Disney Movie Rewards

Disney Movie Rewards

I love going on Disney vacations and I love saving money. With Disney Movie Rewards not only can I save money but it’s like getting free money. SCORE!!! There are a few ways to earn Disney Movie Rewards and all of them are easy peasy lemon squeezy.http://dmrfriend.com/llOVn

The first is the easiest and the most fun...playing trivia games. Each month Disney Movie Rewards will put together a series of Disney related questions to which you answer, the higher the score, the more points earned. Some rounds are timed so be quick to answer. Also note that wrong answers will count against your total score. Every month the questions are different and there is no real way to study. Well, staying up on your Disney movie watchingwould help a bit, and it’s a fun way to “study” for your test next month.http://dmrfriend.com/llOVn

The second way to earn Disney Movie Rewards is to enter your Disney movie codes. Most if not all Disney movies have a movie code inside (usually on a insert). The points rewarded for each movie is different. You may even have some movie rewards just sitting in your dvd collection right now? It is really easy to enter the codes, usually located at the bottom of your screen.http://dmrfriend.com/llOVn

Another way to earn even more rewards is by purchasing through Disney Movie Rewards. They have many different items available including movies, music, collectibles and more. Each purchase made through Disney Movie Rewards is worth a set amount of points. And double bonus, if you order a movie from them you will get both the rewards for the purchase and the movie is sure to have a code inside. http://dmrfriend.com/llOVn

So what can you get with your Disney Movie Rewards? There are a ton of options and at different rewards levels. You can earn apparel, collectibles, tickets, dvds and more. Personally my favorite is Disney gift cards. I use these gift cards either for or during our Walt Disney World vacation. Sometimes they even offer Disney experiences, currently they are offering VIP Studi tour (for up to 8 people) at Walt Disney Worlds Hollywood Studios. What better way to enjoy a Disney vacation than to have, at least a part of it, free? http://dmrfriend.com/llOVn

You will earn your first Disney Movie Rewards just by signing up and completing your profile. And they even offer free things each month that the little ones (or big ones) will enjoy. 

 Use my friends link below so we can team up and earn some free Disney rewards. http://dmrfriend.com/llOVn

Killing a Christmas Tradition

Killing a Christmas Tradition 

I think every family has a Christmas tradition of some kind. Many MANY years ago when my husband and I were first married everybody bought for everyone and talk about expensive! Now my family wasn’t the wealthiest by any means but we managed like any other family but Christmas would put a squeeze on all of our budgets so we made a new tradition. Okay it wasn’t a tradition at first it was just an idea. But the idea stuck...for years...hence “tradition”. There was a Christmas that many of us just didn’t have the extra to be buying presents for everyone soooo we decided instead of going broke, let’s go back to the pioneer times and make gifts for each other. But that presented another problem, there were so many of us that it would have taken a year to have made a decent present for everyone. Instead we decided to draw names, that way we only had to make one present. My family being the way we are took it a step further the MAIN rule you had to follow was ZERO money could be spent! ZERO!!! Now technically you didn’t have to make the gift, you could trade if you rather but the golden rule still applied...ZERO money could be spent. 

Some made gifts like a coffee table made from scraps of angle iron. Some used the bartering system and traded an item they had for an item to gift. Some kept items they had won in a raffle earlier that year. It was all fun and some amazing gifts were given. Some were also quite funny, like the year my niece was born. Yes, the children made gifts as well. My niece was less than a month old and had drawn my husbands name to make for. Obviously too young to make or trade we totally expected her to “make” him a dirty diaper but instead he had an actual gift to unwrap. Just a few days previous her umbilical cord had came off and guess who got it? Just recalling the years of gifts and laughter makes me smile as I write this!

But as time went by we began to lose family members and our once large family has turned into what we call a small circle. During Christmas the house would be filled and it would take hours to eat and open presents. Nowadays it’s takes ten minutes, okay maybe some exaggeration there but still you get my point.  Through the years we managed to continue with the tradition as a loved one passed but last year the loss was truly felt. My mom went to be with her Lord and Savior September two years ago. The first Christmas, we managed, as always. But last year I don’t know something changed? I don’t know if it was because it was the first full year without Mom?  Maybe it just became REAL noticeable of just how few of us were left? I honestly don’t know but I could literally FEEL a shift and quite honestly it was a depressing feeling. 

