Trainer and Update

So it's been officially announced that I am a trainer! As soon as the Epcot trainer of trainers lady comes back from her honeymoon, I will take my Train the Trainer class and get my trainer pin. They said that it may take a while for it all to get started because I might not be able to shadow a trainer for complete training for a while because most of the people getting trained at Epcot right now are cross-utilization cast members(cast members trained for a different parking lot, such as Ticket and Transportation Center[TTC] parking, who are being trained in our lot to help out with the Food and Wine Festival or other events we have at Epcot). The cross-utilization training is only about 5 hours long; whereas, regular training lasts about 5 days. 


Also, I was chosen as the Quarterly Award Winner! I won the WelcomeEar for the July-September 2011 quarter. I had my picture taken with the Vice President of Epcot, Erin Youngs. There was cake at the ceremony, too. I am really excited about winning this award. After my friend, Daniel, won it last quarter, I decided that a quarterly award was the one thing that I wanted to get out of this college program, if nothing else. I am happy to have won. 


Chris went back to hourly pay, which is good for us during this busier time of year. In addition to this, he is also getting commission from his sales accounts. Bigger paychecks means that our bills get paid off quicker. We've realized that we've been living a bit out of our means lately. We've already cut up two of our credit cards to help us curb our spending. We kept one of them not cut up so that if we get in a tight spot and need gas we can use it. But we've agreed not to spend it on a night out or anything like we used to do. We've already noticed different attitudes toward frivolous spending developing in each of us, which will definitely help us out down the road. 


On the marriage front, everything is great. We are loving being married. We are closer than ever. We are really happy to be with each other. Each day brings us closer, and we hope we never lose that feeling of togetherness because it's what bonds us even when we may have disagreements. I've noticed that we both smile a lot more now that we're married. It's such a great feeling. 


In conclusion, so far, everything this month is looking great. Hopefully, it stays that way.


Thanks for keeping up to date on us through reading our blog. 

Trainer Interview

So Bobby happens to see me yesterday while I was on lunch and tells me that my trainer interview is today at one in the afternoon. I laugh and say thanks for the heads up. He tells me that they usually don't tell people until the day of the interview, so it was kind of a heads up. The coordinators that happen to be sitting in the room with me accidentally let slip some similar type questions that they might ask before Bobby tell them to hush up because I'm not supposed to be able to prepare for the interview. Being the emotional being I am, I almost cried when he told me that my interview was the next day. It is only one week since my phone interview for the professional internship (PI).

This trainer interview is completely different from the professional internship's interviews. I signed up to be a trainer about a week ago or so. I felt that it would look good that I took the initiative to become a trainer even though I know that I might transfer out. I'm hoping, God forbid I don't get the PI, that by being a trainer it will help me to stay on as at least part-time and not just seasonal after my college program ends in January.

My manager, Jaime, was one of the interviewers. I had to teach him how to tie his shoe. I think the interview went well but not as well as my other interview. I hope I get it. All my managers beforehand said that I would do well and wished me luck.

 I really like this management team. They're supportive with trying to help you accomplish goals, and they are willing to help any way that they can. It' a great team to work with here at Epcot, and I hope all the teams I work with in the future are just as great as they are.

I'll keep you updated on how everything turns out with this interview. I haven't heard anything back from the PI yet. Thanks for reading!

Reblog: Lou's Land: "Fixing" Autism

I am reblogging this emotional and heartfelt video blog because it's important to get the message out. Posted below are the actual blog and the video. 

Lou's Land: "Fixing" Autism: Please take some time to view my first attempt at a video blog. Please share, like, and rate the video if you deem it worthy. Thanks!

Thank You cards

Finally, the thank you cards are finished. I finished them in the wee morning hours today. I am happy to say that I pushed through, and I am now finished with them. If you do not receive one, please let me know that I missed you. It was not intentional. I will be buying stamps so that I can mail them all today. This should be the last of the wedding stuff I have to deal with except for pictures, which I have yet to develop or print out. :(

On another note, I realized today that I might need to get a second part-time job to ease our financial struggles a bit. Getting paid minimum wage sucks. I was thinking about applying to the Sweetbay next to our apartment complex because then I could walk to work. I will do that while I am out buying stamps, perhaps I will walk to Sweetbay to buy my stamps.

