CP Secret Santa!

I participated in the Spring 2011 CP Secret Santa and I got my Secret Santa gift a few days before Christmas. Whew, that was close. I was gettig sad that I wasn't going to get anything!

 

I was kind of expecting something Disney thrown in, but it's okay. I'm happy that I got this cook book! I didn't realize that it was alcohol related baking (I just recently got into Sparking Wine) but it's okay, the recipes look really really good. I can only imagine how alcohol will enhance the flavors. I'm excited to try this out when I get to Florida!

So thank you to my Secret Santa!

I didn't get a lot for Christmas this year, which is fine. I don't know how I'm going to bring the stuff I already have with me! I did get a Nook case, a MBP case and Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce from my husband though. I was touched he set out to look for the purple satin MBP case that I've been eyeing. I'm convinced he listens more than he acts like. I got a Moogle plushie from my uncle and aunt in law from FFXI. I was so excited when I opened it, I actually squealed lol. I LOVE FFXI! I'm thinking of getting back on when I get to Florida! Even though I probably won't have a lot of time to play.

So it's now NYE and I can't believe how fast time has flown. I tried cleaning some of my room the last few days and it's just so... hopeless. Seriously. I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm going to do, but I do know I'm going to start packing up my clothes today. Good thing it's freezing here, I can pack up my lighter clothes and now worry too much about it. I also have to decide which books to bring with me and to pack up my makeup. My mom also got me a good luck dragon to bring with me. I absolutely love dragons and I love that my mom always gets me jade and ivory dragons. I wish I could bring them all with me, but some of them are way too big and I'm scared they'll break! The one she gave me to bring is tiny so hopefully I can bring it on the plane.

I also finally got my Earplanes! Now my nightmares can stop! Whew. 

I'm still nervous about leaving, but I'm excited to be at Disney already and in a whole different state!

Happy New Years everyone!

☃ Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday! 

I'm hoping to pop open this Cupcake wine later tonight!

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14 days left?! WHAT?! Where did the time go!?!??!

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It's the most wonderful time.... of the year!!!

Or well, it's suppose to be!

December for the last two years have been hectic. This time last year I was running around and planning finishing touches for my wedding and this year I'm running around trying to get things done for this move. Next year I plan to enjoy the holidays and put everything on hold! Well besides you know, work and school and you know, mandatory stuff like that.

I haven't started packing yet. I know. Dammit. When will I get around to it?!

I did vacuum my room though, whoo! I always dread it and it's never as bad as I think it is. Weird, right? Now I'm stalling on washing my bed sheets. I hate washing my bed sheets. Grrr.

On to happier things... I've bought almost all my Christmas gifts.

• Mom
• Dad
• Husband's mom
• Husband's dad
• Sister in law
• Sister in law (younger)
• Brother in law
• Brother in law
• Brother in law
• Friend (missing one thing)
• Friend
• Classmate
• Classmate
• Husband
• Ex boyfriend (missing one thing)
• Cousin

My husband has a big family. But thankfully the only person I really have to worry about is my sister in law (not the younger one) and his mom. Mostly. My ex gets a gift cause we're still really really close friends and he owes me Monsters Inc from like, 3 freakin years ago. So we made a deal. This year he sends me Monsters Inc and I'll send him socks (hey he asked for socks)! He's in the military so he's a few states away. Now I just have to worry about my two classmates, my friend and my cousin. Which I will all cover on Monday. Husband has to get the second gift for his parents, which again, will be covered on Monday. He also finally ordered my gift last night. Hopefully it does get here on Tuesday. Man, I had to decide between a book or  a Chocobo reading a book. Damn him for making me choose lol. I was thinking of getting him a second gift, but what do you get someone who has everything?! I'm sure he had the same problem with me but there's a ton of stuff I want and him, not so much. OOH. I just came up with an idea!!! Whoot! I hope he'll like it!

I sent out both my Secret Santa gifts last week. I don't know if I received any since they were sent to my mother in law's (my parents get mad when I get too many packages, they assume I bought things. My MIL however, doesn't really care. She just stacks them up and hands them to me lol). I'm a little worried because I haven't heard anything from my CP Secret Santa :\. 

