Three Months Down...

Wow, where is the time going?? It's crazy to think that in just two months, my first program will be over! But I'm not going home just yet. I applied to extend my program and will be staying through May! I will be switching to merchandise, which I am very excited about. However I know that I will miss the freedom that I have in custodial. I'm so excited to continue this journey!


I've been working on this post for several days now, so I apologize for the choppiness. 

Several weekends ago, Mama and Krista came down to visit Jack and I. They left on Friday after school, spent the day with us Saturday, then left Sunday afternoon. It was a short trip but we enjoyed every minute together. On Saturday Mama got to experience the craziness of Food and Wine at Epcot for the first time, as well as meet some of my coworkers. We did some early Christmas shopping and just spent time in the parks relaxing. We ended the weekend Sunday morning by going to Hollywood Studios to see Jack and ride the Great Movie Ride. I think he and I were both glad to have some time with our Mama's. 

Monday morning after they left, I woke up with an awful stomach virus. I don't ever remember being that sick and don't ever want to feel like that again! Haha. I spent the whole day on the couch and ended up having to call in sick to work. I didn't fully recover until Friday. Being sick away from home is no fun! I was very thankful to have Lauren here to take care of me.

I don't think anything else happened in the next week, but I'm really not sure because my weeks start to run together! 

Thursday night was the cast preview for The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios. My friend Molly and I attended, and it was so much fun! They gave out cookies and hot chocolate (which is weird to drink when it's 70 degrees outside), premiered the lights, and had Santa Goofy out doing meet and greets. Even though I've seen the lights multiple times, it was so neat to experience them at a cast preview. Everyone was in such a pleasant mood and was excited, which made the atmosphere so much more enjoyable. 

Friday Lauren and I were both off so we went to the parks and took pictures with characters. We met Disney's newest princesses, Anna and Elsa from the movie Frozen. 

Finally got to meet the fairies!

Anna and Elsa! Maybe I'll understand their characters better when I see the movie...

Yesterday morning I attended First Baptist Orlando again, and one of the pastors introduced himself to me. We had a conversation about what I was doing here at Disney and he told me that if he could help me connect in the church to let him know. That's something that seems so small yet, in a church that big, meant the world to me. 

Last night I had a "magical moment." A guest had bought a new shirt and somehow managed to drop the bag (and shirt) into the water near the area I was working. After stopping her grown son from climbing over the fence to get it, I was able to retrieve the bag. Of course it was soaking wet, and so was the shirt. She told me that she bought it at the entrance to World Showcase, so I walked them back to the store and had the shirt replaced. Hooray for magical moments!

Like I always say, I love it here but I miss everyone at home so much! I'm really burnt out right now, and definitely ready to see some familiar faces in the next few weeks! I could not do this without the prayers and support from family and friends, so thank you!

Two Months Down...

Saturday marked two months since I began this incredible journey...and those two months have flown by! So much has happened since the last time I blogged, so I apologize in advance for the lengthiness of this post. 

I absolutely love it here. I have made so many friends, and continue to meet new people daily. I feel as though I have grown so much over the past two months and become so independent. When I got down here in August, I swore that I would never drive or go anywhere by myself. Obviously that was an unrealistic statement. I slowly started going places alone, like McDonald's and the grocery store. Then I took the brave step and went to the outlet mall alone. Last week I took the biggest step and went to church alone, and I'm so glad that I did! I was so far out of my comfort zone, but I was also so blessed. I have also noticed that I'm beginning to talk more and be a little more outgoing. It doesn't bother me to be around new people anymore, because I'm around new people daily. I'm changing so much and even though it scares me, I know that change is good. 

I've gotten to see so many friends from home recently. Stephanie, Alice, Brody, and Bryce came down at the beginning of fall break. Stephanie teaches with Mama, and our families have been friends forever. They took me out to supper one night at Downtown Disney, and I met up with them in the parks one morning. We had so much fun!!

Sweet boys!

They brought me goodies!

So glad I got to see them! First baby I've held in two months. :)

I also got to see Margaret, who teaches with Mama as well. She came by and saw me working. We didn't get a picture together, but she snagged a picture of me for Mama.

Our neighbors, the Hoells, came to visit me at work, too. I was so happy to see them and talk to them!

My cousin, Nancy, and her husband, Todd came down that same week for their anniversary. I got to spend some time in the parks with them and be Nancy's riding buddy, and they took me out to supper!

