I don't even know where to begin

Well my sister, Meg, reminded me that I haven't written on my blog in a while so I figured I would try and catch ya'll up on what has been going on.

The week after Hank left, Elizabeth, Morgan, and I went to a bar called Ice Bar. I had heard about these types of bars on like television shows and always thought they were neat. So basically it is a bar/lounge that consists of two parts. One being an 18 degree room where everything is made of ice! Even the glasses you drink out of, the chairs, everything. Yes, it was freeeezing! They provide fur coats and gloves, but our poor toes were numb and hurting by the end. So then we decided to go to the second part, the Fire Lounge. It was just a normal environment with music. It was fun and new experience.

A few days later Elizabeth, Morgan, Allie, and I headed to Disney's Beach Club Resort to eat at Beaches n' Cream. Well, our main goal was to order (and finish) the famous Kitchen Sink. The dessert consists of 8 scoops of ice cream, mini candy bars, a whole can of whipped cream, brownies, and more... in a kitchen sink. We didn't even eat dinner that night because we were trying to save up for this gigantic "meal" and we still couldn't finish it!

More recently, Hollywood Studios hosted an event called "Unleash the Villains" on Friday the 13th. My roommates and I had been looking forward to this event for weeks and we were so excited to go. However, I am about to complain, for the first time on my blog, about a Disney event. We sat in traffic for an hour and a half, and when we finally reached the Hollywood Studios entrance, security guards were flashing lights directing us away from entering the park. So then we turned around and on our way back, we were let in the park as if there was no problem at all. We were very confused. After we get in the park, we are shocked at how extremely crowded and unorganized the event was. The line to meet the villains was a mile long, and people were cutting left and right. There were also characters lined up next to the main stage. There were no organized lines to meet them, no character attendants, nothing. It was a mob. We quickly decided that we were not going to accomplish anything and headed back to our car. Disney is always organized, but they must have not planned well for this event. They have several popular events such as Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween parties and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas parties that are a complete success, but I think Disney needs to re-evaluate this one.

This past week I have had my first round of sickness, and hopefully my last while here. I came down with a horrible cold/sinus infection. It caused me to miss work so I have only been working 22 hours this week, compared to my normal 36 hours. I am also taking Saturday off because MEG IS COMING! Yay! I can't wait to go to the parks with her. It is always so much more fun when someone comes and visits you, because it is like experiencing the park for the first time all over again. She is also very lucky, because with my discounts and free passes, she is only having to pay the resort charge (which is half of what is usually is) You're welcome, Meg.

You know how I mentioned my Australian friend in another post? She is tooo funny you guys. I have to tell ya'll what she calls "things" compared to what we know them as:
"Lollies" - candy
"Cinema" - movie theater
"Canteen" - cafeteria
"Trolley" - shopping cart

That is just a sample of our everyday conversations. Ha! I've learned quickly how to pick up on her lingo, and sometimes when she is talking to another American, I have to translate certain words. It's quite interesting! We have become great work friends, and since she doesn't have a car here, I take her to work when we are working the same shifts.

For about two weeks now I have had 1 or 2 shifts during the week called HOH, which means Heart of House. It is basically stock. I work in various locations like American Adventure, France, and United Kingdom. I love working in France because I can play with all the different makeup and perfume...it's fun! :) Working in the actual shop is my favorite though. I get asked random questions on a daily basis for example:
"You're from Mississippi, huh? So do you farm?"
"Why does your nametag have an university on it and some don't?"
And people love to come up and only speak Spanish to me and I look at them with a blank stare and motion them on to the girl from the Dominican Republic that works with me.
And I still have to count change for foreigners.
It's always an interesting day at work!

I'll try and update again after the weekend! 

P.S. I get to come home for the weekend in TWO WEEKS! Can't wait

Hank comes to visit!

I'm starting to get into the swing of things and a normal work schedule, which is really good. I kind of have an idea of what days I will be off each week, too. Work is going so well and I really love all of my managers, leaders, and co-workers or co-"cast members" ha! We have all become such good friends. I have become really close with my Australian friend, as I call her, haha. Her name is Jess! She is super sweet and she is always trying to imitate my southern accent...it's pretty comical. I have learned so many things about her culture and it is so neat. I constantly get asked the question from guests, "Where are you from?" because of my accent and people do NOT understand my name. They don't get how I have two names, or they think that they accidentally put my last name on my name tag. Nope...it's just a double name.

Being able to watch IllumiNations every single night is such a dream come true. I still get chills every time I watch it. The store is super slow when the show is going on, so we will usually step outside and enjoy the view. It's great!

But on to my main point of this post..... Hank came to visit me this weekend!!! We had so much fun playing in the parks. When he arrived on Friday, I went and picked him up from the airport and then we headed to check-in at the resort. Unfortunately, I had to work at 4:00 that day and so he just chilled at the hotel and watched football. Saturday we hit the ground running and started the day off at Animal Kingdom. AK is Hank's favorite park. We met some characters and ate at one of our favorite restaurants in all of WDW, Yak & Yeti. We also went to see Festival of the Lion King. As we were walking in, a cast member stopped us and asked if we would follow her. She took us to the very front row that only consisted of about 3 seats. One of the performers asked Hank to stand up and say his name, and to lead the warthog section. It was hilarious and Hank actually had to make a warthog noise in the microphone :/ We were so close to the performers that we felt like we were actually in the show. Once we decided to leave AK, I was tired from working the closing shift the previous night and Hank was tired from his 5am flight, so we headed back to the hotel and took a short nap, then headed to Epcot for our dinner reservations at Tokyo Dining. It. Was. Phenomenal. The food and atmosphere was so amazing! Hank got the salmon and I had the tempura dinner, which consisted of tempura shrimp, chicken, and vegetables. Yum! Afterwards, we walked around World Showcase and we also stopped by my shop so that he could meet my new friends and check out where I am working. Then it was time to head to Magic Kingdom to catch the fireworks and the parade. Magic Kingdom was open until 3:00 am (Extra Magic Hours), but we couldn't make it. We decided to head back around 1:30 am. The next morning we had breakfast reservations at The Polynesian Resort. It was a character breakfast so we got to meet Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto. Pluto tried to steal our bacon! We headed back to the hotel because Hank had to get packed up to head back home. I was sad to see him go, but he will be making many more visits to WDW! I also can't wait for all of my other family members to come and visit, too!

Here are some photos from this weekend :)