Going Hollywood!

Minnie looking fabulous, as usual!!

Mickey is Dressed to Kill!

The BEST Character attendants in the World! I LOVE Samantha and Diana!!

My love, Katie!

Roommates and Neighbors

With the Oscar himself!

What an eventful day! I woke up a little earlier this morning to get a long list of errands done before the evening's events. However, I had some trouble and some of the errands took a little longer than expected. By the mid afternoon I had:

-Mailed my engagment ring to NY to get fixed

-Mailed my internship porfolio to Anderson

-Received a new housing assignment for the summer

-Shopped at Marshalls and the Florida Mall

It was a busy morning! I was able to get many things done that were on my to do list. Tonight was a very special event that only happens twice a year in the college program. The Events office hosted the Spring Formal: Going Hollywood! It took place at the Coronado Springs and went from 8pm-12am. All of the roommates except for Jackie went, and we all got dressed up in our best Hollywood attire for the event. It was alot of fun! There was great food, music, and beautiful decorations. Even Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald were dressed to impress! It was a great way to celebrate all of our hard work during the semester of the college program.

PS-I got second place in the dance off competition and won movie tickets!! Who knew?!

I Got my Mousters!!

Today was a very prestigious day. After sleeping in for the morning, I woke up and got a quick exercise in before getting ready for class. By working in the college program, I have had the opportunity to participate in the Entertainment Show Production class. It has been a tremendous learning experience and a great way to connect with Disney executives working in Entertainment. Since I have attended every class, I received a special degree today-being the last day of class. I was given my "Mousters" degree along with about 15 others in the class. I am so fortunate for the opportunities that have been afforded to me while at Disney.

On the same note, I finally finished my internship portfolio today! I will be sending it in tomorrow to my advisor at Anderson. I'm thrilled-Just in time for graduation!!

After class, I had to run some errands and ended up buying the movie Bride Wars. Katie and I watched it tonight, and it was hilarious. Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway were very funny, and it's amazing how crazy wedding planning can get!

Having Trouble...

Some cool pictures of the fireworks!

You would think that being out of school for a semester would make me miss the learning process and academic atmosphere. Well, let's just say I am feeling the exact opposite. As of the past week, I have been diligently putting together my internship portfolio. It is taking me forever!! I have spent my entire day off and every night working on this massive project to turn in before graduation. The D-day for sending it in is on Wednesday, and I should be ahead of schedule. I have been very surprised at how much I don't miss doing school work, papers, and projects.

On the other hand, I worked this morning until the mid afternoon. It was a beautiful day-83 degrees, sunny, with a slight breeze. Just glorious! I am enjoying this weather before it begins to get extremely hot and humid. Last night, Katie, Megan, and I went to the Boardwalk with our Frosty's (from Wendy's) to watch the special Grad Night fireworks at Hollywood Studios. They were really cool! I always love watching fireworks, and it was neat to see Disney put on a different display for a special event.

Grad NightI

All I can say is, WOW! What a loooooong day! Since I have been practically non-existant at work for the past week, I decided it would be best to work as much as I could to make up for this week's pay. I woke up early this morning to work from 8:30am to 5pm. It was a very hot, humid day. On top of that, it seemed as though most of the people I came into contact with were somewhat rude. I hate that! I love making people's day and giving them that extra smile to boost their trip. It's no fun when parents are yelling at their kids and in turn, yelling at me! I went home to get some dinner at headed back to work at 7:30pm. I worked a three hour shift to take pictures of Grad Night. What a crazy night! Tons and TONS of high schoolers flooded the park and lots of cool decorations were posted everywhere. I was able to hear Katy Perry perform and see Hayden Patierre (sp?-she's from Hero's) on the Main Stage while taking pictures. I was so very excited to head on home and put my feet up for the night. This day will be much more worthwhile when I get my paycheck!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. I wish I could have been there to spend the day with her, but am so glad that she had a great day. She is a very special person in my life. She has taught me so much, even though I have so much still to learn. I love her dearly and am so proud to be her daughter. Happy Birthday Mom!