Now I have ALWAYS loved loved loved Christmas! Yes, I am that one that has multiple trees, decorates for Christmas before thanksgiving is over, watching Christmas movies on Halloween, yep I’m that annoying Christmas loving person everyone complains about 🙋🏽‍♀️ So to have my favorite holiday turn into a reminder of all those lost was crushing! I didn’t want another year of disappointment on an amazing holiday so I decided to kill a family tradition. That’s right, just like that, I killed it! I mean why bother with a tradition that doesn’t bring happiness anymore but instead is a HUGE reminder of loss? 

Now with the few of us left, sure we could go back to everybody buying regular presents for everyone but what is the fun in that? I mean my family doing something “normal” YEAH RIGHT! Soooo instead I’ve mixed it up and this year we are going with “something for everyone”. Yes we will buy something for everybody but with a twist. It doesn’t have to be expensive, or cost anything at all, but whatever we buy...we will buy for everyone. Example: one can buy a pair of gloves but they have to buy a pair of gloves for everyone. Seems kinda normal BUT it’s my family so I’m completely expecting someone to buy a large pack of toilet paper and we each get a roll. I did have to put a rule on it...no eggs! I know my family and with us being at 12 I just knew one of them would be buying a dozen eggs. It may not seem like a big deal to whoever may read this but you weren’t at Easter of 1997 when the egg fight happened. What a mess!!! 

My hope is that with all the presents to open it will take longer and maybe bring the laughter back. I don’t pretend we will forget or there won’t be moments of reflection of all those we’ve lost. But I do hope it will remind us to enjoy each other...the ones still here. 

Disney’s Animal Kingdom itinerary

Our “itinerary” for Disney’s Animal Kingdom 

Three of my favorite things in life (there is many) are family, saving money and Walt DisneyWord vacations. This post covers all three, well kind of I’ll explain...while the planning of an itinerary doesn’t technically save you money, it CAN save you time, and time is money. On our Disney vacations we try to squeeze as much magic out of our vacation as possible! Having a solid daily itinerary helps us achieve just that. Exactly how do I set our itinerary, let me explain...

1) I DO MY HOMEWORK! I have been to Disney numerous times but as many times as I’ve gone I always find there is more to see or do. In instance of Disney’s Animal Kingdom this is our first time visiting so I want to know as much as I can about this particular Disney park as I can. I have scoured the interweb, YouTube videos and blog posts to learn as much as I can so that we can DO as much as we can while we are there.

2) MAKE A LIST OF MUST DO’S! There are sooooo many things to do at each Disney park. I think it would be virtually impossible to do them all in one visit so instead I find our “must do’s”. I do this on every vacation (Disney or not). But for this post I’m talking about Disney’s Animal Kingdom so here is a list of our must do’s for this visit. First and foremost for me is Flight of Passage. It is a relatively new ride and I’m sure on everyone’s must do list. Second for my granddaughter is Expedition Everest. She has become a real thrill seeker therefore I have to add Dinosaur to the list. Those are the top three attractions chosen personally for us and this vacation. Next we add the recommended by others (either personal recommendations or recommendations from online sources. Those would include Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King, It’s Tough to Be a Bug,  the Tree of Life and Rivers of Light. 

3) BOOK FASTPASSES! Disney offers an amazing FastPass system called FastPass +. Basically what it allows you to do is walk on without waiting in line (and some lines can get exceptionally long). Now I say walk on but to be fair not all FastPass lines are exactly walk right on (though some are) but it decreases the wait time substantially! There’s tons of information about the FastPass system, which would take a whole other post to go into (maybe a future post). This trip I scored FastPasses for our top three attractions (blessing)! Everyone has there own best use of the FastPass + system so be sure to look into what is the best use of your FastPasses, but definitely use them! It’s free so why wouldn’t you?

4) PLAN TO ROPE DROP! Rope drop is a term used by many returning Disney guests. What exactly does it mean? Be the first or at least close to the first guest in the park when it opens or when the “rope drops”. This is a huge time saver! Think of it as an extra FastPass or two. When the park first opens there are less people there, meaning the lines are shorter. Now to actually “rope drop” that doesn’t mean getting to the park right at opening but to get to the park an hour BEFORE the park opens. We rope drop every time we go to any Disney park. We pick two rides (that we don’t have a FastPass for) and as soon as the rope drops we head straight to the number one ride on our list. For this particular visit we plan to rope drop Na’vi River Journey and then head straight to Kilimanjaro Safari. 