Thanks for reading. I am committed to blogging more so that everyone stays up to date on what's going in the lives of Chris and Jessica. This month I plan to publish at least ten posts, which equates to one every few days. (I don't know if enough stuff will happen to keep up with that kind of schedule, but I will try not to bore you) Anyway, that's what's up. Comment below or simply keep us in your thoughts. :) Smile today. :D 

Phone Interview

I had my Disney Phone Interview for a Professional Management Internship in Park Operations last night (Monday the 3rd) at 9:30pm. She called 3 minutes late. It made me super nervous. Then after she asks me the first question my stupid phone drops the call as she's asking question number two. I start freaking out and cry a little but, then she calls me right back. Her name was Trisha, and she was really nice. Since Jason took the time today to go over the questions and give me a practice interview, I felt like my answers were right on task. I felt good after the interview was over. My hubby said that my answers sounded great. He also said that my guest stories were spot on and funny as well. Of course, I'm still worried that I won't get it, but I'm gonna try to not think about it until I get some sort of communication from them. I will be checking the disney careers website a few times a week to see if there are any updates to my status. That's it for now. Thanks for reading. Wish me luck.

Messy

Since before the wedding, our apartment has been a disaster area. We kept saying that once the wedding stuff clears out, everything will be normal and clean. Not so much. Today, however, I have made some headway with it. After the wedding, all the gifts and stuff that needed to be put away piled up as well as laundry and bills. We took care of the essentials first, and most everything else got left were it laid. So I decided that for my two days off this week, I would tackle this monster of a task. Things still look pretty hectic, but I am starting to see a difference.

I finished my résumé today and emailed it to Caleb. He said that he would look it over and help me fix it in a way to help me get the professional internship.

Part of the piled up papers are the thank you cards that I have yet to finish. I have promised myself that I will finish them before the end of the week. They're only like six weeks late. People won't know why they're getting a thank you card at this point. I meant to do them sooner, but things just kept happening that were more important, like that whole job thing.

Half way through my mess-be-gone "weekend" and I feel like the goal is within reach. I'm also hoping to get to the social security office tomorrow to finally get my name changed because facebook is the only place where my last name is different. I thought I should make it official.

I'll keep you posted on my success or failure. Thanks for reading.

Homemade Wedding Invites

So I promised to post pictures of the wedding invites after the wedding. I will also show how I did it.

First, here is what the finished invite and response card looked like:

I purchased the paper from GoodWill in Amarillo, Texas last July for about $9. The raised printing I did all on my own at home. I did it through a process called Thermography. 

I stamped the image onto the paper using custom stamps and special ink. 

The three stamps I used: Invite, Response, Cute Bride & Groom

Underside of stamp

Embossing Inks

The special ink keeps the image moist longer so that the embossing powder will stick to it. You heavily apply the powder -- then shake off all the excess. Only the stamped image should appear with the powder stuck to it. I found that using clear ink with the colored powder worked best for the look I wanted. 

The next step is to take an embossing gun (not pictured) and heat the powder to the melting point. Over heating causes the powder to burn. Practice a bit before attempting on actual invites. The color powder I used actually changed colors a bit when heated, which made it easier to tell when it was done. Over heating will also cause powder to melt flat resulting in shiny but not raised print. Because you continuously reuse the powder by shaking off the excess, you do not need to buy more than one powder jar. The picture of the powder is how much is left after doing 50 invites and 50 response cards (Maybe a fifth of the jar was used). 

That's how I created the invites. I might post a video of using the powder in another blog post for a different project. For now, keep crafting and thanks for reading. 

Next Step Career Moves

Recently, Chris and I have made slight moves in the right direction for both of our careers. Chris told me today that he is going to be on salary starting this week. It's exciting knowing that he will get paid for 40 hours even on a 4 day week like this. It gives us a little more room to breathe financially, though not too much.

The Professional Internships for College Program Alumni first opportunities showed up online on Monday. So, on Monday, I asked Caleb (one of my managers) what I had to do to get into them and what position would give me the best chance of getting into the program. He gave me some advice and two helpful papers. Both pertaining to the correct way to list Disney on a resumé. One was a sample resumé with Disney listed on it, and the other was a paper with options on how to list the number of guests you deal with daily and such on a resumé. He told me to add this program to my current resumé, and then he would take a look at my resumé and help me fix any issues I had with it. I've been asking several of my managers that did a CP and PI, questions about the best options. What I've decided, based on what they've been telling me, is that my best option is to stick with Operations. Operations covers more than just what I see in my area, which is only Main Entrance Operations. It also covers things like the attractions. I'm excited to see where this goes.