I still have a bunch of cleaning and organizing to do. Trying not to pile up too much on my plate everyday or I'll get a stress headache and that isn't very fun.

35 Days left...

It's now December and I have less than 60 days left. Still haven't packed. I guess I don't really want to because I don't really want to admit I'm leaving home. Sounds silly right? I have this amazing chance to live my dream job and I'm here, homesick. I'm a little envious of my husband at the moment. He's beyond excited, he's not homesick... but then again this time last year he was coming home from Basic Training and I guess anything is better than Basic Training...

I made a list of things I'm going to have to buy and pack. Well the packing list was a rough outline, I'm going to have to think about it a little more, I have a habit of over packing and when you're flying, that probably is not the best idea. From what I hear there isn't a Target nearby so I'm gonna have to stock up on my Target only holy grail products and bring those with me. You never realize how much useless crap you have until you have to move. Isn't that weird? 

I can't believe how close we are to Christmas! I mailed off one of my two Secret Santa packages yesterday (in some in the middle of NOWHERE post office. Seriously, the mailing office was the smallest I've ever seen and there was only one employee!) and I'm going to mail the second one before class next week. I finally found mini Lotso bears at the Disney Store! Thaaaank goodness! The one I bought my Secret Santa didn't smell like strawberries. So my husband was on the search for one that smells like strawberry. He's cute when he's determined over something that isn't his problem! And since Disney Store right now has buy one get one free plushies, I got a mini strawberry Lotso for myself. I didn't like his character, but man he smells good! I wanted a medium The Clawwww alien plushie but husband decided it would be better if I waited til we get to Florida and that I'm cuddling with Cheshire on the plane. Period. Hmph, fine.

I've been having plane nightmares. See, normal people have nightmares that the plane is going to crash. I get nightmares that I'll forget my Earplane ear plugs. Yes, it's true. That's my worst flying fear. I get insane pain in my ears when the plane lands. Like OMG-MY-EARS-ARE-BLEEDING pain. I think it has to do with a damage tissue in my nostril that I never got fixed... well, I'm paying for it now! My mom tried giving me regular ear plugs and they worked, it's just hard to tell how to get them in your ears. So I looked it up last year, before I had to go fly to Texas for my husband's Basic Training graduation. See, flying with my husband is fine, he knows I get these pains and he usually squeezes the crap out of my ears and lets me dig my nails into his arm. But I was going to fly with my sister in law who has no idea. And I discovered Earplane which is an ear plug designed especially for my reason. Tried it out on the way to Vegas, worked great! I also read the Suddefed is suppose to help too, to help clear up any nasal problems. I'll try that too (wish I had earlier to see if it works).

So other than all that, trying to figure out how to pack everything comfortably and how to pack things away in my room are a priority. On the upside, two more weeks of classes and I'm free! So I'll have more time to focus on packing and getting my paperwork together.

We're almost there guys!

It's FREEZiNG!

It's 55 degree's today in the Bay Area and it has been gloomy and wet out. I've been bundled up on my bed all day, it's freezing! I love winter, I do. I love the holidays and all that great stuff but today I'm just not feeling this cold weather. I had plans weather! Plans to clean and start lightweight packing! As much as I love winter, the thing I hate the most is how it looks like it's 8PM at 5PM! I always assume that once it gets dark, the day is done(ish). Ah my hands and fingers are cold!

Someone mentioned that Florida was 20 degrees last January. If I'm freaking out and sporing up over 55 degrees... what does 20 degree's feel like?! Oh no!

I'm going to pack all my fleece and flannel blankets! I'm not taking any chances!

Also, I've been looking through some Disney food blogs and it's making me so much more excited to be at DisneyWorld already! But it also makes me sad that I won't get to celebrate Christmas in Disneyland or in Vegas like I had planned earlier this year (husband doesn't want to spend our first wedding anniversary in Vegas this year because he would rather us save the money for DisneyWorld *sigh). That's pretty depressing. I am excited that it's almost DisneyWorld time though!!

Now let's hope that I actually do get some sort of packing done before we go and that I survive the plane ride there! I need to figure out a way to lessen the pressure ear pain since the flight will be long enough that I might fall asleep...

