Recovering

 Building ME through this journey!  

This may be off my "usual topic" but it comes from my heart.

During my time away from blogging, I went through a series of struggles.  I lost my Mom, Dad & Husband within 8 weeks.  This consisted of my entire family, best friend and the man of my dreams.  When things happen, it is important to allow God to work through our bumps in the road to allow us to still be grateful for our blessings, be positive and continue to look for GOOD in the world around us.  I'm thankful that this year as I'm beginning to hit the 1 year anniversaries of many difficult moments in my life's journey. I had a friend share a podcast that put me in a good place as I got ready for church on Mother's Day:  The "RobCast" is Rob Bell's podcast and a lot of what I am sharing today comes straight from him in this show: http://robbell.podbean.com/  

When we encounter "detours" in the road leading toward our dreams, we truly do need to acknowledge and embrace how awful the situation was.  Don't skim over it - it truly was important.  Understand and embrace that the realization is that the worst moments in life are the reasons that your story is so great.  It's not getting rid of or forgetting what happened, but you can retell your story in a positive way and allows you to help others who are currently in or passing through difficult times.  

Remember:  The worst moments in life are the reasons your story becomes great!  It's because you get up and keep going!  Life is a series of unrelated fragments that come at you.  The way you choose to handle them develops your future.  You can choose to be better or you can let your situation make you bitter.  I hope you choose to grow in spiritual maturity.  You can choose JOY!  Life will always bring you twists and turns, but you're still here!  There is always a way to "Retell" a negative experience.  Be thanful when you are past it.  Make peace with it.  Don't allow yourself to close down.  Decide to open up. There truly IS a light at the end of our tunnel.  Keep your focus on the positive and build your body, mind and spirit until you get to the place where you want to be.  And when you get "there" then it's time to set a new goal that is higher.  This Disney Girl in Orlando had some "truth moments" this week  Always work toward the positive and making yourself stronger every day!  Thank you for taking the time to read this.  If you are not in a storm right now, that means there is one on the horizon, as we all tend to go through the circle of life.  I hope you take a piece of this with you along the way.  I am thankful for the encouragement I receive and I hope you have that as well.

I'm Comin' Back, BABY!

Sometimes, life comes at you at an overwhelming pace and you have to just hang on for the ride until you can catch yourself...regain your footing....and blast off to places that you've never dreamed of!

That's what happened to me.  And I found that no matter what knocks you down, try to keep looking for something to make you smile every day.  Always thank God for the blessings and opportunities in those difficult days because of the place that it is bringing you into.  That's just my two-cents.  

I am still very much a DISNEY GIRL IN ORLANDO...but now, I know that dark days make the sunshine feel brighter.  

I almost feel like a completely different person from the girl who used to do this blog.  

Today I'm just going to say I'm BACK!

Since I've been away, I've made my first trip to California with a "few" of my closest friends and had the opportunity to run a Half Marathon...right past Walt's apartment with my WDW Radio Running Team.  Thanks to Lou Mongello for bringing so many close connections of Disney "family" into my life.

I've also had some wonderful opportunities to become a small part of the Walt Disney Birthplace Restoration.  In the midst of that pinch-me moment, I shared Martinis with Disney Legend, Bob Gurr...the creator of the Monorail and so many Disney attractions.  He truly felt like the closest person I would ever meet to Walt Disney himself.  His attention to detail from everything down to the positioning of our photo was meticulous.
 I have had the honor of meeting Jeff & Gregg Sherman, sons of Richard & Robert Sherman "The Sherman Brothers" and become a member of the World Chapter of the Disneyana Fan Club.  With this wonderful organization, I get to experience more opportunities to see talented Artist, Alex Mahr; Disney
Historian Jim Korkis (always a treat) along with Robbie Sherman (another son of the Sherman Brothers who played and sang wonderful songs for us.  I was honored to meet Greg Ehrbar, with over 30 amazing years and projects in the Disney company.
I couldn't be more thankful for the amazing experiences that I have been honored to take part in...
But above all, I thank you,  my wonderful

friends who have held me up when I didn't have the strength to
stand on my own and keep my head held high when I wasn't sure how.  YOU INSPIRE ME!  THANK YOU!  You have given me the strength to keep running and told me to just put one foot in front of the other and you have held my hand the entire way.  I wouldn't be back here without you...and I wouldn't be able to move forward without you.  I have some excellent times ahead!   

I will be traveling to Alaska for a week-long cruise in a few weeks.

I have more Run Disney and non-Disney Running events.

I'm planning a Group Meet Up --- YES, I'm planning an EVENT!  And YOU are welcome on Saturday, July 18 to join us for Cirque du Soleil at Downtown Disney.  More details will be out soon.  We will gather before the show to talk & have fun and we'll all get our own seats.  

I also plan an Aqua Car event by the Boathouse in Downtown Disney.  We will meet, fill the cars and split the price.  Bring cash that day for your portion so that we can get a better value and maybe even race our friends.  No date is planned for this event yet.

I also have some great plans at Disney's Polynesian Villas and Bungalows, which I look forward to sharing with you.

Thank you for believing in me along the way.  Thank you for your support, friendship....and keep watching to see what sorts of amazing experiences that I look forward to sharing with you.  This Disney Girl in Orlando is BACK!  And I have YOU to thank for your inspiration...more to come!