I'm back!

Storm Troopers out recruiting

I know, I know. It's been too long since I've updated. I've been really busy. As stressful as everything's been, I've still been running on an emotional high since starting. I've been having so much fun, and in my opinion, have only had a few days of work :)

Since training, I've mostly been working in the front of the restaurant, which is fine with me. Today was the first time that I worked back of house. There's a lot more guest interaction, and I don't have to worry about burning my fingers on the onions! For the last two weeks, I've been working closing shifts. This week and next week, I'm finally working middle of the day shifts. It's definitely different. The shifts are busier overall and I don't have to worry about not getting my full time. On Tuesday, my shift was changed from a closing to an opening shift. When I came in, someone wanted to talk to me to see how everything was going since training. She knew that I plan on either going to culinary school or stay on with Disney after the program ends. She also told me that she would write my name down, and when a position in table service (the sit-down restaurants) opened up after the program, she would let me know. Yay!!! Now I just need to finish.

When I was watching the window last Friday at work, someone from Miami Ink came up to my window. I had no idea at the time who it was. Of course, I still have no idea, I hadn't heard of Miami Ink before then. The only hint I had that it was someone important was that people kept asking to get their picture taken with him. He was very nice.

Besides work, I've been really busy hanging out with friends and going to the park. California Adventures has this area that's open Friday - Sunday nights called ElecTRONica. This area is a cross between a show and a dance. I finally got to check it out on Sunday. It was definitely amazing. The opening show was really cool as well. I have to say that it's really nice being able to go into the park when I'm not working. I can ignore the park when it's busy, and find the times that lines are only 10 minutes long.

I went on the Haunted Mansion the day after it reopened (reopened this last Tuesday). That was the first time that I've been on that ride when it wasn't decorated for Christmas. It's a really fun ride. I think I've been on it about four times now. Hmmm...... maybe I need to visit the park a little less... nah.

So for the first time in 4 years, I seem to finally be struggling with allergies again. The entire time I was in Pullman, I only had to deal with allergies when I had worked in the basement of the library for too long.

Classes start in 2 weeks for me, some people start next week. Fortunately, it looks like I won't have any books that I need to buy. Woot! Less money to spend! :) I have no idea what to expect in the way of homework and assignments, but I'm pretty sure that I'll have less time to spend in the parks. I just figured out today that I can take the bus to the beach. I'm definitely going to have to take advantage of that in a few weeks, or whenever I have a chance to go with someone on a day off.

Spring break starts soon. Or at least that's what it seems like. I had to fill out a form for my availability. I have to remain fully available for at least weeks.

Well, I can't think of anything else to write to sum up the last several weeks. Just go to work, tidy up, hang out with friends, go to the park... fairly routine, but lots of fun. I'll try not to let so much time go by again.

~Amber

It's off to work we go.

Day 9

Back of the house uniform. It's a chef's "coat" with pinstripe black pants

Well, apparently it's been a while since I've posted something on here (and apparently 2 days is a while (and apparently I like using the word apparently today)).

I finish training on Saturday, and met one of the managers of the restaurant. The manager I met will be the one that I check in with every 30 days for one-on-one meetings. I found out on Saturday that after I'm off probation, I can cross-train. The probation period is 4 months. 4 months of not really being able to change my schedule. If I mess up during this period, I could risk my job. Not saying that there's no risk of losing my job after the probation period, but the risk is a bit lower. Cross-training means that I can either do the same jobs I'm doing currently in another restaurant, or I can do something else, such as cashier or a quick-order chef. At this point, I'm thinking I'll cross-train as a quick-order chef. We'll see when the time gets closer.

I'm also thinking that I'm going to continue on working for Disney after I finish this internship. From the sounds of it, it's very common for college program students to stay on with Disney after the 7 months of the program are over. Of course, it's only been one week. There's still plenty of time to change my mind. If I stay though, I'm going to try to get into table service restaurants. Even if I'm just a waitress, it would be more beneficial in the long run if I eventually go to culinary school like I want to.

