Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Here we GOOOOOO! -Peter Pan

Ok everyone, sorry for not posting in forever, but things have been a whirlwind here! Now I have a few minutes to sit and collect my thoughts. Last Monday, Mommy, Granny, and Sydney drove down with me. 11 hours of fairly safe driving with just a little rain and we were all tired, but still ready to head to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Oh man… that was soooooo much fun!!!! We had Butter Bear, road all the rides, and were still able to have some time in the other Islands of Islands of Adventure. But let me tell you, Disney will always and forever trump Universal.

On Wednesday, I officially became a Disney Cast Member. I got to wait in line, choose my housing, wait in line, register my car, wait in line, set up my direct deposit, wait in line, get my assignment, and wait in line…. It was a really long day, but I had a lot of fun and met a ton of people. I got to meet my roommates, Hannah, Zasha, Kaylie, Brittany, and Kelsey. I share a room and bathroom with Kelsey she is crazy energetic and lots of fun. They’re all really cool and we all get along.

For now, I’ll leave everyone with just a few details, gotta keep everyone on their toes! I am working in Parking Operations in Magic Kingdom. I can drive a 171ft long tram, spiel all about the Magic Kingdom (and surrounding parks and resorts), and direct and park traffic. There are only three other CPs (College Program people) at the moment, but we should be getting more. I am hopefully going to get to carry pins to trade too, but I have to work that out with my manager later. I love the people I work with, and this job is so much fun!! Signing off for now, but I’ll be posting in the next couple of days, need to read and write essays for my classes!

Y’all have a Magical Day!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
–Mark Twain

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Almost there!!!

Well friends, it’s been a month since I have posted, but I’ll be better about that, promise!
Now there are only a few more days ‘til I leave for beautiful Orlando!!! Yesterday I spent a good part of the day packing all my junk. There is so much stuff to go down there, and I haven't even started on packing my clothes.

While I have been at home, there hasn’t been much at all going on. The holidays were wonderful, don’t get me wrong! Got to see Papa and Grandma when they came to visit pre-Christmas, went to Ohio to see everyone there for wonderful festivities, Santa was good to everyone at my house (we’re all angels, if you didn’t know), and had a great time ringing in the New Year and celebrating my 20th birthday. We were busy busy busy!! Since then though, there hasn’t been much to do. Lunch with Sherri and some retail therapy helped butttt—I have to stay away from the stores before I spend all the money I don’t have!

So much prep is going into this, but I truly have to thank my good friend Tiffani for giving me a little preview into what I should expect at my new job. Aside from living in the most magical place on earth, I get to work for one of the best companies out there too. Now unfortunately, I have signed a confidentiality agreement and won’t be spilling any trade secrets, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be sharing some of the Magic with my lovely friends and family! The first few days look like they’ll be full and exciting. I’m packing up and leaving Monday morning, possibly going to Harry Potter World on Tuesday, then breaking out of the starting gate on Wednesday. After that, I get to move in, learn all about the ins and outs of Disney, and begin making Magic for kids and kids-at-heart. One of my Disney Dreams is to get to put a smile on a Make-A-Wish kid. I also look forward to trading pins with kids and being a keeper of the coveted ‘cast lanyard pin’ and hard-to-find pin carriers! I’m such a nerd; I get so excited about the goofiest stuff. But while I’m traveling the secret tunnels, you can laugh all you like!

During all that retail therapy (it wasn’t too much actually) I got to shop for grown up, business-professional outfits. Now I feel like a real grown up… being 20 and all! I also bought a new pair of running/multisport shoes, and they’re really great. Dad calls them MonkeyFeet. REI (recreational equipment inc.) is the holy grail of fun. I have a goal of running a 5k in March and work up to a full Marathon sometime next year. Hopefully, I will be able to find a running group in Orlando, don’t want to be inspiration for an episode of Criminal Minds, Law and Order, or CSI. That’s mostly from my mom and Tina though! They crack me up! I’ll update everyone on how that aspect of my Disney Adventure is going as well. Accountability and encouragement is a necessity for me… beginning a new hobby that’s pretty intense. Help me stay on track guys!

And NOW I’m going to brush up on what Disney History is available and work on getting everything washed, dried, folded, and packed away! Pray for safe travel and a great start to this mew adventure. Blessings to everyone! 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
–Mark Twain