Booked and booked!

I finally booked my flight and hotel yesterday. Ahh! This makes it feel so much more real! I can't believe I'm going to DisneyWorld!! I'll be arriving a few days early since I get horrible ear pains when planes land and considering that my flight will be over my usual 2 hours, I can only imagine how painful that will be. But! I will be testing a theory my husband has and not chew gum. He thinks that's the reason why my ears pop so painfully. We'll see (wish me luck)!

I know I've been super lacking with the entries here, but I haven't had much to say since school has been kicking my butt (I finally passed Psych!) and I haven't had much time to clean and start packing yet. Which I really, really, really should get a move on! I have so much stuff. Just, everywhere! I have a ton of books (I'm a book blogger) laying around that I know I won't be able to bring with me... which worries me. So yes, I've been making a note of things to clean, toss, donate and bring with me. Now to just actually do it. The good news is that I only have weeks left of school and I'm officially on break! So I'm hoping to get a ton more done in December (which is way too close to leaving date but hey, what can you do).

Ahhhh! I'm so excited!! Now if only I can stop getting home sick at night!

80 Days Left...

According to my countdown badge, I have 80 days left until I'm boarding a plane to Florida. I can't believe we're in the double digits already. And 80 days doesn't sound that long at all. Maybe it's because I haven't started packing, at all! It's a little hard with the little time I have these days. I am working on cleaning out the book shelves still, separating the books I'm going to sell, donate and keep. I haven't even begun on my room yet. It just looks so hopeless! My room is a mess and I have ton of things! 

I'm really excited but I'm really nervous. I haven't been getting homesick lately (which is good), but I have been soaking up as much of the bay as I can. It's true, I can't stand this place (most of the time) but I am going to miss Concord, Walnut Creek and Stoneridge Mall trips. I'm also going to miss San Jose and I guess I'll miss San Francisco lol. I'll miss being between SF and Sac.

I'm a little sad I won't be able to stop by Las Vegas before leaving (I wanted to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary there, since we got married there... but that was before we thought of applying. Now that we're moving, husband thinks it's best to save the money for the move). I wanted to see my cousin before we left and get Serendipity and my beloved Brisket Baked Potato from BarBQ! *sigh.

It's warm today. It was pretty cold yesterday and it was raining and freezing on Sunday. Weird weird weather. Bring back the cold! Grrrr.

Most memorable experience with a cast member?

Disneyland recently asked all it's fans "What's the most memorable experience you've had with a cast member?"

I actually have two.

Last year (in 2009) I finally figured out where Goofy's Kitchen was so we headed over there during their dinner to ask about prices. I set my reservation for the next morning for breakfast and you know how before you walk in, there's a character you can take a picture with? Well Minnie was there that night and I went ahead and took a picture with her. She pointed to my ears, I had the pink Minnie princess ears in celebration for my birthday. After we took the picture, I walked off. But she pulled me back, gave me a hug and a big kiss on the cheek. My husband (boyfriend at the time) snapped the picture right when she did too! I was totally taken by surprise!

Another time was when we were there for Grad Night in 2004 and I was hunting down Beauty and the Beast DVD. I walked into the store "The Vault" at Downtown Disney and asked an employee about it, he said they didn't sell DVD's, just clothes. I gave him a funny look and he replied with "Yeah.... I know... 'The Vault'. I think it's a bit misleading too." And he had this look on his face that made me bust out laughing haha!

What are some of your memorable experiences?

Shopping!

I saw a thread on the Facebook fan page about places to shop in Florida. I didn't put much thought into it since I'm excited to just be at Disney World. But curiosity got the best of me and I Yelp'ed the places people mentioned. And OHMYGOSH! The Prime Outlets? GORGOUES! The malls are pretty too and one has a Panera Bread inside the mall. Seriously, I was freaking out for hours going over the list of stores and just staring lol. Not to mention both outlets have a CCO (Cosmetics Company Outlet - an outlet owned by Estee Lauder which owns MAC so there's a bunch of discontinued discounted MAC stuff there. My favorite outlet store)!

