Someone needs to be holding me more accountable to blogging. I fail.
Alrighty then.
Last time I updated was last Wednesday.
Beginning where my last entry left off, I have since bought insoles for my shoes, which cost about the same as the shoes haha. But my whole body is thanking me. Last Thursday was my last official day of training. My trainer was a Colombian man named Eddie who loved to tell stories about the guests he has encountered in the last thirty years, most of which he couldn't even finish telling because he would laugh so hard. It was quite amusing.
Friday was my first day of work without a trainer, and it was also the first day of my family's Fathers Day vacation. I had spent the morning (after Holly's bible study- we talked about being humble. SO convicting) seeing the Karate Kid with some other project kids. We had tried to see Toy Story 3, but it was sold out. On Wednesday and Thursday nights the Disney Beach Club Resort had showed the first two Toy Story movies and we had a lot of fun going to watch those.
So yeah, Friday was my first day all by my onesies. I worked till 130. My parents got to briefly see me before the night time rush came in. Magic Kingdom has night parades at 9pm and 11pm and fireworks at 10pm, and in between all those the store is INCREDIBLY crowded. Like its exhausting just to look at. But it wasn't too terrible. The title of this entry relates to the fact that I have used my spanish skillz (or lack thereof) more in the last two weeks than I have in the last five years. At least three or four times a night I use bits and pieces of the few words I remember from la clase de espanol to try and communicate something to our latino guests. I give directions to the bathroom, read off prices and totals, and try to tell them where to find things. It is probably very entertaining for them.
Saturday I had my LTG meeting at 815 and then headed to Typhoon Lagoon to spend the day with my dad and brother (my mom doesn't enjoy waterparks too much). It is tradition for my family- fathers day weekend we go to Typhoon Lagoon and take photo in the Family raft ride. My dad has the last 7 years or so lined up on his desk (although in the middle there is a picture of us in Colorado, which is where we spent the fathers day after my senior year of h.s.) It was really awesome to spend time with my dad after everything that has happened this year. I consider myself so blessed, and it was ridiculously hard not to get overwhelmed emotionally in front of him. I did that in private later. God has been so faithful in answering prayers- prayers that came from literally all ends of the globe as people who I don't even know prayed for my dad. It is so humbling. After the waterpark we went back to the hotel where I spent some time with my mom. It was wonderful.
Saturday night I worked until 1215, which is probably the earliest I will ever get off again. It was a good night, just rather boring. I was in the back corner of the store where nobody ever shops. But, this gave me more time to make a little magic. We have this phone number that you can call to hear a pre-recorded message of Goofy singing Happy Birthday to little kids. It is fun to find kids with Happy Birthday pins on and give them the phone to listen to. We also have these little certificates where you can fill in the kid's name and their honor for the night. I crowned one little girl princess of the Emporium and made a little boy an Honorary Astronaut (he had just ridden Space Mountain for the first time)
Sunday I joined my family one more time at Hollywood Studios. We went on Tower of Terror and the Toy Story ride and ate lunch before they headed home. It was so good to spend some time with them once more. After that I went home and took a nap, because Sunday night I worked from 8pm-4am. In-freaking-sane. The park was open until 2 for Disney Resort guests and we have to stock and such for two hours after the last guest leaves. It is insane. I was so delirious that everything was funny. You get assigned a different area to close every night, and mine was bobbleheads, Magic Kingdom shirts, and 2010 merchandise. Lets just say that bobbleheads are really amusing at 4am.
Monday was good too. We had group bible study, where we once again talked about being too proud and competitive. Seems to be a theme in my life lately, so I am listening to whatever God wants to say. I have been kinda journaling through it, which has been helpful. I have some areas of my life where I need to work out my kinks, and that is one of them fo shizzle.
Monday night I worked till 315, which was exhausting after just closing the night before. My normal assignments were great, two of my favorite register areas. But I also had Cash Wrap for my closing assignment, which meant I went around to each of the 35 registered and restocked tissue paper, boxes, bags, pens, tape, delivery slips, and so on. Definitely the most tedious and least favorite assignment yet.
okay, I know I still have a few days to update, but its time for bed. I will update again tomorrow and pick up where I left off.
Hasta la vista!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
How to hang ten and cause cash register malfunction
Hi friends.
I wish I had the energy to update more often. Lets see, I left off thursday night. I am doing really bad at updating often, I apologize.
Last Friday morning we had an optional bible study as a project activity, which I went to since I have been forced to miss a lot of activities due to a crazy training schedule. It was awesome. It was led by one of my fellow project-ers, Holly. After that, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to Blizzard Beach for the day. It was a lot of fun. I somehow found the courage (a.k.a I was forced against my will) to ride Summit Plummet. It was amazing. And terrifying. I don't know if I have ever been that scared in my life. I screamed really loud for the first few seconds and then I was worried I would drown so I stopped. If I was not so tired, I would probably spin this into some analogy about life and faith, considering the worst part was waiting in line for 35 minutes, building up anticipation. But I am tired, so it wouldn't have the full effect. I need to be awake to analogize.
Friday night we did something else, but I can't remember what it was.
Saturday I had more training, this time back at Disney University. 6+ hours of learning how to use a cash register. It was fun. Sorta. Then we had another movie night I think. I am really having a hard time keeping all the movie nights straight.
Sunday I went back to Celebration Community Church, which I still really really like. The pastor talked about how when we don't have much, when we do give, it means a lot. He was speaking monetarily (the church meets in a high school auditorium and is trying to build an actual church) but it is very applicable to life. You don't need to have a lot to make it count. It was awesome. A bunch of us went to Wendy's for lunch, then our small groups met. After that, we played more sand volleyball, went on yet another Super Walmart run (I am really starting to hate that place) and then spent the night at Magic Kingdom. They have a new fireworks show for the summer. It was wonderful. I don't want to give too much away, but lets just say one of my favorite movies ever was well represented. Arrrg.
