Sadly nothing new or exciting has been going on in my life recently. Work is the same: busy but sometimes slow and boring with crabby and unappreciative guests. However, I had a sort of "magical moment" the other day while at work.

I was checking in a woman who came down to surprise family members. She had requested a room next to her family but knew requests weren't guaranteed. When she asked me if her room was close to her family, I just gave her a look with a small smile and she started tearing up at the front desk and thanking me over and over. She was so appreciative that we were able to honor her request and while experiences like this are far and few between, it made me feel really happy for her because we had "made her vacation".

Halloween was really quiet here. My roommate Denise and I went to the Old Key West resort to watch The Haunted Mansion and then we trapped a cockroach under a plastic cup in our apartment shortly after getting home. Gross. The cockroach has since been killed and we're supposed to have people coming to spray our apartment later today.

We're having a quiet afternoon here and heading to the Magic Kingdom later today. :)

My sister's wedding has come and gone and it was absolutely amazing! She looked gorgeous and everyone had an amazing time! My parents surprised my sister with a carriage ride to the church so me, my sister, her best friend and our mom were the 4 who rode down while the rest of the bridesmaids had the limo. I've been to 2 other weddings over the past year and my sister's was by far the most fun (and not just because she's my sister). So many people said at the reception that sometimes receptions feel forced or people don't dance or have a lot of fun but from the second the reception started to the very last song, people never stepped off the dance floor. The day after the wedding, the 3 of us flew to Orlando. My sister and Josh had a 3 night "mini-moon" at the Dolphin Resort on Disney property and spent most of their time laying by the pool but also went to the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. I'm super happy for them :)

Other than that, I've decided to lay by every pool on Disney property while I'm here. There are quite a few resorts for me to tackle but I'm going to track my progess on here:

All Stars: CHECK
Pop Century:
Caribbean Beach:
Coronado Springs:
Port Orleans: Sadly I can't since I work there.
Animal Kingdom Lodge:
Yacht&Beach Club:
BoardWalk Inn:
Contemporary: CHECK
Grand Floridian: CHECK
Polynesian: CHECK
Wilderness Lodge: CHECK

I'm not sure if I'll be able to go to some of the Disney Vacation Club Resorts such as Saratoga Springs and Old Key West...I *may* need a room key to get on property or near the pool so I'll have to hold off on those. But I'm heading off to lay by the pool at Caribbean Beach so that's one more resort I can check off my list :)

FINALLY!

It's been forever since I've blogged, even though I've made several attempts to write an entry over the past month. So much to say so I'll dive right in!

I'm currently living in Chatham Square in Orlando, which is 1 of 3 apartment complexes for everyone doing the program. I live with 3 other girls; 2 are from Pennsylvania (Denise and Kharl) and 1 is from Maine (Ally). We all get along really well which was a huge relief and our apartment is nice and big even though it isn't well decorated because none of us felt like spending a lot of money to decorate for a few short months.

My first taste of being a cast member was 8.25.10 when I attended a class called Traditions which is an orientation of sorts welcoming everyone to Disney. We watched some video clips, learned about the Disney company and even took a walk around the Magic Kingdom. After that I had 4 days at Disney University for a class called First Impressions. There were only 8 people and we were chosen as either Hospitality or Concierge. Either way, we had to learn the system, the banking in and out process and even got to practice before we were sent on our way.

I'm currently working at Port Orleans as a front desk cashier. I had 6 days of training and then I "earned my ears" and was allowed to be on my own. My trainer is from MA so we had quite a bit to talk about and we get along really well.

In between working all sorts of crazy hours I've been taking full advantage of everything Disney has to offer. My sister and 2 of her friends came to visit for a sort of bachelorette party so we made sure we took a lot of pictures in our rhinestoned shirts. She even got me to ride Splash Mountain 3 times while she was down there...a new record for sure. (Don't worry Jack, our friendship in no way resembles the ride) I got to *slightly* impress her with some of my new found knowledge and secrets about Disney but since I don't want to ruin any of the magic, I'm not going to post anything...some stuff is better left as is.

I also went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party last night with my roommate Denise and we had a blast! I've never been to Disney during any of the holidays and vowed to take advantage of all the special events they have going on.

Denise was dressed as Aphrodite and I went as Mother Nature (even though I was consistently called Tinker Bell) There were 12 spots to go Trick-or-Treating, 2 dance parties with characters like Woody, Jesse and Stitch, who danced to Lady Gaga and was quite possibly the most amusing thing I've ever seen, and there was an amazing themed parade and fireworks show.


I'm incredibly happy and so lucky to be living here right now. I don't miss the fall yet but I am looking forward to being in CT next weekend for my sister's wedding and to have some apple cider :)

Spring Ball was absolutely lovely! Meg and Delia came over beforehand and we all got ready together. Delia was a huge help in curling my hair and luckily Adam was around to be our photographer. Spring Ball was on the Spirit of Boston cruise and it was amazing. We had a casino theme so 1 level had a ton of casino games set up like blackjack and poker with fake money of course.
Most of the Ambassadors were there with the exception of Haley, Jack, Julie and Mikey. I'm not sure there has ever been an event, besides Open House or Showcase, where we have all gotten together. I should have forced Jack to come, I know he would have had a good time!
Naturally we all got together and took a couple of pictures...John was incredibly excited about making it into the Ambassador picture as you can see... The food was delicious, the music was great and the weather was perfect for our cruise; it was an amazing way to end my Senior year. Thanks Program Council :)

I'm thinking I'll do my final sappy Senior post tomorrow after I've picked up my cap and gown. Crazy!

I only have 1 more day of classes left and it's crazy how fast the time has flown. (I'll keep all my sappy stuff for my last blog post, I promise!) I'm busier than ever with all the papers I have to finish. I have 2 papers due Thursday and I could hand in a third if I have it done on time which I'm planning on.

Saturday night Haley and Rachel held a Rubix Cube Themed party which was a lot of fun. Sadly I didn't dress up in all the colors of the rubix cube because it was a last minute decision to go; I don't have crazy colored clothes but I was able to drag Jack out for the festivities!
Haley stole most of the pictures I took that night for her blog but this one is one of the best!

Last night was the end of the year dinner and it was a pretty sad night. Jack gave a wonderful speech about me, Chris talked about Nicole and Julie talked about Beckee. Nick and Meg both said incredibly sweet things about us and we all almost cried but we held it together!

The 3 seniors were also given Alumni shirts which was incredibly weird. I can't handle it!

Adam is coming to visit Thursday so I'll try to persuade him to buy me dinner...it'll be a perfect ending to my Senior year. Friday night is Spring Ball; Meg and Delia are coming over to get ready and we're going to go together! Plenty of pictures to come :)