Yah, yah, i know...it's only been 5 months...

So I can barely remember what I did last Sunday let alone 5 months ago, but I'm going to try and break things down a bit since my return from Canada sooo long ago. Some key points and things that have happened....We'll go by month:)
August: Amy and her mum Lisa came and visited florida. They stayed at disney for a couple days then i went up to Daytona Beach with them for a couple days. It was sunny and we tanned and Lisa made some unbelieveably delicious food! I rarely cook, so having real food was fantastic. We went to go shopping after we dropped off the rental car and got crazy lost hiking around in the heat. It was quite the journey but we finally found a bus stop that took us back to where we needed to be...the hotel! We had this incredible view of the ocean.. the only thing between our room and the ocean was the pool!
In August I also started dating Barry. I wasn't going to write anything about him but 4 1/2 months later we're still together, and he's one of the main people I've done things with the last couple months. He's also Canadian from Ontario.
In the beginning of September Barry and I stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge in a savannah room. It was sooo much fun! We sat on the balcony and watched a giraffe lay down to sleep 25 feet from us! There were tons of zebras as well and this big ox/cow like things haha. They also had really good breads and dips from room service! get it! it's yummy :)
At the end of September Barry and I went to Miami for 4 days. We left after work and drove at night and were so tired we slept on the side of the road for a bit. yikes! We were trying to maximize time there by leaving as soon as we could, but we ended up being too sleepy from work. We had so much fun though, our hotel was on a boardwalk along south beach and we slept on the beach, played in the waves, rented a skidoo! ate on ocean drive, went shopping (yay) and just hung out. We had a really high room on the ocean side so it had a great view! Probably one of the best trips i`ve been on.
I don`t really remember October...I`m sure we did something. I think we stayed at the boardwalk (resort). It was gorgeous as well. We watched the first Hockey night in canada of the year at ESPN zone on the boardwalk. We waited forever to get a booth, and when we changed the channel to hockey on our tables personal tv we got booed by the college football fans! They`re nuts!!
November we went on a Disney Cruise!!!! It was a 4 night cruise and went to the bahamas (nassau) and castaway cay - disney`s private island! The food was yummy, the cast were friendly, the sun was fantastic and we had a room with a little deck so that was cool! We met some other really nice cast members that dined at our table as well as this family from tennesse (i think) that were so funny and nice. The people from the south always seem so friendly. By south i mean georgia and tennesse and even some texans..i know, i thought i`d never say it. That doesn`t mean they all are, but i`ve never been called ma`am and thanked so many times then when i have a southern table. Although they do have their opposites who demand plenty of A1 sauce and drink unsweet tea is if it`s going to disappear off the earth any second.
December was a rough month. Some of my favourite people left the program and it was really really hard to go back to work without them. Then christmas away from the family was really tough as well. We rarely are all together, so it was tough missing a time when we could have been. I love my family so so much. I worked december 24th, 25th, and 26th so it wasn`t much of a holiday. Then i also worked dec. 31st and jan. 1st. We sat until 10:50pm on new years eve so it was a late night but luckily my last table left right as the fireworks were starting so Barry, Aliiyah, Sam, Melanie and I went out and watched them. It was crazy spectacular! They set fireowrks off from behind the different countries in the order in which they celebrated new years and then had this countdown and went crazy from when new years hit america! The amount of ppl was crazyyyy but they were all pretty happy. Guests were a lot nicer and happier New Years eve then they were Christmas day. I know i focused mainly on trips, but i've been working all this time as well, and missed lots of other things I've done too. I went to Tampa with Jadrian and Jessica for a weekend to see So You think you can dance in october (i think) and we got our fortunes told! I went to a hockey game that Kim's Dad (Brad Lazarowich) was lineman in and we went downstairs afterwards and stayed over in the presidental suite at the marriot! It was crazy huge and soooo nice! I do have pictures of most of these things, but they are all in random places. I'll put them all together when i get home.
Home. sooooo freaky of a concept. This has become home to me and going back to Canada is a scary concept. I love it here and can't believe i have only 2 1/2 short months left.
This weekend coming up i'm going to Boston with my friend Melissa, and perhaps Washington, DC the weekend after and Chicago the weekend after that! Auntie Mary and Co. are coming down the first week of February and then i'm going to Mardi Gras (New Orleans) February 15th. Then just a month until this dream is complete. Time has gone so fast, but I've done some incredible things, met people that have changed my life and still have a lot left to do! I'll attempt to write something else before i leave, haha, but knowing me you'll just have to wait and see:)

Canada, My Canada...