I had a pretty easy day today. I worked from the early morning the mid afternoon. Other than just taking pictures, I had a cool thing happen during my work day. My leader pulled me to take pictures during a special American Idol tour for the Fremantle 19 Media executives (this is the company that owns the rights to American Idol). It was neat to see them tour the building for the first time. I was even able to share with them the great news about the first engagement to occur in their attraction! They were all very impressed and intrigued with the proposal. Everyone thought I had a great guy. I think so too. :) After coming home, I finally was able to exercise and organize myself from the week. I am about halfway through my internship porfolio and will be sending it in sometime in the middle of next week. Graduation is right around the corner, and I could not be more thrilled!

Dresses and Dippin' Dots

Mmm...Dippin' Dots!!

We are all dorks...

I was so excited to have the day off today. After such an amazing weekend, I was a bit exhausted. Thankfully, I was able to sleep in a majority of the morning before exercising and getting ready for my class. For the past two weeks, my class hasn't been in session due to our "spring break" during the busy times at Disney. Today was the first class since the wonderful crazy busy weeks! It was a very helpful class session focused on interviewing and tailoring my resume to all things Disney. After class, since everyone had the day off, we decided to do a little shopping. We went to the Florida Mall because the roommates wanted to find a dress to wear to the College Progam Formal in next week. Although I wasn't buying a dress, I decided to go just for fun. We had a good time trying on dresses (mostly prom dresses) and running around the store. I felt like I was in high school again. After our shopping adventure, we stopped for a cool treat at Dippin' Dots. I got a peach sherbert-which was absolutely delicious! We all had a wonderful day relaxing and enjoying our day off.

A Perfect Proposal: Sunday

Instead of rushing to a park early in the morning, Joe and I decided to sleep in. We knew that Magic Kingdom would be open til 3am in the morning for extra magic hours, so we had no need to get there at the crack of dawn. We had a great day!! We went on almost every ride in the park, and the weather was beautiful for being outside. I also brought along our new favorite thing, the Hidden Mickey book. In almost every ride in Disney World, Imagineers place special "hidden mickeys" for guests to find throughout the ride. Some of them are easy to find, some are very hard. We had a great time looking around and taking the book to find them. He even managed to get me on Splash Mountain, his favorite ride, to look for the hidden mickeys. We had great snacks and did rides that we normally wouldn't do-like the Liberty Bell (the huge boat that goes around Tom Sawyer Island). It was such a relaxing and enjoyable day. We had a great time just being with one another and remembering all of the wonderful memories from the weekend. We were even able to watch the fireworks show, Wishes, together. Towards the end of the day, we found some souvenirs to capture the great and absolute perfect weekend we had.

I am so blessed. I am sitting here and truly thinking-Wow, I can't believe this is happening to me. I am engaged to the man of my dreams, I love his family, and I am thrilled for our future together. He worked so diligently to get everything about this weekend right-just for me. I am just overjoyed and madly in love! We are so thankful for all of the cards, calls, and love that were put into this engagement. Your thoughts and encouragement are wonderful, and we love you all. Thank you for supporting us and loving us!

The pictures are from my coordinators and leaders at work. They photographed the entire thing and even got a video of the process. They were so kind to document the entire thing. We are so thankful for all the hard work they put into this special event!

A Perfect Proposal: Saturday

On Saturday, I met up with Joe extra early in order to get to Hollywood Studios as it opened. My parents met us there, and we were able to get fastpasses to the new Toy Story Midway Mania ride for around 11:30am (which is amazing since fastpasses for this ride are usually gone for the day by 11:00am). We then went to ride the Rockin' Roller Coaster (which we were bumped to the front fastpass line by a cast member) and the Tower of Terror. Everyone rode the Tower of Terror, but my dad decided to skip the roller coaster and go take pictures with characters instead. Our day was filled with alot of fun memories-going to shows, riding our favorite rides, and eating excellent food. We were able to do almost everything in the park, even though Studios closed at 6pm for Grad Night. My parents even got to see a show at American Idol-where we got engaged! We all had a great time together, and it was so nice to spend time with Joe, my mom, and dad. We enjoyed being around each other, and had lots of memories to remember the day by.

