Wrap Up!

Whoa! It's the end of December, and my Walt Disney World College Program is officially over! I'm in the middle of packing up my room right now and will be heading to the airport in just a few hours. Pretty crazy! It's been a busy last couple of weeks. Here's some of the highlights!

First off, Morgan, Emily, and Kenzie came to visit! It was a ton of fun and I was able to get work off and hangout with them the whole time.

Christmas came and went! Christmas was definitely strange not being at home and it was weird having to work. Fortunately I didn't have to work until 4:30 that day, so I was able to go to church in the morning. After church my roommates and I had a brunch over at our apartment and we had about 20 people or so over, including the missionaries again. It was a lot of fun and we had some great food! It was strange because it really didn't feel like Christmas, but I guess that was a good thing since that also meant I wasn't too homesick! And work wasn't too bad either, most of the guests were really nice and kept thanking us for being there and working.

I went to an Orlando Magic basketball game! I had been hoping to be able to go to one before I even got out here, but then it looked doubtful with the lockout. But fortunately for me they ended up having 3 home games before it was time for me to leave, so me and a friend from work went to the home opener this past Monday night! It was a lot of fun and we got free t-shirts! And the Magic won! Sorry, no pictures from that. Haha

I made it to the beach!!!!! Going to the beach was on my list of things I hoped to do as well, and it was also looking doubtful. Buuuut some friends from the ward decided to go to Cocoa Beach yesterday morning at 5am to see the sun rise, and since this looked like my one and only opportunity to go I took it! So yeah, it was a little hard waking up and it was freeeeezing cold outside - but it was definitely worth it.

So that's about it. No more working at Port Orleans Riverside! I can't believe I'm going home. In some ways I feel like I've been here forever, but at the same time it seems like I just got here. Even though it hasn't always been a lot of fun and at times I've wanted to just go back to school, I'm definitely glad I came. I've made some great friends and learned a lot. I know I was supposed to come out here. I've been counting down the weeks to go home ever since I first got here, but as this day has been approaching closer and closer I've realized how much I'm going to miss it. But I've had a lot of fun and I look forward to coming back again....but only to visit. Not to work. Haha so now the journey home begins! I'm so excited to spend a few days at home before driving up to Utah! And I'm soooo excited to go back to school! Well maybe not the school part, but at least back to Provo!

Peace out Orlando! 

I can't believe how fast the time is going! It's crazy to think I only have 3 weeks left here. In some ways I feel like I just barely got here. I still have a lot I want to do so I'm going to be keeping busy! So the past 2 weeks I've spent a lot of my time off resort hopping. Before I came to Disney World I had no idea how big it was. I mean I had heard it was way bigger than Disneyland, but you can't really understand it until you've been here. At Disneyland there's pretty much just the 2 Disney hotels - the one you can take the monorail to and then the one by California Adventure. I guess there's a good chance I'm wrong since I haven't been to Disneyland for a couple years, but that's how I remember it. So when my family goes to Disneyland we stay at some other hotel down the street, but everything is basically always in walking distance.

Well here at Disney World it's way different. There are close to 20 Disney resorts and all the resorts and parks are way spread out, so there are buses that will take you everywhere you need to go. I've made it a point to visit every resort, and I accomplished my goal today!! It's been a lot of fun going to all of the resorts and walking around the lobbies and grounds, and it's especially fun to see the Christmas decorations that are up in a lot of them. Some of my favorites were the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, BoardWalk, and Pop Century. And obviously Port Orleans because I work there! Overall I think I liked the BoardWalk the best. I would love to stay there someday! It was a really fun atmosphere, and plus it's walking distance to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios which would be super nice.

Giant Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian - yeah, that's real gingerbread!

Other than resort hopping I've just been working a lot. I made it to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios last week with a friend from work, and today one of my roommates and I went to Animal Kingdom. The main reason we went was because one of our other roommates was working there today. She's a character performer and is 'friends with' Winnie the Pooh. And by 'friends with' I mean she is. Haha so yeah that was a lot of fun! She was so excited to see us and we got some good pictures! And her sign she does when she sees people she knows is to touch her nose.....it's her way of saying "I 'nose' you." Haha so that's why we're all doing the nose point - because we know each other!

Kamrie! I mean Pooh!

Eeyore!

Tigger!

Animal Kingdom Lodge - I was getting tired. Haha

So everything is going good for me here. I fly home 3 weeks from today! And Morgan and Emily come in 6 days!! I can't wait! I'm just not looking forward to the crazy Christmas working hours!

Thanksgiving!

