Pinterest Challenge: How to celebrate birthdays at Disneyland

I don't go to Disneyland as often as I would like to but luckily, my siblings and step-family decided to surprise my dad with a trip to Disneyland for his 50th birthday! It was one of the most memorable trips I've ever had to the happiest place on earth. 

Before leaving, I wanted to make sure we studied tips and tricks of what to do when celebrating birthdays at the park. I looked all over the internet and found some great ideas. 

MousePlanet was one of the most helpful sites. It supplies a plethora of must-tries for anyone celebrating a birthday Disney style. 

One of the best ideas was getting a birthday pin. This is a MUST if you're wanting to get the most out of your birthday experience. It doesn't have to be the actual day of your birthday. They don't check IDs or anything. Seriously though, this made my dad's birthday so much more memorable. Anyone and everyone that saw that pin said happy birthday to him. Characters in parades, cast members running the rides, random cast members walking around the park and even Crush from the attraction "Turtle Talk". It's amazing how these cast members are so good at spotting that little pin. I swear they get trained to do so. It was so cool to watch the parade on the sidewalk and literally, dancers would come right up to him and say "Happy Birthday Robert!" and get back into formation and continue with their dance. 

Another fun thing to start off a Disney birthday is to go to City Hall (where you get the pin) and they'll say, "we have a call waiting for you!" and then Goofy gets on the phone and sings happy birthday and tells you how excited he is to celebrate with you. What a simple idea that makes you feel so special right from the get go!

Another fun thing that the pin did was get him a seat right next to the Jungle Cruise captain. He became the butt of many of the Jungle Cruise jokes. It totally made the Jungle Cruise that much more enjoyable and hilarious!

We also had lunch at the Blue Bayou restaurant located in the middle of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride. They give you a delicious free chocolate mousse for your birthday. After stuffing our faces with the Monte Cristo sandwiches, that dessert was the perfect size for all of us to have a couple bites and be completely satisfied. 

There were so many new things we got to experience just because we were celebrating a birthday. I can't believe after the years and years of going to Disneyland (well over 100 times) that I had never actually gone to celebrate something before. Imagine what they would do if you were spending your honeymoon there or an anniversary or a first timer?? If there's one thing I've learned from Disney, it's that it doesn't matter if you're 1 years old or 100 years old, newly weds or a giant family of 12, you will always have a great time. Disney knows how to make you feel like the most special person in the world. 

Thank you MousePlanet for the great tips! I recommend visiting their website before going on a Disney vacation so you can get the most out of your trip. 

Pinterest Challenge: The Amazing Spiderman

Worst. Movie. Ever.

Okay, maybe not THE worst movie, but it has definitely got to be in the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the list of good quality of movies. Of course, this is only my opinion, so go see it at your own discretion. My advice, save the small fortune it costs to see movies these days and go treat yourself to any other activity in the world, because anything would have been better than sitting through that. 

It was beyond cheezy. The lines, the acting, the action, all very cheezy. There is absolutely NO humor, no charm, and absolutely no passion throughout the entire movie. It doesn't compare to one other superhero movie out there. It was definitely at the bottom of the superhero list and most other movies I've ever seen. 

Blake and I went into it thinking they had done to Spiderman what they had done to Batman in the Dark Knight. The Dark Knight revolutionized the world of Batman. The Amazing Spiderman did nothing for the cheezy superhero story of Peter Parker. 

I liked the Tobey Mcguire series better, and he was the worst actor I've ever seen! (If that tells you anything). It is the exact same take on the adventures Toby had with the awful Kirsten Dunst. They did nothing original. 

The only good thing about this movie was the suit. They did the best they could with Spiderman's already too cheezy suit. It looked as cool as it's going to get. It's hard to make a bright red and blue unitard look cool, but they did succeed on that. 


Not recommended and two thumbs WAAYYY down. 

Pinterest Challenge: Arizona Derby Games

Blake and I always like trying out new things together. Whether it's trying new restaurants or visiting new places, it's a fun way to get to know each other better. When you put yourself outside of your element, you get to know people in a different way. It's fun and keeps things fresh. 

I saw a special on Arizona Highways one day that talked about different events going on in the valley. It showed the hostess going to a roller derby track. She tried out the track and the gear and she even got pushed around quite a bit by those masculine women on skates. It looked like a lot of fun and it was definitely something I'd never seen, so I looked up roller derby games in our area. 

