Back to the Mundane....

So I guess finals made my life a little hectic this week... (a little is a grave understatement) I guess I learned this semester that you can't slack off for three months and try to learn everything in a week.... the end result is not rewarding or enjoyable to say the least... its so unlike me to procrastinate and not care about grades, but I can't explain a lot of a lot of my behavior lately... for example.... For about the past two weeks I have had ipod dance parties by myself in my room... (depressing? strange? what the?... these are all valid questions) my last dance escapade lasted until 2 am. Don't even ask me how that happened!!!!!! I really think I am going insane. I also can't explain why I've been feeling sympathy lately towards our apartment building's ferrel cat AND when ever anyone says anything I seem to turn it into a thats what she said..... Ahhhhh

But now that Christmas Break is here I am back to the same old same old. No more tests, no work, and hopefully no more late night dance parties!!!! I wonder if my roommates wonder what all the ruckus is in my room?

What's going on here???

I don't know what is wrong with me... for three weeks I've been having quickened heartbeats and for the past two days I haven't been able to breath or take deep breaths. Yesterday I went to the ER, if you know me you know I don't do hospitals, until 24 hours ago I never had to have my blood taken. It wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be so I guess that's a plus. But after being in a germ infested hospital for three hours they said they couldn't find anything wrong with me... yet I still feel horrible like a huge textbook is on my chest preventing me from breathing. Today in my living prophets class I couldn't even make it through the opening hymn I was so out of breath. Every time I watch the news someone new has died from swine flu, while I don't have the flu bug I somehow feel that I am next... :( I am freaking myself out... It may be anxiety attacks but I don't have anything to be anxious about and this anxiety attack is lasting almost a whopping 48 hours!!!! All you doctors who are reading this please diagnose me!

Post Disney Depression

Ugh..... I am so sad all time. I miss my life at Disney so much it is even quite painful to talk about it write now. And it doesn't help that every time I am on face book people ask me when they can see me again and when I am coming back to visit, when I am not going back. :( Utah is toooooo boring.... yes I said it. Everything costs $. No bueno. The only people who will know what I am talking about are the people who did the program too. No matter how much I tell people about Florida no one will ever understand how great it was except those who were there with me. I miss getting into the parks for free! I miss always having new people to hang out with (not a luxury here i might add)! I miss getting to tell people what Mormons are all about and explain our church to them! I miss getting to wear my 1900s plaid skirt! I miss rude guests who have no courtesy! I miss hiding out and goofing around in the stock rooms! I miss getting paid $7.21 an hour! I miss working 54 hrs a week! I miss the humidity! I miss the wonderful Disney cookies? I miss having church at a hotel with the world's largest python slide! If someone reads this and would like to console me it would be much appreciated!!!!! ha ha As it is much needed.

Feral Cats, Overalls, and Whistlers

Why is it that every apartment complex I've lived in has been infested with feral cats? I have always been afraid of cats (this isn't a joke). Ever since i saw my cousin get nearly scratched to death by my grandma's scary cat... things just haven't been the same. These cats like to sleep under the stairwells and in the parking garages of every complex I've lived in and scare the living daylights out of me. Yet what puzzles me the most is who is the girl who leaves out the open cans of cat food by the stairwell to lure the cats even closer! College students barely have enough food to feed themselves let alone wild felines! Ugh... on to my next item of business. This week a very strange thing happened while on BYU campus... I saw two, yes two, grown men wearing overalls in the same day. A rare sight, I felt like a was missing out on something...I still haven't figured it out yet. Now onto my last item... Anyone who knows me knows that I do not do well with people who whistle to themselves in public. Lets just say alot of people (oddly enough it's always guys) find it enjoyable to whistle to themselves as they walk around campus in between classes. This week the one that really caught my attention was the tune of the disney classic The Bare Necessities. Why do these people think that everyone wants to listen to their whistling. You'd think they'd get the idea to stop when everyone walking around them stops to scope out who the noise maker is. The only time whistling should be aloud is during the Andy Griffith's Show theme song, and only when done with heart. Maybe if that were whistled on campus, I'd be ok with it.

