Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Monday, May 18, 2009

2 more days at the Toy Box :-) :-(

I work my last shift at Toy Story on Wednesday night. I'm both :-) and :-( about it. I found out tonight that a few of my toy friends have organized a suprise* going away party for me. I'm so excited about it. Even just the thought that they would do that. :-) I love it.

I'm also getting so ready to be back in Oklahoma for a while. It was so nice the few days I got to go home earlier and I'm looking forward to that "I'm home" feeling. I'm ready to see my best friend's new apartment, eat mom's food, mess with dad's head, go play with my jeep, and all that great summer stuff I love.

:-( and :-) I just don't know what to do with myself now. 2 more days as a Toy!

*They went ahead and told me tonight so they knew for sure I didn't already have plans with my room mates.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Last Days

Its getting close to time for everyone to go home. I'm both sad and excited all at the same time. April left Thursday along with 7 CP toys who worked with me in the toy box, so it's been sad. I'm also sad about leaving in general, this has been such an amazing expierience and I will miss it. Here are some pics from some of the last few things I've done with friends here.


Roommates (plus Tracy's Boyfriend) went to Jelly Rolls a few nights ago. It's a dueling piano bar. It was so fun. They guys who were playing were really good, nice voices and some serious skills on the keys. And for anyone who is wondering let me just spell out clearly that Karen still doesn't drink. So no worries. :-)





Random pic from that last night April was with us...we stayed up late talking and giggling and all that. This is a product of too much Dr. Pepper at 3 AM. HaHaHa.


A crew of April's friends came down to drive her back to Michigan. They were a ton of fun. I hope that I'm as inclusive of my friend's friends, as they were to me. :-) I went with them to play in the parks a little before work. Good times.

Notice the shades...This is right before Tracy had to say goodbye. :-(

April's Brother Jay catching the Epoct jumping fountain water in his mouth. HaHa.Just before April tried to do the same but missed and it hit her in the forehead.



Then I headed to work where is was several CP Toy's last day. It was a sad break room.
Becky and Alec(who doesn't leave til Aug)

Andy

Haley


Lots of friend who will be missed, and some who I plan to see again sometime in the near future. :-) and :-( all at the same time.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Wait

I made a video. Two days ago April and I went to watch the sunrise and she allowed me to play director. I know it's poor quality because it had to be small enough for me to upload, but other than that let me know what you think. Thanks.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

CP Graduation

Today was the Graduation Party for my "crop" of CPs (College Programers). It was a ton of fun. We got completion Certificates and Mickey Hats with Tassels. It was just a picnic/hangout type party...but we had a great time. :-) I've just been in the mood to make videos now that my computer is fixed...so check it out!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Slumber Party

I had one of the most fun nights with some of my room mates last night. 1st off when I got home from work Tracy (from Arkansas) almost knocks me over at the door, "Karen, Orlando has a Sonic!!! I found a Sonic!!!" Tracy and I have mentioned before that on occasion Sonic is one of the fast food places we miss not having. The other room mates who were home, April and Olivia, are from Michigan. No sonics there. So we went out for a late night Sonic expeiriance. :-) We stayed out talking, driving around, and just hanging out for a while. Then when we got home we decided to have a slumber party. Ha! Yes, a slumber party. We drug our matresses out into the living room and everything. It was tons of fun. We we're cracking ourselves up acting like we were in Jr. High. Good times. We made a video of how dumb we were being...so I thought I'd share a little of it. Guys...I don't expect you to understand, it's a girl thing.


Friday, May 1, 2009

Chipped :-(

Went back to the Dr. today. It's official, one of the bones in my wrist has a small chip. :-( Sad day for me. I'll be in the brace until June 1, keep taking the anti-inflams and ice it occasionally. I'm not too thrilled with it, but at least I don't have to have a cast. Well at least not right now. I'll go back and have it X-rayed again in 2 weeks, as long as everything is looking ok it'll mean the brace is on for 2 more weeks and then I'll be done. If everything is NOT looking fine...I might have to get a cast. But I'm gonna be super careful and do everything I can to keep it looking good.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sunrise-Wrist Set

A couple morning ago I got up insanly early and drove to the beach to welcome the sun to the lower east coast of the USA. It was SO pretty. I'm gonna go do it again before I leave. I loved it.

