Snow in the south

ok now that I'm taking a break from school, and training for my new job, I had a second to get caught up with the world and come to find out a couple things. It snowed in the South ok I get that. just for the record I'm from Chicago up North.

All jokes aside about how the south is wimps for not handling 4 inches of snow, lets take a second to acknowledge some facts. people have died from this short lived "snow fall" where States in the south have been paralyzed from this event. Where some drivers have been reportedly stuck on the roads for more than 24 hours due to being un prepared where it was believed for the most part they didn't need to be prepared for this where States such as Alabama, where the past 30 January's, the past 30 years has not snowed 21 one of those times and out of those years effected it only reached over 1 inch, 4 of those times. where than lack of budget invested in snow plows and salt resulted in inexperienced drivers with ice, sleet, and snow and TONS of accidents on side roads, highways, throughways, and freeways resulted in a halt across the south, but silver lining to this whole ordeal, this optimism or light at the end of the tunnel is how stores reopened themselves where they could to provide warmth and shelter for those stuck out in accidents and traffic jams, and those who worked the longer hours at the hospitals with many reported injuries and deaths.

Think twice before you say something online people of the north, because I for one have tons of loved ones who live down there and I care about them a lot.

have a great day everyone and stay safe ^_^

White Chocolate

I have a tendency to become comfortable in certain environments (mainly work) where your content with something your familiar with and I feel like a lot of people are like that. We become passive and desire less when we reach a certain goal, in which case for me is a job.

I've been going through the phases of waking up, going to work, serving and selling myself short because.....why?

It's convenient, its close, I'm still happy with the money, I enjoy the people I work with -for the most part ;) -

But with the New Year here, its time for change. I'm one class away from receiving my Associates in Science and meeting the transfer guidelines to Illinois State Universities Marketing program!!! So with new opportunities around the corner I decided its time to move forward, get ready for the next chapter of my life and save.my.money. for school, for my future plans, and for me.

Without further a due, say hello to White Chocolates newest member of the serving team :D

Holding two jobs (not including my 3rd one at Disney) will be challenging on top of going to school part time to get that degree, but I'm motivated.... and I'm happy.

That's all that matters :) 

Happy Saturday everyone!

Frozen Tour Guide

After making the journey back in one take or roughly 17 hours, I found that my butt was numb from sitting for so long, and it was extremely cold, but I was happy. I was happy to be home safe and ready to start getting on track with everything I want to accomplish this year!

So After cleaning out my room and finding old letters from Mom, flight tickets to when I traveled to Spain and Paris, and even the practice questions to prepare for my interview for the Disney College Program, I went on a Photo Adventure.

Not just any adventure, but one with some recent graduates of the Disney College Program :3
Playing tour guide with my peeps from Australia, New Zealand, and the UK we went and got Chicago style Hot Dogs from Gene and Judes, Italian Beefs at Johnnies and finally a Chocolate Cake Shake at Portillos only to freeze off the calories over the Chicago skyline at North avenue Beach :)

Here's a few from the last couple days!

 

 

Pessimist vs Optimist

After living here for almost a month it's almost time for me to leave... not for good, but to continue my second life back home where School is becoming a dream to go back to and finish while serving tables and spending time with my family at home.

My time here over the last month showed me people who are very open and closed minded to life. where almost 8 months has gone by and nothing has changed, in yet so much has changed. Some people are naturally optimistic and others are sometimes by choice. On the flip side some people are naturally pessimistic and others by choice.

I could've been a "debby downer" and talked about how I was upset that I got sick for one week out of the month I was here and didn't work. How I didn't get the shifts I wanted through out my time here, how I hate being seasonal with the rolling calendar guidelines I have to deal with. How some of my friendships have dwindled down to barely a hello when I see them at work after being a lot closer months ago. How drama consumes all of entertainment from the "he said, she said" to the misleading double standards depending on the MOD or the park I'm working at for the day. How I have to leave in a couple days to go back to school and drive 1100 miles And lets not talk about the air mattress I have to sleep on.

But instead I choose to be optimistic, I choose to look for the good in a situation, in a person, in life. So instead I choose to think about all the adventures I went on with my new friends and old friends, How I got to work at Walt Disney World again with my favorite Characters both old and new. How I got to work my first Disney race with the half marathon and didn't care about working from 1:45am to 11 in the morning. How goofy received his first gift at the circus from a little girl that was in fact a Goofini penny (SO COOL). How I received 3 fanatic cards in the last two days from both families in the parks and fellow cast members I had the privilege to work with. How I was fortunate enough to partake in one of the last Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade down Main Street. How I have a bed to rest on every night because of awesome friends willing to take me in. How I get to travel with my amazing car (not the lambo but my little hyundai for clarification) back north and go on another adventure. How I'm finishing school by choice and pursuing a foggy dream that isn't clear yet, but ultimately has a pinnacle.

To be happy, because that's what life's all about, being happy! 

Don't let the negative people and thoughts consume your life because

"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it"- J.M. Barrie -

Challenge yourself to do more. 

Have a great day everyone  and here's some photos from the last couple days :) 

New Years Resolution: Learn

For over a week now I've been having troubles with my laptop, from the speed it was working, to the work flow I had with uploading and editing photos. It wasn't practical, it wasn't convenient, and it was taking up too much of my time. So I gave in, I assumed my computer was about to crash after owning it for over four years now since it barely had any room on the hard drive even after moving all of my images and music to an external hard drive.

So as a last effort to diagnose the problem I surrendered it to the apple genius' and within 45 minutes we solved the problem only to find out it had something to do with the way I edited my photos. Shocked, relieved and excited I realized that it was something I could have easily found myself, but I failed to make an effort to learn about it prior to the visit, but this can translate to more in my life outside of computers and photos.

A new years resolution can be very specific, or very broad, it can be more realistic than other ideas, but ultimately something you personally think you can achieve and with the recent episode of events that occurred in my life I finally came up with a realistic goal that I overlook everyday.

Learn. 

When people learn they automatically assume it has to do with school and studying or work and learning something new, but let it go beyond that. Learn how to make your moms favorite dinner, your dads favorite BBQ, learn how to drive stick shift (guilty), learn how to invest money in stocks,  learn something and hold on to it because you never know when you'll need it. 

Learning is what life's all about, and when you take advantage of it you can save yourself a few headaches.... my computer being a primary example. 

So with that being said in the light of Learning. This week I learned that even going into the new year, the world is still a tiny place and stumbling on old friends from previous CP's is possible, bringing in the new year with old friends and new friends is a one of a kind night filled with dancing. Watching friends perform a show as passionately as mine is amazing and enlightening. 

Lastly saying Goodbye See ya later to old friends and shows that no longer welcome you on a regular basis no matter how many wonderful memories it brings represents the beauty of life. 

Because life itself is a drama. Without the sad parts of life we can't fully appreciate the good because we assume the good will always be there. The balance of life with its ups and downs is what makes life worth venturing into because you never know where the next adventure will take you. 

Here's a few photos from the last week of my life from new years and the festival of the lion king to saying farewell to one of my close Australian friends along side of the last Celebrate a dream come true parade. 

Cheers to a new year, and new possibilities :)