Yesterday was my first official day of work. Yesterday and all this week, I work 3-9:30, excluding Wednesday and Thursday - which I have off. Work was a lot of fun, although chaotic at times. For the last hour, I ended up being the only one working 3 different stations. Everyone else was working on cleaning and closing. Putting a newbie in charge of all the customers? Oh boy. Fortunately, I was able to get some help when I needed it, and I didn't have any annoyed customers :) I also figured out that all of the people working in the front with me at the end of the night were fluent in Spanish. Unless they were talking to me or a customer, they were speaking Spanish. Boy, do I wish I could remember my Spanish :( Not sure if that would help though, I've always struggled with hearing what they're saying, even in my classes in high school.

It rained yesterday. It was amusing to see the various reactions of people. One of my coworkers was panicking because she's never driven in the rain before. I'm glad I was working inside for the worst of the rain. One of my friends was busing tables in Pacific Warf though, and was soaked by the end of the night. It's cloudy right now, but not raining. We'll see if that keeps up. Except when waiting for an hour for the bus, I've enjoyed the cooler weather the rain has brought.

The only thing I've come to hate so far is the buses. Just like in Pullman, they're always late. When I start work, the buses run every 15 minutes. When I get off work, they're once an hour, maybe even less. All I know is that I got off work at 9:40, and was waiting for the bus until 11:20.  A nice cup of hot tea was very nice after that.

The rest of the week will be basically the same as last night. Wednesday and Thursday I have off. Wednesday, I'm planning on going to a networking workshop that the college program is putting on as well as grocery bingo (free groceries? definitely!). Thursday, I'll probably go to the park.

Lets see what I decide to take a picture of and post for my next post :)

~Amber

Which is better?

Day 6

Front of Restaurant costume. Costume I wear when I'm easily visible

Today was another early morning oddly enough. I seem to have forgotten how to sleep in. Woke up at 7:50, even though I had an alarm set for 10. Watch, the one day I want to wake up that early, I won't be able to. Definitely setting an alarm for a lot earlier tomorrow, I have to be at work by 10:30.

This morning was much like yesterday morning, except I didn't work on cleaning the apartment. I left for work around 11:50, even though I didn't start at 2. The gal that started training with me wanted to ride the bus, and we needed to pick up chef uniforms, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time. I also was riding the bus with one of my friends, who had to be at work by 1:30.

Work was a lot of fun. I can't decide which I like more: front or back. In the front, we serve the customers, in the back, we're putting the orders together. The restaurant I work at (Village Haus) is a quick service restaurant. There are several chefs working that prepare each individual menu item. When in the back, I work on the line that puts the cooked foods together into menu items. I don't know which I like best. They both have their pros and cons.

Other than new stuff during work, today wasn't extremely exciting, therefore nothing much to write about. I'm still having a lot of fun here in California. So far things are going really good with the roommates. They're all enjoying their jobs as well. The weather has been really warm today. It seems to be getting slightly warmer, although I heard that it's supposed to start raining next week.

Tomorrow I work from 10:30 until 7 PM. After I get off work, I think I'm going to spend some time in the parks, go on more rides by myself, bug some friends that are working.

~Amber

Unexpected Fun

Day 5

It's a Small World ride, decked out in Christmas decorations

Yesterday was exhausting. I came home and all but fell asleep instantly. Considering my shifts are at night, I may have to change when I write these blogs. We'll see how it goes tonight.

Yesterday, I had intended to sleep in. Apparently sleeping in now means waking up at 7:30. Oh well, I got a lot done. Cleaned more of my stuff, swept the entire apartment. When all but the bedrooms are wood floor, that's a lot of sweeping. I even managed to go to the store to help a friend buy shoes for work. After that, took the bus to work and spent an hour talking to people before starting.

