About Me

I started this blog as a celebration of some of the things I enjoy most. Some may find it odd that at thirty-four years of age, I have a blog about dolls and Disney characters. I've gotten some strange looks even when talking about it to some of my family and friends. That's okay, maybe I am a little bit odd. The original "Beast's Belle" was too, you know. :)

I've loved dolls for as long as I can remember, whether they were Barbies or AG dolls. I fell in love with every Disney movie that came out during my childhood, from "The Rescuers Down Under" and "The Little Mermaid" all the way up thru "The Lion King". It was always a big part of who I was, but as my elementary years ended and junior high began, it was harder and harder to share this with others. Everyone else was growing up too fast. No time for Barbies...they were moving on to lipstick and nylons!  

As a young tween, I let the comments and opinions of others influence me so much that I stopped playing with dolls and packed them away. Junior highers aren't always the most sensitive of human beings, and I was slightly over-sensitive, to put it mildly. :}

High school was slightly better than junior high, but not much. I was one of those people who would call around to all of the different McDonald's restaurants in town to see which Disney or Pixar toys they had in their Happy Meals that week, determined to get the whole collection. But I died of embarrassment if anyone from school saw me with a Happy Meal. It didn't matter if I knew them personally or not.

Then came college, and suddenly, it was okay to still be into toys. I think I've related this in a blog post before, but my second year of college was the "Disney Princess" year. There were five girls living in the dorms (it was a small college), and I used to go visit them every day. We assigned a Disney Princess character to each of us and finished out the year with a Princess Party with all of the trimmings. That was the year that I realized that "Beauty and the Beast" had been my favorite all along. I brought my old Beauty and the Beast dolls out of storage and started collecting things from the movie. My college friends taught me it was okay to be a kid, even when you were growing up on the outside.

My love of American Girl and other 18" play dolls comes from seeing the beautiful dolls at our school book fairs in the school library (and let's not forget those tantalizing Pleasant Company magazines that came in the mail). I was about ten or eleven when Felicity came out, and I was hooked. I was a major horse lover at that stage in my life, so I loved reading about Felicity and Penny. I wanted a Felicity doll more than anything, but it was never a financial possibility for my parents.

So I guess in some ways I'm reliving my childhood. Collecting dolls, toys, and Beauty and the Beast stuff brings back all of those special memories from when I was a girl. It's so wonderful having girls of my own, too. Now I get to share all of these things with them (and not look completely weird to everyone around me). :)

What other things should you know about me? I'm happily married to my high school sweetheart. I have three beautiful girls that fill my life with joy...and a lot of stress and frustration at times, too. Just being honest here. :) I will say that they are 100% worth it, though. :)

I'm a Bible-believing Christian, saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone...which is a good thing, because I royally mess things up on my own. I have a wonderful church family that I've been a part of since I was a little girl.

I love to sing. Most of the time, I sing at church on Sundays, although I've also sung at weddings and funerals as well. My dream would be to sing on a big stage, either at a community theater, or anywhere, just once...just to experience it. :) I love singing hymns and songs about the Lord. I also love singing Broadway and Disney songs, as well as songs from Rogers and Hammerstein musicals.

Okay, I guess that's enough babbling for now. Wow, if you made it all the way through this page, I applaud you for your perseverance! :) To sum up, I'm a thirty-four-year-old wife and mom who NEVER GREW UP. :)