Earning My Ears!

Whew! What a crazy week it's been so far, and it's only Tuesday! I'll try to give you the low-down as painlessly as possible. The past week, I've been "earning my ears" so to say (Disney's way of saying "training"), and finally received them yesterday! I'm now officially a Cast Member in Animal Kingdom's Dino-Rama! It's nerve-wracking, of course. There are so many things to remember, buttons to press, you get the picture.

When I haven't been working, I've been sleeping. Waking up for a 6AM shift is HARD, especially when you're used to staying up til about 3 or 4 AM. Needless to say, getting up at 4 is a bit difficult for me (or anyone who's in their teenage years, I would assume). It's weird to me that I have to leave an hour before my shift starts just to make sure the bus gets me to work on time.

Speaking of work, I have to go get ready for work. It's not until 2 that I start my shift, but on my first actual day, I would NOT like to be late. More later!

So much going on!!!!!!!

Alright, so a lot has happened since I last wrote. A few days of training have passed, but I've still got a couple more to go.

The past 2 days have been fabulous.. I've had off, so it's been like my weekend. I was able to go to the Magic Kingdom and get some great shots on my phone of the fireworks. They were B-E-A-utiful, to be honest. During the fireworks, Anilly, Julianna, Arrielle and I all sang loudly. Hopefully, nobody else really cared (we didn't get looks from strangers, fortunately). But even if we did, I was having a blast.

Some interesting things have happened on the job. It's one of my favorite things-- making people happy, seeing their expressions and whatnot. Every once in a while, I'll start talking to a little kid, and they'll be so genuinely excited to have seen Mickey or any one of the other characters. This brightens my day, because I'm part of the magic. I help continue Walt's dream!

I finally finished setting up my room, putting away my suitcase for the first time. I purchased some bedrisers, so I could just slide it under my bed. Finally, this place is starting to feel like home; we've got all the necessary food, and the decor is beginning to be a bit more "friendly." When we originally moved in, everything was white or brown and needed to be cleaned a bit. Now, I've got my tye-dye tapestry on the wall, and I'm looking to buy another one soon.

Today, just before I went to sit out by the pool (recently, this has become one of my favorite pastimes, considering the seemingly boiling temperatures and humidity), I registered for my summer class. It's called "Disney's Marketing You," and I think it will be an interesting class to be enrolled in. The entire purpose of the class is to show young people like me how to look good for potential employers. Next step? Buy the textbook. And the nasty school-summer-school-summer cycle continues.

Tomorrow, I've got a pretty early morning that I'm not looking forward to. What time is early, you may ask. Well, my friend. I've got to wake up at 4:10 to catch the 5:20 bus, in order to arrive at work by 6. Is your head spinning yet? Mine DEFINITELY is.

I'm finally here!

Alright, so as per my promise, I'm keeping you updated. Monday, the day finally came to move into my apartment. I woke up at an hour that I rarely see (unless I'm still up from the night before..): 4 AM. After meeting up with Julianna, our flight went pretty well. We arrived at about 9:30 to the Orlando airport, caught our Mears bus, and stopped at our final destination: the Vista Way Apartments. There, we went through a couple steps in order to sign in and receive our housing assignment. Julianna and I were placed into a 3-bedroom apartment in Vista Way, with Anilly, Arrielle and Sage. Yes, if you do the math right, we only have 5. That's because our 6th roommate arrived on Monday, and decided to go home that day. It made us sad =(.

Monday night, Julianna and I went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney(DTD for future reference.) After dinner, our plan was to go back to our apartment and nap, but we ended up hanging out with our apartmentmates instead! Together, we swam, met some boys, and then went back to DTD for the remainder of the night. Being pooped (and rightly so) we went to bed shortly after arriving home(!!!) for the night.

Tuesday, I woke up bright and early, although it was a bit later than the day before. This time, I woke up at about 6:30, got dressed, and went to our Housing Meeting. That wasn't really the highlight of my day. You know how it goes. After the meeting we started decorating our apartment. I bought the foam for my bed, my pillow and everything I needed. Now, even though we're still in the process, our home is starting to look a little bit better.

After all the decorating, we went to the pool party in our complex, had free pizza, and danced! We went for a walk in Vista, and then dyed my hair, got ice cream, and swam some more.

Today, I woke up bright and early again, hoping that maybe this concept of "morning" would get a tad bit easier. When my alarm sounded at 5:30, I was not astounded to find out that indeed, morning still sucked. I got dressed up all nice and pretty for Traditions (our "Orientation" day) and went, for my first official time, to the Disney University. It was pretty exciting, honestly. However, I wore the wrong shoes. Apparently, 4-inch heels do NOT like walking on cobblestone. My feet were doing the "Disney Tingle" after a mere 10 minutes.

Just now, I returned home from the Magic Kingdom. I'm so excited to be a part of the magic and the show. There couldn't be a more right place for me to be at this moment in time. I love it here!

More e-mailssss!!

