The One where I'm a Floridian, I guess

April was a pretty insane month with a lot going on. I've wanted to write about but no time to really do so, my apologies!

First and foremost, I bought a car! And this time I'm keeping it! =) It's a 2007 Saturn Ion and she is a beauty. I named her Marilyn for 2 reasons. 1st, Marilyn is the name of the lovely woman I bought it from and 2nd, the fact that the car is white reminds me Marilyn Monroe so I thought it was fitting. Alfred (the husband) and Marilyn, the couple I bought it from, are the nicest people ever. They had no reason to sell the car other than the fact that they just didn't need it because as a retired couple, they go everywhere together so don't really have a need for 2 cars. So really, it was the ideal situation for me because buying a car from a person can be questionable since lots of times used cars have problems. However, after the last fiasco with the car dealer, I really did not want to buy from a dealer again so I searched high and low for a good deal on a used car and I am fairly certain I found THEE best deal in all of Florida. It's so nice to finally have the whole car situation figured out! Now let's just hope this one runs for a long, long time!

The day I picked up my car was also the day I flew out to Las Vegas for a little family reunion! It was me, my Mom and Step Dad, my sister, my 6 step siblings, my siblings' spouses and my Grandma, so a total of 16 of us and it was technically just the immediate family! My parents didn't allow any grandkids on the trip so it was the first time in at least 10 years that we had all been together without any kids running around. It was a fun but really quick trip! We jam packed all the sight seeing we could into 2 days! The highlight had to be seeing Miranda Lambert in concert. I took the video below when Blake Shelton came out for the finale to sing a little song called Hillbilly Bone.



All in all, things are kind of feeling to start like they are falling into place here in Florida. I'm officially a Florida resident, so says my Florida drivers license, but I will always be a Minnesotan. It was so weird in Vegas because a guy asked us where we were visiting from and my sister said "Minnesota, but she's from Florida" No I'm not!! I'm from Minnesota too! I just happen to be living in Florida! As you can see, I'm still adjusting to the idea that I'm a Floridian. Having yet to survive a Florida summer, I feel as though I cannot rightfully call myself a Floridian just yet, or if I'm even sure I want the title. My mom thinks I'm allergic to Minnesota because my allergies are a lot worse in MN than here, it's an interesting hypothesis.

Speaking of my madre. She made a quick visit here for 3 days to see me and take her death trap convertible back to Minnesota. I was worried the car wouldn't make it back to Minnesota but it did, shockingly! I think the car is a little Christine-esque and prefers my mom and therefor only breaks down in my possession.

Anyhow, I must get going! I start training tomorrow for coordinator and 7am is insanely early so I am going to attempt to go to sleep at a decent hour. Wish me luck.


Bonus Features:
1) I just watched the first episode of the new show Happy Town. It's set in Minnesota (which is the only reason I wanted to see it) but filmed in Canada (which is abundantly obvious to a Minnesotan) and I just gotta say, I love the show portrays Minnesotans as crazy and/or socially awkard. Minnesotans, so poorly understood by the outside world haha
2) I got asked to be a bridesmaid in my friend Shanelle's wedding!! It will be my first time as a bridesmaid and I couldn't be more excited!
3) If you haven't heard by now, Nashville is flooded like mad and I just saw pics of Tami's neighborhood (the neighborhood I lived in while in Nashville) and I cannot believe how high the water is! The entire neighborhood is filled with water at least 4 feet deep. I feel so bad for Tami and everyone else in Nashville. Not gonna lie, kinda glad I'm not dealing with that right now if I still lived there!

The One about my Favorite Hobby

When you do something BIG, like move, usually it is newsworthy. However, part of the definition of newsworthy is something that is a rare occurrence. So, with that in mind, it should not be news at all that I am moving, again. No joke, I really am moving, but before you go thinking I am too crazy, it's just a move across town!

I lasted 4 LONG MONTHS in Kissimmee, a suburb of Orlando I guess you could call it, the ghetto of Orlando is more like it though. I grew tired of the commute to work really fast. I probably spent about $100 a month in tolls, easily, since there are 2 tolls to and from work. Toll roads are called Tolls because they take a toll on your bank account. It's highway robbery!

Anyhow, the decision to move was not an easy one as my current roommates are as awesome as they get and I felt like moving them would be ditching them, which I did not want to do at all. But with my need-to-buy-a-car deadline approaching fast, I needed to make some changes that would save me money and thus make buying a car more affordable. So by moving closer to work, cutting out the toll roads and my commute by 75%, I will be saving enough to make a huge dent in a monthly car payment.

To top it off, I will be living with my former roommates Becca and Sheena and 2 new roommates Mel and Amber and for that, I am very excited! But wait! It gets better! For the first time in my entire life, I will have a WALK-IN CLOSET!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I am so excited! I looked at it today and screamed like a little girl on Christmas who got a Barbie playhouse. Built in shelves, so much storage...it's amazing what a walk-in closet can do to improve a girl's mood.

