Home sweet home

I've been home for 6 days today, and what a difference it is from Florida! On Sunday, I went back to Michigan State because I had three assignments due on Monday. Nothing like throwing myself right back in full-force! There was an arts and crafts festival going on on campus and it took all I had not to stop and just stop by some booths. I walked past the alluring aroma of fresh popped kettle corn, home-made giant ice cream cookie sandwiches, unique pottery and art, and awesome Michigan state blankets. Then I dove right into my powerpoint slides and papers. I got done in 8 hours, and when I came back out, everything was gone, like it had never even been there. I was so sad. I was going to reward myself with something :( I was thinking that a week ago, the sunday before that, my Grandma had come into town, we went to the movies and saw the Hunger Games, and then I went to House of Blues with Irene, Caren, Sam, Lauren, Vincent, Mike, Linnette, Sarah and Sofia. I'm really going to miss that.

I'm also going to miss coming home to Chatham Square and being greeted with "Welcome home" every time. That was so nice and I definitely got used to it. Also, I would get more compliments in a week in Florida than I do in a year in Michigan. My self-esteem got boosted 100% while I was in Orlando. It's beautiful here in Michigan, with no humidity and green SOFT grass, but I got so spoiled with no class work for 5 months that it's a real buzz kill to be back at it, and back to no social life.

When I got back to East Lansing, that night I went out to Champps with Sara La Rue, and we got to catch up with each other and talk about everything. It was especially nice because she said her job is hiring so we might get to work together!

It's really nice getting to spend more time with my family. Since I've been back, I've gotten to see my grandparents and Aunt Steph and the boys almost every day. My Aunt Steph moved about 2 blocks away from where I live, so I can see her whenever I want! Me and the boys went on a bike ride yesterday (I hadn't been on a bike in about 4 years, and it's true that they say it's easy to pick up again) and we stopped by Stephanie's and Tyler and Joey showed Ben and Will their new bikes. It's really nice getting to spend so much time together, especially in this hard time for my Grandma since GG passed away. It was so unfair to her that she had to be stuck with me in Ohio when we got the call on the way back up to Michigan. I felt really really bad. She, of course, took it like a champ. She's such a strong woman and I really admire her. She is so generous, offering to drive back up with me, and we had the best time in Florida and on the drive up until then. I really missed her! And everyone else. I wasn't looking forward to coming back, but now that I'm back and in the swing of things, it's pretty nice.

My family reunion is coming up next month and it'll be great to see everyone and hang out. I've lost 20 lbs since I arrived in Florida, so I wonder if anyone will notice! I guess that's what happens when you go from not walking for 4 months to being on your feet for 12+ hours a day!

Next month, I'm taking a wedding certification class and I'm really excited to learn more about the industry and have more knowledge. The certification is internationally acknowledged, so that will be good for my resume :)

So....I got pooped on

I was deployed to Chef Mickey's for a week, and let me tell you, it was a total 180 from Kona cafe. Where Kona does about 300 for breakfast, Chef Mickey's did about 1,200-1,400 people. My first day, I had to get a locker and the first 2 I tried didn't work :( Finally on the third try, I got one that worked. So I got upstairs and introduced myself to the manager, April, who was awesome! She gave me a little pamphlet with all the table numbers that I had to memorize so I could seat guests. There are 3 rooms, one with an upper and lower deck. One room there was our whole restaurant at Kona. The days went by so fast, and I even met someone else from Michigan State who was deployed. Sarah, also a hospitality major, got deployed from Olivia's at Old Key West. I got along with everyone at Chef Mickey's, and everything was so efficient and organized.

