Teacups and Toasters

This past Saturday we cleaned out some boxes we had stowed away in storage. Amongst the old books, college papers, and stuffed animals, were a few Disney treasures from my childhood. I use the term treasures lightly. One woman’s trash is anothers treasure, right?

Anyways, I thought you Disney fiends would enjoy seeing a few of them.

First up 1980′s Minnie wallet. No cash inside,but there were some fun schools pictures

NextAn autograph book featuring Donald. The inside held autographs from a few characters you don’t see around WDW anymore. At least I haven’t..have you?

The Sheriff of Nottingham

Prince John (The phoney king of England!)

Gadget (Rescue Rangers!)

Honest John (An actors life for me!)

Perla (We can do it!)

I also found

Button from a family dinner at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian (1990 something?)

Then I found this:

I know this is from a game I had as a child that involved shapes, but I have no idea what the name of the game was, or where the other pieces are. Anyone know?  Here’s a picture of the back of this piece,

Any ideas?

I found a few other things and tomorrow I’ll share my favorite one. It deserves a post all it’s own. Stay tuned!

This post is a little personal. However, I was reading a passage in 1 Corinthians recently and it re-enforced something that I already knew. It was something that I needed to hear again and I know that I’m not the only one that can directly benefit from it.

When I was in middle school and high school, I had some serious self-image issues. This is not an uncommon thing for girls and perhaps guys experience it in some ways too. Media bombards us with images of what is considered beautiful, attractive, sexy, etc. etc. And unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people base their opinions of others and of themselves on what the media says is hot. It’s hard not to. I never really based my opinions of others on what the media said, but it sure didn’t help me when I looked at myself in the mirror.

I’ve always been tiny. I think perhaps the Scottish based legends and myths on the appearance of my ancestors. People used to think I was about five years younger than I actually was. I remember specifically, an instance wherein, I went out to eat with my parents and one of my friends. When we were seated the waitress brought my parents and friend regular glasses and she gave me a kids cup with a lid. I was around fourteen.

(Embarassing, but true!)

The issue with being a tiny person never went away. I struggle to maintain a healthy weight even though I eat like a shark. I just have to deal with it and I’ve learned to deal with it. Yet, I didn’t learn to deal with it via some self-promotional, inner-awareness book. I didn’t learn to love me. I’ve learned to deal with me and work to make myself more like my Creator. In doing so, I’ve learned a very very glad thing.  One day my Creator, Jesus Christ, will give me a new body, that He has designed just for me. Certainly, He designed the one that I reside in now, but it’s only a temporal one. He’s got an eternal one for me and for all who call on Him.

“But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

³⁶You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;

³⁷and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

³⁸But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

³⁹All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

⁴²So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;

⁴³it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

⁴⁴it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”

1 Corinthians 15

When we die, we will shed our earthly bodies, as if shedding a coat and with Christ we will reside. We have a spiritual body. Though it may resemble the former, it will be heavenly and is not the same one that we now wear.

***NOTE:  (DO NOT SEEK DEATH! If you are unhappy with your body image, death is not the answer. God holds the plans for our life here on Earth and He has given us our earthly bodies for a reason, whether, or not we like them. Believe it, or not God wants us to enjoy being in them. Check your five senses. He gave them for good reasons.)

We should take care of the bodies that we have because they are to be a temple to the living God, but don’t take care of it in vanity. Don’t spend much time worrying over the size and shape and complexion. Be content and know that your Creator has made you beautiful.

Well, my word. I had better get my act together and write a blog post.

That’s something like what I thought to myself when I realized how long it had been since I last posted. I suppose I’m still adjusting to life as a SAHM vs a WAHM. That is truly a funny sentence.

Overall, there’s a bit of withdrawal.

And a bit of wandering around searching for my brain. It’s not really sure what to do now that it isn’t on overload all of the time. I’m thinking about reteaching myself Algebra and then Calculus. And then maybe French and Mandarin.

Ni hao! J’adore les kong long!  (Translation of Frendarin = Hi! I love dinosaurs!) This is what happens when your preschooler watches  Ni Hao, Kai Lan on a frequent basis.

Anyways, I just wanted to say Hi!/Ni hao!/Bonjour! And state:

It’s okay when your brain takes a hiatus. It happens now and again and perhaps when transitioning from one way of life to another, it’s best. Besides, I’ve had a lot of fun with my preschooler and obviously, she’s teaching me a lot.

It has been said that a toy is not truly happy, until it has been loved by a child. Here are a few pictures of toys from my daughters room that seemed as though they had something particular to share on a particular sunny afternoon.

I’ve had a lot of fun trying out the different Wonderland Tea’s and sharing them with you.  After sampling the Mint, Papaya Passion Fruit, Mango, Lemon Honey Chamomile, Jasmine, and Blueberry – I’d have to say that Mint is my number one with Blueberry at a close second. Mint comes in first place because it was great steamy hot and icey cold. Most of them were just better hot.