Around 5pm, Joe and I left Hollywood Studios to go back and change for a special treat he had in store. Our amazing friend Whitney (who happens to be my coordinator at work) used to work in photography at the high end resorts at Disney World before being moved to the Studios. When planning the engagement, she was able to set-up a portrait session with a photographer for an hour at the Grand Floridian. She made the arrangements for 7pm, just when the sun was beginning to set. It was absolutely breath taking. Along with the photo session, we received a cd with all of the pictures and three of our favorite 5 X 7's of our favorite prints for free. The entire package would have end up costing Joe and I around $300, but she desired to give us a magical moment to celebrate this exciting weekend. Joe and I are thrilled, because the pictures are wonderful and the experience was amazing. We have engagement pictures to last us a lifetime!

After our engagement shoot, we met my parents at Downtown Disney where they were walking around and eating dinner. We did some shopping with them and even went to the Goofy Candy Company to make customized Mickey Mouse rice krispie treats! They were so delicious!! They had to leave at a decent time in order to get back to the hotel by midnight. Their plane was leaving early Sunday morning, and they wanted to get some sleep before getting up to be at the airport on time. I was very thankful my parents wanted to be apart of the festivities this weekend. It meant so much to me that they came and spent time with Joe and I. I love them very much!

Joe and I decided to eat dinner at T-Rex in Downtown Disney after wishing my parents off. It was very yummy! We did a little shopping before heading home for the night. It was another very magical day, where Joe and I felt very loved and supported.

A Perfect Proposal: Friday

The Wishes fireworks view from our table. It was so magical!

We met the Princess herself! She wished us a very happy ever after.

Our Philharmagic picture. It's tradition-except it looks a little different with a ring this time!

Our first picture in front of the castle to start the night. You can tell we have experienced a lot of emotions during the day!

After the wonderful and very surprising proposal, Joe informed me of all the things he had planned for the rest of the weekend. He went to great lengths to make this the most special weekend we have ever had. I felt so special the entire time. He had made arrangements for us have dinner at Cinderella's Castle on Friday night. We both decided it would be best to change into more comfortable clothes before beginning the rest of the activities for then night. After making a few stops at my apartment and at his hotel room, we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom. My parents decided to spend the night at EPCOT and Downtown Disney so that Joe and I could spend the rest of the evening together celebrating. We arrived at Magic Kingdom around 6:30 or 7pm and were already devising a plan for the rest of the evening. We decided to do some shopping first to pick out a figurine or collectible to remember the weekend. Ever since Joe came down in February, we have been looking for a Gallery of Light collectible shadow box of Lady and the Tramp. We found one in a store on Main Street USA and decided to get it with some engagement money we were given by the Hurst Family. We have started collecting them and really love the way they are designed (they are little scenes of Disney movies within a shadow box that light up when you press a button). After that, we were on our way to get fastpasses for the rest of the evening.

Just about every ride we went on, cast members gave us a fastpass or allowed us to ride again all weekend. They recognized our "Just Engaged!" buttons we were wearing and treated us to getting us to the front of the line. When we rode Thunder Mountain Railroad, we were even given ultimate fastpasses, which are fastpasses in which we can choose where and when to use them. Since Space Mountain was closing for the rest of the year on Saturday (the next day), we decided it would be wise to use them on that ride. We ended up using the ultimate fastpasses multiple times, as cast members were very generous and wanted us to have a magical weekend.