I set my video camera up and caught the whole thing. Nothing is quite like being there, but it was some pretty cool footage. :-) I'll video it again when I go back.
In other news...I think i fractured/broke my wrist. It hurts a lot. So i went to the doctor today. After an examination she thinks it's probably fractured and possibly broken. X-rays will be looked over and I'll be re-examined on friday for an official diagnosis. Bleh!!!

So what did I do??? I have no idea. After convincing the doctor that I don't drink so it couldn't have happened while I wasn't aware. She said that I could have stressed it sometime, maybe at the beach with the roomies, then continued to aggrivate it pushing lapbars down at Toy Story. I'm gonna go with the crazy boat ride out to the parasailing place. we were jumping off waves and I was holding on for dear life. But i don't know that for sure. some of my Toy friends decided that I must have fought off a crew of pirate ninjas. So I'm gonna go with that one. :-)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Beach Day

Not long after we had all moved in my roommates and I came to the realization that we probably wouldn't really see each other much. Just for fun we decided to all request a day off about a month before we left, if we still liked each other we would go to the beach, if we didn't...we all had a day off, no harm done, spend it how you want to. We picked April 21st. Why? Well, because it's the "perfect date". (Miss Congeniality was on while we were talking about this.) What a great day we choose!!!
We all still like each other (or at least pretend to ;-) so we got up this morning around 9ish to head to a beach. We decided on Daytona instead of Cocoa because it wasn't that much farther and most of us like trying new things. It was great, I wish we had been going to Daytona since we got here. We took 2 cars, one of course was my topless jeep, (I love my jeep!!!!) and headed to the coast. When we got there I was so excited to know that they let you drive on the beach. What?!? YES, I drove my topless jeep up and down the beach, probably 40 feet from the water in the morning...then not more than 20 when we left in the evening. I loved it!
While there we did all sorts of things. We laid out and worked on our Florida tans. I was proud of myself I brought sunscreen and even applied it twice. But I still got a little burned. Not too bad though. It's kind of funny, the main places I got burned are my right upper arm and shoulder. I'm blaming it on my left hand's poor aim, since I use the spray can of sun screen.

We played in the water of course. It wasn't warm but it really wasn't too cold either. We were running into the waves and jumping on each other in the water though so we stayed warm enough. We (April, Tiffany and I) played catch with a Nerf football. Tracy was with us too...but she was playing "drop"...she didn't catch much, nor did we catch much after her tosses.
But the most fun thing we did was Parasail. I've done it before when I was younger and really did like it. It ended up only being 4 of us, but it was a blast, we went 2 at a time and April and I were together. It was lots of fun. They had a "professional" (I think the only thing really professional about him was his camera) on the boat to take pictures we could purchase afterwards if we wanted. Most of his pics weren't that great...but you got everything on the SD card if you wanted them and there were some that were pretty cool. So for your enjoyment...a few pics of April and I high above the waters of the Atlantic. :-)

Getting ready to take off. :-)

That plane felt...really, really close. I know it wasn't all that close, but it felt really close while we were up there.

We are on that tiny circle just above where the rope disappears.

We were spitting and counting how long it took to fall. At the highest point we couldn't watch it go all the way down. The most that we could see it was 16 seconds.

At the end they dip you in the water. It's a little scary, but pretty fun.

They actually did it to us twice. We think the boat boys were flirting with the 4 college girls on a slow day at the beach. ;-)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Home


I was able to go home a couple of days last week and it was so nice! I totally surprised my family. Leslie was the only one who knew I was coming. It was such a hard secret to keep, but i did it and it paid off wonderfully. For two weeks prior I had been taking pictures of my stuft dog Spatchual "traveling" in my parks. He went to China Town in Sanfransisco, rode the Subway in New York City and all sorts of things like that. Then I let them know he was home by sending them a picture of him in Perkins. It was so much fun.