Things have been soooo busy lately, so I'll try to give you the run-down of what's going on. I got home from school, and haven't stopped moving since. Between seeing friends that I haven't seen in a loooong time, shopping for things for Florida, visiting family, and all the other things, I'm running around like a chicken wiht my head cut off.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Disney! It was the "You're Almost Here!" e-mail, and just reminded me to be within Disney look, and all that good stuff. I'll be there in just 10 days! It's so weird that I won't be spending summer with my friends, but I'll make a bunch of new friends to share my summer and fall with!

That's it for now, I think. I'm going to go kayaking!

2 weeks, and...

I'll be in Florida, setting up my new apartment. I'm feeling so many different emotions right now, I won't lie. My emotions run the gamut, from nervous to excited to scared.. It's a pretty intimidating, exciting event!

I've been seeing people's statuses on Facebook talking about their arrivals in Florida, and I gotta be honest, I'm really jealous. However, given the opportunity, I don't think I would arrive earlier than June 7. Last week I finally arrived home from school, and I wouldn't've had much time to hang out with my friends or anything. So, in a way, I'm glad I'm leaving when I am.

Unpacking and repacking are definitely looming in the near future for me. I'm still unpacking things from school, and at the same time putting things together for Florida. I've been working on packing and shopping lists, but it seems to always just stress me out! Here's what I've got so far:

Shoes: Sneakers, Workout shoes, Flip Flops, Heels.
Shirts: 2 Long-sleeve Tees, A bunch of Short sleeves, camis, and going out shirts.
Pants: 3 pairs of jeans, 9 pairs of shorts, skirts, etc.
Dresses
Class clothing (Business Casual)
Jewelry
Make-up
Hair supplies

Towels
Bedsheets
Toiletries

Yeah, that's all I've got so far.... It's a work in progress, really.

See you all in 14 days!!

My e-mail says it's getting closer, I feel like it's a million years away!

I promised I'd keep you updated, so I'm staying true to my word. Lately, I've been getting an email every day from Disney, which is DEFINITELY not helping me focus on my finals...

A few days ago I got one regarding the Disney Look. It just reminded me that I have to be in the Disney Look Guidelines when I arrive on-site for Check-In.

Yesterday, I received one regarding transportation to and from the apartment complex. Since I already made arrangements, I'm not too concerned about it.

Today, when I went to check my e-mail, I had received one about education while I'm there. To be honest, I'm actually really excited to take courses in Disney. You know that kid who was really excited for the beginning of school with all our new notebooks and stuff? Yeah, that's me. Embarrassing, yes. But so so true.

I'm going home from school in under a week, I'm really excited to be home, even for just a short time. 19 whole days of being home, I feel that it's going to be rushed. But I'm going to see all my friends and family, and it'll be good =).

At the same time, I just want to get going! It's definitely time to get out of New York State. The other day, it SNOWED where I am... It's going to be weird in an environment without snow for so long; it'll be the longest time I've ever gone without snow or freezing temperatures! I hope my body can handle it...

Only 3 finals, 24 days, one plane ride and a bus ride til I'm in Florida!!!!!!!!

It's Getting Closerrrrrrrrr

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm super excited to be leaving. Really, there's only 32 days (31 til I leave my home) until I'm in Florida! The warm weather will DEFINITELY be a nice break for me, considering that I'm used to some pretty fickle weather.

Right now, I want to talk a little bit about the Disney Look. Since I'm freaking out a little bit over it, I'd imagine other people are too. First off, Arrival Day.

On Arrival Day, Disney says to be in compliance with the Disney Look Guidelines, but after talking to a friend of mine who's already down there, I realize it's more about just looking decent. So when I arrive, my earrings will be out (I have a number of them), my hair will probably be dyed back to a natural brown-ish color, and my shoulders will be covered for my ID picture.

When I'm at work, I'll be wearing my Disney-issued costume. It has to be worn exactly the way they tell me to, with my nametag on the left (I believe) of my chest in a visible place. Again, my earrings will be removed, and my hair will look natural. I'm not too concerned about my hair looking natural, honestly. I've got some pretty curly hair, and that's minus humidity! When it gets hot and humid in Florida, I'm pretty sure my hair will be HUGE, and that's fine with me.

Makeup is another one of my concerns. I love makeup: wearing it, buying it, everything about it. So going to work might be tricky, because I can't wear my normal dramatic makeup. I;ve been thinking about just not wearing makeup, but I probably will wear some. Basically, the look should be natural and blended, with browns and light pinks as shadow, black or brown mascara and liner. I can do that, I think =).

Packing is going to be tricky. How do I fit everything I need for 7 months in one 50-pound suitcase?! I think I'm going to be bringing 2 suitcases, since it only costs $30 to check another bag. The hardest thing to pare down on is my SHOES. I have almost 20 pairs here with me at college, and I'm guessing not all of them can come with me... More on that later.

I'm stoked beyond belief! I'm going to miss my family and friends, but think about it: I'll be making soooooo many new friends and memories! 32 <3