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Hello UBP11

Posted on April 4, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Welcome to all who have traveled from the 5 Minutes For Mom Ultimate Blog Party 2011! I am a bit behind in joining this year. There has been a lot going on in recent weeks. Some of you may recall that I am familiar with the UBP. Last year, I was the grand prize winner of the Toshiba Laptop. It all seemed like a dream at the time.

Why?

Well, the night that they randomly selected winners, I had gone to bed early. I was not feeling well. Then, suddenly, my cell phone started going crazy. Tweets with mentions of my name were coming in one after the other. Half asleep, I noticed I was being congratulated, but I did not know why. Then I saw the #UBP10 at the end. Sure enough, I was the winner. Thank you again to Susan and Janice from Five Minutes for Mom for doing this fun event. I am not just saying that since I won last year.

At the end of the UBP last year, I wrote about people that I met and blogs that I loved. One of those was Kelly’s Lucky You. Little did I know that I would meet Kelly at DisneySMMoms a few weeks ago and participate in the Wild African Trek with her.

Please say hello to my family. Here we are with Minnie Mouse after our recent adventure to Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.

So who is The Angel Forever? Here is a little bit about me:

I started blogging in February 2007 while I was pregnant with my youngest son.
For almost four years, I have been at home with my boys. Although I love this special time with them, I do miss teaching.
My blog webmaster is also my hubby. You may know TechyDad from his blog or Twitter. This June we will celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. The two of us had our honeymoon at Walt Disney World for 10 magical days.
I am a HUGE fan of all things Disney – check out my category list on the left and you will see what I mean. Still processing all things from our recent trip there for the conference.
It was only a year ago that I came out of my bloggy shell. Before this I was pretty anonymous, never said where I lived, and was happy with that. Now thanks to recent opportunities, I am reinventing my online self.
The teacher in me loves to read books and share what we read. Most weeks I have a Tuesday Tales segment where I share some of our recent reads.
In addition to writing on TheAngelForever, I cover Education on The Disney Driven Life (I am NDM183 and proud of it) and am a columnist/blogger for KidsFunPlaza.

I love meeting new people in real life and online – so please explore and leave some comments, link up to your UBP blog below, and I promise to stop over to say hello and get to meet you. You can also catch me on Twitter and ~~I am still working on my Facebook fan page~~ I just finished/published my Facebook page.

Enjoy the 2011 Ultimate Blog Party and see you around!

Categories:
Blog Hop Disney DisneyDrivenLife DisneySMMoms fun looking back me moments photos TechyDad

Our Splash Mountain Adventure

Posted on April 2, 2011 11:41 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

On our last day at Disney World, we decided to spend time at the Magic Kingdom. We knew that there were a lot of rides that you wanted to go on, but that JSL was still too small for according to Disney. One of these rides was Splash Mountain. After arriving at the park, we went to get some Fast Passes. When it was time to head back, we got a Child Swap pass so Daddy could go back on with you later.

The two of us immediately went through the quickly moving Fast Pass lanes. Before we got to the area to board our log, I sent Daddy a text message. I had goofed and left my prescription sunglasses on, which made it hard to see in the darker areas of Splash Mountain. Before we knew it, they were looking for a party of two to move even further up the line. Within minutes, we were on our way to the back of a log and starting our adventure.

This was not our first time on Slash Mountain together, so we knew what to expect. We just went around a corner and were heading up the giant mountain. Suddenly our log STOPPED. We were way up the incline and about 3/4 or more of the way in a pretty dark area. We sat there for a bit and then you wanted to know what was going on. I had no clue and could not get my cell phone out of my pocket. Turning around to look was next to impossible thanks to the steep incline that we were at.

After about five minutes, we heard them cut into the PA system asking all cast members to immediately go to Tower 3. I have a feeling we were stuck in that area. They never told us much at that point, just to stay seated and not attempt to get out of our logs. After another five minutes or so, our log started to move into the first animated section of the ride. As we left that area we were hopeful. Then we stopped again with a bunch of logs unable to move in front of us.

We were baking in the sun and crowds were forming below. There were no logs going down the mountain and people knew something was up. More messages on the PA system to stay still and know they were looking into the problem. By this time, I had pulled out my phone and the two of us worked on sending photo messages and Tweets.

