Space Cowboy

So many exciting things happened today.

Like how McCain chose that governor from Alaska. I like him better now and won't hate voting for him. I would have liked Romney better, but still. At least it looks like McCain's campaign will get a boost.


I went through more training today. But it was sweet. For 2 reasons:

#1 - While I was walking "backstage" under Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, Michael Phelps was walking over me on...you guessed it...Main Street USA. Yeah. He got his own parade for being the best. And being that he was just 10ish feet above me, it's like we met.

#2 - I TOTALLY rock at the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. We got to go on it during training and save the galaxy. Well, I saved the galaxy. The highest possible score you can get on the ride (You shoot lasers at the Evil Emperor Zurg) is 999,999. Before today, I had never gotten over 300,00. Today, I scored...drum roll please...

999,999!!!!!!!!!

(for those of you who needed proof...)

This just proves how awesome I am. I got special recognition and everything. And a pat on the back because they ran out of sweet prizes. But still. I told Buzz how I saved the galaxy and he saluted me AND gave me a high five. LOVE him.


I'm king of the world!!!

Or at least the galaxy :)

I also got my costume (aka my work uniform). It's so ugly. But what can you expect when your skirt is nicknamed "the duck skirt"? Pictures may or may not come later...

- J

The New Girl In Town

Training has commenced. I have to say that before training, I really wasn't that excited to work. I felt kind of laissez faire about the whole working thing.

But yesterday, we reviewed the history of the company (you have to know where you've been to know where you're going) and the nerd that I am cried at almost every single video that they showed.

I just love Disney. I probably bleed Disney.

When I was a little kid, I was all about Disney. Disney was always magic.

And apparently, it still is. :)

We learned lots of stuff, most of it all old info for me, but one tidbit of info totally shocked me and I'm gonna share it with you.

Disneyland Paris has more visitors every year than the Eiffel Tower does.

Take that. Chew on it. Think about it.

I don't know. It at least it fascinated me.

Today I learned how to use a cash register. At first, I was dreading this process. It's not like I've been working a cash register for 4 years or anything. But Blockbuster's registers still run on DOS and Disney is in the 24th century or something. It's waaaay more advanced. But better. And I love it.

I would also like to add that I went one whole day without getting lost. I didn't even have to stay holed up in my apartment all day. I actually went on a trip that lasted like 30 minutes total and didn't get lost once. Yessss.

Lastly.

I miss all of you terribly. I wish that you could be here with me. Send me emails and letters (if you email me, I'll give you my addy - I'm not a total idiot about internet safety) and stuff. If you send me something, I'll send you something of equal or lesser value. :)

Love you all!

Jessica

A Whole New World

Well, I guess I should just start where I left off...because there's at least one good story in between there and me arriving at Disney...

We totally got creamed by Hurricane Fay. That sucked. I think I prefer blizzards. I know, I know. Who prefers blizzards to rain and wind storms, right? It must be the Alaskan in me...

My dad and I finally arrived in Orlando when I realized that I had made a fatal mistake in South Carolina. This is how it went right before we left SC:

Dad: "Jessica, we're leaving in 15 minutes. Get out of bed."
Me: "What?? I thought we were leaving in an hour!"
D: "Nope. Move it."
*I get ready in 13 minutes
Me: "Ok, my straightener is still on. I'm gonna stick it in the fridge so it cools down before we hit the road."
D: That sounds like a good idea.

Basically, not a good idea, because I awoke the next morning in a panic when I realized that I never moved the straightener. Crap, crap, crap.

Don't get to depressed because of me, though. My dad bought me a new one.

I dropped my dad off at the airport Sunday morning and started crying after he got out of the car. The toll booth people must have thought I was having a serious breakdown b/c my face was all red and puffy and I had tears trickling down my cheeks.

I then proceed to spend all of Sunday holed up in my room watching the Disney channel and talking to Andrew on IM and Erika and the phone. I survived.

The next morning, I packed my stuff up and left for Disney (don't worry - there was no refrigerator in my room, so i didn't leave my straightener again).

