disney in a day

Hello Dreaming of Someday readers! I'm Brooklyn from A Little Too Jolley.  

I'm here today because Aubrey asked me to share some of my tips for how to do Disneyland in a day while she is off enjoying the happiest place on earth!

1. If you're not there at rope drop, you're late. The park is SO much slower in the morning.

2. If you plan on Character Dining, book ahead by calling 714-781-DINE. This will help you cut down on the time you are waiting around to eat.

3. If you're okay to miss parades and fireworks, those are perfect times to hit up some of the busier rides.

4. Snap a pic in front of Sleeping Beauty castle on your way in. I meant to do this on our honeymoon but then we got so busy it never happened. So get it done first, even though it's tempting to get to the rides asap!

5. Utilize the Fastpass system for busier rides. Plan your day around the Fastpasses, they are SO worth it.

6. Pack lunches. Lines for lunch can take FOREVER. 

7. Pick what snacks are important and get those during an off time. (10 AM, 3 PM, 7 PM)

8.  Buy your tickets before getting there.

9. Don't bother with park hopping if you only have one day. Between the lines and getting to and from California Adventures and Disneyland it can take up to an hour of your day just to switch parks. 

10. Stay in a hotel close to the park so you can get there early and stay late!

What other tips do you have for doing Disneyland in a day? Come visit me and be sure to read all my other posts about Disney!

mega thanks to brooklyn for taking over for the day. i'm off to disneyland today so these tips are definitely helpful. any other tips?

what would you do...8.0

it's the second monday of the month which means kimberly and i are teaming up for another round of 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO...

this month we want to know

WHAT WOULD YOU DO...with flowers?

the possibilities are endless...crafts, clothes, gardens, home decor.

flowers always makes me think of brynn and her darling flower shop blooms and co. she is a super talented floral designer, and her pieces really are art. what would i do with flowers??? call blooms and co immediately.

i love them all so much! let's hear it. WHAT WOULD YOU DO...with flowers? link up below.

and come back next month for 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO...with gold?

An InLinkz Link-up

we do:travel...how to plan activities at your location

have you ever gone on a trip and spent the first few days trying to decide what to do? or waste 2 hours every morning figuring out where to go for breakfast? or come home from a trip a little disappointed you didn't do the things you really wanted to do?

no one wants to have those frustrations while traveling so to try and avoid it i'm joining amy's we do series to talk about travel.

5 TIPS FOR PLANNING ACTIVITIES  1. determinie the purpose of the trip  relax, site see, food, sleep, etc.  plan activities that support the purpose 2. decide where to save and where to spend food, lodging, activities plan to spend more money on things that are most important to you and plan to skimp a little on less important things. 3.  research start with social media. where is the best place to eat? what are the must do activities? where is the good shopping? 4. make a plan outline what you want to do, where you want to go, food, etc for each day 5. stick to the plan (if that's what everyone really wants) or not
even though travel is supposed to be fun, it can be stressful at times. having a plan always seems to take the stress away for me. speaking of traveling, i'm outta here again. check my instagram if you want to see what i'm up to the next several days.
how do you plan activities when you travel? or do you fly by the seat of your pants?

summer is coming

summer is definitely my favorite time of year. yes it's hot, but that's partly what i like about it. i love being outside enjoying the sunshine. i love pool days and tennis games and bike rides. sometimes i even love sweating to freaking death. my summer saturdays consist of a long run, a few quick chores, spending most of the day at the pool, getting ready late in the day, and usually dinner plans. it's not very often that i let responsibility go, but for some reason on saturdays in the summer i can. i love it!

other people like summer for other reasons like the big blockbusters that come out in the summer! if we're being honest, i have no idea what is coming out this summer, but i'm sure most of you do. if you're really dying to see one of these for a date night, GNO, whatever, you should thank the lovely ladies below. why? because we have all teamed up to give one of YOU the perfect summer movie date night, on us! There's a $25 Cinemark or AMC Theatres Gift Card (winner's choice!) as well as a $10 Cold Stone Creamery Gift Card (because what good is a hot summer date night without ice cream!?).

so, what movies are you dying to see? what's your favorite part of summer. enter with rafflecopter below.

Dreaming About Someday - The Best F Words - Life with Amberly & Joe
Mrs. Harr - Ready or Not - A Little Too Jolley

The giveaway will run from 12:00 am MST on May 13 until 11:59 pm MST on May 19. All entries will be verified so please be honest! All entries will be verified. Gift cards will be delivered electronically.

