Tag Archives: Disney World

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Facing Fear

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Day 330 in my independence toward getting ready to meet Mickey

Happy 4th of July!  Today my plan was to face a very big fear and reclaim my independence.  Dear readers, you may remember that a month ago I had a very nasty fall in my bathtub, and it took three of us and a homemade version of a grappling hook to get me up and out of that tub.  (Feel free to chuckle at that; I can now.)  For the past month I have been driving up to the farm to shower in our sauna.  (There’s no tub to climb over there.)  Today I told Mike to listen for any loud thuds, to which he replied, “No more loud thuds!”  🙂  Love that man!  I placed a stool right next to the tub, and I got in off of the stool.  It worked like a charm.  Then I leaned on the stool to get out of the tub.  Clean again.  Hallelujah!  Fear faced…mischief managed!  Praise God!  Let me leave you with two thoughts from the Bible.  “Perfect love casts out all fear.” and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Amen and amen!

Have a great holiday, dear friends.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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To “Tables in Wonderland” or Not…

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Day 323 in my researching my way to meeting up with Mickey (3 months and 16 days to go)

Today’s plan was to look into Tables in Wonderland, a Disney dining discount card.  The card works at the parks and also at Downtown Disney and at most of the restaurants at the resorts.  The card costs $100 for Disney Vacation Club Members.  Tables in Wonderland (TIW) saves 20% on most table service meals at Walt Disneyworld. It includes entrees, appetizers and even alcohol for up to ten people.  When you use it, an 18% gratuity is automatically added to your bill.  So basically you save the cost of the tip plus 2% on all meals. (We’re usually 20% tippers.) There are six of us going to Walt Disneyworld and we will be there for eight nights.  We have at least one table service restaurant scheduled for each day that we are there.  So if we have the card from the very beginning, it will not only brake even, but it will save us some moolah.

We get to Florida on Tuesday, October 13.  We have a 7:00 pm dining reservation at Olivia’s Cafe at Old Key West.  (My favorite restaurant in the whole of Walt Disneyworld!)  So shortly after checking in, I will make my way to Downtown Disney (or is it Disney Springs yet?), to purchase a TIW card.  Then I will squeeze that card dry over the next eight glorious nights!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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It’s COOL to Give!

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Day 320 in my meandering my way to meeting up with Mickey (3 months and 18 days to go)

Things are heating up for me right now, and so I forgot to blog yesterday.   Oops!  Each year at this time we sponsor a benefit for COOL Ministries.  COOL Ministries has two food pantries, one in Lake County (where we live) and another in McHenry County.  They also manage twelve Transitional Housing units.  COOL Transitional Housing Program is designed for families (single parent or two parent households) with children, who have found themselves homeless (or about to be) and without resources. These families may obtain further educational training, better employment, gain life skills, learn to budget, save money, receive counseling and explore personal and spiritual growth. Each family exits the program able to maintain self-sufficiency.

Anyway…the benefit is this Sunday, June 28, from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm.  It will be located at the Lake Bluff Village Green (at the Gazebo).  There will be three bands playing (My husband and son are in the band playing at around 4:00 pm.), and there will be food to purchase from Graffiti Grill and Best Wishes Ice Cream.  Throughout the four hours we will be collecting cash and food donations for COOL Ministries.  If you’re local, come on by!

So I have been very busy with some last minute details, and I completely forgot to blog yesterday.  Now you know why.  🙂

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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When It Started for Me

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Day 319 in showing my Disney-side as I wait to meet up with Mickey (3months and 20 days to go)

