Ohana Means Family. Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind Or Forgotten.

Hey y'all! (I'm determined to try and say this more in normal conversation) I have a few more blog posts to chronicle my internship, so here it goes. Better late than never, right?

Thursday, Nov 17th: Somehow, at BTN, I got stuck doing most of the work. Megan and I were the only regular interns, and we had two new girls. So I started by showing Natalie how to clean all of the reptiles' cages, which included 13 turtles and tortoises, plus Spike, our Iguana. We split the work, but it still took forever! After that, I cleaned all the flight cages (Vulture, Great Horned Owl, 2 Barred Owls, and Bald Eagle) and fed the birds. After I finished, Debbie asked if I could handle the other birds. So I cleaned/fed our Red-Tailed Hawk and 4 Screech Owls, too. Miraculously, after I finished all my work, I still left on time!

I headed home and took a quick shower, and then picked up Sonia from work. Tonight was the Pens/Lightning game in Tampa!!! We got to the arena pretty early, so we waited for my Aviary friend Jenise to get there. I was so excited to see a friend from home!! Our seats were actually pretty amazing--we were really close to the glass! Thank you, Stubhub, for the awesome tickets! Unfortunately, there was a douche bag Bolts fan behind us who, whenever we had a shot that didn't go in, would yell "NOPE!" His other two common phrases were "Booyah!!" (who says that??) and "Run it!!" He was incredibly annoying, so I decided to return the favor. I started using his phrases whenever something good happened for the Pens. It must have worked because he left after the 2nd period haha. That's right, don't mess with me! It was a good game, but we lost 4-1. Kennedy scored our only goal. Oh well, it was still fun! When we got home, I bought a ticket for the JOSH TURNER concert at House of Blues!!

Friday, Nov 18th: Today I had to go to the Orlando Courthouse to handle my whole speeding ticket situation. It was kind of nerve-wracking because I had to go through a security check like they have at airports. When it was finally my turn, I paid $10 and showed my license so I could dismiss that initial fee for not having it when I got pulled over. Then I paid off the speeding ticket (seeee ya pay check!). The guy at the desk also said that if I completed online traffic school, my 3 points would be cleared from my record, yippee!

A bit later, I met up with Steph and we went character hunting at DAK! We met 18 out of 25 of them--winning! Our adventure continued on the safari--we saw baby Jabali!! Then we had ice cream, did some shopping, and watched some of the parade.

Happy Holidays from Animal Kingdom!

Although the afternoon was fun, the evening would prove to be nothing short of unforgettable. I could not WAIT for the concert. By the time I got in line at 7:00, it was already wrapped around the back of HOB!! I wasn't gonna let that long line stop me from getting up close to smokin' hot Josh Turner, though! While a ton of people headed for the bar or upstairs to the merch table, I ran right to the stage and got pretty close. A local band called Jill's Cashbox opened up, and they were really good. They played some original tunes, and also a few covers of Jason Aldean and Jake Owen. Josh FINALLY came on at 9:40 and I'm pretty sure I've only ever been that excited for a concert once before (Keith Urban). I can't even explain how amazing it was. Josh is so charismatic, genuine, and a great performer. He played every song I'd hoped for, and I sang every single word with him. After the show, I waited around, hoping for an encore, but there wasn't one. It was ok, though! His mandolin player threw guitar picks into the crowd. He pointed at a girl and threw it toward her, but it landed on my arm and I caught it!! Haha sorry, I wasn't about to give that back! Then I went upstairs and bought a Josh Turner tour shirt. After that, I went home, feeling like I was on cloud nine. What a perfect night! One good thing about Orlando is all the awesome concerts they have, and going to these shows has been one of my favorite things during my internship.

Saturday, Nov 19th: Back to work. We only had 12 presenters today, but I didn't realize that that meant the schedule was changed. So after Tree of Life, I went to the gibbons as normal. At 11:57, I was talking to Nick and we realized I should have been in Dinoland. OOPS. So I bolted over there to bump Megan a little late. My bad.

After work, Sonia and I met a few of the Pooh characters. They were too adorable to exclude from this post. Christmas cards, anyone?

Monday, Nov 21st: Not a bad day! I jumped in the hot tub with my girls after work, and then watched the Pens game. It was Sidney's first game back from his concussion, and we won 4-0!!! YEAH!

Tuesday, Nov 22nd: Today, Sonia and I worked late due to our longer holiday hours, so we closed CS an hour later than usual. While I was at the flamingo exhibit, a dad said to his kid, "Look, flamingos! That's what rednecks put in front of their trailers!" HAHAHA. Best quote ever.

After work, Sonia and I met up with Hulbie and Nicole at Hollywood Studios. We saw the famous Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, which is a display of millions of Christmas lights throughout the Streets of America. It was unbelievably beautiful! Every 15 minutes, the lights would blink and "dance" to the choreography of different holiday songs. At the end, snow fell down from the sky. That was one of those moments at Disney I'll never forget.

Wednesday, Nov 23rd: It was kind of slow at CS with Julie, so I decided to make a few lists. Lists of characters I still need to meet, ride/attractions I need to do, and other tasks I need to complete before January 7th. Boy, I still have a lot to accomplish!

Right after work, Steph took me to the airport because I was going home to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving!! When I got to my gate (wearing a Pitt Panthers shirt), a woman clad in a Mountaineers shirt sat across from me. Another man said, "A Pitt fan and a WVU fan together??" We joked that we were being civil to each other haha. It turns out they both were WVU alumni. Love that hometown connection in Florida!

It was so good to be back home in the Burgh--even if it would just be for a short trip.

Thursday, Nov 24th: Happy Thanksgiving! Today was such a great day because I got to see a lot of my family, especially those that I haven't seen in a long time! The Rihs clan headed over to my uncle's church so we could help set up for dinner. Meanwhile, all of the little kids ran around and played with each other to get rid of some of their crazy energy. Thanksgiving dinner was soooo delicious! Afterward, I watched Cars 2 with all of the little ones. Overall, it was a wonderful night with family! But it wasn't over yet.

I'm the only one over the age of 7 watching Cars 2 in this picture. Haha.

Jonathan, Staci, and I went to Target at midnight for Black Friday. It was exciting because I'd never done that before. There wasn't anything specific I wanted, so when we got in, I went straight for the movies. I bought Glee season 1, Dexter season 3, Rio, Sherlock Holmes, and Batman Begins for just under $50! What's even better is that I saved $76!!! Yeah, buddy!!! Black Friday shopping was so worth it!

Friday, Nov 25th: In the morning, I played with the kids for a while, and then went to OT Park for frisbee!!! It was a good turnout--14 people. However, the field was really muddy. When I went to cut for the disc, I slipped and fell on my back. I was covered in mud, but it was pretty hilarious. I don't think I appreciated JC ultimate enough until I graduated, so I enjoy being able to play with my high school friends. Later that afternoon, my uncle and cousin came by to take me to the airport. Time to go back to Orlando. While I waited for Sonia to pick me up, I watched a Spanish family cram 7 suitcases and 7 people into their tiny Nissan Altima. It was quite a sight, but somehow they made it work.