The next week, Heather and Ted and their girls, Mackenna, Karson, and Bristol came down. They go to church with us. Jack and I met them in the parks one day and then they took us out to supper! They also came to visit me at work one afternoon. 

Sweet girls!

That same week, Lisa, Michael, Life, and Willow came to visit as well. I got to spend some time with them and Lisa's cousin, Megan, and her family as well. Megan and her husband, Jim, both did the college program and now are full time cast members at Disney. I enjoyed getting to talk to them about their work and experiences! They also visited me at work, and enjoyed seeing my in action. 

Sweet Willow waiting on the parade!

Michael was excited about having his picture made with a cast member!

Riding Small World!

This past weekend Allen, Bill, and Josh, Jack's friends from Georgia Tech, came to visit. Allen is my cousin. I met up with them in the parks for a little while Saturday morning before work. Sunday, Lauren and I both worked morning shifts so when we got home we were exhausted. The guys were at Magic Kingdom, and it stayed open until 1am but it was super crowded. They had FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain and weren't really sure if they would stay after they rode those attractions. However, Lauren and I decided to be spontaneous and head to Magic Kingdom around 9:00...YOLO (I really don't like this phrase but it just fit perfectly). When we got there they had already been on Big Thunder and were headed to Space Mountain. Lauren and I didn't have a FastPass so we were debating on whether we should just wait outside or try to act like we lost our FastPasses...Desperate times call for desperate measures. When we got to the entrance, I saw a girl working who is in my Marketing You class. I went up to her and asked her if she remembered me. She did and she let me and Lauren ride with the guys! I was so glad that she was working, and very proud of myself for talking to her. I definitely owe her big time! It was 2:30am when Lauren and I got home and we were beat, but had so much fun!

Allen and I at Hollywood Studios!

Had to get a picture of our spontaneous night...ignore our demon eyes.

The past few weeks have been great and I have really enjoyed spending time with friends from home. I love hanging out with my new friends, but it's always good to see someone that I've known for more than two months. 

I have a few random experiences. One is getting to see where all the 3D glasses for all the parks are cleaned. I was checking cast restrooms and didn't know where one of them was. When I asked my coordinator, he said it was one where the glasses were cleaned and asked if I had ever been. I hadn't, so he showed me. I thought that was pretty neat. Also, October 2nd was Custodial Appreciation Day. I didn't even know that this day existed. They had snacks for us at work, and gave us thank you notes and "I'm Celebrating" buttons to wear. All the other areas (attractions, merchandise, etc.) had signed posters thanking us for what we do. It was really sweet. Guests often see me cleaning and simply say, "thank you," and those two simple words make my day so much better.

I love the sunny weather down here, but I am definitely missing fall. The leaves on the palm trees don't change like the leaves on the trees back home. ;) It's starting to get cool here in the mornings and at night, but it's still pretty hot during the day. 

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support. Like I've said before, I'm having the time of my life but I really miss everyone back home! The time to make decisions about next semester is approaching quickly. Please continue to pray that God will give me wisdom and that I will make the right choices!

Weekend with the Family

Wow, what a fun filled weekend it was! As usual, my weekend started on Thursday. I am taking a class through Disney called "Marketing You" and we had our first meeting Thursday afternoon. The class had a more laid back atmosphere than a regular college class. I'm hoping that this class will give me direction in my life. This is a four hour class with two breaks, so it makes for a long day. I sure am having a hard time getting back in the habit of studying! After class, I went to Magic Kingdom with a friend from work who had never been before! He has been here since May and had never been to Magic Kingdom or seen Wishes! It is so much fun to be with someone the first time that they experience something at Disney World.

Matt, Krista, and Maddy, Jack's family, left Thursday afternoon to come down for the weekend. I spent the day with them on Friday and we had so much fun! We went to Epcot first, then to Animal Kingdom. Poor Maddy hurt her leg at dance, so she had to be in a wheelchair. The positive thing about it was that we didn't always have to wait in long lines if there was a handicap entrance. ;)

Maddy and me in front of Figment!

After we finished up at Animal Kingdom we came back to the apartment, then went to our resort. We were all staying at All Star Sports. I went and checked my family in, but they weren't there yet. Then we started getting ready for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We had never been before, so we were all excited! I wanted to dress up as Belle, but I had a hard time finding a costume. About a week and a half before the party I texted my crafty friend, Nancy Tyson, and asked her if she had ever made a costume. She had, and I told her what I was wanting. Just a few days later she called me and said she had bought everything to make it. Talk about a talented lady! She had to make the costume without me there to try it on. So when Krista brought it down, we all said a little prayer that it would fit, and it was perfect! 

