Disneyland

Disneyland was so much fun!

Lily wasn't thrilled about going.

Terrified is more like it.

One minute she would be excited to meet Mater

and the Princess' and the next minute she'd tell me

she'd like to rip up her ticket.

Lily hates dressed up characters,

She says that their big heads are scary.

She hates trying new things.

The morning she woke up excited then as we approached the parking garage.

She had a melt down.

I had to carry her occasionally kicking and screaming towards the gates.

I thought, well this should be fun.

I wondered if I should have just listened to her.

I'm certainly glad I didn't.

She had a blast.

We did however have 3 unfortunate encounters with the

scary big headed characters.

ie.. Mickey, goofy, and Donald Duck.

She is NOT kidding she is terrified.

Donald Duck crossed our path and she turned around

screamed and ran in the other direction.

I'm sure it sounds amusing, but

her mother was not amused.

She still insists that she does not like Disneyland.

I'll let you decide for yourself.

I'm sure you'll find she didn't have an ounce of fun.

 

Our first day we spent at California adventure.

Cars land is awesome.

I am very proud of my girl for

overcoming her fears and trying new things.

She tried rides I thought she never would.

She even put her hands up on the

very fast Cars ride. 

She screamed and giggled the whole way!

 

 

 Family of hillbillies!

Mater teeth,

my favorite purchase!

 Like I said no fun AT ALL!

 

 

Day 2

Disneyland

We dressed in our finest to have a princess makeover

and added some wings for good measure.

Before our royal make over

We had time to ride the tea cups

and meet Merida.





 We showed Merida some karate moves.

It was darling.

I didn't capture a great picture of it

but,

She was asked what her fairy talent was

and she said Karate.

Merida said they didn't have karate in Scotland

and asked if Lily would show her some moves.

Precious!

 I'm not much for kids in make up

but,

This made my girl happy.

They were supposed to put her hair in a bun

and she was supposed to bring a princess dress.

In true Lily form she did things her own way.

She picked her twirly skirt and wanted her hair

in her signature pony.

I love that she has her own style!

 Waiting and waiting and waiting to

finally meet Tink!

 

Vidia was there.

She knows her part!

 

At the Bibity Bobity Boutique

there was every kind of princess paraphernalia imaginable.

My girl chose a sword.

ON GUARD.

I love her.

 

Day 3

We started off our day with breakfast with

the Princess'.

I didn't get great pictures.

I sure wish I had tried harder.

After I got the bill I wanted to call them all back to our table

and make them give us more attention!

I'm glad we did it once, but

wow Disney really?!?

 When she met Tiana Lily said,

Mommy she has brown skin just like me

isn't she beautiful.

Yes, baby girl, and so are you!

Thank you Disney for giving my girl

a Princess she can identify with.

 Lily loved the bumper cars.

Really she loved anything where she got to drive.

She is actually a great driver.

 

We had a very lucky impromptu

encounter with Jasmine.

We just walked up to her and got our picture taken.

No line.

 

 

couldn't go to Disney without a little

face painting.

 

And that is a wrap.

I loved spending this time with my girl.

I am so happy my parents shared this

experience with us.

Disney is full of magic and wonder

and so is my girl!

Shamrockin' and thankfulness

Going through my recent transformation really has helped me see myself in a new light.  Somehow the pressures of work, marriage, motherhood caused me to loose myself.  For a month or so I was a single parent and I had to learn to navigate single motherhood as well as find myself.  During my process of change I found my true friends and I lost a friend who I thought would always have my back.  It's funny how friendships need to be tended to and cultivated.  I did not tend to that friendship.  I didn't have any time for friendships, I was lost.  I would like to thank my friend Meg who is not only my friend and my trainer but exemplifies true friendship she listened without judgment to everything I had to say.  She watched me cry and helped me slowly fight my way back from despair.  She gave me a lifeline and helped me reach my goal.  I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to being the woman I now know I can be.  A woman who is a good role model for a little girl who is looking for guidance.  A woman who knows what she wants and takes it.  I am still unpolished but not so rough around the edges.  Not only did Meg comfort me in some very dark days but she stayed with me until the end of my race.  I told her to run the race for herself but she insisted on staying with me.  I wasn't nervous before the race.  I said I ran 12 miles 13 wont be any different.  I'm so happy she didn't listen to me.  The last four miles of the run I was really hurting and feeling like I wanted to quit and running past people who had done just that.  Meg said we are almost there, I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you walk.  These people will all be sad that they are walking.  I don't know about those people, but I certainly would have been sad if I had given up.  My goal was to run the race and I met my goal.  My time was 2 hours 35 minutes.  That is a 11 and a half minute mile.  It is certainly not fast but now I have a time to beat! 

I also must thank my parents.  They also stood by me every step of my journey.  They picked up my Lily Pie every day after school.  They made her feel secure in a time she didn't understand.  They made me feel safe and they offered me a safety net if I needed it.  They did not judge my choices they only showed love understanding and forgiveness.  I am such a lucky girl to have them.  Not everyone has supportive parents I know exactly how lucky I am!  They also watched Lily each Saturday and aloud me to run.  They made me dinner several times a week so I could run after work.  I am truly blessed when it comes to mi padres.  So thank you mom and dad I love you so very much!  To cap off this journey they are taking Lily and I to Disneyland.  We are over the moon excited!  Stay tuned for some picture overload very very soon.

I am also thankful for my husband who decided his family was important!  He made some very scary decisions for our sake.  I love him so very much and I continue to be in awe of his accomplishments, his determination, I am a very lucky girl!

Running Girl

I've become a running girl.  I don't quite look like this mind you but I've logged quite a few hours/miles.  This blog has become a bit of a no mans land.  It makes me sad I'm no longer posting every exciting detail.  These two facts may seem unrelated but they are closely tied together.

There are reasons for the desolate waste of space this blog has become.  The running is closely tied to this deserted space.  For awhile now my life, and the life of my family, has become unmanageable.  My own life felt as if I no longer had control.  I can not go into great detail because it is not really my story to share.  What is my story to share is that I decided through a series of calamities that I would take back my life and I would have a desire to live, love, and be happy.  Around the time I decided to make changes I got pregnant and that threw things a bit off course.  The pregnancy quickly went the course of all the others and I miscarried.  Which is a blessing even if it was sad.  I was able to regain my footing and continue my course of action towards control and peace and happiness, I believe with  even more perseverance.   My first step to taking control was that I had to have something I could control.  I have a very good friend who has been running for a long time. I told her I wanted to run a half marathon and she quickly agreed to train me.  Hence my Saturday morning sanity giving, therapy began.  I also took other steps that make me proud.  We all want our children, especially girls, to be courageous, strong, forgiving and to know happiness and beauty radiate from within.  I have shown my daughter all of these qualities and I will continue.  Through these changes my husband has shown courage, perseverance, and hope.  I am proud of myself, I am proud of my husband and I'm proud of my family.  So in closing of this chapter I will top it off by running 13 miles this Sunday.  Running is just like the fears and the steps I had to make to gain a healthy family it is just mind over matter.  Really all we have to do to make changes is put one foot in front of the other.