Traveling the World

Lately I have felt kinda lame because so far I haven't done much besides work, which I am not really complaining about because I do want to work as much as I can so I can save as much money as possible for school and such. After 10 consecutive days of working/training I finally had two days off. So yesterday my roommate and I decided to head to Epcot and travel the world. 

It was great to be able to have some fun and explore. The great thing about being here now is I don't feel as rushed at the parks because I can go back again soon. So I can spend a few hours there and the come home when I get too tired/hot. It was a great afternoon of fun! 

Fun times in Mexico ... We even stopped for lunch and I got to have some yummy churros! (: 

Norway! ... I'm a Viking(: 

Welcome to China

Italy ... its the fountain from When in Rome! (: 

Morocco ... loving the hats(:  

Earning My Ears(:

So I came to Florida to work for Disney and so far it has been a pretty awesome adventure. It has been kinda crazy and a little lonely at times, but as I get to know more people hopefully it will get better. I have only been here two weeks so far, although it feels like much longer!

Before I could actually start working I had to be trained. Here at Disney they call this process Earning My Ears! I got a fancy ribbon to put on my name tag, which worked as a nice excuse when I was asked a question I didn't know the answer to.

As a Disney Cast Member I was assigned to Disney Quest as a Hopper. At first I was pretty confused because I had never even heard of Disney Quest and as a Hopper I wasn't sure what my job was going to entail. At first all I was told was that it was a 5-Story Indoor Interactive Theme Park, but this description still confused me. My first day of training we were able to explore the building and ride the attractions. For those who have not heard of it before, it includes 8 attractions and tons of video games as well as other types of interactive games. The graphics may not be the best, but it is a really cool place!

As far as my job here goes, I  am trained in Quest Keeper (custodial), Attractions, and Front Entrance. That included 10 consecutive days of training, but I finally finished and I finally got a day off(: Oh and I have earned my ears so I no longer have the ribbon on my name tag.

Home is where the Heart is …

But here is where I am living for the next few months(: Lets take a tour ...

Here is our entry way with our lovely desk that contains the router which we must connect to for internet...

Hence the cords all over the living room haha

Our kitchen is actually decent, besides a few burners not working and having a million butter knives and like 5spoons. lol 

Oh and we also have a kitchen table, but its pretty plain and I forgot to take a picture of it haha. 

My room(: the board on my bed is actually supposed to go on my wall, but haven't gotten that far yet. Oh and that is all I am allowed to have on my wall.. sad day. 

our beautiful bathroom .. there are actually two bathrooms in this apartment, as well as two bedrooms so there are only two girls sharing which is nice and makes it easier. 

its weird because in order to get to the closet you must go through the bathroom, but it is a pretty big walk in closet. This is the first half (my roommate's side).

and then my side of the closet(: 

Goodbye California ... Hello Florida!

On August 16th, 2011 I headed towards Orlando, Florida and my Disney Adventure. My flight had a 2 hour layover in Vegas and since my Grandpa works there it was great that he was able to stop by and I was able to visit with him for a while. :) 

My flight reached Orlando at 1am on August 17th and there I met up with a few friends from school. We decided that we were all there early instead of just waiting around the airport until it was time to check in might as well go where we are supposed to check in and wait. So around 2:30 am we got on the shuttle and headed there. When we got there the security told us where we were supposed to go so we just hung out. Then as we were sitting there some very interesting people passed by, including some drunk french students. Very interesting night. Then a few hours had gone by and guess what... we find out that the security told us the wrong spot so now we have to walk with our luggage to find where we are supposed to be and where the line starts. Then we are told by someone in line that its a bad idea to have luggage with you because it holds you back.. well that would have been nice to know, but really we came right from the airport what are we supposed to do with our airport and shouldn't they have been better at organizing that? So we wait the 3 more hours until 8 and then someone shows up and tells us we have to walk across the apartment complex to where we check in... and as we start walking (we were at the very front of the line!) there are a group of like 10people that start running to get ahead.. which was kinda dumb and then we get there and have to walk to a different room to set our luggage down THEN we have to rejoin the line. So now we are no longer close to the front (about 80 people were able to make it ahead of us), but atleast we were as close as we got because there was still a TON of people behind us. After HOURS of lines and paperwork and information it was FINALLY time to get to go to my room and start unpacking. By this time I had only had about 2 hours of and on sleep (on the airplane) since 7am the day before and all I had eaten was a donut, some pretzles, and french fries! I was starving! Luckily it was so awesome because I got to my apartment and met my roommate who was here with her dad and they offered to take me out with lunch with them! It was so nice and I was so absolutely grateful!! (: After a few more meetings later that night and unpacking I was DEAD tired and thankful to go to bed. Oh and in the massive amounts of information we got I also found out that I will be working in Downtown Disney - Pleasure Island! Still not exactly sure what I will be doing, but will be getting more information at training tomorrow! (: 

Then today (Thursday the 18th) we pretty much had a free day and so we were able to go to the store and get some basic necessities. Then two of my roommate and I decided to head to explore Downtown Disney! 

Here are some pretty cool LEGO creations!! 

Mr. Potato Head!! 

Some Awesome hats! The one I have on lights up(: 

Oh no ... a SNAKE!! 

