I honestly can't believe I'm here! I would have blogged sooner, but we (the technically challenged roommates and I) couldn't get our internet to work. We, then, found out it wasn't something that we were doing wrong - the people that lived here before us apparently thought they should steal the power cord to the modem when they moved out. But they left the modem. Doesn't really make much sense. It's like stealing only one shoe; it's stupid and pretty darn pointless. And according the maintenance man, these are the same people that put bubbles in the fountain at the entrance and flooded the apartment. Awesome.
Anyways, so since I've been here 5 days now (which, in a good way, already feels like I've been here for months!), y'all have a lot of catching up to do :)
My Journey to Florida
Mom and I left NRH on Friday around 9 am and I drove allllll the way to Shreveport, where we stopped for a bathroom/snack break. We then drove down to Natchitoches, Louisiana so we could see where they filmed one of our favorite movies, "Steel Magnolias." After spending a couple hours in that adorable little town, we jumped back into the car and drove all the way to Gulfport, Mississippi, where we ate IHOP and stayed the night in a quaint little hotel. The next morning, we got our continental breakfast and drove about 5 minutes down the main street of Gulfport, which took us right to the coast! We, of course, took pictures, and then hopped back into the car to head toward Florida! We passed through Alabama, and finally got to Florida around noon and briefly stopped at the Florida Welcome Center to (of course) take pictures :) We continued on toward Tallahassee, then passed right through it, determined to get to Orlando! We were about an hour away from Orlando, and for some reason, my GPS decided to give up (she'd traveled a LONG way with us) and started giving us the most off-the-wall routes to get to Orlando. Let me just say we ended up driving right through the ghetto of Florida. Bleh. But we made it to our hotel and almost immediately went to sleep. That is, after we figured out how the elevators worked and had to get ice at the front desk because the "official" ice makers were out of ice. Swell. The next day we drove around town to scope out where I'd be living and found the closest malls, Wal-Mart, grocery store, & Chick-Fil-A - the essentials. We did some shopping and later on in the evening, met up with Ashton and her mom for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Downtown Disney. With another long day ahead of us, we all went back to our hotels for a good night's sleep.
Day 1 - Move-In Day!!!!!
The first hour or so of the day began with waiting in a line. A LONG line. Normally, I would have found this extremely boring, but the longer I stood in line, the more people I met. Some people of which are from New York, Australia, California, and some from Utah. They, of course, knew I was from Texas from the dead-giveaway "y'all" that I kept using. It was either that or the fact that I was wearing my maroon Texas State hoodie. Either one. Ashton, one of my amazing roommates, met up with me in line so we could make sure we would be able to live together. We proceeded to fill out some paperwork, request what apartment we wished to live in, and what size apartment we wanted, take our Chatham Square Apartment ID picture, pick up our apartment key, as well as our parking decals. Then, we hopped onto a large tour bus with other CP (College Program) people and headed to "Casting" where we would find out our roles and complete even more paperwork, fingerprinting, and background checks. It honestly felt like I was coming into a new country and going through Customs. It was crazy. But the enthusiasm and happy, welcoming attitudes by the other Cast Members made a chaotic process organized and thorough. After Casting, Ashton and I headed back to Vista Way (where we started the check-in process), met back up with our moms, jumped into our cars, and headed over to our new apartment! We got all moved in and were exhausted. Sleeeeep!!!
Day 2
Free day! We organized the rest of my room, did some shopping, and drove around Orlando. I took my Mom back to her hotel for the shuttle could take her to the airport, and I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to say goodbye. And yes, I sat in the parking lot and cried. But only for a little while before I realized that I was in the Happiest Place on Earth and that I should be thrilled. Yes, being away from everyone is hard, but in the end, this will all be SO worth it. Later that evening, Florida was under a tornado warning. Awesome. I guess when I moved here, I brought the tornadoes with me... But the storm passed and we were ok. But we were all freaking out just a tad there at the beginning.
Day 3
Traditions day! We had our first official day of training. Traditions was a long day, but it was very rewarding. We were given our official name tags and we received a surprise while at Traditions :) We were done around 6pm and we headed back to the apartment. Then, Ashton and I got ready and we met up with some friends from school/home Albert and Keith at Buffalo Wild WIngs (which, after 10, turns into a night club. It's bizarre). It was nice to see people I recognized!
Day 4
Training. On the computer. Boring. But that night, Patterson Court (another apartment complex) hosted a CP party by the pool! It was a blast with all of my roommates and all of the fun people we've met thus far. Then, my Australian friend came over, and we all gathered around the TV to watch some Jersey Shore!
Day 5
More training at Disney's All-Star Resort. Loooong day. Then, we had a roommate dinner (along with some other friends we've met), followed by some "Apples to Apples" and "Phase 10" :)
Today
My first official day of work. Wish me luck!
Miss you all! Let's Skype soon :)
-Chels
Silly things that have happened / been said over these past few days:
*"Did y'all drive here?" - me, talking to some Australian boys about their hometown
*"Ice." - Courtney, telling us someone was at the door to check on our ice maker
*"Has anyone seen Courtney?" "Check the dishwasher" - Tonya & I obviously having 2 different converstations....
"She was... neat." - Ashton referring to a girl at training
"What's a SKIP?" "Marquise, do you need a 'one'?" "Yessss...." - good times with Phase 10
*Sexy Susan's - Abby's favorite place to shop. lol
*"Girl, you must have an extra pair of wings" - Megan referring to me and my accident-prone tendencies
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