I've never been good at keeping a journal.

I guess deep down I knew I wouldn't be very good at this either. Blogging.

I can appreciate a good blog, (like this one) but I don't have the diligence or the inspiration to keep one of my own. I put it off until the event is not so significant anymore.

Oops.

Let me just tell you that the Disney College Program has been an amazing experience. It's had its rough days, and I even hated it for a while, but overall one of the best things I've ever done. I work for a company that believes in putting the guest first. In going above and beyond to make a difference in someone's day. In creating magic out of the ordinary. I have met people from all over the world and created friendships that will last a lifetime. I learned a lot about myself. I've also learned that life is what you make it. You have to make adventures no matter where you are or it will just pass you by.

As far as stories go, I'm going to give my typing fingers a rest. Expect me to be telling you about my time here in person. Or by phone. Or Skype.

For a long time.

I go home in six weeks. I know I will miss this place, but I cannot wait to get back to my family. I hope to see all of you soon.

"I do not like repeat successes. I like to go on to other things."

-Walt Disney

The day that lasted a week.

I had the most splendid day yesterday.

I got up early to go to church. Those Mormon missionaries are quite persistent. I got to sing in the choir though, and met a friend of a friend, so it was well worth it. I laid out with my lovely Lauren and then took her to get Chipotle for the first time in her life! Not sure how she survived until I came around. Needless to say, she was quite pleased.

After each sprawling on the living room floor to recover from our tank of a burrito, my roommate was off to work and I went on a solo adventure to Hollywood Studios. It was kind of nice to go by myself. I wandered a lot, got through lines quickly, and didn't have to worry about which ride everyone wanted to go on. I rode the Tower of Terror twice since it had a twelve year absence from my life. I definitely screamed bloody murder. Saw my husband Steven Tyler on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and got on the new and improved Star Tours. After a good three hours, I ate some ice-cream and headed on home.

Went to the gym

and then to the Chatham Square pool. Joined some new kids for a rousing game of Apples to Apples (which wasn't actually that great; not many have the same sense of humor as my high school chums).

Even though I was awake from seven am until two am and did some major recovery sleeping today, it was awesome to do so much adventuring. After working so so much, it was nice to take an entire day and actually doing something with my life!

I'm back!

My computer has been acting up for quite some time. A few weeks ago, I just gave up and made it sit in the corner for a while. I got myself a USB mouse and deleted a ton of programs and it seems to be better!

So I'm back!

Adventuring

I went to Typhoon Lagoon for the second time this week. This time with my British bestie, Kasey, and her two friends from the Netherlands. It was pouring rain all day, but it didn't make our time any less fun. I mean, you're going to be wet either way, right?

This is real life.

I've gotten so used to life in the College Program. I forget to tell my stories here cause I feel like it's just another regular day. But when you think about it, every day is a story. I'm going to challenge myself to share a little something everyday for at least a week.

Today I'll tell you about where I work: Downtown Disney!

It's basically a place to chill when you're not at the parks. It's FREE, which is always always a good thing. There's shopping, dining, and entertainment.

Some highlights are:

La Nouba, Disney's very own Cirque du Soleil show. Bongo's Cuban Cafe, owned by Miss Gloria Estefan, is a recreation of a 1950s Havana nightclub. World of Disney, the largest Disney store in the world.

A lego superstore, our Art of Disney gallery, House of Blues, and another gallery called Pop that I didn't even know existed until last week and is so cool.

On any given night, you can walk around eating Ghirardelli ice-cream and listening to live music. My personal favorite is Dominic Gaudious, who plays acoustic guitar and the didgeridoo.

Here's Jocelyn, her roommate Chelsea, and me outside of Planet Hollywood!

Perk #1

My job has plenty of perks.

Little gifts Disney gives us to keep loving our stay here.

One of my favorites:

We get to hang out with these lovely folks!

I've got to get better at this.

Hey there.

It's been a while.

I apologize.

I have officially been at Disney for six weeks! It's weird. On one hand it feels like I walked in the door this morning, but it also feels like I've been doing this my whole life. I suppose it's like the ticking crocodile, isn't it? Time is chasing after all of us, isn't that right?

Well, what stories shall I tell you?

I went to the Magic Kingdom again. This trip was to see all three night shows for the first time in my life. Our dear friend Peter was in the Main Street Electrical Parade, which was so much fun. My favorite part was seeing Pete and Elliot. We watched "The Magic, the Memories, and You," which is an awesome show where they project all sorts of images onto the castle. I don't know how to describe it, but if you ever get a chance to watch you'll see how awesome it really is. And of course we stayed for Wishes, the fireworks show.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

I've been rather homesick the past few weeks. I miss my friends terribly. But I'm making new ones here, and Orlando is becoming my home away from home. I have now gone to Steak and Shake twice, and awesome burger place that (dare I say it) might beat In N Out in my book. Quite the bold statement, I know. Don't judge.

