Hoop-De-Doo

I am going to try & outsmart myself by working on my blog posts a little at a time. Today is a typical Florida day- it has already been super sunny & hot (Sarah and I went to the pool for like 3 hours) but now we are in the middle of a storm.. and by 8 tonight we should be back to sunshine. Craziness. The clouds here literally fly through the sky- weather changes like crazy. Just like my time here (you see what I did there?! chessy tie-in. lol) Somedays are filled with funny stories and so much energy and hope but other days are just the opposite. With school starting and rush just being over, I am really missing being in College Station. There is nothing like it and I can't wait to go back in January for a nice, long, class-free visit. And just when I think I am on the verge of "having nothing to do" or being lonely- low & behold the Lord takes such good care of me. It really is breathtaking to experience. I had the night off last night which is really rare because only 2 of the shifts I could be scheduled for allow you a night off.. So I came home, made dinner, then decided to go for a run. I have an uneasy feeling about just running freely through the city of Orlando, so I have taken it upon myself to take full advantage of the Disney resorts. Majority of them have running trails so last night I decided to try out the Caribbean Beach Resort. (ps-confession: I am a total resort junkie. I always feel like I am walking around with a sign on my head that says "I am not staying here.. in fact, I am here by myself." But I try & play it cool..they are SO fun to explore) They have a 1.4 mile loop around their lake and it is beautiful! So I went, ran two laps and then treated myself to a Diet Coke (naturally) with my handy dandy resort mug (helps me with the tourist look). Next, I laid in a hammock for about 30 minutes and read my book. It was amazing.. I could literally spend my whole day curled up somewhere reading. I never want to leave moments like that. But I told myself at 9:00 I would head to Wal-Mart.. and whatdoyaknow- at 9:00 fireworks start shooting off directly in front of me from Epcot's show. First of all, I had no idea Epcot was so close to me and second of all, I had no idea that I was laying in the best view ever. It was like the timing and view were perfectly designed for me. Although walking around resorts full of families makes me miss mine, God never fails to show up in huge ways and remind me that He is with me. Well- there's an honest post for yall. Just when I think it's not all magical here- it turns out it is :) All thanks to the Lord.. not a mouse (contrary to popular belief).

Well, here I am again! This weekend was good- relaxing, trip to Magic Kingdom and a VERY long day at work. Last night was SO fun because my friends and I crossed off something on my Disney Bucket List-- The Hoop De Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness. It is the longest running dinner show in America. It honestly hasn't changed since the day it opened (it is still complete with a rendition of the hokey-pokey if that tells you anything..) but it was AWESOME. All you can eat food & drink (fried chicken, ribs, corn, mashed potatoes, beans, strawberry shortcake.. pretty much one of my favorite meals). The entertainment was great too! So funny! Towards the end of the show someone started pulling my chair out from behind me.. before I knew it I was on stage. They said I was chosen because of my "beauty" and was sent back stage to receive my instructions which consisted of one line and a costume.. turns out, I was the can-can girl. It was hilarious and the people in the show were so nice! I even got a picture and a certificate. Work yesterday was very long & slow but I did meet two of the cutest boys! Too bad they were about 3 years old.. they both had secrets for me that they had to whisper in my ear. One was "I have a mickey and minnie doll" and the second one was "I like you". Haha. I am including a video and some pictures for your viewing pleasure :) Praying for all you fresh students out there and missing everyone like crazy!

(and yes, I had to upload this to YouTube for yall to see.. kind of embarrassing but whatever)

Chloe, Ben, Tim & I!

all-you-can-eat ribs! SO GOOD!

My perfect view from Caribbean Beach!

The picture they gave me after the show.

done & done.

