Saturday, June 12, 2010

In case you hadn't heard...

I got a full-time job. Wednesday afternoon I got a phone call asking me to be in Mobile, AL ready to work at 6am Thursday morning. I packed up a suitcase and started the 3.5 hour trip. Since then I have worked 3 12 hour days. Basically all I have done in the evenings is come home and sleep. It is exhausting but I really love my job. The only thing that would make it better is if Trevor was here. I hate being away from him.

I am working for Patriot Environmental Services as an Administrative Assistant/Data Entry Specialist. It is not a job working in drafting like I had wanted but the pay is excellent with lots of overtime. It is not permanent but could last up to 2 years, depending on how long it takes to stop the oil spill in the gulf and get it cleaned up.

Right now, my sister, Rachel, and I are staying with a family but after my first paycheck I will probably move into an extended stay hotel. We thought about renting and apartment but since I don't know how long I will be here and there is a possibility of transfer, I didn't want to commit to a lease.

The last few days at work have been a bunch of red tape and preparation for the President to come here on Monday. The Secret Service have been canvasing the Theodore Staging Areas(where the cleanup is being based from) and changing things around. Tomorrow will be filled with a lot of last minute details to get things fully prepped for his visit. Monday should be interesting. I get paid to hang out with the President of the United States. Nice, huh? :)

One of the Boom Repairmen that work in my department brought a watermelon into work. I didn't realize it until I walked out of my office and saw several of the guys eating. Not good. I had an instant reaction. The parametics hooked me up with a double dose of benadryl shot into my upper left arm. Needless to say, I was very sleepy. Patriot had paid for a room at the Holiday Inn that was empty so they took me there and let me sleep for 4 hours and then I went right back to work. I feel fine now. Seeing as how this is summer in the south, I will probably have a few more encounters before summer is over. The main parametic said that since this allergy has progressively gotten worse and it isn't just an injestion allergy(I don't have to eat it. If I am around it or within smelling range, my throat swells up, I start shaking and my face starts itching), it will probably get to a point where it will be life threatening to be around watermelon.  Lovely. He said that I should consider getting an epi pen in a few years but for now benadryl should work.

I am sorry that I didn't get to finish the Disney Blog Carnival but I will probably put up the posts and link up later once I am home and have my laptop/access to pictures. Right now I am on Rachel's desktop.

It's almost 9pm and way past bedtime. 4am comes awfully early. Hopefully I can finish catching up on blogs soon. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Disney Blog Carnival: Food

Thanks for doing this blog hop Jaci - I am loving it!
It's Day 3 of the Disney Blog Carnival and we are talking about FOOD!
Considering it is one of my favorite things, Disney or not, I can't believe how few pictures I have. That is definitely something I will work on for future trips.

Here is a picture of T and I on our trip February 2010. Please ignore all of the empty dishes in front of us. This picture was taken at Tony's Town Square Restaurant. It was our last day of our trip and our first time to eat at this restaurant. Lots of good memories!

The next restaurant is one of our favorites - the 50s Prime Time Cafe.  We love this restaurant and have gone many, many times. The theming is amazing, the service is great(especially if you like sarcastic "aunts" and "uncles" telling you to mind your Ps and Qs at the dinner table) and the food is excellent. These pictures were taken on our honeymoon, March 2008.
We had our own personal tour guide for parts of our honeymoon in the form of one of my dearest friends and sorority sister, Ila.
When my family came to visit October 2008, we went to the Hoop De Due Revue on the Dining Plan. It was loved by all of us and we plan to go back. The entertainment is great for all ages and the food was delicious and all you can eat.
The only character meal I have ever done was the Chrystal Palace with my family(October 2008). It was buffet style so we all got our fill of food and the characters came around multiple times so we never missed a shot with any of them.Unfortunately all of those pictures are on my mom's computer.


Here is an part of an interview I did with Mommy Mouseketeer, a great source for all things Disney, regarding Disney Dining.

