Thankful Thursday: A Magical Day

I've been enjoying D*sneyland a LOT since I've had an annual pass, and I got to go again today! Thanks to the "free on your birthday" promotion, my friend Jeanine has been planning to go to the park for her birthday, and of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tag along. (Class? What class? Oh... that class. Well, how much damage can it do to miss the class once?)

Often, I try to post about things on Thursdays that are really important, that really make me experience gratefulness so strong I can practically feel it. It surprised me yesterday to be overcome with gratitude over a trip to D*sneyland, but I really was. Having access to a place that is purely fun has been a great outlet for me these last couple months. It is due to the generosity of someone I don't even know that I was able to get an annual pass this year, and I truly am grateful every time I get to go hang out at D*sneyland.

The best part of having a D*sney pass is that I've been able to spend time with some people I love very much because they have passes, too. My cousin Nicole and I enjoyed a fun Friday night at the park in March. We see each other fairly regularly, but don't hang out very much with "just" us. I really enjoyed the chance to get to know her a little bit better, and I'm hoping we get to go again soon!

I've also spent some time at the park with the Goetz family. I've known Sara practically my entire life, and am ever more grateful for my friendship with her and her family. She married the biggest D*sney fan I know, and although they live in Northern CA now, they have passes and have been coming to D*sneyland for vacation a lot. There is no doubt their kids are going to follow in their parents footsteps and become big fans of D*sney, too.

Today, I got to spend with Jeanine and some of her family. We had a fabulous time, and I was reminded what a great person she is, and so happy for the chance to hang out. She lives about 15 miles north of me, and I don't go that direction very often with my commute to classes being in the opposite direction, so we haven't seen each other very often. During the week, the park isn't as busy, so lines are short and it's a relaxing place to spend the day. Add some perfect Southern CA weather to the above, and you have a recipe for a truly magical day!

One of the reasons today was so magical was a special opportunity to experience something very few people do at D*sneyland, and I know that was part of the reason I was so overwhelmed by this visit. There is a "secret," members-only club at the park, and Jeanine's sister managed to get us a reservation at the club for dinner. Again, I was overwhelmed. I have no idea why I'm so lucky as to be able to have this experience, but it was amazing.

Ah, what a great day. I'm blessed.
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Originally posted at: http://rebeccasmiscellanies.blogspot.com/

Incoherent

I'm having one of those days. I'm not sure if I woke up during the wrong part of a sleep cycle, or just too early, but I feel like I'm still half asleep. I've had two giant cups of coffee and a diet coke with absolutely no effect. Seeing as how I've gotten absolutely nothing done today, I probably should have just gone back to bed.

But I just couldn't let myself do that either, I have way too much to do. It's crunch time of the semester, and there are not enough hours in the day to get it all done. So when I woke up, I started my day. I kept thinking this fog would shake off with enough time and caffeine. Not so much. My brain seems incapable of making sense of the material I'm trying to review for tonight's class, despite not being baffled by last week's lecture on the topic.

I know that I don't function well when I don't get enough sleep, so I generally try not to short myself on purpose. Being a morning person, it's not a good sign that I've been this incoherent all day, because as the afternoon and evening roll on, this is not likely to improve.

I just realized I forgot to go to the gym this morning. It's just one of those days, I guess.

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Originally posted at: http://rebeccasmiscellanies.blogspot.com/

Book Giveaway at 5M4B!

I've been blogging for a while, but I'm just starting to figure out - by reading tons and tons of blogs - how interconnected the blog world is, and how fun it is to "meet" other people online by reading their blogs. Besides that, there are just tons and tons of free giveaways on blogs, it's unbelievable. Literally, one could spend hours and hours registering to win. I don't have that kind of time, but I do make time when a giveaway really interests me.

If you know even a little bit about me, you may have noticed that I love to read!! For a while I've been reading 5 Minutes for Books, where reviews of books are posted almost daily... providing me with a list of books I want to read much longer than I will ever get to. It will be no surprise then, that I was excited to read today's announcement on their blog about 10 days of book giveaways for Mother's Day. Today's book sounds very interesting, and I can't wait to see what other literary treasures pop up over the next 10 days. It would be great to stash some good reading away for this summer when I have a break from textbooks. If that sounds good to you, too, head on over and check it out!



P.S. Isn't it nice to think about getting something for free on Tax Day?

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Originally posted at: http://rebeccasmiscellanies.blogspot.com/

Bread Art Project for Feeding America

A friend of mine posted about the Bread Art Project this week, and I thought it was super cool, so I participated, and I hope you'll think about it too!

Simply visit the website for the Bread Art Project, create a piece of artwork using a photo that you upload, and $1 will be donated to Feeding America. Feeding America works to help feed the hungry in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico, and their website says that a $1 donation helps them provide 10 pounds of food to people who are hungry.

I first heard about this organization (then called Second Harvest) when I was a student at Calvin, and helped out one afternoon as part of Streetfest during new student orientation. I can't remember the details, but it was amazing to see the warehouse of food they were able to redirect to hungry people. The day I spent with them, we spent hours taping labels on unmarked cans of green beans. The pallets of beans couldn't be sold because they hadn't been properly labeled, so they were donated. By taping labels on them, they could be given to people who needed them. It was pretty amazing to think a few hours of time doing something simple really helped people who needed it.

So, what are you waiting for? Go create some bread art. :) I picked a favorite photo of my trip to Hawaii a couple years ago for my bread art. It was so much fun I might create a few more!

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Originally posted at: http://rebeccasmiscellanies.blogspot.com/

Thankful Thursday: Strawberries

I spent the night last night at my Grandma's place, a convenient stopover between two days of "vacation" I took during this week's spring break from classes.

When I called Wednesday afternoon to let her know what time I'd be arriving that night, she told me there were fresh strawberries waiting for me at her house. Grandma knows I LOVE strawberries, and since they are in season, she went out of her way to buy some since I would be staying at her house.

It's so special when someone does something like that. Something just for me, just because they know they can make my day special. I love you Grandma. Thanks for making my day.

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Originally posted at: http://rebeccasmiscellanies.blogspot.com/