So I'm Back...

Hmph... back to the same old same old mundane life of Abby. Needless to say, I want to go back. :( I miss it too much. While I did absolutely dread going into work everyday (ahem 6 days a week, ya that's right) There were too many things to love about it. Like these hilarious things guests would say to me... (these are from actual real encounters... I'm not making this up)

"OH MY GOSH! You look exactly like Jessica Alba, you should take that as a compliment."

"Are you the nurse?" ( What the?)

" Will this fit my 3 yr. old back home?" (how should I know aren't you their mother)

" If that fell on his head it would've been a LAWSUIT!!!" (Said very bitterly and angrily)

" Do you work here?" (I'd honestly get asked this about twice everyday... do you think I'm wearing this 1900's get up for nothing)

"Woman! Woman! Woman! How much this cost?" (This was said by a foreign little boy around the age of eight... yes I was highly offended)

"Where's that green guy...Oh....what's his name... Shreck!?"

I've also been asked where's Bugs Bunny, Ruggrats, Daffy Duck, Teletubies, Clifford, pretty much any Looney Toons or Nickilodian character.

My personal favorite though has to be when anyone would see my name tag, which says Brigham Young University. Many things would happen after this...

Most common response: "Brigham Young Eh?" (As they'd eye me down)

Pretty Common: "Ah, that's a good school, good sports program." or

" There are lots of people here at Disney from Brigham Young." or " your a long ways from home"

Least Common: Only happened once... and is probably one of my most hilarious experiences ever. " Ah, so you're mormon ... so isn't this like your usual get up?" Oh what I wish I could've said to these people.

Other hilarious encounters include...

When a member of the RLDS church stopped me and started giving me a history of his church, uh, a little uncomfortable.

I just finished ringing up a middle aged woman and her elderly mother, handed them their receipt, was putting the money in the till when I looked up to find the middle aged woman dumping out all the merchandise I just put into the bag so the elderly woman could um... how you say... get sick in it. Ha ha all in front of me. To make this night even better not even 5 min. after that someone fell right outside the door and split their head open, I had to go get the help, and about 3 mugs shattered with 15 min of all of this.

Oh and then there's the night that someone decided to poop in our store. Oh yes, not a child (we've had many a child not able to control their bladder) this was a grown middle aged woman. Took a squat during the evening parade... and who had to place and remove caution signs around it... round of applause for me. Oh did I mention that custodial didn't show up for hmm TWENTY MINUTES to clean it up!

Then there are the embarrassing moments such as breaking a guest's mug as you are wrapping it for them, so you have to go get another... that's not too bad though. What about this one... saying to a little kid "hey how ya doin there goofy" only this little boy isn't wearing a goofy hat he's wearing a pluto hat. So to fix my little blunder I awkwardly say "ohh, that's Pluto, not Goofy" followed by one of those awkward laughs that fades out. The boy only stared back. Oh, and then there's the time that a lady came in and was looking for the ariel dress... I was pretty positive, no make that positive, that we did not have it. She kept on saying are you sure, and I told her about 4 times that we don't carry it. Well wouldn't you know five min. later I see her holding an ariel dress across the room! Guess I don't know everything.

O Canada!!!!

So recently I have developed a new found love for Canada. Maybe because the Canada film at Epcot is completely awesome, maybe because I have made some Canadian friends here, or maybe it is because it is gorgeous and I want to visit there like none other! Either way my Canadian friend Ainsley and I spent Canada day at the Canada pavillion at Epcot which meant for an awesome day.

These are the Canadian version of M&Ms only a million times better. The only way to describe them is that their taste is similar to sixlets.

