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

[therussells08]

Wow! You guys are so awesome! I can't believe I'm already up to two pages. Thank you all so much for joining me!

I will definitely be back tonight to post an update. Also, I ordered my PhotoPass CD on Sunday and I got express shipping, so hopefully it will be in soon!

I have to go to work right now, but check in this evening for my update about Christmas morning! Also, I still need to explain the reasoning for my title! This is so much fun!

See ya real soon!

 

[Tracy161]

Can't wait! Also, I have to point out that every time I see your title I get the Aladdin song in my head!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Joining in on this trip report! Can't wait to hear how much fun yall had!

 

[Shannon84]

I am here to read along...excited to hear about your trip :

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

Can't wait! Also, I have to point out that every time I see your title I get the Aladdin song in my head!

Well now that song's stuck in my head and probably will be every time I read this TR. It's a good song at least.

 

[eecteacher82]

I'm here!!! Can't wait to read and see what you thought of the DxDP!!!

 

[therussells08]

Can't wait! Also, I have to point out that every time I see your title I get the Aladdin song in my head!

That's partially why I gave my TR this title...John and I listened to that song about a million times on this trip! I don't think I'll ever get it out of my head!

Joining in on this trip report! Can't wait to hear how much fun yall had!

Thanks so much for joining in!

I am here to read along...excited to hear about your trip :

I'm so glad you're here! I hope you enjoy!

Well now that song's stuck in my head and probably will be every time I read this TR. It's a good song at least.

My TR will probably have that effect on everyone! But it is a great song!

I'm here!!! Can't wait to read and see what you thought of the DxDP!!!

Yay! I'm so glad you're here!

 

[stich626]

Cannot wait to hear about your christmas gifts!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Can't wait for the rest of this TR! Subscribing for sure!

Love the title, by the way!

 

[therussells08]

As you can imagine, I woke up on Christmas morning BEYOND excited. Not only was it Christmas, my favorite day of the year, but it was our departure day for Disney! I had been waiting nine long months for this day, and it was finally here! I couldn't believe it. We always stay at my parents' house on Christmas Eve, so waking up on Christmas morning has just as much magic as it did when I was a kid. Understandably, I had some trouble sleeping the night before, so I ended up getting up around 8:30. John had already been up for several hours by this point. John is like a four year old on Christmas morning- he wakes up before dawn and tromps around the house being as loud as possible in the hopes that he will wake everyone up to open presents. He's a nut, but you can't help but love him. Anyway, I woke up and headed downstairs with my two dogs, Vida and Bella. I had to check out the presents that Santa had brought. My mom and dad still play Santa with us, even though we are 23, 24, and 26. They wait until Christmas Eve after we are in bed to put our gifts under the tree so we can't shake them. I just love my family!

Bella was having a hard time waking up, so I put her in the chair next to the Christmas tree and took a funny picture of her sleepy face.

How cute is that?! And don't you just love her PJs? Yes, I'm a freak, but my dogs wear PJs to bed every single night when it's cold out. They love them, and I love looking at their adorableness!

We had a quick but delicious breakfast (it's a Christmas tradition- my sister makes AMAZING apple muffins with honey butter spread and my mom yummy makes sausage quiche) and my dad started a fire so we would be cozy. Of course, we also turned on the 24 hour Christmas Story marathon and turned it down really low, to add to the ambiance. After all of this, it was finally time to open presents! Yippeeee!

*Note: Please excuse my ghastly hair and overall appearance in the following pictures. I had just woken up and I tend to look a little like a zombie in the mornings. You have been warned.

As we started opening gifts my other baby girl Vida just had to sit in mommy's lap and help out. My first gift was a real winner!

Just Dance 2 for the Wii! Yay! I love the first Just Dance game, so I was so excited to get this! I feel like Just Dance is the best way to exercise. It's so much fun you don't even realize how much work it is, until you wake up the next morning and you can't lift your arms!