Best of luck!

ps...come back tomorrow and link up your flower posts for what would you do with flowers a Rafflecopter giveaway

random rambling...not a mom

yesterday was mother's day. it's an interesting day for a single girl with no kids. emotions can be all over the place. the lds church ran a media campaign this week #itwasmom
mother's day isn't just about being a mom. it's about having a mom. mint arrow posted last year about moms and despite the lack of children, we all have a mom. mother's day is a day to celebrate moms. i am a lucky girl. i have the best mom. she taught me everything i know about being good. she taught me to love and serve others, to stop worrying so much, to get more sleep, to give gifts and send cards. if i am ever a mother i hope to be half the mother she is. even though it is a day to celebrate our moms, it is also a day to celebrate being a mom...something that can be a little rough when you're not a mom and want to be. one of my dear friends posted on facebook, and her words are so beautiful and touching. "Happy Mother's Day!! I am wishing ALL the amazing women in my life a Happy Mother's Day. Not just those who have kids but each of youu. Sometimes I struggle with this day because I know many of the friends and family I love so dearly are not actual moms. For some of you that is a conscious choice. Raising a child just isn't your cup of tea. For others of you I know you struggle with circumstances in your lives that do not permit you to raise children as you would desire. So for each of you I want to say this.
Motherhood is not something that just happens when you have or adopt a child. Motherhood is acting compassionately toward others. It is being a friend, a hug, a listening ear and shoulder to cry on as well as being that only person who understands some things 
When you take the time to truly BE THERE. To show respect to others and be an example of goodness. When you truly experience a moment and share it with a friend or when you help a struggling mom out or when you take the time to show respect to a child by getting down on their level.
Whenever you open up your heart and share your life, you are being a mother because simply by being a woman you have a compassionate nature. And that is what should be celebrated.
So thank you all. I love each one of you and appreciate everything you have done to enrich my life."
i echo her words. although giving birth technically makes someone a mother, being a mother means so much more. although it is not the same as raising a child of your own, we all have opportunities to influence children and others around us. i'm so grateful for those opportunities in my life and for the wonderful friends i have you acknowledge that not being a mom is hard. come back next week for my top 5 things you should never say to someone who is not a mom.

go green swap

during the blue polish swap for autism, ashley emailed me about hosting a green accessories swap for mental health awareness month. i already love accessories so combining it with a good cause is a total win win. ashley shared a few facts about mental health. over 57.7 people have diagnosable mental health illness. luckily the stigma associated with mental health is lessening, and people are getting appropriate help.

this week has been so crazy. i was so excited to home home to this fun package from sarah. i love good mail!  thanks to ashley for organizing and thanks to sarah for the fun mail.

5 little confessions...running edition

before i get started on today's light hearted post, i can't avoid mentioning the love in blogland. social media exploded (to the point of crashing the website with the story) yesterday for a family that tragically lost their son. there are so many good things about social media and blogging. one of the very best is seeing people come together to support each other. as much as my heart is broken for this poor family, my heart is also warmed by the goodness of people. to learn more or to help, go to thrive moms or indienook.
there's no easy transition from that...

we're back for another round of 5 little confessions. in case you're new around here (welcome) or forgot the details...

we've all seen the posts going around blogland and social media about being honest and keeping things real. bloggers often get accused of posting only the parts of our lives we want to show off. we know we all have those less than bloggable moments in life. as readers, we all love reading those posts, but as writers we sometimes avoid spilling the dirt. in the spirit of keeping things real, we bring you 5 little confessions. did you go 5 days without washing your hair? did your clean laundry sit on your floor until it was time to wash again? did you spend all weekend keeping up with the kardashians? did you eat cake for breakfast? dig up a few of your secrets and link up below.

Your Hosts

Carrie from Curly Crafty Mom

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Aubrey from Dreaming About Someday

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Jacq from Justjacq

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Kimberly from Olive the Things

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if you've been around here or my other social media for more than 1 minute you know i'm a runner. sometimes i wish people didn't know that, but it's kind of hard to avoid something that takes up such a huge chunk of my life. people assume i love running and must run every day...wrong!

i don't actually love running. in fact i don't even really like it all that much. what i do love is the group of people i run with and the major accomplishment at crossing the finish line.

i really only run once a week-long runs on saturday. i go to the gym 5 other days a week, but i don't usually run. don't ask me how i survive marathon training on once a week runs.

 

whenever i post a mileage picture of my garmin i hide the time on purpose. i am super slow, and i would be pretty embarrassed for you to know how long it takes me to run. when people ask my times for races, i usually won't say. i get really self conscious about my ultra slow pace.

at the bitter end of a race when people are trying to be so nice and supportive and encouraging, i just feel dumb. i get super emotional about it. i always feel like they must be thinking...oh that poor girl. this is probably her first time, and she's really struggling. little do they know...