Saturday, Nov 26th: Today I got some sad news. Winnie, the 37-year-old bald eagle at Back To Nature passed away of old age. She was such a sweetheart, and it was horrible to see her cage empty the next time I was there.

Tuesday, Nov 29th: While I was at lunch at Pride Rock, I listened to the voice mail I had on my phone. It was a Disney manager, and they wanted me to interview for the animal keeper traineeship!!! I was so excited that I squealed out loud and everyone congratulated me.

Wednesday, Nov 30th: During one of my breaks, I talked to a member of Core Team, and she talked to a few people and worked out a time for my interview! It was very difficult to schedule since my schedule changes every single day. But, she set it up for Tuesday at 1:30, yay!

That night, Lady Gaga and Sugarland performed "You and I" at the Grammy nominations concert. It was rather strange, but oddly amazing. Check it out right here.

Ok, I hope y'all enjoyed all the pictures! It was an eventful couple of weeks for me--probably some of the best times I've had here in the Sunshine State! Next time, I'll fill you in on my scary car situation, my fun day at Universal, and a story about a kid that tried to make friends with Marley the American Crocodile.

I'll leave you with some Josh Turner lyrics. I love this song, because it's about just enjoying the simple pleasures in life, which I appreciate.

"Everything is fine, fine, fine

Through the sunshine and the rain

I got a peace of mind

You know I can't complain

I'm feeling good and everything is fine"

Living The Dream...This Life Never Gets Old!

Sunday, Oct 30th: Steeler Sunday!! At work, I saw a woman wearing a #86 pink football jersey. I couldn't see what team or player, but I figured it was Hines Ward. So I said, "Go Steelers!" And she replied, "NO! I don't like the Steelers! This is a Ravens jersey!" HAHA my bad. I feel like I insulted her, but it was kind of hilarious.

I went to Aaron's house to watch the game with him and his roommate Jillian. It was a great game against the Pats, although the end was a bit scary when they tried to make a comeback. It's good to have someone to watch the Steelers games with--sports are way more fun to watch with other people!

Monday, Oct 31st: Today was my interview for the Research Administration internship. That morning started off HORRIBLY. I got to the entrance gate at 7:30, but the guard said I didn't have clearance. Ummm that's complete BS! I told him I had an interview at APA, but he said he couldn't call them because no one would answer. Even more BS!! So I parked my car in the regular cast lot, and then ran to the CCC to throw my stuff there. I called Core Team twice, but no one answered. I wanted to see if they could drive me up to APA, but I had no choice but to bike there. Keep in mind that it's on the COMPLETE OPPOSITE side of the park. I got there at 7:52 (my interview was at 8:00). Stephanie, who had her interview after me, had called Core Team, and apparently I DID have clearance, but I guess they spelled my name wrong. Great. So I went into the interview out of breath, but I had calmed down by then. It went pretty well (although you'll find out later that I didn't get accepted).

After the interview, CT drove me down to the CCC, where everyone was decorating our team's Halloween pumpkins for the cast member contest. After a rainy and gloomy day at work, Sonia and I watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and then took a nap until 9:00 (don't judge us, we were tired!). Later, Betsy came over and we watched "Sweeney Todd." I'd forgotten how much I love that movie!

Tuesday, Nov 1st: Favorite quote of the day...I was at the anteater exhibit and three guys in their early 20s came up to it. The first one said, "That thing is pimp! It's badass!" The other one said, "That tail is off the chain!" Hahahaha. Wow.

That night, Melissa Hartley, Lindsay, and I went to Hanson's concert at Epcot. Again, don't judge me...I only recognized "MMMBop," but it was still fun!

Thursday, Nov 3rd: BTN was soo much fun today! I took care of Jenn, the squirrels, and harriet the opossum. Cait, Megan, Annie, and I even got to pet Zema the bobcat!! Definitely one of the highlights of my time there.

After getting home and showering, I headed out on my drive to see Chelsea in Tampa!! I met her and her grad school friends at Ceviche Tapas Bar. We went around to a few more bars that night and had a good time. It felt great to just get out of Orlando and away from all the drama that had been going on. I'm so glad I got to see Chelsea, too! :-)

Friday, Nov 4th: My drive home was pretty easy--only a little over an hour. When I was leaving Cumberland with Steph to go to Costuming, we almost died. I was making a left out of the apartment, and someone was coming from the opposite side to turn into the plan. I slammed on my brakes, and he fishtailed across the lanes, but luckily no one was hurt. Phew! After that, I paid more attention to traffic every time I left Cumberland. After I got a new presenter vest, we went to an info session about the animal keeper trainee positions at DAK. There are 4 positions available: one with the DAK Lodge, one with the Safari, one with Conservation Station/Tree of Life/Oasis, and one with Pangani/Maharajah Jungle Trek/Backstage Aviary. The meeting was really helpful, and I knew even more afterward that I wanted to apply for it.

Saturday, Nov 5th: Sonia, Steph, Lindsay, Karen, and I went to Cafe Tu Tu Tango for dinner, and it was delicious!! The food was very eclectic, and the atmosphere was bohemian-artsy. The meals were all in appetizer sizes, so we got several plates. Sonia and I got chicken pot stickers, steak skewers, and mango pizza. Karen and I also shared the rocky road dessert pizza. Although it was kind of expensive, the place was amazing and I'd definitely go back someday!

Sunday, Nov 6th: Alright, so I officially freaked a guest out today. We were at the main entrance with our bugs, and all of a sudden, I saw a guy with a Juniata Baseball shirt on. He was clear on the other side of the entrance, but I had to go say hi. So I ran over with my scorpion and asked if he graduated from JC. He said yes, and I replied, "That's awesome, so did I! You're the first person I've met here from Juniata and I got really excited to see a JC alum!" He responded rather rudely with, "Well that doesn't take much." Haha oh well, I think I just kinda freaked him out by running up to him.

That night, I went back to Aaron's to watch the game against the Ravens. For the most part, we were screaming at the refs for their horrible calls that changed the entire game. When I got home, I kind of had a breakdown. I just got upset about the Steelers, all the drama with the presenters, and my uncertain future. The animal keeper position was supposed to be posted that day, but it never was, and  it was really frustrating. It was finally up the next day, so I applied right away.

Tuesday, Nov 8th: Tonight was another team-builder for the presenters! We went to Fort Wilderness Campground for the bonfire, campfire songs, and viewing of Beauty and the Beast. Roasting hot dogs and making s'mores reminded me of good times I'd had at Juniata and Lake Raystown.

Wednesday, Nov 9th: Today, Cassie and I went to MK to meet characters and cross some rides off of my list. We met Stitch, Tiana, Ariele, and Prince Eric. Tiana has definitely been my favorite princess that I've met so far. She was so sweet and looked just like the real Tiana! I was SO excited to meet Eric, because he's my favorite prince. He asked if I liked the Beatles (I was wearing an Abbey Road shirt), and I said yes. He then asked if I liked the Beach Boys and he started talking about how he and Ariel like to surf. He said that Ariel isn't very good, and she has a dolphin under her board that lifts her up and makes it look like she's actually surfing. Haha sometimes Disney characters go crazy with theming--I love it! In addition to all those characters, we also met Push the Talking Trash Can! It's this robot trash can that walks around and talks to people in Tomorrowland! It was kind of creepy but pretty cool!