On my third day there though, I got pooped on! Now, at the Contemporary, the monorail goes through the hotel, so both sides have huge holes in them for the monorail to go through. So....birds are constantly flying around. I didn't' even know I got pooped on until Caren came up to me and was like, you have something in your hair. She started to try to pick it out and I asked what it was and she said "Umm, I'm not sure..." so we were laughing/mortified when we found out. Carolyn, one of the assigners was like,"Welcome to the club!" So I didn't feel so bad. The second day me and Caren were there, Chef Mickey's got 30 days without an accident, so we got king size Crunch and Snicker's bars. The last day we were at Chef Mickey's, it was someone's 10 year anniversary with Disney and she got a huge cheesecake with strawberries and whipped cream, and we got to have some of that. We always got fed in the morning before work and after as well. We definitely didn't go hungry there! The outfit we wore was a button up white long sleeved shirt, a red mickey tie, and black pants. The only problem was that sometimes when I bent over, I got a little wedgie...well one day I was pushing a cart and got one and Caren said "Will you hold the door open?" and I said "My wedgie butt can." and I hit the door open with my hip. Well, one of the chefs heard me, and was laughing so hard. The next day, he asked me how my wedgie was. SO EMBARRASSING!!!

The Cinco de Mayo party on the 2nd was very fun, with yummy tacos, a DJ dance party, and pictures with the characters. Me, Linnette, and Sarah were hanging out and we took Sofia's mustache glasses so took pictures with that and the cactus centerpiece, and I borrowed a sombrero from one of the cast members. I found a tamale corn husk doll and we named her Margarita Consuelo Gonzalez.

On Sunday, May 6th, me, Caren, Irene, and one of the Kona Servers Alanna, went to Cocoa beach. It was such a beautiful day. We went to the shops, and I got a great Bob Marley sweatshirt and Volcom jean shorts from Ron Jon, and we stopped at a Shaved Ice shop and I got something I've never gotten before- cherry and grape, but it had vanilla ice cream at the bottom, so when the flavor went to the bottom, the ice cream got the flavor. It was soooo good.

On May 7th, we had our College Program final party. It was at Typhoon Lagoon, and we got to ride the rides and there was a dance party on the beach from 7-11pm. We got eye patches, t-shirts, sunglasses, bandannas, beach balls, and pictures with pirates. The food was awesome too. There was salad, mashed potatoes, buffalo chicken balls, rolls, and veggies. And we got all the Mickey Bars, Cookies n'Cream ice cream sandwiches, and pineapple and strawberry popsicles. It was raining, so it was a good thing we were wet anyway!

At the end of the night, they even set off fireworks for us! It was a magical night!



On May 8th and 9th, my Aunt Sarah Jane and Uncle Bill visited me one last time before I had to head back to Michigan. We got to go to Sea World

and we went to the Hoop-de-doo review for dinner. Uncle Bill got picked to go onstage and was an angel in a dress and halo.

He even mooned the audience!!! It was hilarious. He got a certificate and pictures when the show was over.



May 10th was our Graduation party. Sonny's bbq catered it, and it was delicious. I got a picture with Minnie and Mickey with my mickey ears I got for graduation.

Me and my roommates also got our picture with Donald and Daisy.

Afterwards, me, Courtni, and Courtni's roommate went to Beaches N' Cream and got ice cream :)

I got the No Way Jose, which is peanut butter sauce, hot fudge, and vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Needless to say, I did not finish it!
My Grandma got here on the 13th, and we've had a great time since. We saw the Avengers at AMC fork and knife, which means we got to eat while watching the movie. I got a bacon cheeseburger, potato skins, and fish and chips. For dessert, we had coffee and cupcakes. We also watched the Hunger Games. I had to work every day she was in Florida before we left, but at least we still got to do some fun stuff. Last night was my last night of work, and Isabel gave me and Courtney, another CP from California, sticky wings for our last day of work! We also got a certificate and evaluation :) Nourredine, one of my co-workers, had the day off but wanted to see me one last time so he had dinner at Kona. It was so nice seeing him before I left.

Me and Grandma left this morning for Michigan around 9:30 and stopped in Caryville, Tennessee to spend the night. We'll be on the road again and back in Michigan tomorrow.