It was so nice to be home, in my own bed (which was my very nice 20th birthday present), sitting on my seat on the couch, and just doing the normal everyday stuff with my family. It was great. I woke up each morning and before I opened my eyes i smiled a little and thought to myself, "It's so nice to be home."

I have a little over a month left here in Florida which is both exciting and sad for me. I've loved this experience and don't wanna turn in my IDs, but I'm ready to be back with the people who love me the most. I also miss doing some of the more creative things that i did on a regular basis at Home. Making videos and things like that. I picked up a guitar while I was home too, and I've been playing a lot since I've gotten back. (I brought my guitar with me to Florida.)

The Flight home was an interesting experience. I've never had to spend the night in an airport before, but that one thing I can add to the things I've done list. My flight from Dallas to Orlando was supposed to leave at 8:30, first it was delayed until 10:35.

"Okay, inconvenient but I'll still get back. I'll go buy a book."

Then 11:15. "Ugh. I'm tired of this game. 6 chapters into Marley and Me. I'll call home and let them know what's going on."

Then (about 11:00PM) "Ladies and Gentlemen we're sorry for the inconvenience, we are try to get you out of here tonight and we're hoping nothing bad happens, so just be patient and we'll get back with you shortly." What?!? "Nothing bad happens? Is that you're way of telling us we're not leaving tonight...or that you hope we don't crash once we've taken off?"

5 mins later:"Ladies and Gentlemen, we're sorry about this but your flight has been cancelled the FFA only allows our crews to fly a certain number of hours at a time and the entire crew has reached the limit. Usually we have stand-by crews on hand just in case, but all our stand by crews have been used this evening. Again, your flight has been cancelled."

:-(

:-( :'-(

I waited in the long line to get re booked and was able to get on a 7:10 flight out the next morning. It would get me home in time for work but would make staying in a hotel for the night a very slim possibility. Thus Spatchual and I found a cot and blanket and shivered it out for the night.

You know those messages you hear in the airports every 10-15 mins? "Don't leave you bags unattended." "If you see anything suspicious you should report it." etc? well, they don't turn them off at night. Nor do they dim the lights, or turn off or down the TVs. It was very cold, and I was traveling without luggage so i had nothing to layer with, and my backpack made for a very poor pillow.

Needless to say I didn't sleep much. I actually spent most of the night on the floor under a row of chairs with my cot propped up against them to create a little dimmer area. It also helped me not feel quite so weird about falling asleep in plain view of about 40-50 people I had never met before. I got up around 6 because I wasn't sleeping anyway and we very VERY cold. Spatchual decided he needed some hot chocolate and a doughnut to make himself feel better...so I obliged and by 7:10 we were headed back to Florida. I slept for about 3 hours then headed to work for a late shift. Came home and crashed. :-)

Even though it was rough getting back...I'm so glad I got to go home. I loved the time I got to spend with my family and the friends I got so see while I was there. :-)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Sunday

They say confession is good for the soul...so I feel like I should confess something: I almost didn't go to church Sunday morning. "What!?! It's Easter Sunday? You thought about not going to church on Easter Sunday?" Yes, I did.

My Excuse: -We are very busy at work, last week I clocked in 54 hours. It was the first of 3 "Forced 6th weeks" It means all cast members with regular "full time" hours are working and extra 6th day in addition to their regulars 5. I, just by chance* didn't have to be in Sunday until 3:15 and while when I first got my schedule I thought, "Sweet, I'll be able to go to church." the past couple of days (when I've been going in around 10-12 and staying til 11-1) had been thinking "Maybe I'll just sleep in."

But I went anyway. And am so very glad I did. I would have missed out on a huge blessing if I had not.

Something that really concerns me these days is the way the Church as a whole relates to the world. I'm afraid that we've been cooped up inside our buildings so long discussing carpet, the music, and how Jesus came for those sinners outside our walls that we may have lost touch with the fact that we ARE those sinners and the ones who are actually outside our walls don't see anything different in us than in themselves. I am seeing an effort to change in lots of different places, and I'm really excited about that.