I'll post more about this after I update my resumé and apply for it. I've been trying to find more time to blog so that everyone can keep updated. Until then thanks for reading!

Guess Who's Married?!?

It's official!! Chris and I are married. We got married on August 6, 2011 surrounded by our closest friends and family. We will post pictures of everything when we get a chance, but this is just a little blurb to keep everyone up to date on us.

The wedding was amazing. Everyone had a blast and raved about how much fun it was. One of Chris's relatives told us that they had never seen so many people dance at a wedding before. Most everything went off without a hitch. The caterer thought it was a good idea to send 2 servers to serve plated dinners to a 100 person meal. The groomsmen were great and helped pick up the slack though. The DJ even helped out because the caterers was so slow. My mom also decided the day of the wedding that she wasn't going to show up, but that is what it is. She'll regret it, not me. The service was beautiful, and everyone looked so pretty. It really was a dream come true. I am so happy to be married to Christopher. We are happy.

In other news, I got a 2009 Nissan Versa with help from my father, but the car has been nothing but trouble since we got it. The financer from Sun Toyota had to redo the loan like three times. Then the air conditioner broke after about two weeks of having the car from something that they didn't fix in the first place, and now they want me to pay for it. We've talked them down to half price which is still $163 that we don't have. I'm about ready to return the vehicle and file a complaint with the BBB.

Our apartment is nice except for the neighbors. They smoke outside of our door a lot which is bad for my asthma. The ones upstairs are always stomping around late at night which makes it difficult for Chris to sleep. But otherwise, thanks to our families, we have a furnished two bedroom two bathroom. Stuff is still everywhere because we haven't ever finished unpacking before more stuff came. We did put away all the wedding gifts though.

Workwise not much has changed for me except that I've been getting more hours. Chris is getting into more of a sales position, which is good for us because it has the potential for commission.

For the most part, things are looking up. We are happy. Life is good.

Looking Up Update

So I had typed up a post a few weeks ago, but it accidentally got deleted because I lost internet for a bit. It seems like things can't get anymore crazy each time I post, but I outdo myself each time. The wedding is getting close, and both of our work situations keep accelerating.

The wedding is only a month away. My best friend, Maggie, has found a way to come to down to Florida, which means that she can be in the wedding. Super excited about that! I finally sent the invites, and responses have been pouring in; however, not even close to half have responded yet. The deadline is tomorrow, Saturday, July 9, 2011. I expect to receive many of them late. We've met with the pastor again, and he gave us a letter stating that he gave us premarital counseling, which was fun. We also met with the organist to select our music. We selected a pretty standard set because I like classic sounds for weddings. On the flip side, my MOH(Maid of Honor) has dropped out of the wedding. She said something about me being a terrible friend and such, but oh well. I'm not letting that spoiled friendship ruin my mood or wedding. At least now I won't have a bunch of photos with someone whom I no longer speak to. I've asked my cousin, Maegan, to fill in as MOH. She's currently working out the logistics to see if it's possible for her to do that for me. Chris and the boys are going to get measured soon to ensure that tuxes are ready for them. I have to order new bridesmaids gifts for my new additions as soon as they are both confirmed.

On the work side of things, Chris and I are both progressing. I've gotten one applause-o-gram from a guest as well as four great service fanatics from my leaders. I asked Bobby if I could be a trainer, but I knew that I hadn't been there long enough to apply. He said it was great that I was looking ahead to know that's what I wanted to do, and he'll keep me in mind next time trainer opportunities pop up. Caleb tonight during exit told me that I am doing a fantastic job and that I am mentioned as progressing well in the nightly reports. He appreciates my efforts and wants to set up a meeting with me to help me to further my career with the company. He said he can help me plan further internships and such. I am really excited to meet with him about it. Chris is learning to template, which should bring him a raise when he becomes proficient. He is also on sales sometimes, which can lead to earning commission. We both discussed that because of the added distance and therefore gas usage, if he hadn't gotten these potential raises, we were unsure if he should keep the job instead of finding something local.