Work was a lot of fun! I admit that I was really worried that, because of high expectations, it would be a work setting that was all work, no nonsense - if you delay a split second on accident, you're in trouble - type of work setting. It was nothing like that. The first thing we did when we walked into the restaurant itself was meet all the managers. Even at that point, they were joking with each other, with the two people training us, and anyone else that walked by. The entire evening, everyone was joking with each other and clearly having a lot of fun.

I also learned a lot last night. The first 2 hours of work was a bit of a tour. The rest of the time was hands on experience learning how to do all of the up front jobs. I definitely struggle the most right now with the window service portion. When the restaurant closed at 8, it was all cleaning. The hardest part of cleaning is remembering all the steps involved.

I will admit though, when work was over, I was very glad to get home. I was exhausted by that point. I think if I had to work another half hour, I would've fallen asleep on my feet. I almost fell asleep at the bus stop after. My feet also hurt really bad. I was told it would take about 2-3 weeks to break in the shoes. Hopefully I can get used to them before. After all, they're only slightly less comfortable than marching shoes. I think the exhaustion was mostly due to all the overwhelming things. Lets see how much I can remember today...

Today I learn how to do the back kitchen work. Not sure if that involves cooking or prep. Guess I'll find out. Either way, I learn tonight and have two weeks to forget what I've learned before I may put that training to work. Guess I'm taking notes tonight.

Last night I finally gained access to the last of the webpages I'm supposed to have access to for work. However, I can't figure out anything. None of the links seem to be working. I did find a link for blockout dates through the end of April. Blockout dates are the dates that I cannot access the park. Right now, those dates are March 30- April 15th for Disneyland. There are no block-out dates for California Adventures. I'm guessing that these dates are because of spring break times.

So tonight I work from 2 PM until 10:30 PM. The extra hour is because the park is open until 9 PM tonight instead of 8 PM. Whenever I finally decide to put my front of the restaurant uniform on, I'll take a picture of it. I'll post this picture in the next update. One last thing to add before I stop writing. HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH!!! I've always found Friday the 13th to be good luck days for me. I think they should make it a holiday.

~Amber

Every Day Is A New Adventure

Day 4

Today was a lot of fun, even if it was long. During training yesterday, it was highly suggested that we arrive an hour early for today's training, since it would be at a different location, different parking. The guys I got a ride from decided to leave at 6:30 because of this. Turns out we got to the park before 7 as a result. Plenty of time to hang out, go into the shop, buy a coffee. Parts of training today were fun, other parts were boring. The boring parts were because they were repetitive: I've taken the food handler class twice now.

At the end of training ( 5 hours long), we got our schedules for the next couple of days, and the two weeks after. I FINALLY GET TO SLEEP IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow I train from 2 PM - 9:30. I also get my uniform tomorrow :) I have 3 more days of training (counting tomorrow - Thursday) and then it's straight to regular work shifts. Exciting.

After training ended, I went back to the apartment. After cleaning the apartment and my stuff, I decided to head off to the parks by myself. I expected to meet up with some of my friends there, but no one showed up (I figured out after closing that the guy I got a ride from this morning was there, just never saw my text, ah well). Maybe just as well. I figured out that I could go on some of the rides I wanted to much faster as a single rider than I would've otherwise. I went on California Screamin twice, the Hollywood Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, and Indiana Jones. Considering I was only there for 3 1/2 hours, and they all had long lines, I'd say that was pretty impressive. I also got to ride the Disneyland Railroad around the park once.

I did get really annoyed while waiting for the Indiana Jones ride at some teenagers. They wouldn't stop playing games on their iphones, and occasionally held up the line because they weren't paying attention. Guess it's only fair that one of them didn't notice the stairs and fell, too bad he didn't learn. I also found it very rude that they kept pulling, pushing, and hanging on to every prop within arm's reach. Sadly, not everyone was taught the same respect I was :(

After the park, I was going to accompany another friend to the store so that she could get shoes for her uniform (and I could get sunscreen). We abandoned that plan after discovering that the bus wouldn't stop by for another 40 minutes (and that it would be another hour and 10 minutes after that before the next and final bus) and instead found someplace cheap to eat and hang out at.

