Just Hang in There!

It may be expected, but being home following the amazing six or seven months I spent in Disney, have had me feeling a bit down. Those months made up what has been the best time of my life so far. Moving back home after that has been a bit shocking. I’ve felt lost as to what I’m supposed to do, and felt pretty stuck without inspiration.

I just want to be happy in life. Don’t we all?

Since being home, I have started to find the peace and healing that I’ve needed. I’m learning to say, “yes” to life and to what will happen for me. I’ve been encouraged by the possibilities that lie ahead!

I’m one of those people who have always been inspired by quotes, and people’s spoken words. I was going through my Pinterest feed and was reminded of many hope-provoking thoughts. My laptop’s desktop is currently cluttered with saved images that I’ve liked, or been encouraged by lately, and I thought I would share some of them here in hopes that they may inspire someone possibly reading!

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest 

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest 

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest 

There are so many more pictures of quotes that I could share. Go look at them on my "Words" board on Pinterest (you can find it here) if you want to see more! I am going to try and sprinkle a few more in future posts!

Two speeches that have encouraged me are commencement speeches given by J.K. Rowling, and Steve Jobs. They are popular ones that clearly struck a chord with a wide audience, as seen in the large number of views they each received on YouTube alone.

Especially a fan of the first half of this one! ^

Finally, one song that has been especially uplifting lately is... this one, "It's Your Life" by Francesca Battistelli. Give it a listen! 

Basically, I am just leaving all of these individual pieces here so that they may possibly enrich someone else’s life the way they did mine. It’s all about the little things in life, folks, and it’s all about gaining perspective!

Speaking of little things! One of my favorite things is the sound of rain. I love waking up to rain or falling asleep to it; I find it incredibly peaceful. I'm just going to leave this website link right here for you all... I think you should go check it out: Rainy Mood. Just let that play for a bit when you need to relax and find some peace. You're welcome in advance. :)

In other news, I recently invested in a book that has been very helpful for me personally so far. Once I finish it and feel more comfortable recommending it as a whole, that will be coming your way as well!

I’m no expert in this, I know. I am just a girl living in the chaos of today’s world, trying to figure it out one day at a time. If you have anything enlightening to share with me, please do!

I hope your day is a positive one! Go forward, and pass it on! 

x Lauren

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A Day at the Zoo

Welcome to a non-Disney related post from my life! Gasp! I know… this is crazy, right? Don’t worry, there will be more Disney posts coming from me again in the future (aw yeah, get excited!).

I have been home in Illinois for a few days now, and to say it has been an adjustment would be an understatement. As something fun to do this weekend, I went to the zoo with my little brother and mom!

We looked at a few animals, we were you know, at the zoo after all! I have to be honest and say that I never used to really care about animals all that much. Before today, the last time I had been to the zoo was probably on a field trip around third grade.

This may sound corny, but working at Disney’s Animal Kingdom has made me appreciate animals so much more. I am actually interested in spending time looking at them now! Call me a changed woman!

One thing that I was excited we would be doing was visiting the Stingray Bay! Look! Here I am touching a stingray! Score!

"Mr. Ray!"

During lunch, I looked over the zoo’s map and was bummed to not see any Asian apes. I spent the last seven months working next to Siamangs and White-Cheeked Gibbons everyday and grew to love them very much!

When we walked into our last exhibit of the day however, we saw this sign…

Do you see what that says?! There was not just a White-Cheeked Gibbon to see, but a 2-month old baby Gibbon! I was so freaking excited!

There ended up being a little Gibbon family of 5 to see! Unfortunately, they were hanging out in the far end of the exhibit so my pictures are not very good, but let me tell you that they were so stinking adorable!

I'm really only posting this poor-quality picture to prove 

that I did in fact see them!

On our way out, we stopped by the gorillas, and look, another baby! I mean, how could you not love these little miniature-sized animals? I want to hug them all!

Also, far off in the distance, but look! Gah, so precious! 

It was a very good, yet tiring day from all of the walking! I feel my time at DAK really prepared me for enjoying things like this, and I also learned that Animal Kingdom will never be too far away! Right here, in Illinois' Brookfield Zoo, I found the stuffed version of Animal Kingdom! Well, hey there!

As I now work on figuring out my crazy zoo of a life (see what I did there?), it will be nice to take little breaks from the chaos to enjoy things like this!

I hope you’re doing the same!

x Lauren

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A Quick Follow-Up!

After having my last post receive the most views I have had on my blog yet, I wanted to clear a few things up! Many people reached out to me, and I felt like some people might be under the wrong impression.

Nothing happened to force me to leave Disney. I'm not quitting. I wasn't "let go." I was here on the Disney College Program, an internship designed for a semester or slightly longer. My program end date was and has been for a while, August 1st.