Goodbye Idaho ... Hello California(:

On July 22nd after lots of finals, cleaning, and packing I finally finished my first year of college! I left Rexburg and was headed home. My first stop was in Salt Lake City were I was about to visit Aunt Val and AJ(: It was a short, but great visit! Then early Saturday morning I headed to the airport and on my way back to Sacramento! It was great to be home and although it was a very short 3 weeks I loved being able to see family and friends and have lots of fun times. However, I wasn't very smart and I was too preoccupied enjoying myself that I didn't take many pictures, but here are my highlights of my visit home.

The first day I was home I was able to see Peter and we went (with my dad) to see the final Harry Potter! (7 part 2) It was so amazing!! Oh and Peter got a new Car!

One Saturday afternoon my friend Haley joined me and my dad as we took my nieces, Alissa and Jaiden to Fairytale town! I remember going to this place when I was younger and I loved it. My nieces sure loved it too!

More movies that I saw while I was home... 

Every year my cousin Courtnee and I usually go to my Grannee's the day before Thanksgiving to help cook. However, this year since I wont be home we had a Thanksgiving in August! (: 

Me, Courtnee, Jr, (Chris had school so he couldn't make it), Grannee and Papa got together and had our own Thanksgiving dinner! Turkey, Stuffing, Deviled Eggs, Olives, Macaroni Salad, Sparkling Cider and of course Pumpkin Pie! (: 

The Sacramento Temple was closed for two weeks and of course those were my last two weeks in Cali, so my parents and I decided to take a trip to another temple. At first we weren't sure if we should go to Oakland or Reno, but since we had never been to the Reno temple before we decided to change it up a little. Peter joined us and we drove up to Reno for the night. 

I was so happy I was able to spend lots of time with Peter. He recently got a job in the Sunrise Mall at Sunglass Hut and so after he got off it was easy to be able to hang out for a few hours. The night before I left I was able to go up to his sisters house and visit for a while and also spend my last night with Peter. It was lots of fun and I am going to miss everyone so much. The three weeks went by way too fast and I can't believe its already over! I love this picture of us(: We took it on the last night as I realized that I hadn't taken very many pictures haha 

Skype is a Great Invention(:

Since Peter has been home we hadn't been able to talk much since he does not have a phone, but we have been able to chat on skype and it has been great to talk to him. The other day he was able to use a mic and camera and we were able to do a video call on skype. It was the best to be able to see him and talk to him! He is so amazing and I love him so much.

Peter got out his Ukulele and sang/played for me(: 

The songs he played were
-Its a Wonderful World
-You've Got a Friend in Me
-Can you Feel the Love tonight

He is crazy, a little weird and absolutely amazing(: 

I love how he makes me smile(: 

Today has been exactly a year since...

I spent four years at Elk Grove High School. Made many friends, found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and had lots of fun times. Then a year ago today I graduated, but thats not what makes this day special to me. It was a day of accomplishment and happiness for most, including me for the most part. However, it was also a day of change and a little sadness and confusion. This day stands out to me because it was also exactly a year ago today that my Great Grandmother (Granny Green) passed away. I wasn't very close to her, but this event effected me more than I expected and also probably more than anyone knows. 

I remember it was the day before my graduation and I found out that Granny Green was in the Hospital and she had had a stroke. It made me worry, but I wasn't sure what to do. My parents went and visited her in the hospital and then they asked if I wanted to. I wasn't sure what to do know and after thinking and praying about it I just didn't feel ready to and after talking with my Dad I figured I would continue on with my graduation plans and then I would go and visit her after. We both agreed that the kind of person she was she would probably be mad if I let it affect my graduation. (: Although I felt really bad and confused I decided that I just wasn't going to be able to handle visiting her right now and that as of then if something was to happen to her I would want to remember her as I did. Like I said I wasn't very close to my Granny Green. But I had known her since I was little seeing her at Christmas and Thanksgiving mainly. I remember a few times where we went to her house for Holidays and such. However, I had recently had an experience that made me feel closer to her. For my Senior Ball I didn't plan much jewelry wise and while I was over at my Grandparents house my Grandma said she had an old necklace that belonged to Granny Green (her mom) that I could wear if I wanted. I gladly accepted and loved it! It was really special to me that I could wear her jewelry. Then later my grandma had shown my Granny Green the picture of me wearing the necklace and told her how much I like it and from that my Granny Green told my grandma to give me the necklace. This was only weeks before and now the necklace as well as the other jewelry mean more to me than you can imagine. It makes me feel like I have some kind of connection with her even though I never really knew her very well. Well the morning of my graduation I found out that Granny Green had passed and it had a much bigger impact on me than I imagined. I decided that I would wear the necklace for gradation, in honor of her. I thought about her all day and throughout the graduation I couldn't help having a feeling of sadness and confusion. 

I love my Granny Green very much and I will always remember her. She was a very strong woman who I admire greatly and I only wish I could have known her better. 

I have also recently had some experiences that have made me feel a connection with her. Last semester I went to the Temple a few times and every time I was there among the things I thought about Granny Green kept coming up. I repeatedly got the impression that when the time was right and I could that I needed to do the temple work for her. Even while listening to talks about temples, family history/genealogy, missionary work, and temple work for the dead I kept thinking about Granny Green. So I am going to follow my prompting and since its been a year I am going to complete the work for her. This has been a learning experience for me and a great trial that I never expected, but am grateful that I know that I will be able to see her again and I will have the opportunity to get to know her. Being a member of this church has been such a blessing and comfort during this time and I don't know how I would have handled it otherwise.