All in all, today was a very fun day, and I'm excited to start a different type of training tomorrow. I really wish I could talk more about training, but I don't want to risk talking about something that is company information not to be shared. At least I'm pretty certain that food safety isn't a company secret ;)

Because of my schedule, I probably won't visit the park again until Wednesday. I know I'll post at least something tomorrow. I'm not sure if there will be much to post after that. I'll probably start cutting back my posts to a couple times a week at most, unless people would prefer shorter daily posts. Leave a comment - here or on facebook - let me know what you would prefer! I want to know what readers (if there are any ;) ) would like.

~Amber

Week 1 Schedule (01/12/2012 - 01/14/2012):

Thursday: 2-9:30 PM

Friday: 2 - 10:30 PM

Saturday: 10:30 - 7 PM

So Very Exciting, So Very Tired

Day 3

It's 10:50 and I'm super exhausted. Had an 8 hour work day today. Started at 8, with a check-in at 7:30 and ended at 4 (actually, 3:30 to be technical, we got out early). Got a ride in with my roommates this morning. It was definitely really nice not having to wake up earlier to take the bus.

 Unfortunately, I'm not supposed to really talk about the specifics of what we learned in class. I can say that I learned how to carry on the Disney traditions, and more about staying in character. We also got a tour of both the backstage and onstage portions of Disneyland. Definitely different going into the park as a worker. I also learned a lot more about the park.

After we finished with training for the day, I went to the park. Even if it was for a short 3 1/2 hours, it was still an exciting adventure. Most of the lines for rides were only 5 or 10 minutes long! Went on Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, and several rides in Tomorrowland. After coming back from the park, one of the guys' rooms had a spaghetti dinner party for everyone to come in, grab food and meet other people. My only response: yum!

Not really much else to add about today. Tomorrow I start specific training for my job. I have training at 8 AM! Which means check-in is at 7:30. I found a ride again, and they leave at 6:30. It's definitely time to go to bed. Tomorrow I gain access to a whole new website that's supposed to give me a lot more information. I should get information on all my benefits tomorrow. I also think I get my schedule tomorrow as well. After training, California Adventures!

~Amber

All I Can Say is..... Wow

Day 2

I thought yesterday was crazy and busy. Today was ridiculous. Fortunately, I didn't have "class" (or training) until 10. I introduced my roommates to the buses here. Fun adventure. We had to walk about two blocks to get to the bus and then another couple of blocks to get to the meeting place. Class was supposed to end at 1:30, but we were out by noon. Thankfully. My feet hurt, I was hungry, and it was too hot. I still haven't fully gotten used to California heat. Fortunately, it felt nice when I finally had on shorts, t-shirt and sandals.

The class, or training wasn't too bad. We learned the importance of networking, and even had hands on experience with networking. We also took pictures for ID badges that we'll receive tomorrow. I'm so excited to get my ID badge. I already know what I'm going to do when I get my badge, after training :)

After training, I had lunch and went shopping. Before arriving, they said to bring $200-$300 to cover food for the first couple weeks before we start getting paychecks. Apparently they expect everyone to drive in - and it seems to be the case. I've talked to one person who drove 4 days to get here. On a Facebook group of California participants, I read about another person who's 3 days in to her drive here. Apparently the $200-$300 for food assumes you have everything else you need. Good thing we're currently sharing all the food in the apartment. Of food I personally chose for myself, I have a loaf of bread, lunch meat, 2 cans of chili and pasta. NOT going to last for 2 weeks. Guess I'm going to be eating light for the next couple weeks... Of course, on that note, dinner tonight was free, tomorrow night is a spaghetti party at another participants room, Thursday dinner is free again. That'll make it easier. The sandwich for lunch tomorrow is the only dent I've made in my meager food supplies.

