DISNEYLAND DAY 1

As someone who is fairly obsessed with Disneyland, I get a lot of questions about how to make the most of your trip. Vacation looks a little different for everyone, even at Disneyland. So I decided to keep track of what we rode/ate each day and share it with you guys here on my blog so you could see what a Disneyland vacation looks like for me.

DAY ONE //

We left our hotel around 7:30 am and got into the park right about 8:00 am when it opened. We headed to Indiana Jones to get Fastpasses and then went to Haunted Mansion as all 7 in our party really wanted to ride the holiday version. Sadly, when we got there it was closed. They told us it would be open later, so we went over to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Then we went and rode Big Thunder Mountain and pretty much walked right on, it was a really short wait, one of the best perks about mornings at Disneyland. It was then time for our Indiana Jones Fastpasses. We rode Indiana Jones and then went over to the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. After riding Finding Nemo, we were all feeling a little sleepy, so we got a snack and took a little break. A churro break! We went and got Faspasses for Space Mountain.

During our break I checked the Disneyland app and it said that Haunted Mansion was now open so we went and rode that one. It was a VERY long wait at this point, but we knew whatever we wanted to ride would have a wait. So we waited about 75 minutes and finally got to ride Haunted Mansion. Then it was time for our Space Mountain Fastpasses. 

After Space Mountain we were all ready for lunch. We park hopped to California Adventure for some Corn Dog Castle. We then rode The Little Mermaid- Ariel's Undersea Adventure and got Fastpasses for Soarin Over California. As we were heading to our next ride we decided to give the Ghiradelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop a try. 

After ice cream, we waited about 40 minutes for Tower of Terror which surprisingly went by pretty quickly. Lines can be fun with a group! And then we went to ride Soarin Over California with our Fastpasses. After Soarin, we went to Flo's V8 Cafe in Cars Land for dinner. And then we headed back to the hotel. We stopped at Cold Stone Ice Cream which is just across the street from the Disneyland Entrance.

We ended around 7:30 pm, which is really early considering Disneyland was open til midnight. Most nights at Disneyland I prefer to end early so I can get a good night's sleep and be up early the next day. We all fell asleep around 9:30 pm, Disneyland can wear you out for sure!

Recap of What We Rode:

Pirates of the Caribbean

Big Thunder Mountain

Indiana Jones

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

Haunted Mansion

Space Mountain

The Little Mermaid- Ariel's Undersea Adventure

Tower of Terror

Soarin Over California

Recap of What I Ate:

Continental Hotel Breakfast

Churro

Corn Dog Castle

Ghiradelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop

Flo's V8 Cafe
Cold Stone Ice Cream Across from Disneyland

See the recaps for the other days here:
Disneyland Day 1
Disneyland Day 2
Disneyland Day 3

Promised Blessings //

In keeping with my goal to share more of what I love and learn from General Conference, I'm writing today to share another talk from the Women's Session...

Worthy of Our Promised Blessings by Linda S. Reeves

"Besides repentance, what helps or tools have we been given to help us stay clean and virtuous? Our Primary children and young women all know and sing the song, 'Scripture Power.' Can we expand it to Prayer Power, Temple Power, Covenants Power, Sabbath Day Power, Prophet Power, and Virtue Power?" 

When I was listening to this talk during the live session, I thought to myself, "That is a great list! What can I personally begin improving on today?" I know that I could improve in each one of those areas, most of us could probably improve in each of those areas. So where should we begin? 

Our Heavenly Father does not need us to improve in each one of those areas right now, we just need to be a little better today than we were yesterday, and a little better tomorrow, than we are today. When we are striving to improve ourselves, we can turn to Heavenly Father and ask for his help and direction. We have an atonement available to us because of Jesus Christ, that we can us. 

The blessings of eternity may seem so far out. Near the end of this talk, Sister Reeves says..

"I do not know why we have the many trials that we have, but it is my personal feeling that the reward is so great, so eternal and everlasting, so joyful and beyond our understanding that in that day of reward, we may feel to say to our merciful, loving Father, 'Was that all that was required?'"

Life is hard. It can be so hard. Serving as a leader in the Young Women's organization in my ward has opened my eyes to the problems of others. I asked my husband yesterday, "How did we not know that there were so many families, with so many problems?" Everyone's trials are different, and even though the times of trial are hard, and sometimes almost unbearable, I promise you, that your weaknesses can be made strong, and that our Heavenly Father loves us so much, that He is not asking us to go through this life alone! We have each other, and we have Him. 

I think one day when we meet our Father in Heaven, we will see Him and say, "Was that ALL that was required?" I truly believe that those blessings that He is preparing for us, and the peace we will feel from knowing we did our part here on earth, will make us ask, "Was that ALL?"

WEEK FOUR PERSONAL TRAINING // & WHAT COMES NEXT

I just wrapped up 4 weeks of working with my virtual personal trainer. It has been a really great experience, and until last week, I planned on working with her indefinitely. I probably blind-sided her by telling her I was not going to continue for the time being.