Yes! I'm in Canada! Well to be exact i'm at my grandpa's house on his crazy nice MAC because coming home i have learned i clearly don't update my blog enough! I arrived here on Wednesday around 330pm and got picked up by my Mum, Dad, Sister Carrie, Uncle Sean and cousin Arek. It was a shock to see so many people there, and after travelling about 10 hours i was kind of tired and out of it. Then we drove over to my grandparents house where i surprised my Aunties/cousins!!! I somewhat live with them when i'm at school in ontario and we're super close and they had no idea i was coming so it was really fun to see their shocked expressions! We all hung out and had a big dinner. Then i went home and got to see my puppies! It was so nice to see the house and sleep in my own bed. The more i sleep in a real bed the more i'm tempted to buy one in florida. haha. we'lll seeeee. Thursday we tanned by the pool, swam and generally just hung out. it was good times! Friday we got some things done like going to the bank, and getting everything ready for the reunion the next day! Oh i got to see my friend carly thrusday as well and then Friday i saw Jaquelyn on break at MudSharks so that was exciting tooo!!! I didn't really tell many people i was coming home, mainly because i wanted to see my family and all the relatives that were visiting and kinda lay low. Saturday we went tot eh farmer's market in the morning, which is always so much fun. I loveee the market! Such a great vibe. Then we came back and got ready for the big BBQ. We had all the family that travelled in, plus all the family from the valley for a huge dinnner outdoors. There was soooooo much foood and drinks and it was fun. It was really nice having everyone together:) Once most of the guests left carebear, kimmers, mummm and i played scattegories (so much fun!) and the felllas drank outside listening to tuness. Being here has made me realize how im never really around adults anymore, and even though i have a tendency to misplacing things, i've become a lot more independent and in charge of my own life. which is goood i'm thinking. haha. Today we had a huge brunch at grandma and grandpa's which brings me to now. Auntie Barb and John left to head back down island and Kimmy and Gareth have to leave later as well. Tomorrow i'm spending most of the day with different friends, tuesday a mix of family, friends and getting things together, and wednesday i head back to vancouver to hang out with Amy! perhaps Lara, and then Kimmy and Gar for dinner and the airport! Visiting home is definately wierd, but also fantastic.
Thinking back to where i left off with work, things have gotten better. We're still working crazy amounts of days and MIDs, but people seem to be getting better at helping out and being kind. There are some great new people arriving and i'm getting to know the ones that arrived in the last month or so a lot better. It's hard to get to know all the new people when you're a server because you don't really get to spend time with them at work and then there isn't that much time outside of work to do things. So it took a bit longer but i love them! My roommmate Patricia left on wednesday and i just found out that my friend Courtney is moving in! She's from Barrie, Ontario, is underage like meeee, and also a vegetarian like me! Seems like things could go pretty well:)
I'll be sad to leave home, but I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of florida life. I know in like a week i'll be missing my family again! Loveeeeeeee u guys:)