Wow! Thanksgiving already?! Yes indeed. So this was my first Thanksgiving away from home, and I have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I missed my family and wished I could be in AZ. And I'm sad I missed my dads b-day which was yesterday too. But I had a good Thanksgiving Disney style. Our celebrating started last week when housing hosted another dinner - this time Thanksgiving themed. The food was pretty good and we got some pictures with some characters!

I'm not sure who thought it would be a good idea to salute. Haha

We were making turkeys with our hands, and Minnie and Mickey did it too!

So on the real Thanksgiving I had to work from 8:30-4:30pm. And we were super busy pretty much my whole shift. I was in dining room so I pretty much just cleaned tables the entire time. And yes, it was as boring as it sounds. But people were pretty nice and there were quite a few guests who wished me a happy Thanksgiving and thanked me for working so they could enjoy the time with their families. So that was cool. A lot of my friends had a pot-luck or a meal provided if they were working, but my location was lame and didn't give us anything. Oh well. Then last night my roommates and I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for some friends from the ward. We had 17 people here and a ton of food! We had been worrying about not having enough, but we had plenty and even had quite a bit of leftovers. Which I think I might help myself to when I'm done writing this. Haha...but it was a lot of fun. Most of us were all in the same boat with this being our first big holiday away from home so it was nice being able to get a big group together. And the missionaries did a little spiritual thought and it was really neat. Yep, that's right - we had the missionaries here. Haha I'm pretty sure the missionaries are here at least once a week, so of course they came to our dinner.

So that was my Thanksgiving. Otherwise I've just been staying busy with work and going to the parks and resorts when I have a chance. A few days ago I had the most amazing cupcake from the Contemporary Resort (yes - I went there mainly to buy a cupcake because I had heard they were delicious) but it was a pumpkin spice cupcake with caramel filling and cinnamon cream cheese frosting. So good! So that's about it. It's crazy to think November is almost over! But I'm not complaining. Morgan will be here in 3 weeks! So if you want to plan ahead - feel free to send my Christmas presents via her. Just get them to her in Provo and then she can bring them with her. If you feel so inclined. Haha....but really. Or I do accept mail. I'll give you my address if you want it! 

Well that's all I've got for today.

Temple Time!

It happened. I finally made it to the Orlando Temple! And I was actually able to go twice within a couple of days. Last Friday I was off work and the elders in our ward asked me if I would go with them and this guy Dave on a temple tour. I guess I should back up a little. So the elders here are super great and they have a ton of success here with the kids working in the college program. The day my roommates and I moved into our apartment we met Dave, who lives downstairs from us. We've hungout with him a lot and have gotten to know him, and he ended up getting baptized a few weeks ago! So that was exciting. And so this temple tour was for investigators and new members, and the missionaries just asked if I would go along with Dave. Of course I wanted to go because I wanted to see the temple here, and it ended up being pretty interesting and I'm glad they asked me. 

Then I was able to go back a few days later for a ward temple trip! This time I was able to go inside and it was beautiful. I'm definitely a fan of the Orlando Temple. 

(Sorry - you can blame my roommate's camera for the blurry pictures. Haha)

It was a good week and I got a lot of stuff done. It was nothing too exciting, mainly grocery shopping, laundry, returning clothes to costuming and getting clean ones, and boring stuff like that. But it was stuff that needed to be done. But staying busy makes the time go faster! A friend of mine has asked me a couple times if I'm happy being here, and I always have to think about it. But yeah, I would say I'm happy for the most part. Don't get me wrong, I'm having a lot of fun and it's been a good experience. I've met a lot of people and love being able to go play at Disney World whenever I feel like it. And I've enjoyed living in Florida and actually think I really like the state. At the same time I'm just ready to go home. I just want to go back to Utah and see my family and friends! But I'm happy to be here and will try to stay busy and enjoy the next 7 weeks as much as I can!     

Life in Florida

This past week was pretty uneventful. I was sick a couple of days so I didn't really do as much as I had hoped. I did make it to Hollywood Studios one day (I think I've decided that might be my favorite park) and 2 of my roommates and I went to a movie this weekend. Nothing too crazy. It was raining pretty hard earlier today. Gotta love Florida! So now I'm just hanging out. I have some time before I have to go to work, but not really enough time to go to a park or resorts or anything. So I'll just leave you with some random thoughts. And sorry, I don't have any pictures to post today!

Mataya is one of the funniest people I know! She sent me a letter in the mail the other day with pictures she drew and $1! She's so nice! And last night I was talking to her on the phone and she was making me laugh pretty hard, and she also played me a song on the piano. Haha

I finished Friday Night Lights! That show was so good and I'm sad it's over.

I love ice cream sandwiches.