Joe had arranged very covetted arrangements for dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table around 9:20pm. We were able to get pictures with the princess herself before entering into the dining area. She was so excited that I too found my Prince Charming. :) We were seated in the absolute best table in the room. The waiter sat us at a table for two in the back of the room, against a window, right in the middle. It was the perfect spot to watch the Wishes fireworks. We had an amazing view, and it was so neat to hear and see the fireworks from inside the castle. The Fairy Godmother even came out later through our dinner and informed the other guests at the Royal Table that they were all invited to the Royal Wedding! We chuckled. Everyone was very quick to wish us a Happily Ever After. Complete strangers went out of their way to congratulate us on this special occasion. To say the least, Joe and I had an amazing day and were given the best treatment by everyone we came into contact with.

We're ENGAGED!

The amazing beautiful ring he customed designed for me!!

Taken right after the engagement by my parents!

The happy, happy couple

Check out that rock! He did a great job! I LOVE the ring!

So...I have not been very up-to-date with my blogging as of recently. No worries-There is a good reason. Joe and I are officially engaged!!! He flew down for the weekend to surprise me with a proposal, and he just left this morning. I am very sad to see him leave, but what an amazing weekend we had. God was so good in bringing people to us to give us the most unexpected magical moments during the entire weekend. We are so blessed to have a group of people around us that are so very supportive about the next phase of life we are about to embark upon. Instead of trying to post everything from the weekend, this specific blog will be the story of the engagement. Pictures and stories from the rest of the weekend will follow later on today and tonight.

The Background: Ok. I know most everyone knew about the engagement, and some of you even knew the exact details of the event. So, for the past few days, I know you have been reading my blog and laughing hysterically. You knew that I wasn't doing an American Idol promotion shoot for Entertainment and Photopass. Joe did a great job keeping it a secret, and I had no idea the entire time what he was up to. He went to great lengths to cover his bases and make sure that I had absolutely no clue what was headed my way.

The Proposal: I arrived at work on Friday morning a little more dolled up than normal because of the American Idol Promotion Photo Shoot that would be taking place later that day. I was able to work about 5 hours in the morning and brought a change of clothes to use for the session. Everyone that I worked with all day was very uptight (not normal) and was very concerned about me being at an exact location in the way back of Hollywood Studios the entire day. At about 1:30pm, I received multiple messages to return back to our office immediately and even had another co-worker chase me down to send me to the office as fast as I could. I thought "Hmm. This is odd." I changed clothes and waited with my manager for the the photographers to be ready at American Idol. We walked to the theater around 2:15pm and met more leaders and executives from Photopass and American Idol at the door. The photographer (Whitney, my coordinator) took multiple pictures of the beginning of the audition process on the outside of the theater. My area manager for Hollywood Studios (John) even had a video recorder, claiming he needed to video tape the process for educational purposes (little did I know). The whole time I am thinking-"Wow. They are going to great links to put this promotional package together. Why did they choose me to do this? Oh well. Just go along with it."

After some filming and pictures outside, we all went in to the audition building for the attraction. I went into the casting director's room (just like you would in a regular audition) and sang a short 30 second piece for. She was very pleased, and was eager to send me to the next round for an official audition with the producer. All the while, John and Whitney were filming and taking pictures. I walked down to the producer's audition room and was ready to begin. I walked in and sang the same thing I did for my previous audition in January, and he was very impressed. He informed me that I was very good, and even played a video telling me that I had made it in to the show. I was a little confused, since cast members are not officially allowed to audition and cannot perform in a show. He quickly left the room, stating he had a person who would like to hear me sing. I am thinking, "Holy cow! This is my chance! Maybe I will sing for another producer who will like me so much to give me a full time performance job. This is GREAT!!" All the while, Whitney and John were filming and taking pictures.