This afternoon, we had a welcome party. Free pizza, prizes, dancing. Met a lot of awesome people. I even won a price for dancing (even though I can't dance): An apple slicer. After the party, I went shopping again for more things that I needed, and then came back home to continue unpacking (very slow process when I'm so physically tired). This room was very busy tonight as well. One of my roommates was making dinner and it seemed like people kept getting drawn to our room by the smells. Met even more people that way. Actually, that's how we got invited to the spaghetti party. I'm already loving this place :)

Tomorrow is a very early day. Training starts at 8 AM. We have to  check-in by 7:30. Because of the time and how much my feet hurt (and the amount of walking we'll be doing during training) I'm NOT taking the bus tomorrow. Actually, none of my roommates are going to take the bus. We're all going to carpool together. Don't have to wake up as early, yay!! Training is 8 hours long, ending at 4. Because we get our IDs tomorrow, I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of the participants are going to Disneyland tomorrow. It'll only be 4 hours, but that's better than nothing. Besides, we'll be here until August. There's plenty of time to experience the park, both after work and on our days off.

During training, we also got a little more information about dress codes for work and specific training information for our areas of work. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out much more information for my line of work (food and beverage) from what they gave me. Each location has a slightly different attire. From the looks of it, the time of training also varies. Most of all the other food and beverage people that I've found and talked to have training at 11 AM on Wednesday. Mine is at 8. Good news is that I'll be done sooner. Bad news is that I have to wake up so early. I don't even have a choice of car pool at all. At least, not yet. Haven't met anyone else in food and beverage with training at 8.

Oh! I never mentioned anything about the awesomeness of my apartment yesterday! The living room/dining room area is huge! The bedroom I'm in seems a bit small for 3 people, but so far it's working. I hope it remains that way. Surprisingly, none of the rooms have lights on the ceiling. Instead, there's one lamp in my bedroom, one in the other bedroom, and one in the living room. Fortunately, there's full floor to ceiling windows covering most of the outer wall in the living room, and bedroom. That goes for both outer walls in the bedroom. Yep, that's right. The bedroom I'm in is a corner-room, and it's pretty awesome. I woke up at 6:30 this morning for some odd reason, and saw the most beautiful sunrise ever! It might even have compared to Pullman sunrises had I ever been awake early enough to experience them. I decided I was going to wake up just so I could take a picture and watch the sunrise, but as soon as I thought that, I was out again, and waking up to my alarm an hour later. Of course, then I couldn't get back to sleep if I wanted, the sun was fully up, and shining into the rooms (which is probably why there isn't any ceiling lights, the sun provides PLENTY of light). I can definitely live with more of that. No way are we closing our blinds :)

It's definitely past my bedtime now. I will definitely try and write again tomorrow. Hope everyone in Washington, Idaho, or wherever you are reading from is doing good!

~Amber

A Whole New World

Day 1

Today was a very busy, very long day. I apologize in advance if parts of this post have grammatical errors or typos: I'm surprisingly exhausted. It feels like 2 in the morning right now, even though it's only 10:30.

Woke up at 7:30 to get to a place that's about 20 minutes away at most with good traffic. Arrived an hour early for registration. Walked around for a bit, trying to find breakfast. I had seen a bakery around yesterday, so I wanted to try there. Of course, all the restaurants around would be closed on Sundays. Finally found a Starbucks though.

Registration started at 9. It took about 2 hours to get through all of the lines. SO. MUCH. PAPERWORK!! The room I'll be staying in is surprisingly big. I'm sure it won't feel that way soon. After all, there's 5 people in a two bedroom apartment. After some last minute clothes shopping and meeting some of the roommates, there was a short introductory meeting. Then I went shopping with a couple of my roommates for things for the apartment. Not sure how long we were out, but 6:30 felt like midnight to all of us. Guess all the nerves and excitement wore us out.

