"I want a love like that."

Where in the world do I begin with this blog.  I just got back from a wonderful dinner at Bahama Breeze with some of the girls, and we have been laughing ever since we got home.  They really make this amazing even when I'm down at my lowest.  I've had the flu the last couple of days, which set me back because I ended up calling in sick.  I caught it from my poor roommate Trish who has had it over a week now.  Lots of my coworkers have been sick as well.  Hopefully this 48 hour flu is all for me!

There was a magic moment today that inspired me to blog again.  I was at work at Jambo House, and like any other Wednesday it was pretty slow with a good mix of people.  The kid next to me started to check a lady in, and the managers started shuffling around.  My leader told me to stop what I was doing and go to that guest, because they were going to be our "family of the day".  I was excited and we all clapped, and I asked my leader what the reason was, or if it was just a random family.  He said this woman had called in a while back, requesting to have a Savanna View room because they had just booked for a value standard room.  After talking a bit, the Cast Member found out that this family's house had just burnt down, and they were going on a vacation to get away from the stress of it.  This captured my heart, but then my managers stepped to the other side of the desk, and as the woman's family arrived to the desk, my manager gave them comp tickets, gift cards, and announced that we were upgrading them to the vice presidential suite.  The woman broke down in tears and her husband just held her; it was so incredible.  The vice presidential suite can run up to $3,000 per night.  When they arrived to the room they cried again and they kids even said how shocked they were; it truly was a magic moment.  I got tears in my eyes as they walked away, seeing how genuinely thankful and happy they were.  That family will never ever forget that moment.  I'm so thankful to have even witnessed this, because it gave me such a feeling of pride to work for a company that can give you that feeling.  Words seriously cannot even describe it.

Work has been draining me lately, with the inconsistent shifts and the overnights; my body never knows when to sleep or eat, I'm just completely thrown off.  However, next week I have 3 days of normal (ish) shifts, and then on Wednesday Mike gets here!!!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (HUGE understatement)

God is also really hard at work down here.  The other day when I was out and about with my roomie Jess, we just happened to run into a friend from college who was down checking out an internship with Cru.  He introduced me to a Cru leader he was with, and told me about their Facebook page.  Jess and I came home and checked it out, and also found a church we are interested in visiting :) So many doors are being opened and I can't wait to take some steps of faith here.  I just hope I can stay grounded and not spread myself too thin with everything else that I have on my plate. 

I'm just overwhelmed with a feeling of gratefulness and feel God's love everywhere.  If anything I know I am continuing to be humbled everyday. So thankful.  I'm tired. All for now.

Life Lessons from Disney.

Ariel overcame Ursula with perseverance, honesty, and hard work.  Belle saw that beauty is more than skin deep.  Simba learned you must take responsibility for your actions.  For years we have all relied on Disney to entertain us, along with those underlying life lessons within each movie, character, etc.  

Lesson 1: Being in the real world is hard.  Working for Disney for almost a month has completely transformed my outlook on many areas of my life.  For example, I have a growing respect for people who work full-time.  I realize this may sound silly, but it's completely true.  I'm already missing how lazy you can get away with being in college!  You can't just skip work because your alarm didn't go off or because you don't feel like it.  You can't rely on other people to do well at your job.  You can't make your own schedule.  

Lesson 2: Your job better be something you LOVE.  Disney employs 60,000 people just here in Orlando.  There are so many different types of jobs here!  You can be anything from a "friend of a character", to dancing on the castle stage, serving food, managing a hotel...oh dear I could go on for a while.  I have found an even stronger love for what I've been studying the past 3 years after just a month in the field.  There is so much more to learn and understand!  You really have to love what you're doing to have the motivation to come do it for 40+ hours a week.  It's no small feat to make it to work everyday; let alone with a smile on your face while exceeding the guest's expectations. 

Lesson 3: Balance.  This is possibly the most important lesson I've learned so far.  Balance is something you practice your entire life with homework, extra curriculars, part-time jobs, etc.  There is a completely new type of balance required once you hit the "real world".  Your time is consumed by your job, and when you're not working you just want to rest.  There has to be a balance of work, rest, and fun.  Just work and rest will drain you of any motivation to do much of anything.  This is when my roommates come in to play :)  On our days off we make a point to go to a park for even one or two rides, or go see one of the firework shows, or have a game night.  Even though I'm working hard during the majority of the day in the leisure field, doesn't mean that should count for my leisure time. 

I'm sure there will be many more of these, but for the mean time, I am thankful that God is challenging me and humbling me in this place. I'm loving finding out what motivates me.  I can't believe its already February-but definitely looking forward to the months yet to come.  

                                               Finally got to meet my boss & his lady :)

                                                                       my loves.