All my LOVE,
Lauren

chipndale

Sorry so much time passes in between posts. It's like as soon as I sit down I want to fall asleep. But here we go on an update of my past week at Disney. Last Thursday, I went to our Cast Picnic and it was awesome. Free food? Yes, please. Also- Goofy & Mickey were there. I mean if the boss was there.. this was a pretty big deal. Lol. We did the limbo, mac-arena, cotton eyed joe, etc.. But get this: we were dancing without our shoes because come on, who can do the cotton eyed joe in flip flops?! But Disney is HARD CORE about safety and Mickey got on to us about not having our shoes on :( There is nothing like getting in trouble from the face of Disney World.. lol. I had the day off and spent it doing my doing new favorite hobby: exploring the resorts and finding a nice nook to read in. Last week I went to the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. It was perfect and amazing. The Poly has sweet hammocks and the Grand smells like heaven. I am off today too and did the same thing but at the Wilderness Lodge. If you know me, it can be hard for me to relax but this has been the perfect balance- relaxing but still enjoying the Disney atmosphere. Work has been really fun! I have been working at Fort Wilderness a lot which means I get to work with Chip and Dale (Who are becoming 2 of my favorite characters) for their campfire show. It is fun but oh my gosh, totally brings out the worst in the guests. People are PSYCHO about these characters. They are seriously so rude and obnoxious. But besides that, it's a really fun shift (some of the kids are adorable though and seriously melt when they see Chip and Dale- yesterday one little girl just kept saying "chipndale" over and over again, it was precious!). Of course I enjoy the cowboy playing the country music during the show and have become quit a pyro myself. I have learned how to put out a campfire with no water and come home looking like I work as a chimney sweep.. lol. The other day I had to get on to some boys because they wanted to throw frogs in the fire!! I couldn't help but laugh afterward.. but goodness, kids these days! lol. Tuesday, Claudia and I went to Blizzard Beach- one of the water parks here. It was awesome! And so funny because she had never been to a water park before. When we were getting ready to go down the first ride (the kind where you lay on a mat and go down face first), I thought she was going to kill me. Haha. She ended up loving it!! Yesterday before work we had another cast appreciation event- this time it was breakfast at Mickey's Bar-b-que. French toast sticks, made to order pancakes and chocolate milk.. I was in heaven. Lol. It was a lot of fun and everyday I love the people I work with even more. Since I am training for this half-marathon deal I am going to hit the gym. But I love yall & thanks for reading my blog! Have a magical day :)

reading spot at the lodge

reading spot at the poly

All my love,
Lauren

Thanks & Gig 'Em.

Sorry for the delay in posts- but I have been super busy (and tired!). This post is dedicated to the past four years at the greatest university in Texas.. dare I say the world! TEXAS A&M. Last Friday I officially became a Texas A&M Alum. Crazy right?! It still hasn't hit me that I really will never have to write another paper or take another test or waste an hour of my life playing Angry Birds instead of paying attention to a boring lecture. Texas A&M was the perfect fit for me and I am so thankful the Lord led me there. It is so rich with tradition, values, integrity and service. Here are a few things to sum up each of my four years in college station:
Freshman year: Coming back with Courtney (my freshman roommate and soul sister) from Fish Camp doing non-stop Aggie yells, living in the dorm, everything I owned breaking, Sav & I being attached by the hip, meeting my best friends in MSC fish, meal plans, having to park a mile from my dorm (so I rarely left campus), 5 girls and all our luggage in a Prius to Florida for spring break, pranks with my suitmates, literally being sick to my stomach for leaving my first football game early, going to muster for the first time
Sophomore year: the apartment, theta, big event, meeting with Marci, riding the bus to school, making music videos in the apartment, our bunk bed made for 5 year old boys breaking, roomies got lice, breakaway, roomie ritual nights, LUNCH in the msc
Junior year: f2b, living in the haven, girls trip to Destin, eating loaf, roomie pics, mugwalls, aggie wranglers lessons, flip videos, monday night dates with Sydney
Senior year: YOLO, aggie ring, ski trip no regrets, senior nights, tail gates, cotton bowl, theta powder puff, caroling, my blue heaven (gulf shores trip), grace bible study, camping, nola, graduation, disney!
That was harder than I thought it would be.. I could seriously go on and on. It is so funny the memories that stand out to me. Graduation was so fun! Savannah even held up a big sign asking me to be her Maid of Honor after I walked across the stage. It felt like I was being proposed to :) Of course I said yes! A lot of my friends came in town and it just felt good for everyone to be in the same place again.. like we never even left. We had a little party at the haven (the house I lived in the past 2 years) and it was so great! I also got to go home to Dallas this weekend which was really good as well! Even though being in College Station was perfect and I miss it everyday, the Lord kept me strong and reminded me that even though those past 4 years were amazing and I would give anything to do them again, He has me in a cool place now with exciting plans ahead. One of them being going to Aggie football games and SITTING in the shade ;) I am looking forward to spending the next few months just relaxing, having fun and tuning into the Lord.. His plan and His Word. Everything here at Disney is going well! Work is great! I will share some good stories with ya in the next post. Lol. My roommate Sarah and I are signed up to run the Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon relay on October 1st so I am starting to train for that. So exciting! I hope everyone is doing well. It's so weird that "summer" is over because it definitely still feels like summer here! I promise to write sooner this time :)

All my love,
Lauren

The Griffins take on Disney!