The producer came back only after being away for just a minute. Who I expected to follow him into the room wasn't the person that actually did follow him into the room. This is where Joe entered. I was shocked, excited, nervous, confused, and surprised all at the same time. I kept repeating "What are you doing here??" over and over, but then quickly realized his purpose for surprising me. This is when he got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and proposed. I said yes, of course! I was in such shock that I just cried and hugged him for what seemed like days. It was the best feeling ever! He told me he had another surprise for me , which happened to be my parents. They had flown down for the weekend to celebrate this occasion with the two of us. My mom and dad were there to give us big hugs after we walked out of the producers room-and even handed us Just Engaged! celebration pins to wear for the weekend! All of the producers and executives of American Idol and Photopass were waiting outside to congratulate us and wish us well. I was even more thrilled to find out that Joe would be staying the entire weekend, and my parents could be with us for another day as well.

I am soo blessed. As I am sitting here writing this, I can't get over how wonderful everything has been this weekend. It truly was the best weekend of my life. Not only did I get a chance to see Joe and spend time with my parents, but I now get to begin planning the rest of my life with this amazing guy. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I could not feel more excitement than I do right now. He truly is the man of my dreams, and I CAN'T WAIT to marry him. I know God has been so faithful to me in bringing me the perfect guy to share the rest of my life with.

Character Audition

So...I stumbled across another audition today. I have been checking the Disneyauditions.com website for the nearest auditions in Orlando for just about everything. Today was a special audition just for face/fur characters, puppetiers, dancers, and parade performers. I decided to zip over to the audition (which wasn't far from Hollywood Studios) after my morning to afternoon shift. Work was great, with great weather and such, and I was able to change quickly and get to the audition on time. It was very similar to other auditions that I have participated in through Disney. However, this time, I get a better result. Instead of going home empty handed, I was given a piece of paper that gave good news! I was chosen to be put in the character pool, which basically means I "passed" all of the Disney requirements to be a character. I passed the basic movement and animation exercise and was even chosen to participate in an advanced dancing audition for parade performers! I am definitely going to let my dance teacher at AU know. He would be proud. Being placed in the character pool means that Entertainment currently does not have a role open for my specific look, skill set, or height, but whenever a position becomes available, they will pull performers from the character pool and contact the cast member. The pool will last 6 months, and then I will have the opportunity to audition again. It was a pleasant surprise after not expecting to receive anything at the audition! Things are looking up!

Job Shadowing for American Idol

Such a great experience!

What an awesome attraction. I wish everyone could do it!

What an amazing day! This morning, I woke up pretty excited to start the day. About two weeks ago, I approached one of my leaders about possibly doing some job shadowing in a theater or venue at Hollywood Studios to finish my internship. He had some really good connections with a friend who is the executive producer at American Idol and was able to set-up a day of shadowing for today. During my shadow, I was able to watch the audition process from beginning to end. I began watching the casting director, then the screening room, and finally the producer. I was able to sit in for auditions and was almost always correct about the choices that the producers made about each contestant! After a while in the audition process, I was moved over to the actual production stage and process. I shadowed the stage manager, techs, backstage manager, and vocal coach. I was even able to sit in on a session of vocal coaching for each contestant in the 1:00pm show! The coach was very helpful and knowledgeable about manipulation for each song. He was awesome to talk to and had alot of information about the music business scene in Orlando. Everyone I met was extremely nice and very generous in giving advice to me about how to get where I want to go at Disney. Most of them even remembered me when I performed in January on the stage! I was a little shocked, to say the least. I was able to get the executive producer's card with his email and number on it. He is an excellent contact and was very enthusiastic about wanting to help in any way he can.

On another note, while I was exercising on the treadmill today, I received a call from the head of Photopass at Hollywood Studios (he used to be a big producer in entertainment at Magic Kingdom for 15 years). After catching my breath for a few minutes, he wanted to ask me to do a favor for him and the Photopass/American Idol team. He expressed that American Idol enjoyed my presence in their venue during the day and approached Photopass about putting together a promotional package for the two teams. My area manager called me to ask if I would be willing to be the model for the promotional package! Since they already have all of the photos from when I performed in January, they will just need to document the audition process with photos and possibly a video of me singing. I was shocked! I felt very honored that they thought of me for something like this. He informed me that he appreciated my hard work, and he could tell that I am attempting to do everything I can to get where I want to go. I will be leaving work a little early on Friday to change and get ready for the shoot around 2:45 or 3pm. To be the face of the American Idol promotional package! Wow!

