"You and me, we're in a club now!" - a DFTW/Disneymoon/Vacay August 2017 PTR

[Raeven]

Following along! The Poly is going to be so much fun! And your "something blue" is adorable.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Following along! The Poly is going to be so much fun! And your "something blue" is adorable.

Raeven, glad you're here!! Sooo looking forward to Poly. It'll be our first taste of a monorail resort and I worry it'll spoil us!

 

[missangelalexis]

Your plans sounds great! So awesome that your mom and grandma are helping you with your honeymoon stay! So many nice purchases you made too

 

[JessRose]

Joining in from my trip report!

YAYYYYY! Wedding. Can't wait to hear ALL about that.

I now need to go back and read your trip report to find out how it all happened!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Joining in from my trip report!

YAYYYYY! Wedding. Can't wait to hear ALL about that.

I now need to go back and read your trip report to find out how it all happened!

Omg FairyTalePlans, !!!

Lots of wedding plans to come over the next little while!! Everything is shaping up, slowly but surely.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Because I Get Hangry (ADRs Post!)

I actually really do. Whenever I'm feeling sick, sad, cranky, tired, etc., my mom/N's first strategy is to stuff something edible in my mouth. It's a real problem.

Okie, so going into planning this trip I warned N that I wanted to go lighter on the ADRs for our honeymoon so we would have more flexibility on where we wanted to be when. N fell in love with Disney probably 50% for the food, so this took a little convincing. Now most people are pretty hit or miss on it, but I actually LOVE eating quick service at Disney, at least once in a while. Everything about it...the paper plates...the Disney-specific food you can get over the counter...the way french fries just taste different at Disney like little starchy friends in your mouth...it weirdly takes me back to my childhood in the best way.

We weren't going to be on the dining plan this time (because I get serious food anxiety! I eat like a bird and there's no way I can finish an appetizer/entree/dessert in one sitting, and it makes me anxious! Like what if the server thinks I hate the food because I leave half of it on my plate! Etc. And it's also a waste of money. And typically the regular DP hasn't worked for us in past because we didn't do a lot of quick service.) I did the math, and even if we eat as much as we want to we'll still save money without a dining plan this time. So no dining plan, and light on the ADRs...right??

Wrong. Actually ALL the food.

I don't know how it happened, but we have TONS of ADRs for this trip. Proportionately almost as many as our last trip when we were on the Deluxe plan. Oh well. In the end we decided that it was our honeymoon, and if we want to eat well, we will! And also there are so many places we love and want to go back to, but also so many new places we definitely want to try! Here goes, what we have so far for our 10-day trip... (Also, I should mention that breakfast is my absolute favourite meal of the day, so even though financially it makes no sense to have big/expensive/fun breakfasts, that was one of my trip priorities.)
​

Breakfasts:

• Cape May Cafe (a treat for just the two of us the day before the wedding, new for us!)
• Crystal Palace (the morning after the wedding day for my side of the family)
• Kona (new!)
• Be Our Guest (PPO. Currently at 8:20, but I keep stalking to see if an earlier time will open up. We've done lunch and dinner but never breakfast, and we've never done a PPO breakfast before )
• Ohana (breakfast is new for us)
• Boma (x2)
• Tusker House

Lunches:

• Beaches and Cream (new!)

Dinners:

• The BOATHOUSE (new!)
• Boma (in place of a formal reception for all our guests)
• Ohana (also for my side of the family the day after the wedding)
• Kona (new!)
• Coral Reef
• Cape May Cafe (new!)
• Sanaa (new!)
• Hollywood Brown Derby

I've done my best to at least avoid most lunch ADRs so we'll have a little park hopping flexibility, but still. I keep looking at this list and thinking What have I done?... But then I think about which ones I'd cancel, and I just don't want to! Disney food has me all like...

I've also had so many awesome experiences dining at Disney with dietary restrictions (gluten, dairy, alcohol, spinach, coffee, etc, etc,) and it feels awesome going into our honeymoon knowing that finding places for me to eat won't be an issue!

​

 

[MeghanEmily]

Added bonus: RANT #1!