Ainsley on the job at the Canada pavilion! They have the cutest costume... one of the best. On Canada Day the pavilion was throwing a party for it's cast members so Ainsley went back and got some food and brought it out so we could enjoy it together. This is what she came back with... Poutine ( a Canadian favorite which is basically cheese fries with gravy on top), a bag of chips, lemonade, tootsie pops, a mickey ice cream bar, and a free disney Canada pin. This may not excite anyone else but me but compared to what I got on the 4th of July from the emporium, ah hem........ nothing, this seems like the Taj Mahal.

So since I was working at the Emporium on the fourth I somewhat celebrated on the third. I somehow gave my shift away for friday and was able to see the 4th of July firework show that they did for two nights.

I went with Ainsley and here was our spot to watch them, from the polynesian beach. which was the perfect choice. They were so amazing. Fireworks were going off from the magic kingdom, the lake, pretty much everywhere. I tried uploading a video but it wouldn't work. Then afterwards we went to the Grand Floridian and did one of my favorite things, smores! Which reminds me, I watched The Sandlot the other day and forgot how hilarious that movie is. The great Bambino!

Anyways....they were showing the incredibles that night so we watched a little bit but we discovered that we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes so we left! I ended up with about 15 mosquito bites on my feet which made for a week of uncomfortable itching but hey, it was worth it.

Birthday

Yay!!!! Aren't birthdays the greatest!!!! Well.... I think most everyone knows how I feel about birthdays, but at least this one practically perfect in every way! It started out at 12 am with a late run to walmart, which led to these fabulous funfetti cookies above, which if you haven't tried they are pretty much the best cookie ever!!!

Then some wonderful roommates of mine made me a very special breakfast!! French Toast! Complete with warm syrup, bananas, strawberries, and cool whip!!! Everything should be served with cool whip!!!

As with any birthday, the Cheesecake factory was incorperated for lunch!!!! Yummy, my favorite restaurant. Then later Liz and I went to see Illuminations, the firework show at Epcot which surprisingly even though I have been here for 6 and a half months I hadn't seen yet!!! Amazing!! Then we went to see the Proposal. I think I built that movie up way to much in my head because I did not enjoy it that much! But thats how I feel about most every movie I see lately. Then it was time for Birthday Cake and Ice cream!!! This is the before picture.......

And this is the after picture!!!!! Wow food coloring can do some crazy things!!!!

All in all, thanks to everyone who contributed to my birthday day of fun!!!! Thanks guys you are awesome!!!

It's been a long time coming!!!

So I seem to never have time to post on my blog, it is all to time consuming and I can never figure out the layout of my posts, but I made an effort this time because too many exciting things have happened. The family visited at the end of April and beginning of May, which was awesome. They got to experience the craziness of Disney! If they thought they were tired from their trip... Welcome to my everyday schedule and life. On the go 24/7. Then Chelsea and I left on our Disney Cruise!!! We have been so excited to go, and eat yummy food. And we did just that! We ate all and whatever we wanted and when we wanted it!

I have been on one Carnival Cruise previously and now this Disney Cruise. Let me tell you... Disney wins all the way!!! They had three amazing shows and I mean broadway quality no lie. The ship has a movie theater, places to meet all of your favorite Disney Character, adult only areas, 3 pools, 4 different clubs/lounges, tons of fun activities, a movie screen above the swimming pool, and a kid center. It rained for two of the days on our cruise one of them being the day we went to Castaway Cay which was supposed to be our beach day but it was still fun. We watched some movies in the theater, Earth and the first 5 min. of the Hannah Montana movie which we just couldn't handle anymore of! Just let it be known that disney knows how to make a good panini. They had this onion pesto panini which we indulged in every day along with all of our other food. Disney is also introducing two new ships in 2010, so I hopefully will be cruising again! Well as long as I still get my awesome Disney discount.

Check this out!!! It's Pirate Mickey coming across the ship on a zip line to save us from the evil Captain Hook! How awesome is this. They even did fireworks off the ship.

Me and Chelsea in our snorkel best for out Catamaran sail and snorkel while in Nassau! We also made a trip to the straw market, you know what that entails... I now have a new purse! Yippee!

