I can't wait!!

Yes, tonight I am going to start sharing about my trip to Poland and I am very excited to share about what God did during that trip! But...there is something else that I can't wait for! Last night, my sweet husband told me that we would be able to have an EXTRA special date night in October!!!!

You see, he and I really love musicals! We REALLY love the Fox too! But, I have been pining to see Wicked for SO long and when my cousin and aunt went recently...all I had heard about this musical was confirmed! They LOVED it!

Then, (since I am on the email list for the Fox, of course) I got an email that Wicked was going to be HERE in Atlanta for a mere month and Jay knew that I wanted to go so very badly. So, last night as we were looking over the month of October...he said that we had the money to really splurge this month on a date night! We had been able to put more in savings this past month than I could EVER have imagined. So, this month we are taking part of our weekly money and go to see Wicked.

Now, you are thinking (if you have never heard of Wicked) that I have lost my religion! Why in the world would I want to see anything called Wicked? Well, Jay and I LOVE the Wizard of Oz and this is the story Glinda the good witch and Elphaba the future wicked witch before Dorothy drops in! It is kind of a prequel to the Wizard of Oz and lets us in on what brought them to where we find them as Dorothy and Toto show up on the scene. I can't wait!

So, we will be heading to the Fox to see it in just a few weeks and I can't wait! I had no idea I would get to see this musical so close to home. And what a great night this will be with my hubby! And I am so grateful that he truly loves these things as much as I do.

We have been to see Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and the Lion King (my Christmas present from him this year!) together. There are still several more we want to see...and Wicked was at the very tip top of my list!!! Many husbands would be cringing at the thought...but not my man! We both are thrilled to get to go!

This Weekend's Event

Hi Girls! Please pray for me as I am headed to Alabama to lead a ladies retreat for Liberty Park Baptist Church. I will be sharing in sessions from Satisfy Our Souls on Friday night and Saturday. They are looking to begin the study in the Fall after the retreat so I am excited to share and get to know each of these ladies.

I will be posting reflections from my trip to Poland beginning on Monday. I have been busy preparing for this retreat and processing all that God did there and I am anxious to share with you. Thank you for hanging in there with me as i have been very busy the past few weeks with travel, beginning homeschooling, and preparing for two upcoming retreats. I want to thank each of you for praying for me while i travel and encourage women to thrive in this life instead of survive it!

I love you all!

Like mother like daughter...

It's no secret that Anli and I are built from the same crazy mold. She may look like her daddy, but she is "spit from my mouth" as we say in Alabama:) Tonight reminded me of just how much a like we truly are!

Because Virginia was running a low grade fever this afternoon (she was to be allergy tested tomorrow so has been off her allergy meds for over a week...so I hope we haven't created a sinus issue!) so the girls stayed home from AWANA tonight. We had made ourselves some yummy peanut butter and banana sandwiches (since we had planned on dining at church...and thus had nothing to eat here!) and grapes for dinner. We settled down to join Virginia on the couch for a girl favorite show...Jon and Kate plus 8.

I was happily eating my grapes...now we must stop right here to let you in on HOW I eat my grapes...I peel them and THEN eat the grape. I like to eat the skins first and then eat the grape next. Don't ask me, I'm the crazy one remember!

I was happily eating my grapes (peeling them) and I looked over to see Anli intently watching the show PEELING HER GRAPES! Now, she wasn't watching me do this. She was not even paying the least bit of attention to me...yet she was peeling her grapes and eating them just like I was!

I laughed out loud! She is my girl...for better or worse:) The funny thing is that when I told her that's how I ate my grapes...she was completely surprised and didn't even know that. That was even funnier to me! It must be in our blood...

More Disney Memories...

We had a great time at Animal Kingdom and started with our favorite breakfast with Donald and the gang! It's such a wonderful buffet and it's so fun to see all the characters dressed in their safari gear!
It was so great to see my hubby after 10 days in Poland!
Here's the gang together with Mickey! Jay, Mary, and I all had traveled to Africa and it was neat to see all the decorations. It took us back!I just happened to look up and find some ladybugs...my favorite!Our precious girls!OK, let me just say that Dinosaur is the WORST ride we have EVER been on! It throws you around in a way that makes the Ninja at Six Flags feel like a kiddy ride. It is WAY too loud...and I can do loud. It's just pointless! It's absolutely the WORST ride. And what made it even worse is that our children where there for it.

I don't mind dark, scary, fast, and loud...as long as it is fun. And this was all of those only WITHOUT the fun! Don't waste your time...We had so much fun at the dino fair! We played lots of games including our favorite "whack a dino" or something like that! But, not one of us could win a stuffed animal...except Anli. She won TWO all by herself. She gave one to Virginia (without any proding) and they loved having something won by Anli! Great job girl! Hollywood Studios was great fun this year! It had Toy Story Mania and the BEST parade!Both of our girls bought baby Dumbos that traveled with us every day!
We LOVED Toy Story mania! It was a family favorite and we ran to the fast pass line as soon as the park opened, since the fast passes were gone by 11am!
We can't wait! What a great ride and game!