Thursday, Nov 10th: My morning started off horribly. I was on my way to the refuge, and when I was less than a mile away, I look in my rear-view mirror and see a cop on his motorcycle with his lights flashing and his siren sounding. My first thought was, "Oh CRAP! What did I do wrong?" So since I was in the left lane and there was nowhere for me to pull off, I kept driving until I got to the refuge's parking lot. He told me that I was speeding in the 45mph zone. I was in such a rush to get to BTN that I didn't even realize it. Also, the speed limit changes pretty drastically within a small distance, so I didn't notice that it had gone down to 45mph. To top it all off, I didn't have my wallet with me. This was the first time I've EVER driven without my license, and of course it's the day I'm speeding. That morning, I had checked to make sure I had everything with me, but I forgot about my wallet. Great. There's ticket #2. I was so freaked out by the situation, but I eventually calmed down. My day got a little better when Cait taught me how to take care of our ring-tailed lemurs! I had been waiting so long for that, so it was a nice reward.

Friday, Nov 11th: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was the last concert at Food and Wine, and it was a pretty good one. Not really my style of music (big band), but they were very entertaining. I also got a bunch of food--the dessert trio, fisherman's pie from Ireland, and tirimisu. Yummyyyy! I'm gonna miss going to Epcot for those free concerts and all the extra pavilions with food from different countries! On the way home, Steph and I almost got into another accident. Another idiot tried to move into my lane when I was in his blind spot. He had no turn signal on, and he slowed down while merging, so I had to slam on my brakes. Typical Florida driver. UGH.

Saturday, Nov 12th: Tonight was the Sleuth's Mystery Dinner event to benefit Back to Nature! They had a raffle, silent auction, and t-shirt sales. The show was a lot of fun--we had to solve who killed one of the characters. The whole event was a bit awkward because I had to sit with strangers, but at least the meal was delicious! Salad, cheese lasagna, and key lime pie!

Tuesday, Nov 15th: I had a few bittersweet memories today at work. First, I met a guy that was wearing a Penn State Ultimate hat!! I wish I had had the chance to talk to him more, but it made me miss the Irish Elk sooo much! Love you guys! Also, because tenting started a few days ago at JC, I wanted so badly to be sleeping in a tent, freezing my butt off with 7 of my closest friends. However, I won't admit that I missed being woken up by a vuvuzela every 15 minutes!

Wednesday, Nov 16th: Our Behavioral Husbandry seminar was today! We went to the elephant barn and saw little Jabali, the new baby!! We also watched the keepers give them baths and feed them, and they explained how they train the elephants. Afterward, we went back to the classroom and learned about husbandry and enrichment.

The only other exciting part of the day was that I used the iPad for the first time while I was at Cotton-Tops. We have a few interactive presentations that we do with guests so we can educate them about our animals by the Tree of Life. I'm not a huge fan of it because I feel like it breaks up the more meaningful conversations that I want to have with guests.

Ok, that's enough for now. Next time, I'll talk about the Pens game in Tampa, the Josh Turner concert (which was quite possibly the best night of my life), and my trip home for Thanksgiving!

"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks."--John Muir

A Family Visit and Concert Fun!

I'm finally back with more blog posts! I stopped for a while because I didn't want to risk any higher-ups finding this during all my interviews that I had for future internships. But now, since my ties are cut with the Company, I'm back! So I'll try and update you on my past few months in Florida! This is gonna take a while...

Thursday, Oct 13th: Today was an interesting day at the wildlife refuge. After finishing most of my work, I had to watch a great blue heron get put down. Its wings were severely broken (and were not fixable), and he had lost a lot of weight because of parasites. Although it was a really sad situation, the other interns and I used the opportunity to learn about avian anatomy and how their different bodily systems work.

When I got home, I quickly put on my Blue and Gold Macaw costume and drove to All-Star Sports, where my family was staying. My parents, Bethany, Aaron, Andy, Andy's parents, and Andy's brother and sister-in-law all were visiting for Aaron's third birthday. We got on the bus and went to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (this was my second time). Luckily, the line for Minnie and Mickey was really short, so we all met them. They were wearing adorable colonial costumes for Halloween! After wandering around the Kingdom, we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride (which Aaron loved), and then went to the dance party with Stitch in Tomorrowland. Aaron really wanted to show Stitch his Mickey shirt, so he lifted it up to him, but really it just looked like he was flashing poor Stitch. It was the cutest thing. After that, my parents and I got a spot for the "Boo To You" parade while the others enjoyed Space Mountain. That parade is seriously amazing! Later on, we watched the Hallowishes fireworks, and then headed home!

Friday, Oct 14th: I spent the whole day with my family, yay!! In the morning, we went to Ohana at the Polynesian Resort for our character breakfast. I remembered going there for a dinner luau when I was younger, but I couldn't remember much else about the Polynesian. I've decided that it's definitely one of my favorite resorts. The food was absolutely delicious--especially the passion fruit/guava juice!! That reminded me so much of the Galapagos. We had the typical breakfast foods plus Mickey-shaped waffles. While we ate, Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch paraded around the tables with some of the children, then they stopped for pictures and autographs.

After our breakfast, we hit up the Carousel, Mad Tea Party, and Tomorrowland Speedway. We all were getting pretty tired, so we we ready to head out. However, Buzz Lightyear was coming out in just a few minutes, so we hung around so Aaron could meet one of his favorite characters! After a power nap at the resort, we rushed to Epcot, thinking that The Seas closed at 7 (it actually closed at 9, oops). Later, we met Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald at the character spot. Then we all split up, and I hung out with my parents a little bit. We walked around the World Showcase, making stops for chocolate lava cake (to die for!!) in Ireland and Creme Brulee in France. That was definitely a good end to a long, but fantastic day.

Saturday, Oct 15th: That morning, I let my family in to Animal Kingdom with my maingate entrance pass. It took forever, so we just barely had time to take a group picture in front of the Tree of Life. When I was at CS, the fam found me and watched while Aaron did the scavenger hunt.

After work, I went straight to Hollywood Studios. My parents and I had dinner, went on the Great Movie Ride (I love that ride!!), and watched Fantasmic. Once the show was over, we met up with Bethany, Andy, Aaron, and Andy's mom. I gave Aaron a coloring book I bought him at Cast Connection, and then I said my goodbyes to everyone because they were leaving in the morning. I'm so glad they were able to visit, even if it was just for a few days.

Monday, Oct 17th: While I was at the Africa KDC, one of my leaders called to tell me that James Cameron (Avatar), Stan Lee (Marvel Comics), and the Vice President of Animal Kingdom were walking through the park and may go to the Pangani Trail. Unfortunately, they didn't end up visiting while I was there. A bunch of other presenters saw them, and some even got chosen to take overtime and talk to them at the animal exhibits. I was SO jealous. I haven't met a single celebrity yet, and almost everyone else has!!