So a lot of the other College Program employees I worked with have gone home because their programs ended, this isn't even half of the ones who left, so they let us go out one night at work after hours to take pictures. I will miss you guys! Don't we look smashing though!!!

Insider!!!! Whoever is reading this blog will get to see something that no other guest at Disney gets to see. You might ask what does she speak of? Just look at it, a PERFECT plush Mickey Wall. I hope that next time you go into any store with your children you will take into consideration to put things back that your child touches. For example if your mischievous child were to come to this Mickey wall and swipe an entire row of Mickey and Minnie onto the floor ( something I have witnessed) you could stop and at least try to help put them back, instead of saying oh someone will clean it up! As mom would say, "it's job security". Ugh! that statement makes me so outraged its even hard for me to talk about right now.

And now for two hilarious stories from work. Guests are very demanding, this we know. They save their money for years and years to come and visit us, so naturally when they come they expect the best and when they don't get it, they get mad!!! So I have dealt with many a mad guest in a bad mood, but these are more funny and frightening instances. So I was stalking plush and an older Indian couple approaches me. They had very thick Indian accents. Here's how the conversation went....

Guests: "Do you have a picture of Niagara Falls?

Me:( thinking in my head did they really just say Niagara Falls) "Niagara Falls?"

Guests: " Yes Niagara Falls. We want a picture of Niagara Falls."

Me: " I'm sorry, we don't have any pictures of Niagara Falls."

Guests: (They give me nothing but a blank stare back, looking at me as if I were an idiot, so i ask again)

Me: "The Niagara Falls in Canada?"

Guests: (In unison) Yes!!!!

Me: No I am sorry we don't have any photos of them.

The guests gave me another blank stare looking at me as if I had no clue of what I was talking about. They must have had no clue where they were in the U.S. I then proceeded to the back room and told this story to just about everyone, who in turn thought it was pretty hilarious.

Story #2

So I was stocking Ladies Clothing one day and I was standing in the middle of the Ladies section sizing the racks when another Indian woman approaches me with a question.

Woman: "Where are your woman's T shirts?"

Me: (Thinking in my head.. Hello lady you are standing in the middle of the ladies section! There are T shirts everywhere around you! But we get asked strange obvious questions all the time so I answer politely) " Well, you are actually in the middle of our Ladies Clothing room where all the Ladies T shirts can be found."

Woman: ( take note she practically screamed these next words at me) "IM FROM BOSTON! I CAN'T WEAR TANG TOPS I NEED A T SHIRT!" ( I am still very confused because the rack I was straightening was a row of T shirts not tang tops, but she obviously had something different in mind)

Me: "Ok, well we do have some collared polo shirts over here." Showing her a nearby shirt.

Woman: She just lifts her hand in the air and walks away mumbling under her breath.

You may ask why was this story even funny? The shear fact that she yelled at me IM FROM BOSTON! as if I am supposed to know what that means almost made me burst into laughter right then on stage. Oh the things people say.

Story #3

I know I said I only had two stories but I just remember a good one. The other day I was on register and I saw a family walk through the store, a very INTERESTING family. They were quite frightening actually. The husband was very tall but only maybe 110 lbs. He wore an oversize white cotton turtle neck( you know what I'm talking about what we wore in the 90s) with the neck pulled up over his nose( for some strange reason who knows why). He had long blonde scraggly hair with an oversize hat, skinny long legs, and it appeared as if he were walking on stilts. I was standing there with my friend and he agreed it was the scariest thing he'd ever seen. The man looked like a mix of Robin Hood in the Disney version when he disguises himself as a bird at the bow and arrow event and the crazy chainsaw man from looney toons How I spent my Summer Vacation. If you know what these two things look like then you know just how scary this man was. So then they send me to baby care later on that night, when I got over there my friend Alison was there too. As she was about to leave she said be careful there was the scariest family in here earlier. No lie 10 seconds later the scary man from before pokes his head in the room and then walks the TV room in Baby Care. Alison whispered that's the family! Then she bolted to save herself, leaving me very frightened and all alone! Don't worry I was fine. I wish I could've taken a picture of them though! Quite the sight to be seen!