I know not a lot of shopping will be done, but I absolutely love shopping and I love visiting new malls. I have no idea why, it's just a silly hobby of mine. I get it from my mama actually haha. 

I was getting home sick last night (I always get "home sick" at night) and my husband was trying to get me to cheer up and he's the sweetest thing ever. He was like saying all sorts of sweet things and giving me lots of hugs. He's amazing :).

I was also looking up plane tickets. Orignally I had wanted to take Virgin Airlines since I haven't taken them yet and my friends always talk about how awesome their experience was but they only have one nonstop flight to Orlando and it's nine hours long (not to mention almost $300 a ticket). While SouthWest (I hate taking SouthWest, it's always so cramped) has one stop and we'll get there in five hours (and the tickets are only $170). I don't know what to do. Florida is going to be a very long flight. I'm hoping that Virigin opens up more flights for that day when it gets closer but that's probably just wishful thinking :(.

Vlog (1) - Accepted! Oh and hello there!

My video editing skills suck. Working on it!







Yay for making videos as soon as you wake up!

This... heat!!

O.M.G!!! It's been so hot here the last two days, this is insane. The window is open, the fan is blasting and still the room is stuffy and hot! I had a really bad headache yesterday, which is still lingering around today but feeling much better. I think it's a dehydration headache... I'm horrible when it comes to drinking water (just this year I started drinking water, I don't know, I just... hate it lol) but I chugged down a bunch yesterday and I'm feeling much better today!

This worries me, I don't do well in heat, which is why Autumn and Winter are my favorite seasons but isn't Florida always hot? Ughh. My husband keeps warning me about the humidity, as much as I hate heat, I'm sure I'll survive, I've been to the Philippines twice and trust me, nothing is more hot and humid than the Philippines... even when there's a thunderstorm everyone still has the windows open and the fans on from how hot and humid it is! Which brings me to a memory of a huge cockroach flying in through the window, clinging to the wall and flying back out. I mean, it was huge. Oh! I hear Florida has lizards indoors too! Just like the Philippines (I found a pair of eggs once and my cousin squashed them *sad face*)! I love seeing the little lizards crawling around. I'd prefer lizards in my house over spiders any day!

I'm still keeping the whole Disney World / Florida thing a secret from most of my friends, just because... I like keeping secrets! Well that and other reasons. I'm so excited! I started making a shopping list yesterday, I feel like I'm forgetting things... you know what sucks? I was hoping to go to Vegas for our one year marriage anniversary this year but I thought about how that $800 for a 4 day trip could really help when we move out to Florida instead... but of course, a part of me still wants to go to Vegas... for my Brisket Potato, Serendipity and of course to see my cousin! *sigh, we shall see.

I made a vlog today, which I'll be posting up after this. I just woke up when I made it, so excuse my... just woken up look lol!

Gosh this heat! >_<

Uhm... now what?

Well I mean besides waiting, of course!

I paid my entrance fee yesterday and finally picked my arrival date. I'm planning on going a few days early since I'm flying and since it's far from home I don't want to be stuck with delays and end up not being able to check in (that would really really suck). I have no idea how I'm going to work this out since I don't have a car and I have no idea where Vista Way is... I guess I'm just gonna have to taxi it or something. I don't even know what I'm packing. One minute my husband says we'll bring a box full of things we need, the next he says he never said that. Uhm...?? Men! They'd explode if they had to plan a trip!

I'm freaking out about the SS thing. I have no idea where mine went. Last I saw it was when I was signing my marriage license last year, then *poof* gone. I know I should probably look for it, it couldn't had gone far... but a part of me wants to request a new one while I still have time in case I don't find it. I hate having do all this personal documents stuff, I mean, I get why but it's always such a hassle for me for some reason. Argh!

I'm still trying to figure out what this marriage housing stuff is and how I'm going to work everything out. Also made a small list of things I'm bringing with me. Kinda. Well, yeah, kinda. I wonder how I'll get the groceries from the grocery store to the apartment without a car. I hope it's not like, extremely annoying. I'd bring my car but it won't survive that far lol. Plus my parents would freak out if I did.

Ah, nothing better to do at 1:25AM than freak out over something that's 4 months from now. I should probably sleep or read. I've been edgy since I woke up from my nap yesterday for some reason. Hmph.