That night, Sonia and I went to see Sugar Ray at the "Eat to the Beat" concert series at Epcot. It was like reliving the glory of my teenage years. They were SOOOO amazing. Mark McGrath may be getting kind of old, but is still hot and he knows how to work a crowd.

Tuesday, Oct 18th: We were so in love with Sugar Ray that we went to their concert again (this time with Hulbie and Cassie, too)! At the end of the show, the four of us were the only ones cheering in our section, so Mark ran over near us, smiled, and blew ME a kiss. Clearly it was only for me and not the other girls. :-) We all screamed like we were 13 years old and had just met Leonardo DiCaprio or someone of equal popularity.

Wednesday, Oct 19th: Some guy in Ohio who owned an exotic pet farm released all 56 of his animals (lion, tigers, bears, and monkeys, oh my) and then killed himself. What the hell is wrong with people?!?! The police weren't prepared, so they had to shoot 49 of them, mostly with small pistols. What a sad story.

That night, Cassie, Sonia, and I went to Dave and Busters. I hadn't been there in ages, but it was good to just relax and have a little fun at a place other than the parks.

Thursday, Oct 20th: At the refuge, I started off by feeding the barnyard animals, and then I taught Victoria how to clean the squirrels' cages. I went to feed Little Man an acorn, and he confused my finger for food and decided to bite it. It hurt soooo much! That's why I hate squirrels. Later on, I tried to feed our goat and deer some banana leaves, but then one of the ladies that randomly stops by the refuge told me that they were actually bird of paradise leaves which are toxic to goats. Soooo we've been using this as enrichment for months....Oops. I guess little Jenn must have a strong stomach!

Even though I took care of a lot of animals, I still managed to leave by 4:00. I rushed home to take a shower and get ready for the Sugarland concert!!! I met up with Aaron and then we drove to the Amway Center. We got there in time to see the last few songs of Sara Bareilles' set list. She was pretty good, but she was a weird opening act for a country artist like Sugarland. Jennifer and Kristian were amazing, as usual. They played a lot of their older songs, plus several from their newest album. They're definitely one of the top performers I've ever seen in concert. They're really charismatic and you can tell that they're having just as much fun as the audience.

Friday, Oct 21st: As if Thursday wasn't amazing enough, today was the Pitbull/Enrique Iglesias concert!! Pitbull was incredible! Because he does a lot of duets, they played recordings of the other singers, and then he did his parts. He is so full of energy and he knows how to pump up a crowd. Enrique, on the other hand, wasn't quite as impressive. He really didn't sing much, he mostly had the crowd do it for him. During his encore, Enrique sang "Hero" on a satellite stage that was on our far end of the arena. He brought a girl come onstage, and then he hugged her and kissed her on the lips. They danced together while he sang, and then they were lowered into the stage for a few minutes. Oh, how I wish I were her!

Saturday, Oct 22nd: After work, Cumberland hosted a Halloween party for its residents. It was pretty fun, as there was free food, candy, and drinks. I even met a few new friends!

Tuesday, Oct 25th: That evening, a bunch of presenters stayed for the "Anandapur Haunt" at DAK, which was a special Halloween event for cast members. First, we rode Dinosaur (one of my favorites), and then Everest twice. Around 6:00, the whole park closed so that they could get set up for the party. We waited for a long time, but then we got a ton of free food! We also played some of the fossil fun games in Dinoland (I wish we could have won real prizes)! Then we went on the haunted trail throughout the queue line of Kali. It was actually scarier than I thought it would be. There were cast members dressed up in scary costumes, popping out from corners and chasing us around. Most of the presenters were holding onto each other and screaming their lungs out. And then there was Melissa, who was shoving everyone out of the way so she could run away haha. I was very impressed at how fun the whole event was! Another good night at DAK.

Wednesday, Oct 26th: Today I had off, so I spent the afternoon shopping! I bought a few new clothes, plus some 80's stuff for my next Halloween costume. Later on, Sonia, Cassie, Alyssa, Hulbie, Julie, Betsy, and I went to the Boyz II Men concert at Epcot. It was so awesome, we even witnessed a proposal before they sang "I'll Make Love To You." During that song, all the girls ran up to the stage hoping to be handed a rose from the guys. I just sat back and laughed at them all and enjoyed the concert.

Thursday, Oct 27th: At BTN, I cleaned Mocha and Jenn's cages, the reptile yard, and I learned how to clean Spencer the Arctic Fox's cage!! At the end of the day, Annie and I tried to clean construction caulking off of a grackle. I got a lot of it off with my fingernails, but his feathers and feet were still pretty much covered in it. We then washed him in Dawn and dried him off. Next week, he looked much better, so I guess someone else had helped clean him up. On the ride home, some asshole nearly drove me off the side of the road because he didn't see me in his blind spot. I HATE Florida drivers!!

When I got home, I found out that I was scheduled for an interview for the Research Administration internship on Halloween! Yippee! Anyway, after hearing that great news, I got ready for Megan's party. Sonia was dressed up as Dora, Cassie was Boots, and I was Swiper. I'm not gonna lie, our costumes were pretty sweet.

Boots and Dora: Swiper, no swiping!

Swiper: Aw, man!!

Alright, well hopefully I'll be putting another post up soon, but in the meantime, here are some lyrics from Sugarland's song "Settlin" that I find inspirational.

"I've been leaving it up to fate

It's my life, so it's mine to make

I ain't settling for just getting by

I've had enough so-so for the rest of my life

Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high

Just enough ain't enough this time

I ain't settling for anything less than everything"

40 Magical Years at the Kingdom

Hi everyone! It's been a LONG time since I've updated my blog. I've been pretty busy, as a lot of great things have been happening in my life lately. I'll try and keep things short and sweet so I can get y'all (yes I have started saying "y'all") caught up.

Wednesday, Sept 28th: My week-long happy mood continued today! I've noticed that I have cycles where, for a few days, I am sooo grumpy and I just don't want to be here. However, then I'll get out of that slump and be really cheery and pleasant and realize how grateful I should be for all of the opportunities I've been given. A lot of the presenters are counting down to the end of our internship, but I'm trying to take advantage of the time I have left down here.

Thursday, Sept 29th: Today was a BTN day! When I was cleaning Jenn the goat's cage, I set my bucket of bleach water on the ground. I turned around for five seconds and she started drinking it! Luckily, I grabbed it pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I had left the door from her cage into Mocha the fallow deer's cage open a bit, and she ran into the other enclosure. She is such a little brat! After frantically trying to herd her back, I called Cait, and she came over with a fig newton and coerced her back into her cage pretty easily. After that eventful morning, I cleaned all of the flight cages (my favorite) and got to feed Jasper, one of our goats, a bottle. That night, Sonia and I met up at Epcot for the first day of the Food and Wine Festival! It's a two-month-long event where they have additional country pavilions in the World Showcase, they host special wine-tastings, and they have evening concerts. It's pretty much amazing.