I really enjoy attending First Baptist Orlando, for that reason. I see so many things in that worship service and just the attitude of the whole church and the pastor that I agree with, and that reminds me of things my home church is looking to do. Last Sunday David Uth (the pastor at FBOrlando) said something to the "regular attendees" at the end of the service that I had to smile at because I'm pretty sure he stole it from my dad. He said, "Look forward to next Sunday. It's gonna be different than what you are used to. We are gonna be changing up the service because there are gonna be a lot of people here that we only get one shot to reach."

I loved the way they handled the Easter service. They began it, after a short video and choir special was just like a pretty tradition church service. The kind of thing that someone who hasn't been inside a church since last Sunday would expect. It wasn't boring (in fact there was such a feeling of excitement and celebration, largely due to the beginning video, that I immediately was glad I had decided to go) it was just traditional. Then the service progressed into a very contemporary service. David delivered a great message of hope (He's got the Keys) in short 5-15 min excerpts in between special music and congregational singing that got progressively more "now" if you will. Including, a team of ballet dancers (yes I said dancers in a Baptist Church) who did a dance routine on stage during one of the next to last songs. It was beautiful.

As I was sitting/standing there participating I remembered what David (and my father) had said about seeing lots of people on Easter, that you really only get one shot with. Surveying the progression of the worship service it was as if they began it traditionally to set people at ease, then slowly brought it along to show what it could be. I loved it. I'm so glad I went, it was so refreshing and I would have missed out on a huge blessing if I had chose not to go.



*I, in absolutely no way, actually believe that this was "just by chance".

Friday, April 3, 2009

Small World

Hey there! It's good to finally be getting back to the land of the living. I was down for almost 2 weeks with a cold/sinus infection/yuckiness. But I'm feeling much better now. I went to a doctor and got some power drugs after it hadn't "passed on" in 5 days. I did nothing but go to work...then go to bed and sleep until the very last possible second before I had to get up and go to work again. Meals were even optional! And that's a real sign that I'm feeling bad, because I like food a lot!

There have been several changes at work in the past two weeks. "The Economy" has finally caught up with The Disney Company. We went through 3 days of lay-offs last week. That was a whole new expeireince for me. It was strange for two main reasons... the first was that it was "top heavy" (a lot of management and upper level positions) and nobody really knew it was coming. Toy Story had 9 managers 3 were let go and 3 were moved to other areas in the parks. Plus several other regular positions. I think Toy Story lost about 15 (out of about 60-70) of our regular cast. It was strange on those day and we've been working like crazy ever since making up for the bodies we're missing. I kinda felt bad being a CP (College Programer) because our jobs were about the safest and we're only here for a semester of two. It is still strange thinking about who I had gotten to know who aren't employed by disney anymore. The lay-offs are a big part of the reason I was going to work even though I was sick. CPs were pretty safe, but we were told to keep our record cards clean because they'd be looking for reasons to terminate slackers. I didn't want to have a string of "call-ins" right then.

On a more positive note...it IS a small world after all.

Reason #1 -There are about 6-7 CPs at Toy Story. 3 of us are from Oklahoma. Carey and I were in OSU band together (we didn't know each other at the time...but we were) Becca is a Sooner and Carey and I give her as much grief as we can. ;-)

Reason #2 -Becca used to live in the same town I live in! No kidding, about 2 blocks away from my house. She and her family moved away about the same time my family moved there, but still in the same town.

Reason #3 -The Prince Caspian character greeting and Narnia attraction is right next to Toy Story and occasionally the friends of Prince Caspian come into our breakroom. Josh, a friend of Prince Caspian, was in our break room the other day. He said something that made me pretty sure he was from OK, TX, AK or someplace in the south. So I asked him. He said, "I'm from Oklahoma, can you tell?" So I asked him if he was a sooner or cowboy. He is a Cowboy, and when I asked him where he was from he replied, "Stillwater. well, not Stillwater but one of the little towns around it." I laughed because that's exactly what I say when people ask me where I'm from. He's not from the same town, but from one close to mine. Anyway, we saw each other in the parking lot after work yesterday and talked a little. He knows the Ripley's, used to eat at their restraunt and there were two or three other people we talked about that we both knew.