Monday we had group bible study (an actual project coordinated one, the other one we kinda made up on our own) and it was really really cool. I have never been in a co-ed bible study before and I liked it. We are going through material this summer called the Gospel Centered Life, and we talked a lot about the ways we judge people this week. First impressions or not, we got down and dirty with every person's tendency to judge others, which can all be related back to certain standards that we hold ourselves to. For example, we may judge someone on their body type because deep down, whether we know it or not, we hold ourselves to a high standard in regards to body type. I had never really thought about it that way before.
After bible study, we went to Hollywood Studios. I ended up just sticking with a group of four other girls the whole time, which was nice because we did a lot of girly stuff, like the Little Mermaid show and the Beauty and the Beast show, stuff I never usually get to do in big groups due to being vetoed by men (usually my dad and brother). We had a lot of fun.
Tuesday was amazing. We drove to Cocoa beach and spent a few hours just talking to people vacationing there and using a tool called Soularium to talk about things concerning faith. It is a box of fifty photographs and a set of questions like "which three images best describe your life?" "which three images represent what you WISH your life was like?" "which image best represents your view of God?" etc. The photos are all beautiful and range from a baby bird to a barbed wire fence to a fishing hook to mountains to an old couple holding hands and walking down the path. It is such a cool way to find out more about people. We buddied off, and Alex and I talked to this older couple who were adorable. They both said that true happiness was living the rest of their lives together. So sweet.
Annnnd, after that, we all went to Ron Jon Surf Shop and rented surfboards and went surfing! IT WAS SO AMAZING!!!! I had a blast. I was in the second group to go. Our staff team went a few weeks ago and was able to help us learn and give us a push when we were out there. The weather was kinda gloomy but the waves were apparently perfect for learning- 1-2 feet. I got up three times!!! I felt like I was flying. It was incredible addicting, I can't wait to get back out there. A bunch of people are talking about going again before the summer is over.
Today was my second day of training in the store. We started at 10 and got off around 630, so it was a long day. I was on a register most of the day and cannot even begin to list the ways that one can screw up on that machine. It is really high tech, which is sometimes awesome, but sometimes really complicated. One time I meant to key in the price of $4.95 and ended up keying in the quantity as 495. My guest nearly fainted from what came up as a $2,600+ total. The manager had to come over and fix the cash register, which had a meltdown when I tried to void 494 of them. I almost had a meltdown too, but luckily utter disaster was narrowly avoided. There is so much to remember with every single transaction that sometimes I forget to do things like breathe. I made change so people could press pennies in the machines outside, searched through a maze of a stockroom for items I knew we didn't carry, and almost took my finger off trying to cut the plastic wrap off of an autograph book so a kid could get Goofy's signature before he went away. I also taught some Norwegian men how to use American money. That stuff was interesting.
But the best part of the day was definitely when I got to just walk around the store or stand at the doors and greet/entertain/ interact with guests. I stood at the front of the store with Mickey gloves on and gave kids High-5, or High-4's since Mickey only has four fingers. I gave crying kids stickers and thought their parents were going to crown me queen of the universe for quieting their sunburnt, exhausted children. All the little girls came in wearing princess costumes and I would say "Hi Princess!!" and tell them how pretty they were. One little boy came in wearing a full out pirate costume and I pretended to be scared and hid behind a display. He looked at me like I was insane. Clearly I got more of a kick out of that game then he did. I also embarrassed a dad by making the whole store sing Happy Birthday to him. I love people.
Tonight a bunch of us went to one of the resorts that was showing Toy Story on a big screen TV in honor of Toy Story 3 opening Friday. They are showing the second one tomorrow night.
Tomorrow I work again. My feet hurt really bad from my $7 Walmart work appropriate shoes. I may need some insoles. But I can't wait to get back to work. How often can someone say that? I can't wait to go stand on my feet wearing an itchy polyester costume and deal with cranky parents who ask when the rain will stop and why it is so hot and why everything is so expensive. I can't wait for that because along with all the bad stuff comes little girls whose faces light up when you call them princess and sweet old ladies who find the perfect shirt for their grandson and little babies who giggle when I contort my face for them. That makes it all worthwhile.
That was long. Thanks for reading. Love you all.
Kel
I wish I had the energy to update more often. Lets see, I left off thursday night. I am doing really bad at updating often, I apologize.
Last Friday morning we had an optional bible study as a project activity, which I went to since I have been forced to miss a lot of activities due to a crazy training schedule. It was awesome. It was led by one of my fellow project-ers, Holly. After that, we grabbed a quick lunch and headed to Blizzard Beach for the day. It was a lot of fun. I somehow found the courage (a.k.a I was forced against my will) to ride Summit Plummet. It was amazing. And terrifying. I don't know if I have ever been that scared in my life. I screamed really loud for the first few seconds and then I was worried I would drown so I stopped. If I was not so tired, I would probably spin this into some analogy about life and faith, considering the worst part was waiting in line for 35 minutes, building up anticipation. But I am tired, so it wouldn't have the full effect. I need to be awake to analogize.
Friday night we did something else, but I can't remember what it was.
Saturday I had more training, this time back at Disney University. 6+ hours of learning how to use a cash register. It was fun. Sorta. Then we had another movie night I think. I am really having a hard time keeping all the movie nights straight.
Sunday I went back to Celebration Community Church, which I still really really like. The pastor talked about how when we don't have much, when we do give, it means a lot. He was speaking monetarily (the church meets in a high school auditorium and is trying to build an actual church) but it is very applicable to life. You don't need to have a lot to make it count. It was awesome. A bunch of us went to Wendy's for lunch, then our small groups met. After that, we played more sand volleyball, went on yet another Super Walmart run (I am really starting to hate that place) and then spent the night at Magic Kingdom. They have a new fireworks show for the summer. It was wonderful. I don't want to give too much away, but lets just say one of my favorite movies ever was well represented. Arrrg.