Friday, Sept 30th: Sonia, her friend Ema, and I went to Earl of Sandwich (yum) and then Fantasia Gardens Mini-Golf. Later that afternoon, I went to the cast member stores near MK, and I bought a Cars sticker book for my nephew Aaron and some awesome Disney pins. That evening, I was feeling ambitious, so I applied to jobs/internships at the Texas State Aquarium and the Houston Zoo. Since then, I've applied to a ton of other positions, but I haven't heard back from many of them.

Saturday, Oct 1st: After work, the roomies and I went to Magic Kingdom for the 40th anniversary of its opening day of October 1st, 1971. They had had a special celebration that morning and they sold special pins and t-shirts (which were gone by 10am). IT WAS SO CROWDED. However, we still ended up getting on Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and It's A Small World pretty quickly. We also saw the "Wishes" fireworks, which were disappointingly no different than any other night. Getting out of the park was a friggin nightmare! We literally could not move for at least 15 minutes. Some people were hopping the fences and walking through the flowers to get closer to the exit. It was complete madness. The cast members actually took us backstage to get out because it was so crowded. Five monorails and an hour later, we finally made it to the parking lot! I will never ever go to MK when it's that crowded again. At least I got a sweet vintage MK park map as a souvenir!

In light of the Kingdom's 40th anniversary, here are some fun facts about it:
-It cost $400,000,000 to build MK.
-Admission to the park was $3.50 in 1971. For $4.95, you could get into the park and also receive a 7-ride coupon book. This book gave you passes for certain attractions, each of which was categorized as an A, B, C, D, or E ride. Additional ride tickets were 50 cents.
-5 Disneylands can fit in the parking lot of MK.
-The Walt Disney World Resort (WDW) property is the size of San Francisco.
-7,500 acres were set aside as conservation areas on the WDW property.
-2.6 million Mickey ice cream bars are sold every year.
-2.5 million garment pieces exist in the WDW costuming department. Wow, I didn't realize Mickey had such a big wardrobe haha.
-4% of all amateur photography is estimated to be taken at WDW and Disneyland. HAHAHA.
-600 million guests have visited WDW since it opened.

Tuesday, Oct 4th: I talked to the CUTEST kid ever at the gibbons exhibit today. He was probably only 4 or 5 years old, but he asked some really good questions. "What do they eat? Do they swim? Where do they sleep? How does their fur change color? Why don't they fall?" I talked to him and his mother for almost a half hour. It was one of my favorite guest interactions because the kid was so fascinated with the gibbons and he just asked question after question. After work, we went to Chatham Square for a Japanese-themed meet-and-greet. We had california rolls, sushi, rice, chicken, and ribs. Unfortunately, Minnie, Chip, and Dale were all running late, and we got tired of waiting for them so we went home before we could meet them. It was ok, though, because the roomies and I had a fun bowling night planned! We played 3 games, and during the final one, we all did crazy tricks, like bowling with the wrong hand, bowling after spinning 3 times, or sitting down and pushing the ball down the lane. It was so much fun!

Tonight, one of the presenters posted a video of a guy who proposed to his girlfriend with a flashmob dance to Bruno Mars' "Marry You" in Downtown Disney. Check it out here. Guys, pay attention to this. THIS is how you propose to someone you love.

Wednesday, Oct 5th: During our pre-shift meeting, the woman who is basically in charge of the presenters and all guest experiences at DAK talked about her work that she has done with Disney in Africa. They go over there every year to do teaching seminars and programs for the educators. They create entire books of curriculum so that the teachers in Africa can create a good foundation in science for the children. It was all very fascinating, and it makes me want to volunteer in a foreign country. I love learning about other cultures and helping out the less-fortunate, so it would be amazing if I could work in South America or Africa for a year or two. At least I can dream about it.

Tonight, we had another team-builder! We watched "Newsies," a musical about the newsboys' strike in 1899. The only reason I watched it was because Christian Bale was in it, but the movie was surprisingly well-done!

When I got back from the movie, I learned about the sad passing of Steve Jobs. Although he was always associated with Apple, he had ties to Disney and Pixar, so he's near and dear to my heart. RIP, Steve. You changed the face of technology forever.

Thursday, Oct 6th: The best part of my day was when I took an injured armadillo for a walk at BTN! He was absolutely adorable (except for the fact that he smelled like pee). This was only the second live armadillo I'd ever seen! Unfortunately, he had been run over by a car, so his legs didn't work very well. Hopefully we can rehab him back to health!

Friday, Oct 7th: In the morning, Sonia, Melissa Hartley, and I went to costuming to buy our winter clothing. I'm still not convinced that it will ever go below 50 degrees here, but we'll see. Later, Sonia, and I went to Downtown Disney. I bought the park passes for my family's upcoming visit, ate lunch at Pollo Campanero (I highly recommend it), went to the pin trading store, and then did some grocery shopping. For dinner, Cici's Pizza was having a really cheap all-you-can-eat buffet, so of course we went there. By the time Sonia, Cassie, and I arrived, the other presenters were already eating. Somehow, they convinced the manager to let us cut to the front of the super long line so we could sit with them. I had 5 pieces of pizza (including some dessert slices), breadsticks, soup, a brownie, and a cinnamon roll for $2.12. EPIC WIN.

Saturday, Oct. 8th: In the morning, Julie and I got driven to CS for our one-on-one meetings with the Education Manager. My meeting went really well. She told me that I was doing great out in the parks, but I could improve by working on my confidence at animal exhibits. I knew I definitely needed to work on that because I don't feel nearly as comfortable there as I do at the KDCs. I ended the day closing the Tree of Life KDC with Megan, but at 3:45, we got a call from Core Team. She said, "Attention all education presenters, the KDC's will now be closed, so please return to the CCC." YES!!! We got to go home at 4:05 instead of 5:15!! Apparently, there were only 6,000 guests in the park that day, so it wasn't even worth it for us to be there. We were all SO excited to leave early.

Sunday, Oct. 9th: After a rainy day at work, Sonia and I went to All-Star Sports so we could confirm my family's reservations. Then, we went to Walgreens to buy hair dye. I dyed my hair a really dark brown color. It turned out really well, but since then, it has started to go lighter again. Damn you, Florida sun!

