Continuing My Magical Quest, the Moms Panel 2014 Recap

My "I'm Celebrating" pin I received the day I learned I was in Round 2

I love being an RN, and I went into nursing because at the end of the day, I wanted to leave work knowing that I had made a difference.  Making all the money in the world means nothing if you can't feel good about the person that you are each day.  Every patient brings new experiences, new skills and new challenges.  And with every patient and family I learn a little bit more about myself. More than a decade in obstetrics has taught me many things, but a few stand out the most:

Babies are amazingly resilient.

You can endure more pain than you thought possible and live to tell the tale.

Sometimes life just doesn't make sense, nor is it fair.

The best things in life are worth waiting for.

My Disney pins make a great ice breaker with my patients!

These aren't just things I see on the labor and delivery floor, but themes that extend into our everyday lives. We are all incredibly resilient!  We can take on amazing amounts of physical and emotional turmoil and come out a better person on the other side.  Sometimes, I want to revert to a child on the playground, upset because life just isn't about how much you want something.  Then I remember I'm supposed to be a grown-up. Walt Disney said, "Adults are only kids grown-up, anyway", and when you are hurting, it's easy to let the kid in you take over. The past few days that little kid in me has wanted to come out and play.

But indeed, sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for.  My husband wasn't the first man I dated, my job is not the first occupation I tried, and I certainly appreciate the gift that is my daughter more as the fourth child, than I would if she had been the first.

This past Friday, five years of hoping, dreaming, working, writing, rewriting, videoing and interviewing came down to a single email. Sadly, it did not say what I hoped it would.  I know in my heart that I did my absolute best, and I can look back and feel good about what I submitted.  I don't think I could have done anything different that would have changed my fate this year.  But making it to the final round, out of thousands, is still an honor, and I hope it means "maybe next time", because the Disney Parks Moms Panel is something I am willing to wait for.  In fact, in a generous gesture, anyone who made it to the final round and completed the entire application process, but was not chosen, has been given a FastPass of sorts.  Next year, I have already qualified as a Round 2 Semifinalist for the 2015 Disney Parks Moms Panel.

"Even Miracles Take a Little Time" - The Fairy Godmother

I did meet a ton of fabulous folks, who like myself want so much to be part of the pixie dust.  My twitter account is blossoming with new Disney friends! It also means I'll have all the time in the world to continue to help my friends, their friends, and random folks I meet on the street, plan magical Disney vacations.

With baby princess getting more independent, my goal this year is to grow this little blog of mine. So if you like it, please share it!  You can also sign up in the upper left corner to "follow" this blog and you will get a copy of my newest posts in your inbox (don't worry, not too many! Probably once or twice a month).  You can also follow me on Twitter! @dizkrazkate

Upcoming for this year is a trip to run my first race longer than a 5K, Disney's Princess Half Marathon (I'm only half crazy), and a possible trip to the Disneyland Resort in April.  Since this year I elected to apply as a specialty mom for the Disney Vacation Club (DVC), I hope to spend a bit more blogging time on my beloved DVC.

"When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming!" - Dory from Finding Nemo

Dreams CAN Come True! Moms Panel Update 11/15/2013

My long held dream of being part of the Disney Parks Moms Panel, is in part, what inspired me to begin this blog.  Though it has been woefully neglected since the birth of our little princess, my goal early yesterday afternoon was to start dedicating more time to it, now that little miss is a year and a half.  This thought came to mind yesterday, because I was very anxiously awaiting my likely rejection from the Disney Parks Moms Panel.  When faced with a disappointment or obstacle, I find setting a new goal helps me through the tough times. Thus, resurrecting and expanding my little blog would be my goal as I pursued the 2015 Moms Panel.

However, I don't think you can possibly imagine the utter craziness that occurred in my living room at 3:02 yesterday afternoon.  As I continually refreshed my gmail, waiting for that promised 3pm message, it suddenly appeared, and the very first word was "Congratulations".  For about a half of a second I thought this was some mistake, and that it was going to congratulate me on making it to the second round which I had indeed made this year, but sadly, we have not chosen you to move on to round 3.  As I realized I was not mistaken, I really WAS moving on to ROUND 3, I was joined in lots of excited hoopla by my three boys who had recently come home from school!  All five of us were dancing around the living room.  My boys know how much I would like to be on the panel, and have been living the dream with me these past few weeks. Even baby princess could sense the excitement, and she loves any opportunity to clap and use one of her words, "YAY!" This was followed by several important phone calls to my Disney BFF @RNawaymama and of course, to the hubby.  I was then so wrapped up in twitter, Facebook and the DisBoards thread, I completely forgot to call....MY MOM! Once that was rectified I was able to spend some time on social media seeing which of the hundreds of very qualified candidates had moved on to the next phase with me.

Disney Moms Panel Meet and Greet 10/1/11

It appears that there are at least three of us fine Disney moms who are in the running for the Disney Vacation Club panelist position.  We will each have a phone interview sometime next week.  They are both fantastic candidates as well, so this is no easy in for me.  My goal is to simply be myself, and hope for the best! I should know one way or the other by this time next week.  If you have any extra Pixie Dust to spare, please feel free to send it this way!

In my lovely new hidden Mickey dress at the entrance to the Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, one of the DVC properties. We stayed here just last month, and we loved it!