Part 1 is almost over!

I have almost survived Christmas! The parks have been insane this week. Magic Kingdom has reached capacity every day since Monday. Rides that normally have a 20 or 30 minute wait have had 2 hour wait times. Every area of the park has people standing shoulder to shoulder and each quick service restaurant has a team of cast members specifically assigned with the task of seating guests. I have never seen the parks this busy. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but there are a ton of people. I am never coming here as a guest during this time of year. Ever. I don't know why anyone thinks it's a good idea. I understand not wanting your kids to miss school, but my goodness. This is madness. It took me over an hour to get to work yesterday and it normally takes 20 minutes. Hopefully by the end of next week, everything will clear out. Unfortunately, when that happens, all of the Fall CP's are leaving. Everyone leaves next week. If I hadn't extended, I would be coming back home next Friday. It's crazy to think about. I'm so glad things have played out the way they have. I'm not ready to leave this place. I still have so many adventures to take on. I'm very lucky to have been given the opportunity to stay. I know I am truly blessed. And even better, I will have Michael here with me. That's the best part. I feel so much more complete when he is around. Only 3 more weeks! And in 2 and a half weeks, my mom will be here to visit again! Yay! I got Michael's hotel booked last night and he booked his flight also! Everything is falling into place. I'm sad that everyone leaves next week, but I am so excited for what is to come.

I worked every day this week except Christmas. It is difficult to recall anything that happened because it has been such a long week. I can say that next week's pay check will be AWESOME. Yay! On Christmas day, Sarah and I opened the gifts our families had sent us. Sarah had also gotten me Mary Poppins because I had never seen it. I must say, it is one of the best movies ever made. I really liked it. I have already watched it twice this week. Also, Mom sent me the new Tinkerbell movie, Secret of the Wings. I watched it last night and loved it. It is a very cute movie. On Christmas night, the DiFranco family took me with them on a Fireworks Cruise. At around 9:00, we got on a boat at the Wilderness Lodge and then the captain took us all around Bay Lake and then we watched the fireworks at Magic Kingdom from on the water. It was very cool to see. It was also really nice to be around people who weren't pushing or pulling on me. I am very grateful that they invited me to go with them. They seemed to enjoy the stories I had to tell and I really liked spending time with them. This makes me even more excited for Michael to be here. I miss having the kind of human interaction I used to have. Since it has been so difficult for me to make friends here (and make everyone's schedules work), I don't really get as much human interaction as I would like, and that's something I feel like I need. I have been a lot better lately though! And I know this next part of my program will be even better. I'm so glad to be staying here. I am very lucky.

Now I am headed to work again. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Orlando is a mad house.

There are so many people here. It is ridiculous. And it happened overnight. The last few days here have been fine. The parks haven't been too crowded, there hasn't been much holiday traffic, and nobody has tried to carry away Minnie Mouse. Then yesterday happened. There was a one hour wait to park at the outlet mall. It is absolutely crazy. So I'm hiding in my apartment until further notice. (Really just until tomorrow morning when I have to go to work.) I have been spending a lot of time watching movies and coloring. Michael bought a new TV the other day online and had it shipped to me so he wouldn't have to pay to ship it twice, so I have been really enjoying it for the last couple of days. He thinks it will go with him to his apartment when he gets here, but he is mistaken. I will gladly share it with him at my new apartment! It's really funny how big a 32 inch TV seems when you have had a smaller one for months. Especially in our tiny living room. I like it!

I decided to do something crazy yesterday. I went and got my hair cut. I cut it all off. I really like it. It was a little shocking at first, but now I think it looks good. Unfortunately it doesn't look the same in pictures, but eventually there will be a good picture! I want the back and sides to grow out a little too. The stylist cut it a little shorter than I was wanting.

I'm excited to have Christmas off. I received three Christmas cards in the mail today, along with some presents from Mom to unwrap on Christmas morning. Sarah and I are both off that day and then have separate plans that night. In the morning, we are going to watch the Disney Parks Christmas Parade on ABC. Other than that, I don't know what I will do. Hopefully it will be a nice day. It's just a bummer that I don't have any family here to celebrate with.








The next two days will be spent with Mickey in Town Square Theater. I really hope it won't be too insane. It probably will though. I don't know how I'm going to get to work on time. I have to be there right when the park opens both days. WISH ME LUCK! I'm probably going to bed soon. I'm pretty sleepy and my 11 hour day tomorrow won't be fun if I am falling asleep! I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Goodnight!

P.S. Exactly 4 weeks until Michael arrives!

A day off with Sarah!

Today, Sarah and I were both off from work. We decided today would be a good day for a park hopping adventure. After being home for a week, I finally realize how cool it is that when I have nothing to do, I can just go hang out at Disney World for free. Well, not really free because I always spend too much money when I'm there, but free admission at least.