Tuesday, Oct. 11th: Today we had our zookeeping seminar!! I had been waiting for this for a long time. Our speakers were Michael, a rhino keeper from Pittsburgh (he used to intern at the Zoo!!), and Paul, a manager who LOVES birds. Whenever Paul mentioned that we would be visiting the rhino barn, everyone was excited. Then he said we would also visit the backstage aviary. I immediately squealed and my face lit up. Everyone just laughed at my uber excitement. They first did a short presentation on what it takes to be a keeper, and then we started our tour!! We split into two groups, and mine went with Michael to see the rhinos first. We also caught a glimpse of the cheetahs. They are such beautiful animals!! The rhinos, on the other hand, are disgustingly smelly. The stench combined with the heat started to really get to me, and I felt incredibly nauseous. Erin and Sonia made sure I was ok, and I started to feel a little better after we left the gross smell. I would've considered leaving at that point, but y'all know I wouldn't miss a chance to see some cool birds, so I stuck it out. Paul showed us all the cages with the injured/"retired" birds, in addition some endangered species. We even saw the Micronesian Kingfisher, which Disney has successfully bred several times! Then, Paul took us to the incubator rooms where they take care of the eggs and baby birds. That was the end of the tour, and I was feeling well enough to stay at work. However, when I opened up Camp with Melissa, I started to feel soooo sick again. It was awful! I made it until noon, when I realized that I couldn't make it through the rest of the day. Core Team drove me back to the CCC, and then Cassie picked me up and took me home. I slept for three hours, but my stomach still wasn't feeling right. I figure out that I had the stomach flu. It took me almost a week to get back to 100%. That night, my roommates and I had a game night for all of our Presenter/Seas interns. 13 people showed up, so it was definitely a success. We played some intense games of "Last Word" and "Cranium." It was good to just have a fun night with friends, because we hadn't done that in a while.

Wednesday, Oct. 12th: This morning, I had my interview for the Conservation Education alumni internships. It was a little intimidating because there were several managers there, but I'd say it went relatively well. When I got home from work, I had an email from the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans. They wanted to set up an interview for their crane department internship for winter 2011. Unfortunately, they wanted someone to start in late November. I was really disappointed that I had to turn them down, but hopefully I'll find something better for when January rolls around. Anyway, my day turned out better, because I picked up my parents who had just flown in that morning, and we had dinner at Olive Garden!!

Ok, that's enough for now. Next time, I'll post some pictures from Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party with my family, and talk about James Cameron and Stan Lee visiting DAK!

"Laughter is America's most important export."--Walt Disney

A Not-So-Scary Adventure

Alright, I hope you're ready for a picture-loaded update about my past few weeks at The House of Mouse! There have been so many great things happening lately, and I'm realizing more and more how thankful I am for this experience.

Friday, Sept 16th: Today was a fabulous day off! A few weeks ago, I bought a few Disney souvenirs for my fellow members of the "Sassy Couch" and the other Juniatian editors. Today, I finally put the package in the mail!! Sometimes, I miss editorial board meetings, layout party nights, and bossing around photographers. And then I wake up and realize that I really don't miss all that responsibility.

Later on, I bought most of my Halloween costume (Blue and Gold Macaw). Wait until you see the pictures, because it ended up being epic!!!

Saturday, Sept 17th: I was interpreting at the military macaw exhibit in the morning, and a guy came up to me and said, "Oh, I have one of those, a Red-Fronted Macaw, and a Blue and Gold Macaw at home!" Well, that pretty much killed my "choose your pets wisely" conservation message. I asked him how old one of his birds was, and he said two years. WOW. I hope you write him into your will, you moron!! You'll have that friend around for at least 40 years.

Sunday, Sept 18th: Julie and I closed Conservation Station today, and we had a lot of fun joking around and talking about hockey. After work, Sonia, Steph, Mike, Emily, and I went to Wal-Mart to buy our Lightning/Blues preseason tickets (they're playing in Orlando on Wednesday). However, it all ended up being a huge mess and we left frustrated and empty-handed. (Don't worry, though, it all worked out in the end!)

Monday, Sept 19th: Today was a horrible day. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed (although my bed is against the wall, so I don't really know if that's possible) and I think my bad mood was infectious during work. However, it got a little better later on when Sonia and I went shopping. We finished up buying our costume materials and then pigged out at Burger King.

Tuesday, Sept 20th: I had CS again today, only this time I worked with Melissa Hartley. The day went by pretty fast because we sang (or attempted to) country songs the entire time! I'm glad I have a friend here who appreciates good music like I do! That night, I went shopping with Melissa, her roommate Paola, and Sonia. I tried to find some cowgirl boots for our future outing to Cowboys, but I failed. When we got home, I continued gluing feathers onto my costume. I swear there will be blue and yellow feathers stuck in our carpet forever!

Wednesday, Sept 21st: I went to work early because it was the day of my invertebrate tour!! (It was also the start to a fantastic week!) We got to go behind-the-scenes in the bug trailer and at Conservation Station. The keeper that did our tour let us touch a Hissing Cockroach, Florida Millipede, and a few snakes. We learned a lot about the bugs and arachnids we use every day in the park, in addition to some other critters that Guests can see at CS. It was a great tour, but I wish we had been able to touch more creepy-crawlies!

After the tour, we went back to our normal work schedules. At one of the KDC's, I met a woman from Hampton who was convinced she had seen me when I was interning at the National Aviary. That's crazy if it's actually true!

Right after work, Sonia, Katrina, and I drove to the Amway Center for our hockey game! We met up with Mike after having a few issues with parking, and headed inside just in time for the start of the game. I realize that Orlando doesn't have a hockey team, but I saw so many jerseys from different teams that night! Of course, I was wearing my Staal shirt, and there were at least 5 or 6 other Pens fans!! I was looking forward to seeing four former Penguins play for the Lightning (Malone, Moore, Hall, and Ouellet). Unfortunately, only Ouellet was in the lineup. Although it started off slowly, it ended up being a great game, despite the Blues winning. It was just awesome to go to a hockey game for the first time in 3+ years! Hopefully, I'll be able to go to the Pens/Lightning game in Tampa later this year!!

Thursday, Sept 22nd: It was a great day at the refuge!! Although we were short-handed on staff members, we had the help of Julia. She's a little 82-year-old Hispanic woman who works like a CHAMP. Because of her, we actually finished our work early, and Stacey let us watch her feed the big cats! The best part was that we got to pet Oliver the Florida Bobcat and Zema the Western Cougar!!! SO AWESOME. Although I know that will never happen again, it was a nice surprise!

That night, a bunch of my friends and I went out to Cowboys, all clad in plaid (hah)! It was basically heaven for me because all I heard was country music. We all tried to learn how to line dance, but that was an epic fail (as you probably could have guessed). It was such a fun night, and I definitely want to go back there at some point.

Friday, Sept 23rd: In the morning, Sonia, Karen, and I went to DAK to ride Primeval Whirl, Everest, and the Safari. We even got a glimpse of little Jabali, the baby elephant that was born in August.

That evening was Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom!!! It was soooo amazing! While Sonia and I were on the monorail in full costume, a girl said to her dad, "Look, she's from Rio!" That pretty much made my night. I felt like a real Disney character! When we arrived at MK, we met up with some presenters to collect candy, meet characters (many of which only come out for this celebration), and watch the special villains show, "Hall-o-wishes" fireworks, and "Boo To You" parade. I came SO close to meeting Tarzan, but he left right before we got to the front of the line. However, Jane Porter and Terk loved my costume. I also got my picture taken with Cruella DeVille, which was great! Also, the parade was probably the best parade that Disney has. It started off with the Headless Horseman riding by on his horse, and then a ton of characters came through in their special Halloween costumes. The highlights for me were the laughing hyenas, Captain Barbosa, the Haunted Mansion ghosts, the Snow White Queen, and Malificent. I can't wait to go back in October with my family!!