Sure enough, the Arizona Derby Games Championship was coming up. At only $10 a ticket, we definitely had to go. We got there and immediately felt out of place. I don't think one of the girls' hair styles were a natural color. Apparently pigtails and pigtail braids are the style for these games? Also, there were a lot of tulle tutus and pink striped knee-high socks. Up until then, I'd only seen these types of styles during Halloween. I was excited to know there were people who didn't wait for October 31st to play dress up! I've never felt so out of place before in my life and I also felt like if I looked at one of them the wrong way, I'd get the crap beat out of me! Some of these women could have probably beaten the crap out of Blake too! They were huge and mean looking and ready to take on the world. 

It was surprising to me that there were so many people that got into it. There were signs and banners and shirts made to support the teams. Granted, there were only about a thousand people there, but I guess I live in a bubble and didn't realize these events actually existed so it was nice to know that there were quite a few people out there that got into these kinds of events. 

We sat right behind who appeared to be the expert of roller derby and she gave her two cents after every "play". She was so hung up over this one kid who was only 18. Everyone that came within 5 feet of her she said "have you seen that kid? he's only 18 years old!!" I thought to myself, "yeah, they all look 18 years old. I'm not expecting a grown man to ride around in circles hitting people on roller skates." but apparently that was super young for a roller derby player. Who knew?

After learning the ins and outs of the game, I realized it was just an excuse to beat the crap out of someone. It's a bunch of girls or guys riding around on roller skates, trying to push the other team down or off the track. It was hilarious. These girls get so into it! This is their life. Most of the girls have normal jobs and families. It's just weird to think that these monstrous women can go back to leading normal lives after that. Apparently, the captain of the Arizona team is the girl who cuts Blake's hair. I was laughing so hard when I found that out. At least now he'll have something to talk to her about when he goes in next. 

 As you can probably tell, we weren't exactly dressed for the occasion.

 After Arizona won the championship, they gathered around the railing and people treated them like celebs. It was weird. 

Please check out the face painting! WTF? Apparently that is pertinent to the uniform.

 All in all, we had a blast. We learned about a new "sport" and we hung out with some interesting people. And who doesn't like to see a good fight every now and then? Haha date night = success.

Pinterest Challenge

I was introduced to Pinterest a couple months ago. I didn't quite grasp the concept at first, but after playing with it for a while, I realized, it's awesome. 

My name is Megan and I'm a Pinterest addict. 

I decided a while back that I was going to start trying out some of the things that I've pinned. I thought to myself, these are obviously things that caught my attention and looked good to me at the time, so why not give them a try?

I started trying a couple recipes and date night ideas here and there but nothing to out of the norm. Then I decided to give myself a challenge. I'm always up for a good challenge. I've challenged myself to try out EVERY pin I've ever posted on that addicting site. Recipes, crafts, beauty tricks, fitness tips, holiday ideas, everything. 

You might think this is crazy, and who knows how long I can actually keep this up, but I'm going to do one pinterest activity a day until I've done them all. I want to see which pins actually work and which pins are just plain crap. Plus, I get bored a lot while everyone else is in school. 

I have 1,564 pins at the moment. I pin about 25 new things a week though so this could add up really fast. I'll try to take pictures of everything as I go. Challenge accepted. Wish me luck!

Getting hit on is ALWAYS a compliment, no matter how old he is

I always go to the bank right by my office to deposit or pull out money. The ATM is located right inside of the bank, as most ATMs are. Whenever I go in and there is no one there, I leave my car running. I know, stupid of me, but we're in the "good" side of town and it takes literally 30 seconds. (I might have a post in the future entitled: I wish I didn't leave my car running outside the bank...)

So I get my money out and walk back to my car. The person parked next to me, a gentleman wearing ripped up jeans, a dirty t-shirt and looked no less than 65, decided to have the following conversation with me: 

Guy: "It's a good thing we're not in New York, or you wouldn't be able to leave your car on when you go into the bank!"

Me: "I know, right?! Welcome to Mesa."

Guy: "So did you get your jeans at a store named Buckles? 

Me (assuming he meant the famous denim store, Buckle): "No, they don't sell MEKs anymore. I got these at the Rack."