Shocked? Me too. About a week and a half ago I realized how obsessive I was becoming. We went to dinner for my sister's birthday (somewhere I almost didn't go because I knew I didn't have enough calories for the day), and I laughed because after 2 pieces of pizza I only had 14 calories left. Instead of asking my sister about her engagement, my brothers about school, or my grandma about her chemotherapy, I was going on and on about my 14 calories I had left for dessert. I didn't like that version of me.

We had friends from our church over for dinner the other night and my husband made scone burgers. Think 2 scones plus a very yummy patty. I panicked all day about how on earth I was going to fit the calories in and how fattening it was. Instead of being grateful that my husband was making his specialty for our friends, I was complaining about it all day. I didn't like THAT version of me either.

For The Strength of Youth is a pamphlet that comes from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It gives guidelines for youth and adults alike to be their best selves and live a happy life. In the pamphlet in the Physical and Emotional Health Section it says, "To care for your body, eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep. Practice balance and moderation in all aspects of your physical health. Also, avoid extremes that could lead to eating disorders."

I wouldn't necessarily say that counting my calories would eventually lead to an eating disorder, but maybe it would. It was certainly controlling my life way more than I am proud to admit. I want to be the version of me that's ME. That eats a donut every Wednesday, because that's moderation. That tries to work out 30 minutes a day, but will drop everything to serve as the Savior would. I think Heavenly Father wants me to take good care of my body, but I think he wants me to focus on the moderation for now.

So what comes next? I'm not really sure. We have a Disneyland trip coming up and I don't want to spend the whole trip worrying about finding the healthiest foods, or turning down a Mickey ice cream bar because it doesn't "fit my macros". I'm trying to figure out the moderation thing right now. I'm taking a break from calorie counting, and focusing on trying to eat more fruits and veggies and to ONLY eat when I'm hungry and ONLY eat until I'm full.

We should LOVE our bodies. Exercising and eating right should be done because we LOVE our bodies, not because we hate them. So that is what I'm focusing on. That's what comes next for now.

// 5 Tips To Get The Best Clothes & Deals On ThredUp //

Awhile ago I came across a blogger who was raving about ThredUp. It's basically online thrifting. Lots of name brand clothes, new and used at a fraction of their retail price. J Crew, Free People, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Nike, Lululemon, etc.  When I first logged on I was overwhelmed, and can you blame me? There are SO many clothes to go through on their site.

Along with having so many clothes to go through, you have to remember that it is like thrifting. While most of the clothes they sell are excellent quality, there are a few tips I have for you to make sure you get the best clothes and deals possible.

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1 // Use THIS REFERRAL LINK to get $20 to use toward your first purchase. 

Thred Up is so confident in their clothes & process that they offer you $20 to try it out. You have to use THIS LINK to get the $20 credit to your account though! 

2 // Shop "New With Tags"

Near the top of the page there is a way to filter by Size, Brand, Color and Condition. Under Condition click "NEW". Everything filtered under NEW is New With Tags, which is obviously going to be your best bet for getting superb clothes. These option are a little more expensive, but totally worth it if you ask me. 

3 // Know the Return Policy

Once you receive your clothes, you have 14 days to decide what you want to keep or return. I ordered a pair of shoes and once I received them, I decided I didn't think they were worth what I paid. I chose to return them. It is a very simple process. You go to your ThredUp Account, choose the order, choose the item you want to return, and they print a return label. There is a shipping fee if you want to be refunded, but if you choose store credit there is NO FEE. You get all your money back in store credit and they pay the shipping back. 

4 //  Double Check Your Items

Learn from my mistakes. I purchased a dress from a brand I'd never heard of, and when I got it I realized it was too small. I went to return it because I had such great experiences with returns, and realized because it was a SALE item it was non-returnable. Ever since I have chose to purchase only items that are returnable unless they are really worth the risk. Besides that pair of shoes which were super cute, just not worth the money to me, the dress was the only item I regretted. If you make sure that your items are indeed returnable, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Their customer service is top notch!

5 // Share!

Once you receive your first package and you fall in love with the clothes and the company, you can get your own Referral Link under ACCOUNT > Referrals & Invitations. You can share that link with friends/family/twitter/blog followers/etc. If they use your link they get $20 credit to use to try it out and you get $20 credit added to your account as a thank you from ThredUp for sharing what you love!

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In THIS POST I'm wearing a blue plaid shirt that is J Crew that I purchased for $12. It was New With Tags and was worth over $50! Total steal. Let me know if you get anything!! And be sure to use this LINK to get the $20 towards your purchase. No minimum!

Divinity //

I've set a goal to share my testimony more, especially when it comes to General Conference Talks. I find such peace and solace in General Conference; and reviewing and sharing the talks is something very important to me. So today I wanted to start by sharing my thoughts from the talk:

Discovering the Divinity Within by Rosemary M. Wixom

My favorite quote from this talk is this one...