Saturday, Sept 24th: I had another lovely day at work, except for the moment when I saw a kid wearing a Flyers shirt with Jagr's name on the back. It made me sick to my stomach. The sad thing was that he probably wasn't even old enough to remember Jagr's glory day with the Pens.

After we got home from DAK, we had a barbeque/pool party at Cumberland. It was nice for almost all of the presenters to hang out together and just relax for a while. Good times.

Sunday, Sept 25th: Once again, it was a great day--mostly because the Steelers were playing at 8:20, so I could actually watch the game! I met up with Aaron, an intern who's also a Steelers fan, and we watched it at ESPN Club on the Boardwalk. The place was pretty cool--there were signed jerseys on the walls (including some from Lemieux, Jagr, and Mullen) and a huge gift shop with all the sports memorabilia you could ever dream of. For those of you who need to watch several games at once to keep up with your fantasy football, they had at least 10 different tv's, and one huge projector screen. The game itself wasn't bad, although our O-line was pretty awful, as usual. Luckily, we still pulled off the win.

Monday, Sept 26th: I was in a really good mood today, despite the fact that we only had 11 (instead of 14) presenters due to some sicknesses that were going around. The schedule for some of the presenters was crazy--a few people had to go to KDC's twice. Luckily, mine was pretty normal. After work, Sonia and I went to Sweet Tomatoes (a sweet buffet restaurant) for Mexican food night, and then Target for some grocery shopping.

Tuesday, Sept 27th: After our pre-shift meeting, one of our leaders showed us THE CUTEST letter ever. A girl sent this note in to Disney--check it out.

How precious is that?? Anyway, my great story of the day occurred when I did a pledge to induct a kid into our Kids' Discovery Club. He was wearing a Flyers shirt. I asked him to raise his right hand and repeat after me: "I promise to take care of all the animals that fly, that swim, and that dance. And I promise to clean my room, eat all my vegetables, root for the Penguins, and listen to my parents." MWAHAHA. He totally fell for the Penguins part, and his family got a kick out of it.

After work, we all went to Medieval Times, an event where you watch a jousting tournament and eat dinner like a peasant (without utensils) while you enjoy the festivities. Each section of the arena was assigned to a different knight--ours was the black and white knight. They went through a whole role play and did different types of jousting competitions. Following the show, we stuck around to get our pictures taken with the prince, princess, king, and knights. It was quite a fun night!

Left to right: The hot prince; My dinner and banner for my knight; the winner--red knight!

Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading about my latest adventures. Next time, I'll be talking about the 40th anniversary of Magic Kingdom. I'll even throw in a few fun facts about the attractions and costs of MK way back when in 1971!

"Live off the land. Never take more than you need."--Betty Settee, Inuit woman

Beaches, Burns, and Birds

Hi all! I realize I haven't updated the blog very much lately, but I'm gonna try and catch up a little bit!

Saturday, Sept 3rd: Happy (real) International Vulture Day!

Sunday, Sept 4th: Today, one of the managers from The Seas came to talk to us about the Conservation Education position they have. I've decided I'm not going to apply for that because I don't think it's a step up from what I'm doing now, and I don't know enough about marine animals. Although I do have a heads up on most of the other current Ed. Presenters because I'm already scuba certified.

Monday, Sept 5th: After work (and a trip to eat fatty foods at McDonald's), Sonia, Steph, and I went shopping at Forever XXI. When we walked in, Steph said, "I don't know why, but I bet you're someone who likes plaid." HAHA. You have no idea. I ended up buying two dresses--one of which I have to give credit to Sonia for finding. :-)

Tuesday, Sept 6th: Sonia, Melissa Hartley, and I watched "White Chicks" after work, and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I'd forgotten how much I loved that movie!! Also, big news--I applied for two Disney alumni internships...Conservation Education (Community and Group) and Research Administration. The first one would involve writing curriculum and teaching camps and fun stuff like that. The latter would be a lot of computer work, video editing, and possibly a bit of Photoshop stuff.

Wednesday, Sept 7th: Today was my day off, so Cassie and I went to the beach!! We drove part of the way with the top of her convertible down...yeah! When we got to St. Petersburg Beach, we couldn't find the actual beach--just a harbor. After asking for directions, we drove to a beach at Treasure Island. Yes, it was as awesome as the name suggests. The sand was beautiful, and there was barely anyone there. We jumped around in the waves for a bit, then fell asleep on our towels. Then we decided to look for the ice cream parlor that sold funnel cake sundaes, but that was an epic fail. Instead, we went to The Dairy Inn. I got honey barbeque wings, and then a chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream cone. YUM. After a fun afternoon, we headed home. On the car ride, my sun burn slowly started to show up. By the time we got home, I was BURNT TO A CRISP. Thank goodness I had a huge bottle of aloe waiting for me! That night, I took a nap just so I wouldn't have to deal with the painful sunburn. After a while, I decided I should stop being lazy, so Sonia and I watched "A Bug's Life."

Treasure Island Beach

Thursday, Sept 8th: Today was our Conservation Biology seminar with Dr. Anne Savage! She talked about Proyecto Titi, a program dedicated to the conservation of Cotton-Top Tamarins, along with sea turtle tracking, and other primate research. She then took us to the Wildlife Tracking Center at Conservation Station, where we got to learn a little bit about elephant communication.

Directly after the seminar, I drove to BTN. I finally got trained to clean the birds of prey cages and make their diets!! BEST DAY EVER. I was responsible for Cookie (Turkey Vulture), Great Horned Owl, Barred Owls, Winnie (Bald Eagle), Screech Owls, and Whizzer (Red-Tailed Hawk). It took forever to finish all of that, but it was fun! At the end of the day, Ariel, another intern, asked me to help her change the bandages on Tarot, a hawk who has bumblefoot. I ended up staying until almost 7:00, but it was so worth it!

Friday, Sept 9th: At work, I saw a ton of families with Steelers clothing! One couple had a stroller covered in Stiller logos, and a water bottle with their logo on it. The husband was also carrying a terrible towel. I LOVE seeing so many fans in the park!!

Saturday, Sept 10th: The best part of my day happened while I was at the Dino KDC. I said to a child, "Dinosaurs aren't around anymore, so how can we help the animals that we still have today?" He answered very enthusiastically, "WITH AN ASTEROID!" Bahahaha that was my favorite child ever.

Sunday, Sept 11th: First and foremost, today was the 10th anniversary of 9/11. God bless America and all those who lost their lives in New York, DC, and Pennsylvania on that horrible day.

Monday, Sept 12th: Wow, my updates are getting progressively shorter and shorter. Anyway, today, Nick and I worked together at Conservation Station. The whole time, we were singing "Eye of the Tiger" in Spanish ("El Ojo del Tigre"). We had a good time butchering the Spanish language.

Tuesday, Sept 13th: After work, the presenters had a behind-the-scenes tour of The Seas at Epcot!! It was a ton of fun! We went backstage to the food prep area, dolphin holding, main tank, and manatee tank. It reminded me of that episode of Full House when the whole family went on vacation in Disney World, and Joey and Jesse did their radio show in the main tank. Good 90s memories. Anyway, after the tour, we rode Test Track. That ride isn't nearly as scary as it was when I was 13 or 14! Still fun, though!