And I just want to let you all know that God really does answer prayer, because I've been praying for God to send me a good roommate that was a Christian and someone that would be able to live with me peaceably and God answered my prayers and more. The very first girl I meet (Mandy) is the one that God sent to me and now we're roommates. She just graduated from a Christian college in North Carolina and wants to pursue a career in acting. She'll be working in Epcot and has to memorize a 28 page monologue for her job. Sick. But she can't wait.


So anyway, the similarities carry on. She's an army brat too, is highly allergic to mosquitoes (exactly like me - it's soo weird, erika), and basically, the list goes on and on. We're pretty similar, so it's great that God sent her to me. It's just too bad I look high in our very first picture :(

Haha. I almost forgot. She supports me and Erika and our quest to meet/marry the Jonas brothers. Being she's going to be famous someday, I think our percentages of meeting/marrying have gone up exponentially. :)

I just found out that I'll be working in Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom. I'll probably be skipping around to a lot of different shops in that area. Basically, the hours are crap (it's possible I'll have to be there at FOUR in the morning or work until 2-3 in the morning. Blech.), so don't mind me if I get really cranky sometimes from lack of sleep...or forget to blog because my body clock will be so out of whack...

And here are some pictures, so you can visualize EVERYTHING.

Don't judge me - it's a work in progress. We were really tired yesterday and got lost A LOT (like, an insane amount - even for me) so we didn't have a chance to unpack yet. I can update pictures as the apartment looks a little more lived in...that is, if you don't judge me...

Our bathroom and HUGE closet that you really can't see.

Our bedroom. Bet you can't guess which bed is mine...

Our living room...we still don't have the TV set up...or anything set up... yet...

Our kitchen. There's not too much to say about that...

I hope that gives you all a little look into my new life.

Don't worry. I won't forget you when I'm famous.

- Jellens

Life is a Highway

First things first. I have 3 words.

Naked Mountain Winery.

Ok. I'll get back to that later...here's what happened since I last blogged.

- I quit my job at Blockbuster. On my last day, one of my favorite customers bought me ice cream. Unfortunately, he bought it for me w/3 hours left in my shift, so it was pretty melty...
- Julie and Scott became Mr. and Mrs. Scott Hamilton. It was about time.

- Some of my great friends (Andrew, Austin, Alyssum, Caitlynn, Jamar, and Alison) came to visit me before I began my trek down to Disney. We hung out and went to Los Tres Amigos and then ate some ice cream cake that I made. That may or may not sound super fun to you, but it was for me :)
- My FAVORITE olympians (Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor) won their 2nd consecutive gold medal in beach volleyball. I heard that they won it for you, Andrew...just to spite you...


- I began my trek down to Disney. My dad is helping drive down (I wasn't brave enough to battle Hurricane Fay by myself) and being we have a time share in Virginia, we made a major detour and stayed the night there. It was a rustic, equestrian time share (they probably train for the Olympics, eh Austin?), so I was a little skeptical about staying in log cabins, but they had fancy accommodations that included the Disney channel, so I was set. Here's some things that I noticed on our trip:
*Naked Mountain Winery. It's located in Virginia and it's off of I-66 eastbound at exit 18 for those of you interested in visiting.
*The trees are already changing colors :(
* The cheapest gas we found was for $3.39
* My aunt found this newfangled gasoline saver thing that you put in your gas tank, so we're getting like 36 miles to the gallon.
* UPS is EVERYWHERE. We saw and counted 31 UPS trucks in a period of 2 minutes (we passed a hub).
* That Kid Rock song is no longer popular in just Michigan. We heard it on the radio 5 times in 3 hours.
* I got a pepsi slushie for my big gulp and it tasted like popcorn :( I dumped it and had to buy another one. :(

On a separate note, as you'll probably read in a future blog, Erika made a tribute to the Office on her birthday. I decided to thus make a tribute to Friends, particularly Ross, and got myself some extra toilet paper and kleenex from our time share room. Yes.

Lastly, I decided to write a book. I've always wanted to and decided that I could get started and hopefully make more money off of the book then I spend writing/publishing the book. Don't ask me to tell you about it, because I won't tell you. For those of you who think I'm a bad secret keeper, I'll prove to you otherwise.

