And life is still going on...

Last week was full of work.. I am talking 6 full days of work. I had last Wednesday off which was perfect because it was right in the middle. I went to Caribbean Beach and laid by the pool for oh.. 5 hours. I read, listened to podcast, slept..it was perfect. Just what my little heart needed. My Disney adventures of last week consisted of a trip to Studios with Forrest, going to Beaches & Cream (a CUTE little diner at Yacht & Beach club with the best burgers & coke floats in Disney) and then Friday night (which I actually had off) I went to Epcot with Aly & some of her intern friends. We had so much fun! Like I have told yall before- I have been spending most of my days working at the Fort or the Lodge. I have gotten to play sand volleyball, ultimate frisbee, steal the bacon, and kickball..just to name a few things. A-MAZING. Here are some great guest stories for you:
1) After I did pool party at the Lodge the other day, a lady came up to me and shook my hand and complimented how well I did with the kids. She said she was a retired 5th & 6th grade teacher and that I was "exceptional". She then proceeded to tell me that my talking voice sounded just like Carrie Underwood.. (that's a first). She was shocked when I told her no one has told me that before. She also commented on the many bug bites on my legs because she had gotten bit a lot as well. She was super nice but cracked me up because she literally talked in bullet point format.
2) I had a girl today tell me her 3rd grade teacher is dating Derek Jeter.. And I also had a little boy ask me to punish his sister because she "followed him around and he didn't like her." Oh kids these days. (I have learned so much about parenting and family dynamics btw..)
3) Last week I was working in Community Hall and a family came in that you could just tell loved each other so much. I got to talking to the parents and the mom proceeded to tell me that the dad had a surprise for them the next night. She asked if I was a good secret keeper and I told her I was only the best... and I LOVE surprises. :) She walked away and the dad got real close to me and serious and told me that he was in the Army and was stationed 5,000 miles away from his family and always in danger. He only got to be with his family 4-6 weeks and they came to Disney World every year together. Well.. the surprise was that he was taking them to this super fancy dinner with just them 3 and the chef and telling them that he was now only stationed 100 miles from their home. I wanted to cry and hug him and tell everyone! It was the sweetest thing. I reassured the mom that it was the best surprise ever! They came back to the hall a few days later to try and find me to tell me how it went but I wasn't there so they left me a note and it was so sweet! I was so happy to share in their celebration and that they thought to come back and leave me a note. I love the beautiful little life stories that are going on in people all around us.
4) On the other hand.. I just want yall to be aware that I make a fool of myself at work. Like the other day I had 5 little girls who were no older than 4 following my every dance move. The cotton eyed joe came on and let's be real.. 4 year olds can not do that dance. So naturally I improvised and had them dancing across the whole pool deck like they were riding a horse. It was pretty awesome. We also danced to twist & shout and kung fu fighting. It turns out that teaching dance my senior year of High School really paid off.. who knew!!


The weather here has been beautiful. I have always loved being outside but this job and living here has practically made me addicted to it. I never want to be inside.. I will do anything I can to be outside. Today was a great day off! I got to do a backstage tour of Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios and it was AWESOME! We learned about all the props in the lobby, got to go back in the cast area, put on safety goggles and went to see the maintenance room where they work on the elevators, and went into the security room where cast members are constantly watching video of the rides (like they can not turn their head from the screen at all). While we were in there they were looking for a missing watch & wallet so yall can be comforted in the fact that when you loose something at Disney, they actually really go looking for it. Like they stalled the ride and everything. THEN we got to ride the ride with the lights on. Which was awesome. I learned a lot about the ride and it was just fun being there with so many people from work. I also had in service at Animal Kingdom Lodge which was beautiful. I loved getting to explore there. I have the next 2 days off as well so I am sure I will post soon with more of what's going on here.

I am also taking a class here through Disney called "Exploring People Management". It's about HR here at Disney and so cool. This week we learned about recruiting; professionally and internationally. It was so informative and made me excited about potentially going into recruiting one day.

I want to keep yall updated about my life so please know I am still in the process of figuring out whether I'm staying here in Florida for a little bit longer or if coming home is right for me OR if the Lord is even trying to call me somewhere else. I don't know. And the answer may not come as soon as I would like but one thing I can remember is that there is peace in God's plan. There's just so much I want to do in life! My mind literally just wanders from adventure to adventure and they all look different and require different things but one thing is for sure- I am excited about all the possibilities. Thank you for sharing in my journey with me :) Next week I get to come home for Courtney's wedding weekend and I am beyond excited and so thankful that I get to be a part of it! Hope everyone is doing well!