Remember that all of these are green teas, except for the Lemon Honey Chamomile. It’s herbal.  There are six more teas that I didn’t review, which are black teas. Their hosts and flavors are:

Cheshire Cat: Chai

The Red Queen: Earl Grey

The Cards: Pomegranate

Alice & The Mad Hatter: Mad Tea Party Blend

White Rabbit: English Breakfast

and The King: French Vanilla

You can buy them online at The Disney Store website. Drink me! And perhaps they are still available at the parks. I haven’t been in several months, so I can’t say.  If you’ve tried any of these, I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments!

Here are some close ups of the box:

Now, if only we had some tarts..

“How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail and pour the waters of the Nile on every golden scale?”

-Lewis Carroll

The Mango tea was not as impressive as the Blueberry tea. Sorry, Caterpillar. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t super. The mango flavor was noticeable, but not overwhelming, which does make it similar to the blueberry concept. However, the fragrance wasn’t particularly exciting. I think reviewing these teas has caused me to require my teas carry a lovely fragrance.

At any rate, the Mango Wonderland Tea won’t cause any identity blunders. You’ll know who U R with, or with out taking a sip.

Ah, sweet blueberries! This tea had a nice mellow flavor. The blueberry was toned down and not at all tart. Fragrant, but not overly sweet, more in the way of blueberry muffin scent. I think this one’s a keeper. I’d buy a box of it all by itself.

The mad March Hare is featured on this box of green tea.  I feel I should mention that all the teas I have reviewed thus far are green teas (except the lemon honey is an herbal tea.) I cannot drink black tea for medical reasons and won’t be able to review those, which is a shame because the Red Queen hosts the Earl Grey box, and the smell of Earl Grey brings back wonderful memories of a little book shop I interned for in college.

At last, we have one more coming up: Mango with our dear Caterpillar who is “exacatically” 3 inches in height.

Seemingly, there are many articles about  New Year’s resolutions out and about this week, especially today. I’ve never liked New Year’s resolutions and have made very few of them. The ones I did make, I don’t remember triumphantly keeping. Perhaps a better way of handling things is to

A.) not wait for a new year

and

B.) realize what our weaknesses are daily- so that we can deal with them.

We all have weaknesses. Some serious and some silly, yet even the silliest can cause major problems. A couple of my silly weaknesses are Disney pins- look shiny!, random t-shirts, and decaf -soy- gingerbread- lattes. Yup. If I bought all three of those silly things on a regular basis, my bank account would be non-existent. I have to handle those weaknesses by only occasionally making purchases that satisfy my silliness.  By not drinking decaf- soy- gingerbread- lattes on a regular basis, I don’t need them on a regular basis. I don’t let myself get used to having them. I limit my Disney pin purchasing to one per trip. That might be a little extreme. Yet, that one pin will be something that will be a reminder of what was special about that particular trip.  And, by limiting my purchase to just one, if I happen to see another one online that I truly like during the year, I could potentially purchase it without feeling too guilty that I spent ten bucks on a little, tiny piece of metal.

I think that even if money were of no object, I’d have to be without a conscious to spend in silliness,while being aware of so many neighboring me who are struggling to get their next meal.

My point- don’t wait for New Year’s Eve to make a promise to yourself that will be near impossible to keep. Instead, search yourself; find your weaknesses both serious and silly. Figure out a way to sharpen yourself by overcoming those weaknesses. You may not be able to overcome a weakness in a year, but the only way to be true to yourself is to start trying. Silly promises made on a whim with a mere wish for a foundation, won’t get you very far. A prayer for a foundation will be of help, just remember that God gave you an awesome tool – your brain- and He’ll help you use it wisely if you seek to.

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Stay tuned for the last two installments of the Wonderland Tea series coming later this week.

Imagine that you are in Nazareth at the time of Jesus life on Earth. You go to the synagogue every Sabbath and one day a local, Jesus, comes in. He’s back from spending forty days in the wilderness, not eating. He’s back in his home town and in He comes. He stands up to read and the book of Isaiah is handed to Him. He opens the book and chooses this passage:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

He closes the book and sits down. You, like everyone else present, stare at Him. This man who some have watched grow through boyhood has just proclaimed that He is the One. Jesus then turns to you all and says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The thing is… you know He’s not crazy. Why do we find it so hard to believe in miracles? I think that’s the question that we all need to ask ourselves. You can find the above scripture in Luke 4:14-21 and if you read a little further, you’ll find that He angers the crowd of Jews to the point that they chase Him out and are ready to push Him off the edge of a cliff. Why? He was bringing peace to the Gentiles and not just Jews. He told them this with more quotations from the Old Testament. This was huge and mortifying to those gathered in the synagogue.

Knowing Jesus will bring huge and mortifying things into our own lives as His Light reveals what we cannot hide. The Truth of His Word is powerful and life changing. I pray that you have found it this Christmas and are willing to embrace the One.