Nancy's sister, Lori, and their mom working on the costume. It was a family effort!

And Mama modeling it. They sent me this picture while I was at work and I cracked up!

We got ready and got on the bus to go to Magic Kingdom. Mama, Daddy, and Nathan left Friday around 11am to come down, and Nathan had been keeping me updated on where they were throughout the day. While we were on the bus, Mama (who has no sense of direction) called me and told me that she was in the cast parking lot at Magic Kingdom! I don't even know how she ended up there! We went in and made some pictures and did some trick-or-treating. Somehow Mama got to where she was supposed to be, and I went back and met them at the gate with their tickets. There were lots of people with really creative costumes. We did some more trick-or-treating, met lots of characters that don't normally do meet and greets, and watched the parade and Hallowishes! I really enjoyed the party and thought it was well worth the money. As cast members, we can sign up to work the party (giving out candy, crowd control, etc.). Once I figure out how, I'm going to sign up to work one.

Of course Mama wanted to take my picture by a trashcan...

Hallowishes!

Friday morning before I left to for the parks, Lauren did my hair like Belle's.
She did a great job and it held up pretty well!

The one character that I really wanted to get a picture with was Gaston. It would have been perfect! But by the time we made it over to his area, he had already stopped doing meet and greets. :( We tried to get some good pictures in his area in new Fantasyland, but it was so dark that they all turned out bad. I really enjoyed being a princess for the night. A huge thank you to Nancy and Lori for making my costume!

Saturday we got up and went back to Magic Kingdom. We loved seeing the fall decorations, because we've never been during this time of year.

That afternoon we went to Hollywood Studios and met up with the McRee's. They talked Mama into riding Tower of Terror! Now that was a sight to behold. Everybody in the elevator with us was cracking up at her. Jack had to work that day, so we got to ride Great Movie Ride with him as our guide. He did a great job!

This is kind of blurry, but it was so funny!

We saw Fantasmic, then headed back to the resort. Sunday morning we got up, checked out, and went to Downtown Disney. Disney has just released a line of Vera Bradley, so we wanted to check it out. The patterns are so cute! We went and grabbed some lunch, then came to my apartment for a little while. I had to get ready for work, and they had to get back home. Again, it was hard to say goodbye but I'm so glad that I got to spend the weekend with them. I was supposed to work on Saturday, but at the last minute I found someone to take my shift. I'm so thankful that God answered that prayer. I'm still having the time of my life but I definitely miss home! Thank you to everyone for continuing to pray and support me!

Unleash the Villains

As I posted earlier, last night was Unleash the Villains at Hollywood Studios. This was a special Limited Time Magic event. It started at 8pm and ended at 1am, the 13th hour on Friday the 13th. Lauren and I were both off so we planned to go. Since the parks have not been crowded at all, we didn't expect a big crowd. Disney didn't expect a big crowd either, but boy were we all wrong! 

One of Lauren's coworkers had texted Lauren and told her that the traffic was really bad and that the park was at capacity. The only time the parks reach capacity is major holidays, like Christmas and New Years! We left our apartment around 7:30pm, thinking that we had plenty of time to get there. We were in bumper to bumper traffic for 45 minutes. While we were stuck in the traffic, we saw several Orange County police cars come by to help direct traffic. This is something that I've never seen at Disney. We were about to turn onto the road to Hollywood Studios when a police officer told us that we would have to park at Epcot and ride a bus to Hollywood Studios! I looked at him and said, "You have got to be kidding me." His response: "I wish I was kidding." By the time we got to Epcot it was 9:00. Then we had to stand in line to wait on a bus. Buses were being rerouted because of the traffic, so we went the long way to Studios. By this point I was ready to scream. If you know me well, you know that I don't handle traffic well, or people. We were packed on the bus with loud, obnoxious people and I really thought that I was going to have to spray one woman in the face with my pepper spray. We finally arrived at Hollywood Studios at 10:00.