Anyways, I've been moving my stuff over all week and will start living there for real April 1st. It's a great apartment complex pretty much 5 miles from work. Life is going to be so much easier being closer, or at least I'm hoping so! With the 40 minutes a day I'm going to save on drive-time, I might actually get my butt to the gym on a semi-regular basis. Let's hope! Anyhow, time to pack up a few more things and get to bed.

Bonus Features:
1) My computer was freaking out on me again, randomly shutting off for unknown reasons (kind of like my car, lol funny but not really, anyhow...) so I wiped it clean and reinstalled the Operating System (yikes!) and am currently working on restoring music, photos and other documents. Pray it works. It's such a headache!

2) I just checked, my music is SAVED!!!! That's just about the best news all day right there. The bad news is that my play counts on iTunes were erased so now I will have to recreate my top 25 most played which was 2 years in the making of some of my all time faves. The good news is my Top 25 most played will no longer make me cringe because of that one summer I listened to a little too much Miley Cyrus. =)

The One about Epcot (and other various changes!)

Today I got 2 pieces of job-related news to wrap my mind around..... Shift bids were this week (that's where everyone in my department re-picks what park they work at and what their days off will be). Being low on the totem pole I don't really get to pick, I'm moreso just told what's left for me to have. Having only ever worked at Magic Kingdom, I clearly hoped that Magic Kingdom is where I would be placed. However, since that is what I wanted I should have known that is not what I would get, because that's just how my life goes you know? lol If you couldn't guess from the title of the blog I got placed at Epcot.

Epcot's Pros:
Closer Parking (at Magic you have to park like on the moon and then take a bus)
Nicer guests (the mood is more relaxed than at Magic and guests are willing to talk more)
Shade (stand under the big ball, avoid the sun, it's that simple)
Wind (their is a wind tunnel created by the big ball, which will come in very handy on a hot summer day)
No interuptions (At magic kingdom, you have 4 parades, numerous marching bands, a flag retreat and goodness knows what else that make talking to guests impossible, Epcot as no such interruptions)

Epcot's Cons:
NO FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't know if you realize this but my job is made 100% better by my co-workers and for the most part, they all work at Magic Kingdom! No Jason, No Ariel, No Jordan, No Tracey, No Andrew, No Sarah, No Angela, the list goes on and on. I will miss you, my friends, come visit me. With my luck, the Epcot ball will come loose and roll me over and squash me like the Disney-slave ant that I am. If that happens, please feel free to play Hanson at my funeral.

Also, another con, the cafeteria is like a million miles away. But that could be a con hidden as a pro because it will motivate me to bring my own beverage to lunch and not buy anything, hence it will save me money. (I always bring my own meal, I just usually buy a beverage because fountain pop IS the best! Aren't you glad you know that completely useless fact about me now!?)

I also cannot explain directions at Epcot if my life depended on it. I am usually really good at getting a visual map in my head of any place I go after walking around it 1 time, but not Epcot. Where is soarin you ask? Head that direction and find the next cast member so they can tell you. That will be my answer. lol The closest smoking section? Heck if I know. I can tell you the location of every single smoking section in the Magic Kingdom, the menus of almost every restaurant (quick service and sit down), the food served at every cart in the Magic Kingdom, the location of every bathroom with detailed directions on how to get there no matter where we are currently standing and pretty much anything else you want to know. Basically, I rock the face off of Magic Kingdom and pride myself on knowing it inside and out. Epcot is a mystery to me. I like to tell myself that I need to figure out Epcot like I have figured out Magic Kingdom so that when I am President of Walt Disney World I know all the parks well haha and then I woke up from my dream...

Today I also found out that I did not get the Research Coordinator position that I applied/interviewed for. I interviewed last week and it went really well, I was pleased with how I did and really went into it with the attitude that interviews are always good practice and I had no expectation of actually getting the position. So I was not surprised to hear that I did not get it. I did, however, get relief coordinator! Essentially, whenever one of the coordinators has a day off or calls in sick, the pull a relief coordinator to fill in! So that is exciting and will bring on some new challenges that I can tackle!

So a lot of changes at work and in life but more about the life changes LATER. I am off to bed, gotta get up early tomorrow and open Epcot, go figure!! Until next time...

Bonus Features:
1) Only my Minnesota friends will get this most likely...today I met one of the co-founders of Cub foods! How insanely random, huh? I just saw this old man walking with a Mall of America hat on so I started chatting with him, turns out he started the biggest Grocery store chain in all of Minnesota!
2) Who watches American Idol? This season kinda blows, not going to lie, but I am all about Casey and Lee. Those 2 are probably the only 2 that I would buy a CD of, maybe Crystal. It's just a world of different from last season when I loved the whole top 10 practically.