All In One Week!!!

Alright, so let's begin with last saturday. Here is a picture of me at the Hoedown!!! That's right, I am practicing cracking the whip! WaPshh! After the hoedown, which had amazing barbeque food, amazing, I had quite an adventure, riding on an airboat and catching alligators was included!!! It was awesome. Here is us on the airboat.

And here is something that was on the airboat with us !!!!

It was all very exciting!!! I have touched a wild alligator, the biggest one we saw was 6 ft, but they say that the biggest ones seen in this area can be 12 ft. Holy Cow. It was amazing! For St. Patrick's Day my roomies and I and some friends made a green breakfast and then headed of to Magic Kingdom all decked out for St. Patricks Day! We were a sight to be seen in green, and also thank you mom for the socks you sent us, they were utilized to their fullest.

Then me and chelsea got to go wake boarding for a day and we also got to try some deep fried southern gator!!! It really was good, but what isn't good that is deep fried. I have never eaten so much fried food in my life as I did at this place, but hey even though it made me sick later, it was worth it to say that I have eaten fried gator and catfish.

And tonight we went to the beach of the Grand Floridian resort and roasted smores, if you bring your own mallows and crackers, it is free fun. Plus they show a movie every night right there on the beach with a campfire for free!!! They were yummy smores, then after the smores when we all smelt like smoke and campfire, we decided hey why not go to the Single Adults Dance they were having that night, I mean who doesn't like a girl who smells like the great outdoors eh? So we danced the night away. Wow, now doesn't that sound like a good week or what? By the way, check out my mallow? I mean it is practically perfect in every way, but hey that is how I roll, why else would my blog's name be merry bobbins, well until next time! As Kip would say Peace Out!!!!!!

I Wish I Never Had To Leave This Magical Place

Ha Ha, I think only Wheatley's will know what song my blog title is from. I love it here in Florida and am having a blast, it is so hard for me to blog because I just don't have the time, that and the fact that I get very frustrated when I try uploading pictures and they don't turn out how I want them. April is coming and that only means three things... Easter, current BYU students will leave and new ones will arrive, and my family is coming to visit!!! I can't wait. I visited the beach for the first time here in Florida two days ago. We went to Cocoa Beach. It was nice and the weather was perfect! Epcot is getting ready for the Flower and Garden festival which will continue into May, in the picture above are some of the gorgeous flowers that are just starting to bloom. Work is still work, and very hard and extremely stressful. The hours are late and long, I usually end up coming home at two in the morning but in the end I think it will all be worth it! Here I am with some of my friends! Ha Ha, how cool is that.

Family don't worry, the itinerary is constantly being updated, I now can tell everyone what attractions are actually worth riding and waiting for at Walt Disney World. I can't wait to see Josh and Savannah experience the rides and shows. I have decided that the shows are the best thing at Disney. Philhar Magic, Fantasmic, Beauty & The Beast, The Lion King, and Finding Nemo are all amazing! And the weather is finally starting to get warm and act like Florida weather. Hooray. Family I can't wait for you to come and experience all of the fun I have been enjoying! See ya soon!

Tinker Bell!!!

So do can see that little fairy in the picture just to the left? Well if you can you are looking at my new roommate Tinker Bell! Or as we call her Chelsea. She is moving into the spare bed in our apartment! I love the new Tinker Bell movie it is so so cute, for those of you who have not watched it yet, it is a good one! Meeting the fairies here at Disney World requires you to wait in a 75 min. line, but not for us. We got special celebrity treatment and were taken straight into Pixie Hollow. It is so cute in there. And Tink, aka Chelsea, did an amazing job as well. It seems to rain here on all of

my days off, but it didn't get me down yesterday. My friend Jenica and I still braved the rain and went to Hollywood Studios, where I discovered they have a really good chicken curry bowl! Yum. Then we spent the rest of the evening warm in our apartment. Jenica has a TV so we watched The Little Mermaid and then Aladdin, two great classics! There are so many fun things to do here, there is so much I still haven't done.