Reason #4 -Doug and Sandi are an olderish married couple who work on our ride as seasonal Cast Members. They are from Kansas. They were flying home to visit their family one weekend and we were talking about this and that. They asked me where I was from and when I told them ("Stillwater. Well, not Stillwater but one of the little towns around it.) Sandi goes, "Oh where, we might know it my sister used to live in..." MY TOWN!!!! I couldn't believe it. Sandi's sister worked at the same place my mom did for several years! It was crazy fun.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Spring Break

As promised, and in no particular order, here are some pics and stories from my family's visit.
This is where I work. Toy Story Midway Mania. Yes, I work in a toybox. :-) It was pretty neat getting mom, dad and les into the parks for free. I was so happy to be able to do that, but also it was really neat walking them into the fast pass of my ride several times. I'm glad we're allowed to do that. We were able to ride Toy Story 4 times. It was a lot of fun.

My toy friend Lorna (or "Lo" for short) from the UK. She was telling dad how to get to Narnia. (Through the wardrobe of course!) Right next to my ride is the Narnia/Meet Prince Caspian area. It's not uncommon for people coming from the other direction to ask us. "How do you get to Narnia?" I don't know who or when it started, but the correct answer from us toys is to assume a British accent and say as seriously as we can, "through the wardrobe." When Lo joined she had an unfair advantage, but we make her say it any chance we get. ;-) Lo is a lot of fun. She can say just about anything she wants to the guest with a smile and they think she is about the most polite toy we have. It is funny though how sometime guest don't seem to understand her. One day she was asking a guest to "move over" to the other seat. She asked him to "Move over" 2 or 3 times and he just looked at her like he was trying to understand, but didn't budge. Another toy came over and said, "skootch over, sir" and he moved immediately. The funniest thing was Lorna's face. apparently she's never heard "skootch" before and couldn't believe the man understood "skootch" over "move". :-)

Everyone knows the Magic Kingdom's Fantasy Land, or Tomorrowland areas, but not many know the "lands" of the other parks. One of them in my park is "Pixar Place" which is where Toy Story is located. Since not many people know the "lands" of my park we hardly ever use them to tell people where stuff is, but we use them to talk with other cast members.

Tea Cups at Magic Kingdom. One night we got into MK just to watch Wishes, the fireworks, from behind the castle. (You should see Wishes for the first time in front of the castle, there is no substitute for that, but then you should see them from behind.) The explosions are on both side of you and are really really close. After watching the fireworks we actually got on 5-6 rides with no waiting at all! Tea Cups (dad took pictures, he doesn't spin without consequences), Aladdin's Magic Carpets, The Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain (somebody gave us fast passes) and the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse!

Aerosmith's Rockin Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios. We rode this one twice (Leslie was brave) and you will have to see the picture! :-) It's one of those that starts off at high speed, and the launch is when they take the picture...Les's face is priceless. But why I'm telling on Les I'll tell on myself too. We rode Dinosaur in the Animal kingdom and they take your picture when the big bad T-Rex comes out to eat you. In our picture mom, dad, and Leslie are starring right at it...and I'm hiding under Leslie's arm. It was pretty funny, I kinda wish we had gotten that one. But oh well. I'm sure they won't let me forget it anytime soon.

Mom and Dad at Epcot. :-) Aren't they cute.

Leslie and I in the stocks at Magic Kingdom. We're cute too. :-)



Coke around the world at Epcot. They have free samples of different coke products from around the world. My favorite was the Watermelon flavored drink from japan. It was pretty good. :-)


Leslie, patiently waiting for Soarin' at Epcot. It's a 110 min wait. Soarin' and Toy Story rival each other for the longest wait time. It's a long wait, but it's really cool.



Waiting at the base of the Yetti's Domain. Mount Everest in Animal Kingdom is the newest thrill coaster in Disney World. It's a pretty fun little coaster. Don't ask Leslie if she liked it or not...she didn't, but she rode it. Good for her.

Dad needed some help with his hat. Waiting for the Block party in Hollywood studios.


