Just a LITTLE further!

I am SO close to being done with work! I close today and tomorrow and then I am DONE!!! NO MORE QUICK-SERVICE FOR ME! Gosh, I am getting so excited. I am getting even more excited for January 1st because that is going to be my last day in Walt Disney World and I'm going to do all my favorite things- I'll start out meeting Mickey and Minnie in the Magic Kingdom in the morning and I'll end my day in Hollywood Studios with Fantasmic! Yay! I just need to get through today and tomorrow (I'm not too worried about New Years Eve- I'm just gonna pack that day). 

My Christmas in Walt Disney World

This year was a different Christmas for my entire family because none of us were physically able to be with each other. My little brother Tyler is on his mission, my brother Mike and sister-in-law Michelle spent Christmas with her family, my sister Jenn had her first Christmas with just her and her two cute little kids, and I am here in Florida. I was expecting to work on Christmas, just like every other person who is on the college program down here was, but I was curious to know what the parks were going to look like on Christmas, so I managed to get one of my full-time friends from work to switch shifts with me so that I worked on Monday instead of Christmas. I worked Christmas Eve, but it was sooo slow at work. We had little spurts, but not much. So Christmas morning dawned and I didn't actually get out of bed til 10:15!! That is the latest I have EVER slept in on Christmas! It felt so weird! But then again, Christmas Day really didn't feel like Christmas because I didn't get to open any presents in the morning, I didn't get to hang out with my family, and there was no snow on the ground! In fact, yesterday got up to like 80 degrees here in Florida! I was talking to my parents on my phone after I got to Hollywood Studios and they said there was a ton of snow outside. I mentioned that I might actually get a tan and my mom was like "shut up." haha it was funny. But yeah, I really didn't have any set plans for my day. I wanted to watch the Block Party Bash and get some pictures with characters at the Magic of Disney Animation, but that was basically it. So I just wandered around the shops on Hollywood Boulevard and looked at all the stuff. I got some pictures of what the park looked like with all the people and I went on a couple rides (which I'll go into more detail about in another post). The best part of my day was my 12 minute phone call with my little brother Tyler on his mission. It was just me and him and it was sooo wonderful. I had the biggest grin on my face while I was talking to him. I miss him so much! I can't believe he only has like five months left! Anyway, I tried to get pictures with some of the characters, but they didn't come out after all, so I was sad. But I watched Fantasmic at the end of the night and it was wonderful. So that was basically my Christmas! I'll go into more detail later, but I have to work soon and I need to get ready and eat before I catch the bus. 

College Program graduation!

I have my official graduation mouse ears and certificate from the Disney College Program now, but there's just one problem with the graduation party today- it was POURING! The graduation picnic the last two days has been gorgeous weather, so people have been able to spread out and play wherever and eat and just have a good time. Well today, Mother Nature decided to pull out the showers so that we were all cramming inside. AND get this- because it was raining so much, the characters (Goofy, Donald, and Mickey and Minnie in their graduation gowns) had to leave because it was so wet! So I didn't even get to get a picture with Mickey and Minnie in their graduation gowns!!! Ugh! I almost cried when I found that out. I think I might go to one of the parks tomorrow, though, and get a picture with them. I can't decide if I want one with them together or individual. Oh well. I'll figure it out. grr.. stupid rain....

A non-Disney-related post!

Ok, this is more of a journal entry, but I suppose that's what blogs are anyway. Anywho, I am feeling bored these days for some reason. I still love Disney, but everything I have been doing this last week has been feeling a little monotonous. Well, actually no. Last week was not monotonous because I was deployed at the Caribbean Beach resort and I made a few more friends and I worked in different areas. But the last three days I've been off, I've been really bored because I haven't had a whole lot that I could do. I went to Hollywood Studios today to visit one of my friends at work and I ended up watching Sorcerer Mickey, Frozone, and the characters from the new Disney-Pixar film "Bolt" (Bolt, the dog; Mittens, the cat; and Rhino, the hamster) interact with each other and the guests. That is one of my favorite things to do at the parks (particularly Hollywood Studios) is watch the characters' interactions with each other and the guests. But its just part of what I do anymore. I still get excited seeing them, but they don't seem like the 'celebrities' I thought of them being anymore. 

I don't know what else I can do between now and when I leave to go home in a month. I went and saw Twilight the movie last night and that is actually what made me realize that I seem to have been living in a Disney bubble the last three months. All the movie posters I was looking at around the theater were of movies I'd never heard of because I haven't been watching really ANY TV lately. In fact, if I wasn't working in Disney World down here, I probably wouldn't even know about the movie "Bolt."

I liked watching Twilight, but it made me want to read more and go back and read the books again. Reading takes me to other worlds when my world is a little boring and the same every day. Since I went to my character audition and didn't make the cut, I've been focusing more on becoming prepared to be an elementary school teacher. Oh, and side tangent about the character audition, I'm ok with not getting to be a character right now. I can finish school and get my bachelor's and then if I want to come back and try again, I can.

