A look back & a look forward...

New Year's Eve.

2013 was filled with many new experiences for me- some fantastic, and some not good at all. I'm hopeful and ready for a new year- bring on 2014!

I spent a little time looking back over my year of blogging today. I've learned a lot, I've made great friends and connections in the blogging community, and I've had the pleasure of a few trips to my favorite place. I'm grateful for it all.

The year was full of some Disney firsts for me:

• My first visit to the Food & Wine Festival (and I realize I never recapped the food or the wine! I'm saving them for some of these upcoming cold, wintery days...)

• My first time staying on the monorail loop/first time at The Polynesian

• My first runDisney race. It opened up a whole new world to me, and I loved it.

• First time taking a trip as an adult with both my mom and sister. It was a long time in the making.

Here are a few things I'm looking forward to in 2014. They're not all guaranteed to happen, but a person can set a few goals, right?

•  I'd love to run another runDisney race. Wait- let me change that: at least one more runDisney race. (Maybe two...)

• I want to do at least one new (to me) thing in each of the four parks. My initial ideas:  Go to Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios, see the films I've missed in Epcot (Canada and China), check out the queue for Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom (still can't believe I haven't done this yet), and Magic Kingdom has to be the Mine Train. I sure hope it's open when I visit in the spring! I'd also love to do a new tour at one of the parks.

• A return visit to Flower & Garden Festival would be fantastic. I love that time of year in Epcot!

• I hope to visit the parks again with my husband and daughter. I've been lucky- spoiled, really- by their awesome support for my quick getaway trips. Whether it was for a race, a sisters trip, a visit tacked on to a work trip, or just "Blog research" ;) ... they support me in my habit. As much as I love these quick visits, I really want a longer, more relaxing trip- with my family.

• I'd like to stay at a new resort. I tend to stick with the ones I love- but every time I've tried a new one, I've never been disappointed! I might want to check out Port Orleans, and of course, Yacht Club has been calling me forever. Maybe this year!

• I want to write more, enrich my content, make new friends and connections, and continue to be party of this dynamic community! Changes will be coming to the blog this year. I'm still in the planning stages, but I can't wait to keep things going in a little bit of a new direction!

Thank you all so much for reading, visiting, and helping me have a place for this outlet. Have a fantastic New Year! Cheers!

photo shared via Disney Parks Blog