5) USE EXTRA MAGIC HOURS! One benefit from staying on Disney property is they offer Extra Magic Hours to their guests. Extra Magic Hours are offered at different Disney parks on different days and usually an hour before the park opens to the public or sometimes a couple hours after the park has officially closed. Personally we are early risers anyways so we will be using our Extra Magic Hours in the morning. Now in saying this I want to add we still plan to “rope drop” the Extra Magic Hours. What I mean by that is, while yes the park will only be open to guests staying on Disney property, which means less people, doesn’t mean there will be only a few people. Keep in mind there are like 20,000 people staying on Disney property. I honestly do not know exactly how many people are actually on property (I just threw a number out there). But what I’m saying is there is a LOT of people vying for those Extra Magic Hours as well.

I plan to use EVERY one of the five above for this trip. So here’s my plan (as of now). Be on the Disney bus to Disney’s Animal Kingdom by 6:00 AM, arrive by 6:20 (hopefully busses are running smoothly), head towards Na’vi River Journey (many areas are roped off until opening). Once we are let in and have ridden Na’vi River Journey we will head over to Kilimanjaro Safari, then go into Discovery Island for It’s Tough to Be a Bug, by then our FastPasses should be in play, starting with Flight of Passage. Depending on how fast we get through that will gauge our next attraction. Note: even though we have a FastPass it may still take a bit to get through it just because of the popularity of Flight of Passage. If we get through it quickly we may walk through one of the trails (probably Discovery Island) if not we will move on to our next FastPass Expedition Everest. After my granddaughter gets her adrenaline rush it should be about time for lunch. To keep the cost down we’ll bring our own sandwiches in a small soft sided cooler and have a nice little picnic wherever we find ourselves. After lunch we will use our last of the booked FastPasses for Dinosaur. The second part of the day will be much more of “luck of the draw” type. As soon as we use our last FastPass (in the Dinosaur que) I will get on the app and see what FastPass is available and scoop up another. Note: After the three FastPasses have been used you can continue to get more FastPasses (one at a time) which is what I plan to do. Therefore the second half of the day is up for grabs.

So there is my carefully thought out itinerary. I must add that even though I have planned it all out and on paper it seems like a perfect strategy it is all subject to change. I always always always have to be ready to go with the flow. An itinerary is great but if I’m so stuck on my “plan” I just may miss the magic! Case in point...I had a great itinerary all planned out for one of our visits to Disney’s Magic Kingdom until we happened upon A Pirates Adventure. My granddaughter wanted to do the scavenger hunt (truth be told my husband did too). Had I required that we stick to the plan, we would have missed out on the opportunity to play. Sure we missed a few rides BUT we gained an amazing memory that we still talk about to this day. And isn’t that really the reason for visiting Disney or any vacation really...making memories that last? 

DISNEY Pirates Adventure in Magic Kingdom

Pirates Adventure in Magic Kingdom 

My absolute favorite Walt Disney World park is hands down Magic Kingdom! It is centered around the famous castle, has the iconic Disney rides, fun snacks (did someone say dole whip) and the atmosphere is just so Disney. Magic Kingdom has six different lands (Main Street USA, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland and Adventureland) within this one park and each one offers it’s own personality so to speak. 

The Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean are the two most popular rides in Adventureland. But I want to focus on the Pirate Adventure. Some people will walk right past the Crow’s Nest assuming it is a closed down food service of some type. Honestly we just happened upon it and my granddaughter was DELIGHTED!

 Pirates Adventure is a scavenger hunt riddle solving mission set to a pirate theme and it is so much fun. The adventure took us about 20-30 minutes per map. There were five maps when we played (Haven Defense, the Kings Ransom, Blackbeard, Guardians Curse and Heads you Lose) and won. Here’s how you play...You stop by the Crow’s Nest (across from Pecos Bill) and inside there are touchscreen computers where you will put in your party’s information and receive your first map and talisman.

Then your family’s adventure begins. And yes the whole family (or party) can play. In our case my granddaughter is always always always the map reader, I am usually the talisman keeper, and my husband is the best at making it all seem so real. Each adventure begins with a map and a starting point. Once you have found your first stop, you will use the talisman on the appointed area to reveal the next clue. Trust me when I say some of these stops are so fun, things rising out of the water, cannons firing, of and watch out for the hidden enemies. I won’t go into great detail as to not ruin the magic for those of you that may read this. 

If you have some time while you are visiting Magic Kingdom and you or someone in your party enjoys a good scavenger hunt this is definitely a fun way to spend a few hours. All the quests are within Adventureland but it can be a back and forth kind of thing. But you planned on walking a lot anyways and wore comfortable shoes right? 