Well, that's about it. I'll probably blog soon with anything that I forgot. But that's it for the update for now. I will post pictures of the homemade invites after the wedding.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Starting the Program

I haven't been blogging for quite a while now because I've been getting settled in to my new home and workplace. Training was hard, but I survived. My roommates are pretty cool. I am enjoying my stay here so far. Here are some tidbits about how everything is going:


When I first learned to drive the tram, I got overwhelmed and started to cry. My trainer gave me a break while he trained another trainee, and when it was my turn again, I drove just fine. I tend to get overwhelmed easily when I don't feel that I am performing up to my own standards. My trainer told me the next day that I was the first person he ever made cry while training. I also met the person who would be doing my assessment that day. He has tons of cool stories about his experiences with the Walt Disney Company. Everything with training went fluidly after my tram incident until my assessment where I became overwhelmed again while spieling. My assessment trainer told me to stop freaking out and go drive. I drove just fine, and spieled perfectly after he let me calm down. Now when I see him he jokes with me about how he made me cry. :) In all, I like the people I work with, and I like my job. It's hard to be out in the sun all day long, but I like it.

My roommates are pretty cool. I get along with all of them, and we all, for the most part, like each other. We even spent one night playing board games. We like to go out to the parks together or out for sushi. There haven't been any major arguments between anyone, and I hope it stays that way, at least until I move out. :P

Yesterday (May 31, 2011) at work, I had two great Disney moments. One guest told me that my talents were being wasted in the parking lot and that I should be moved inside the park. It really made me smile, and it would have made my day if it weren't for this second incident shortly after my first break. I was working in the singler position, which is the person who pulls the cars up to the line to ensure that another car can fit in the space behind it. The cars had started to move quickly for the first time since I'd been there. It was after four in the afternoon and not many people usually arrived at this time. A large white van pulls up and I greet them as any other vehicle by encouraging them to move forward in a fun and dancelike manner while keeping eye contact with the driver and smiling. As I moved to the next car, business men and women pile out of the car. One calls me over. I happily oblige as I would any guest asking a question. Traffic has slowed so there is no problem if I answer a question for a bit. Next thing I know, though, these business people tell me that they are executives of EPCOT, and they loved my performance of my role. They said I was outstanding, and that they were trying to experience EPCOT from a guests point of view. They then placed me in the middle of them and took a picture with me. I was shocked and a little embarrassed. I chatted with one fellow for a short while and then returned to my post. I was glowing from that point on because it felt good, being only my second day without my "earning my ears" sticker on my nametag, to be recognized for my efforts.


So those are some of my experiences here so far. I hope to get back into a regular posting habit, but it's hard to do so when I have to go to a computer lab to use a computer, since my laptop is on the fritz. Overall, this experience is turning out to be everything I hoped it would be and more. I love Disney even more with all the knowledge about the inner working than I did before. I am thankful for this opportunity, and I hope to advance to a professional internship after my college program ends.

Cheer Up Love

Chris has not had the best week. He got into a car accident, and he is just generally not having a good week. His job is stressing him out because he's worrying about money and how he is going to get there without a car. He is worried about school because his finals are coming up soon. He's upset about everything, and the problems we're having with the caterer aren't helping anything (he doesn't return our phone calls). So I decided to make Chris a "Cheer Up, Love" card.


Front of the card:

Inside cover:

I wrote on the rest of it. He won't get it until Saturday or later, so I asked him not to check the blog until after he receives something in the mail from me. :)

We Dream of Orlando

As the days keep ticking away, we are reminded that we have to move to Orlando. Chris found somewhere to live starting in May, as long as he has a job. We have been scouring monster and craigslist looking for a suitable position for him. There are a few that look promising, but there are no guarantees that the company feels the same way about Chris. Everything seems to be resisting against us.

Chris got into a car accident yesterday, and he got a ticket for it. This is just one more set back for us. We are supposed to be saving for our wedding, but we haven't been able to save a dime since Chris's hours were cut. We have even had to dip into our savings to cover everything, and this is just the frosting on the cake. We're not sure if the car is worth fixing even. I don't know how we're going to survive without a car now.

This also impedes Chris's job search because he can't go on interviews if he has no way to get there. It feels like the universe is punishing us for something, but we can't figure out what it is.

Besides that whole situation, I graduate on Saturday. I have one exam on Wednesday and a paper to write in Greek by then also. Lots of family and friends have said that they might come to graduation, which is exciting. Everyone can come to my apartment after graduation to hang out for a while afterwards, too, if they'd rather not sit through a lengthy and boring ceremony.

