My First Disney Christmas

I thought I would share some pics to show you how I celebrated Christmas this year! This was the first year I was not home for Christmas, and the first time for my family that not everyone was present, but on Christmas day during my break at work I did call and get to talk to everyone in my family which was nice!

This was in Celebration, an adorable little town about 10 minutes away from where I live. This was across the street from the church I've been going to.

Visiting Santa in Downtown Disney!


He asked us what we wanted and if we had been naughty or nice.


Disney has TONS of Christmas decorations up, this was in Downtown Disney, too.

On the 23rd, Christmas Eve Eve, Pepe, Niles, Jenny and I went back to Clearwater Beach!!

We also picked TONS of oranges from this orange grove on the way home. They were the sweetest, juiciest, most delicious oranges I've EVER had!! We gave them to all our managers for Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, after work, I hung out with Pepe and all his friends. I was the only person there who did not speak Spanish! Pepe has been my Spanish teacher these last few weeks, and I've learned a lot from him!! He's also re-sparked my love of the Spanish language, and now I can't WAIT to study it in school again!! It was so much fun being around everyone from different countries and trying to understand what they were talking about in Spanish. Everyone was so patient with me! Jeff, one of Pepe's roommates, made everyone a delicious Christmas Eve dinner, complete with tamales, chicken, Argentina rice, and beans. Mmm-mmm!!

Because we were from all over the world, it turned midnight "back home" at different times for all of us. Beginning at 10 o'clock pm, someone was calling home every hour on the hour to wish their families "Feliz Navidad." For example, I called my family at 1 am in Florida because it was midnight at Oklahoma and "officially" Christmas!!

Elise opening her Christmas present from her Dad.

Showing off the goodies!!!

Me opening my present from Elise's dad.


I was sooo excited because it was a Red Sox bear and ornament!!! Thanks, Mr. T!

Opening our stockings! (my grandma got us the stockings and we LOVE them they are ADORABLE!!)

Chris also dropped by our presents. He is so sweet. He knows Belle is my favorite Disney Princess, so he got me a BEAUTIFUL Beauty and the Beast snow globe!!

Even though I was not with my biological family on Christmas Day, I had my Port Orleans family there!! This is Pepe, Niles, and Jenny, and Milton is below! We all hung out together because we only have each other! Also, all of the full-time cast members brought by goodies for all the CPs (college program). So we had a great Christmas at the Port!!

I'm going to miss everybody so much!!!


This one picture sums up how I spent my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!! The Port Orleans had sugar cookies and lemonade (come on, it IS Florida!) for all the guests, and I got the privilege of handing them out both days!! It was soo much fun! Everybody was so happy to be in Disney on Christmas, so I didn't have to deal with ANY upset guests either day! That was the best Christmas present I EVER could have asked for!!!

What a Week!

It has been a crazy week! Crazy, but soo fun!

It started with me pulling two double shifts in a row at work!! That resulted in this during a 48-hour period:

36.5 hours of work

.75 hours of commuting

7 hours of sleep

I was awake for over 40 hours straight!!! It was pretty insane! Needless to say, I ended up sleeping for a looooong time once that was over!! We were just short-staffed at work because someone had had a death in the family. He works the graveyard shift, so I ended up covering for him both days. Lol. I was a very tired girl!! But I know that my paycheck will be worth it! :)

Then last Monday was my "graduation" from the program. It was fun, they had lots of events set up for the CP's (College Program) who are leaving soon. I got my "diploma ears" and my certificate for the program.

Elise did a paddle-boat competition on Little Lake Bryan!

Chris and his roommate showing off their "ears".

Then Elise and I went to Kissimmee and had a fun day there just taking pictures and whatnot. We also went out for breakfast. We like hanging out and having "girl days".

I also went to Clearwater Beach this past week. It was absolutely AMAZING!! The water was breathtaking. I could not believe that we were all swimming in the ocean and laying out in the sun in DECEMBER!!!! I absolutely love living in Florida!!!!!

On the way there -- Jenny and Niles from the Port.

Pepe and Rafet

We went out on the pier!





Watching the sunset at the end of the day ... isn't it gorgeous?!?

You Have GOT to Try This!!

Okay, I know I already published one post tonight ... but I just finished a late dinner and it turned out so well I just had to pass along the recipe I made up!


Real Lemon-Pepper Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 large lemons
pepper
olive oil


Heat a pan over medium heat on the stove. I put a little bit of extra virgin olive oil just to keep the chicken from sticking. Let it simmer for a few minutes while you cut open the lemons and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Remove seeds.

