Just another day in paradise.

Hullo all,

It's another beautiful day her at Disney World. By that I mean we're under a tornado warning, the rain is simply terrifying, and the gusts of wind can literally knock me off my feet. But, none of that really matters when you're curled up on the couch watching Tangled! I couldn't have been happier to see it, honestly. There's something so wonderful about a Disney Princess movie, especially one with such a good message to young girls. People spend the whole movie after Rapunzel's hair, and in the end, it turns out that she's wonderful and beautiful and just who she should be, even without her special hair. Something we all should remember, really.

Other news from the Disney front - apparently April is come and visit Becca month! I've got best friends, camp loves, and even my family coming down to celebrate the wonder that is Disney and, of course, to visit me. It's supposed to clear up nicely once March is all said and done, so after this week things really ought to be swell. I'm really excited to have some familiar faces coming to see me - it'll be a nice change of pace.

On a closing note - there's something to be said for a job wherein you get to interact with lots of people for limited amounts of time. You really develop a knack for knowing how people are going to act and behave and sometimes it's pleasant, and sometimes it's really disappointing. But that's humanity sometimes, and all in all I'm still amazed by just how wonderful people can be.

Trivia time! In the spirit of the theme, of course, some Rapunzel trivia. That girl's got a LOT of hair that does some rather incredible stuff during the film, but just how much hair does Rapunzel have? According to the sources that be, Rapunzel has 70 feet of animated, glowing, magical hair. Now you know!

There's a Big, Bright, Beautiful Tomorrow, shining at the end of every day.

It's nice to be acknowledged, even when it's by surprise. I go to work and try to do my best everyday, and honestly, cheesy at it sounds, that's enough for me. But there's something to be said for being acknowledged by your managers.

This week I got handpicked to co-create a liaison position at work with another girl and I could not be more pleased. When my manager pulled me aside to let me know this she also informed me that the managers had met to throw names around and one hundred percent, without a moment's hesitation - I was in. I feel pretty special, to be honest. I am super self conscious now, because I want to keep being impressive to my managers, but I have to be careful to take a deep breath and calm down - they loved me just the way I am, no need to go trying to be a superhero. They like me real. It's a good thing to hear, and it only confirms that this is where I've been looking for all along.

Fun fact for the day - The Carousel of Progress, which originated at the 1964 World's Fair as one of the four pavilions designed by Disney and his team is considered to be one of the more outdated rides in the Magic Kingdom. Some question it's purpose in the park - but more than anything else in the entirety of Walt Disney World, the Carousel of Progress is nostalgic. It is the single, only attraction in the park that Walt himself has ridden in. Granted, it's been a few years since those days, but that's a trait that's not true of anything else in the Florida properties, and so it's something that we hold incredibly dear.

Bubbles.

I'm pretty much accustom to living in bubbles. From a small home town, to a small university, to a summer camp, back to the small university, to a land all its own here at Disney. You forget that there's a world out there that exists independently of what seems so crucial to those in the bubble with you. My biggest problem though is that I get so caught up in whichever bubble I'm currently in that I forget about the other bubbles. Places where I've found a home, found my place, found the truest of friends, and found places that are mine. It's something that a treasure, which is why I'm always surprised when I stop one day and realize that it's been ages since I've texted a best friend, or called my grandparents, or even just dropped a facebook message to let someone know that I still think about them all the time.

I'm sorry. I'm the kind of person who lives where they are. I'm not very good at touching base regularly or keeping in the loop when I'm so far out of it. I forget that there are reasons that people are so incredibly important to me, so it's nice to have those days where the universe comes together with the answers to help you out and to get you back on track with life.

Life here is fabulous, don't misunderstand - I'm so incredibly grateful for what I'm doing here, what I'm learning, and the experiences that are changing my life daily - but it's moments like this when I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Fun fact for the day, boys and girls, did you know that Jiminy Cricket is composed of 27 individual colors in order to give him depth and a uniquely tangible quality? Well, you do now!

And the world spins backward on its axis...

I haven't been going to church here in Orlando. It's been a bit of a social experiment of my own invention. My logic is that after nineteen years of almost continuous church, a break may not be a bad thing. However, here I am just over seven weeks into my program and the biggest of stumbling blocks took out my well laid experiment.

Ash Wednesday.

I know, for most it's the beginning of Lent, but past that there's not a deep tie, but I think that of all of the church holidays - Christmas and Easter included - Ash Wednesday is the one that is most important to me. It's the one church holiday that is about vulnerability and reality and imperfection and stripping away all of the nonsense in a way that no other church holiday is. I like that. Then again, I like the aspect of being vulnerable in church. I think that's a place that should always be safe - it's not always true, but it should be. So, being all by myself, away from my nuclear family, my church family, my school family...it was much tougher than I had anticipated. 

All that said, I do love Disney. It's more removed that I thought it would be. I was used to the Valpo bubble, but the Disney bubble is even more impenetrable. It's crazy.