La Sirenita

What? 

More pictures of Ariel in her Grotto?

Shocker. 

But hey, Ariel was there until quite late last night and she couldn't help but have some fun with the humans, bubbles, and blowing kisses. 

Pug X

I talk about my future pug, Florence, a lot on my blog.
I talk about my future pug, Florence, a lot in real life.
I talk about my future pug, Florence, a lot in my head.

I'm so excited to get a pug.

But recently I've been thinking of other names than Florence.
Florence might still be my future pug's name but here are some other names I've come up with (in no particular order):

Pug babies. I die.

• Taco
• Scout
• Latte
• Berry
• Sesame
• China
• Aida
• Gigi
• Eloise
• Liesl
• Maple
• Afro
• Elphie (short for Elephant)
• Maggie (short for Magnolia)
• Poppy (short for Popcorn)
• Aggie (short for Agatha or Agnes)

Any others I should add to the list?

Friends in the Grotto

These cool people, (boy) Alex and Lindsay visited Ariel in her grotto last night.

Wasn't that so sweet of them? 

Here is the outline of the meet and greet in a nutshell: 

Ariel really, really, REALLY liked Lindsay's shirt.

Making sure (boy) Alex was a nice pirate and not a mean one.

"You use a dinglehopper, dontcha?"

"On the count of 3 say, 'guppy'!"

One year ago today.

You guys.
One year ago today I auditioned for the Walt Disney World company.
Best decision of my entire life.
You can look at my blog about it HERE.
It has been quite the journey but I can't tell you how grateful I am for it.
A big thank you to my family and friends for the support I have received for the past 365 days.
It is truly overwhelming.

This alien thanks you.

Foxy and Killer

One of Elder Boyfriend's first companions was named Elder Fox, a ginger who was also from Utah! Their companionship has been over for quite some time but I recently connected with Elder Fox's girlfriend who, drumroll please, is also from Utah. Hip, hip hooray for Utahns!  

One thing I learned was that Elder Fox called Elder Boyfriend, 'Killer' and Elder Boyfriend called Elder Fox, 'Foxy'. Hilarious.

Here they are rocking the glasses I got them for Halloween.

Don't they just look stunning?

the letter

This was taken about two weeks before I wrote the letter.

During my senior year of high school, I had to take World Civ which was more or less humiliating because most people in that class were freshmen but of course, I put it off too long. But it actually turned out to be my most favorite class taught by my most favorite teacher. I loved it because she taught with such passion and she actually cared about the world's history.

As if she wasn't perfect enough already, before the semester ended she had each one of her students right a letter to their future selves. She promised she would mail them to us in two years. Well folks, it's been two years and my mama forwarded it to me since I had it sent to my home in Utah.

For the life of me, I could not remember what I had written so I was super excited to read it! It starts off with the following:

Right now, I'm not entirely sure where I'll be in 2 years. Perhaps I'll be attending UVU still. Are you in the nursing program? Because the 2 years younger version of you hopes that you are! 

Oops.

The first day of UVU with Keke.

...Dano just got home from her mission! Katie is dating Daren and I have a feeling something is going to come of that. Mark my words! 

Dano right after she got back from her mission.

Okay. Daren and Katie started dating two weeks before I wrote this and were engaged 6 months later. I THINK THE UNIVERSE OWES ME LIKE $100 (or something). I totally called it that they would get married! Boo-yah.

The Lifferth's.

 And then I wrote this which I honestly have no recollection of.

An idea I had the other day for the summer of 2012 or 2013 is that you should go work at Disney Land! Curtis will be on his mission and you need something to keep yourself busy so you should consider it.

WHAT THE WHAT?!? I did not know that I had actually considered it before I applied one year later. How did I forget that? The point is, I think it's actually cool that I actually achieved one of my goals. That's very rare for me so it makes me quite happy.

I also talk about Curtis a lot (duh). Gosh, I was so scared for him to go on his mission. And though it has its good days and bad days, it's survivable, past self.

A greenie Elder Boyfriend

So if I could, I would send a letter to my 17 year old self (it was written the day before my 18th birthday) and it would go a little something like this:


Dear 17 year old Alex, 
Right now you live on your own in Florida where you work in the entertainment department at WALT DISNEY WORLD. Also, Curtis has been out for 263 days as of today and guess what. It's okay. You're doing fine. And so is he! Life is good. Don't worry so much about the future because everything works out in the end. 
With deepest sincerity, 
20 year old you
PS Tonight you will be going to see Tangled with Curtis and it becomes your new favorite movie. <<< I remember that date like it was yesterday, you guys. One of my favorites. Have fun!  

20 year old self.

The Cookie Game

Have you ever played the cookie game? Ya know, the one where you start with a cookie on your face and try to get it in your mouth only using your face muscles? It took me a couple tries, but I finally did it at FHE on Monday. Alex (a different Alex, he is a boy, after all) documented the process:

Victory Shot

Oh and did I mention that I ate a doughnut or two... or three that night as well?
Because I did... and they were SO yummy, I can't even begin to describe it.

Who has two thumbs and loves FHE?
THIS GIRL.
She gets fed very, very well there. Yum.