Oh! Lastly for real, Austin is the newest employee in the admissions office! YAY!!!!!!
(sorry if I just stole all of your thunder, Austin, but I couldn't help it)

- J

Too Little Too Late

I know it's been a while since I last reviewed a movie and I know that you're all clamoring for some reviews, so I figured I could rewind a bit and review a couple movies that just came out as well as fast forward and review some that haven't come out yet.

So here goes.

Never Back Down (PG-13)


Basically, this is Karate Kid meets Fight Club with lots of teenage eye candy. Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) starts going to a new school and gets mixed up in an underground fight club. He ends up meeting a martial arts guru and begins to study fighting under him and learns to control his anger. He gives up trying to get revenge from a fellow student, Ryan (Cam Gigandet who also is the bad guy in Twilight. Some guys are just meant to play baddies. Like Cillian Murphy.). Ryan had previously humiliated him, and begins to threaten him and when his friends start getting hurt, Jake he challenges Ryan to a final fight. As lame as this sounds, it was actually pretty good. I'd have to give it a 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.



Nim's Island (PG)


Starring Gerard Butler, Abigail Breslin, and Jodie Foster. I would have loved this movie as a kid. To be honest, the only reason why I rented it is because I think Gerard Butler is hot for an old guy. It's about a girl (Breslin) who lives on an uninhabited island with her scientist of a father (Butler). Butler goes out on a scientific mission and gets lost at sea. While he's away, Breslin gets an email from who she thinks is her favorite action adventure hero Alex Rover, but in reality, is the author of the books, Alexandra Rover (Foster). Foster is an OCD agoraphobic who leaves her sheltered life to save Breslin and her island from being invaded. 2 out of 4 stars on this one.



Prom Night (PG-13 - Release date: August 19)

Considering how much I hate and am terrified of scary movies, it was surprising how much I enjoyed this movie starring Brittany Snow (John Tucker Must Die, Hairspray) and Jonathan Schaech (That Thing You Do!). Donna (Snow) witnessed her family's murders as committed by her former teacher turned obsessive stalker, Richard Fenton (Schaech). Fenton was captured, and surprise, surprise, escapes 3 days before Donna's prom. Her new family and police chief don't tell Donna what's happened to prevent the news from ruining her prom, but I'd have to say that if 8 or so people died at my prom, that would pretty much have ruined it for me. That being said, I'd give this 1980 remake a 3.75 out of 4 stars. It's not so much super scary as it is simply a good thriller.



Mrs. Pettigrew Lives For a Day (PG-13 - Release Date: August 19)



Sadly, this movie was not interesting at all. The only thing interesting about it was trying to figure out what movies the various cast members were from. Some of the stars of this movie are Amy Adams (Enchanted, Katie The Purse Girl from The Office), Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies), and Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - it was fascinating to see her in this movie. She's a real adult, yet she played a 13 year old in Harry Potter. Simply fascinating.) I can't really tell you much about this movie, because it lost my interest and I started writing this blog instead of watching the movie, but it's about a woman who becomes a social secretary by mistake for a woman who is dating 3 men. Let's be honest. Who hasn't seen a movie like this before? 1/2 a star out of 4. Thumbs down for sure.



I hope these reviews help. It's been a slow month. You should be watching the olympics, anyway. But have no fear - Iron Man comes out on the 30th of September. Yesssss!

And on that note, one of my coworkers told me that I smelled nice - like a tropical fruit. Excellent.

Peace out
- Jessica

The Great Gig In the Sky

If you didn't know, that is the title of a Pink Floyd song. 

I (Erika) don't know much about Pink Floyd, so I couldn't tell you if I like them or not. 

I can however, tell you that I am impartial to The Echoes of Pink Floyd. 

During the summer in Howell, they do this thing called "Concerts at the Courthouse," and they get a bunch of almost-nobody singers and bands to come every Friday during the summer and perform outside for free. The music is usually semi-lame, but it's still nice to get out of the house and do something different. And free. And! We usually get Dairy Queen when we go too, loooove ice cream. :)

So this last Friday, we (and by "we," I mean my mom, Daniel, Timmy, Rebekah, and I) decided to go and see the Echoes of Pink Floyd -  a band who covers only Pink Floyd songs if you hadn't guessed that already. But, believe it or not, The Echoes of Pink Floyd were not the real lure to the show that night. They had been advertising a laser light show. Yess - Everyone loves laser shows, so we were psyched. 