All my love,
Lauren

Record Rainfall. Go figure.

I am writing this from starbucks right now and couldn't be happier. I am in sweats, just ate a slice of pumpkin bread, drank a caramel mocha latte and am pretending I am in college still (minus the studying). Speaking of which.. I would personally like to thank OU for putting tu in their place and A&M for shutting texas tech down once and for all. It's been raining here for like the past 48 hours so all I have wanted to do is come CHILL.
Another week is done here in the sunshine state (a term I tend to use lightly..). Sarah turned 23 on Wednesday so that was fun getting to celebrate with her. We went to a piano bar downtown and had a lot of fun! Living with her is one of those things that reminds me to be thankful to the Lord everyday. She is so cool and doesn't even know it. I love her!
My dad was in town yesterday- which just happened to be a day of record rainfall here in Orlando.. I am talking like at least 6 inches. CRAZINESS. But we made the most of it :) We went to Epcot and tried all sorts of food at the Food & Wine Festival. Let me think.. we ate in Greece, France, Belgium (my life will never be the same after eating the belgium waffles from there), Morocco, South Africa and Mexico. Everything was so good! For dinner we ate at the Wave, a restaurant in the Contemporary and it was fun. I love hanging out with my dad! I seriously could not ask for 2 better parents.. I could cry right now thinking about it. I love them so much and having them both here in the same week was incredible.
I am sure by now yall are probably thinking... "does this girl ever work?!" And the answer is yes, yes I do. It might have only been 3 days last week but I worked :) And get this.. They are going to let me start training people. Yes, I am officially a trainer. I am excited! It is really rare for a college programer to receive any kind of "promotion" so I am very humbled and thankful for the opportunity. I know it will be something I will really enjoy doing and will take my time to do well. I will get to train new activities cast members in our 4 resort areas. I will be sure to let yall know when I have my first trainee ;) My home away from home for the past few weeks has basically been the Fort.. which is fine by me! It is beautiful and peaceful there.. for the most part.  Last week I did get hassled by a guy calling me a "Liar" over and over again in front of a ton of people.. and for the record, I had never seen this guy in my life so I am not sure what he was referring to. Random sidenote- guests here try to "work the Disney system" and it's really annoying. But other than that, the Fort is a cool place to be. You should see the campsites decorated for Halloween.. it's crazy! Like people have inflatables that move and light up, etc.. They go all out. It's funny because during the day, it feels like it's still summer. We are out on the pool deck having pool parties, blaring music, sweating, dancing.. etc. And then at night, I am in a fleece and gathered around a fire and acting all fall-ish. Best of both worlds I guess! Speaking of fire.. I built the best fire I have ever built the other night. Guests were complementing it and all these other cast members were like "oh my gosh, I wish I had steaks to roast over that thing! It's perfect!". I am not saying that to brag.. if you know me, I am sure you would never picture me as the hands behind such a fire so I am just letting yall know that this girl is coming a long way :) Lol.
Well, I am going to use the next few hours before Starbucks closes to catch up on a few other things. But thanks for reading! Can't wait to be back in Texas in a few weeks! Have a magical day my loves!