So I mentioned some life updates/rants in my previous post. I guess every family probably has them, and big life events like weddings/births/deaths/etc. always seem to bring out issues... Seems that there are two particular causes for concern/stress surrounding this wedding, one on each side of the family. I'll throw N's family under the bus first!

So while neither of us were born into wealth, N's family had more kids than mine, so they tended to be even more frugal. While their financial situation is in good shape these days and they'll retire comfortably, and while we'd intended from the get-go to fund our wedding ourselves, his parents weren't thrilled at the price tag of a Disney wedding. But more than that, his side of the family is mostly more traditional and conservative (also religious) than mine, or than he and I currently are. We met at Bible camp and still hold many of those values, but we're much more open and liberal than we once were. This is causing some friction, to say the least...

...a Disney wedding is NOT the traditional wedding they envisioned for their son. They're coming around a bit now (his mother and one of his sisters are finding Disney things to be excited about,) but we got an awful lot of flak for how "selfish" it was to have a destination wedding that his whole ginormous family was not invited to or could not afford to attend.

As families do, they seem to feel they get to have a say in our plans: "If you want to have a small wedding, why not just have a small wedding here and then have a honeymoon in Disney?" "Why summer in Florida? Why not over Christmas break in December?" "You should fly! You don't want to drive. You know she can carry on her wedding dress right?" Etc. The biggest issue right now is over the fact that I will not be changing my name — a decision that's important to me, and that N and I agreed on together. It's hurtful to them that I won't take their name, and shows a lack of commitment on my part to N/our marriage/the family/etc. Of course, if N were asked to take my name, that's just "not the way it's supposed to be!" They'd never expect him to. But they don't think that's sexist... I have a list of good reasons why I'll be keeping my name, not that I should have to defend that decision to anyone, but they're not really interested in them. And of course, these things typically come out as complaints to N behind my back every time he visits his parents/sister/etc, and they're not discussed in front of me, like I'm not even part of the equation...and they wonder why he doesn't visit home more often.

Oh, and another recent development! They've offered us weekly bribery money to go to church. Apparently they've been doing it with his youngest sister for some time now. Never mind the fact that I already have a church I like to attend, but we both often work weekends (I guess the bribery money is supposed to make up for us missing work?) ...and also ignore the fact that faith should be a personal choice thing, and if we go to church it should be because we want to, not because we're being forced there...

GAH! Ok, end of rant #1. I realize these are small issues in the scheme of things, and we're lucky to have the families we do...but man, people gonna' drive the bride nuts!​

 

[missangelalexis]

So many awesome ADRs you have planned! Disney has so many great restaurants, it really is hard to narrow it down! In regards to your PPO for Be Our Guest, I'm pretty sure they will let you in with the 8:05 reservations, so I don't think you need to be too stressed out about getting anything earlier than what you have!

Your stress over your in-laws sounds frustrating It's hard when people are set in their ways and aren't open to hearing explanations!

 

[MeghanEmily]

So many awesome ADRs you have planned! Disney has so many great restaurants, it really is hard to narrow it down! In regards to your PPO for Be Our Guest, I'm pretty sure they will let you in with the 8:05 reservations, so I don't think you need to be too stressed out about getting anything earlier than what you have!

I'm hoping you're right!! We're planning to go early and hope for the best Even if we can't get in early we will have pre-ordered our food, so I think we'll probably be able to get out of there by rope drop if there aren't any major delays. Keeping our fingers crossed!

Your stress over your in-laws sounds frustrating It's hard when people are set in their ways and aren't open to hearing explanations!

Yeah, I'm a people pleaser so I've been letting myself get pretty stressed over it. They're really lovely people, we just don't always see eye to eye and people can be stuck in their ways sometimes. Oh well, there are much bigger problems to have I guess

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

I did not change my name when I married. I liked my last name and wanted to keep it. Everyone still called me Mrs. So-so and after my son was born it got even worse. I eventually caved and legally changed my name to his. I regretted doing that. I am divorced and happily with my last name, but I know so many women now that keep their own last name.

I wish you all the best for dealing with family issues.

