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 3rd 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment