Good afternoon, everyone – and happy Monday!
I hope you are all doing well today and had a great weekend! This past Sunday was my first day off in weeks and I’m quite literally counting down the hours until my upcoming vacation!
For this week’s blog, I wanted to have a little catch-up sesh with you guys and chat about all of the fun plans I have coming up for the next few weeks! I know it’s the middle of busy season, but who doesn’t love a little break from all of the business-related events and happenings? If you’re reading this and know a Photographer – give them a hug, and perhaps some caffeine… We need all the support and energy we can get right about now (LOL)!
In this blog, we’ll chat about some fun things I’ve got planned in my personal life that are coming up soon. I’ll also be giving you all a head’s up about some info regarding my first Styled Shoot of the 2027 Season! As always – grab your comfiest seat, your coziest blanket, and your fave daily beverage, and let’s get to the chit-chat!
A REAL Vacation!?
If you were around for the month of August, you know I went on a little hiatus to heal from some recent losses and struggles throughout my family and in my own personal life. So far, my return has gone SO much better than I’ve ever thought – but that hiatus was truly the opposite of a vacation, for many reasons.
After dealing with multiple family members and pets having some serious health cares – including the loss of our precious boy, Onyx – on top of car troubles, moving my Mom and Step-Father to Sweden, home repairs, and so much more… My husband and I took the month of August completely away from Social Media, Photography, and Videography to focus solely on our full-time jobs and getting our lives back together and into some sort of routine. Before my break, I hadn’t seen a real Vacation since almost a year ago. Needless to say, I’m counting down the MINUTES of these last couple of days of work before we finally hit the road on Wednesday.
We’ve been planning this trip since Spring of this year with a couple of our friends, and I can’t wait to experience a trip with someone other than just the two of us or family. If you’re interested in hearing more about the plans for our vacation – or you’re like me and are a nerd for itineraries, then just keep on reading ahead!
Day One: Wednesday – Travel Day
I don’t know if this is a normal thing, or just something us crazy people do – but usually, whenever we have a vacation coming up that includes any kind of hotel reservation, check-in, etc., we almost always end up leaving the night before. Like little kids on the night of Christmas Eve, we find ourselves feeling so impatient and excited that we just end up saying “well, if we’re too excited to sleep, might as well go ahead and head that way”. Also, because there’s way less traffic at nighttime (lookin’ RIGHT AT YOU, ATLANTA *side eye*).
Anyone else out there do this? Or are we just the crazies of the bunch? LOL
Days Two & Three: DisneyWorld!
After we spend Wednesday getting comfy at our new home-away-from-home for the next 6 days, our next two days will be spent within the walls of DisneyWorld’s Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios!
For Day Two, we’ve all got tickets to this year’s Mickey’s Not-So Scary Halloween Party – held at 4:00pm with early-evening access into Magic Kingdom. A few years ago, my husband surprised me with tickets to their Christmas Party and I am SO excited to see what all goes down at the Halloween Event. I’ve been doing my best to not spoil anything for myself, so I honestly am completely blind on what to expect! One of the best parts – for me (that I know of so far) – is getting that “early access” into the park, that way you’re still able to hop on a few rides before all of the festivities start!
Day Three, you can find me walking around Hollywood Studios (my favorite Disney Park!). If you’ve never been, this is where a lot of the Toy Story and Star Wars attractions are, as well as the infamous Tower of Terror (which I will be avoiding like the plague… no thank you..). I also just LOVE the look of the city-scape style feel everything has. I’ve never been, but it feels so much like you’re walking down Sunset Boulevard while also still feeling like you’re in a whole other world.