Oh my! on all the ADRs. That is a lot of food. We have done 1 TS meal a day our 1st trip and then all QS meals the 2nd trip. After the first few days, my kids were begging me to cancel the PPO breakfasts I had planned. By the end of the week, they were just sick of reservations. However, on the 2nd trip, they wished for more TS meals so they could sit and rest a bit. So, this next trip, I am back to 1 TS meal per day, but only one late breakfast (O'hana). The rest are all dinners. So, hopefully, it works out. Cape May Café is one I always want to try, but it never makes final list. The majority of your list are ones we have never tried. We have done BOG for lunch (we like it). This time we are trying BOG for dinner. The other one we have done is Beaches and Cream. We went for lunch and then we were too full to enjoy the ice cream. If we go again, it will just be for the ice cream.

 

[Raeven]

...a Disney wedding is NOT the traditional wedding they envisioned for their son. They're coming around a bit now (his mother and one of his sisters are finding Disney things to be excited about,) but we got an awful lot of flak for how "selfish" it was to have a destination wedding that his whole ginormous family was not invited to or could not afford to attend.
​

It's not "selfish" to have the wedding you want!

I have a list of good reasons why I'll be keeping my name, not that I should have to defend that decision to anyone, but they're not really interested in them.

I also don't get why people get so upset when a person getting married wants to keep their own name.

Oh, and another recent development! They've offered us weekly bribery money to go to church. Apparently they've been doing it with his youngest sister for some time now. Never mind the fact that I already have a church I like to attend, but we both often work weekends (I guess the bribery money is supposed to make up for us missing work?) ...and also ignore the fact that faith should be a personal choice thing, and if we go to church it should be because we want to, not because we're being forced there...

​

His family seems fairly overly involved in trying to make decisions for you instead of respecting the decisions you two come to as a couple. I can see where that would be very annoying.

Wrong. Actually ALL the food.

I don't know how it happened, but we have TONS of ADRs for this trip. Proportionately almost as many as our last trip when we were on the Deluxe plan. Oh well. In the end we decided that it was our honeymoon, and if we want to eat well, we will!
​

Yay all the food!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I did not change my name when I married. I liked my last name and wanted to keep it. Everyone still called me Mrs. So-so and after my son was born it got even worse. I eventually caved and legally changed my name to his. I regretted doing that. I am divorced and happily with my last name, but I know so many women now that keep their own last name.

I wish you all the best for dealing with family issues.

Thank you! I really like my name. I'm the only one in my immediately family of my generation who still has it, and it's my mother's maiden name/my grandfather's name. He passed away when I was just a toddler, but my personality is very similar to his and I identify with him a lot. I also identify as a feminist, and I think it's perfectly fine for a woman to change her name if she wants to, but absolutely ridiculous to force her to if she has no interest in it. I remember asking a friend who's in her 50s about her name change, and she said she did it because it was important to her husband's family, but she ended up really grieving for her name once it was changed, and if she could go back she probably would have done it differently. So we're sticking to our guns! Nathan likes my name, too, and neither of us feels the need to change our names to show how much we love each other. There are much more effective ways to do that. Thanks for the support and your story!

Oh my! on all the ADRs. That is a lot of food. We have done 1 TS meal a day our 1st trip and then all QS meals the 2nd trip. After the first few days, my kids were begging me to cancel the PPO breakfasts I had planned. By the end of the week, they were just sick of reservations. However, on the 2nd trip, they wished for more TS meals so they could sit and rest a bit. So, this next trip, I am back to 1 TS meal per day, but only one late breakfast (O'hana). The rest are all dinners. So, hopefully, it works out. Cape May Café is one I always want to try, but it never makes final list. The majority of your list are ones we have never tried. We have done BOG for lunch (we like it). This time we are trying BOG for dinner. The other one we have done is Beaches and Cream. We went for lunch and then we were too full to enjoy the ice cream. If we go again, it will just be for the ice cream.

I know. It's nuts. And I think most of our lunches will be snacks or shared meals to make up for it. We're excited for Beaches and Cream, though! I think we'll probably either just split a burger, or skip the real food altogether so we make sure we have room for ice cream! <3

It's not "selfish" to have the wedding you want!

Thank you! That's what I said! And then I actually corrected myself and said that yeah, sure, we were being selfish...in that we were thinking of ourselves and what we wanted! Because our wedding day is one of the only days we'll have where it's a total celebration of us and what we want, and I'm gonna' milk it!

I also don't get why people get so upset when a person getting married wants to keep their own name.

It's silly. I'm all for people changing their names if they want to. We don't. Your name says nothing about how committed you are to your partner. And it's a weird double standard to still have when we've come so far in other things in terms of equality.

His family seems fairly overly involved in trying to make decisions for you instead of respecting the decisions you two come to as a couple. I can see where that would be very annoying.

Yep, that's accurate. Hah! It's always good-intentioned, but sometimes a little trust and holding their tongues would go a long way.

Yay all the food!

It's gonna be nuts....

 

[xlsm]

I swear, nothing brings out the family craziness like a wedding No one is ever satisfied. My favorite thing is when people start with the "you're being selfish" comments...Um, NO. It is YOUR WEDDING. If ever there was a time to be "selfish", it is when planning YOUR OWN WEDDING. We got a lot of that too. Parents stress me out.

If it gets worse, I volunteer myself to come to Canada as your spokesperson and tell your in-laws what they can do with their church bribe money and their opinions on you keeping your name. I promise I'd be polite about it...mostly, LOL!! I think a lot of it is, when parents realize their "baby" is moving on to a very adult time of his life, it's hard to let go and give up what control or power of decision making they might have left, and it makes people lose it a little. At least that's what I try to tell myself!
I have already made a vow not to be "that" mother-in-law when my boys get to that point in life!

As for your food plans, I think it's totally fine to have that many ADRs! There's a lot of time left to shift things around if you want, and when you're there, you can always cancel or rearrange them if you need to. I love that Disney is so accommodating of food allergies and you've had such good experiences. How can you not want to take advantage of that??
For BOG breakfast, you should try the Touring Plans reservation finder! It is pretty awesome, and when I was still planning for the trip with MIL, it came through for me with PPO Akershus reservations.

I'm sorry things have been a little crazy on the wedding/in-law front, hang in there! Once you're all in Florida and the wedding day is at hand, the tears will be happy and the smiles genuine

 

[afwdwfan]

I was waffling back and forth for quite some time trying to decide whether to write a PTR for our upcoming August 2017 trip. On the one hand…I don’t know where to even start…I don’t know many of you on the Dis very well yet, and only have a few new friends who might be interested in following…do I even have anything interesting to say about this trip??

Well, you read our TRs and "know" us so at least it gives us a chance to "know" you!

If you’re here because you read my last TR – (December 2016) – thanks for coming back!

I'm bad about jumping in late. But I need to try to get back to it at some point.

Wish me luck…

Good luck!

Love the alternate Frozen sisters look.

(Ok, so I’m going to try to do these “favourites” people always post, but there’s no way I can pick one fave for most of these…)

You write it, your rules. You can do as many as you want.

before I went gluten free

They do a great job with the allergies, but they got my sister pretty good about 4 years ago. She spoke with a manager at a quick service place and they told her that they recycle the oil in the evening. Basically filter it and re-use it, so while they use a fryer that is specifically for fries and shouldn't have any breading in it, they can apparently get cross contamination. After Sis's conversations with them, I hope they have changed this practice.

I started going on Disney trips with my family every few years from the time I was four, but took a hiatus for a few years when I was 19ish because I got sick and had neurosurgery. The first time I returned and took N to WDW it was as a celebratory Brainniversary trip for my 2-year neurosurgery recovery date in April of 2016.

Wow! That could be scary! I hope everything is looking good now.

(JK, I love burnt popcorn, but I still don’t have N convinced.)

I think the Disney conversion was a lot easier than this one will be.

During our December trip, N proposed, and I said yes. The FULL STORY is in my previous TR.

Ok, definitely need to find time to read that one.

N often asks me whether I’m more interested in actually marrying HIM, or just having a WDW wedding…and sometimes I probably don’t give him the answer he wants to hear…

We’re Canadians (which you'll probably notice by my spelling),

I noticed an extra "u" here and there. It was the lack of "eh" that threw me off.

(35+ hr road trip each way for the win!!)

Holy drap! And I thought 15 hours was a long drive.

Wow! They all look like they could be sisters! Your friends must be septuplets!