Monday we had group bible study (an actual project coordinated one, the other one we kinda made up on our own) and it was really really cool. I have never been in a co-ed bible study before and I liked it. We are going through material this summer called the Gospel Centered Life, and we talked a lot about the ways we judge people this week. First impressions or not, we got down and dirty with every person's tendency to judge others, which can all be related back to certain standards that we hold ourselves to. For example, we may judge someone on their body type because deep down, whether we know it or not, we hold ourselves to a high standard in regards to body type. I had never really thought about it that way before.
After bible study, we went to Hollywood Studios. I ended up just sticking with a group of four other girls the whole time, which was nice because we did a lot of girly stuff, like the Little Mermaid show and the Beauty and the Beast show, stuff I never usually get to do in big groups due to being vetoed by men (usually my dad and brother). We had a lot of fun.
Tuesday was amazing. We drove to Cocoa beach and spent a few hours just talking to people vacationing there and using a tool called Soularium to talk about things concerning faith. It is a box of fifty photographs and a set of questions like "which three images best describe your life?" "which three images represent what you WISH your life was like?" "which image best represents your view of God?" etc. The photos are all beautiful and range from a baby bird to a barbed wire fence to a fishing hook to mountains to an old couple holding hands and walking down the path. It is such a cool way to find out more about people. We buddied off, and Alex and I talked to this older couple who were adorable. They both said that true happiness was living the rest of their lives together. So sweet.
Annnnd, after that, we all went to Ron Jon Surf Shop and rented surfboards and went surfing! IT WAS SO AMAZING!!!! I had a blast. I was in the second group to go. Our staff team went a few weeks ago and was able to help us learn and give us a push when we were out there. The weather was kinda gloomy but the waves were apparently perfect for learning- 1-2 feet. I got up three times!!! I felt like I was flying. It was incredible addicting, I can't wait to get back out there. A bunch of people are talking about going again before the summer is over.
Today was my second day of training in the store. We started at 10 and got off around 630, so it was a long day. I was on a register most of the day and cannot even begin to list the ways that one can screw up on that machine. It is really high tech, which is sometimes awesome, but sometimes really complicated. One time I meant to key in the price of $4.95 and ended up keying in the quantity as 495. My guest nearly fainted from what came up as a $2,600+ total. The manager had to come over and fix the cash register, which had a meltdown when I tried to void 494 of them. I almost had a meltdown too, but luckily utter disaster was narrowly avoided. There is so much to remember with every single transaction that sometimes I forget to do things like breathe. I made change so people could press pennies in the machines outside, searched through a maze of a stockroom for items I knew we didn't carry, and almost took my finger off trying to cut the plastic wrap off of an autograph book so a kid could get Goofy's signature before he went away. I also taught some Norwegian men how to use American money. That stuff was interesting.
But the best part of the day was definitely when I got to just walk around the store or stand at the doors and greet/entertain/ interact with guests. I stood at the front of the store with Mickey gloves on and gave kids High-5, or High-4's since Mickey only has four fingers. I gave crying kids stickers and thought their parents were going to crown me queen of the universe for quieting their sunburnt, exhausted children. All the little girls came in wearing princess costumes and I would say "Hi Princess!!" and tell them how pretty they were. One little boy came in wearing a full out pirate costume and I pretended to be scared and hid behind a display. He looked at me like I was insane. Clearly I got more of a kick out of that game then he did. I also embarrassed a dad by making the whole store sing Happy Birthday to him. I love people.
Tonight a bunch of us went to one of the resorts that was showing Toy Story on a big screen TV in honor of Toy Story 3 opening Friday. They are showing the second one tomorrow night.
Tomorrow I work again. My feet hurt really bad from my $7 Walmart work appropriate shoes. I may need some insoles. But I can't wait to get back to work. How often can someone say that? I can't wait to go stand on my feet wearing an itchy polyester costume and deal with cranky parents who ask when the rain will stop and why it is so hot and why everything is so expensive. I can't wait for that because along with all the bad stuff comes little girls whose faces light up when you call them princess and sweet old ladies who find the perfect shirt for their grandson and little babies who giggle when I contort my face for them. That makes it all worthwhile.
That was long. Thanks for reading. Love you all.
Kel
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Popcorn and Polyester
Hola mis amigos!
So, I definitely owe an update. I left off on Sunday night, so be prepared for a long one.
Monday morning began with a successful birthday bamboozlement for Katie, my Texas Longhorns lovin' roommate. Kayleigh, Liz and I made pancakes that spelled out "Happy Bday Katie" in them, and it was wonderful. After our morning Quiet Time (we have this book called Four Sevens that has four weeks worth of daily devotionals- individual bible studies that have you read a passage and answer questions and apply it to your life. This particular one goes through Luke), we began reading this amazing book called God Space. It is about how to talk about and share your faith in every day conversation. It is pretty freaking awesome.
After lunch, we all piled into the car and headed to Lake Hart, Campus Crusade for Christ's international headquarters. It was an incredible privilege and so amazing to see where it all goes on. They have a HUGE amount of property with many enormous buildings. We got to see offices of the top leadership, including the offices of founder Bill Bright and his wife Vonette. Dr. Bright's office has been left the way it was when he died, and it was really cool to see it. We toured the international and national office buildings and took a pit stop in the prayer tower, which was my favorite part of the day. They had different rooms set up dedicated to different parts of the world, complete with large map tapestries and prayer requests from missionaries in those parts of the world.
When we were done at headquarters, we headed to the house of one of the national campus director and his family. They invite the project over every year after HQ tour and invite them swimming and grill us dinner. It was so splendid. I got to talk to their daughter who just graduated high school (she is going to UCF, Go Knights!). It was so sweet, I have met so many amazing people already.