Pour the lemon juice directly over the chicken breasts, then sprinkle with pepper. Let the chicken cook in the lemon juice, flipping occasionaly, until cooked all the way through (peek into the middle with a knife or fork). The pepper will come off in the juice, so you will want to keep putting pepper on.

Remove from heat, then sprinkle with pepper and serve!!



It was soo delicious!! I had mine with a salad and sweet peas tonight! Yum! I poured the extra lemon and pepper juice from the pan over my salad for a healthy salad dressing!!! It was the first time I have ever had lemon-pepper chicken without using just the seasoning and it was DELICIOUS.

We're Not in Oklahoma Anymore, Toto!!

There are, of course, many differences between living in Oklahoma and living in Florida. Here are just a few ....


WEATHER.

At first, temperature-wise, it was about the same between Edmond and Orlando. However, in Oklahoma it is soo dry, with a dry wind. The humidity is much greater here and there is not nearly as much wind. One of the first things I noticed down here is that you can wear a skirt without having to constantly hold it down so it doesn't fly above your head!!!

Now, as the year goes on, I think the weather is currently different in the two cities. From what my mom said the other day, it is much colder in Edmond now!! It was about 76 today!! BEAUTIFUL!!!


WEATHER REPORTS.

Back home, weathermen get excited about tornadoes. It seems they can't wait until the conditions are right because then they get their television time. Here, it's all about the hurricanes. If there is so much as a wind over the ocean instead of a breeze, we get to hear all about how a hurricane could dvelop. For awhile, there were signs up all over town alerting us "IT"S HURRICANE SEASON .... ARE YOU PREPARED?"


GAS PRICES.

I just got onto AAA's website ( http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/FLavg.asp ) and it appears Florida's gas prices are about $.15 above Oklahoma's average. Prices right now are about $3.15/gallon in town. Of course, if you stop off of 1-4 or 192 or the turnpike to get gas, you'll end up paying about $3.25/gallon.


RAIN. It tpically rains at least once every day or two here. We've actually hit a dry spell and haven't had rain for a couple of weeks, but that is really rare!! Not really hard rains, just sprinkles!!


PEOPLE.

You know, I had heard other people describe how nice the people are in Oklahoma ... I didn't really realize it until I wasn't living there anymore. That's definitely something I took for granted! My favorite and most accurate example of the difference is the grocery store. The first time I went grocery shopping here, it took me THREE RIDICULOUS HOURS!!!!! All because I was trying to be too nice! You have to look out for yourself down here, or you will never get anything done! It will be a change to start being nice again back in OK. The first time I go grocery shopping in OK, I'm afraid I'm gonna be bowling kids down and running over old people!! I'll have to learn to tame myself again!


DRIVING.

Kind of along the same lines of the people .... you gotta look out for yourself here. If there's the teeniest opening, you take it ... or you'll never get anywhere! And red lights mean about 5 more cars can get thru the intersection. Oh yes, and turn signals are completely optional and not recommended!


Well, this has been a wee bit sarcastic, but I think you get the picture! Of course there will be changes when you move to another state. These are just a few that stuck out to me!!

Ready for Christmas!

I forgot to add this to my last post. Elise and I cannot WAIT for Christmas! We got a tree and decorated our apartment to get ready!

My Grandma also got us some stockings (which are ADORABLE) that we put up by the tree!!!

A Lot to be Thankful for!!

My brother David had never been to Disney World, and I can get people into the parks for free, so my family came down to Orlando over Thanksgiving break.

They stayed at the All-Star Sports Resort. Here's the Website: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/resorts/resortLanding?id=AllStarSportsResortLandingPage&bhcp=1

Shopping at MGM.

The pictures didn't turn out very well, but MGM has one of their streets all decorated up with Christmas lights!! It's beautiful!

David and the monster he always impersonates from Monsters, Inc.

Amber and me on the tram.

David took up the whole seat on the monorail!! I guess he hasn't changed all that much ..... he's still a goober!!

David and I rode the teacups together. He's an amazing spinner!!!

We all tried on silly hats, lol!!

Also, on Wednesday, I attempted to make my first Thanksgiving dinner!! Like I told my mom, "I cant believe I'm only 19 years old and Thanksgiving is at MY house this year!!" I guess it wasn't bad for my first try!

Keaton helped me, too!! He made the potatoes and they were AWESOME.

The turkey and stuffing cooking .....



Dishing up!

I was also able to go to Tallahassee this past weekend, and it was great to see Keaton again. I cannot believe that it is December already. I leave in about 30 days!! ahhh!!!