I have now been here for seven months. I can't believe the time has flown like it has. For a while it felt like it was dragging on, but looking back now, a lot has happened so quickly. I had a great holiday season. My roommates and I were able to adopt some friends to spend Thanksgiving with. The twins made a fantastic dinner for us all and we just spent the day enjoying each others' company and watching Christmas movies. We went Black Friday shopping that evening and were in bed by 11.
A couple weeks later, my best friend, Emma, came to visit! I was able to take her to the parks for a couple days. I think she's now fallen in love with Goofy. Who can blame her? She starts her Disney College Program in just a few weeks. I do hope she's excited, or at least getting excited. Nothing can prepare you for what it's like to move halfway across the country and start a job at a place like Disney World. But at least now she's been here in the last decade and hopefully has something to look forward to! I know I'm excited for her to be here!
Two days after Emma returned home, my 22nd birthday was here! Some friends and I went to Magic Kingdom to celebrate. I met Peter Pan for the first time. We talked about pixie dust and flying to Neverland (he was a bit disappointed that I was celebrating my birthday because that's growing up and growing up is bad) and I kind of understand now why all the girls are so obsessed with him. Don't worry, I haven't joined the club. After seeing Peter, we watched Festival of Fantasy and a Photopass photographer pulled me out into the middle of Main Street for a birthday photo shoot. Later that evening, a few more friends joined us for dinner. It was really a wonderful day. I looked back that night and realized in that moment just how lucky I am.
The next day, I got the best birthday present of all. My sweet boyfriend got me a plane ticket to come home for a few days. It was so nice being able to spend time with him and see my family. Before I returned to Florida, we adopted two Bengal kittens. They are the cutest and most playful little things. Oh, and they are brother and sister, so naturally we named them Luke and Leia. Nerd alert. I won't lie, I know they love me and I love them. I'm their new mom. Hooray!
I got back to Orlando just in time for my family to join me for Christmas. I had to work most of the week, but was able to score a couple days off. They were nice and didn't ask me to spend any time at the parks if I wasn't working. They even braved the crowds to come see Minnie Mouse while I was with her! On one of my days off that week, we all went to Clearwater to visit Winter the Dolphin. Apparently everyone else had the same idea because that place was packed! We had a nice time together though!
Somewhere in this timeline, I also went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with my roommate, Susie! I had never been before, but I absolutely loved it! I was sick, unfortunately, so I had to wander around the emporium while we waited for the parade instead of standing out in the cold. I'm so glad we were able to go though! It was such a cute experience and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit!
During all of this, I've also gotten a little extra time with my favorite fairy and my new precious friend, Wendy Darling! The two of them have given me some of the best adventures.
The last few months as well as my time with Wendy and Tinker Bell have really opened my eyes to how great my life is. I don't have a lot of friends, but I have a few great ones. I was able to go to Disney World for my birthday. Disney World! The place that most people will never visit and most of the people who do visit will only go once because they spend so long saving money for it. I can go virtually any time I'd like. That's so special. And oh yeah, I have one of the coolest jobs. The people that have taken time out of their day specifically to come and find me and my character friends mean so much to me. They get the same interaction as everyone else, but they still make special time for me anyway. And everyone that has come to visit Tink or Wendy took lots of pictures and then shared them with me soon after. It means a lot that I am going to be able to remember these days because of the people involved. These amazing people have made my time here so wonderful. It got off to a bumpy start, but now I feel like I'm going strong!
I also had a fantastic weekend last week, but I'll have to make a separate post about that because this is already way too long! I was able to get some time off next week and the week after, so I am going home for a whole week! I'm so excited! Happy thoughts, everyone!