So Tuesday was Traditions, which is Disney orientation. I felt like I was back at UF preview. We went to "Disney University" and learned cast member basics and other park information, some history, etc. We also got to walk around the Magic Kingdom wearing closed circuit FM radio headsets so that our leader could give us a tour but still be heard by 75 people. I felt like a secret agent with my little earpiece. haha. 8 long hours after we started, we graduated by getting our nametags! I was quite thrilled, it felt like a childhood dream coming true. After Traditions was over our whole project went to EPCOT to walk around and then watched the fireworks. It was total confirmation that all my hard work and prayer was paying off- God is so cool. He deserves all the glory for this. Watching the fireworks with people who already feel like family a week after meeting, knowing what we were there for- it was truly magical. Before we went in the park, there was a group of 11 of us who stood outside in a circle and prayed for the project and also for the world, since EPCOT is the perfect place for that.
Wednesday morning was my first training day, and I showed up and was immediately fitted for my ridiculous costume, which includes a waist high, ankle length plaid polyester skirt and a poofy sleeved, ruffly blouse, and little necktie. Not too terrible, and highly entertaining. Comfort is clearly not Disney's priority as far as costumes go, but it is very very doable. I loved it in all honesty. They also gave us a lanyard and let us pick out pins so that we can trade with guests. Pin Trading is a big deal here. I am sure I will talk more about it later. But so yeah, after taking some computer tests on safety, I was walked up and basically turned loose in the Emporium, Magic Kingdom's largest store. It runs the entire length of Main Street USA on the West side. My trainer, Pam, was wonderful. She was training Jaime, Erica, Tim and I, the four people on project who work in the Emporium. She was so sweet and kept insisting on how much of a family everyone is and how we will all cry when we leave because everyone is so close. I cannot wait. We also got to meet our first international buddy on our job site, his name is Emelien and he is from France and is here on the International College Program. He is new too, so he stuck with us on our breaks and it was great to start getting to know him. We got to learn about customer service and such, not much actual store training. We got to do a lot of "merchentaining" (merchandise+entertaining=merchantaining) which will undoubtedly be my favorite part of the job- interacting with guests and their kids. I had a swordfight with a 6 year old pirate and knew immediately that I have the best job in the world.
When we got back yesterday we had a movie night and watched Princess and the Frog and about 20 other people from project came, including some of the boys. We made home made popcorn (like in a pot with oil) and it was wonderful. I have not had popcorn in SO long- one time I went to a circus and ate popcorn (my mom had given it to me to take with me, dairy-free) and cotton candy and afterwards I got the stomach flu and was horribly sick. Consequently, I have not liked popcorn, cotton candy, or circuses for a very very long time. But I got over my fear and tried it again and loved it.
Today I had theme park orientation called Once Upon A Time Is Now! It was an introduction to the Magic Kingdom basically, and it was slightly pointless since I worked all day yesterday. It was sorta backtracking. Anyways, we had to be there at 715 which meant that my feet hit the floor at 5:45 this morning, a full 16 hours ago. I got marched around Magic Kingdom in dress shoes, hosiery, a skirt and a nice top, which is hopefully a once in a lifetime experience. It was really cool to see some of the stuff I won't normally get to see, such as the back of the Haunted Mansion. They even let us ride Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear, two of my favorites. It was all in all a fun morning, but it was quite exhausting. I came home, totally prepared to nap, and somehow found myself at Animal Kingdom an hour and a half later. Ten of us spent the evening there and had a blast. Pictures will come. Then I just spent some time with a few girls relaxing my aching feet in the jacuzzi here at the hotel. When I got home from that, I Skyped with Jessie, who was joined by Betsy and Cait. No matter how much I love it here, it was so wonderful to see some familiar loving faces. It was another awesome day, but I am so incredibly exhausted. I also got my first piece of mail today! A card from Amanda :-) I did the happy dance in our living room and then I put it on my nightstand.
Okay, I love you all but my body aches in places that should never ache. I will update more later! Tomorrow a bunch of us have the day off, which I believe will be spent in group bible study and a trip to Blizzard Beach. So I will update on that later.
Mucho amor,
One tired, aching, ecstatic cast member :-)
So, I definitely owe an update. I left off on Sunday night, so be prepared for a long one.
Monday morning began with a successful birthday bamboozlement for Katie, my Texas Longhorns lovin' roommate. Kayleigh, Liz and I made pancakes that spelled out "Happy Bday Katie" in them, and it was wonderful. After our morning Quiet Time (we have this book called Four Sevens that has four weeks worth of daily devotionals- individual bible studies that have you read a passage and answer questions and apply it to your life. This particular one goes through Luke), we began reading this amazing book called God Space. It is about how to talk about and share your faith in every day conversation. It is pretty freaking awesome.
After lunch, we all piled into the car and headed to Lake Hart, Campus Crusade for Christ's international headquarters. It was an incredible privilege and so amazing to see where it all goes on. They have a HUGE amount of property with many enormous buildings. We got to see offices of the top leadership, including the offices of founder Bill Bright and his wife Vonette. Dr. Bright's office has been left the way it was when he died, and it was really cool to see it. We toured the international and national office buildings and took a pit stop in the prayer tower, which was my favorite part of the day. They had different rooms set up dedicated to different parts of the world, complete with large map tapestries and prayer requests from missionaries in those parts of the world.
When we were done at headquarters, we headed to the house of one of the national campus director and his family. They invite the project over every year after HQ tour and invite them swimming and grill us dinner. It was so splendid. I got to talk to their daughter who just graduated high school (she is going to UCF, Go Knights!). It was so sweet, I have met so many amazing people already.
So Tuesday was Traditions, which is Disney orientation. I felt like I was back at UF preview. We went to "Disney University" and learned cast member basics and other park information, some history, etc. We also got to walk around the Magic Kingdom wearing closed circuit FM radio headsets so that our leader could give us a tour but still be heard by 75 people. I felt like a secret agent with my little earpiece. haha. 8 long hours after we started, we graduated by getting our nametags! I was quite thrilled, it felt like a childhood dream coming true. After Traditions was over our whole project went to EPCOT to walk around and then watched the fireworks. It was total confirmation that all my hard work and prayer was paying off- God is so cool. He deserves all the glory for this. Watching the fireworks with people who already feel like family a week after meeting, knowing what we were there for- it was truly magical. Before we went in the park, there was a group of 11 of us who stood outside in a circle and prayed for the project and also for the world, since EPCOT is the perfect place for that.