So, here is a picture of me being soaking wet! This wasn't yesterday this is what happened on my way to the outlet malls! It sure does know how to rain here. I can't wait until I have some visitors to share all of this Disney joy with! The Itinerary is still constantly being updated!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!

Everything here in Florida is great! And the weather is finally starting to warm up. Today is my one day off where I thought I was going to have a chance to lay out by the pool and of course, it rained and was cloudy. Oh well, today has also been the longest amount of time I have spent in my apartment during the day, a whole 4 hours! Yeah! Yes it is a major accomplishment. Ever since I arrived everything has been go go go. But that is a good thing. Work is fun and I get to interact with some fun and not so fun guests. I feel though that after this experience in retail, I could work in any store in America!!! I have seen it all. Yesterday a man was shoving trading pins by the hundreds into his bag and left the store before security could get there, that was a sad story. Anyways...

I have still been complilingsome lists and itineraries of the must sees of Disney World. I can now say that so far the Tiki Room, The Country Bears, Stitches Adventure, Buzz Lightyear, and various other rides can be skipped. Also I have been tempted by all of the good food here at Disney! And oh boy is there a lot of it. When you are surrounded 24/7 by tourists who are constantly eating junk food, ice cream, cotton candy, and popcorn, you start to want to eat that 24/7 too!!! I think I have already put on 5 lbs. If not more! Yes those are the glorious Disney Land cookies and they can be found just about everywhere in the park! Are they trying to kill me!!!Ok so to prove my point this might sound a little confusing but, I just wrote that first half of the blog yesterday, now it is Friday morning. Let me show you what I did last night!

Yes I did partake of this huge monster. 8 scoops of ice cream, a whole can of whipped cream, cherries, strawberries, pineapple, caramels and peanut and fudge, snickers, brownies and Oreos, all combined into one huge and massive Sundae called “The Kitchen Sink”!!! Don’t worry we split it between the six of us. It was delicious though. Life here is pretty dang good, I can tell you one thing, it is going to be really boring when I come home and there is nothing to do on the weekends but go to a movie at Jordan Commons or something. Ha ha, the old life! I have made so many new friends here from all over the world, literally! It's awesome I always meet someone new everyday. Well I best be going, the gym calls, especially after what I ate last night!

Updates!!!!

All is well on the Disney home front. I had my first day on the job without a trainer yesterday and I didn't do too bad. By the way, this sweatshirt I am wearing is my pride and joy. It was a children's sweatshirt but I just bought the biggest size. It is so cute, and comes in very handy since the weather here in Florida has been really really cold. Burr!!! Last night I waited 40 min. for a bus home from work in the freezing cold and had to stand the whole 30 min. ride home on the bus! Lets just say I am just like my mother and blow dried myself for a good 1/2 hour when I got to my apartment.

Yes, I finally found Mary Poppins! There is a face character audition this Wednesday and I am debating about going, but I also have to work in the later afternoon so it is still up in the air. I have been to all the parks now and can't decide which one is my favorite. They are all very exciting and completely different. The world showcase, yummy food, and soarin at Epcot, the Safari at Animal Kingdom, Philhar Magic at Magic Kingdom, and Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. There are must sees in every park, so for those of you coming out to visit, be prepared for a Danny Tanner style itinerary of fun!!! I should have everything down pat by then.

By the way, I had the fish and chips at Epcot once again in England and may I say they are the best fish and chips in the world. So, so, so good. You can expect to see that on the itinerary!

Let's Put On A Show!!!!

Ok!!! So I am here in Florida! I am sorry but I haven't had time to breathe let alone post pictures on this blog. In just about five minutes I head off to my first day of training working in the Emporium on Main Street USA, in this costume mind you. I am very excited! It is the busiest and largest store however on any Disney property so it is going to be insane. Wish me luck, and have a magical day!