WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY

At the end of last summer, I became a Disney travel agent with Castle Bound Travel Co (I posted about it HERE). I applied for the position with the thought, "I am just putting this out into the universe to see what the universe has in store with me" and I was honestly shocked when I received notice that I was being hired! My entire approach with this new undertaking has been along the same line; I'll put myself out there and see what comes back to me. It was, again, with this attitude that I opted to attend the 2023 annual Castle Bound Travel Co travel agent retreat in Florida... And what an INCREDIBLE experience I had! I asked a sweet friend to join me on the trip and it was nonstop smiles and laughter for the both of us. We crammed so much into 5 days, but the highlights include:

staying at Port Orleans Resort-French Quarter ● gluten free beignets from Scat Cat's! ● riding the ferry to Disney Springs ● fish and chips from Cookes of Dublin ● getting treats from Erin McKenna's Bakery (that I never ate because housekeeping accidentally threw them away) ● scanning magic bands and walking into the parks the first time (Hollywood Studios) ● walking right onto Mickey's Runaway Railway ● Toy Story Land and Slinky Dog Dash ● Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster ● Tower of Terror ● last minute reservation for a new-to-me restaurant, Mama Melrose's ● finding Kermit the frog ● spontaneous decision to hop to Animal Kingdom for Expedition Everest ● last minute reservation to Nomad Lounge and getting gluten free churros! ● riding Rise of the Resistance before dashing out of the parks ● dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe with my Castle Bound team and mentors ● giant ice tea ● being put in "jail" during dinner ● our server, Lisa, who was incredibly hilarious ● going to Beaches & Cream after dinner and ordering the Kitchen Sink ● staying at the beautiful Disney's Beach Club ● our retreat conference - just... all of it! ● unexpectedly winning the Social Butterfly award ● meeting up with my friend after lunch with my team ● the Magic Kingdom castle ● buying cute, little girl Minnie Mouse socks for my poor blistered feet ● catching the fireworks show right before dinner ● eating cheese bread and chicken at Jungle Navigation Co. ● walking from our resort next-door to Epcot ● finding a chalk artist with my name! ● THE NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY RIDE! ● doing a small group workshop for social media growth ● my exclusive cocktail hour with the company owner (for being one of the award winners) ● our company doing a dessert party for the Harmonious show ● hitting the last few rides at Magic Kingdom ● last minute reservation for lunch at the Plaza Restaurant ● ending the trip on Haunted Mansion

BIRTHDAYS AND BAPTISM

Last month, we had two birthdays and a baptism in our family. After my second youngest's baptism last year, I knew that I wanted things to be different for my littlest little. Luckily, a change to a new neighborhood and ward PLUS having two boys needing to be ordained around the same time helped facilitate the changes I was hoping to see. Our youngest was baptised on her birthday, surrounded by so, so many family members and friends. It was perfect - simple and sweet, yet memorable. One of the moments I will always carry with me from that day was being able to sing The Olive Tree with most of the mr.'s siblings (while the mr. accompanied on piano). My best friends surprised me by singing that same song at my baptism 20 years ago, so it was extra tender to sing it for my daughter.