This is going to be a long post. Put your seatbelts on.

I’m sorry that I haven’t blogged in so long. My plan was to blog 1-2 times/ week, but so far that has failed! I shall do betta.

Holy cow time passes quickly in Florida! I can’t believe I have lived here almost 3 weeks. Slow down!!

This week has been great! Last week I had my Ellis lifeguard training. It’s a 3 day course, and we learn CPR, AR, First-Aid, and rescue scenarios. It was a lot of fun! There were lifeguards going to work at Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, the resorts, cruise ships, and Castaway Cay. It was fun to talk about our different roles and plans. On our first day, we were all in the pool learning rescue scenarios, and I looked up in the sky and someone in a plane had written “Thank you Jesus” in the sky. The things you see in Florida. :)

After my first day of training, I went to Magic Kingdom and met up with my friend’s awesome parents, the Hubert’s. It is so fun to see people from back home in Florida! We had dinner, and then afterward I walked around the park by myself for a little bit. This will probably sound weird, but I absolutely love being in the parks by myself. I don’t know what it is, but I love taking everything in and people watching by myself. I sound like the biggest creep. It’s also fun to FaceTime my family with the castle behind me and make them jealous ;)

Crazy story! The day before, Sunday, Ashley and I went to a CES devotional at the church by Magic Kingdom. There was an investigator that came with the missionaries, and he lived in the same complex as us (Vista Way) so we rode the bus home together. This is his 3^rd program here, and his first program he lived in the exact same apartment and room as us!!! Crazy and creepy right?! It was so funny. My first day in Florida, I met another girl who lived in my apartment a few months earlier. It’s a small world after all (see what I did there?).

Our third day of Ellis training was a test day that lasted 6 hours. My group passed! Later that night, we went to a party for CP’s only at Typhoon Lagoon. So. Much. Fun!! There was a DJ on the beach, a HUGE wave pool to catch waves in, rides, and free food. It was also nice to get to know the park a little before I started working there.

I had the next day off, so I met up with my Aunt Katie who was in Florida on vacation! We ate lunch and hung out at her resort pool. Seeing her helped me not miss my own family so much.

The next day, I had my first day of training at Typhoon Lagoon. My trainer was hilarious. During our training he said, “I think you need to have some hands on training to fully grasp how to be a lifeguard”, and we starting riding the slides. After “work”, if you can even call that kind of day work, I got to see more friends from home! Trent’s girlfriend, Hope, was visiting her family, so we met up at Epcot and chatted by Mexico. It’s not every day you get to hang out with friends from home at Disneyworld. I love these kinds of moments.

I had to work on Mother’s Day, unfortunately. The whole day definitely didn’t feel like a Sunday. After work, me and my friends went to the 8pm Sacrament. We ended up accidentally going to the wrong church that was right across the street from the Orlando Temple! So we got to walk around the temple grounds, which was lovely.

Monday was my last day of training, which was another test day. I passed that, and now I am lifeguarding all by myself in the parks! I was so nervous my first day, but no one died on my watched, so I would call that a success. It amazes me how many accents and languages I hear all the time. People will come up to me to ask me questions in all sorts of languages and I probably look dazed and confused. Also, the other day there was a lady breastfeeding in the lazy river, so that was a fun conversation to have with a stranger. “Ma’am, I’m gonna need you to not do that here…”

The other day I was working at a slide and this little girl came up to ride, and she started talking in the thickest British accent I’ve ever heard. I could barely understand her! Then amidst the chatter she points to her happy birthday tattoo and says, “Oh yeah and today it’s mah buhfday”. I said, “Happy birthday!” and she kept talking and then said, “Yeah well I’m gonna ride the ride now. Tootaloo!” And she goes down the slide. I was dying laughing. She went down the ride at least 5 more times and said, “Tootaloo!” every time she went down it. Whoever her parents are- you’re doing it right.

I think my favorite rotation is guarding the lazy river. People do not know how to get on the tubes. It’s hilarious. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen sit on the tube and completely flip over under water. I am unsuccessful at hiding my laughter.

On Wednesday, I had a day off, so me, Ashley, and our friend Allison went to do baptisms for the dead at the temple. We were the only ones there, and the temple president came down to greet us, which was really cool. We were planning on going to Blizzard Beach afterward, but it started pouring rain. Instead, Ashley and I went to a place called Cast Connections; they sell discounted produce and merchandise, where we saved a lot of money on groceries and got some sweet merchandise.

