I'm Back!

Well, I'm back home, minus my luggage. I barely made my plane last night--the last flight out of Atlanta--but unfortunately my bags missed the plane, and I'll have to pick them up today. So that was sort of a pain. But otherwise, my trip was great and I'm feeling refreshed and ready to get back to real life...and planning for Disney!

After I got assigned to a roommate, we emailed each other back and forth for a few days. I was double checking some of my Disney arrival information today on the College Program website, and decided to check and see if I was still matched up for a roommate. Well, guess what. I'm not. I don't know what's going on with that. The way that the website's been, it may just be a glitch, or she may have found another roommate or whatever. I have no idea. Oh, well. So I'm signed back up, and we'll see what happens. I'm actually thinking about taking this opportunity to opt out of roommate notification all together. I'm wondering if I'll be happier waiting until I actually meet some people at check-in. Then at least I will be able to have some say in who I'm rooming with. Plus, it will add an element of surprise. And I like surprises!

I'm going to spend the next couple of days browsing the official website and the blogs, trying to figure out what my schedule will be like for my first few days at Disney. Since my mom is flying back, I will have to take her to the airport and the only direct flights are at the Sanford airport, which is about 45 minutes away from where I'll be. The flights are all early in the morning, and we'll have to figure out what day I won't have to be at training early so that I can take her and be back in plenty of time. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it.

Just one month and three days now until I'm on the road to Orlando!

A Quick Vacation-y Update

Well, hello there, friends! It's been a while! I've been on vacation for the last few days with limited internet access, and limited interest in blogging (sorry!). It's been a nice rest, so here I am for a quick update.

My wonderful grandma had some travel points, and used them to make reservations for my mom and I in Orlando. I'm not really sure which hotel she used them at, but I know it was close to Vista for check-in, and that it's a reputable hotel chain. Sounds good! So this means that, even though we still haven't sold our old house, my mom may go with me now because she was reluctant to pay for the extra 3 or 4 nights for her hotel. So now that's taken care of. Thanks, Nana! :) (yes, I call my grandma 'Nana'. Don't make fun of me!)

Well, now I'm off to do more vacationing! See you guys again in a few days when I return to real life. Happy 4th, everybody!

Some Less-Than-Two-Months-To-Go Musings

This past Wednesday marked the beginning of the two month countdown before I leave for Florida. Crazy. So I now have less than two months before I'm going to be living on my own, in a new city, working a new job, hanging out with new friends, living under a new, made-up name, going around with a new post-plastic surgery face...wait a minute. Those last two aren't going to happen. But the first few are! And not only that, but I will also be going to Disney World basically every day! For free! Amazing.

I've begun to sever ties with Missouri. Last week, I notified the nursery coordinator at church that I would need to be off the schedule starting in August, and my boss is beginning to look for temporary help for the office while I'm gone. Today, I even kept the cardboard boxes when we got in supplies at work. I'll need them to pack in!

I feel like I keep saying this here, but I just can't believe that this is really real. Every day I get a little more excited, apprehensive, reflective, and prepared for the whole experience. A while ago I caught a special on the Travel Channel about Disney World. And I watched it, thinking how crazy it was going to be to pass Graumann's Chinese Theatre every day on my way to work. Or to walk through Cinderella Castle on my lunch break. Unbelievable. In 58 days, I will be somewhere completey different, living an almost completely different life. And as scary as that thought is, I really, really just can't wait. :)

The Exciting Conclusion to the Roommate Saga!

No time or content for a full post, but I now have a roommate. There--wasn't that exciting? ;)

Roommate Notification Part Deux: The Adventure Continues

As soon as I opened my email at work this morning, there was a shiny, purple email from the Disney College Program, saying that I had been matched with a roommate. After my frustration a couple of weeks ago finding out that roommate notification wasn't available for my arrival date, I checked back last Thursday. And, lo and behold, I was able to sign up. It said that there were currently no matches available, but that I would be notified when they had found one for me. The next morning, however, I logged back into roommate notification, and the old message about it not being an option for my arrival date was back up. What the french, toast?

This morning, however, there was that super exciting email. I quickly clicked on the link to learn the identity of my new roommate...and was taken back to the same stupid page saying that my arrival date wasn't eligible!!!

I've sent a message to tech support and housing to find out what's going on. I don't know if it's a glitch in the website, or if the housing people have made a mistake. But this roommate thing is taking on a life of its own! Check back soon for the exciting conclusion to the saga!