I don't think it's sunk in yet.

I don't think it's sunk in that I'm going to Disney World just yet. I get random bursts of OMG I'm going! But I don't think it's fully sunk in yet. I am excited! I haven't paid my entrance fee yet but I will as soon as I can get to the bank. I'm debating on taking classes, but I'm not sure which ones yet. 

Totally off subject but I'm watching Witches from the 90's. This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, which is kind of ironic now that I think about it. It's funny whatching movies when you were a kid and watching them now, they're hardly what you remember!

Would it be too early to start packing now? :) I don't want to pack too much, but I don't want to pack too little either. I'm deciding over what books and clothes to bring and if I should bring anything else with me. 

Ahhh! Now I'm all excited I can't think and I want to start packing now! lol

So things I'm going to buy prior to the trip:

• A Flip Cam (cause I don't own a camcorder, sadly)
• A better Digi Cam (I plan on blogging about my experience as much as I can with pictures)
• A router (this was highly suggested and I like my internet fast)
• Slippers (nice cozy fuzzy home ones)
• Flip Flops (cause I know my husband is going to drag me to the pool every chance he gets)

I had a few other things that have slipped my mind. I'm not sure if they provide us with towels and stuff like that... I know they don't provide us with bedding so maybe the same goes for towels? This sounds so silly to worry about, but it's essential!

I'm going to try to bring as much as I can with me on the way there, that way I won't have to worry about it when I get there. Even though flying with too much luggage is such a hassle for me. In fact flying with a purse and a carry on alone is too much for me. Ah.

I GOT ACCEPTED!!!

I woke up this morning to my husband's phone ringing, but of course he was too asleep to answer it. So I went back to sleep, woke up again and checked my email.

I saw an email from Disney with the subject "Your Invitation" and I screamed! My husband was still sleeping and I was jumping on him screaming "OMG I GOT IN!" He flipped over, said congrats, gave me a kiss and went back to sleep lol! He checked his phone to see if he got an email too, but he didn't, so he wasn't as excited. Even though I know he checked his phone, I logged into his email anyway. I didn't see anything in the inbox but he had a Spam message (and I have this thing where I have to clear out my Spam mail), so I checked it and it was an email from Disney with the subject "Your Invitation". I started jumping up and down and screaming again saying "OMG YOU GOT ACCEPTED!" He got up and was like "that's not funny" even though the cursor was hovering over the message.

Then he woke up and got excited with me haha!

He called his mom who he told when we applied but I didn't tell my parents yet because I didn't know how they would react. My mom doesn't understand that this is my dream and my dad thinks that anything over 10 minutes from home is "too far". But I called her anyway and told her and with her, as long as my husband's going she doesn't mind too much. But she liked the idea, so yay! 

OMG I'm so excited!! I also got my first choice: Merchandising! My husband got his third choice: Attractions. If you pay attention to the questions they ask you in your interview, you can kinda tell where they're leaning towards putting you. I actually thought I was going to get Food Service because she asked me a lot of hostess questions, but since I have the most experience in cash handling, she skipped those questions. But yay on getting my first choice! Ahhhh I'm so excited!

Now that fun part, the planning!

Harsh, but true.

I told my previous supervisor (when I was working at Six Flags a few years back) that I did it, I gave in and applied for Disney and she was a bit harsh with the things that she told me, especially about my job performance from a few years back... but that's what you expect from here, the honest truth about what she saw in you as her employee. I do apperciate the advice she's giving me as far as what Disney expects and it's something I assumed, I know I can't slack off or not be my best when I'm at Disney. But I also have grown a lot since then and I am ready to take this job seriously.

While I'm still on the topic, I see a lot of people talk about how they come home late. Honestly, getting off work at 2AM is early compared to what it's like at Six Flags, my department wouldn't get off work until 6AM on busy days and we'd get in at 2 or 4PM. I mean, we all loved the double time, but I think -- well, no, after awhile you don't miss sleep as much. In fact those two years there screwed up my sleeping patteren. I was never sleepy, ever. I was never tired, because I was so use to being up and moving around and working all night. Getting off at 2AM at Six Flags meant that there was still time to go to a Bon Fire!