Wednesday morning was my first training day, and I showed up and was immediately fitted for my ridiculous costume, which includes a waist high, ankle length plaid polyester skirt and a poofy sleeved, ruffly blouse, and little necktie. Not too terrible, and highly entertaining. Comfort is clearly not Disney's priority as far as costumes go, but it is very very doable. I loved it in all honesty. They also gave us a lanyard and let us pick out pins so that we can trade with guests. Pin Trading is a big deal here. I am sure I will talk more about it later. But so yeah, after taking some computer tests on safety, I was walked up and basically turned loose in the Emporium, Magic Kingdom's largest store. It runs the entire length of Main Street USA on the West side. My trainer, Pam, was wonderful. She was training Jaime, Erica, Tim and I, the four people on project who work in the Emporium. She was so sweet and kept insisting on how much of a family everyone is and how we will all cry when we leave because everyone is so close. I cannot wait. We also got to meet our first international buddy on our job site, his name is Emelien and he is from France and is here on the International College Program. He is new too, so he stuck with us on our breaks and it was great to start getting to know him. We got to learn about customer service and such, not much actual store training. We got to do a lot of "merchentaining" (merchandise+entertaining=merchantaining) which will undoubtedly be my favorite part of the job- interacting with guests and their kids. I had a swordfight with a 6 year old pirate and knew immediately that I have the best job in the world.
When we got back yesterday we had a movie night and watched Princess and the Frog and about 20 other people from project came, including some of the boys. We made home made popcorn (like in a pot with oil) and it was wonderful. I have not had popcorn in SO long- one time I went to a circus and ate popcorn (my mom had given it to me to take with me, dairy-free) and cotton candy and afterwards I got the stomach flu and was horribly sick. Consequently, I have not liked popcorn, cotton candy, or circuses for a very very long time. But I got over my fear and tried it again and loved it.
Today I had theme park orientation called Once Upon A Time Is Now! It was an introduction to the Magic Kingdom basically, and it was slightly pointless since I worked all day yesterday. It was sorta backtracking. Anyways, we had to be there at 715 which meant that my feet hit the floor at 5:45 this morning, a full 16 hours ago. I got marched around Magic Kingdom in dress shoes, hosiery, a skirt and a nice top, which is hopefully a once in a lifetime experience. It was really cool to see some of the stuff I won't normally get to see, such as the back of the Haunted Mansion. They even let us ride Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear, two of my favorites. It was all in all a fun morning, but it was quite exhausting. I came home, totally prepared to nap, and somehow found myself at Animal Kingdom an hour and a half later. Ten of us spent the evening there and had a blast. Pictures will come. Then I just spent some time with a few girls relaxing my aching feet in the jacuzzi here at the hotel. When I got home from that, I Skyped with Jessie, who was joined by Betsy and Cait. No matter how much I love it here, it was so wonderful to see some familiar loving faces. It was another awesome day, but I am so incredibly exhausted. I also got my first piece of mail today! A card from Amanda :-) I did the happy dance in our living room and then I put it on my nightstand.
Okay, I love you all but my body aches in places that should never ache. I will update more later! Tomorrow a bunch of us have the day off, which I believe will be spent in group bible study and a trip to Blizzard Beach. So I will update on that later.
Mucho amor,
One tired, aching, ecstatic cast member :-)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
No Scheme of Man
Hiiiiiiii
So I know I just updated last night/this morning but I figured I would give you as many updates as I could while I could, meaning before working what will be 60 hour work weeks (between Disney and project activities). Also, I want to stay up till midnight so I can go pounce on my roommate Katie, who turns 20 today ;-)
This morning we went to church, and I realized just how much I missed worship. It has literally been almost a month since I sang worship songs with a group of people; I went to church the first week I was home then just tuned into Northpoint Live every other Sunday, which has the worship, but lets be real. My parents already think I am strange as it is, I don't know what would happen if I started randomly singing worship sets in my bedroom.
I went to Celebration Community church this morning. Celebration is this little Stepford-esque town that a lot of Disney employees live in. The service was really good, the pastor preached on Deuteronomy 8 and how we should always acknowledge God. We sang the song "In Christ Alone My Hope is Found," which is one of my favorite songs. There is one stanza in particular that always gets me, and this morning was no different-
"No power of hell,
no scheme of man,
could ever pluck me
from His hand."
It is just such a good reminder to me that people will always try and prevent you from where you need to go, no matter what kind of faith you have. Our greatest obstacle is rarely a lack of money or ability, it is a lack of faith in ourselves due to others lack of faith in us.
time out, its midnight. Time to go wish Katie a happy birthday.
Okay, I'm back.
But yeah, there were a lot of obstacles that tried to keep me from getting here, but the most difficult ones to overcome were ones that others put in the way. But it is becoming so clear to me that I am supposed to be here. It is wonderful.
After the church service ended, one of the Celebration Community bible study groups put on this HUGE free lunch for us and a big group from Campus Outreach (they are doing the same thing at SeaWorld and Universal) and talked to us about how grateful they are for us and how we bring life into their town every summer and how much they loved when we came. The one older woman Edie gave us her phone number and told us to come over anytime we were homesick and she would bake for us and help us with laundry. I love church ladies. I sat at a table with four girls from Campus Outreach, one of whom went to UNF. It was nice to talk to another Floridian.
When we got back from that we played sand volleyball for like an hour and then spent three more hours in the pool playing insane games. I am so exhausted, and I even took an hour long nap. Tonight we had Womens time, and we talked about modesty and how its rarely practiced anymore and how we can honor God with the way we dress, but that doesn't mean we need to wear turtlenecks and floor length skirts either. One of our staff guys, Jonathan, came and talked to us about how guys perceive things and what modesty means to them. It was so awesome to hear it from a guy who is only a few years older than us. I haven't put too much thought into the guy's perspective, so it was really cool to hear that.