I'm not completely unpacked, but I've taken care of most of my things. Made my bed. Figured out the sheets don't fit. I know I bought twin-sized bedding, but apparently the sheets were mislabeled, they're actually full. Guess I'm going to use that tonight and hope they don't fall off. If not, then hopefully Target will accept sheets that were used once..... guess I'll find that one out. I'll probably end up living with the wrong sized sheets. I had to do that once before anyway.

I would love to write more, but I am exhausted, and this post has already taken me half an hour. Tomorrow is another busy day. I have training starting at 10. On top of that, I have to wake up early enough to figure out the bus schedule.

~Amber

California Adventures: Day 2

1 Day!!!!

Last day of simply exploring. Today we woke up to lots of fog and cooler weather (68 degrees). It finally started clearing up by early afternoon. This morning after breakfast, we went exploring by car. Drove over to look at the area I'll be staying at. Got a little lost trying to find it. The directions we were using weren't very good. After finding the apartment, we went looking for the church that was half a mile away and a grocery store that I could easily access. The church was easy enough to find, the grocery store? After ending up a mile or two closer to Knott's Berry Farm (although I didn't realize we were even remotely close), we decided just to go home and use the internet. Turns out, that's also half a mile from where I'll be living. Everything's so close! Assuming I can get used to the large amount of traffic and noise, I don't think I would mind living in a place like that. It's close enough to everything that I don't really need to use a car that often. We'll see what I say in a few months.

This afternoon was filled with more exploring - this time by foot. I think we spent at least 3 hours walking around Downtown Disney and the surrounding neighborhood. By the time we came back, we were tired. My toe now has a blister on it. But that could be because I was walking around in brand new shoes..... It was definitely nap time when we got back.

Unfortunately, by the time we got back from church and dinner, we had missed the firework show from Disneyland. I watched it while we were driving back though.

Now I'm exhausted. I stayed up too late considering the amount of activity today and how early I need to get up tomorrow morning. Check-in begins at 9, so why I'm wanting to get up at 7:30, to drive 2 miles, I don't know. I guess there's this thing called breakfast I anticipate wanting to eat tomorrow morning. If not, maybe I can create some more blisters! Either way, tomorrow's early, and busy, and exciting, and probably even long. Tomorrow, the fun really begins. Or starts to begin at least, it's a slow start.

~Amber

Picture from adventuring today

California Adventures: Day 1

2 Days

Finally in California (as of 6 1/2 hours ago). I must say, things are definitely different here. I never thought I'd be able to wear shorts in the beginning of January for one! At least, not until I had a lot more money.

Today has definitely been a long day. Woke up at 6 and went to the airport. My dad and I were on two different flights, so I had an extra 3 hours to hang out in the airport after he left. Of course, I also didn't have to wait in another airport like he did.

Nearly all of break, Washington has been cloudy and/or rainy. California is the opposite. Not a cloud in site. Or at least, none in comparison to Washington. I still have a hard time believing it was nearly 80 degrees today. The breeze was the only thing that made the weather bearable. Not sure what I'll do if there is no breeze. Guess I'll get by somehow, or pass out trying. Step 1: buy a water bottle. Step 2: fill it up 8 times a day? Oh, wait... might be a bit excessive. At least I wouldn't need to eat too much, my food costs would be cheaper :)

This afternoon was basically spent getting acquainted with the surrounding area. We went to an outdoor mall-like area just after unpacking to look for food. The mall was really cool! Too bad all the restaurants there were so pricey. After dinner, we went looking for a place to buy shoes and other things that I would need immediately on Sunday, excluding groceries.

I knew the place we were staying was fairly close to Disneyland. I didn't realize that we would be able to see it from the nearly non-existent balcony. I can see the Tower of Terror, Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and even some obnoxiously bright display boards for a Disney store, or something like that. At 8:45, the fireworks in the park went off. It was definitely a sight to see from here. The sound-delay was very interesting. We would see some fireworks go off and then ask "are those silent fireworks? *pause* oh, there's the noise." Lets see how long it takes before I get annoyed with the fireworks. Apparently they aren't nightly, so who knows.