My sister opened up her first gift and was super happy to see that she got a new Willow Tree figurine from my mom. She collects those and loves them about as much as I love Jim Shore, so this was a great surprise. It was really beautiful, too. It was a mother hugging her daughter. I could have cried!

I decided I just couldn't get into tearing open Christmas presents properly with Vida on my lap, so I made her go sit on the couch and grabbed my next present. What could it be?

Woo hoo! My first Disney item! I wanted this DVD so badly, and I was really excited that I got the fancy copy. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite Disney movies but I only had it on VHS before this. Also, my best friend got me a portable DVD player for Christmas, so I was thrilled that I could take this on my trip with me!

Next, my mom opened up a gift from John and me. She loves all of my Jim Shore figurines and mentioned she wouldn't mind having some, so we got her a pretty Santa.

She really seemed to love it!

One gift I opened that I don't have a picture of was one of my favorites: a Jim Shore figurine from my mom! It was the teacher Minnie Mouse that I wanted, and I was so excited! Unfortunately, her hand had broken off during shipment. It was not a big deal at all to me because I know that Jim Shore collectibles will break if you look at them funny and they are easily fixed. My mom, on the other hand, felt terrible and was really upset. I assured her it would be fine and I could easily fix it. I am happy to report that Minnie Mouse now has both of her hands firmly attached and is living happily on my shelf.

Alright folks, next up is a biggie. If I had to list my Christmas wishlist in order of importance, I probably would have listed to Dooney and Bourke sketch wristlet first. I first saw the white ones on a fellow DISers TR and I was so jealous! I fell in love with the colorful ones when I first laid eyes on them and I've wanted one for ages. I really wanted the crossbody bag, but I thought it was too expensive. I figured the wristlet would be more than enough, and then I would get to carry my stuff in style while we were in the parks.

Well, I opened my next gift and I could not believe what was inside!

AHHH! I GOT THE CROSSBODY BAG!

I was beyond ecstatic at this point. My mom told me she originally bought me the wristlet, but it was so small she decided to send it back and get this instead. Thank you, momma!

I missed out on taking a few pictures of gifts at this point because I was so obssessed with my new bag, and I can't really remember what my family opened. Sorry! I know that John opened several of his gifts, because he was tearing through them like a tornado! He got some movies he wanted and some clothes, and a camo snuggie!

Next, John opened up his favorite gift. John loves any and everything Star Wars and he also loves his XBox 360. Therefore, the new Star Wars Force Unleashed 2 game was perfect for him!

My dad got a few nice new henley shirts that he was really happy about. He loves those things, and they look really nice on him!

I opened up my next gift and was on cloud 9 when I saw what was inside!

A new Disney shirt! A really cute new Disney shirt, actually! I was so excited to have this for my trip! It was already turning out to be a very Disney Christmas and we were not even halfway through the mound of gifts!

Next my mom opened up a pretty new sweater and some CDs and her dog, Duke, opened up some Puperonis and a new toy. I love this picture!

Then, my dad got some new wool socks from John! (By the way, I'm sorry for boring you with all of my family pictures, but I want to include every aspect of our trip, including Christmas morning! It's a total immersion TR experience!)

My sister opened up her next gift and got an Old Navy gift card and a gift certificate to our local movie theater! She was thrilled!

Then it was my turn to open up another gift! (Side note: you can see poor Minnie Mouse and her amputated appendage in this picture!)

What could it be? Was it another Disney gift? Also, what gift was an even BIGGER surprise than the Dooney and Bourke bag? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[therussells08]

Cannot wait to hear about your christmas gifts!

Thank you! And thank you for joining in! I just posted an update!

Can't wait for the rest of this TR! Subscribing for sure!

Love the title, by the way!

And thank you! I'm glad you're here!

 

[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

 

[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!

 

[eecteacher82]

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

 

[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

 

[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!

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

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

 

[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.

 

[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!!

 

[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