite colour, which only helps matters. And I love Figment's positivity and ingenuity!

That's neat! I'm the worst for keeping my FB to people I interact with on a regular basis, because years ago I found my friends list was full of people who wouldn't even say hello to me if they saw me on the street, and it seemed silly, so I swung really far in the opposite direction! So if you ever tried to add me and I didn't accept or something, it would have been by habit and not personal. Lately I've been doing better about broadening the circle a bit though to bring in some of the folks I've met through communities like the Dis once in a while, and it's a really wonderful way to stay in touch with friends.

 

[pooh'smate]

I'm a big Figment fan! Purple is my favourite colour, which only helps matters. And I love Figment's positivity and ingenuity!

That's neat! I'm the worst for keeping my FB to people I interact with on a regular basis, because years ago I found my friends list was full of people who wouldn't even say hello to me if they saw me on the street, and it seemed silly, so I swung really far in the opposite direction! So if you ever tried to add me and I didn't accept or something, it would have been by habit and not personal. Lately I've been doing better about broadening the circle a bit though to bring in some of the folks I've met through communities like the Dis once in a while, and it's a really wonderful way to stay in touch with friends.

I didn't try to add you. I like to respect people's privacy and I know some people like to only accept people they really know. I am pretty shy in person so if I saw you on the street I may or may not say hi lol. It would take a lot of guts for me to walk up to someone I have only met on the internet. You are friends with one of my best friends sisters.

 

[MeghanEmily]

I didn't try to add you. I like to respect people's privacy and I know some people like to only accept people they really know. I am pretty shy in person so if I saw you on the street I may or may not say hi lol. It would take a lot of guts for me to walk up to someone I have only met on the internet. You are friends with one of my best friends sisters.

I am similar in that I don't usually approach someone I don't know very well. I wouldn't have had one or two of the Dismeets I've had if the other person had been as shy as I was!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Hi, friends! Just wanted to say hello, and to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you. Those last updates weren't just flukes. I will eventually get back here for more TR fun, and when I do, I'm hoping to get things here settled up fairly quickly in the next couple of months. I mentioned in a post earlier that life had been turned upside down, and we're still in processing and healing stages of what I'm now calling "The Event." ...Not to be confused with this "The Event":

...which I definitely did not binge-watch in its entirety in order to get myself through the last couple weeks. If I had done that, however, I definitely wouldn't recommend it. It got cancelled, and the ending is weak. So many questions... Anyway! Without going into much detail, I became aware that someone close to me has been having their life torn apart by addiction, and that the effects reach into the lives of the people who care about them, including me, in a very serious way. As if this wasn't enough to worry about, bad things tend to come in threes...or fours...or fives...well, you get the idea. Within days of each other I managed to pull something in my neck spinning my head around in Nathan's passenger seat when I was nearly hit by an oncoming truck in the parking lot the other day, and then I left the apartment too stressed and scraped the side of my own vehicle against a pillar in our parking garage scraping the paint. Shortly after, for a totally unrelated reason, my car died and had to hit the shop. (It's had issues from the week we bought it! I hate that car!) Then I found that our cat (who, bless her heart, has a ridiculously slow metabolism and has put on too many pounds...I can relate! ) ...anyway, she hasn't been able to groom herself properly and had become totally matted. It happened so quickly that we didn't even notice it until it was too late (the vet says it happens super fast with kitties as soft and thickly under-coated as she is!) and we had to take her in to get her shaved and put on a diet. Poor little monster.

With her new "haircut," her tail now looks exactly like one of these beauties:

Aside from these stressful things going on in my life, this is ALSO finals season in the University world, and let me tell you, I'm having a time! School is hard! I've got my nose to the grindstone for the next week or so, with one final exam and one final project already out of the way, and three more very intense exams yet to come!

Once this week is out of the way, I'll just have a few school days left working with my peers doing language assessments for preschool-aged children in the city...which is actually going to be kind of neat! It's out first opportunity to try our hands at some practical clinical work under the supervision of our profs. Then I finish up for the term that following week, and summer begins! I have chosen not to apply for a regular summer job, and to spend the summer working for Nathan and travelling with him. I'm looking forward to the chance for us to spend more time together this summer than we did last summer with him gone for work so much, and he could definitely use the help at his shows.