Finalizing Travel Plans

My mom and I had another long discussion yesterday about travel plans for August. My last day of work will be Friday, August 7th. I'm planning to use Saturday to wrap up my packing, and then we'll get on the road first thing Sunday morning. We're going to break the 20-something hour trip up into two days--definitely an improvement over our Spring Break driving marathon. We have family in Alabama, so we're going to make a little detour and spend Sunday afternoon and night with them. Then we'll get back on the road at a leisurely pace Monday, and get into Orlando late Monday night. Tuesday, we're planning to spend the day at the beach, and then Wednesday is the big day--CHECK-IN! (And Ikea. :) )

This is all just tentative. My mom's going to fly back, and they only have flights early Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. So we may not leave until Monday, and then we could do the beach on Thursday. In fact, she might not even get to go--we've been trying to sell our old house for months now, and until that happens, the extra hotel bills and plane ticket may not be in the budget. We'll just have to see.

But either way, it is exciting to have an actual plan. Just a little over two months to go now! So exciting! :)

Roommate Selection

I know I left my blog on a bit of a down note for quite a while...this wasn't intentional! My moment of crisis really was just a moment, and I've been feeling much better and excited once again for my Florida adventure. There just hasn't been much else to write about!

But today I'm going to address yet another of the big decisions that need to be made before August...roommate selection!

I've already talked about the Roommate Notification Process, but just in case you missed it, if I opt in to roommate notification, Disney will select a roommate for me and let me know their identity ahead of time so we can get to know each other and coordinate things we'll be bringing with us. But lots of other CPs are trying to find roommates on their own on discussion boards and in the CP Facebook group.

There are tons of posts out there that read like personal ads: "Female CP, arriving August 24th, looking for roommate. Crazies need not apply." And there's something to be said for this method. You can specify that you want a roommate who is neat, or who wants to help host lots of parties. Disney doesn't take personalities into consideration, mostly just gender, age, and arrival date. I've had a few Facebook messages and such from some very nice CPs, introducing themselves, and even though they were just asking general questions about my arrival, what role I would have, and all of that, I wondered if they were looking for a potential roommate. It's a good way to do it, I guess!

But, by golly, something about it just creeps me out a little bit. It seems to go against everything Dateline has ever told us. Giving out information about myself to an almost-total-stranger on-line? (And yes, I realize that that's exactly what I'm doing here at my blog. But for some reason it doesn't disturb me quite as much.) I just don't know if I can bring myself to do it.

Even if you find someone to room with through the internet, you really still don't know that person at all. Sure, you know more about them than you do when you do with roommate notification, but still...I think I'm going to take my chances, and see who Disney pairs me up with. If it just doesn't look like things are going to work out, you have the option of opting out of the match. I don't anticipate needing to do this, though. I get along pretty well with just about anybody. But it is nice to know that I have that out if I need it.

The website says that roommate notification will be done around June 1st. And...ooh! I just logged into the website, and it says that my date is ineligible for roommate notification, anyway! So the entirety of the above post is now null and void. It's a little frustrating that I have now finally made a decision, only to find out that there was no decision to be made! Oh, well. It does say that my date may become eligible later, and that I can sign up to be matched when/if that happens. But I think I'll just use this opportunity to ponder my decision for a few more days.

Here We Go...

In a way, yesterday was the start of a lot of changes coming my way. Last night I said goodbye to my boyfriend, who is going back home for the summer to do his internship. I already miss him like crazy, and although we're already planning meet-in-the-middle trips to see each other, it's going to be a difficult summer. And to make matters worse, I probably won't even see him before I leave for Florida. So for the next 7 months, my boyfriend and I will live half a country away from each other.

For a few months, this has been my countdown--how much time do I have left with Erik? But now the deadline is here, and, thinking about it this morning, I realized how many other deadlines have been creeping closer: I've only got two weeks left of classes, including my final exams. After that, I'll be working full-time (location TBD, but I have a promising lead) and only be three months away from Disney.

I just have a feeling that things are going to start snowballing out of control (in a pleasant, exciting way) very soon. Before I know it August will be here, and I probably won't feel ready. That's just the way things go. But I'm trying to brace myself and prepare for all of the changes as best I can. That's all I can do for now.

It's Official...Let the Countdown Begin!

I just officially accepted my offer at Disney--I'll be signing in on Wednesday, August 12, and I'll come home on January 2. So exciting! Only 136 days to go! :)

Emily still hasn't decided, but she told me to go ahead and sign up. Hopefully, if she decides to go, she'll still be able to check in on the same day!

The only problem with my check-in day is that that my mom was planning on driving down with me, and that is probably going to end up being the same day that my brothers start school. She's disappointed that she may miss their first day, but it'll all be okay. And I'm really going to need her help--I'm already dreading making that Missouri/Florida drive again!

It took me two tries to log in (my home internet is crazy-slow!) but I finally got there. Signing up and accepting my invitation got me access to the CP-exclusive section of the website. There are all kinds of cool resources: everything from packing lists; to Eyes and Ears, the official Cast Member newsletter; to information about CM discounts (don't worry--these are special enough to get their own post in the future).

I thought getting that my acceptance letter and folder made me feel excited; made it feel like it was all real. But now that I actually know the exact date when I will be arriving...well, I'll just say that it's an amazing feeling.