Holly here:
For those of you who don’t know, Heather and I recently took
a trip to California. This was an important trip for me.
It was important because it solidified what I think I’ve
probably known for years: Heather is my soulmate.
Here’s the deal. Of course Heather and I fight. There are
times we want to kill each other. Once, when I was a sophomore in high school,
we even got into a physical fight. (It ended with me pinned to the ground and
Heather inches from my face saying “What are you going to do now?! I HATED her
in that moment.)
But the other side of that is the fact that Heather knows my
crazy. She gets it. She sees it coming and she talks me through it. There have
been times when I’ve called Heather crying so hard that I wasn’t even making words.
She can figure out what is wrong and she can give advice. Sometimes I disagree
with that advice but I am always grateful for it.
There are also times when Heather and I don’t need words to
communicate. I’m sure you also have friends or family members with whom you
share this bond but I can read the looks on Heather’s face as if she was
writing a novel on her forehead. Historically, this has worked out well for me
as it minimized the times I wound up pinned to the floor, but it also comes in
handy when we’re in group settings and need back-up from one another. In
addition to sensing emotions, Heather and I also recently discovered that we
can cook an entire meal (bacon, eggs, English muffins, fruit, and coffee), set
the table, and sit down to eat without even speaking to one another.
This all seems like ample advice to support my claim that
Heather is my soulmate but our trip to Disneyland was really what sealed the
deal. It’s no secret that Disney was, and will always be, a special part of my
identity. Heather and I didn’t grow up going to the parks and both Heather and
I only actually visited a park after I started working there. This is worth
noting because every single bit of VIP information I received, I wound up excitedly
passing to Heather. The end result is that Heather has essentially become a
cast member by default. She knows where cast member entrance and exit points
are, she knows where the best seats are for all the shows, she knows how to
interact with all the characters and she knows which rides require a fast pass and
which rides merit a “walk-on” commitment.
Our Disney bond has never been more evident however, than
when we recently visited Disneyland. Disneyland is not my home and therefore, I was
going in as blindly as Heather. Sure, we had done some “mom blog” research and
had already downloaded the Disneyland app but we were both walking into that
magical land on unfamiliar ground. Heather and I were accustomed to
well-rehearsed systems at Disney World (i.e., we walk in, Heather goes straight
for cinnamon rolls and breakfast, I go straight for fast passes) but at
Disneyland, we weren’t quite sure what our game plan should be. Let there be no
confusion. We had a game plan. We went through it multiple times in the car on
the way up….this one just wasn’t tried and true.
Our plans quickly got off to a rocky start due to the non-existence
of fast passes for the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Sure, the app said they didn’t have
them and this was ultimately a rookie mistake but all the same, our plan
backfired first thing in the morning. The truly magical thing about all this is
that I was getting breakfast for us all when Heather discovered we would not be
cutting any lines for the bobsleds. Rather than call to ask what she should do
or simply return empty handed, Heather went to get fast passes for Hyperspace
Mountain….and then, miracle of miracles, when she looked at the time to see
when we could get our next fast passes, Heather noticed that there was only a
ten minute gap. So she took off to other side of the park to get fast passes
for Big Thunder Mountain. When Heather returned, she discussed what had
happened and suggested we walk to the bobsleds so we could wait in line while
we were finishing our breakfast and then head to our first fast pass time. I
stared at her in complete awe and wonder. Her actions were, in every detail,
exactly what I would have done.
 |
| Waiting in line for those Matterhorn Bobsleds! |
So here’s the thing, I regularly think about how great it
would be to someday take my kids to Disney. Sometimes I even get sad that I’m
no longer able to make magic for any kids I know and I would love nothing more
than to experience all my favorite things with a three-year-old. Where this
story is going to take an unexpected turn is that I usually don’t think about
taking my husband and 2.5 children. I think about taking my sister and 2.5
children. I truly doubt that any future husband would be able to anticipate my
Disney expectations at the rate and caliber at which Heather does!
All that said, when Mouse Mingle became a thing, six of you
reached out to me. Six of you. (and two people reached out to Heather to forward on to Holly....)
In case you missed it, Mouse Mingle is a dating site for
Disney lovers. Given that I fall into that category, I absolutely understand
why this seemed to make sense. Heck, I was even excited when I started reading
about it!
And then I joined the site…and the excitement faded with the
realization that cast members excluded, I think it takes an…ahem…interesting
type of man to join a Disney dating site. To kill the magic for a moment, there
are some straight up weird guys on there. Weird guys posing with pictures of my
friends and no smiles and it makes me wonder why dating sites don’t offer
background checks. Yes. Let’s do that. I want a background check for every one
of them!
I’m sure there are some nice guys on here, so please don’t
take this as applicable to all of them…but there are certainly a fair amount of
“winks” that have made me feel like I should maybe call the police.
In a nutshell, I’ve decided that it’s okay if my husband
doesn’t love Disney as much as me. I fully expect him to know the favorite
characters of any movie our children like and I want him to take me to see
fireworks on a regular basis…but if he doesn’t download the app, feel compelled
to take pictures alone with princesses, or know when the Indiana Jones show
starts, we will still be jjjjjjjuuuuuuuuuusssssttttt fine.
Heck, if the magic is just too much for him, he can always
just leave me and our kids with my sister.
So I’d like to wish a very happy Valentine’s to my soulmate, Disney and otherwise. Happy Valentine’s day, kid!
A note from Heather:
Few will understand the magnitude of Holly's compliment when she says I make her proud with my Disney-techniques. She's hard core with Disney and she considers most people to be dead-weight on her Disney excursions. We've now made enough trips together that we run like a well-oiled machine.....a thrill-ride-and-cartoon-character-seeking machine.
Valentine's Day brings out the best and the worst in people. I guess holidays in general do, but especially Valentine's Day. There's a lot of pressure and some people pull out the stops for their loved ones. I really do experience happiness for some of my friends who get awesome Valentine's surprises! However, there's also a lot of pressure as a single person....There's the unsaid awkward moments when your coworkers receive flowers or discuss their Valentine's plans and you purposefully don't contribute to the conversation because you don't want to come across as bitter or make them uncomfortable. There's the knock on your door when you think for a split second "Maybe just MAYBE someone sent me something!" (which turned out to only be my neighbor warning me that my car was about to get towed). Then, a worker at Trader Joe's gives you a single rose and you think "It's THAT obvious that I'm single? It's THAT apparent?". There are the multiple engagements on Facebook......and the "memories" on Facebook that take you back to this day in previous years and remind you of the Valentine's Days where you weren't alone.
But you know what? There's also moments where I remember that I am ROCKING life and I'm doing it alone. I have amazing friends, empowering independence, and truly feel like I make a difference every day. The independence I have now is something that a lot of women never experience, and I think it's pretty magical.
I know some of my friends pity me and think I should be taking their dating advice. They believe if they took the driver's seat in my dating life, then they could cure me of the debilitating disease of single-ness (*eye roll*). However, I'm no longer agreeing with their view on my relationship status. Being single isn't worth less than being married. It's a different life, but my unconventional circumstances aren't worth less than the circumstances in a traditional family. My life and my contributions are powerful and valuable, and the experiences I've gained as a single woman are incredible. I'm not considering my life now to be a season of waiting for marriage. I'm not waiting to start my life with The One; I already started my life and it's awesome.
I guess it seems like I'm writing to myself here, but I'm also writing this as an encouragement to others. Your relationship status isn't something to be cured or fixed, because you, darling, are a marvelous creature who is totally owning the single-hood life. You're like a freaking unicorn, my fellow-single-Valentines, and I hope you all enjoy it!
Hugs and frogs,
Holly and Heather
Few will understand the magnitude of Holly's compliment when she says I make her proud with my Disney-techniques. She's hard core with Disney and she considers most people to be dead-weight on her Disney excursions. We've now made enough trips together that we run like a well-oiled machine.....a thrill-ride-and-cartoon-character-seeking machine.
Valentine's Day brings out the best and the worst in people. I guess holidays in general do, but especially Valentine's Day. There's a lot of pressure and some people pull out the stops for their loved ones. I really do experience happiness for some of my friends who get awesome Valentine's surprises! However, there's also a lot of pressure as a single person....There's the unsaid awkward moments when your coworkers receive flowers or discuss their Valentine's plans and you purposefully don't contribute to the conversation because you don't want to come across as bitter or make them uncomfortable. There's the knock on your door when you think for a split second "Maybe just MAYBE someone sent me something!" (which turned out to only be my neighbor warning me that my car was about to get towed). Then, a worker at Trader Joe's gives you a single rose and you think "It's THAT obvious that I'm single? It's THAT apparent?". There are the multiple engagements on Facebook......and the "memories" on Facebook that take you back to this day in previous years and remind you of the Valentine's Days where you weren't alone.
But you know what? There's also moments where I remember that I am ROCKING life and I'm doing it alone. I have amazing friends, empowering independence, and truly feel like I make a difference every day. The independence I have now is something that a lot of women never experience, and I think it's pretty magical.
I know some of my friends pity me and think I should be taking their dating advice. They believe if they took the driver's seat in my dating life, then they could cure me of the debilitating disease of single-ness (*eye roll*). However, I'm no longer agreeing with their view on my relationship status. Being single isn't worth less than being married. It's a different life, but my unconventional circumstances aren't worth less than the circumstances in a traditional family. My life and my contributions are powerful and valuable, and the experiences I've gained as a single woman are incredible. I'm not considering my life now to be a season of waiting for marriage. I'm not waiting to start my life with The One; I already started my life and it's awesome.
I guess it seems like I'm writing to myself here, but I'm also writing this as an encouragement to others. Your relationship status isn't something to be cured or fixed, because you, darling, are a marvelous creature who is totally owning the single-hood life. You're like a freaking unicorn, my fellow-single-Valentines, and I hope you all enjoy it!
Hugs and frogs,
Holly and Heather