Okay, its bedtime. I am getting up early with a few girls to make birthday pancakes for Katie lol.
I will close with the main verses we talked about tonight (one of my favorites- I memorized it in discipleship this past year, but I never thought about it in the sense of modesty)
Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord- this is your spiritual act of worship. Conform no longer to the patterns of this world but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Romans 12: 1-2
So I know I just updated last night/this morning but I figured I would give you as many updates as I could while I could, meaning before working what will be 60 hour work weeks (between Disney and project activities). Also, I want to stay up till midnight so I can go pounce on my roommate Katie, who turns 20 today ;-)
This morning we went to church, and I realized just how much I missed worship. It has literally been almost a month since I sang worship songs with a group of people; I went to church the first week I was home then just tuned into Northpoint Live every other Sunday, which has the worship, but lets be real. My parents already think I am strange as it is, I don't know what would happen if I started randomly singing worship sets in my bedroom.
I went to Celebration Community church this morning. Celebration is this little Stepford-esque town that a lot of Disney employees live in. The service was really good, the pastor preached on Deuteronomy 8 and how we should always acknowledge God. We sang the song "In Christ Alone My Hope is Found," which is one of my favorite songs. There is one stanza in particular that always gets me, and this morning was no different-
"No power of hell,
no scheme of man,
could ever pluck me
from His hand."
It is just such a good reminder to me that people will always try and prevent you from where you need to go, no matter what kind of faith you have. Our greatest obstacle is rarely a lack of money or ability, it is a lack of faith in ourselves due to others lack of faith in us.
time out, its midnight. Time to go wish Katie a happy birthday.
Okay, I'm back.
But yeah, there were a lot of obstacles that tried to keep me from getting here, but the most difficult ones to overcome were ones that others put in the way. But it is becoming so clear to me that I am supposed to be here. It is wonderful.
After the church service ended, one of the Celebration Community bible study groups put on this HUGE free lunch for us and a big group from Campus Outreach (they are doing the same thing at SeaWorld and Universal) and talked to us about how grateful they are for us and how we bring life into their town every summer and how much they loved when we came. The one older woman Edie gave us her phone number and told us to come over anytime we were homesick and she would bake for us and help us with laundry. I love church ladies. I sat at a table with four girls from Campus Outreach, one of whom went to UNF. It was nice to talk to another Floridian.
When we got back from that we played sand volleyball for like an hour and then spent three more hours in the pool playing insane games. I am so exhausted, and I even took an hour long nap. Tonight we had Womens time, and we talked about modesty and how its rarely practiced anymore and how we can honor God with the way we dress, but that doesn't mean we need to wear turtlenecks and floor length skirts either. One of our staff guys, Jonathan, came and talked to us about how guys perceive things and what modesty means to them. It was so awesome to hear it from a guy who is only a few years older than us. I haven't put too much thought into the guy's perspective, so it was really cool to hear that.
Okay, its bedtime. I am getting up early with a few girls to make birthday pancakes for Katie lol.
I will close with the main verses we talked about tonight (one of my favorites- I memorized it in discipleship this past year, but I never thought about it in the sense of modesty)
Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord- this is your spiritual act of worship. Conform no longer to the patterns of this world but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Romans 12: 1-2
Saturday, June 5, 2010
on a Quest
Howdy folks.
Things are still going swell here in the Happiest Place on Earth. We actually have yet to make it to any of the parks yet, but we have made it to some of the resorts. It is wonderful.
I am really starting to feel at home here, even though I am still struggling to be 100% here. Sometimes my heart and mind wander back to home or Gainesville, but I really think that once I get on the job and into a routine it will be easier to focus.
Speaking of which, I have a job!! I went to Disney casting on Thursday and I will be working sales on Main Street!!! There are four of us with that assignment, two other girls and a boy. I cannot wait for the job to start. I go to Traditions on Tuesday, which is Disney's orientation. Then on Wednesday, its off to work!!
Yesterday was day 2 of "surf instructors training" and we all graduated!! We talked a lot about how to build friendships with international students and how much of an impact we can make, because the people we impact can make an impact on others who impact others, etc. After that we went swimming for several hours and got to know each other even better. I feel like I have known some of these people forever already!!
One of the greatest things about this project is that there are so many ways we get to interact with each other. We have Life Transformation Groups or "LTG's" which are the summer project equivalent of Theta Alpha's accountability groups- four girls plus staff women who meet weekly and basically live life with each other. We had "Soul to Souls" on Thursday as well, which is where we took an hour or so each and told our life stories- major events in our lives, how we came to know God, whats going on in our life right now... it was really awesome. Our leaders are the "staff moms." All of the other groups only have one leader, but all three of our leaders are mothers, so its going to be very rare that more than one of them will be able to meet with us at the same time. Three staff moms= 1 staff woman. Haha.
We also have ministry teams, which are teams that lead different parts of the project. There is a prayer/world vision team, communications, evangelism, and communities. I find out which one I will be on soon. We also have co-ed bible studies and Womens and Mens time. So, I think we will get to know everyone really well through all our different divisions.
Today we met with our LTGs in the morning and went through a lot of material about doubting God, and we went through a lot of Romans 8, which is one of my favorite passages in the whole bible. Then, after a yummy ham sandwich and some blueberries we had some training in how to share our faith with people. We learned how to use the Quest survey, which is a short survey that can lead to spiritual conversations with people. After that, we took a trip to Lake Eola, which is this gorgeous lake/park smack in the middle of downtown O-town. We walked around and talked to people using the survey, which was really awesome. Lake Eola park has a large homeless population and it was really awesome to get to know the people there and to talk to them about God and pray for them. I have held a special place in my heart ever since I worked at the homeless shelter in Gainesville a year and a half ago, so I loved getting to serve them.
