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!!!

Runner Costume

Birthday Month!

It seems like November is quite a big month for birthdays!! Daddy's is on the 18th. Elise's is next Monday. Chris just had his birthday. Elise's dad's is later this month, too!!

For an early birthday celebration for Elise, she and I went down to Daytona Beach for a couple of days! We amazingly enough had the same two days off (the very first time that has happened since we've been here!!) We stayed at a hotel that was right up by the beach, with a balcony and everything. We slept with our balcony door open so we could fall asleep to the sound of the ocean waves!!!

We hung out at the beach for awhile on Monday, then had a picnic at a park and checked into our hotel. We got up reeeeally early on Tuesday to watch the sunrise over the water. Then we went back to sleep for a few hours!!!

At Daytona, you can drive right up to the water!!!



Palm trees are our FAVORITE thing!!!

That Tuesday was Chris' actual birthday. After we got back from Daytona, I had class in the afternoon. Then the three of us went to dinner to celebrate! Chris had made reservations at Boma. That is the African buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it is soooo good!! So much yummy food!

Chris is like my Orlando big brother I never had! We get along so well ... and yet we fight, just like brother and sister. I told him I think he and I fight more than David and I do!! But he definitely makes me miss my brother!! (I'm looking forward to seeing you soon, Big D!)

I had a little scare while we were eating! Apparently I ate something with coconut in it and I had an allergic reaction ..... I couldn't feel my tongue or my lips and I kept slurring my words! Plus my tongue and lips were bleeding because I kept biting them since I couldn't feel them! But Elise went and got me some Benedryl and then everything was good. It was just embarrassing. The GM of the restaurant even came over to see if I was okay! Oh boy, everything has to be an adventure with me ....

After we finished eating we went to Downtown Disney for awhile. Cast members get in free during the week to all the clubs in Pleasure Island. We went to the Adventurer's Club and the Comedy Warehouse. There is info about these on this website about 3/4 way down the page: http://www.wdwinfo.com/downtown/pi/

Here are some pics from Chris' Bday celebration:

The cast members at Boma gave him a birthday card!! But he can't read it because it is written in African languages since all the cast members who work there are actually from Africa!!!

Me and my adopted "brother"

Love My Roomie and Disney-ese

I love love love my roommate! She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met!!!

We seriously lucked out in the rommate department! Sooo many people here cannont stand their roommates. I know it is impossible to bring so many people here from all over the world and not expect there to be some clashes ... but a lot of people are practically enemies with the people they live with. We are so blessed to get along so well!

Her name is Elise and she is from Brockton, Massachusetts, which is right outside of Boston. Thankfully, that makes her a Red Sox fan!! I was super worried about being paired up with a Yankees fan .... whew, that was such a relief!!

We are so much alike it is scary, and yet we get along so well. People keep asking if we are sick of each other yet, but it hasn't happened! We truly do enjoy spending time together and love hanging out. I am so happy that my roomie is one of my best friends here!!



I also wanted to give you a little lesson on Disney speak down here! WDW (Walt Disney World) has some pretty crazy names for things. While most businesses use ordinary names for things, we of course have to put a "magical" Disney spin on things .... all part of the show, you see.

For example, Disney does not have EMPLOYEES. Instead, all the workers are called CAST MEMBERS.

And we don't work in OFFICES or in a PUBLIC PLACE. Instead, we are either OFFSTAGE or ONSTAGE.

Also, we don't really work. You see, we are actually PERFORMING ROLES.

And we don't wear UNIFORMS at work ... we wear COSTUMES.

There are so many things that Disney changes .... I guess it is kind of fun when you think about it. They put a lot of work into making sure we keep up the appearance of the show.

When people come to Disney World, they spend a lot of time and money to get out of their REALITY. It is our job as cast members to put them in our FANTASY world and help them enjoy their time here.

Wow, that sounded like a rehearsed spiel!! I'm not even getting paid for that, haha!!!


Ya'll have a great weekend!
Love,
Kara

I Have Sand in My Ears!!

Hi everybody!

I have time for another quick update. Just got back from the beach today and had a BLAST. I went with Chris and Dan from the Port Orleans. The waves were amazing today!!

The beach we went to today was Cocoa Beach. I absolutely love living by the ocean and being able to just jump in the car and go whenever I have time.

It was actually pretty chilly today (and REALLY windy! The sand felt like needles blowing into our skin!). As you can see from the pictures, when we got out of the water, we had to bundle up in hoodies and sweats, but the water itself was warm and the sun came out later. If you want to see just how windy it was, check out this video of Dan trying to put up the beach umbrella!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPRq4EGAyW4

I have to admit, I curled up in a little ball, wrapped in a beach blanket, and dozed for awhile. Something about the crash of the ocean waves always lulls me right to sleep. I used to fall asleep to a CD of ocean sounds, but nothing beats the real thing!!

Well, guess I need to go try and get all the sand off ........

Love,
Kara

Time With Keat + My New Job

Keaton drove down a couple of weeks ago to visit and it was WONDERFUL to see him. We went to Universal Studios (gasp!! Disney's competiton, I know lol) Halloween Horror Nights, ate at Hard Rock Cafe, and walked around Universal's City Walk. We also went to Disney's MGM Studios and the Magic Kingdom. I thought I would share some more pictures of the Disney "magic" .....

I love the castle in the background!!

Of course, always having to plan and find directions .... lol





Marching Band at the Magic Kingdom






Captain Jack Sparrow visited Disney World!!!

And we also went to MGM!!

On another note, I have another job at the Port Orleans!! I still am working the front desk, but I have also been trained as a "runner" now. A runner has a million different tasks!! I have done so many things during my runner shifts. From delivering gift baskets and floral arrangements to letting in people who have locked themselves out of their rooms to taking guests to different resorts and parks all across Disney property; driving 15-passenger vans and pargos (golf carts) and company vehicles; taking care of "guest recovery" issues and answering questions all around the resort ..... a runner does it all!!



I really like the new tasks because it is a nice change from standing behind a desk all day. I feel kind of caged in after awhile when I am on front desk, so it is nice to switch off between desk and runner shifts. There is also a new costume I get to wear as a runner! It's just as nice as my front desk costume ... lol. I'll try to get a picture of that costume up here soon.

Tomorrow I have a lot of errands to run ... then I'll probably need to lay out at the pool for awhile, or maybe drive to the beach ..... but I'll try to get you another update soon if I can.



Have a wonderful week!
Kara

A Little Update Vid

Hi there!!

I am going to try to add a video here ...... let's see ......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ekEUNWCBg

**Side note: I am really really really bad with technology stuff, so if there is a better way to upload my videos and anyone is aware of it, please feel free to let me know!! :) **

I absolutely CANNOT believe that I have been here for over two months!! Time is flying! I am having sooo much fun, but things have been a whirlwind!

I have a couple of days off next week so I am planning doing several updates (and this time I PROMISE I will!!!) so check back next week!! I'm headed off to work today, so this video will be all for now.

I want to say a special hello to everybody in the Kristin Butke School. I miss you all so much and am looking forward to seeing you again soon!! Work hard for Miss Katie and Mrs Kristin. I can't wait to see all you have learned this semester!!

Love,
Kara