Minnie Mouse rang in the new year with class...

Everyone is leaving me. It is very sad. My best friend, Sara Robbins, left yesterday. Tomorrow, I work all day. Friday, Sarah and Hayden leave. Saturday I move into my new apartment. My new apartment is going to be in the same building, just one floor up, so it's not like I am going through a drastic relocation. I do have to pack up all of my things though because I only have three hours to empty my current apartment and I will be doing this completely alone. I still don't know who I am living with. I am trying not to be too worried about this. The fact is, Michael will be here soon and I can always escape with him if I need to, and since I will have someone here to hang out with all the time, I probably won't be home much anyway. But still, it would be nice to have a roommate I get along with. I was more than lucky this time around. Sarah has been the best possible roommate. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for anyone better. We have gotten along great and are able to talk and hang out any time without forcing anything. I have made a great friend in her and I am so grateful. I am sad to see her go. She is leaving a ton of things here for me because she is flying back home. She even packed up all the food for me so I wouldn't have to worry about it. She also packed up a couple boxes of toiletries for me. Such a sweet girl. Obviously she couldn't take all of this stuff back home, but she didn't have to give it to me, so I thought it was really nice that she packed it all up for me. Sara Robbins and her roommate also gave me quite a bit of food as well. Good news guys, I'm not going to starve next semester! Sarah is even leaving me her coffee maker and all the coffee, just in case I randomly start drinking coffee! I hope I get this lucky again. I didn't realize it at the time, but yesterday was the last time I will get to hang out with her while she is here.

Yesterday, Sarah and I went to Epcot because that is her favorite park. Hayden met us there after a little while and then Sarah went to Magic Kingdom to see some friends and Hayden and I headed over to Hollywood Studios to watch Fantasmic one last time. On the way, we made an impromptu stop at Art of Animation Resort because he had never seen it. We walked around there for a little while and then went to Studios. We were hungry when we got there, so we went to the Sci-fi Dine In Theater. You are supposed to have reservations to eat there, but we decided to give it a shot. They ended up having space available, so we decided to stay. This restaurant is so cool. I had never been inside before, so I didn't know what to expect. Basically, you are at a drive-in theater and clips from old Sci-fi movies play on the screen while you eat your food at your table which is actually a car. It was too dark in there for me to get any good pictures, but you can take my word for it. It's really cool. I would like to add that almost every single cast member I have spoken to in the last two days has either asked me if I am friends with Snow White or friends with a princess. It isn't important, but it's a nice confidence booster. Each time I told them no, they were shocked and told me to keep trying. I won't lie, it made me happy. One lady even told me to stuff things in my shoes so I would be taller. While this wouldn't help me, it was still funny. I have almost accepted the fact that I will never have a face role, but it's still nice when people tell me I should.

Today, while I was driving home, I realized how quickly time has gone by since I arrived here. If I had not extended my program, today would have been the last day of my program and then I would have either played in the parks tomorrow and blown almost all my money on things I don't need, or I would have begun the drive home. There are still so many things I want to do while I am here. I haven't even been to every attraction, or every resort, or the beach! I've lived in Florida for 5 months and I haven't gone to the beach! How sad. Michael and I will definitely be making a trip while we are here. I seriously can't wait for him to be here. I feel like I will get to experience everything over again through him and I am so excited. I have definitely gained a new appreciation recently for the opportunity I have been given. So many people want to work at Disney. I do. So many people wish they could be friends with the characters. I am. And so many people wish they could have their boyfriend or girlfriend here with them. I will. I know this next 4 months is going to be so wonderful. I am very excited for the day he gets here. There are only 17 days left! And only 2 weeks until my mom gets here! I'm excited to see her again!

I haven't told any stories recently about my character friends, so I will share this one. I was hanging out with my friend Minnie Mouse on Sunday night at Pete's Silly Sideshow. This is in Storybook Circus, which is part of Fantasyland. I have posted a picture of Minnie before from this location. She has a tiara and pink feathers on her ears and she is wearing a pink, sparkly dress that is really fluffy. She looks adorable. I love hanging out with Minnie here. So anyway, Sunday was December 30. Magic Kingdom showed the New Years fireworks Sunday and Monday night in order to get some guests to go to the other parks on New Years Eve because it is always packed on that night. My last set began at 11:55 PM. The fireworks began at 11:50. When we got onset, the Captain looked at all of the characters, attendants, and photographers and said, "Hurry! Go outside to watch the fireworks!" So everyone, including Daisy, Goofy, Donald, and Minnie make their way out the doors. Unfortunately for Minnie, she didn't noticed that before you walk out the door, there is a single step up. So she tripped. and face-planted. Right in the doorway. In front of all the attendants, photographers, managers, and even her other friends from earlier that night. Thankfully, there were no guests around. Minnie sure rang in the new year with class... Everyone's initial reaction was to just laugh, but then they realized Minnie might be hurt, so they ran over to make sure she was okay. She was fine, so one of her favorite attendants offered her his arm and they walked outside together to watch the fireworks. The show was amazing. There were perimeter fireworks, which means the fireworks are all around you, instead of just behind the castle. It was incredible. I have never seen so many fireworks in my life. After the show ended, we all went back inside and we were done for the night. Minnie was fine. No bumps or bruises. I, however, am still very sore. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have been spending a lot of time with Mickey and Donald, but also the fact that I completely wiped out in a way I'm not used to. I definitely need to be more careful next time. Hopefully my back and shoulder will heal soon. I feel like I did back when I was friends with Pooh everyday and that is not good at all. I'm sure all will be fine though! I sent in a request to scheduling for me to be able to spend more time with Minnie. Hopefully they listen!

Well, there's my story for you! I'm going to go finish my laundry and then probably get some pizza with Hayden! Tomorrow I'm hanging out with Mickey all day and then I have to say goodbye to Sarah. Wish me luck!