But I guess that's just the life of working at a theme park. Is a hard and tiring one, but it's also fun and rewarding!

Worry worms!

I've been clicking my way around the Disney College Program forums, blogs, vlogs and FB page. Seeing all the people get accepted is always so exciting and the pictures they take with their purple folders! I'm sure I'll be screaming my head off if I get my purple folder!

There's just a small smidge of a problem...

Both me and my husband applied for the program and while everyone is waiting for one acceptance letter, we're waiting for two. If he doesn't get in, he wants me to go on without him since this is my dream but I couldn't go without him! I know he'll probably somehow get me to board that plane, fly across the country by myself and like it but I couldn't imagine going and not sharing the experience with him! I know he'd want to be there probably half as much as I would want to be there... but still!

Silly right? 

As excited as I am to be accepted, I know the excitement would be short lived if he didn't get accepted too. Maybe I'm worrying about nothing, maybe they'll love us both and accept us both. But in the event that they don't... 

I can't help but worry :(

Interview, done!

I just got done with my phone interview....

I think it went well! The lady who interviewed me was really nice and really easy to talk to. She asked me why I wanted to apply for the Disney College Program, we went over my previous work experience, went over the roles I picked, she asked me which one was my first choice and gave me a few scenerio questions. After that, she talked a little bit about housing and asked if I had any questions for her, which I did and she sounded excited that I had questions for her. I think that took up most of the interview time. She concluded that she had fun interviewing me (which is always a good sign, right?) and said our goodbyes.

Now, the waiting game. It takes 4-6 weeks to recieve any word from them.

I feel a little better, knowing I got through the interview and it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (I didn't even need to prep)!

I just hope I get in! I'm so excited!

Phone interview!

I just set my phone interview for CP, I always get the same response when I'm setting something for Disney, "I don't hear that name too often these days!" and it always surprises me (if you're wondering, Marie isn't my first name. Well, it is, but it's the second part of my first name). Like is my name that old and extinct?! OMG, is my name extinct? Crazy thought. 

I tried setting my interview for as soon as I could -- tomorrow. But it was all booked up, so I have to wait until Wednesday, *sigh. I got in the afternoon so I could lock myself in another room away from my husband and prep and wait for the call, I might be over doing it, but I want this to go perfect as I'm sure most of us do!

So I will be spending most of tomorrow prepping (I guess it's good that tomorrow was booked since I have class really late tonight and I wouldn't really have any time to prep) and finding more things to post on this blog. I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time. Ahhhh!

I also emailed them asking if my husband would be able to stay with me if he was or wasn't in the program as well since he applied too. If he is, then we can apply for marriage housing (which sounds awesome) and if he's not but I am or I'm not but he is, then we're on our own with finding a place to stay and a way to get to work. Considering we live clear across the country as well, we won't be bringing a car.

I just hope everything works out!

Ahhh! Applied!

Working for Disney has been my dream my whole life. I'm a big Disney nerd, so much that everyone I meet knows that I am. I just love fairy tales, I love how everything about Disney is all about following your dreams and I love the history of Disney itself. 

I was previously in a culinary program and was set to see a presentation for working at Disney but I wasn't aware it was the college program! I wasn't able to attend the presentation because my career with that culinary program was cut short.

I discovered the college program a year or two ago searching up facts about Disney (which I sometimes do from time to time). It was always in the back of my mind, I don't know why I never really thought about applying... I think I was under impression that you needed a certain amount of credits or something! 

I was searching Disney songs a week ago, excited because Beauty and the Beast was finally being released (I waited 7 years for this)! And I found some tour videos of the college program apartments and vlogs. And so I started thinking about really applying. I looked over the site and I watched the e-presentation (I was planning on seeing a live one at a college campus in November but I just couldn't wait). 

I let it sit in annnnd... I gave in and applied last night!

They informed me saying that I have been identified as a strong candidate! How exciting!

Now all I have to do is call tomorrow morning to set up my phone interview. I'm nervous and I really hope I get this chance of a lifetime. I've never been to DisneyWorld and if I could work for Disney, my life would be complete!

I'm so excited :)