Facebook profile pics. :-) I like his hat. He looks good with it. :-)
Dad was hungry...imagine that. ;-)

M&M world store...it was actually closed, but we were there. :-) This was the same day we tried to go to the shuttle launch. It was Sunday and I hadn't been feeling well that day. We had gone to church then decided not to get in a park for the rest of the day so i could rest some and hopefully get better. After a nap we decided to drive to Cocoa to see the shuttle launch. Traffic was horrible. we're talking 10-15 miles an hour on a 3 lane highway. It was obvious we weren't gonna make it so we had decided to turn around next chance we got. It took us an hour to get that chance! It took us 2 hours to drive between 2 exits! So we decided to go to M&M World since we didn't get to see the launch, when we got there is was closed. It just wasn't our day. But we did see the shuttle as is went up. Still cool even though we weren't on the beach with it.


Mom and dad went to Cocoa Beach on their last day while I had to work. Yeah for being an hour from the beach! :-)

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Family Time

I just had an amazing week with my family. Thanks to all of you in Oklahoma who loaned them to me. It was so good to see those three people who mean so very much to me. We had a blast despite every single one of us getting sick for a couple of days. I'll post pics and stories soon, but for now I must sleep some. Goodnight! :-)

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Rocket Launch

I got up today on my day off with no particular plans. I had some breakfast and decided to start working on making my list. The “list” consists of things that I said I wanted to do when I came to Florida or things that I would feel silly to tell someone, “I lived in Orlando for 5 months…but no, I never did that.” Some things on my list are: Spend a day at Sea World, Take Surfing Lessons at Ron Jons, Spend a day at Universal, Go to the Kennedy Space Center, etc. When I got to the Kennedy Space center one I decided to get online and see if they had any launches while I was here and they happened to be launching a rocket tonight!

It was a nice warm day so I took the top off my jeep (well, not I alone…I and a couple of roomies) and decided to head to the space coast to see what I could see. A couple of roommate were going to come with me, but decided not to when they found out it didn’t launch until almost 11. (It would take an hour to get back and they are running in a 5k at 6:30 in the morning.) By that point everyone had plans for the night so I just went alone. I drove to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Center and asked about where I should go to get a good look at the rocket launch. The guy told me to drive to Cocoa Beach and then to find a nice spot on the beach. He said that the way the cost line curved pretty much anywhere on Cocoa’s Beach would have a nice view.

It was so neat! I got there and set up about an hour early and slowly more and more people trickled onto the beach to watch. About 10 mins after I got there a couple walked near me and we started a conversation. (I wasn’t shy before Disney…but Disney has trained me to be able to talk with anyone, anywhere) They were on vacation from Washington State and happened to visit the Space Center today where they were told about the launch. We talked about all sorts of things passing the time, waiting for something to happen. Then, all of the sudden we saw this…

Okay, yes, I jerked the camera too hard, too soon at the beginning and I’ve been kicking myself for it since I watched the replay the first time, but you do have to take into account this was my first time to video a rocket launch. It was so very, very cool. We were at least 20 miles away. I suck at judging distances, but I’d say we were more like 30-40 miles away and it lit up the entire beach for a long time. Another thing that impressed me was the sound. You can hear us talking over the waves in the beginning then right when she says something about it looking like a fireball you start to hear the rocket. It is so loud that for a few moments you can’t even make out the sound of the waves. It was a very, very cool experience. I’ve never seen anything like it. The ride home wasn't near at warm as the ride out there, but it really wasn't all that bad. I had packed jeans and a hoodie so a layer up and turned on the feet heat. Going to the Kennedy Space Center is still on the list…but something much cooler got added AND crossed off today.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

What Will You Celebrate?


What Will You Celebrate? is the Walt Disney World Theme this year and it really is a lot of fun to play with. When you come to the parks you can get an "I'm celebrating..." button. We have several that are personalized like Happy Birthday, Just Married, Just Engaged, Family Reunion, and Happy Anniversary. But there is also just one that says, "I'm celebrating" and you write on the bottom what it is you are celebrating. I have one that says, "I'm celebrating graduation" but my favorite is the one all my roommate and I got alike that says, "I'm celebrating my day off." Disney is big on cast member guest interaction and it is a really easy way for us to start a conversation with complete strangers. There are a lot of cast member who comment on our "day off" buttons then find out we work at Disney too. I think we've started a trend cause I saw one of the cast members who saw mine with one yesterday.