Also when we checked in, we were given a visitors guide. In the guide, among other things, it has the daily schedule for both California Adventures and Disneyland for the entire month of January. One thing I don't think I've mentioned here before is that my work schedule changes weekly. Now I understand why. The hours vary so much. There's some days that Disneyland opens at 8 AM, other days that they open at 10 AM, and then anywhere in between. Some days that they close at 8 PM and other days they close at midnight (and again, anywhere in between). There's some days that California Adventure opens at 10 AM, other days they open at 11 AM, and any.... wait, guess that's it (no half hour opening times for either park). Then it closes anywhere from 8 PM to 10 PM. So California Adventures opens either at the same time as - or after - Disneyland, and closes either before - or at the same time as - Disneyland.

Still no clue where I'll be working, or my schedule. Of course, I won't find out until Monday or Tuesday. All I know is that I now have sheets to sleep on and shoes to wear, so I'm set. Time to explore California before check-in.

More "exciting" news tomorrow? We'll see :)

~Amber

10, 9, 8, 7, 6.......

6 days

Well, vacation's almost over and the time is almost here. Less than a week before Disney! I feel like I'm just jumping around from one extreme to another right now. Hopefully things will settle down somewhat soon. Maybe? Maybe? Please? Nope. Oh well. Might as well recap break so far. Next time I post, I'll probably be too busy and overwhelmed with Disney to think about anything else other than Disney.

As I mentioned in the last post, Christmas is an extremely busy time in my family. Christmas eve we went to my grandma's house in Centralia and spent the day with my dad's side of the family. It was definitely a lot of fun. After that, we had Christmas Eve Mass. My mom played her harp (beautifully I might add). My sister played her flute, which also sounded amazing. My dad and I sang in the choir. After that, rinse, lather and repeat. Christmas morning, we went back to church. This time, my mom played the piano instead of harp. After church, we went up to Seattle for Christmas with my mom's side. Again, that was really fun.

After coming back home again Christmas night, it was time to pack for the family vacation with the new suitcase that I got for Christmas. We went to one of the Washington beaches for a week. It was a really nice place. Although I enjoyed the time at the beach, the location probably wouldn't have made much of a difference. It was very rainy all week. After being outside for five minutes, we would be completely soaked through. Most of the time was spent in the resort, with one day being a day trip into Astoria. We came back from the beach on Saturday, just in time for church again. Right after church, we went to some family friend's for dinner and New Year's eve party. I will definitely say that a 15 person, multi-generational game of Apples-to-Apples is very different and lots of fun.

New Year's Day, I was invited to join most of the same group of people to go out shooting, something I had never done, but have wanted to try for the last couple of years (sorry mom). It was a lot of fun. After that was going out to dinner to celebrate my sister's birthday. After dinner, I had to finish finish packing for California. Not fun. Somehow, it was easier packing for college than for California. I couldn't fit everything into a suitcase like I had hoped. I now have an overstuffed sports bag to pack, an over-stuffed suitcase to carry on, and an overstuffed laptop bag. I also have a couple of piles of stuff that I hope my dad can fit in some of his bags. Maybe I have too many books and shirts... I left at 6 this morning to head up to Seattle. After hanging out with Gaston, Andrew and Gilbert, I made my way over to my grandparent's house. Now I spend the rest of the week with my grandparents. Friday, I get to spend my entire morning in an airport. Good thing I have a lot of puzzles to do! Oddly enough, my dad and I are not taking the same flight down to California. If I remember right, he leaves 4 hours before me (or is it 2, with an extra 2 hours for getting through security?). Guess that means he'll just have to wait for me in California :)

Unless something extremely exciting happens this week that I'm not expecting, this will most likely be my last post in Washington. My next post will be from California, and will probably be all about airports, airplanes, and traveling in general. I can honestly say that I'm equally excited AND nervous. The only thing NOT changing is that I'm still currently the same old me. Lets see if I remain that way ;)

~Amber