We showed up at 6:30 - half an hour before it was supposed to start... or so we thought...

We claimed our spot, my mom ordered pizza, and Daniel and I started people watching. We were surprised at how few people were there, I mean this is The Echoes of Pink Floyd, after all!

We got our pizza, and the man who was in charge (who I'm pretty sure was a Hippie back in the day) approached us and handed us coupons (for the pizza place we had already bought pizza from) and "reminded" us that the concert didn't start until 9:00 because the laser show was going to happen at the same time. 

Goodness. No wonder there were so few people there. 

We had over 2 hours to wait still. Oh well, thank goodness for interesting people (the most intriguing being an overweight man wearing a button up shirt.... unbuttoned. Yikes.) in Howell to watch. And pizza. And Dairy Queen. 

As we watched the band set up and listened to about 10,983 mic checks, Daniel and I started wondering just where this laser show was going to be... there's really no place in downtown Howell to project lasers onto... so it was quite the conundrum. 

As it got closer to 9:00, we slowly started to realize that our definition of a laser light show:

 

was very different from the hippie-man's definition of a laser show: 

Yes. It's true. This man considered the multi-colored stage lighting a "laser show." If that's not false-advertising, then I don't know what is. 

Despite the laser disappointment, we still had a good time. I'll tell you one of the many great parts of the night: 

The Echoes of Pink Floyd had some backup singers (who were semi-ridiculous, by the way... but that's a different story), and for one of the songs, it was just her doing a bunch of oooh's and aaaaah's. The ooooh's and aaaaah's went on for a long time. Much longer than you would have expected. And she was ok. Better than me, but I'll put it this way - she wouldn't make it very far on American Idol. At all. After she had been singing for about 3-4 minutes, Timmy said very loudly, "Why is this lady still singing?!" Oh my. Needless to say, we got some looks from the people around us. But from the grins on their faces, he said just what everybody else was thinking. :) 

Also. I got to see Kate. And Nate and Missy. And the babies. 

It was pretty much the best ever. Be jealous. 

Home

Well. It's official. 

I (Erika). Am. Home. :)

It's nice. As great as South Carolina is, I've missed good ol' Michigan. I figured the best way for me to get my point across is to make some lists. :) Gotta love the lists. 

First, things I missed about Michigan when I was in SC: 

1. My friends and family - duh. 

2. The weather - Ok. I know this one might seem kind of shocking, but it got HOT in South Carolina, and it's nice to be able to be outside for more than 5 minutes w/o being covered in sweat. 

3. Watching sports - In South Carolina all they care about is college sports: Clemson and USC (not University of Southern California, it's University of South Carolina). So I have definitely experienced a Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings withdrawal.

4. The sunsets - Michigan has some of the best sunsets. I realized it's because it is cloudy here... a lot. So that can be a bummer sometimes... but they make for great sunsets. In South Carolina, they don't get clouds very often. 

5. The drivers - down south... they don't drive very well. I know that's a generalization... but it's true. For the most part. We may drive fast up here, but at least we know what we are doing. My dad says it's cause they watch too much Nascar - they drive like they're coming out of the pits. 

Ok. Now for things I'm going to miss about South Carolina:

1. Family (including my dog). Duh. 

2. Working at NuVox. I really enjoyed it there, and my last day was surprisingly sad. 

3. The weather. Even though it was insanely hot sometimes, I will admit that it is nice seeing the sun everyday. 

4. The gas prices. It was funny... being up here, driving around with Jessica, she said that it was nice to see the gas prices coming back down. At $3.89. In South Carolina, $3.89 was expensive gas... I think that's the highest it got all summer. 

5. The scenery. Mountains = Beautiful.

So... fairly short lists, I know. But, give me a break - my cousin got married last night... and I'm tiiiiired. 

Oh. and one thing I'm NOT going to miss about South Carolina - Seeing these: 

 Gross. I know. They call them Palmetto Bugs. But don't be fooled, it's definitely a cockroach. 

Aaannnd - I'll leave you all w/ that lovely image.