The past couple days I have had the privilege of getting to hang out with one of my FAVORITE families while they were in Disney.. The Griffins!! I could not have asked for a better family to get to experience Disney with. I have known David & Courtney since I was about 5 years old- Courtney was my Kindergarten Sunday School teachers and I actually ended up teaching their first two kids in Kindergarten Sunday School a couple years ago. So to say the least, they mean a lot to me. I have baby sat all their kids and love them all very much! Don & Nancy were here too and getting to see them each morning was the best start to the day! Seeing the parks through the eyes of 4 year olds who were there for the first time was priceless! On Saturday, I met up with them at Magic Kingdom for a little bit before I had to run over to work. We rode just about every ride in Tomorrowland and it was awesome. Ben & Paul were infatuated with the park maps and would walk around pointing and saying "We're here! We are at Disney World!" lol. It was the cutest thing! Also, I was called Kara many times. So Kara.. don't get offended if someone thinks you are me because it definitely works both ways sister. The best was "Hey! Have you been to my house before?! Yeah, cause you're Kara!" Haha. Yesterday, I met them at Animal Kingdom and we did just about everything you can do there! I rode Expedition Everest back to back with Jordan & Luke and it was awesome. The best ride there by far! We also saw the Lion King show & Sarah and Paul even got to be a part of it. Paul was sitting in my lap during the show and just walked right up to the stage when they were looking for volunteers. When we were leaving Paul was like "Lauren, did you like me in the show?!" Of course I did!! Haha- so great. Today we knocked out Epcot. I finally got to do Soarin' and it was beautiful! Such a cool ride. Ben, Paul and Sarah took me on the Nemo ride and we had a lot of fun. Doing rides with some of my favorite kiddos makes them way cooler than doing them with some other twenty-somethin' year olds. Lol. The boys are hilarious because they rode Splash Mountain on the first day and now compare every boat ride to that one. Luke & Jordan and I had a blast finding the Hidden Mickeys! I have an app on my phone that gives you hints to where they all are. We were doing really good and got 67 points! Too bad I only have 801 to go. :) The Griffins were so sweet to let me tag along for their family vacation. It was absolutely amazing having people I love here to share this wonderful experience with! It is definitely one of my best memories here so far and I will never forget it. I can't even wrap up the experience in words!

Sarah got her drivers license at Disney- watch out world!

My attempt to take a picture with my favorite buddy Luke. He is thinking "What is this girl doing?!" One day girls will be lining up to take pictures with this guy. Haha.

Paul & Sarah in "The Festival of the Lion King"

Ben in Mexico!

Jordan and I with the giant sombreros!

Thanks for letting me hang out with you!

Sneak peek into one of the places I work- Community Hall at Bay Lake Tower. A lot of fun stuff happens here! Just picture being greeted by yours truly in my cute yellow polo ;)

View of Wilderness Lodge from Bay Lake when Michael & I took boats out last week.

Perfect view of Magic Kingdom from Seven Seas Lagoon.

The Contemporary is on the left and Bay Lake Tower is on the right. Both are awesome places I get to work! I love having such beautiful scenery at my workplace.

Michael on the boat by the Grand Floridian Resort.

One of my absolute favorite views. I mean, how could this ever get old?!

The Boss Man.

Work is still going so great! I can't believe how fast time is moving along though. Even after being here for almost 2 months, I still don't think I will ever get my fill of Disney. I love the people I work with and am looking forward to seeing them when I go into work tomorrow. I am coming home next week so if anyone has any special Disney requests please let me know :) I will post more about work later this week. I am exhausted and am looking forward to going to bed early tonight :) David & Courtney are super-parents for handling the 5 kids so well at Disney!

 

I will leave you with this song we sang at church last week. I adore it so very much. If I could write a song right now, this is what it would say.

I hope everyone has a MAGICAL day! I mean it. Haha. Thanks again to the Griffin family for giving me some of my best days at Disney yet! 

All my love, 

Lauren