Name your favorite restaurants:

I am going to list both Quick Service(QS) and Table Service(TS) because I know that few people can afford all table service meals on their magical vacation. :)

Magic Kingdom: QS - Pinocchio's Village Haus (great theming, variety of food for any tastes), TS - Liberty Tree Tavern or Chrystal Palace (amazing buffet!)
Disney Hollywood Studios: QS - Sunset Market Ranch (ok, I might be slightly biased since I worked here part of the time I was at WDW - but it has a nice variety of food) or ABC Commissary (indoor quick service), TS - 50's Prime Time Cafe (I adore the theming here and the food was always delicious!)
Epcot: QS – Sunshine Seasons (great alternative to typical QS fair such as salads, rotisserie chicken, salmon and pork chops as well as vegetable sides), TS - Teppan Edo (marvelous Japanese food served hibachi style and sushi)
Animal Kingdom: QS - Flame Tree Barbeque, QS and TS - Yak and Yeti (this restaurant is divided into 2 parts, outdoor QS and indoor TS. Delicious Asian food)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Disney Blog Carnival: Rides

It's day 2 of Jaci's Disney Blog Carnival over at Me and My SoldierMan.
If you are just stopping in, check out my Day 1 post on the Disney Parks.

Disney Blog Carnival: Rides

I really wish I had the time to dig in my Disney treasure box and scan in some of our ride pictures. I guess that is a post for another day. We love the rides at Disney and have ridden almost every single one of them multiple times. One of the best things about the attractions at Disney - theming. I love going through the different queue lines and seeing all the time and effort that was put into the design. One of my favorites is one of the newer rides at Disney - Toy Story Midway Mania. If you haven't ridden it yet, it is a must! Everything is oversized so that you feel like you are a toy yourself. :)



Hollywood Tower of Terror - another great queue leading up a classic ride.

T's favorite ride: Rock N' Roller Coaster. Good queue line but I don't have many good pictures of it.
One of my favorite rides: The Great Movie Ride. I'm telling you, I seriously was born in the wrong time period.
A dying part of Disney is the Backlot Tour. Correct me if I am wrong but last I heard, when we were there in February, they said it would be closing and possibly reopening as a new attraction. Maybe Radiator Springs? If this ends up being true, I will miss Backlot but I am excited to see what they would replace it with.
Backlot Tour starts out with guests re-enacting some scenes from the movie Pearl Harbor. Yep, that is T and his buddy James. ;)
The tour runs through the back part of Hollywood Studios, which can only be accessed by guests through the Backlot Tour. Throughout the tram ride, you will see movie props(cars, planes, etc) and an interior view of the costuming department.

Near the end of the tour is Catastrophe Canyon. In this part of the tour they show you how they create special effects in "disaster" scenes.
The last "prop" that you see is Walt Disney's private plane. This is the plane that Walt and his team used to fly back and forth from California to Florida during the planning of Walt Disney World.

There are SO many great rides and attractions at Disney. It would take a post for each one to encompass everything about them. Perhaps that is a post series in and of itself. ;)

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Disney Blog Carnival: Parks

Sweet Jaci over at Me and My Soldier Man is holding a Disney Blog Carnival this week. If you have been around here for any time you already know that is is easily one of my favorite subjects. I have entirely too many park pictures from Disney so for now I am sticking to honeymoon pictures. Don't ask me how but I don't think I have any pictures from Animal Kingdom from our honeymoon. We really didn't spend a whole lot of time there.

Entrance to Magic Kingdom on our first day in the parks. I don't even have to get into the square before I get goose bumps and giddy. =)
Me and my love
We didn't buy the bride and groom hats but we have the stereotypical picture...
But we also decided to change it up a bit. Ha, this picture is actually one of my all-time favorites.
Yes, Christmas all year round. :)
Parade time
Ferry ride back to the TTC (Ticket & Transportation Center)
I adore him!
Day Two was spent at Hollywood Studios

Strangely enough, most of the pictures we have of the two of us were taken during a little photoshoot on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playset.
Us in a nutshell. Ha

T sticking his hand in the dog's nose.
Me inside of the dog's nose
Day Three - Epcot, Fantasmic and the Grand Floridian

This is my own personal picture of the pink monorail going through Epcot. It honestly gives me goosebumps. For those who are Disney Geeks, the pink and purple monorails were retired and parts were used to create a teal monorail after the July 5th, 2009 crash that killed Austin Wuennenberg, a 21 year old cast member who was piloting one of the monorails.



Lights, Motors, Action
LMA is one of T's favorite attractions and his buddy James is a trainer for cast members that work at LMA.
When T started working at Studios, he asked the security guard if he remember "arresting" someone a few months before. He remembered and teased T every time he saw him back stage.
Tram ride back to the parking lot.

That's all for Monday. Tune in Tuesday for Disney Blog Carnival: Rides!