Anli loved this game! It was by far our favorite game!
We found the perfect spot to watch the parade and cool off for a while. It was on the steps and completely covered. It was also a spot where the parade stopped and there were cast members there to play games with the kids while we waited. Anli was the champ of the jump rope competition!
The Rockin' Block Party parade was my favorite parade this trip! It was filled with great music and lots of partying! It was right up my alley!

What a great time we had! Talk about a PARTY! Sorry it's a little jerky...that was me dancing...seriously!

I'm sorry did I just step back into 1973...

I interrupt my regularly scheduled blog on Disney World in order to make sure I haven't been warped (don't you love my Star Wars lingo? Being married to Jay has really opened up my vernacular choices!) to 1973!

Seriously, we had to take Jay to work because his battery was dead after sitting for over a week while we were out of town. So, as we headed to church this morning...we saw a HUGE line at the Citgo formed all down Canton Hwy. I was shocked to see how many people where waiting in line for gas this morning.

But, as I drove home I noticed that all the gas stations were out of gas! That was why this one little station was a buzz. Then, as I went further I was a little nervous because all MY normal stations were also out of gas! I looked down at my 1/4 of a tank and prayed that it would last for a while. This is just wild!

Satan is trying to bully us into fear right now in our nation. We are getting fearful of rising gas prices, economic instability, loss of jobs, presidential elections, and much more. But, we know the end of this story...don't we! Victory is God's and as followers of Him...ours.

Though we may be biking to work or walking to the grocery store for a while (smile) we'll just shed a few of those American obese pounds! Our money may not go as far for a while, but who needs more stuff in their lives anyway? Not me! We may have a president who doesn't believe the same things we do politically or spiritually...so we will hit our knees and pray like we never have before for our government all the while knowing that God is truly in control of this world!!

It's time to put fear in it's place! God does not give us the spirit of fear, but of power and a SOUND mind! Oh, how we need that in our country and our lives today!

So, for a moment I got a little nervous about the lines and the chaos I saw this morning but then God reminded me that He is the one in control of all things and HE alone holds our future! What a wonderful thing to meditate on in the midst of our "crisis times."

First day home in 17 days!!

Yesterday, after I had spoken at a ladies' conference we loaded up our car and headed home! Last night, I stepped into my own house after not being here for 17 straight days. It felt so wonderful to sleep in my own bed with my own little family...what blessings I often take for granted!

It was wonderful to be back with my favorite ladies (my Thrive ladies SS class) this morning and to share about our Ebenezer stone moments in our lives with God. It was great to be back with our church family in worship today.

Disney was great and we had lots and lots of fun! We were all a little sad to leave yesterday, but it is always good to be home. I want to share some of my favorite Disney moments today and tomorrow and then I am going to spend a while sharing my daily thoughts on Poland. So many of you prayed for me and our team, and I want you to see and hear what God was up to over those 10 days. We have our final conference call as a team on Tuesday to debrief the trip. I look forward to hearing from these wonderful women again!

We loved starting out our trip with breakfast at Cinderella's castle. The food was amazing and the beautiful view was just perfect! We loved getting to meet all the princesses and making a special wish!

This wall mural of glass is truly gorgeous! Jay was amazed by it and it was the perfect backdrop for two very pretty princesses.

Virginia was dressed up like Aurora, her favorite princess, and it was a special treat to get her photo made with her. She looks JUST like Aurora...beautiful!

Anli makes a wish on her wishing star...isn't she precious? She is always wondering why Tinkerbell, who she was dressed up like for the breakfast, isn't ever there for pictures. Jay told her that Tink is too small to be there. But, maybe one day we can meet her?

Making wishes at the wishing star ceremony! The food was out of this world and this was my FAVORITE meal of the entire trip. We all agreed this would be one to do again next time. It was awesome!

From the first day in the park, our girls were OBSESSED with pin trading! It was so much fun...I even was a little sad I didn't get one myself! Virginia loved trading the most and would trade pin after pin...just for the fun of trading! She got a full set of the princess "eyes" which is pretty rare to find the whole set through trading! Anli got all Tinkerbell pins and then stopped because she loved all her pins too much! We are getting a cork board to display all the pins here at the house.

Since this is the year of a milion dreams, our girls had lots of fun playing games with the cast members for prizes and certificates! They got several during the week and enjoyed all the stickers and prizes they got too!

Toon Town was Virginia's favorite place that day! She loves Minnie's house and thinks that Minnie keeps her house nicer than Mickey...she is so cute! Anli loved cooking in Minnie's kitchen...always the chef!