 

even though the nashville marathon was pretty miserable, i already signed up for the st. george marathon in the fall. i need to prove to myself that i can do better. plus i knew i would have major missing out syndrome if i didn't sign up.

   

   i can't even wait to hear what everyone else has to confess this month. spill it, and then link up below. 

An InLinkz Link-up

a few days in missouri

one of the perks of running a marathon in nashville (more to come later) was spending a few days in missouri first. nashville is only a few hours from my family. i was really happy to get to spend some time with them before the race. i flew to st. louis on tuesday afternoon and spent the afternoon with my sister, ashley. i totally failed to take pictures of anything except our food which was pretty amazing.

my mom came up on wednesday morning. we went to the temple in the morning. even though i have been to the st. louis temple a few times, it seemed so small compared to what i am use to.

 ever since i "met" carrie doing spring 30x30 last year, we've been so excited to actually meet in person. since she lives in st. louis i knew it would happen eventually. it's always so fun meeting blog friends in real life.

we spent a little more time in st. louis relaxing, eating, and doing a little shopping. we decided at the last minute to head down to my parents' house on thursday night to spend a few hours with my brothers and my dad. it was a pretty quick trip down there but totally worth it to see them.

the missouri part of the trip was great. i caught up a little bit on sleep and enjoyed time with my family. 5 little confessions is tomorrow. come link up your deep dark secrets. 

random rambling

a few weeks ago, bonnie, tayler, and brooke hosted a link up. they are all teachers and all having babies this summer. they posted about their decisions to teach or not next year. i initially thought...skip. doesn't apply to me. my second thought...i wish i had the choice to keep working or not. my final thought...i do have a choice. it's just a different choice than they have and if i'm being honest a different choice than i want to have.

i always talk about being a stay at home something. while i hope to someday have the choice to be a stay at home something, right now i do not. however, that doesn't mean i don't have a choice. i sometimes feel a little stuck in my current career. there is an unfortunate lack of upward mobility at my job. while i love the company and love my job, nothing is keeping me there. i have the choice to stay or look for something else. i can change my mind anytime, but for now i choose to stay. i choose to stay because i love what i do. i love making a difference in the lives of children and families every single day. besides making the choice to stay or go, i have the choice to have a good or bad attitude about it all. things have been pretty crazy around the work place the past several months. it doesn't seem like things are changing anytime soon. the environment is more stressful than ever. i can choose to be weighed down with the stress of it all, or i can choose to have an optimistic attitude. being positive is not always my strength, but i am really trying to make the choice to be happy. no matter whether it seems like it or now, we all have a choice.
are you a stay at home or do you work outside the home? what do you do when you feel like you don't have a choice?

churchy...discipleship

in april's churchy post, i talked about general conference for the lds church. it happened. i spent the first weekend of april listening to talks from leaders. all the talks were great. so many stood out to me. thankfully all the talks are available online to listen to again and again. i love jeffrey r holland's talk "the cost and blessings of discipleship" my favorite quotes from the talk  "defend your beliefs with courtesy and compassion, but defend them." "Christlike love is the greatest need we have on this planet." or listen to the full text

defending my beliefs with courtesy and compassion has been on my mind a lot. i want to defend my beliefs even on controversial things, but i also want to be courteous and compassionate to others who may have other beliefs. in my attempts to be kind i sometimes don't say anything at all. i don't think that's the right answer either. how do you stand up for your beliefs while respecting the differences people have? mckenzie and wendy are talking about churchy things today too.

spring 30x30...days 25-30

i did it! i wore blue the whole month of april without repeating any outfits. even though it's such a small thing, it's something i can do to be more mindful of autism. i hope you've learned a few things this month. instead of sharing more facts about autism, make sure to check out tuesday's post with a touching personal story about extraordinary normal moments.
day 25...gap cardi, target v, jcpenney jeggings, target flip flops travel from missouri to nashville

 day 26...shade cardi, old navy top featuring blue circles i promise, gap skinnies, target sandals

i ran a marathon in the blazing hot sun hence the color change from day 25-->day 26

 day 27...target cardi, j crew top, walmart bella bird skirt, target sandals, jessica simpson wedges

my feet were in bad shape after the marathon. i ended up wearing the wedges later and they felt better than the flat sandals. jessica simpson shoes are my fave.

 day 28...bella bird walmart cardi, target v, gap skinnies, target flip flops

severe weather/tornado warnings in nashville made for a low key day

 day 29...old navy hoodie, old navy v, gap skinnies, target flip flops

i had to get ready at 3:30am to catch my flight home which explains everything about this.

 day 30...h&m cardi and t shirt, gap jeans, toms flats

make sure to check out what everyone else wore this week.

An InLinkz Link-up