Haircut

Our hairstylist Holly! She is so cute!

Yay for haircuts!

This morning, our apartment awoke around 9am to a tornado warning issued by the local weather service. Strong thunderstorms were in the area and the rest of the day didn't look very promising in the way of good weather. So, instead of trying to work around the bad stormy weather, I decided to plan a day of errands and activities I could do inside. One of those activities included a good haircut. It has been a while since I have gotten a haircut, and it was desparately needed. My roommate Jackie and I made an appointment for mid morning at a upscale salon called the Cut and Color Room. We both had a great stylist who was very sweet and knew exactly what kind of a style we wanted. She was so much fun to talk to, and genuinely cared about our personal life and making our hair look the best it could. I was so happy-finding a new salon you like is alot of pressure on a girl! :) We had a great time, and I know I will be back to visit Holly at the salon next time I need a haircut.

Happy Birthday Debbie!

Debbie and I senior year. All grown up!

Junior year on Chorale tour-at the Boston aquarium!

In Sweden on our Scandanavian tour Sophomore year.

Freshman year at our first concert! I love you, Debbie. Happy Birthday!

Today was a pretty uneventful day. Even though it is Monday, to my work week this is Friday. This week, I have tomorrow and Wednesday off. It made this work day all the more better, since I had to be up around 5:30 am! After getting home from work in the late afternoon, I was finally able to run on the tredmill for a while and have a good workout. It was great! The sun was shining so beautiful today, and I couldn't wait to park myself on an oversized pool chair after my workout. I was able to talk to alot of family members and friends on the phone that I didn't get to yesterday on Easter. Catching up with them was great, and I enjoyed listening to everything going on at school and home. I even got to talk to Debbie, my very good friend, on the phone for her birthday!

Happy Birthday Debbie! Debbie is a very good friend, if not one of my best friends. She has always been there for me throughout the past four years, and her wisdom, encouragement, and love has helped me through some of the toughest times. We have also had the joy of sharing some wonderful experiences together. She is an amazing woman, and I am so blessed to have her in my life. I hope you had a special day Debbie because you deserve it. I love you!

He Lives!

I love Easter. I love everything about the day. There is a freshness in the air that automatically permeates the mood of everyone. No matter what the temperature is outside, it seems as though everything is fresh, new, and blooming. My favorite part of the day has always been the church service. Celebrating the risen Lord that has given us eternal salvation is always so relevant and amazing to me year after year. I am so blessed to have the assurance that one day I will join Him in Heaven to celebrate His resurrection and second coming with the angels.

Even though I had to work this morning, I had the opportunity to talk to a few of my co-workers about Easter and what it means to me. I am pretty sure they were non-believers, so it was the perfect day and time to bring up a topic such as this. I even saw a couple of guests in Hollywood studios wearing "I'm celebrating!" buttons with a written message on them saying, "Jesus is risen!" It gave me a smile everytime.

Because I didn't have the opportunity to go to church, I spent extra time reading the story of the resurrection and listening to hymns and songs I would have sung at a service. One particular song spoke to me, particularly due to the my stage in life. The chorus is:


Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives.


My life is worth the living enough that He died a perfect death on the cross. No matter how frustrated I get about the future or about what will come tomorrow, I must remember that God is in control. He cared enough about me to send His only Son to die on a rugged cross for me, so I can get through any circumstance that is put before me. What an awesome God we serve.

Egg Dying Time!

I am so sorry I can't be with you this Easter Joe. I love you so and made an egg to prove it!!

Our egg dying station with all the goods

Ok-I apologize for opening the Easter presents early. However, in my defense, they were staring at me. I felt bad for them. I figured since you all knew I opened them, I could finally wear them on my blog!! (I love this shirt!)