After leaving there, my LTG went to good ole McDonalds for dinner and then took a trip to Walmart for some things we forgot the first time around/ things that our condo is missing- potholders, hand soap, gum, antibiotic cream for the gash on my leg from an intense game of sharks and minnows last night. After that, a few of the girls in my condo and I rented the movie Fireproof and baked cookies and made popcorn the old fashioned way. When the movie was over, we spent an hour or so talking about where we have come from and where we are now in our walk with God. It was amazing.
Tomorrow we are going to church for the first time in Orlando. We had two choices, one that was very contemporary (Mosaic) and one that was contemporary but slightly more traditional, Celebration Community. I think I will try Celebration Community because I am here to get new experiences and, although I miss Anthem Church with every heartstring, I feel like Mosaic would be just like it. After that, we have Women's time, which I am excited about.
So, this was a long entry, but it covered three days, so yeah. I miss everyone so much. I will update more soon!!
Love, Kelly
Things are still going swell here in the Happiest Place on Earth. We actually have yet to make it to any of the parks yet, but we have made it to some of the resorts. It is wonderful.
I am really starting to feel at home here, even though I am still struggling to be 100% here. Sometimes my heart and mind wander back to home or Gainesville, but I really think that once I get on the job and into a routine it will be easier to focus.
Speaking of which, I have a job!! I went to Disney casting on Thursday and I will be working sales on Main Street!!! There are four of us with that assignment, two other girls and a boy. I cannot wait for the job to start. I go to Traditions on Tuesday, which is Disney's orientation. Then on Wednesday, its off to work!!
Yesterday was day 2 of "surf instructors training" and we all graduated!! We talked a lot about how to build friendships with international students and how much of an impact we can make, because the people we impact can make an impact on others who impact others, etc. After that we went swimming for several hours and got to know each other even better. I feel like I have known some of these people forever already!!
One of the greatest things about this project is that there are so many ways we get to interact with each other. We have Life Transformation Groups or "LTG's" which are the summer project equivalent of Theta Alpha's accountability groups- four girls plus staff women who meet weekly and basically live life with each other. We had "Soul to Souls" on Thursday as well, which is where we took an hour or so each and told our life stories- major events in our lives, how we came to know God, whats going on in our life right now... it was really awesome. Our leaders are the "staff moms." All of the other groups only have one leader, but all three of our leaders are mothers, so its going to be very rare that more than one of them will be able to meet with us at the same time. Three staff moms= 1 staff woman. Haha.
We also have ministry teams, which are teams that lead different parts of the project. There is a prayer/world vision team, communications, evangelism, and communities. I find out which one I will be on soon. We also have co-ed bible studies and Womens and Mens time. So, I think we will get to know everyone really well through all our different divisions.
Today we met with our LTGs in the morning and went through a lot of material about doubting God, and we went through a lot of Romans 8, which is one of my favorite passages in the whole bible. Then, after a yummy ham sandwich and some blueberries we had some training in how to share our faith with people. We learned how to use the Quest survey, which is a short survey that can lead to spiritual conversations with people. After that, we took a trip to Lake Eola, which is this gorgeous lake/park smack in the middle of downtown O-town. We walked around and talked to people using the survey, which was really awesome. Lake Eola park has a large homeless population and it was really awesome to get to know the people there and to talk to them about God and pray for them. I have held a special place in my heart ever since I worked at the homeless shelter in Gainesville a year and a half ago, so I loved getting to serve them.
After leaving there, my LTG went to good ole McDonalds for dinner and then took a trip to Walmart for some things we forgot the first time around/ things that our condo is missing- potholders, hand soap, gum, antibiotic cream for the gash on my leg from an intense game of sharks and minnows last night. After that, a few of the girls in my condo and I rented the movie Fireproof and baked cookies and made popcorn the old fashioned way. When the movie was over, we spent an hour or so talking about where we have come from and where we are now in our walk with God. It was amazing.
Tomorrow we are going to church for the first time in Orlando. We had two choices, one that was very contemporary (Mosaic) and one that was contemporary but slightly more traditional, Celebration Community. I think I will try Celebration Community because I am here to get new experiences and, although I miss Anthem Church with every heartstring, I feel like Mosaic would be just like it. After that, we have Women's time, which I am excited about.
So, this was a long entry, but it covered three days, so yeah. I miss everyone so much. I will update more soon!!
Love, Kelly
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
A pathetic/glorious confession of how much of a Disney nerd I am
Hello dear friends :-)
As day two of project comes to a close, I cannot even begin to tell you how stoked I am for the summer. First off, the theme of the summer is Surfing. I just wrapped up day one of "Surf Instructors Training." Never in my life would I think that I would be describing God as "tubular" or "gnarly." But I guess until recently I never would have imagined myself as a missionary at Disney. So the point is moot. (I have always wanted to say that).
This summer I am committing myself to riding the big waves- going out every day, focusing on my task, finding the courage to just go, and hanging on for the ride. I am scared, but thrilled out of my mind. And guess what? We get to actually go surfing. Like on surfboards with real waves and stuff. We have a trip to Cocoa Beach scheduled soon. I will let you know how that turns out. If it is anything like my skimboarding, sea kayaking, or kneeboarding adventures it will probably end with lots of bruises but fantastic memories and plenty of chances to laugh.
I have been coined the Local on the trip, at least as far as the students go. The next closest person is from S.Carolina. It's really funny when people ask me questions that seem common sense to me, particularly about hurricanes (Jessie, if you are reading this, I am sorry for not believing you last summer when you said everyone in Chicago asked you about hurricanes all the time). Hopefully they are not all expecting me to be a pro surfer as well.
So here is the first of what is sure to be many Disney-isms that I will encounter in my own head this summer and probably for the rest of my life:
So this afternoon we were talking about the Holy Spirit and how it flows through us like "streams of living water." We began by contrasting it to dead water- stagnant, murky, not moving, smelly, gross, and inhospitable were some of the words used to describe "dead water." So then Kevin (one of the directors) asked us to describe what we thought "living water" was like- and my mind jumped immediately to one of my favorite Disney songs EVER and a personal theme song of mine:
"What I love most about rivers is you can't step in the same water twice; the water's always changing always flowing"
Shame on you if you don't know what thats from.