All my love,
Lauren

TEAM SNL

I am so thankful today. The weather in Florida has been AMAZING. Like absolutely perfect.. and let's be real-the weather directly affects my mood. So when I woke up early Saturday morning to weather in the 60's and not a cloud in the sky.. I was beside myself (the weather has been just as good ever since). The girl I work with and I were literally giddy all morning about it... that and the fact that Lion King is being released from the vault. Saturday was actually the 40th anniversary of Magic Kingdom which was the first park to open at Disney World. At work I got an awesome set of exclusive 40th anniversary pins which I had to vow not to sell on ebay ;) They are legit. Saturday night Sarah & I ran the Disney Wine & Dine half marathon relay! It was such a cool experience and I am so glad Sarah asked me to do it with her! A couple months ago I woke up to a note by my bed that said "I have a question for you. Love, Sarah". All day I was like what is she going to ask me?! And that was it.. she wanted to me to run the race with her! I said of course!! (as long as you don't care what our time is..lol- she didn't so it worked out!) The past 2 years I have lived with hard core runners so it was cool to have a race of my own.. and even though I only ran the first 5 miles, it's a great start :) (Boo, you would be proud!) 12,000 people participated in the race and we all met up at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. You would think it would be chaos.. but of course Disney went above & beyond and it was the smoothest event ever. Before the race started, I had plenty of time to people watch. People were wearing the cutest costumes! But by mile 2, I could tell that wearing giant mickey ears or a full fledged tinkerbell tutu didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.. Let me just say, I have never seen such unhappy looking "princesses". It was fun being at the start of the race because each time a corral started, fireworks went off and some disney song started blaring (best way to start a race if you ask me). I was also standing behind a "hot mom" who's t-shirt said "wine & dine & leave the kids behind". She was breaking it down so that was entertaining enough.. So I started my race around 10:20 and ran all the way to Animal Kingdom and through the park. It was awesome because there were characters lined up on the road about every mile and people on stilts, live bands, plenty of water stations (which I spilt all over myself.. haven't mastered that skill yet), and again.. the weather was perfect. Running through AK was cool (besides the fact that that park smells like animals, it's rocky-a girl in front of me full out tripped-& super crowded..), seeing the park all lit up was beautiful! (I am a sucker for lights). The best part of the race was the hand off when I got to see Sarah.. it was pure magic. She came out of the crowd in our matching pink shirts, jumped up & down & hugged me, asked how it was and then said she'd see me at the finish line and she was off! At my finish line, I got my medal, free food & powerade and then loaded the bus to epcot. Epcot was the hot spot for our after party and it was awesome. There was a dj and music blaring everywhere.. plus all the wine & dine pavilions were open. I was supposed to meet Sarah at the phone booths in Ireland but couldn't wait that long to see her! So once I received the text that she had finished, I rushed to the front of the park and found her as quick as I could! I was so proud of her! It was her first time to run 8 miles and she did awesome! Her leg of the race went through Hollywood Studios and a few resorts. Having an after party at Epcot was super enticing to run the race but after running 13.1 miles.. people were iced up and getting sick everywhere. Haha. Ok, sorry.. I shouldn't be laughing about that. But seriously- there were a ton of medical stations set up because Disney is the best. Sarah & I want to train for the full 13.1 miles next year. All my runners out there- yall should do it too! It's seriously the coolest half marathon. We ended the night by riding.. drum roll please.... you guessed it- SOARIN'! It was perfect. We made it home at a whopping 3:15 am and I got in bed and fell asleep faster than anything you have ever seen. Team SNL was a success.

This weekend, my mom, sister & Aunt Judy were here too! My little baby munchin sister is alllll grown up and ready to start looking at colleges (even though we all know she should go to A&M right?!?) so she took a college day and came and looked at UCF. While they were here, we had our fair share of Disney fun. Dinner at the Grand Floridian, 3 parks in a day, and exploring Winter Park this morning. Let me tell ya- I can't take those girls anywhere. EVERYWHERE we went people were obsessed with how much we look alike.. imagine that right. I got everything from "are you guys twins?" (in regards to Kara & I), "Is this your sister?!" (in regards to my mom).. and the best one- "Is she your mom?!" (in regards to Kara & I again..) Awesome. I either look 16, 23, or 40. I guess it's all in the eyes of the beholder right?! We laughed so much and just had fun. I definitely get my desire for adventure & exploration from my family. I was so glad Aunt Judy could come down too! It had been way too long since I had seen her and she has been such a big supporter of me being down here so it was perfect that she could come! They all got to meet a lot of my friends which meant so much to me :) I love them all. Last night, Sarah joined us for dinner in Italy at Epcot.. and I think they will all agree with me when I say it was the best looking meal I had ever eaten if you know what I'm sayin ;) Today, Aunt Judy & I walked around Park Avenue in Winter Park & I am in love with it. The cutest boutiques, bakeries, and a gap of course. All the doors are open and people are there reading and with their dogs and drinking lattes... heaven. Aunt J had her first fro-yo experience so that was definitely the highlight. Their trip ended with me dropping and shattering my iphone screen but ya know what?! I didn't care because it was SO DANG PRETTY outside. And I think that just about brings us back to where we started :) Life is good. I am happy, content, and having my family here very much rejuvenated me. I can't believe I only have about 3 more months here. Yikes. I don't know what I am going to do but everyday I am thankful and encouraged by this experience. The light of the Lord is definitely with me every step of the way and I could not be more blessed with the perfect roommate, job, and coworkers (who will all be thankful to know that I bought new work shoes today.. no more mildew sick nasty adidas for now ;))

Preview for next blog: Sarah turns 23 and my Dad comes to the Food & Wine Festival. WHOOP!

I miss my favorite Texans. And please dear beloved aggies.... get it together, for my sake at least :)

Before our race!

The faces behind the magic yall...love em.

I love this picture :)

TOY STORY MANIA!!!

All my love,
XOXOXOXO
Lauren