 

Sarah and I went to Magic Kingdom first. We were on a mission, not to ride rides or anything, but to find particular items. While I was home in Texas, my parents gave me various figurines of Disney characters. Each figurine represented a character I have been friends with over the last 4 months. The only friends that had not been found were Mickey, Marie, and Piglet. I have been looking on Ebay since I got back to Florida, but haven't found anything I really liked. There was a particular Mickey I knew I had seen at Magic Kingdom, so Sarah and I were determined to find it today. 
We were also in search of the infamous Peter Pan hat for Sarah. This hat is only made available at the Disney Parks for short periods of time for reasons we do not know or understand. Sarah saw a girl wearing one yesterday so we knew that was on our list of things to find. We also wanted to go retrieve our Cast Member Christmas gifts from Disney and the New Fantasyland Cast Exclusive Pin for Magic Kingdom cast members only. We had a long list of things to find.

First stop: Christmas gift and New Fantasyland pin! The Christmas gift this year is a Bambi ornament. I will probably never include it in my Christmas decorations. I plan to keep it with Disney Memorabilia instead! After we got those out of the way, Sarah had to go talk to one of her managers about something, so I headed into the park to see if I could find this awesome Peter Pan hat. There was one left. Jackpot! I bought the last one before Sarah returned and gave it to her. She was so excited. She has been wanting it for basically forever. Merry Christmas, Sarah! After that, we ate lunch at Columbia Harbor House, which is one of my favorite places to eat at Disney.

After lunch, we went to Main Street, USA to look for the Mickey I wanted. Unfortunately, the store didn't have it, but they did have a really pretty Marie figurine! So I got that instead! We walked around the park a little while longer, did some pin trading, and then headed off to Epcot! Sarah really wanted an Epcot shirt because she loves Epcot and is only working here for a few more weeks. I say "a few," but I really mean like two and a half. Boo to that.

So anyway, we went on the search for an Epcot shirt, but first stopped in The Art Of Disney. It's pretty much our favorite store! While we were in there, I found the Mickey figurine I was looking for! It is made by Jim Shore and is Mickey as Steamboat Willie. I was so excited! It was the last one left. I had to buy the display. Luckily, it was in perfect condition, so that's good! I was really happy I found it. I have seen it at Hallmark before, but Hallmark doesn't give me a 40% discount for the holidays like Disney does.




After that, Sarah and I went to get her an Epcot shirt. Then, there was no line at Character Spot, so we went to meet Mickey, Pluto, and Minnie! We love the characters! After a little more pin trading, we were ready to head over to Hollywood Studios.

 

 

Our initial goal for today was to eventually end up at Studios so we could watch the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. 5 million lights are hung on the buildings of Streets of America and the lights dance to the Christmas music playing. It also snows. I had never seen this before, and Sarah hadn't seen it this year, so we really wanted to go. When we got to Studios, it was only 4:30 in the afternoon, so it wasn't dark enough for the lights yet. We walked around and traded pins some more, got fast passes for Tower of Terror, met Vanellope and Wreck It Ralph, and rode the Tower of Terror while we waited for the sun to go down. Side note: Vanellope and Ralph are adorable. I am so excited to be friends with Vanellope. If you haven't seen the movie Wreck-It Ralph, stop what you're doing right now and go see it. If it's too late to go to the movies, go Saturday morning while the tickets are cheap. It is a great movie and Vanellope is so funny! After all of these adventures, Sarah and I went to eat at Pizza Planet. It has some of the best pizza in all of Disney. AND, you get a small caesar salad! I don't know about you, but I think caesar salad makes pepperoni pizza taste better!

 Finally, after all of that, we got to go see the lights! It was so beautiful. It was crazy to see that many lights. It felt like being back on Times Square. I'm really glad we got to see it. After the lights, we decided to go home. It was getting a little chilly and we weren't really dressed for it. When we got back to our apartment, we sat at the computer desk and watched videos of Peter Pan at Disneyland because we are weird. That's the funny thing about life though. People don't always realize it, but everyone is weird. You just have to find people who are weird in the same ways as you. Then they won't notice that you're weird, and if they do, they won't care or they'll like you better for it.

I'm glad I got to spend the day with Sarah. The last few days have not gone very well for me. My birthday was Sunday. It was alright. Mostly just another day working. But it felt extra lonely. I don't think anyone ever expects just how lonely the happiest place on earth can feel at the most wonderful time of year. But it really is. If you take any time to just pause, or sit at home watching a movie, it is very lonely. Even if you're in the middle of a park, surrounded by thousands of people, if you aren't with that one person you want to be with, it is a very lonely experience. I'm trying to get passed this though. Today was a much better day than the last few have been. Even yesterday was a huge improvement. I talked to my dad on the phone yesterday. That always makes me feel a lot better. And I talk to my mom quite a bit. I talk to Michael every chance I get. I really miss him. But I know he will be here very soon! (34 more days!) And we are going to have the most wonderful time together! Walking through the parks today, I was already planning in my head all kinds of things we have to do. I can't wait to be able to go see him while he is working. And to have him come see me! That will be so fun!