On an exciting note, I met a roommate of mine for the Disney program via email(which reminds me that I need to email her back). She seems really cool, and I think we will get along great. We are also working in the same position and possibly at the same park, which would be cool. I'm excited to get started on it because I feel that it is starting a new chapter of my life, and I cannot wait for all the possibilities it brings.

Our dreams of being in Orlando together seem farther away than usual. Financially, it is starting to feel more and more stupid, but this is what we want. Chris doesn't want to work for his uncle forever, and this is an opportunity for him to break free of that job. We're both a bit tired of all the stress of trying to do all of these new things at once, but we're trying to persevere. Well, here's to a new start and hoping that this accident is just a hiccup.

Last Day Blues

I'm sad today because today was my last day of classes, and I made cupcakes for my Greek class, and they only ate three out of twenty. What am I supposed to do with seventeen more cupcakes? I don't even like cake that much. I only took one bite out of mine. I'm not sure how I feel about graduating. I feel kinda sad that this chapter of my life is over. I will never attend another undergraduate semester. It makes me blue.

I finished my Shakespeare paper with time to spare to look over it and make last minute corrections, which is awesome. I still have to finish my Johnson paper and write a second Johnson paper. I have to write a typed page of Greek about this past year of school, and I have an exam for my Johnson class on Wednesday. Phew. That seems like a lot.

I recently realized that I am graduating from a good school with a four year degree, and I am going to be working at a job that pays minimum wage. That makes me sad, too. While it's a job I've always wanted, it's not where I wanted to start. I'm not even sure how long it will take to get a decently paying job with the company.

I'm just in a melancholy mood today. I don't know what to do about it. I feel at a loss. Like not having school to attend to is bringing me down. I can't shake this feeling, but I must proceed and finish all my work before the semester end. Wish me luck!

Picture from Grad Bash

2 Days!

Today is my last Monday of college ever! I am freaking out a bit about everything. I am having a hard time wrapping my around the fact that I won't be attending college anymore, and in less than two weeks, I will be a college graduate from the University of Florida. It's not the only thing that I've been stressing out about either. While I have three essays to write this week and two exams next week, the wedding stress has been piling up even more, too. Chris and I cannot get in contact with the caterer; he is always out of the shop when we call. We still haven't settled anything with the DJ yet either. So all I have right now are where the wedding is being held without any food or music or decorations, but I have the favors ready to be made. We are making soap favors, which I will demonstrate in another blog when it gets closer to the wedding.

Grad Bash is tonight, and I want to go, but I don't really know many of the other seniors. I'm still going to go and hope to have a good time; however, I am worried about finishing my paper that is due tomorrow. I can't seem to focus on anything because everything needs to get done. I've added only about a paragraph to my paper in the last two hours and book marked about ten sections to write about later. I have to get ready for Grad Bash soon. I'm not sure how anything is ever going to get done.

I'll probably write another blog in the morning after some things have been completed, and I have a bit more time to breathe. I'll reflect a little about what happened here and see what improvements I have to make before embarking on the next paper. Wish me luck!

Family Reunion

Chris went to his first Brown family reunion this past weekend. This year it was called, "Ophia's Family Reunion 2011." Ophia is my maternal grandfather's mother. We visited her grave site, and cleaned it up a bit. We also placed flowers and a plaque. Then we went to someone's house where we had a barbeque for the rest of the evening until the rain forced us all to retreat back to the hotel, where we played cards until bedtime. I got to see everyone including Aunt Beverly. Everything went swimmingly. The food and company was great, and I hope next year will be just as much fun!


P.S. My grandfather is the tallest boy in the family portrait, and Aunt Ruth Ann is the shorter girl. Aunt Bev was married to Uncle Davey, who is the smallest child in the photo.

Free scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

Orlando for a Day

While our trip to Orlando was fun last Wednesday, it did not go as planned. Jessica got cut from the audition in the first round, but she did make some friends in line for the audition. One of the girls she met actually graduates from UF this semester also, and she saw her on campus once. At Chris's interview, they told him that they had no full-time positions available, and they could only pay him minimum wage, which is sad. So he's decided to work at his uncle's shop at least until the wedding. He might even continue working there after we move because the drive is only about twenty minutes longer than the commute he makes now. We were a little disappointed by this, but we didn't let that get us down.