I have noticed the hand of God in so many little things lately. I’ve been trying to work a lot of hours, and to do that you have to go online and check for extra hours that are available. They are posted at random times, and people take them pretty quickly. The other day I was putting away some dishes, and this little thought in my head said, “Go online right now and check for hours”. I thought it was just me being weird, but I ran and got my phone and checked. Sure enough, 2 shifts had opened up that would give me a lot of extra hours! That was definitely not me. I was also really worried about making friends at work, and just in general. So many people have reached out to me and have made me feel a lot more welcome. It just shows me how God is always watching out for us, even the little things.

And there you have it! I haven’t gone to the parks a ton, as you can probably see, so my goal over the next few weeks is to go to the parks every possible moment!

Also, I’m starting to say y’all. It’s happening. And I’m ok with it.

Y’all have a magical day, ya hear?

My view from my apartment. Wow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I totally lucked out in the roommate department. 

 

 

 

 

 

I got this at Cast Connections for 50 cents!! My middle name is Dianne, and they spelled it right too, so I had no choice but to buy it.

 

 

 

 

Another Cast Connections find. 

 

 

 

 

In our apartments we aren't allowed to put anything up on the walls. I didn't know this, and we had a cleaning check, so I just put all my taped pictures underneath my sheets. The next night when I came home from work late, I was so lazy, I pulled my sheets off my bed and just slept without them. 

 

 

 



 

I love Florida.

What a week!! I feel like I have been here for two months already, but it’s only been 6 days! I hope time goes super slow while I’m here, but I know it’s gonna fly by.

Here is a recap of my crazy fun week!

On Wednesday I went to my swim test that was rescheduled because of the crazy storm a couple days before. Drum roll……… I PASSED! Thank heavens. That would have been embarrassing if I failed. Now that the stress of possibly failing the test is over, I am thrilled about my role and can’t wait to start working at Typhoon Lagoon! I’ll be doing shallow water lifeguarding there. I am beyond excited. My goal is to come back and have none of you recognize me because I am so tan. ;)

Later that day we had a housing welcome meeting. We still hadn’t received our ID’s at this point. My roommate who came a few months earlier hadn’t used her free passes yet, and she invited me and my other 2 roommates to come with her to Hollywood Studios with her! Unfortunately, it started pouring rain right as we were about to get on the bus, so instead we did some shopping at the outlet malls. It was so fun going to all the stores that we couldn’t afford. ;) They do have a fabulous Forever 21, though. Holy cow.

Here’s a tip for anyone interested in doing the Disney College Program, or anyone about to come do the program. Dye your hair one color. My hair wasn’t all the same color, so I had to go get it dyed. Now I am a blonde! And duh, we do have more fun.

On Thursday, we had Traditions at Disney University. We learned lots of cool new things, got to go through some of the tunnels at Magic Kingdom, and Mickey Mouse came in and gave us our nametags!!!! That was a magical moment. And then, another CP (college program) moment, we got our ID’s. Hallelujah. We then booked it back to Magic Kingdom to play the rest of the day. Not that we needed to make a run for it; we have almost 4 months to play!

We had the next day off, so me and my three friends, Ashley, Clayton, and Maddie, spent the day at Hollywood Studios. It was super rainy all day, but that made it more fun! And the lines were a lot shorter, so I am not complaining there.

Friday was another day of training, and this one was more specific to our roles. I am the only lifeguard in the group of people who arrived April 28 (which is almost all BYU kids), so I went to training for lifeguards with other cast members who are not CP’s. Next week, instead of going to training at Disney University, I’ll have training at Mickey’s Retreat (it’s a place with a lake, pools, and areas to play sports and relax). I’m excited!

Life outside Utah is soooo different. I’m sure all of you who have spent your lives outside of Utah are more than aware of this, but this is my first time living outside of Utah (except when I lived in Arizona, but that was until I was 6. It doesn’t really count). I am definitely in the minority. I am continually surprised at how different my lifestyle is from other people. During my lifeguard training, our teacher talked about how important it is that we do not show up to work drunk, and that we don’t spend all night up partying if we are working an opening shift. I was like well duh! No dip!

 The one thing that surprises me the most is how many people smoke here. It’s crazy. People! Smoking kills you! And then there is the climate. Florida is so stinkin awesome. I love how green it is, all the palm trees, and the humidity! The humidity is not that bad. I was prepared for the worst, but it is lovely! My skin is the softest it’s ever been, and now my naturally super curly hair can be free! Even though the majority of everyone I interact with live completely different lifestyles, I love being here. I can’t wait to get through training and actually start lifeguarding at the parks. It’s gonna be the greatest summer ever!

Have a magical day!

OH and… May the fourth be with you. :)