Home Sweet Home

I have been in my hometown for one full week. It has definitely been an interesting adjustment and of course I really miss Florida! But it’s time to move on with what’s happening in the Panhandle. I start summer classes in two days and I’m back to running my snocone stand.

I will be traveling some more during the summer. I’m going to Pennsylvania to go to Hershey Park with Kris, MiCole, Ben and hopefully Tiffany in the middle of June. In July, I will go back to Florida for a week to pick up a few shifts so that my six month time period lands in December. After Florida, I will fly back up to Pennsylvania to staff the Miss Teen of PA pageant with Carlene and Sunny. Then my summer will pretty much be over as it will be time for Renee’s Wedding and school to start back up.

I’m also moving into a new place during June/July and Leslie will be my housemate :) Some exciting changes will be happening over the summer. I figure this is not my last post. I know there will be a few more posts with papers I’ve done for school projects this semester and possibly some memory posts of what I miss most about Disney.

Until then, thanks for following along as much as you did; it's been fun!

The Trip Home...

Saturday

We started out with Starbucks, filled up with fuel and a $6 pizza with a free liter of Orange Soda, then we hit the road for Cocoa beach. Again, I wore my sunscreen and did not get sun burnt. This was Leslie’s first time to a beach. It was exciting, plus I just love the beach. We spent about 3 hours at the beach and then headed on down the road to St. Augustine’s historical downtown. We ate at a really neat Taco Shop, pretty authentic. We explored the stores more and then hit the road again for Savannah, Georgia.

It was really sad to leave Orlando and know that I wasn’t coming back to Patterson Court after the day at the beach and all the roomies had parted different ways as well. But Leslie and I managed and she put up with me.

Sunday

We decided to be adventurous and go outside of our comfort zone to attend a local church in Savannah – Overcoming faith church. Their pastor, Ricky Temple, recently published a book –Why Smart People Make Dumb Choices. At the end of the service, he asked where his visitors were again and gave it to the visitors (Leslie and I). After church, we hit the mall for some shopping time, then we headed over to Juliette Gordon Low’s Birthplace House for a tour. That night we had dinner in Atlanta with Sunny Hylton, one of my Miss Teen Directors. It was great to see her and catch up.

Juliette Low just had an amazing story. Besides the fact that she founded Girl Scouts in America, she was also extremely creative and artsy too. Her house carries so much history within it. I’m really glad I had to opportunity to stop and visit. I’d love to take a Girl Scout Troop back sometime in the future.

Monday

We slept in and then at some brunch at Ihop, but they were out of hashbrowns! Thirty minutes later, I was taking an exit on the edge of Birmingham, AL when Jetta died on us. I had her in fifth gear and as I slowed down for traffic, I did not put her into neutral so the next time I accelerated, I killed it. No big deal right? Usually, I switch the key off and start her right back up. Well, this time she decided not to start for me. The battery was completely dead; I did not even have enough juice to run my flashers.

One lady tried to stop and help us, but she didn’t quite know what she was doing with the jumper cables so we told her “Thank you” and let her go on her way. Fortunately the state of Alabama has something called ASAP (Alabama Service and Assistance Patrol). A man came out in his big yellow truck and helped us to roll start Jetta and we drove her to an Exxon to have the battery replaced.

After this incident, Leslie and I decided we were ready to be home. We had fulfilled our adventure for the week. We ended up driving all night and reached Guymon at 6AM on Tuesday morning.

Leslie Arrives

Unfortunately, Leslie had to wait at the airport for me from 7pm to 10pm. I worked a long shift from 9:45AM – 9:30PM. I put in for an Early Release (ER) but that did not happen. I was really excited to see her and for her to be in Florida! She loved the palm trees everywhere. That seemed to be the only thing she could talk about on the way back to the apartment.

I had my last day of work the day after Leslie got to Florida. It was sad, but I am a seasonal cast member now so as long as I work once every six months, I will keep my proficiencies of being trained on the Barnstormer.

The rest of the week consisted of fun and packing. I took Leslie to Magic Kingdom(MK), my favorite park. We played all day and it wore us out. She was able to watch Wishes too. While Teresa and I cried a little, it was a good time at MK. Tinkerbell did not even fly for us (insert sad face here), but we got over that and went home to pack some more. Thursday night was just full of sadness as everyone in the apartment packed up their final things and we went through kitchen stuff.

Friday was check out day and Leslie and I ended up shipping a few boxes through UPS so that everything else would fit in the car. Jetta was plum full of stuff and that made for an interesting trip home. Friday night, Leslie and I stayed in a local motel and went to Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios.

My phrase for the trip home would be, “If this is the worst thing that happens to me today... then I will be alright.”

Miscellaneous

With my program coming to an end, everything in May kind of runs together in my mind. And May was more of a social month than all of the others especially with classes being over!

Teresa and I took advantage one last time of our annual pass to SeaWorld. Kris, Carla, Nydia and her brother joined us for the adventure. We hit a couple shows and rode the rides multiple times.

Plus, two different nights, Kris, MiCole, and I did some resort hopping. We spent an evening at the All Star Sports, Music, and Movies and another night exploring at the Port Orleans. A different night, we ended up at a supposedly haunted house. I only became scared when they mentioned the possibility of alligators lurking in the water as we went out on the dock. I even went on a legit date with Kris to Winter Summerland Mini Golf Course.

Another day, Teresa, Ben, Adam, Kris, and I went to Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, which are both water parks on Disney property. I wore my sunscreen and had a blast. There are wave pools, slides, and lazy rivers at both places. Blizzard Beach is known for the Summit Plummet which is a straight down water slide that gives you the biggest wedgie ever!

Originally, the roomies had planned a goodbye dinner for the apartment, but when the time came, I was unable to get off work to join them in the Hoop-de-doo Review. They had a really good time and really good food, from what I heard. My actual roommate, Kaitlyn left a week early; I had the room to myself for a week. It was nice, but sad because it meant it was really time to pack up and leave.

Toonie Goodbye Party

Tuesday May 11

Toontown had five girls leaving May 14 and then I left the following week. We teamed up for one big going away party. We had dinner at Big River on Boardwalk. This was my first time to boardwalk all semester. Boardwalk reminded me of Downtown Disney, but it was still fun.

After dinner, we ventured across the way to Beaches and Cream for the well known “Kitchen Sink.” This is a huge bowl designed to look like a kitchen sink, however, they fill it with tons of junk – eight scoops of ice cream, every topping in the house, brownies, coffee cake, and a whole can of whipcream. YUM. It was good in the beginning, but as it started melted and running together, it became a goopy mess.

It was weird to have a goodbye party a week earlier than I left, but since the Graduation was at the end of April, I already felt done with everything. It was also really sad to say goodbye to everyone. I had a really good experience working in Toontown. We really became close like a family, but I know I’ll see most of them in the future!

Formal

Wednesday May 5

The Housing Operations Team held numerous events throughout the semester for us. The big bang at the end was the Formal – Bright Lights, Big City. It was themed with backdrops of major cities and of course characters were present. The best way to describe this event is similar to prom, but definitely extremely better than high school prom. It was at the Coronado Resort and I went with Carla and Teresa.

We later met up with all six roommates and finally got a picture with all of us in it! It’s about time, eh? Then, I was able to meet up with Toonies(people from Toontown that I work with) and afterwards we ended up at Steak’N’Shake for some late night ice cream. That is one thing I can not pass up; I love ice cream!