Curses.

MUST UPDATE BLOG SOON.

I apologize. The days are running together and I'm so tired all the time. But I am having tons of fun, and will tell you all about it real soon. I promise.

Expectations.

I went to the Magic Kingdom this week.

I was expecting to see this:

But, uh, it didn't quite turn out that way.

I suppose since I've been to Disneyland dozens of times that the magic wasn't quite as new as it is for the other parks. They did do a good job getting you out of the miserable Florida heat though. And we had lots of fun.

This week was interesting. The OHMYWHATI'MWORKINGFORDISNEY feeling died down a little. We all kind of realized that this isn't a vacation. It's a blast most of the time, but it's also a lot of work. This is real life. A good part of your paycheck goes to rent, and most of the rest of it goes to groceries. Luckily we work for a property twice the size of Manhattan, so we don't get too bored.

I'll try to keep things interesting.

Adventures at Epcot!

Thursday was my day off as well as the roomie's. So we decided to spend the day at Epcot. This was my first of the four parks to visit since last time I was here 12 years ago, so I was very excited. Here are some of my favorite sights:

Busy, busy, busy.

I have been neglecting my blogging duties and for that, I apologize. The past few days have been packed and I am so exhausted by the time I get home. But things are going well. I've mostly just been training for my cast member position. I am working at Downtown Disney in the Art of Disney store, which is a wonderful art gallery. People come in and spend thousands of dollars sometimes. I had never seen the store before this week and my knowledge is being tested. You have to know a lot of information. I think I'm going to like it.

Some people have asked what I do on my days off, and it has been truly spectacular. While we get free admission to all the theme parks, I have not made my rounds just yet. I'll be here a while; I think I have plenty of time.

On Saturday I went with a few Merchandise girls to one of Disney's waterparks: Typhoon Lagoon!

Home to the world's largest wave pool. They have a beach and all kinds of slides, even a water coaster (which I was sure only existed in my dreams). We got to snorkel in a saltwater pool with tropical fish, sting rays, and baby sharks. Stayed long enough to get a tan.

Yesterday I started my Marketing You class. It's taught by this sassy black Florida native named Penny Hightower. She's crazy fun, and I think the class will go well. I met up with my friend Natalie from UVU in that class, as well as her roommate Megan and friend Ryan. They invited me to go to the beach with them since we had the day off. Of course, I said yes. It's the BEACH!

So I put on my swim suit and my brand new floppy sun hat, and we drove a little over an hour west to Clearwater, Florida. We ate at Skyline Chili, a Cincinnati hometown favorite of Ryan and Megan that's a little odd. Their most famous dish, the 3-Way, is basically spaghetti noodles topped with chili and a mountain of cheese. Weird, I know. But I was feeling adventurous and twas quite delicious.

The rest of the day was spent in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. Walking the beach, playing frisbee, watching the sunset, we even caught some sand dollars in the water! It was amazing. A perfect way to spend my one week Disney-versary.

From now on.

I'm going to start carrying my camera everywhere I go. There are way too many magical moments that I don't want to forget about. Tonight held quite a few. I went to my lovely friend Jocelyn's apartment to meet her seven roommates.

This is her:

We were all rather hungry and decided that since we get discounts, we should go somewhere on property to eat. We ventured to Downtown Disney towards the Planet Hollywood Restaurant. The wait to get in was over an hour, but we showed the host our Disney badges and didn't even have to wait five minutes! Not only did we get quick seating and quick service, but we got twenty percent off the total tab. We were basically the most VIP members to walk the planet.

Then we walked around the nightlife that you find Downtown. There's street performers, live bands; hundreds of guests coming to have a good time for no admission price. We took a free water taxi across Village Lake. Wandered a few of the many rooms of the biggest retail Disney store you can find in the world. Ate some magnificent Ghirardelli ice-cream.

We were on our way home when we passed by one of the bands. They were just playing cover songs of some radio hits, but they were really good so we stopped to observe for a while. There were two silly looking guys who thought they were cool, dancing their gangster dance in front of the stage. Everyone else just stood or sat and listened. Jocelyn, out of nowhere, decides to go down in front and start dancing too. She's a parade dancer here in Florida so she's very energetic and tried to get the crowd's participation. One by one, people watched her and slowly joined in. By the end of the song, there were at least 50 people having a crazy celebration. That lasted for a good ten minutes before we took off back home. It was so cool though. Dancing there near Pleasure Island may have been some person's favorite part of the night, and my dear dancer friend started that. It wouldn't have happened without her courage.

I don't know if it sounds as spectacular to someone reading this, but tonight showed me again how simple it is to put a pinch of magic into an ordinary day.

I hope I have days like this again.

I got my costume today.

It's awful.