I've also decided that, with all the stress I've been under as of late, that I will be abandoning my lost December trip report. It just wasn't meant to be, I don't think, and I don't feel up to re-writing it. Once I've finished this TR, I'll come back with a couple of posts about a few select things I really wanted to talk about from the December trip, including my feelings about using the DAS pass and why I use it—this is something I've been meaning to write about for a while, and I really learned more about myself and why I use it on the December trip—and also about our first experience runningDisney, and possibly about the strong feelings I have for the Finding Nemo the Musical show. We'll see. I'll share a few photos from the trip, and then wrap that up. I do hope, however, to write a separate short trip report about the 3 upcoming solo days I have planned between two of Nathan's shows in May. My stretch goal is to have all this finished up by the time we go away again in August for our anniversary...which is very likely to also get its own TR once we return. So yes, you'll hopefully be hearing from me again soon! Hang in there!

Oh, and P.S. for those of you who don't see my social media posts, I'm in the process of playing with my "look" a bit. Here's the current in-between state (and I'll be back to the salon in a few weeks to get even more adventurous!)

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[PlutosRHM55]

I'm so sorry to hear about all of that. I always think of things in terms of taoism (yin and yang), you have this big bunch of negative/dark but you also have to balance it out with a big bunch of positive/light so I'm sure there's some coming your way. I'm sure. Side note, your little kitty looks weirdly cute with a huge bald spot. Love it. And you look fabulous as a blonde!

Looking forward to having you back in full TR form real soon!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Without going into much detail, I became aware that someone close to me has been having their life torn apart by addiction, and that the effects reach into the lives of the people who care about them, including me, in a very serious way.

I am sorry to hear that. Most people don't realize that someone with a real addiction effects not just that person but lots of people. I hope whoever it is get the help they need! And everyone that is effected by it, can help and get the help they need.

I left the apartment too stressed and scraped the side of my own vehicle against a pillar in our parking garage scraping the paint.

Ugh! That is the worst! I am a side scraper like that! Nothing terrible but just enough to make it super annoying...

Poor kitty... It will grow back....

Aside from these stressful things going on in my life, this is ALSO finals season in the University world, and let me tell you, I'm having a time! School is hard! I've got my nose to the grindstone for the next week or so, with one final exam and one final project already out of the way, and three more very intense exams yet to come!

Good LUCK!!!! You can do it!!!

to spend the summer working for Nathan and travelling with him. I'm looking forward to the chance for us to spend more time together this summer than we did last summer with him gone for work so much, and he could definitely use the help at his shows.

Let me know if you ever make it to the greater, Philadelphia/Delaware/New York City Area! We are kind of centralized in that sense and could possibly maybe meet up if they moons aligned just right!

 

[pepperandchips]

You look beautiful as a blonde! Can't wait to see the "after-after". It is horrible how bad things just dog pile on each other like that. I hope your loved one finds recovery and that all those around that person find healing. Addiction is tough stuff, much less dealing with that on top of all the car and kitty woes. Glad for the updates and no rush on the report updates. Hate to hear bad news but I am glad you are healthy!

 

[Tracy161]

So happy to hear from you, but very sorry to hear about everything you've had going on I hope that the healing is going well and that everyone can get to a happier and healthier place very soon. Know that we're all thinking about you.

Loving the hair and excited to see where you go next with it

Good luck with the last push of school!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Love your hair color very flattering on you! Your kitty looks so cute, shaved and chubby. Sorry about all the downs of late, it does sound like some fun things in your future so that is great! How nice you can work with N and spend the summer together

 

[vamassey1]

Wow, you really have had a series of bad incidents. I hope your friend is healing and getting the help your friend needs. I hope you're healing too. Poor kitty, it will grow back and I'm sure she'll feel better once she looses a few pounds too. Good luck with your finals. Danielle has finals the last week of April. Boy this year has gone fast.

 

[ariane37]

I'm so sorry about everything going on......part of my family has struggled with addiction for years and we've lost quite a few members to it so I'm unfortunately familiar with the ripple effect it causes. I wish the best to everyone effected.
You would think after saying that I'd quote something more serious than the below but.....

anyway, she hasn't been able to groom herself properly and had become totally matted. It happened so quickly that we didn't even notice it until it was too late (the vet says it happens super fast with kitties as soft and thickly under-coated as she is!) and we had to take her in to get her shaved and put on a diet. Poor little monster.

been there, done that! Damn cats lol, that matted hair does sneak up on you! The cats don't care, they're like, "whatever, just let me eat and lay around" but they look so uncomfortable and just......yuck, and you have to do something. Whenever I notice a small matted patch on one of my cats now I'm like "OMG GET ME THE GROOMING BRUSH, WE MUST ADDRESS THIS NOW!!!"

Best of luck finishing school, Blondie