The other day I was trying to help pass some of the wait time with some guests and saw they had the engagement buttons on. So I congratulated them and then turned to the girl and said, "So, did he do a good job?" She goes, "Oh man, he did amazing!" Then proceeded to tell me exactly how and where he proposed. It was so fun because she was so happy with him and it was obvious he enjoyed seeing her so happy to tell a complete stranger about how he proposed to her. Before we knew it we had talked about him proposing, her ideas for her wedding, and some places they had thought about for the honeymoon and passed about 15 mins.

It so neat to work here. Most people will just talk with you like that, if you'll start the conversation. Part of it is because when i have my Toy Story costume on i represent a mouse that's at least a small part of most every one's childhood. But I also think that part of it is because people want to connect with other people. Since I've been down here, I've seen so much spiritual application in what we're being taught to do as cast members. Little things that I would absolutely love to see happening in church. One of them is the way they teach us to start conversations and build little mini-relationships with the guests. But the other that I realized this week is a habit of celebrating.

A few of my roommates are catholic and because lent started last Wednesday I've had some cool conversations with a couple of them about what they believe and what I believe and I'm learning a lot from them. One of them has a daily devotional type of book for lent. She got me a copy and we are reading through it together and we talk about the stuff in it every few days. I really like it because in addition to scriptures and devotional thoughts it also talks a small bit about a specific piece of catholic history or tradition.

Last Friday the devotional thought was from Mt. 9:14-15 about feasting. It started by acknowledging that it probably seemed strange to have a passage about not fasting so close to the beginning of lent. But it went on to point out the reason we feast, basically coming down to a feast being a usual part of celebration. During lent there are certain days that you fast from certain types of food and drink, but Sunday is not one of those days. It talked about how every Sunday should be remember as a mini-Easter and that Sunday was a day for celebrating, a day for feasting. Then it challenged the reader to find a way to celebrate what God has done specifically on every Sunday, but also each and every day of the week.

It was neat to find a challenge to "Celebrate" this week even in something not Disney. :-)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Random Pics

Here are some random pictures of my life right now for your enjoyment:

Sci-fi Dine in theater milk shake. It's the restruant that is set up like a drive in theater. And thier milk Shakes are GREAT! :-)


Even though I have eaten out more then a time or two I've also done some cooking of my own, and here is the evidence to prove it. :-)

One of my favorite photo spots. "Walt and His Dream"




Fun at the Animal Kingdom. Too bad the pics didn't turn out any better...we might have to go again sometime. :-)

One of the original Mickey Mouse club costumes is on display in the "One Man's Dream" Musueam near Toy Story.



Ooooo, I'm being choosen! Fun Story...the cars on my ride all house computers to keep the game running...and the start-up noice they make is the aliens going "Ooooo" So when we open the ride the cars all "wake-up" going "Ooooo". And when we have to add a vehicle during the day because one needs repair of for whatever reason... it comes into the station and goes "Ooooo" :-) It makes me giggle.



Giant Toys in the que of my ride. I like the huge barrel of Monkeys the best. :-)


Poster in the outside portion of Toy Story's que.




Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom. It's a pretty fun little rollar coaster. :-)



We decided to take a "roomate costume" picture. From left to right: Olivia (Merchandise, Magic Kingdom, Frontier Land), Karen (Attractions, Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Midway Mania), Dee (Merchandise, Magic Kingdom, "Glo" those carts with all the lighty thingies), Tracy (Attractions, Magic Kingdom, Goofy's Barn Planes Ride), Tiffany (Costuming, Epcot & Hollywood Studios, The Royal Closet (the movie character costumes)), April (Food and Beverage, Port Orleans Resort, Riverside Food Court).

April playing with the spatula I got mom for her Birthday.

Me, showing off the super cool patch on the back of my jacket.


Us and some other characters!