Seriously it is a fun game to play and it’s FREE, well you have to purchase a ticket to actually get into Magic Kingdom but by free I mean there’s no added cost to play. 

Do you know pirates favorite letter of the alphabet?

RRRRRRR

Full Armor of God

Full Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-18 

10) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12)For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of the wickedness in the heavenly places. 13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand. 14)Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16)above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17)And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18)praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints -

WOW what a huge chunk of advice! I’m sure just because of the date and location that the book of Ephesians actually describes the Roman soldiers uniforms. So it’s easy for me to visualize an actual uniform while reading the scripture. But I don’t just want to visualize it I want to absorb and understand what this scripture means for ME spiritually. So let me do my best to break this scripture down in smaller, more manageable chunks. 

10 is pretty self explanatory to me but when I get to 11 I want to slow it down a bit. The part, “that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” stand? Just stand? Now I don’t know about you but in real life if someone is coming at me with ill intentions, just standing there is NOT an option! Bracing myself for the initial impact is about as close to standing as I could imagine, and that is ONLY after running, hiding or defending has been eliminated. So why just stand there? After some quick research I realized the biggest difference between me and a soldier is discipline. Military soldiers are highly organized. They have a clear cut system of rank, divisions of the unit, and the legion. I can’t imagine any infantry unit doing well in any battle if it weren’t for the discipline. To stand and wait for orders as the enemy is quickly approaching, just the thought makes me anxious! But I understand “to stand” much better, it’s all about discipline.

12 again is fairly self explanatory to me, a fight in the flesh is throwing some punches and hoping your punches land with better speed, force and accuracy than your opponents. A spiritual battle is something WAY different and harder (for me anyways) but definitely more important! Verse 13 here we go again with the “stand” but I understand what that means now I need to be more disciplined. Sometimes I arm myself for battle and go charging in AAAARRRR only to find there is no battle (or should I say the only battle was in my head). And other times I may start the battle making a bigger deal out of something than it needs to be. Neither of those instances show much discipline. 

There is another part of verse 13 that grabs my attention “the WHOLE armor”. Oh how many times have I not taken up the WHOLE armor? It doesn’t say okay just take the parts of armor you think you’ll need today. It doesn’t say hey just protect your heart, or your head, no it says WHOLE armor. Now the Roman infantry could mostly rely on just their sheer number of men, which were many. But that wasn’t always the case, each battle may require new strategy. The leaders had to take many things into account such as the type and strength of the opponent and the terrain for instance. Regardless of what the leaders strategies were each soldier needed to be equipped for whatever battle may be fought that day. They put on their WHOLE armor so they would be prepared that day for anything. They were able to adapt because they were equipped. I couldn’t tell you how many days I had things planned only to have life throw me a curveball that I wasn’t ready for...STEEEERIKE!

On to verse 14 here we go again starting out with “stand” okay okay I get it I need to be more disciplined, geeeesh! Let me look into “girded your waist with truth”. Now I don’t know what this actually means theologically speaking (I’m no theologian) but right away a girdle comes to mind. Now personally I’ve never worn a girdle nor do I plan to. I picture a woman hands clenching a bed post with another lady with her knee in the woman’s back pulling with all her might to get the girdle as tight as she possibly can. Now it may be a bit of an exaggeration but these are my thoughts and my blog so I can take things to extreme if I choose (sticking my tongue out). Anywho gird your waist with truth. There’s a saying “truth hurts” and well sometimes it does! So my exaggerated thought on a girdle might actually be quite pleasant compared to some truths I’ve had life deal me. But I’ve found it’s always better to stand on a scary ledge of truth then in a pit of lies that eventually swallow you up. 

Next up verse 15 walk in peace is a pretty simple interpretation. It may be a simple interpretation but to always walk in peace isn’t always easy, especially when you are around those that incite so much conflict and drama! It’s a hard road but totally worth it, keep trying. Verse 16 I find pretty motivational really. Too often I take matters into my own hands, and that isn’t always a bad thing but there are times when just knowing who my God is and having faith is really all I needed. Too often I’m ready to jump in, when I should be quicker to have faith. I can worry myself sick (literally) over something I can not change but if I were to take up that shield of faith, oh how much stress and anxiety could I shed? 

Verse 17 at first I thought that it too was pretty self explanatory but then I slowed down to actually think about what it was saying “helmet of salvation”. We all know what a helmet is designed for, to protect our head right? I instantly recalled a time when I was thrown from my four wheeler and though I wasn’t injured I immediately began thinking about all the what if’s and it scared me! Yes I was wearing a helmet and always do to protect my head. What about the helmet of salvation? It can be something to protect my mind. I mean think about it, how often does the enemy play tricks on our minds with what if’s? Sometimes in my case, he’ll just outright lie and my mind starts to wonder (helloooooo Eve moment). If I am wearing the helmet of salvation, ohhhh protect the mind helmet, protect the mind. 

And finally onto verse 18, what nuggets do you hold for me? Prayer, what an easy thing to do but too often my last resort. I know you’ve heard it or maybe even said “Prayer is all that’s left, I’ve tried everything else”.  Now I’m not saying prayer is ALWAYS my last option but especially when it comes to the “big” things. But I will admit I haven’t always been as quick to pray as I have to speak (can I get an amen)?  Another piece of golden knowledge, “being watchful to this end”. Ooooh come on Bible preach it! So so so many times as soon as I think I’m out of the woods, I drop my guard and BAM, life sucker punches me! Or I wasn’t even watching and SPLAT just like that I’m knee deep in the mud with no rubber boots! I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS need to be watchful. Not meaning I can’t enjoy the carefreeness that life offers but there needs to be a balance and that can be had through prayer. 

So self, you learn anything? Hopefully how to STAND! 

DIY Throne

DIY Throne

I was beyond excited when I was asked to decorate for this year’s Be-You-tiful Girls Retreat. This year’s theme...Winter Wonderland! As soon as I was asked, ideas began twirling around in my mind. No seriously as I laid in bed “thoughts of sugar plums danced in my head”. Okay maybe not sugar plums but snowflakes and icicles and snow and blue lighting and...okay you get the picture. Anywho Ias I said I was BEYOND excited! Where to start? First things first with me, the budget. Now I would LOVE an unlimited budget but...okay wait a minute...let’s be honest, there’s no such thing as an “unlimited budget” for me, my inner cheapskate just couldn’t cope. I NEED a budget! I mean how else could I come in UNDER budget if a budget isn’t set, right? Ooops let me tuck in my competitiveness (it slips out on occasion).

During my whirlwind of ideas a thought popped into my head (scary right)...a throne! I mean this is geared to teenage girls and who isn’t somehow just drawn to a great photo opportunity right? A throne with a cute backdrop...perfect. Now how do I make it happen with a limited budget...DIY of course! 

So here it is my take on an “ice throne” on a budget...

First I started with a sketch. Don’t laugh I never claimed to be an artist. 

Next step was cutting out the pieces. I used some chip board I had left over from our house remodel (glad that’s over with) and a piece of foam board that was left over from a project at church. The one I made stands about 5’6” because...well I had a tall skinny piece of chip board is what I had. I also had enough chip board to cut out the seat and arms. Here’s a picture of my pieces parts.

And here is a better picture of what it will kind of look like 

Next I painted everything white. The chipboard took three coats and the foam board I painted with one coat it didn’t completely cover but that was fine I’ll show you why later. I then mixed up a few different colors of glitter. For this I mixed equal amounts of silver and white and about a quarter of much of blue to get the snowy look I wanted. (Note: you could use different color combinations to achieve a different look...examples...a couple different greens and brown for a camouflage look, red, silver and white for a Santa theme, pink white and silver for a little girl, the options are endless)

Now about the one coat as I previously mentioned. I only planned to glitter the foam board which is why I wasn’t concerned with complete coverage. I mixed the glitter as I waited for the first coat to dry. Then I applied a second coat of white paint and before it dried I sprinkled, and by sprinkled I mean poured, the glitter over all the foam pieces. I was glad I was working in the garage because it was a MESS! On the up side my husband’s manly space is now glitterific lol. Here’s what it looked like while drying

I didn’t want the glitter to flake off everywhere and glitterfy (yes that’s a word in my vocabulary) everyone that sat on the throne. To seal the glitter I used Mod Podge. I had some left over but you can get this at Walmart or any craft supply place.

Mind you I was working in an unheated garage so it took FOREVER for it to dry! Plus I was in a hurry to put it together soooo I brought it inside to speed along the drying process. Once it was dry I was able to assemble it all together. The chipboard bench was put together using screws. The foam board was “glued” on with liquid nail which can be found at any home improvement store, again I had some left over from our remodel. 

So here it is, my version of an ice throne...the only cost I had was some blue glitter. Everything else was left overs...scrap chipboard, foam board, left over paint, glitter, mod podge, screws and liquid nail. So this throne, total cost was.....$2.82

BOOMSHACKALACKA

PS the snowflake at the top...leftover ;)