The extra bonus is that neither of us have stayed here before, so we can both cross it off our lists! I've read lots of pros and cons about CSR, but I think (hope!) it'll be a good fit for us. We're also putting up our small bridal party here for 2 nights and think it'll be appealing to them, too.

CSR isn't bad. I'm not a fan, but it certainly has more to do with our experience there than the resort itself. It's a nice place and it is always nice to cross another resort off the bucket list.

That's when my mom offered us a pretty cool wedding gift...she remembered how much we had both liked Poly when we went for our meal on our last trip (N especially!) and offered to pay half the cost of a room there for 3 nights for us. We gratefully jumped at the chance and booked.

Awesome!!!!

My grandmother knew we were planning to stay off site and offered us another wedding gift: 4 nights at her timeshare property. This really helped free up our budget, and fortunately it's still within 15-20 minutes of most of the parks! Score!

Awesome!!!!

They're very close to our wedding colors, and it also doesn't hurt that they make a nice "something blue."

That works!

It says it's only suitable for children under 6 years. I don't care because it's exactly what I needed, and the straps fit an adult.

Now most people are pretty hit or miss on it, but I actually LOVE eating quick service at Disney, at least once in a while. Everything about it...the paper plates...the Disney-specific food you can get over the counter...the way french fries just taste different at Disney like little starchy friends in your mouth...it weirdly takes me back to my childhood in the best way.

Totally agree.

And while everyone says Disneyland food is better... and it might be higher quality, their burgers and fries don't quite measure up to the Disney World goodness I grew up on. Even another Disney park just can't do it quite the same.

(Also, I should mention that breakfast is my absolute favourite meal of the day, so even though financially it makes no sense to have big/expensive/fun breakfasts, that was one of my trip priorities.)

Your wedding, you call the shots.

But then I think about which ones I'd cancel, and I just don't want to! Disney food has me all like...

The struggle is real...

So I mentioned some life updates/rants in my previous post. I guess every family probably has them, and big life events like weddings/births/deaths/etc. always seem to bring out issues...

They're coming around a bit now (his mother and one of his sisters are finding Disney things to be excited about,) but we got an awful lot of flak for how "selfish" it was to have a destination wedding that his whole ginormous family was not invited to or could not afford to attend.

Yuck... sorry.

GAH! Ok, end of rant #1. I realize these are small issues in the scheme of things, and we're lucky to have the families we do...but man, people gonna' drive the bride nuts!

Definitely a pain in the rear. I'm so thankful that DW and I don't have these issues with our families, but I think you seem to have a pretty good perspective on it. At least they're present and they care. While their guidance and suggestions might not be particularly helpful, it could be worse.

 

[MeghanEmily]

I swear, nothing brings out the family craziness like a wedding No one is ever satisfied. My favorite thing is when people start with the "you're being selfish" comments...Um, NO. It is YOUR WEDDING. If ever there was a time to be "selfish", it is when planning YOUR OWN WEDDING. We got a lot of that too. Parents stress me out.

Parents are the worst!! Haha kidding. I love my mom. We're super close. And N's parents are good folks too. But weddings definitely bring out the fight in everyone. We thought it was perfectly fine to think of ourselves and what we wanted on a day that we were paying for to celebrate US. Change is hard, and they're coming around. But the comments felt a little insulting sometimes. N's used to their style so he has a thicker skin than I do. Maybe I'm too delicate of a little flower. lol

If it gets worse, I volunteer myself to come to Canada as your spokesperson and tell your in-laws what they can do with their church bribe money and their opinions on you keeping your name. I promise I'd be polite about it...mostly, LOL!! I think a lot of it is, when parents realize their "baby" is moving on to a very adult time of his life, it's hard to let go and give up what control or power of decision making they might have left, and it makes people lose it a little. At least that's what I try to tell myself!
I have already made a vow not to be "that" mother-in-law when my boys get to that point in life!

You're welcome in Canada to be our proud defender any time! I'll repay you in maple syrup (or the Canadian delicacy of your choosing) and appreciation! I think there's probably some truth to that though. Also, N has sisters and isn't the first to be married, but he's the only son. And we've changed a lot in the time we've been together, N included, which his parents haven't seemed to catch up with. I'm sure it'll be hard not to be "that" mother in law though if we have kids. Good luck with that!

