Let the Magic Begin!

Ok, so semi-fail on my part for how long it's been since my last post, but in my defense, it hasn't been nearly as long as my other ones I have tried in the past...you know, where I started, wrote one blog, and then never got on again. So I feel there is hope for me yet. :)

Anyways. So guess where I am. THAT'S RIGHT, DISNEY. Well...technically, right now I'm at the Panera Bread that's right around the corner from my apartment complex, but you get the idea. And later today I'm going to Universal...which once again isn't Disney at all, but that's just because I don't have my Disney pass to get into the parks for free, yet. I get that tomorrow. :D :D

So last I wrote, I believe I was in the middle of camp. Let me just say right now how absolutely amazing all of camp was, but especially the last couple weeks.  On top of having FINALLY gotten the swing of my job and really feeling confident in what I was doing, I had Sam and Colleen back with me and Jordan in the cabin, and even though we had all only been together for a month at the beginning of the summer, it felt like the Universe had been made right again when we were all back together. It was wonderful. I think I'm still having trouble adjusting to the fact that I don't live in the same rather gross cabin with them any more, or even in the same state for that matter. (Forget a Texas to Florida separation, Colleen is all the way in Hawaii...I don't even know what she's doing there. Something to do with dolphins. I think she's trying to one-up me. I think she might be succeeding...)

But what a great transition point that is to begin reflecting back on my trip here to the spectacular state of Florida! So originally, as in since we had been told our arrival date back in February, my plan had been thus: leave for Louisiana Saturday, stay Saturday night at my grandparent's house in Lafayette. Drive all Sunday to some point between Lafayette and Orlando (later decided to be Tallahassee). Stay there overnight. Spend Monday driving to Orlando.  Stay in Orlando that night in a hotel. Have all Tuesday to wander around the city, get to know it, go to Universal ideally, and basically just recover from the 3 day road trip that would equal a total of 16 hours in the car. Stay in a hotel again Tuesday night. Check in early Wednesday morning and begin the beautiful process. My plan is fairly flawless, wouldn't you agree? Well, somehow over the summer, as reservations were being made and relatives were being called, it changed to leaving Sunday and taking out that extra day of relaxation time in Orlando. I wasn't the biggest fan of this plan, for you see, I still supported my original idea.  But the calls had been made and it was set, so I let it rest.

Then along came Hurricane Isaac.  Mothers were panicking, newscasters were over-exaggerating, and Chris and I were looking at driving across the entire coast on Monday, which was exactly when and where Isaac was supposed to hit. An 8 hour drive in nothing but torrential downpour/potential floods? No, thank you. So now we were facing a dilemma: Move everything up and leave early (oh hey, original plan) or contact Disney and look into postponing our arrival date? Keep in mind that it's Saturday as we're trying to get all this figured out, and if we decide to leave early, that means that afternoon. Am I packed at all at this point? Absolutely not, in my mind I still have a solid 24 hours. We call Disney, but no one answered. So our only option is to leave that afternoon. In a flurry of frantic packing, I throw everything I am bringing into whatever bags I can find, resulting in me having 15ish average sized bags instead of 3 or 4 rather good-sized trunks. Maybe not the most effective method for this kind of trip, but beggars can't be choosers. 5 pm rolls around and we take off for Louisiana. Sunday we drive from Lafayette to Tallahassee and hit literally not even a drop of rain. Monday we drive the 4 hours to Orlando and maybe hit an hour of the actual hurricane. And then comes Tuesday, my originally planned day of rest and relaxation. All of this to say, if everyone had just listened to me and stuck to my plan, I wouldn't have had to pack in such a rush, last minute reservation changes wouldn't have had to be made, and everything would have been on schedule as planned. But it's ok, it all worked out, and Wednesday I got checked in, found out who my roommates are and what job I will be doing for the next 4 months, and got settled into my apartment.

Now, however, I must depart for Harry Potter World. More to come later. :)

Courtney

P.S. I'm the only American in my apartment of 6 girls...how exciting is that??