Daddy knew that we were stuck and was trying to find out more. We could see him from where we were, but he did not realize that at the time. Here is a photo that I took with my cell phone:

We were both getting a bit worried because we had no clue what was going on. Plus we had another little issue with the other people in our log. I think this photo sums it up:

Then, a cast member appeared along the edge of the ride.

We thought perhaps that we were going to be rescued, but we were wrong. People asked what was going on, but little was said except that we would be moving soon and the ride was safe.

After what seemed like an eternity, our logs moved again. 30 minutes after we started the adventure, we were able to get off the Splash Mountain. NHL, thank goodness you were there. I was shaking quite a bit and my back hurt. You led me through the maze to find our golden fast pass ticket for our trouble, and then out to Daddy.

At first, you said you were never going on Splash Mountain again. Much to my surprise, after dinner at Chef Mickey – YOU asked Daddy to go back on Splash Mountain. I was so proud of you.

Thank you for being so good while we were stuck and not letting this experience ruin the magic of Splash Mountain. I love you my brave big kid.

Love,

Mommy

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, we were given an incredible deal thanks to Disney. The sweet conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, several meals for the entire family, 7 day park hoppers for everyone, conference/meals for me and some other items to take home. Also note that Disney never asked us to blog about this event. As a long time Disney fan it is my pleasure to share my experiences from the event.

_______________________________________

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Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday Disney DisneySMMoms interesting jsl looking back nhl photos TechyDad vacation

Our Adventure Begins at the Grand Floridian

Posted on March 26, 2011 9:03 am by TheAngelForever

Last Thursday morning, we got up before the sun came out, dropped our car off, and went to the airport. The boys and I were heading to Walt Disney World for the 2011 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Southwest had us boarding the plane and ready to take off within 15 minutes. We loved that the Albany airport seems to be testing a new front and back loading system. It was a very painless experience that more cities should try. Before we knew it, the sun was shining and we were up in the air.

NHL and I sat together, while JSL sat with TechyDad. It was a quick flight and soon we could feel the sun and warmth of Florida welcoming us. Thanks to the Magical Express, we were able to gather the boys and a few small bags to head right to the Grand Floridian. As we got off of the bus, we knew it was going to be an amazing adventure ahead of us. We pulled up just in time to see this:

Yes, that is a bride heading to her Disney fairytale wedding in the Cinderella coach. Ah, only at Disney World will you just bump into things like this. We continued into the lobby for check in. We did the online check-in for the first time and it was amazing. The Luck of the Irish for St. Patrick’s Day was with us since our room was ready at 11:30. Rather than go right there, we went to the hospitality area in the convention center to officially check into DisneySMMoms 2011!

The magic was just starting as we were handing our Park Hoppers, papers, agendas, and other goodies. Once we were finished there, we walked over to find our room. The grounds of the Grand Floridian are beyond gorgeous and the rooms amazing. These are just a few photos of our first glances at the place we would call home for three nights.

Since we had a few hours before the first event of the evening, we packed the boys up, put on sun lotion, and went to the Magic Kingdom. For the third time, we rented a double stroller from Orlando Stroller Rentals – which was a lifesaver many times.

When we were waiting for the monorail, someone recognized me. It was Kim Moldofsky from Hormone-Colored Days and Mom Impact.

After exiting the monorail, we went into the Magic Kingdom. It never gets old listening to your children gasp and chatter away when they see the Castle for the first time on a visit.

We were all hungry, so we stopped for lunch, then we did a few rides

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the room. The boys relaxed for a bit, while I went to the Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons Platinum Soiree. More coming very soon!

Categories:
Blogging Conference bloggy friends Disney DisneySMMoms

Thank You Disney Social Media Moms Celebration

Posted on March 21, 2011 10:52 pm by TheAngelForever

The weekend has come and gone and the 2011 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration is now over. As I sit here at Walt Disney World with my family, it is hard to wrap my brain around everything that has taken place. Over the next few weeks, or longer, I will share items with you.

The speakers taught me a wealth of information that will help me with my blogging, freelance writing, and life in general. I also met so many amazing people over the weekend and wish I had time to see even more of my social media friends that were at Disney. I only wish I had taken some more photos of everyone there. Here is a special one from after Illuminations Saturday evening.

A special thank you to Leanne, Laura, and the rest of the Disney Social Media Moms team that helped to make this magical event a reality. It was a pleasure being a part of this experience and getting time to meet both of you. Thank you for the photo during the Disney Junior Party, it meant so much to me.