Day Four: A Day to Rest (but probably not…)
According to our Itinerary, we’re *supposed* to be taking a Rest Day on the actual night of Halloween to prepare us for our following couple more days. Will we end up actually resting? Probably not…
Our only set-in-stone plan for that day is a dinner reservation that we’ve set at Raglan Road (an Irish Pub & Brewery in Disney Springs). It’s a tradition for my Husband and I to set aside one of our evenings spent at Disney to spend some quiet time at a nicer sit-down restaurant. This time, we get to bring some friends along too! Last time, though, we severely miscalculated the distance we would have to walk to and from our dinner reservation and missed the end-of-the-night fireworks at the park. Hense the reason our reservation this time around was made on a day we didn’t plan on being at any of the parks.. LOL
Days Five & Six: Universal Studios!
On Days Five & Six, we all have tickets to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Epic Universe! If you’re someone who vacations at Universal, you know they just recently opened Epic Universe and Super Nintendo World – and I am so stoked to finally see it all now that the grand-openers have phased out some. I’m also excited to get to ride the Hogwarts Express again and go for another embarrassing amount of Butter-Beer!
Confession: I didn’t grow up with much interest in Harry Potter. I actually fell in love with the series *because of* one of our trips to Universal, where I got to see the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” for the first time. Now, my Husband is having a blast getting to introduce me to all of the movies and characters I probably should have known about decades ago (oops…). Anyways, now it’s truly one of my favorite parts of coming to either Disney or Universal. This, and the Star Wars area of Hollywood Studios.
Day Seven: Travel Day Back Home
Luckily, after all of the walking (that I underestimate every time we go..), we’ll have a whole day on the 3rd to take our time getting back home. This, of course, includes the typical stop to see Buc-ee Beaver and acquirement of their delicious snacks and pulled-pork sandwiches. Another, less formal, road-trip tradition within the Yancey household. Then, we’ll be back just in time for work at our full-time jobs the next day (yay…).
No More Brace-Face for Me!
While the title of this section is all in good fun, I really cannot wait to get these dang braces off. Even though I’m getting them off a couple months early – the closer I get to my removal appointment date, the more impatient I get and the more I miss popcorn and skittles…
If you know me, you know that my teeth have always been a huge insecurity for me. You could look back years and years of photos and be lucky to find one of me smiling with my teeth. I remember planning my wedding and being asked, “aren’t you a little sad you’ll have braces on, on your Wedding Day?”. The truth is, I so deeply hated my teeth and smile so much and for so long, that having a mouth full of metal WAS the better option for me, personally. I think that surprised a lot of people, but I’m also so grateful for the boost of confidence that braces alone has given me, so I felt comfortable enough not to hide my smile throughout the day.
Now, I’m just a couple of weeks away from getting to see the smile I’ve always wanted and dreamed for. From having all 4 wisdom teeth impacted, 2 baby teeth (one of which was actively dying, the other completely rotated and stuck in the roof of my mouth), and many-a un-evenness and gaps – to now having teeth that actually look like they belong and are all in their right places. It may sound silly, but I’ve wanted this for so long that it almost doesn’t even feel real that the time is almost here to see the final “product” of it all.
Closing Thoughts
If you’ve been following along this past year or so, you’re probably pretty familiar with the Bad-Luck Train we’ve been experiencing at the Yancey Household. In a classic, “when it rains it pours” kind of beat – we’ve been fighting tooth and nail to not let the shortcomings hold us down or pull us behind on the things we want to and/or are working to accomplish. Finally, we get the chance to get some rest and decompress from all that has happened recently. I’m really hoping that this trip will be the hard-reset we’ve been needing, and the start of a better season for us and our family.
As a reminder, I’ll be out of office from October 28th (this Wednesday) until November 3rd for this trip but will be back on the 4th to catch up on inquiries, emails, and any other admin-related work. The following week will be spent putting the finishing touches on my first Styled Shoot of the 2027 Season: New Beginnings.
If you’re interested in keeping up with the details of my Styled Shoots – make sure you’re following me on Instagram @/ruheliebephotography and @/ruheliebe.concepts. All pertinent details, invitation information, or links to purchase tickets will be posted and shared to both pages!
Talk soon!
Katelynn | Ruhe Liebe