Anyways, my roommates and I raided super walmart after training today and literally bought so much food it almost didn't fit in my car. But it was good times, and now our condo is well stocked with the essentials (and popsicles). I absolutely adore the girls I am rooming with and cannot wait to grow closer as a "family."
Tomorrow we go to Disney casting to fill out more paperwork and such, which I am excited about (not the paperwork, the trip to the casting center). I will fill you in more when I know more- probably tomorrow but maybe the next day. I pinky swear I am going to update as often as I can.
Thanks for surfing with me :) I love you all!!
<3 Kelly
As day two of project comes to a close, I cannot even begin to tell you how stoked I am for the summer. First off, the theme of the summer is Surfing. I just wrapped up day one of "Surf Instructors Training." Never in my life would I think that I would be describing God as "tubular" or "gnarly." But I guess until recently I never would have imagined myself as a missionary at Disney. So the point is moot. (I have always wanted to say that).
This summer I am committing myself to riding the big waves- going out every day, focusing on my task, finding the courage to just go, and hanging on for the ride. I am scared, but thrilled out of my mind. And guess what? We get to actually go surfing. Like on surfboards with real waves and stuff. We have a trip to Cocoa Beach scheduled soon. I will let you know how that turns out. If it is anything like my skimboarding, sea kayaking, or kneeboarding adventures it will probably end with lots of bruises but fantastic memories and plenty of chances to laugh.
I have been coined the Local on the trip, at least as far as the students go. The next closest person is from S.Carolina. It's really funny when people ask me questions that seem common sense to me, particularly about hurricanes (Jessie, if you are reading this, I am sorry for not believing you last summer when you said everyone in Chicago asked you about hurricanes all the time). Hopefully they are not all expecting me to be a pro surfer as well.
So here is the first of what is sure to be many Disney-isms that I will encounter in my own head this summer and probably for the rest of my life:
So this afternoon we were talking about the Holy Spirit and how it flows through us like "streams of living water." We began by contrasting it to dead water- stagnant, murky, not moving, smelly, gross, and inhospitable were some of the words used to describe "dead water." So then Kevin (one of the directors) asked us to describe what we thought "living water" was like- and my mind jumped immediately to one of my favorite Disney songs EVER and a personal theme song of mine:
"What I love most about rivers is you can't step in the same water twice; the water's always changing always flowing"
Shame on you if you don't know what thats from.
Anyways, my roommates and I raided super walmart after training today and literally bought so much food it almost didn't fit in my car. But it was good times, and now our condo is well stocked with the essentials (and popsicles). I absolutely adore the girls I am rooming with and cannot wait to grow closer as a "family."
Tomorrow we go to Disney casting to fill out more paperwork and such, which I am excited about (not the paperwork, the trip to the casting center). I will fill you in more when I know more- probably tomorrow but maybe the next day. I pinky swear I am going to update as often as I can.
Thanks for surfing with me :) I love you all!!
<3 Kelly
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
I'm here!
Hey everyone!!
I am exhausted so this will be short but I wanted to post anyways.
I made it here! My project is officially started!!
I made it here around 1:30, feeling utterly guilty about my 2.5 hour drive after most of my fellow project-ers (I need to figure out what to call everyone) drove cross country or took half a dozen planes to get here. Anyways, me and Wanda the Honda and Henrietta the Second (my GPS) made it safe and sound. I checked in with the staff and was sent off to my "condo" for the summer, which is wonderful. We are staying at the Runaway Beach resort which is less than ten minutes from Disney. It is gorgeous! All touristy and tropically but still adorable. I am staying in a three bedroom condo with 6 other girls. We have a full kitchen, big living room, washer/dryer, everything you could ever want! I am gonna post pictures later. My roommates are from all over the US- Illinois, Loiusiana, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, and Texas. I am the only Florida kid on the whole project! There are 33 students and 13 staff.
We had a good old fashioned summer cookout for dinner- burgers, hotdogs, watermelon, chips- the works. It was delicious! After that we headed to Downtown Disney for a surprise- a scavenger hunt all over Disney property!! It was really fun, my team tied for first place. We won Mike 'n' Ikes and Sour Patch kids haha.
Anyways, I am here, everyone is already exhausted, everyone is awesome, and I know about 5 names. I will work on that and get back to you. Tomorrow we have project orientation, so I will update after that.
Love you all!
Kelly
I am exhausted so this will be short but I wanted to post anyways.
I made it here! My project is officially started!!
I made it here around 1:30, feeling utterly guilty about my 2.5 hour drive after most of my fellow project-ers (I need to figure out what to call everyone) drove cross country or took half a dozen planes to get here. Anyways, me and Wanda the Honda and Henrietta the Second (my GPS) made it safe and sound. I checked in with the staff and was sent off to my "condo" for the summer, which is wonderful. We are staying at the Runaway Beach resort which is less than ten minutes from Disney. It is gorgeous! All touristy and tropically but still adorable. I am staying in a three bedroom condo with 6 other girls. We have a full kitchen, big living room, washer/dryer, everything you could ever want! I am gonna post pictures later. My roommates are from all over the US- Illinois, Loiusiana, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, and Texas. I am the only Florida kid on the whole project! There are 33 students and 13 staff.
We had a good old fashioned summer cookout for dinner- burgers, hotdogs, watermelon, chips- the works. It was delicious! After that we headed to Downtown Disney for a surprise- a scavenger hunt all over Disney property!! It was really fun, my team tied for first place. We won Mike 'n' Ikes and Sour Patch kids haha.
Anyways, I am here, everyone is already exhausted, everyone is awesome, and I know about 5 names. I will work on that and get back to you. Tomorrow we have project orientation, so I will update after that.
Love you all!
Kelly
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