France

 

Oh ya know, just Belle.

Hanging out in France.

And she even had a friend visit her!
Who, don't worry, assured her he was not at all like Gaston.
Whew!
What a relief.

praying for morgan

I woke up at 4am this morning to go to work.
After work I did laundry.
Cleaned up the house.
Took a nap.
Woke up to the sound of crying.
Went to the living room to find my roommate in tears.
"My Mom died."
My heart stopped.
I sat down next to her.
She cried some more.
Stopped, then said, "I need to go to the computer lab."
"Can I come with you?" I asked
"It's okay," she responeded.
5 minutes.
10 minutes.
15 minutes.
What was taking so long?
I made my way to the computer lab.
Found her at computer 15.
Requested computer 16.
Sat next to her as she stared at the blank screen for 10 minutes.
Eventually she stood up and left.
I followed.
"Morgan, what can I do?"
Nothing.
There was nothing I or really anyone could do to help her feel better.
But I settled on making pizza together while listening to Backstreet Boys.
During the process of dinner she made and received several phone calls having to tell the story of her mother's sudden death over, and over, and over again.
She moved to our room and started packing up some things to take home since she'll be taking a week or two off.
I moved to our room and pretended to act busy on my laptop but the truth is I was tired.
I just wanted to go to sleep.
But I dare not leave her by herself right now.
She is so strong.
I have to be strong for her too.
She is now in the shower.
And I'm sitting her in front of my laptop.
Tears streaming down my face.
Death is hard.
Wish I could take away everyone's pain.
Wish I could hug my own Mom right now.
Makes me wonder if I'm doing the right thing, not being in even the same state as my own family right now.
One never knows how much time we have.
I could be gone tomorrow.
You could be gone tomorrow.
Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight.
Comforted by the fact that I know families can be forever. 
The shower has stopped.
I should probably go now.
A long night ahead of us.
We are sleeping with the lights on per her request.
Praying for Morgan.
You may join me if you like.

Enchanted Tales With Belle

Enchanted Tales With Belle is a new experience in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World. If you ever find yourself in Disney World I would highly recommend going. It's an interactive show experience with an amazing set, props, and audience participation. Here are some stills from it:

**All photo credit goes to the amazing Vince Le**

Belle with Vince, the photographer.

Koaling

Remember when planking was all the rage? And remember when Elder Boyfriend and I used to 'owl' and 'snail' on my stairs? The other day, I decided to bring OWLING back. In Hollywood Studios in front of Tower of Terror:

 

And then I decided to take it to the next step. KOALA. KOALAING. It's magical (and inspired by Ellen Degeneres). 

(This was taken at Hollywood Studios too, when it was closed and we (4 of us) were the ONLY ones walking down Sunset Boulevard. My goodness, it was amazing. I did cartwheels and tourjetes down the street! It was an experience I will not soon forget.)

la nouba

On the first day of my Disney internship, I went to a building (I have no idea exactly what building it was but it was an office building of some sort... anyway!) to do lots and lots of paperwork and on the way there, I looked out the window from the bus and saw a big white tent. "What's that?" I asked the girl next to me. "That's Cirque Du Soleil," she said. It was then that I learned the show, La Nouba is in Downtown Disney year round. Immediately, I knew I would be going there at least once while I was living here in Florida.

That 'one day' was Wednesday of last week. Ladies and gents, MY LIFE HAS BEEN CHANGED. You think I'm kidding, don't ya. Well, I'm not. It was AMAZING. My friend from work, Vince, and I grabbed a bite first at Wolfgang Puck express where I experienced one of the most lovely salads of my entire life. Good job Wolfgang.

Then, we excitedly hurried over to the big white tent where we found our seats, which was in the front row, I might add. When purchasing the tickets before dinner, the ticket master asked me if I wanted to sit in the back or the front and after much delibration (I'm serious when I say 'much' because I'm really bad at making decisions), I decided on the front because I wanted to feel like I was in the show with them... I think I made the right choice. I loved that I could hear their footsteps upon the marly and their controlled breathing during the breaks in music. Oh how I adored every single second of it.

...Except, it was also very stressful for me. I'm the kind of person that gets nervous when I watch the Olympics so being so up close and personal to the acrobats made me feel that much more anxious for them. I know they do this stuff twice a day every day but I was still worried they would mess up and consequently, well, uh, die. Thankfully, no one died but I did manage to recreate my facial expressions throughout the performance for your enjoyment:

And that was that! I didn't want it to ever end. How are people so talented?!? Like seriously. I wonder how it feels to be so awesome... Well! If you haven't seen La Nouba, I highly recommend it. Like highly. HIGHLY PEOPLE! Cirque Du Soleil cast, y'all are amazing. I know you must hear that all the time so you probably have big heads but that's okay by me. You deserve it. Thank you, Cirque, for providing me with such a beautiful and inspiring evening! It made me wish I could join the circus. But, as my friend Vince pointed out, what would I do?... And to that I respond, well, what couldn't I do! (As a side note however, guys. Seriously. What could I do??? If anyone wants to help me out and teach me the skills of contorting my body, that would be very much appreciated. K thanks.)