I'm really nervous about not having Christmas with my family. It wasn't too bad being away for Thanksgiving. I had Thanksgiving like 5 times, and got to eat good food with nice people, so I feel like that's a fair trade. But Christmas is my only day off next week, so I'm wondering how that will go. Fingers crossed. If anyone wants to send a little extra love my way, I wouldn't complain. And I will return the favor.

Side note: I get a kick out of sending people postcards signed by the characters. If anyone wants one, just tell me.

I figured out my apartment situation. I am staying in a one bedroom in Patterson, which is what I wanted. They are keeping me in the same building, which is nice, and moving me up one floor. They are pairing me with another girl who is under 21 who has extended her program. I'm crossing my fingers that she is normal because I have no idea who she is and they wouldn't tell me her name. AWESOME. Oh well! Everyone cross your fingers for me! I hope everyone is doing well! I am being reunited with Donald tomorrow. I'm really hoping it goes well! And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, Goodnight!

My visit home.

Wow. It has been almost a month since I last updated my blog. That is so disappointing. To anyone who reads my blog, I'm so sorry I left you hanging. I'd say I'm a bit over due for an update. I'm gong to try to recall anything that has happened since then...

I got to spend some more time with Minnie Mouse.

I am now approved in Vanellope. She's the little girl in Wreck It Ralph. She's hilarious. I really hope she and I can hang out soon.

I saw Neil Patrick Harris.

I saw Phillip Phillips.

I saw Nick Cannon.

I went to the Disney Parks Christmas Parade filming.

I saw Breaking Dawn Part 2.

I went to the Disney College Program Winter Formal.

I colored my hair back to red.

I went home!

I am so glad I was able to go back home for a week. Right after I told my family I was coming home, I changed my flight information so I would still be able to surprise everyone. I walked in the house and my dad looked a little confused, but very happy. After hanging out with him for a little while, he called mom and asked her to meet him for lunch. Instead of him, she met me. Then she and I went back to her work and decorated the Christmas tree. I love the people she works with, so it was a lot of fun to be able to see everyone. I was able to visit almost everyone I wanted to see while I was home. It was really nice to see everyone I hadn't seen since August, and to see Michael and my family again. And my dog! I went to eat at Pluckers, the restaurant Michael works at, and meet all of his work friends and managers. I ate at Razzoo's, the restaurant I worked at before leaving for Florida. I sure have missed their food. It was super yummy. It was nice to see the people I used to work with. I have missed them. I went to the NorthStar Holiday Tea. The NorthStars is the drill team I was a part of in high school. I also went back to my high school to talk with the office staff. I love those ladies. They are so nice and are a big part of why I enjoyed high school.

Side note: I only took 3 pictures the entire time I was home. I FAILED.

By Wednesday morning, I was really wishing I could just stay home. I love Disney and I love my job here, but I do really miss my home and my family. Now that I'm back in Orlando, I'm fine, but I'm definitely counting down the days until Michael checks in. (There are 39.) I'm sad because everyone I know here is leaving in three weeks and I will be alone for a couple weeks before Michael gets here. I'm hoping those two weeks go by pretty quickly. I'm just so excited for him to be here. I do have things along the way to look forward to though! Sunday is my 20th birthday. It doesn't really matter too much because I'm working, but it is happening, so I guess that's cool! Sarah and I are going to try to go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party next Tuesday. A couple families from back home are visiting next week and the week after. I'm hoping I can spend time with them while they are here. Christmas is in a couple weeks. The New Year begins soon after. Then I move into my new apartment, wherever that may be. Everyone I know goes home. Mom and her friend Heather come to visit. And Michael gets here! Lots to look forward to! I have to go to the Programs Office on Saturday to fill out some paperwork about my next semester here. I'm going to beg them to let me live alone. I'm not sure how well it will go, but it's worth a shot, right? I haven't been able to find a roommate, and I really wouldn't mind living alone, so I'm going to give it a try.

Sarah and I went to the Disney College Program Graduation Service Celebration today! We got Mickey ears and a fancy certificate. Tonight I made myself dinner. This is a huge deal if you know anything about me. I made chicken, stuffing, and white rice with cream of chicken soup. It was super yummy. I was very proud of myself. Now I am going to head to bed. I have to actually get up and go to work tomorrow. I hope everyone is doing very well and having a lovely holiday season!