We had a blast apartment hunting with each other, talking to a bank about what would need to do in order to get a home loan, and just spending the entire day together. We even had lunch at one of our favorite places, Buffalo Wild Wings. It's not the healthiest of choices, but we enjoyed a little slow down and distraction after both of our interviews didn't go as planned. After we ate, our day went splendidly. We counted the day as an overall win, and we possibly now have an apartment waiting for us after we get married. We just have to check out all the reviews online and make a final decision. The whole experience made us closer, which makes me smile.

One thing we both said was that the activities of that day really made us feel like grownups, so as of right now, we are happily continuing our journey into the real world outside of school and family.


P.S. A special shout out to Josh and Christey for letting us crash their place the night before the interviews. Thanks bunches!!

The Most Delicious Pizza Sauce Ever!

I am devoted to making a health turn for my life. It starts with eating habits. My fiancé and I both have terrible eating habits, so I've started to learn how to cook some of our favorite things in new and healthier ways. My biggest weakness is pizza. I love it, so I took this recipe off a cooking website, but with a few tweaks, it has become completely mine. I usually put this on a piece of whole wheat pita with ham as the topping and Swiss cheese instead of mozzarella. Then bake it in the oven (or toaster oven) at 350° for 10-20 minutes or until cheese is melted to desired doneness.

Ingredients

2 Plum tomato
2 small cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Italica Plus Extra Virgin Olive Oil; Vitamins A,D,E
1 tbsp Onions, raw, chopped
1 tsp Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
a dash of oregano
a dash of parsley
a pinch of red pepper, if you like it really hot

Directions

Heat oil and sweat your onions and garlic.

Add the pureed tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients. Boil 2-5 minutes, or less if you prefer to simmer your sauce after a brief boil.

Number of Servings: 1



Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 1
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 96.1
Total Fat: 5.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 492.6 mg
Total Carbs: 13.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.8 g
Protein: 1.6 g

Not a great picture, but it does a good job of showing the spices and that it tends to be a chunkier sauce.

[This sauce is one serving for the size of a personal pizza!]

Stamping

I have love the process of stamping and stamp-making ever since I started letterboxing last July. To find out more information about letterboxing go to atlas quest It's a great site that really helped me start letterboxing.

Recently, though, I have been more focused on wedding stuff and not hobbies. We have been trying to decide on how to do our invitations. The problem is that I already have the stationary upon which we want the printers to print raised ink. They said that it can be done, but it could have some complications with the machines lining up. This made me extremely frustrated because I knew that I had always wanted my wedding invitations to have raised printing and buying new invites would be super expensive. So, I looked for alternative ways to make raised ink.

The process is called thermography printing, and I wanted to find a way to do it at home. I've recently also been bitten by the "crafty" bug. I love doing crafts and making things from scratch. One day, I went into Hobby Lobby to see if they had some interesting things I could use for my wedding, when I spotted an embossing kit. I thought that this would be a neat way to create the wedding invitations. As I started to look around and price things out, it happened.

I saw an embossing gun that would allow me to create the raised printing that I wanted for my invites. All I would need now was to get the invite wording printed onto a stamp(stamping ink stays wet longer than printer ink unless specially ordered). I then noticed the plethora of stamps.

To gauge how well we are at stamping, Chris and I purchased a few stamps to make birthday cards for some friends and family. This is how they turned out!

Front:

Inside:

Back:

Envelope:

Progress Check

Wedding: We decided to have a local restaurant cater our wedding, which is going to save us a lot of money; however, this guy is a little weird, and he told us that he does not need a deposit or any written agreement, which scares me. I am going to have Chris call him and tell him that for our protection we would like some sort of formal written agreement if only to settle my nerves and have it on record that we have a caterer. It was fun to get all the free food from the tastings even if we did give the leftovers to a homeless man. I've been freaking out lately about all of the details. I have no idea what the tables are being covered with or what people will be wiping their mouths with. All of that from the places I have been looking at are extremely expensive. I also have been having buyer's remorse because last night I purchased the gifts for the groomsmen and bridesmaids. After hours of scouring theknot.com I finally found something I liked that I also thought that they would like and not throw away after the wedding.

Weight Loss: I had a killer workout today that resulted in an awesome runner's high. I am hoping to keep up the same intensity for the rest of the week because I actually gained five pounds over spring break that I need to abolish. Chris said that he will starting running again with his brother to try to get rid of his flab, too.