I'm such a nerd that I even have been looking at the State Standards for Idaho that I got for my Early Field Experience class and I'm analyzing all the subject areas and thinking "how can I teach something that will cover this standard?" ...yeah, I'm a nerd, I'll admit it. But there aren't a whole lot of other things that I can do because I only have one book down here (Breaking Dawn) that isn't Disney-related and I might start reading that again. I'm just trying to find things that are going to enrich my mind and make me smarter because I feel that since I'm not really moving forward a whole lot by reading hard-copy books, I feel like I am getting dumber. I've started downloading the devotionals for BYU-Idaho so far this school year and I'm going to start listening to them so I can get my mind thinking and expanding my knowledge more. I don't want to just waste my mornings before work this week by sleeping and getting on my computer. I want to DO something! So maybe I'll go over to the fitness center by our building and work out for a little while. 

Disney World pictures with Mom and Dad

I took my parents to see Lights, Motors, Action! because I knew my dad would love watching how they film car chases in movies. I was right- it was one of his favorite parts of Hollywood Studios!








I'm pretty sure Caspian knows my face by heart now, but he stayed in character anyway. He called me a princess and then when he saw my parents, he asked who they were. I told him they were my mom and dad and he said "oh, so they are the king and queen?" Yeah, he made my heart melt.







I wasn't even planning on getting a picture with Bolt and Mittens because I didn't know they were "real" characters yet, but when we walked out of the Magic of Disney Animation theater place, they were getting pictures with people. So I figured I might as well take my opportunity and get pictures with them before the movie comes out cause I know once they become "known", their line is going to become very popular.




My parents had never been to Walt Disney World before, so I had to get them "First Visit" buttons.














My dad does a really good impression of Goofy, so my mom wanted a picture of him wearing that hat. I couldn't decide between the cute mouse ears with a princess veil or a princess hat. As you can see, I chose the ears. :)

First Day in Disney World with Mom and Dad!

Well today was a busy one. We 'slept in,' which meant we got up at around 7:30am. I say slept in because for the last four or five nights, I got 5 or less hours of sleep each night because I had to be up early the next morning to catch my bus to work. Anyway, we got up, got ready, and then went over to Shoney's for breakfast. Once we ate, we headed over to Hollywood Studios and I did my best to give my parents the best first day in the parks as possible. We went over to Guest Relations and got them "First Visit" pins so they could be recognized as newcomers to the park by Cast Members, therefore giving them a good visit. I won't go into complete detail right now just because I need to go to bed soon, but we had an excellent day. I had a full agenda for them today and we've got another full agenda tomorrow in the Magic Kingdom. I am so excited. If I have more time tomorrow once we get back, I'll go into more detail about our days so far. Oh, but one really cool thing happened to me today. There's a new Disney movie coming out called "Bolt" that Disney has been advertising up the wazoo (at least in the parks). Anyway, my parents and I came out of the Magic of Disney Animation attraction and were trying to decide what characters to meet when I saw the two main animal characters from the movie "Bolt". The dog named Bolt and his cat friend named Mittens were there, so I decided that I had to take advantage of my opportunity to meet new Disney celebrities, even though their new movie won't be out til November 21. So yeah, I'll write more tomorrow.

Yay for family and friends visiting!

I am really tired from working so much this week, but if I can make it through my next two days of work, it will totally be worth it. Yesterday, I was able to go have dinner and play in the pool with my best friend from home, Erin Pitcher. She was out here for a few days for a convention for her job and so we decided that we wanted to meet up and just hang out for a few hours. Oh my gosh, it was sooo good to see her again! Since Erin and her husband Matt got married a couple years ago, I haven't been able to see her that much. When we were talking last night, we were trying to remember the last time we saw each other and we agreed that it was at her older sister, Amber's, baby shower last December. So it's been a while. Erin and Matt live in Iowa right now because Matt is going to med school in Des Moines. What are the odds that Erin and I would be in Florida at the same time and be able to hang out together? It was the most random coincidence! The best part about the night was that we didn't have to feel guilty about what we got for dinner because Erin's company that she works for (Wells Fargo) paid for her hotel room and for her food. Another great thing is that instead of having to take a bus to see each other, Erin just took advantage of the fact that Wells Fargo was paying for all her accommodations and she got a rental car to use while she was here. So she came and got me at my apartment and we went to her hotel and ate at a restaurant near there and then went back to her hotel and hung out in the pool and hot tub. Erin and I haven't been able to hang out just by ourselves since I don't even remember. It was soo good to just be able to talk and catch up with each other on how things are going. I realized though that after she left, we should have gotten a picture together to have proof that we did get to see each other for a few hours yesterday. Oh well. The fact that my blog is now all cute and organized is because she showed me how to do it.
Another fun thing I am really REALLY looking forward to is that my parents are flying down here from Utah on Tuesday and so I'm going to get to spend Tuesday afternoon through Saturday afternoon with them playing in the parks and doing whatever we want to do!! I was fortunate enough to get Wednesday through Friday off and then I'm working Tuesday morning and Saturday night. They won't be getting here til around 5 on Tuesday, so I'm going to work til four and then come back to my apartment and get all my stuff ready to go spend the week with them at their hotel. I have a Main Entrance pass, as well as another pass from my Holiday discount that we are going to use while they are here. We'll have to figure out all the details of what parks we'll be going to and everything once they get here, but I am SO incredibly excited to see them.