30 Rock is hilarious and I wish I could be as funny as Tina Fey.

The holiday sandwich at Earl of Sandwich is delicious. Turkey, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce on a sandwich - what more could you want? And I know it sounds crazy, but don't judge it till you try it! Just ask my roommates.

I'm so ready to go home! Well back to Utah. But Morgan and Emily and Kenzie fly out here 6 weeks from Thursday! And I fly back to Salt Lake 9 weeks from tomorrow! Not that I'm counting or anything. Haha

What?!

It's already over halfway through October?! Crazy. My program is half over! Well it's been a pretty crazy week and a half or however long it has been since I last posted. My mom came to visit! I lucked out and was able to get 4 days off in a row, thanks to my managers and nice co-workers taking my shifts. So yeah, I was able to stay at the resort with her and we went to the parks and she came to see my apartment! We did all 4 parks in 3 days and I think we did a pretty good job of covering everything. It was super fun! And we did the Disney Dining Plan because I could get a discount on it, and it is seriously like the best deal ever. Well, if you use it the right way. But let's just say we ate really well and I'm missing it now that I'm back to taking pb&j to work. So she left on Tuesday and I've just been working. I'm kind of upset because last week and the next 2 weeks I'm scheduled to work mostly night shifts. I've usually been scheduled mornings and I like mornings a lot more. This week I have 3 days of 6:30pm-12:30am. What's up with that? Not only is it late, but only 6 hours? Come on! So yeah, I'm not getting as many hours as I was a few weeks ago. Oh well.

Magic Kingdom

Hollywood Studios

The Hoop-de-do-Revue

Port Orleans - where I work!

We ran into Mulan in China. No Morgan, I don't character hunt.

Norway

Ok so funny story. Yesterday I was off and I went to Typhoon Lagoon with some friends from work. (Which was pretty fun, especially since it was basically empty and we rode all the slides multiple times and did pretty much everything in like 2 hours.) But anyways, we're walking and there's this family walking towards us. I'm not really paying attention, but as we get closer I see that the little boy (who's probably 10 or 11) is pointing at me and then I hear him whisper to his mom, "Mom, she works at our hotel!" I was so surprised but we all kept walking obviously and I turned to look back at him and they all turned and looked at me and I just smiled and waved and the little boy got a huge smile and waved back! And then I was working this morning and the boy came up to get something and he had a huge smile again and I was like, "Hey! I saw you at Tyhpoon Lagoon yesterday didn't I?" So yeah that was pretty cool and it made my day. I like the guests for the most part. I mean some are a bit annoying and rude, but for the most part they're nice and friendly.I was disappointed when I first found out I was working at a resort, but now I've come to like it because you kind of get to know people and recognize them since most will come and eat there multiple times on their trips.

That's all I've got for now. This week I plan on checking out some of the resorts and hopefully getting to the parks a couple of times. I mean I have time to do stuff everyday since I don't work till 6:30, so I might as well. And starting today I get a 40% discount on merchandise! Boom!

Update!

So it's been a pretty busy and fun week! I did a lot of stuff I hadn't done before. I saw the Electric Lights Parade at Magic Kingdom with a friend, and I think this was the first time I ever went to a park specifically to see a parade but it was way good! Especially the Pete's Dragon float. Haha nobody I talk to has ever seen the movie so nobody can ever sing the songs with me, except Morgan and Wyatt. So luckily I was able to laugh about it with them. After the parade we did a couple rides, with no waits at all! I like those kinds of waits. Tuesday night there was a big housing event that we went to. They do these once a month or so for the College Program kids and they're pretty nice. Last time it was a Western theme and this one we went to was a Japanese culture night. There was a ton of free Japanese food and characters and a lot of stuff going on. Wednesday I saw Fantasmic for the first time! Me and one of my roommates met up at Hollywood Studios when we got off work and hungout there for awhile and then went and watched the show. It was so good! I think I've just seen pieces of it at Disneyland, but here they have an amphitheater specifically for Fantasmic so it was nice having an actual seat to sit on. Friday me and one of my roommates were both off, so we spent most of the day at Animal Kingdom and I finally saw The Festival of the Lion King and the Finding Nemo Musical, which were both super good. 

Japanese night

Animal Kingdom

From our night at Downtown Disney to see Lion King

So yeah its been a pretty good week. I'm still working about 40 hours a week and it's going good. Yesterday and today I'm working night shifts, and it's kind of weird because I was working mornings for a couple weeks. But it's all good. And guess who's coming to visit me in 3 days?!

Well I wish they were both coming, but just my mom is! I don't think I have any pictures of just her. They're just always together. Haha....but yeah it's going to be so much fun!