Career: Disney sent me a list of things I need to review before moving out there for the internship. They want me to play some game online that will teach me about the history of the program and company. It sounds weird, but I will probably check it out later tonight. Chris set up his interview on the same day as my character audition so that we do not have to take off two days from our hectic schedule. Uncle John found out that I got into the program and has realized that it means Chris will be moving away from his job. Chris worries that his days are now numbered at the shop.

Us: We are considering buying a house in Orlando for when we move up there. We will probably visit a realtor when we go there on the 30th for our interviews. We might also just apartment hunt depending on how everything goes. The two of us are doing great. Our relationship is stronger than ever. On Saturday, all we did were run errands all day, but it was one of the best days. We didn't bicker much. We just enjoyed spending the time together. It was really nice, and we were able to pick up a piece from Hobby Lobby that will double as table decoration for the wedding and home decor after the wedding. It's pretty cool. We both love it. We feel that being engaged, while it has its crazy times, is about getting closer together as a couple, and for the first time since we got engaged, we both feel that it is happening. We feel closer together, and we're a better couple for it.

So that's an update on everything going on with us. Everything is pretty much good. Wedding stuff is getting more stressful, but we're handling it. Support and love are always welcome. Now, I need to go shower and get some homework done.

DISNEY!!!

As most of my friends know, I am (and have always been) a lover of everything associated with Walt Disney World. I applied for their college program my second semester of college and didn't get in. This devastated me, and I took a semester off college to try my hand at the telemarketing industry. That did not work out well. I returned to college and forgot about the program until last semester when the Disney recruiters were on campus for the Spring Advantage program through the Disney College Program. I attended the information session, but I could not attend the program because this spring is my last semester of my undergraduate college career. Not wanted to give up on my dream to work at Disney, I applied three weeks ago to the program for the summer and fall. I passed the web-based interview and set up a telephone interview on March 2, 2011. They told me that I would be notified within four weeks of whether or not I had been accepted; however, just one long week and I received an email saying that I had been accept! I even got my first job choice. I am interviewing on March 30th to see if I can be a character performer because what little girl hasn't dreamed of being a princess!

Getting into this program brings great relief to my fiancé and I because I did not have any jobs lined up for after graduation. I had been attending info session after info session and interview after interview on campus, and they were all to no avail. We were both worried that finding a job would be much harder than we thought. We both wanted me to get into the program, but I don't think either of us were getting our hopes up about it because we were trying to remain realistic while knowing that this was the best option for the both of us. We were delighted when we found out the news.

Despite all the excitement and getting exactly what I wanted by getting into the program, acceptance to the program has caused several difficulties. I am given housing on site at Disney where the rent is deducted directly from my paycheck, but now I have to find someone to take over the remainder of my lease at my apartment or I will lose almost nine hundred dollars by paying for an apartment in which I am not living. My fiancé now has to look for a job in Orlando as well as somewhere for him to live for a few months until we are married in August.

The wedding also brings up problems because the program only allows for a participate to have five consecutive days off. Which means that I will have to make sure that all the lats minute plans are taken care of by my wedding party and family (how scary!). This also means no honeymoon for the time being; however, my fiancé has agreed that we can take a honeymoon after the program ends in January or in February for Valentine's Day and my Birthday!

All being said, we're excited for me to get into the program. I just found out a few minutes ago that my fiancé has an interview at Walt Disney World for a job offer that he can start after he finished this school semester. Yay! Everything right now is going great for us. I just hope it continues!

Planning a budget wedding

Trying to plan a wedding with a $5000 budget is turning out to be one of the hardest things I have ever done. Some places we looked at want $1500 more than our entire budget just for the venue site and catering. I will update on my success or failure as time progresses. (We still haven't found a venue, yet, nor have we sent our save the dates.)

As Life Begins

I decided to start this blog because of how fast my life seems to be moving right now. I got engaged on Christmas and will be getting married in August of 2011. I am also graduating from college in about four months. It has been freaking me out a little bit that next year I could be working at a full-time position, be married, and have a baby on the way. We're not planning to have a baby that soon, but no one can tell what might happen. With my twenty-second birthday just around the corner (next month), I am feeling all the pressures of life piling on top of me. I decided to document how I stay afloat in my ever-changing life while still surviving on a college student budget, at least for right now.

So join me in my journey to plan a wedding, live a healthier lifestyle, start a career, raise a family, and still have time to enjoy the little things in life all on a small livable budget.