Not much to sayyy

Well all i've really been doing is serving, serving and serving. I work all the time and it's kind of frustrating sometimes because the morale isn't the best at the restuarant. It's been a bit better lately except one certain person, but people don't really help each other as much as they should. Also i had a bunch of money stolen from work, which is my fault for having it there, but still sucks. I guess that was the small town girl coming out, trusting people. Anyways i have now bought a really big lock. I'm really really excited for a upcoming trip though!!!! I have 6 MIDs, 2 1015s and a PM and then i get to go!! I'm not really sure what else to talk about, i've been pretty sick lately, i have the worst cough that won't go away for the life of me. Because of that i've been taking it easy lately, not really going out much and trying to take care of my health. We had a really fun Christmas in July gathering last night though that my husband Craig and sister Kelly put on with their friend Emily. It was fun but made me sad about what real christmas will be like. It'll be tough being away from my family and our traditions and all the little things we usually do together. But we'll make the best of it here. I'll probably work. haha. Anyways, that's all i really have, i went and watched the beauty and the beast musical the other day and the indiana stunt show then it was alyssa's last day so i went and met her jaime and jadrian at magic kingdom and we rode big thunder mountain (my fav!), pirates and then went to the Polynesian resort and had dinner at Kona Cafe. After dinner we watched the magic kingdom fireworks, Wishes, on the beach at the resort with the music playing. It was really nice. Alyssa is from Qualicum Beach, and is an amazing girl i'm really going to miss. From the very start we kind of had this island connection and got along so well. I'm hoping i'll get to see her when i get back to Canada.
I'm off to downtown disney for dinner and a movie and a wee bit of shopping...love you!

Happy Canada Day! plus...

Happy Canada Day!!!!
So it was probably my favourite Canada day ever, which we all thought was kind of funny as we were celebrating in the States, although that could have added a lot to it. It was so cool being with Canadians from all over the country celebrating how much we love our country in another country. It made me feel really close to everyone. So in the morning we started off with pancakes and mimosas (for those of age) at Julie and Alyssa's apartment! It was so much fun and really got everyone in the spirit!! Then we caught the bus/a cab to Epcot and started our journey around the world in Canada. We watched the movie and then had Mercedes and Cherish's sing out at the restuarant.

Then Julia and i had dinner at Le Cellier, aka work, and were served by Spencer, Julia's boyfriend/a super cool baller. Both Julia and Spencer have been unreal to me since i started serving and help me out alot/give me pep talks haha. Julia had the filet and i had spinach gatinee with plain elbow pasta and mixed them together - yum! Then Ju went hom eand i joined up with all the other Canadians who had been drinking around the world. After hanging out in Mexico for a bit some of us went back to Canada to watch Chris' last speil in the attraction. Chris is this super brilliant, really great guy who is leaving early to go to university (western! yike! haha. i look past that) and it's sd because he's such an important part of our pavilion. He did the I Am Canadian speil outside the theatre and then this incredible speil inside. For attractions they can say anything they want in there last speil and Chris was no let down.

He said some really important things, plus a lot of things you wish you could say to guests everyday but definately can't lol. It was fantastic. Next we caught the end of Off Kilter (the canadian celtic rock band) and caught up with the rest of the Canadians. We caught a bus/cab home and later went out to Sun on the Beach. There was a hilarious michael jackson competition between presidents of the different countries drinking teams and Michelle, Canada's president, won!! Exciting! She gets to have a VIP party sometime or something. haha. It was just a really fun day with some incredible people. Oh! and we met up with a lot of Canadians that work in other parks (on the International college program) and one of them was this guy Kyle that i went to Queen's with and he lived 2 floors down from me in first year!! It was so crazy running into him and then realizing who he was and how i knew hiM! it was awesome!!!
Since then I've worked a couple more AM shifts and have made no money! It's really frusterating going in there, working hard and then coming out with nothing! I'm going to trya dn work a bit more, pick up some PM shifts (if they'll let me become mids, they're trying to not have as many) and hopefully start saving some real money.

Yesterday, July 4th (America's Independence Day), i worked an AM. When i got off, with Chantal and Heather, we went home, changed (well i fell asleep on Heather's couch for a bit) and then we came back to the park with Ashley brown. We went to Morrocco then ate at work - again! We had Lindsay and it was her first day! At 10 we went out to watch the fireworks. They had Illuminations like normal,and then a special American fireworks show. It was the first time i've really stood and watched Illuminations while i've been here (besides half watching while working popcorn/seeing parts of it canada day) and it made me really homesick and miss my Mum a lot. She's in love with fireworks so whenever i watch them i think of her anyways, but Illuminations is all about coming together and how even though we're from all different places and speak all different languages and believe different things and think differently we are all one in the end, and share one earth. It makes me emotional haha. I loveee it.
But I am definately feeling the distance from the Family right now. Gareth's mum is visiting from England meeting the family and I just wish so much that i could be there too. I miss the famiy afternoons by the pool swimming laughing and having a good time together. I'm so glad I'm here, and I love it here, but I definately miss my family. I love you guys!!
Anyways, tomorrow I work in the morning then have to try and find an outfit for girls. It's 80's neon which isn't the easiest, but it'll make me think. I'll let you all know if i come up with something good!
love!!