Guy: "Oh like Nordstrom?" 

Me: "Right."

We then discuss the location of the Racks, the price of the jeans and...

Guy: "Well, without trying to sound creepy, they look very good on you."

Me: "Thank you, and that's never creepy to get a compliment, even from a stranger."

Guy: "Well, I was meaning the pockets. The pockets look good on you. I hope you don't think I was staring, but the pockets make you look really good."

(He continued to go on for about 30 more seconds on how great the pockets looked and in so many words, he was saying my butt looked good in my jeans. He went around the bush maybe 4-5 times.)

Me (trying not to make it awkward): "Well, that's not creepy. I guess that's what they're there for."

Guy: "Yes, yes they are."

And with that, I proceeded to get in my car, but not before the elderly gentleman winked at me. You think I'm making this up. Nope, he winked at me. It was kind of adorable. 

Is it weird that it was like really flattering? That a guy checked out my ASSets at the bank? I don't think so. Thank you bank guy. You made my day :)


- Megan

Discovery of Pinterest

I got onto Pinterest about a year ago. I had NO clue how to use it. I'm the type of girl that made boards like ESPN and "Latest in Sports" and NFL and stuff like that. 

I've been to innumerable showers and parties with cute decorations and ideas and every time I ask where they got that idea from, without fail, the answer was Pinterest. So I assumed I was using it wrong. I'm sure that the ladies out there who are looking for cute invitations and yummy recipes aren't also looking for what the latest happenings are with the Colts. 

So I spent some time on there and discovered, it's pretty awesome. For a person who has ZERO experience in crafts, baking, decor or kids, I still found my passions come to life on the website. It's such a cool idea! So I figured I'd share some tips of what I discovered on Pinterest.

You can search for anything and everything! Using the "Search" bar at the top left corner, I found some of the coolest ideas from one word than I could ever imagine! 

You can also search for things in a specific category. I was starving at work so naturally I looked "Food & Drink" under the category search and it pulled up the latest pins on everything food related - desserts, breakfast, healthy cooking, baking, seasonal foods, you name it, you can find it there. 

You can also keep up with all of your friends' boards, but better yet, you can copy their ideas so you can always remember them. I discovered the art of repinning, but better yet, I discovered that when you click on the picture, there are a million other cool ideas that are on the original source's website! I've found more ideas that way, than what I've found on the Pinterest website. 

I am a very tech-savvy person, but I just couldn't seem to figure out what this website was trying to accomplish. Now that I've explored and conquered, I am kind of addicted. Happy Pinning!

- Megan

Decisions, Decisions

After going through everything with Blake, and taking a step back with our relationship, there have been several questions people have asked me. 

One of the most common questions is, "why don't you go to graduate school now that things aren't working out with you and Blake?"

Grad school has always been my dream. I've always wanted to further my education and make sure I have a stable career so that I can always support myself. I've always dreamed of getting out of Arizona and living on my own for a couple years while I try to better my future. I love learning and I have always seen myself as a student. I would love so much to be on the beaches of Miami right now getting ready to attend Florida International as a graduate student. 

It seems like everything happened for a reason. Like it was perfect timing for me to go and be on my own for a while. 

But then I realized an even bigger dream of mine. The man I love more than anything on this earth is willing to figure things out in our relationship and give it another chance. He is my bigger dream. Spending the rest of my life with him outweighs any other dream I've ever had. Being with him is the happiest I've ever been. 

So let me just clarify, I'm not giving up any dream. I'm simply letting one dream go so I can have a better one come true. If there is a chance to make things work with Blake and have a family with him, then grad school doesn't even matter anymore. If things don't work out, I will have no regrets. Because I will be able to look back and know that I gave my all to the dream I've wanted since before this life. 

I love Blake. I love the fact that he's stronger than me. He's strong enough to overlook all of the politics and the outside pressure of a wedding and a marriage. I'm weak in that area. I'm so proud of him for making his own decisions. I'm so proud to know that I have a man who will not rush into anything without really thinking it through.

So when I got two calls from two different graduate programs saying that the deadlines are passing soon and they need to know my decision of whether or not I'm going to attend, I didn't even think twice about turning them down. A wise bishop once told me that "God has to close one door for him to open up another one."

Thank you, Blake. I love you for helping me make this decision. 

- Megan