Thankfully we got in with no trouble. One of our friends, Meghan, was in line to meet the characters. We met up with her and we were very lucky that we did. Had we not gotten in line with her, we would have missed the characters. I felt bad about cutting in line, but we had planned to meet up and sometimes you just do what you have to do! This was the longest and slowest moving line that I have ever seen. Later on managers started coming by and handing out cards with the characters' autographs on them, in case we didn't get to see all the characters. There were 6 characters. Then, guest relations members started coming by and handing out cards saying that if you didn't get a picture of the characters, you could e-mail them and they would send you a picture. This was their way of trying to encourage people to get out of line. We didn't get discouraged though. Meghan was determined to get a picture with Maleficent. 

Lauren met up with one of her friends who was farther up in line, and texted me saying that there were separate lines for the different characters. We stayed in the line that we were in because we didn't know what was going on. At 11:00 there was a fireworks show. This was really neat because Hollywood Studios only has fireworks for special occasions. It was one of the most amazing fireworks shows that I have ever seen! The music was perfect and there were so many fireworks! As we got closer, we could see that Maleficent was switching out every half hour with another villain. So we didn't know if we would even get to see her. Then cast members and managers began coming around and giving out free Dasani waters. At this point I knew that things were serious. This was Disney's way of saying "You're probably not going to be able to meet the villains." They finally cut the line off and there were literally 3 people behind us. We were told that we wouldn't meet Maleficent but we decided to stay in line just in case. It was midnight and she was leaving at 12:30. The line seemed to be moving so slow and I was ready to go up and make people snap a picture with Maleficent and leave. People were just walking up and cutting all of the people in line, and taking their sweet precious time interacting with her. But then, my faith in humanity was restored. There was a huge group of people in front of us and instead of getting individual pictures, they got one big group picture. So at 12:25, we finally met her! It was the fastest meet and greet I've ever done. She was trying to interact with us and we just wanted her to shut up and take a picture so that the people behind us could meet her too. After that we got on a bus back to Epcot and came back to the apartment. We were exhausted.

This was definitely an experience...I don't want to complain about how completely unorganized it was, because I know that the event managers and cast members were not expecting so many people and they were just very unprepared. I honestly felt bad for the company because there were so many upset guests and there was no one to blame. Many things could have been done differently to make the event go more smoothly, but they just did not realize how many guests would come out for this. Given the circumstances, they handled it very well and I am proud to work for such a wonderful company. All in all, it was a great night and I'm glad that I got to experience it!

Our quick picture with Maleficent!

These pictures aren't good at all. It was much better in person!

These are some random pictures from our Epcot/Animal Kingdom day!

A Few Thoughts and Pictures

Today is my Thursday and I am spending it relaxing. I did that yesterday, too. I guess I'm adjusting to this new climate because I've got a cold, so I'm trying to rest so that I will have energy while I'm working. Not having Saturdays and Sundays off has really been a big adjustment for me. I usually have Thursdays and Fridays off, and work the weekends. I really hate that because I can't go to church. Most of the time I'm not even here to watch a service on TV. That is one thing that I have really missed down here. 

It has been a really long week. Friday I had an 8am shift, then Saturday and Sunday I had 6:30am shifts. Those make for long days. I can't even function that early in the morning! Thankfully one of those mornings I was in restrooms and I had a good partner. When you work restrooms, you have a male partner that works the same area that you do. The other morning I worked streets, but I met a nice person who worked at Guest Relations who talked to me throughout the day.

When people ask me how I like it here, I tell them that I like it but it's so different from home. The more people that I meet and interact with, the more I realize how different it really is here. Most of the people that I meet don't have the same morals and beliefs that I do, which is new to me. All I've ever known is a small town where everybody knows everybody and most everyone goes to church. That's definitely not the case here. I knew that the whole world wasn't like that, but I had just never experienced anything different. It's so odd meeting people and finding out that they grew up completely different than I did. This is the case with a lot of my coworkers. It's sometimes very disappointing and discouraging because it's hard to find good people to connect with. But I truly believe that God has me here for a reason and it's all part of His plan. I'm so thankful for the good friends that I have made so far, and look forward to making many more!

I have a few pictures from a fun day in the parks to share. This friday is "Unleash the Villains" at Hollywood Studios, since it's Friday the 13th. All the villains will be out. I'm very excited because you don't see many villains around here anymore. Pictures from that will follow soon!

Molly and I with Ralph and Vanellope!

Singin' in the rain!

Lauren and I with Jasmine and Aladdin!

We love fall at Magic Kingdom!