As for your food plans, I think it's totally fine to have that many ADRs! There's a lot of time left to shift things around if you want, and when you're there, you can always cancel or rearrange them if you need to. I love that Disney is so accommodating of food allergies and you've had such good experiences. How can you not want to take advantage of that??
For BOG breakfast, you should try the Touring Plans reservation finder! It is pretty awesome, and when I was still planning for the trip with MIL, it came through for me with PPO Akershus reservations.

I love the flexibility of the ADRs! (spoiler alert: we did already decide on one to cancel.) I made them all knowing it was much easier to have them and not need them than it would be to want them and not be able to get them. I might give the reservation finder a shot! I've heard good things!

Well, you read our TRs and "know" us so at least it gives us a chance to "know" you!

Isn't the internet grand! How cool is it that I feel like I've gotten to "meet" all you people who share the Disney obsession...even if we all live miles apart!

They do a great job with the allergies, but they got my sister pretty good about 4 years ago. She spoke with a manager at a quick service place and they told her that they recycle the oil in the evening. Basically filter it and re-use it, so while they use a fryer that is specifically for fries and shouldn't have any breading in it, they can apparently get cross contamination. After Sis's conversations with them, I hope they have changed this practice.

Ooooh that's very good to know!! Thanks for sharing!! I'll make sure to double check on this one when we're eating quick service in future. I've been lucky not to have any particularly bad experiences so far, I'm fairly sensitive but not as hyper-sensitive as some, and they're usually really careful, but there have been a couple of times where I've felt a little sluggish or gross on vacation when I may have been glutened without realizing. Always good to ask questions! (And hopefully they've changed this policy the more they become used to dealing with allergies...)

Wow! That could be scary! I hope everything is looking good now.

Thanks! It was scary at certain points. I was never terminal, but my quality of life for a while there definitely called for surgical intervention. I still have off days, but things are MUCH better than they used to be. And so far everything looks good, and like I hopefully won't ever have to see my neurosurgeon again.

I noticed an extra "u" here and there. It was the lack of "eh" that threw me off.

I've tried my best to American-ize my spelling whenever I catch it, but the Canadian runs deep. "Eh" typically only comes up in spoken dialogue for me, not written. Most Canadians I know don't actually say "eh" much...but I totally do.

Definitely a pain in the rear. I'm so thankful that DW and I don't have these issues with our families, but I think you seem to have a pretty good perspective on it. At least they're present and they care. While their guidance and suggestions might not be particularly helpful, it could be worse.

Agreed, it could be much worse. Their concern comes from a good place. Sometimes you just have to step back and do your own thing though I guess.

 

[MeghanEmily]

We Be Stylin' - Episode 1
(Plus randoms and ranting)

What a crazy week this has been! I wasn't sure I was even up to posting an update, and then I decided that Dis-ing was probably exactly what I needed right now, so here I am! I'm going to post a couple life update things, then some wedding/trip things, and then maybe a short (let's be real, probably not short?) rant. Feel free to hop around this post based on what interests you

So some crazy stuff happened this week. First of all, my fairytale/princess-type company I work for is getting ready for our annual volunteer function. We volunteer for one day a year to help put on a princess tea for the Children's Wish Foundation, and it's a non-profit that's very close to our hearts. (It always make me smile and/or cry seeing wish kids at Disney!) Here's a photo of all of us from our tea last year. (This was at the very end of the day when we were all starting to wear down and need makeup touch-ups, etc, so no judgement! We also had a couple of extra volunteers who don't usually work for us, so some of the "looks" weren't quite perfect in my opinion, but they were great and the kids were in awe so that's what matters. I wonder if you can guess who made friends with Belle that day...)

Then part-way through the week I got my official acceptance letter letting me know I got into a masters program at a university here in speech language pathology. So after over two years off, I'll be going back to school! Wild. That also meant that I had to give the news to my boss that I'd be leaving my job in August. (I'll be leaving work, going straight to Florida, doing Disneymoon things, and then rolling right into a new school year. Phew!) We've had a lot of shifting around in my department and people taking leaves lately, which is almost unheard of for us! (At least 3 of my 8-ish closest co-workers have been there over 20 years.) That news went better than expected though, and the general consensus is that people are happy for me and I'll be missed.