Wednesday, Sept 14th: As Sonia and I walked downstairs to leave the apartment that morning, Sonia said, "Damn, Alison, your calves are toned! Whenever you walk, the muscles are like 'BAM!'" Hahahahaha. I guess all the walking at work has paid off!! Haha that literally made my day. I'm glad my job has forced me to get back into shape!

Thursday, Sept 15th: Refuge day!! I was assigned the squirrels and Jasper (the goat). At the end of the day, Debbie asked me if I wanted to take Izzy, the 9-month-old opossum, on a walk. Ummm, YES! She's so adorable. Before I left for the day, I helped feed milk to a baby squirrel with a syringe, and I put fresh water in the baby room cages. I love that place so much!! It's hard work to take care of all our animals, but it's so rewarding.

Izzy the opossum!

Alright, now I'm at least a little bit caught up with the past few weeks. I've had a really crazy week, so I'm gonna head to bed. Next time, I'll tell you about my invertebrate tour, the Lightning hockey game, and Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party!! Let's just say my costume was "for the birds"!

"Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land."--Aldo Leopold

Can You Take Our Picture? It's For A Scavenger Hunt.

Hey y'all! Sorry I haven't written a blog in a while, I've been crazy busy with work and the refuge. I've got a lot to talk about in this entry, but the good news is I have tons of pictures!

Wednesday, Aug 24th: Today was the epic scavenger hunt at Epcot for the Presenters' team-building activity! Sonia, Cassie, and I were a team (they let Cassie come because she loves scavenger hunts). We had to answer different questions and take pictures around the World Showcase. Every time we needed a group shot, Cassie would go up to someone and ask if they could take a picture. Then I always added in, "It's for a scavenger hunt." I figured they might find it weird that we wanted a picture in front of a random statue, or with a family all wearing the same shirt. So, that became the quote of the night and is the title of this entry. Anyway, back to the scavenger hunt--The three of us DOMINATED. Below are some pictures of us: in Mexico, in Norway, with a family all dressed the same, and with "Justin Beaver" in Canada.

Thursday, Aug 25th: I went back to the refuge (which I will now call BTN) today, and I was assigned to take care of the barnyard animals. I put Koko the Emu's food in her enclosure, and then cleaned Mocha (the deer) and Jennifer's (the goat) cage. Most of the day, the other interns and I washed dishes, but then we got to clean the bird cage with mockingbirds, doves, thrashers, and sparrows. We pulled the hose inside, so the door was left open a little bit. Somehow, the mockingbird escaped--luckily it was close to being released anyway, and we didn't get in trouble. Oops.

That evening, Sonia came home and told Cassie and I that we had won the scavenger hunt!! YEAH!! One of the questions we got wrong was "Name 4 famous Canadians." We had been in a hurry when we wrote the answers, and Cassie wrote down "Cindy Crosby." FAIL. Haha...oh well, we still won!

A bit later, Cassie and I went to grocery bingo at one of the CP apartments. I WON!! I got 2 reusable bags full of food, plus some toilet paper, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, and toothpaste. I've never won anything in my life, but tonight I won the scavenger hunt AND bingo!!

Friday, Aug 26th: Today was my day off, so I cleaned up the apartment a bit and hung some more of my pictures on my bedroom wall. Also, I found out that Jazzie, who I studied abroad with, was coming to Orlando for the week!

Saturday, Aug 27th: Nothing much happened today, except it rained a lot because of Hurricane Irene! Luckily, she pretty much passed over us.

Sunday, Aug 28th: Pretty much the only exciting part about work was when one of the primate keepers came to tell us about the siamangs. They were relatively sure that the mother was pregnant (it's often hard to predict their pregnancies ahead of time)! She ended up having a baby a few days later! It looks like a naked mole rat or some sort of ugly alien. Hopefully she grows fur soon--that would make her much cuter.

That night, most of the Presenters went to T-Rex (a restaurant like Rainforest Cafe, only Dino-themed) for Karen's birthday. It was a ton of fun, and it was great to hang out with everyone outside of work. Unfortunately, there was a big fiasco with our checks, and it took a lot of work to separate our checks. Afterwards, we took a group picture outside. There were a bunch of rude people walking in front of the camera, so Karen yelled at them and then moved the queue rope so that they'd have to walk around. It was hilarious...until she moved it back on top of my foot. Thanks, Karen. :P

Monday, Aug 29th: In the morning, some of the Community Education managers came to talk to us about their internship that's available for next semester. Out of all the positions, this is the one I REALLY want. I would get to learn how to write curriculum, teach classes and camps, and make trips to hospitals to visit children. Basically perfect for me. After the managers left, my mentor group met with one of our leaders to talk about how to write resumes and cover letters.

Tuesday, Aug 30th: Today was kind of a bad day, until i saw Stitch (from "Lilo and Stitch") backstage. He patted me on the back and, all of a sudden, I felt a lot happier. I love when characters say hi to Cast Members. :-)

That night, I drove through a freaking hurricane to get to Magic Kingdom so I could meet up with Jazzie. I was literally the only person driving into the park, and I almost hydroplaned about 20 times. After going on a few rides, we saw the "Wishes" fireworks! That was the first time I had seen them, and they were pretty spectacular. I'm so happy I got to see Jazzie, even if was only for a few hours!

Jazzie and I at the Haunted Mansion cemetery!

Wednesday, Aug 31st: The Group Education team came to tell us about their internship, which I'm also applying for. For some reason, they brought a leaf from The Tree of Life, and we all got to touch it. It was like I was touching a piece of Disney history!

Thursday, Sept 1st: Today, Disney celebrated International Vulture Awareness Day. I had off, but it was my day at the refuge, so I couldn't go to DAK and do the fun vulture activities. :-(

At the refuge, I cleaned up Koko's cage and worked on organizing the produce. It was a bad day for me because there was some miscommunication and I messed a few things up. It's hard to remember everything I've learned when I'm only there once a week!

That evening, Sonia, Cassie, Melissa Hartley, and I went to the Disco-themed meet-and-greet. We met Mickey, who was wearing his spiffy, sparkly, blue suit! That Mouse has style.

Friday, Sept 2nd: Betsy, Steph, and I went to Magic Kingdom and we FINALLY got to ride Splash Mountain! I love how the lines for almost all of the rides are so short now. We stuck around for the "Dreams Come True" parade and it was AMAZING. I don't think any Disney parade could top it. After I did a bit of shopping, we headed to the Contemporary Resort on the monorail, and I bought a delicious Black Forest cupcake. 

I basically meet Disney characters for a living.

That night, the roomies and I watched Pocahontas and then made up interpretive dances to "Colors of the Wind" and "Just Around the Riverbend." That's one reason I love my roommates. We can just act like idiots with no shame whatsoever!

Ok, it's definitely time for bed. My weekend is officially over, and now it's time for another LONG six days straight of work. Peace out, everyone!

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."--E.B. White