We were so excited to begin!!

Katie and Shannon hard at work...

During the process...

Shannon and Katie with their favorite eggs!

After working for a long time today, I got home around 5:30 pm and knew exactly what I wanted to do for the evening. After working, I came home and did a little exercising before Katie and I went to the store. We waited for Shannon to get home, and we all went to Wal-Mart to get all of our egg dying supplies. A few snacks, groceries, and 2 and a half dozen eggs later, we came home and quickly got to work. After boiling all the eggs, we waited a little bit for them to cool. While we were waiting, Katie put in the movie Twilight, and we watched to the point in which I am reading in the book currently. I am excited to finish reading it!! After about 45 minutes, we were ready to start dying our eggs! We had a great time and really enjoyed spending the night with one another. Katie and Shannon kept making fun of me because I am such a perfectionist with the eggs. It is difficult being away from family and friends on Easter, but spending time with each other helps. However, I do miss all of my family and friends back home. I can't wait to see them again soon. We had a wonderful night and really had a great time doing the things we used to do with our families before Easter.

PS-I have figured out the secret on my camera. I now have about 300 spaces for pictures on my camera! So, I guess this means, the blog is back in action!!

A NEW PHONE!!!

So.....Some updates since yesterday....

*Phone problem: solved-I got a new phone today. This should solve all of my disconnecting problems and dropped calls issues. Joe and I now have the same phone. Aren't we cute.

*Camera problem: yet to be determined. That is my project for the rest of the weekend.

*Extension for the college program: I was accepted today! I received an email extending me an offer to stay in the college program until August (when hopefully a job will become available). I am going to wait to accept after I attend a character audition for full time performers next week.

*Completing my internship: As of yesterday, I received word that I will be doing an all day job shadowing at American Idol next Wednesday. This will finish my job shadowing hours and allow me to turn in my porfolio to graduate. Yay!

It feels good to finally be seeing answers coming to prayers. I know doors will continue to open-where they are and when they will open is still yet to be determined. However, I am very excited about embarking on the next few months!

Technology Failure...and a prayer answered

Joe and I on the beach at Siesta Key. It's the most recent picture I have! I am such a lucky girl!

So...let's just say I have had some recent technology failures. As of today, my computer is acting up, my cell phone barely lets me talk on the phone for more than a few minutes before dropping the call, and I can't connect my camera memory card to my computer. Now don't get me wrong, I am so thankful to even have access to these types of devices, but the fact they aren't working makes me a little frustrated. So, today, after working in the early morning and afternoon, I made it my mission to take care of one of these issues. I went to an AT&T store, only to find out that I am eligible for an upgrade and that my SIM card (in my phone) barely even connects to the new Cingular and AT&T network. No wonder I can barely talk on the phone! So, with my dad's help, I should be getting a new phone within the next day or so. Yay! My roommate Katie and I had another date at Pei Wei, our favorite Chinese resteraunt/take-out. We ended up watching Marley & Me. What a great, relaxing night.

On another note:

I am so proud of Joe. He was accepted into the University of Maryland for grad school. He was one of 15 out of close to one thousand applicants to receive a spot in this prestigious opera studio. I am so excited for him. I can't to see all the doors that will open for him in this direction, and I couldn't be more thrilled that this weight has been lifted off his shoulders. What an amazing man he is, and I feel all the more blessed to have him in my life. I love him sooo much!!!!

CrAzY Disney!!!