All that had me shaken up enough.

Then yesterday we had a bomb scare at work.

Ok, let me preface this by saying that everyone was ok, and it turned out the police determined there was "no threat," and also let me tell you that I live in what's considered a very small and very safe (most parts) city. My work schedule usually has me working longer days Monday-Thursday and leaving at lunch on Friday, but this week I chose to stay late on Friday because my desk load was heavy. A couple hours after I would normally have gone home I was told we were on lock down and instructed to stay away from the windows because a suspicious ticking package had been found outside our building and it was being investigated. In that moment, all I wished was that I had gone home at my normal time like I do every other week. We were held a couple of hours and left with very little information. The only info we were getting was from a twitter handle that reports news in the area. It showed pictures of the bomb squad in suits with the package in question...then them bringing out the bomb robot for more investigation, etc. (By the way, the bomb robot totally looks like Wall-E, which was a small comfort.) My mom and I also work for the same company, but in two separate buildings side by side, so I knew that we were both potentially in danger, and that we were both locked down in our own buildings and couldn't leave to see each other, which was more than a little unsettling. It was very nerve-wracking and stressful, and I sent out a few "just so you know, I love you" texts during the ordeal. And while it turned out to be nothing harmful in the end, an event like that definitely puts things into perspective! Makes me want to spend a little more time in my life doing this now:

Then this morning I woke up with tightness in my chest and back and arms, some pain and difficulty breathing, etc, and I've yet to determine whether it's just from all the physical tension I must have been holding yesterday, or if I'm coming down with something. Joy.

(And not this Joy!)

...actually, a little more like this:

So that was my week. Now on to the reason for the title of this section...I promised the teeny tiny top hat would come back into play soon...and it has...

(N is on his way on a cross-country-road-trip-for-one for a painting show, so I had to fill in as the model for this picture.)

Of course, there had to be one for me too...

I decided to get crafty and make wedding ear hats for our trip! I had intended on buying some of the official Disney ones and personalizing them, but since we're going in August the idea of having a ballcap-style brim to keep the sun off my face became really appealing. When I couldn't find anything like what I wanted, I decided to try making them myself! The craftsmanship may not be fantastic, but they work for what I want!

In other "We Be Stylin'" news...the girls' bridesmaid dresses have come in this week! They look something like this... (they actually look a fair bit different in person than they do on this model from the website, but you'll get the idea...)

I'm just thrilled we found a dress all three of us could agree on and feel good about. And it's really cute on! They may even be able to wear it again someday, for realsies!

And now to the ranting...I guess that officially makes this:

Rant #2

In the interest of being fair, I guess it's time to now throw my own side of the family under the bus! (Fingers crossed, so far none of them have had much interest in the Dis... hehehe) My family is much less argumentative and openly opinionated than N's side might have the tendency to be, but they make up for it in the way that issues can develop and fester between people that don't really get talked about or dealt with. For reasons that aren't relevant to this report, we have such an issue with a member of my family due to a poor relationship between her husband and my grandmother (and somewhat with the rest of us.) Let's call them "Bill" and "Sue!" I was always very close to Sue growing up, and we still share a good relationship. But Bill has put a lot of us off because he exhibits really stubborn and controlling behaviour that makes us uncomfortable and we feel like he's changed the dynamic between Sue and the rest of our family, along with the unmentioned other issues, etc. They also have a son who's 8, and who has never been to Disney. They were invited to the wedding, and I never would have fathomed that Sue might miss it (unless it was solely due to financial issues, but my family has also been willing to offer some financial help to make sure important people get there, etc.) Well, I found out some time ago that it was unlikely that all three of them would get there, but that Sue didn't know whether she'd try to attend solo or not. My mom got angry and talked to Sue about how she was shocked she wasn't planning to attend, and that seemed to turn her mind around, but there's still been no real discussion on the issue. And now people are upset that their son, who would love Disney and would be very hurt to miss out on my wedding (there aren't many other young people in our family so we're close) will not be there, and they're trying to get them to change their minds. Everything is in flux right now because it seems from the outside that Bill doesn't ever want to go anywhere or do anything unless it serves him, and yet he also is too controlling to let Sue go do things alone, so we don't know what will happen. He also doesn't like to have to look after their son alone, but would also not want to be excluded from the son's first vacation to Disney...so what will happen!?! We don't know!! So much weird tension. It makes me slightly stressed not being able to plan our family things for the trip with them in mind, and it makes it hard for the rest of the family to be excited and talk about the wedding plans when they're around. So it's feeling a little like this: In the end, I decided to try to stay out of it as much as possible and just focus on the things I can control, and on having a super awesome wedding day with the people who really want to be there for us.