Service!!

Soooo I had service training last week. During training you work an AM, then 2 PMs then a last AM and during that AM you have an assessment. So my first day of training i had Mariah as my trainer. We got there for 915 and started did folders. For all training except food running you have to do folders reviewing what you've learned and such. The frist day Mariah did all the greeting of tables and i just helped bring drinks out, bus, watched how the computers worked, all those type of things. We were training in Nova Scotia. The second day I had Mariah as well and this time I had to have my own table the whole night! We were in Ontario and I was suppose to have a 4 top and a 2 top, but they kept making the whole middle section a 10 top so i only had the one table. I was soooo nervous, I tried to make Mariah greet at least the first one then i would go, but she said no dice and made me do it all. I was so nervous and sped through my greeting spiel. But as the night went things got a lot easier and less freaky and i even kind of enjoyed a few of the people. Mariah helped me plug everything into the computers and held my papers until it was time to bank out. The next morning I was with Emily in Saskatchewan. Sask. is two 4 tops and a 6 top. I was in charge of the 6 top and one of the 4s, until they turned the two 4s into a 7 and i had the whole section! The day went pretty well and Emily helped me out a lot. The next morning i was so sooo nervous for. It was not only my assessment day, i had to have my whole own section, but i was also training with Lauren. Lauren is a perminent server who is married to Jason (Jay) one of our expeditors. She is very to the point and some may say at times, harsh. So I got to work extra early to make sure there was no way i could be late. When i got there Lauren was on the phone a lot as was Jay and it turns out he had dropped his wallet the night before so they were trying to freeze all their banking. Lauren also had to train me, and open the whole restuarant at the same time. Then someone called in so Lauren had my section, plus a whole other 4 table section! Then for my assessment it started off as one manager, Janice, then 2 chefs came, then our area manager kept coming around, then our other manager, it was freaky! Overall it went okay and i passed!!!! Lauren was incredible and i really appreciated everything she did for me. She pushed me to be beyond perfect so that every day afterwards would be so much easier. I have so so much respect for her. So i became a server! That day a food runner also called in, so they extended me to food run that afternoon. Friday i had off, but can't actually remember what i did! yikes! haha. I'm sure it was something good... anyways then Saturday i had to food run again because of people on vacation etc. Sooo Sunday was my first service shift! Greg was otherwise occupied (in key west) so we had traded shifts so i was a mid, meaning i work all day! It was really stressful and people were mainly really helpful and great. However there was one server who works here all the time that is so full of himself and things he runs the place that wasn't so friendly. It's really frusterating when people who could do their job in their sleep won't be nice or even empathetic to someone who is brand new and freaking out and then talks about team spirit. Anyways, everyone else was fantastic and really I can't do anything about this guy so i just try to stay far away from him and not let him get under my skin. The next day i was only suppose to be an AM, but not extended to work all day. It went alright but i felt like my section was empty alot. Each day gets litle easier and goes a little smoother. Tuesday went really well and i felt good about it and today was good too. I was a PM in Northwest Territories. I had some good tables that were interesting to talk to.
Wednesday was Canada Day and was sooo much fun! i actually took my camera out for once so i have pictures! i'll update all about my adventures yesterday soon. I'm now working until next wednesday and then i have 2 days off and am staying at Coronado Springs with Michelle and Ashley!!!! I'm sooo excited!!! Tomorrow I'm a 1015 though, so i should get to sleep.
love you family, miss you lots!