This year Disney has been asking the question, “When did it start for you?” “When did what start?” you might ask.  They want to know when your love of all things Disney began.  I’ve been thinking about this, looking back to see when the connection was made.  Disneyland was opened the year I was born, 1955.  They are having a huge Diamond Celebration this year as the park turns 60 years old.  I remember being very young and faithfully watching The Mickey Mouse Club on TV.  It turns out that it first aired in 1955.  Before I began school, I remember begging my mom to enroll me in The Mickey Mouse Club. For a nominal fee, you could sign up by mail and receive a certificate and Mouse Ears, that proved you were a member.  I waited and watched for the postman every day, and day after day my mom would say, “Not today, Honey.  Maybe tomorrow.”  Finally a few weeks later the package arrived.  I tore it open with such excitement, because at last I was a member and could watch The Mickey Mouse Club with my ears on.  But when I looked at the certificate and the ears, I was disappointed.  In my youth I read that I was an “Artificial Member of the Mickey Mouse Club.”  I went to my mom in tears saying, “Why am I only an Artificial Member?  We paid the money.”  Mom wiped my tears, and read the certificate out loud, “Donna Taskila is an Official Member of The Mickey Mouse Club.  It says you are Official, not Artificial.”  I grinned from ear to ear, and I wore those Mickey Mouse Ears until they disintegrated.

That’s it.  That’s the moment when I became a Disney diehard.  I liked it before, but from that moment I was all in: hook, line and sinker.

I am so excited for October!  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Shrimp and Peppers..Oh, My!

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Day 313 in moving toward Mickey

Today’s plan was to try a new recipe for dinner, and we did.  We had Shrimp and Pepper Stir-Fry.  The recipe is from Betty Crocker 30 Minute Meals for Diabetes.  I will share it here:

Ingredients

  • RICE-1&1/2 c. water; 1&1/2 c. uncooked instant brown rice
  • GINGER PAN SAUCE-1 T. reduced-sodium soy sauce; 1 T. water; 2 t. cornstarch; 3/4 t. ground ginger
  • STIR-FRY-1 T. canola oil; 2 medium green onions, finely chopped (2 T.); 1 clove garlic, finely chopped; 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips (1&1/2 c); 1 medium green bell pepper, cut into thin strips (1&1/2 c); 12 oz uncooked deveined peeled medium (31 to 35 count) shrimp, thawed if frozen, tail shells removed; 1 c. halved cherry tomatoes

Directions

  1. In a 1-quart saucepan, heat 1&1/2 cups of water to boiling over high heat.  Stir in rice; return to boiling.  Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Let stand covered 5 minutes; fluff with fork and let cool slightly.
  2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix sauce ingredients until smooth; set aside.
  3. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add onions and garlic;  cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add bell peppers; cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened.  Add shrimp and tomatoes; cook 3 to 5 minutes stirring frequently, until shrimp are pink and peppers are crisp-tender.
  4. Stir sauce into shrimp mixture.  Heat to boiling; cook and stir until sauce is thickened.  Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings.  2&1/2 carbohydrate choices

I thought t was delicious, but next time would try doubling the sauce amount.  It was a little dry for my taste.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Top Priorities

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Day 312 In my path to meeting up with Mickey in October (3 months and 27 days to go)

Today my plan was to work through a couple of the sessions in Module One of Better Beyond 50.  I joined this program, and as soon as I did, we lost our internet at home.  We have been without internet for two weeks now at home.  Argh!  Luckily my iPhone can be used as a Personal Hotspot.

One of the things that I had to do today is write down my five top values, which I think sounds like my priorities.  Just a few years ago, I would have said my top five priorities were:

  1. God
  2. Mike (my husband)
  3. Jake and Emi (my kids)
  4. My job
  5. Hmmm…I don’t know

Today my focus has shifted.  Now my top five priorities are:

  1. God (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  This branch can do nothing if separated from the vine that is God.)
  2. Me (my health and working on it, because I need to really learn to love myself)  I still think that sounds selfish, but I need to get over it.  Scripture makes it perfectly clear that we have to love ourselves before we can love others.
  3. Mike (He makes me happy.)
  4. My new career focus (When I retire as Church Secretary in December, I want to get serious about my writing.)
  5. My kids (They are on such strong paths; they don’t need me as much as they once did.  Hallelujah!  It’s time to focus in other things now.)

It was a great exercise to do.  I had to spend some time really thinking about what I want my future to be.  It’s so strange to think about turning sixty.  How do I want to finish this life?   I want to finish as the best child of God that I can be.  I am excited to see what the next twenty plus years can bring.  No matter what comes, good or bad, God will be there, so I can face it with peace in my heart.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Delicious Day

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Day 308 in my journey to join up with Mickey at Magic Kingdom in October (4 months and 1 day to go)

Today’s plan was R & R…rest and relaxation.  It has been everything I hoped it would be.  I slept late and have taken two naps since I got up this morning.  I can feel the stress melting away, and I can exhale…  Ahh…

So since my plan for the day is so event-free, I will share my dinner recipe for this evening.  It is from my current favorite cookbook: Betty Crocker’s 30 Minute Meals for Diabetes.  The recipe is called Quick Taco Skillet Casserole.  It makes 6 servings, each 3 carb choices.

  • Ingredients:
  • 1 lb extra-lean (at least 90%) ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
  • 1&1/2 cups uncooked instant brown rice
  • 1 cup chunky-style salsa
  • 1&1/2 cups water
  • 1 can (14.5 to 16 oz) whole tomatoes, undrained, cut up
  • 1 can (11 oz) whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, undrained
  • a can (6 oz) tomato paste
  1. Directions:
  2. In a 12-inch skillet or a 4-quart Dutch oven, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked.  Drain well.  Return beef mixture to skillet.
  3. Stir in remaining ingredients.  Heat to boiling over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-high, and cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring frequently, until water is absorbed and rice is tender.  Stir before serving.
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Weary Week

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Day 307 in my trek toward meeting Mickey

Today’s plan was to finish the work week strong.  I have been exhausted all week.  Having my daughter Emi home for a week was a blitz of activity.  It was so fun and so tiring.  So I have been aiming for Friday like a bullet.  I am off tomorrow (Friday).  Halle-J-Lu-jah!  I did it.  I got through the week and accomplished much on the job.  Whew!  Now I can crash for a day, and get my feet under to again.  (I refuse to answer my phone or any knocks on my door tomorrow!)

I am still healing from my surgery.  I had only one scab left from my seven incisions, so I cut it off today with fingernail clippers.  🙂  Probably not the best idea ever, but I was so done looking at it there.  I promise to tell my doc when I see her on June 29.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: Shout out to Daniel Carlson for bagging an internship at Walt Disney World!  That is so-o-o-o-o exciting!  Congratulations!

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Is It Possible to Be Better Beyond 50?

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Day 306 in making healthier food choices and moving more to meet up with Mickey as a more fit me

My plan for today was to investigate an online program called Better Beyond 50.  It looks to be a lifestyle program to be healthier from age 50 and beyond.  It’s a very gentle way to eat, move, sleep better and live.  One of the special benefits  is Wednesday evening webinars with Melissa Koerner, the founder of the program.  Plus, I will get two private sessions with Melissa.  She is a very down to earth, likable person.  So today I did the research and downloaded a bunch of materials.  It’s plenty to get me started.

Thanks for reading.  Meet you at the Kingdom!

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A Blessed Sabbath

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Day 303 in my driving toward my destination of meeting Mickey at Magic Kingdom

Today I woke early and headed to St. James Lutheran Church to play the contemporary service.  It was transcendent!  The Holy Spirit was there in a very real way.  Listening to and singing with my daughter Emi, who lives in England, is always a blessing and today was no exception.  I am so grateful for that opportunity!

I knew we were eating out twice today, so my plan was to choose wisely.  We ate brunch at Maevery Public House in Lake Bluff.  I picked a Veggie Benny: 2 poached eggs, each on a half of an English muffin, with asparagus, broccoli, spinach and tomato with Lite Hollandaise Sauce.  It was so satisfying.

Now tonight, because it’s Emi’s last night here, she chose the Silo for dinner.  We are all having a side salad.  Mike, Emi, Jake and Eliza will have pizza for their entree.  I will have half of a spinach soufflé baked potato and save the rest for tomorrow.  It is simply a day of delightful worship, family, friends and fabulous food.

I am feeling very blessed and very sated.  Meet you at the Kingdom!