It didn't not work out for me; it did! I was originally supposed to leave in May actually, but extended because it was so amazing for me!

I am leaving on good terms and hope to return in some capacity when the time is right! Since writing my last post, my eyes have been opened to see how leaving at this time really is a blessing in disguise, even though it may not feel like it.

So many people read my sad post, but I invite you to read through some of the archived posts from my program! They feature some of the many highlights I was blessed enough to experience over the last few months!

I thank you for supporting the sad times, but want you to celebrate with me for the happy ones too! My program was filled with countless happy days!

I don't know everyone who has read my blog--just part of the beauty of the Internet. It's pretty cool to see the page views I receive from other countries! I know it could be seen as strange that I'm sharing more personal things lately on such a public forum, but this blog was created for me to document my time here in Florida so that I could look back and see all that was experienced. This is just part of it.

With that said, obviously my time in Florida is coming to an end, but I plan to continue blogging through this journey of life. Will I be posting pictures of fun in the parks everyday? Of course not, but I will now get to find the fun in the more mundane things of life.

I know... it doesn't sound as exciting, but it will be a chance for me to look at life in a different way and with a desire to discover new things again! (That's what I'm trying to convince myself at least!)

I'm going to miss the life I've had down here, but I'll look back on this time with the fondest of memories! Thank you for following along with me!

x Lauren

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I've Had the Time of My Life...

I am sitting down to write this post, and I know what I want to convey, but I am honestly not sure how to write it.

The main piece of news to share is that come August, my plan is now to move back home to Illinois.

First off, my time at Disney, the past 7 months or so, has been incredible. Truly, it has been the best time of my life so far. I have absolutely loved working at Kali River Rapids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

I have met some of the most amazing people in my coworkers and friends. I feel incredibly blessed by my relationships with each and every one of them.

My hope and plan was to stay down here and make this my life permanently. For the first time, I was so genuinely happy, and I wanted that feeling to continue for as long as possible.

In my time here, I have felt loved in a way I have never felt before, and it has been the best thing imaginable for me.

My college program ends on August 1st. Weeks ago, I went to casting and put in to stay with the company permanently.

In the last week or so though, a few things down here have changed that would make staying down here difficult for me. Constant reminders that would be painful would surround me. This is completely a personal decision because I know that I would not be happy down here at this time.

It is ironic because growing up, Disney was the thing to make me happiest, and now I must leave that very place for fear of the opposite.

It is just time to go.

My hope and plan is now to go seasonal, which would give me an excuse to come down here again soon, but also let me stay with the company I’ve loved working for most.

I will miss being able to go to the Disney parks whenever I want. More than that, I will miss working as a cast member. I will miss little things like asking, “How many in your party?” I will miss watching guests touch their MagicBands to the touch points and watch in excitement, as the light turns green (or the unfortunate blue). I will miss guests asking me all kinds of questions, and me being able to actually answer them! 

What I will miss the most however, are the people I’ve met. I sincerely love some of these people. I am leaving heartbroken for a few reasons.

I already know that my journey home will be an awkward one for those I encounter, as I will be a crying mess. The days, and weeks following will be very difficult for me. I know this all sounds a bit dramatic, but it is really very upsetting for me.

So what is my plan for life now?

That would be an excellent question! One my parents are going to want an answer to, and one that I will be asked many times upon returning home, by people who care, but I will get tired of answering. I’m not returning back to school at this time. My school plan has not been the conventional one, and certainly not the way my two older siblings have done it. They are both graduated with their Bachelors degrees, and I admire that, but I haven’t been motivated to accomplish that in the 4-years directly following high school.

While being here on my program though, I earned both my Mousters Degree, and my Ducktorate Degree, and that is pretty dang cool :)

The truth is, I don’t know what I’m doing! The daunting thing called “the future” is here now, and frankly, I’m not ready for it. I am on the search for what I want to do next, and what will make me happy again. I am very aware that I will receive a great amount of judgment and condescending comments, whether to my face or not. I can’t please everyone; I’m just trying to work on pleasing myself right now, call me selfish.

So please, know all of this before you ask me what’s going on in my life. I appreciate the care, but you will probably unknowingly make me feel awful at the same time.

I would love to share memories with you from my time down here. I have plenty of amazing moments to share, moments of great joy and love, but also ones of heartache, which ultimately are helping me learn more about myself.

I may cry at random times, and it may not make sense to you, but it is all a part of this rollercoaster experience that has been my amazing life down here.

There is so much more I could say. I know this post is a bit all over the place, and may seem odd, but I thought I’d share a bit.

I need a little space and time to heal, but I cannot stay away from this place forever. It’s not goodbye, it is just as Mickey would say, see ya real soon!

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