I'm not even going to post a picture.

Seriously.

We create happiness.

Today was oh so magical. I went to a four hour class called Traditions and I can't tell you too many particulars about it without ruining the show that Disney puts on, but it basically told all of the history of the company and how to be good representatives of it. We got to take a tour of the backstage of Magic Kingdom, which was amazing. I made some friends with a few lovely individuals from Puerto Rico. Best part of the day: Mickey Mouse gave us a visit and bestowed upon us our nametags!

I put it on proudly, and watched a speech given by Walt a few years back. I don't know how to make sense of it, but that moment was so incredible. I got chills realizing how much magic we really get to make for the guest of the parks and resorts. Putting on my name tag finally made it real.

I have been lacking in my picture taking responsibilities for a few days. I will try to be better about documenting. But for now, here's a picture of me and my name tag and some more fancy professional clothes (Disregard the mess; I have yet to buy hangers). Talk to you soon!

My new home.

I am officially in Orlando!

My flight was just swell. My mother spent 240 dollars on checking my luggage; I guess it's expensive to move your whole life across the country.

Other than that, I didn't have too many problems. Got myself a Mocha Coconut Frappucino and awaited boarding. Sat next to a beardy retired DJ from Las Vegas. Read Haunted until I arrived in Phoenix. After an hour long layover, boarded another flight next to...wait for it... noone! The seat next to me was conveniently empty so I could put my feet up and sleep for a little bit. I arrived around 5am so the airport was deserted, and I managed to get myself a taxi (first cab ride!).

Then came check-in. Tons of paperwork; I won't bore you with the details.

I moved into my third floor apartment at Chatham Square with five other girls and have been having the time of my life with them the past two days. We've explored a little bit of the surrounding area and stocked our fridge full of food.

I've only been here 36 hours, but it feels like a week has already gone by. I think I'm gonna like it here. (:

Today's the day.

Well. The time has finally come. Tonight I get on a plane with all of my belongings to make the voyage to Orlando.

Scared? Yes.

Excited? Very much so.

I have no idea what to expect from this experience. I'm just going to do everything I can to make the most of it. Soak up as many adventures as possible. It's going to be a long seven months, but I have a feeling it's going to fly by. So I will see you all soon!

They named a ride after me.

No big deal.

Still a college student.

For my program, not only do I get to work at the happiest place on Earth, I get to take classes at the prestigious Disney University. Since I'm an art major none of the credits help me with my degree, but how often do you hear someone say they went to Disney University? I wasn't about to let that opportunity go so I signed up for classes yesterday!

In my first course, "Students will learn various tools to promote creativity within themselves and others, processes to increase innovation, how to contribute to a creative team, how to manage creativity, and how to establish a culture of creativity within an organization." The second course is basically resume building and whatnot. The things you need to make it in the professional world.

To go along with my professional training, I had to buy myself some professional clothes. Yay shopping!

The days are blurring by. I can't believe I'll actually be in Orlando in less than three weeks. It's going to be so hard to be away from my family and friends for seven months, but I seriously can not wait!

What the what.

I just discovered this:

How awesome is that!

But then. I saw the word "utilidors" and didn't know what that meant. Apparently there are secret tunnels underneath the parks that create an underground city. That way you don't see cast members from Frontierland walking amongst the robots of Tomorrowland. You can read more about the magic here.

New friends.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've become amazed by how big the Disney company really is. Founded nearly 100 years ago, it has become the largest media conglomerate in the world. It holds claim to all of the classic movies we've grown up with, but they have three exterior companies making movies as well. Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and Mirimax Films are all owned by Disney, making all of these movies Disney movies too!

Remember this guy?

Not only are all the "Bill Nye the Science Guy" shows run by Disney, but Bill has a part in Ellen's Energy Adventure inside Epcot at Walt Disney World

Disney also owns ABC and Marvel.

So the actors in my favorite show:

as well as these hotties:

all technically work for the same company as me!

We're coworkers now, right? We might as well be best friends.

Five more weeks...

Quick update for y'all.

I met my roommate! Well, kind of. I am officially facebook friends with her, so that counts right? I introduce you to Lauren:

She's a Virgo from Pittsburgh, loves coffee, and will have a car in Florida! (Lauren, if you're reading this, I promise I'm not a creep for blogging about you.) She seems all great and normal and I can't wait to meet her in person.

Update #2. I bought my luggage! I've never had my own; always just used my parents, so buying a new, gorgeous 4 piece set for a hundred dollars was pretty exciting for me.

Stay tuned to hear of all the superheroes, as well as a certain "Science Guy", owned by the ever growing Disney franchise.

Sad news, my friends.

Adam got his email. After making him wait a million years to find out, the answer was no. Who knows why they had to torture him so. Somehow I'll have to figure out a way to live without my best friend for seven months of my life.