Hopefully that will be the end of the ranting, and only fun planning and gifs will fill the rest of this report! ​

 

[missangelalexis]

Congrats on getting into your masters program!

Wow, the bomb scare sounds scary Glad everything was ok.

Your caps are so cute, great job!

Sorry to hear about your family tension! That really does stink. I hope they are able to attend the wedding!

 

[afwdwfan]

Then part-way through the week I got my official acceptance letter letting me know I got into a masters program at a university here in speech language pathology. So after over two years off, I'll be going back to school! Wild.

Congratulations!

All that had me shaken up enough.

Then yesterday we had a bomb scare at work.

Holy crap!

I chose to stay late on Friday because my desk load was heavy. A couple hours after I would normally have gone home I was told we were on lock down and instructed to stay away from the windows because a suspicious ticking package had been found outside our building and it was being investigated. In that moment, all I wished was that I had gone home at my normal time like I do every other week.

Ok... here's me with some logic. There's a bomb... outside the building. Do you not have doors on the opposite side of the building. Just thinking out loud here, but why keep you confined in building next to a bomb? Would you not be safer outside the building, on the opposite side with an entire building and maybe some more space between you and a potential explosion?

Then this morning I woke up with tightness in my chest and back and arms, some pain and difficulty breathing, etc, and I've yet to determine whether it's just from all the physical tension I must have been holding yesterday, or if I'm coming down with something. Joy.

I hope it isn't anything too bad.

The craftsmanship may not be fantastic, but they work for what I want!

I think they look great! A heck of a lot better than I could do!

Rant #2

Yuck. That's a rough situation, but it does sound like a no win for you. I think you're making the best decision to just stay out of the drama and let it play out. Control what you can control and let the rest fall into place as it will. I know that you really want her and her son to be there for the wedding, and I hope that it can happen. But what can you do?

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Congratulations for getting into the masters program!

My BIL is similar. My sister wanted to go to our hometown for a funeral and he wouldn't let her go alone. He told her that she could go if I went (thinking I would say no). So, of course, I said I would take her. He was a bit mad and then tried to sabotage by saying he would take care of the hotel reservations. The night before we were to leave, she found out that he hadn't made any reservations. We made it down there and back in one piece. I doubt he will be saying that again. It is a difficult situation and I hope it all works out for "Sue" and son to make it to your wedding.

 

[Raeven]

Congrats on getting into the program!

Then yesterday we had a bomb scare at work.

And while it turned out to be nothing harmful in the end, an event like that definitely puts things into perspective! Makes me want to spend a little more time in my life doing this now:

I'm glad it turned out fine!

Then this morning I woke up with tightness in my chest and back and arms, some pain and difficulty breathing, etc, and I've yet to determine whether it's just from all the physical tension I must have been holding yesterday, or if I'm coming down with something. Joy.

Aw it probably was from the stress of the day before.

I decided to get crafty and make wedding ear hats for our trip! I had intended on buying some of the official Disney ones and personalizing them, but since we're going in August the idea of having a ballcap-style brim to keep the sun off my face became really appealing. When I couldn't find anything like what I wanted, I decided to try making them myself! The craftsmanship may not be fantastic, but they work for what I want!

So cute!

Everything is in flux right now because it seems from the outside that Bill doesn't ever want to go anywhere or do anything unless it serves him, and yet he also is too controlling to let Sue go do things alone, so we don't know what will happen. He also doesn't like to have to look after their son alone, but would also not want to be excluded from the son's first vacation to Disney...so what will happen!?! We don't know!! So much weird tension.

Ugh that's difficult. He should just let them go if he doesn't want to. So weird! I guess you just have to plan and try not to think about things like that. It'll be an awesome wedding anyway.