Then, it was time to meet the famous couple! We were thrilled to have BOTH Mickey and Minnie! We have never gotten to see them both together at the Judge's Tent. It was a real treat to have them all to ourselves for a little while. What a BLAST!

Then, it was time for a family favorite...It's a Small World! We LOVE this ride!

I'm not sure about this look on Anli's face...but she really is having fun on this ride. Though she was always ready for a rollercoaster ride! She is definately my thrill seeker!

We love Adventure Land...and riding the carpets of Alladin is always a must. Dad and I let the girls drive our carpet!

Then it was off to the races...cars that is! Virginia has a LONG way to go in the driving department. I don't think we went one second without hitting the center rail that keeps you on track. It was a bumpy ride...but she got better when we did it again on Friday!

Look at that little face! I'm not ready for to see either one of those little faces behind the wheel of a car for a LONG time!

Well, it seems that while getting my camera in and out of my bag...I set it to program mode which I have set as black and white. So, many random pictures are in black and white for this trip! Oh well...

We met some friends at the Crystal Palace for dinner and enjoyed meeting Winnie the Pooh and friends there!

After dinner we headed to Main Street for Spectromagic parade and Wishes fireworks display! Since we were there early, the girls got to dance and play games with the cast members there! Anli loved doing the Macarena dance along with playing duck, duck, Donald. Virginia hula hooped for a long time and then joined in the dancing and games too. It really passed the time and the girls met some new friends too!

It was a wonderful day and the perfect start to a great week!

Back in the USA...and in the happiest place on earth!

After 36 hours of travel, 5 different countries, and 5 planes...I made it home on Sunday! It was really not a bad travel home...but maybe because I thought it would be terrible! But, it was all worth it as my Magic Express bus turned the corner into our Disney resort...and I saw three of my most beloved people come RUNNING up to the bus waving their hands wildly. I barely stepped off the bus before I was literally lifted off the ground in the most wonderful hugs. It was good to be home.

Next week, when I am home from Disney I will take a few days and update you on my trip to Central and Eastern Europe. It was amazing! I can't wait to share it all with you!


But, this week we are in DISNEY WORLD! We are having the BEST time ever and it is perfect to be able to spend 24 hours a day with my family since I have been away for a while. We have loved being together and I keep hugging Jay and the girls spontaneously saying how glad I am to see them. I'm on day 3 being home...and I'm still doing it!


Here are a few photos of all the fun we are having...

The first morning we went to have an amazing breakfast at Cinderella's castle. The food was absolutely awesome and it was a beautiful place to meet all the princesses. We loved it!

It's really HOT in September! The Worthington family is used to going to Disney in December...so this is definately different weather for us. We decided that though the free dining in September is great...we might just save up our money and go in December from now on...thank goodness for cool treats!

That night we went to eat at a new place for us called the Crystal Palace. We had fun with the Winnie The Pooh crowd!

Jay and I came to Disney for our honeymoon 11 years ago. We had our photo made with Tigger on that trip...so we thought we'd get another one! I'm still as crazy about my hubby as the day we saw Tigger 11 years ago! Yesterday we headed to Hollywood Studios (MGM for those of us over about 10 years old!). It was really fun! Jay and I were the stars in the Back Lot Tour. It was funny and the girls loved that we were IN the show!
OK, I am growing as a parent on this trip! I was the deciding factor on Anli riding the Rockin' Roller Coaster this trip. I LOVE this ride!!!! It's my favorite ride in all of Disney (as far as roller coaster thrill rides are concerned). But, letting my 9 year old daughter go on the 0-60 miles an hour in 2.5 seconds ride is a different story!!

So, I went on the ride before her and again was not crazy about her going on it with Jay. I relayed all the scary moments to her (hoping she wouldn't go) and then under Jay's direction... let my 9 year old make up her own mind!!! This letting kids go is not for the faint in heart!

Well, of course...SHE LOVED IT! Oh, my goodness! Virginia were in duress waiting for her to come out with Jay (Virginia is my conservative girl...she hated the Barnstormer in Toon Town!). So, I'm growing as a parent this week...not fun...but completely necessary!

We started this morning at Donald's restaurant breakfast in Africa! This is one of our family favorites. The food is amazing and it's fun to be in the African atmosphere since our family is in love with Africa.

We are here this week with our friends the Goltz family. It's been a great time hanging with our families during the days...and then meeting up for meals and the shows!

The safari was great...reminded Jay and I of our trip in 2006!

All is great here in Disney and we still have the rest of the week to go! We are only half way through...

Thanks for your prayers while I was in Poland and I can't wait to share all about it next week. Please keep me in your prayers as I have a speaking engagement on Saturday also. Have a great week!