"We have come to this earth to help build His kingdom and to prepare for the Second Coming of His Son, Jesus Christ. With every breath we take, we strive to follow Him. The divine nature within each one of us is refined and magnified by the effort we make to draw nearer to our Father and His Son.

Our divine nature has nothing to do with our personal accomplishments, the status we achieve, the number of marathons we run, or our popularity and self-esteem. Our divine nature comes from God. It was established in an existence that preceded our birth and will continue on into eternity."

How important it is to remember that we do not have to prove ANYTHING to our Heavenly Father. He loves us unconditionally. He loves us whether we win first place, or last place or finish somewhere in the middle. He loves us whether we are the bishop of a thriving ward or the bishop of a struggling ward. He loves us whether we have lots of friends, or find most of our friendship within our own family. He loves us whether we are a top performer at work, or someone just scraping by. Bottom line? HE LOVES US. 

We are extraordinary to Him because He created us. He loves us, because we are His and He wants us to turn to Him for validation. Not Facebook, Instagram, Employee of the Month contests or Student Government winners. He wants us to turn to Him. 

We can ask Him in humble prayer, "Heavenly Father, how do you really feel about ME?" I promise that if you ask with a sincere heart, He will answer. he will tell you just how much He loves you. 

WEEK THREE REVIEW // PERSONAL TRAINING

Personal Training Update //

It's technically been 3.5 weeks now that I have been working with my personal trainer as I was a little late to getting around to this post.

I've had a great time so far working with her. She sends me my workouts, I do them, I try to eat healthy and I've slowly been losing weight! Last week my weight loss was only 1/2 a pound, but I knew that my eating was not where it should be and that I couldn't expect a lot of weight loss when I was only giving 50% effort so I'm very pleased with that weight loss.

I only did 4/5 workouts. We have had so many things coming up at short notice lately, my sisters birthday party, a garage/bake sale for my grandma (and who can turn down homemade cinnamon rolls?) as well as LDS General Conference. I'm just really trying to figure out that gray area where moderation/hard work meet.


Non-Scale Victories // 

I've been watching my portions a lot better. Even though I ate out, I only ate til I was full and saved the rest for later. Even though I ate treats, I only ate 1 instead of 2-3. This is a HUGE victory for me as I've definitely been known to eat myself sick. (Why Why Why would I ever do that to myself?? I'm still figuring it out!)

Instead of my husband and I each getting a dessert at dinner the other night, we split one. These are the small changes that I am trying to make! Almost imperceptible, but as Elder Devin Durrant said this past week in LDS Conference, "Small efforts sustained over time can produce significant results."


This Weeks Goals //

My health goals have been changing a lot after praying, talking with my husband and pondering why I'm REALLY doing this and what I want this lifestyle change to look like. I'll probably share more about this on my Week 4 review. I've got a Disneyland trip coming up that I'm still trying to figure out what my plans are for that trip...but for right now my goals for this week are still...

Eat veggies 1X a day and fruits 2X a day.

Do at least 4 of my workouts.

Keep praying, pondering, reading and deciding on my next steps after this month with my personal trainer is over!

4 Questions To Help You Prepare for LDS General Conference + Free Printable //

"Conference messages come to us after prayerful preparation, through the Holy Ghost. This principle is true for all members of the church as we prepare to participate in ward, stake and general conferences. We study it out in our minds what we need and desire from Heavenly Father, and we pray to understand and apply that which we have been taught. As the time for conference arrives, we sacrifice other activities, laying aside the things of this world, to seek for the things of a better."
 // Elder Robert D. Hales 


General Conference is my absolute favorite time of the year, and we are lucky enough to experience it 2X a year. With the Women's Session just last weekend, I'm doing some last minute preparations for this coming weekend for the full sessions. Preparing for General Conference has been on my mind for a few months now, and I finally reached out to Brielle from Breezy and Co and passed on the idea of creating a printable that could be used to prepare for General Conference. She loved the idea and got right on it!

You can get the printable by going HERE.  

It is perfect to pass out to those you visit or home teach, you could hand it out to your young women, use it in Family Home Evening, or even just use it for yourself. It has 4 great questions to think about.

1 // What problems or trials am I facing in my life?

2 // What questions do I have about the gospel?

3 // Where could my testimony use some strength?

4 // What do I hope to learn from General Conference?

I don't readily have access to a color printer, and luckily Brielle is offering a free black & white OR color printable, whichever works better for you. I printed off my b&w option tonight and started filling in my answers and praying that my heart & mind will be open to the answers I need to hear.

I KNOW that if you ponder those 4 questions, pray, study and prepare however you choose to, you WILL receive answers. You WILL feel the spirit. You WILL come away from Conference feeling uplifted, inspired and ready to take on the world. So tell me, how do you prepare for General Conference?