For the past few days, I have been consummed with working and have been so exhausted! I have been working 9-12 hour days since this Easter week has begun, and when I come home, all I want to do is sit and relax! My roommate Katie and I had the day off today, and we decided we would get out to the parks just to have a little fun. We left around 2pm, and didn't get into Hollywood Studios until about 3:15pm. The parking lot at Hollywood Studios was full (we had to park at EPCOT), and the park attendants had to turn guests away from Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom because they were full to capacity. It is literally nuts here! Since all of the attractions were at least over 150 minutes long, we decided to walk around taking pictures with characters. We also stopped by to watch a show of American Idol, since I have only performed and never sat in the audience to participate. It was awesome! I really enjoyed it. The singers were ok, but the overall show was very excellent. It really makes you feel like you are the live audience of the taping of American Idol. After the show, we left Hollywood Studios and went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries. Katie bought Marly and Me and Bolt, and we watched Marly and Me while we were cleaning the apartment. Another inspection is coming on Thursday, so we are all frantically cleaning to get the White Glove Award again. The movie was excellent! We had a very relaxing and enjoyable day off.

(I have lots of pictures from today, however, I bought a new memory card for my camera and it does not directly connect to my computer. I also can't find the cord that connects my camera to my computer. Isn't technology great. Hopefully, I will find it soon so I can post some pictures!)

Attempt #2

After unsuccessfully going to Animal Kingdom a few days ago to set-up a job shadowing day, I decided that when I finished work today, I would try again. I worked an early morning to afternoon shift and began heading to Animal Kingdom around 3:45pm. I wanted to make sure I was on time for the 4:45pm show, since it was the last show for the day. It has been a while since I have seen Finding Nemo the Musical. The singers are fabulous! On top of the great talent, each singer/dancer/actor operates a puppet to bring the characters to life. I don't know how they do it all! I am completely in shock after watching it. I was able to talk to the stage manager and technicians after the show, and it looks like I may have to make a bigger effort to finish my internship. Disney is very cautious about that sort of thing-they want to cover all of their bases in case any issue with liability occurs. I am planning on asking my leaders for a job shadowing day at American Idol and one other show at Studios. After that, I should have completed my internship! Yay! I talked to my advisor today, and she is very eager for me to graduate. I don't blame her, I am too. It was a great day, with beautiful weather, and alot of answers beginning to happen in regards to finishing my degree!

Easter Goodies

They are so amazing!

She is so crafty. I can't believe it! Thanks Katie!

After another morning and afternoon at work, I was ready to come home and relax a little. It has been getting pretty hot and humid here, and I am enjoying spending time inside in the air conditioning. When I came home, I wanted to exercise for a while and take a shower. I enjoyed a little down time to get some of my errands and paperwork done for the upcoming month. Graduation is coming soon, and I am really attempting to turn all of my internship information in ahead of time! Alot of my roommates came home tonight, and it was nice to all be around together. It has been a while since we have all been here, and it was nice to have everyone around the apartment. While we were all here, Katie presented us with a gift that she all made us over the week with her mom. They have both grown-up making sugar eggs for Easter, and her mom came to Disney to spend some time and make sugar eggs with her. They are so beautiful! The pictures don't do them justice. She made each egg by hand (even the sugar egg itself!)and spent hours with the details inside the egg. She even put 6 hidden mickies in each egg! Every egg is unique, and the scenes and detailing are all different. I was thoroughly impressed. What a great present to begin the countdown to Easter!

A Fun Date at Fantasmic

Glad she's back! (apparently, the guy in the back feels the need to get down and boogy)

My Home! Hollywood Studios!

Poof! And Mickey is gone!

Mickey slaying the dragon with his sword!

After working this morning and afternoon, I wanted to do something fun during the evening. I decided I wanted to go to Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios since I have only seen it once before. Katie had been gone for the past week (her mom was in town), and I was excited to see her again. So, after she finished work at the Magic Kingdom, we met at Hollywood Studios to attend the 10:00pm show. I was looking forward to watching the show after my backstage tour last week. It is neat to know all of the little tricks and magic that goes on within the show. I know-call me a dork. I watched with more anticipation and was checking details the entire show. The show is so interesting and nostalgic, because Mickey is the center of the entertainment. It focuses on the magic of imagination and the creative mind. I just love it! We had a great time watching the show and catching up about things that have happened over the past week. I sure did miss Katie!