My Long Overdue Post on Disneyland

Back in June I had the opportunity to go to Disneyland with my husband and kids, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I am an animation nut, so I have always been in love with Disney's work, and I was really amazed with all of theJune I had the opportunity to go to Disneyland with my husband and kids, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I am an animation nut, so I have always been in love with Disney's work, and I was really amazed with all of the activities the park had to offer. I've been joking with everyone that the staff there was so nice and overly friendly that I can't be happy anywhere else that I go.

The only complaint I have are the crowds. From 11am - 9pm the parks are very packed, and it gets to be a pain to get in line for anything. Keep in mind though, this was June, I'm sure in the off season it's much easier to go through the lines.

Here is a little photo journey through the parks ~ my camera died as soon as we got there, so most of these are kind of blurry from my camera phone.





These cookies were amazing and only $3.50, which is pretty good for Disney prices!




I love that they have Rapunzel's tower complete with hair wrapping around the park!


ASIMO was a cool little robot - I can't wait to have a robotic helper in my home, lol!


Minnie Mouse was the ONLY character that my daughter cared about seeing, but her reaction is priceless!








Jim Henson was such an amazing creative mind, I have been looking forward to seeing this show for decades! :)


Woody in the It's a Small World ride.




You know your husband rocks if he'll wear your hearts and fruit styled 31 bag around! haha. And I love the Tron stuff they had (you can see it in the background).


Beautiful new restaurant in California Adventure. Too bad they couldn't seat us, I was really hoping for some sit down dining.


I couldn't believe how big this ferris wheel was - and some of the carts swung while it moved! We got on it, but I was so terrified the entire time that I had tears coming out.




Radiator Springs section coming in June 2012!


For the record, and as per usual, I am NOT being paid, endorsed, or otherwise compensated by the Disney people. Maybe someday when I finished my animation degree, but not at this time. activities the park had to offer. I've been joking with everyone that the staff there was so nice and overly friendly that I can't be happy anywhere else that I go.

BUT, I will say that the staff was extremely amazing. We bought tickets on Orbitz for $188 per person, but then when we went to the desk to turn our computer print out into tickets, the manager walked by and said there was a military discount going on. So, we got a gift card for $300+ dollars back as a refund for not getting the discount on Orbitz! I don't know many other places that would go out of their way to do something like that, and it covered all of our expenses in the park, and made it so that we could afford some souvenirs. We will definitely be back, hopefully next year after the Cars park opens! <3

Photos of Me Done by Friends

So, since I can't quite vlog while I'm on my extended vacation, I thought I would share some photographs that some of my amazing friends took of me here in my vacation area. :)

I've mentioned in previous blogs/vlogs that I am an avid Model Mayhem user, so if I refer to myself as a model at any time, that is what I'm talking about. I know I am NOT a fashion model by any means - but I am wonderfully flawed.


Before going into make-up.


Loved the blue eye shadow look!


Totally one of my favorite pictures ever taken.


Beautiful downtown area with a fountain.




I like this one, but I think it makes me look so much older!


I was really impressed with the shading here.


I adore working with this photographer, we always have fun and I got to get my geek on! haha!

I was bummed that one of the shoots I was supposed to be photographing at got canceled, but it's still fun to be the center of attention in a photo shoot every now and then.

I'm also on Networked Blogs on Facebook, so you can subscribe to us there as well if you're interested.

Thanks so much for reading and looking today - I don't say it often enough, but I appreciate you all!

Wishful Thinking

Well today I've been doing something that I do a lot, which is go online and look at houses for rent and sale. I live in military housing right now, and I hate it. The property management is terrible, we're packing in like rats, there's bugs in everything, and large, loose dogs ready to attack at every corner. Now when I mention bugs, I mean serious bug problems, no matter how much you spray or complain to management. I have never had a roach in my home in my life before moving onto post, and now I have to put a net over my bed so that I can sleep without worrying about one crawling into my mouth! *GAG* Needless to say, it's not the picture of standard and regulations that I expected out of military housing - it's, without a doubt, the worst place I have ever lived in my decade of renting.

As a result, I'm often searching online looking at my dream homes, or at least places to rent that can't be any worse than where I live now. I know I can't really up and leave, but I can still feel pro-active by making an escape route (just in case!). So today, while I'm day dreaming about living near my new university, I found this apartment listing http://www.vacancy.com/california/san-francisco-apartments/the-lofts-at-one-powell/photos/

Va-va-voom! All I can say is wow, this place looks incredible! I live in a three bedroom unit now, and it's smaller than the two bedroom at this place. And I love the way it looks, the building itself reminds me of a mix between New York City and Rome. It has an interesting geometric shape too that you don't see around here.

I love the photo with the giant arch window too! I've never been to San Francisco and it looks like the most gorgeous city in the world from the photos in the listing. Their kitchen photo is also twice as big as my own kitchen now, haha. And I wish I had the 15' ceilings now!

I may be biased though, because I am obsessed with California. Beautiful area, loads of things to do, extreme diversity, and wonderful weather. So what if the state itself is losing people left and right because it's going bankrupt? lol

I know I'll probably never get to live there, but it's still fun to dream. Am I the only one that looks at places online to fantasize about? I'm a big fan of geography and architecture, so I guess fantasy housing is kind of my hobby these days. A little escapism is good for us I suppose. :)

Grad School Again

Wow what a quick turn around!

Well, I've already heard back from the university about my portfolio and it looks like I'm in! I've registered for classes, and never having taken graduate level courses before I'm not sure what to expect. But, it looks like I am on my way to being in the career that I've always wanted, animation! :)

I've also been browsing animation job listings, and the locations look phenomenal. They have major companies set up from California to London, England, and tons of places in between!

I promise to post an actual vlog soon, I'm still out on vacation without my regular computer.

Graduate School

Well, tonight I stress out and grit my teeth, because very soon I'll be sending in my digital portfolio and completing my art school application! Wish me luck, I think I might need it!

Just a Little Update

Well, I had recorded a few vlogs and didn't have a change to edit and upload them before I left for a long vacation. I always have it in my head that I have to have a video to go with a post, but why is that? I can do an update without a vlog to match it. :)

I just recently got a stronger YouTube account that will allow me to upload videos that are as long as I want, so I will apologize now for my rambling and rantings in the future (I have a very long one on direct sales waiting to be editing whenever I get home!).

My next update is that I've decided to apply for graduate school to get a Masters Degree in Fine Art for 3D Character Animation. I'd got no experience with 3D animation, so I'm not sure how this will work out, but I do have a short stop motion video that I can share with you all! Hey, I guess I did make this part vlog after all! I'll post it at the bottom of this blog, but I do want to state upfront that it is supposed to look that bad, repeat itself, etc. I was being avant garde, haha.

Lastly, I'm going to have my YouTube videos on unlisted for a while, because the video I'm about to share is being sent to the admissions office for review, and you never know how someone in that position might take something you talk openly about. The videos should still work in this vlog, they just won't be searchable for a bit (if I figured out the security settings right that is).