I'm off to Disney!!-What is the Disney College Program || DCP Fall 2015

It is Saturday and I am off to Florida!!

How exciting!! I'm so excited!!!!

Tuesday I will start my Disney College Program and I will officially become a Disney Cast Member!

I am driving from Utah to Florida (I know a crazy drive), but I've heard that it is better to have a car-and more reliable.  Don't worry, I'm not driving by myself, my mom is driving with me.  

Last Saturday, I threw a good-bye party, Disney themed of course :)  And it was a lot of fun!  I have some pictures and I will definitely share them with you :)

Everyone who came really loved it!  I went to the dollar store with my friend and my sister and gathered all things Disney!

A Cinderella puzzle, streamers and plates and cups in the colors pink and purple and white, a calendar with the princesses (which I took all the pictures out and hung them up), a kite with the most random princesses-Aurora, Merida, and Jasmine, Mickey Mouse straws, a Mickey Mouse Snack Stand, Mickey Mouse and Princess napkins, little decorations that I fell in love with, glow sticks and bubbles, and some other random things!

I also gathered all things Disney that I own, which is a lot, and I gathered my cousins' Disney toys and brought them to my aunt's house and decorated the basement, turning it into a Disney Explosion!!

While at the party we had a bunch of food which I named each one Disney related.

Kettle Corn-Mary Poppin's Popcorn

Red Velvet Cupcakes-Snow White's Cakes

Swedish Fish-Ariel's Fish

Mini M&M's-Minnie and Mickey Mouse Candy

Fruit Platter-A Taste of Tiana's Palace

Veggie Platter-Cinderella's Garden

Potato Chips and French Onion Dip-Chip & Dale

Tortilla Chips and Salsa-Chip Says "Be Our Guest"

Chex Mix-Captain Hook's Chex Mate

7UP-UP

Root Beer-Gaston's Brew

Coca Cola, Coke Zero, Diet Coke-Sleepy's Cola

While I socialized with my friends, I turned on Tangled in my aunt's home movie theatre, and then we watched my favorite Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast-which we quoted and sang along to!

I absolutely loved it and had a grand time!

Here is what the basement looked like once I transformed it.

(The Coloring pages on the table were for kids to color and the pages on the wall, my friend and I colored over the past two years.  We bought them at a drug store, I think it was CVS.)

My friend also gave me a nice, soft, warm blanket with the princesses Aurora, Cinderella, and Ariel and it is one of the softest things I have ever felt.  It is like Heaven.

Now that I've shortly explained what kind of things I did, I will explain DCP-Disney College Program for those who don't quite understand.

Basically, the Disney College Program, or DCP is a program for college students to be able to work at Disneyland or Walt Disney World for about a semester.  Basically it is a paid internship.  You get to work at one of the parks or resorts, depending on your role (employees are called Disney Cast Members-CM), and you get paid.  On top of that, it is different from a regular job at Disney, because you also have the opportunity to take a class or two from the classes they offer, and some of the classes can count for college credit-depending on your university or college.

It is great to have on a resumee, and there are so many positions to choose from that it can work for pretty much any major.   And you can meet people from all over the country and across the world, because there is an international program as well-for those who live outside of the US.

I will go into further depth about the program and its aspects and the application process, but I will quickly outline it.

First, you have to apply.  There is an application online at http://cp.disneycareers.com/en/default/

Once you finish that you wait.  You can be waiting a couple hours or a few days, depending on the time of year, and then you will hear if you can move on to the second step, the Web-Based Interview, or WBI.

On the WBI, you will be asked an assortment of questions with several different forms of answers, which I will elaborate later.  And then shortly after that, you will hear if you made it past that step.  If you did you can move on to the last step.  The Phone Interview.

The phone interview is an interview with a cast member, which is like a regular job interview.  And then, you have to wait again.  And this waiting process is usually the longest.  And after a few weeks, you will hear if you made it into the program.

If you didn't, don't fret, you can apply again in a few months, it is not the end of the world, I promise!  It just means that it wasn't the right time for you.  It means there is something waiting for you where you are now for the semester you applied for, and you can find that out later!  

Next week I will elaborate the application process and what the program entails exactly, but for now, I am on the road and will talk to you later! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful, magical day!

LOVE, 

KM

Wonderful Wednesday || Extraordinary Destiny Comes From Hardships

"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny!"

-C.S. Lewis

We all have trials and hardships.  But when we are in those trying times, we don't always see the grand picture, the grand scheme of things.  We don't always see the light at the end of the puzzle. We don't always see the destiny of our lives.

This quote reminds me of one of my favorite songs from "The Prince Of Egypt."

The song is called "In Heaven's Eyes"

A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shine
Can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design
And the stone that sits on the very top of the mountain's mighty face
Does it think it's more important than the stones that form the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth
Or where your value lies?
You can never see through the eyes of man
You must look at your life, look at your life through heaven's eyes

A lake of gold in the desert sand is less than a cool fresh spring
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy is greater than the richest king
If a man lose ev'rything he owns, has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man? In wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained or how much he gave?
The answer will come, the answer will come to him who tries
To look at his life through heaven's eyes

And that's why we share all we have with you, though there's little to be found
When all you've got is nothing, there's a lot to go around
No life can escape being blown about by the winds of change and chance
And though you never know all the steps, you must learn to join the dance
You must learn to join the dance

So how do you judge what a man is worth?
By what he builds or buys?
You can never see with your eyes on earth
Look through heaven's eyes
Look at your life, look at your life
Look at your life through heaven's eyes

You won't always see the grand design, but we need to try to see ourselves through Heaven's eyes because though you may be in a struggling time, a trying time, at the end of this dark tunnel there is a light and you will realize that you were part of a great plan and from that hardship came a greater and better you.

Because you will be extraordinary and were being molded like a diamond for an extraordinary destiny.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!!!!

Because you are worth it, and you are beautiful and you are being formed or were being formed and created for an extraordinary destiny.

I love you all and hope you realize how beautiful you are and how grand the rest of your life will be once you make it past this hardship!

LOVE,

KM

Sunday Thoughts-Late || We Are Worth It

I got my wisdom teeth taken out  two weeks ago, so I didn't go to church then, and then last week I was out of town and forgot to take notes at the meeting I went to, but yesterday I took notes.  However, I was so exhausted from a party I threw Saturday night, I ended up taking a five hour nap, so I never sat down and wrote out what I learned, so here I am, Monday morning, writing it down.

I learned quite a lot in the meetings yesterday, and really felt prompted to write them down and even share them with you.  My church meetings starts at 9 am, so I often have a hard time staying awake and end up turning to my phone to keep me awake, but yesterday, even though I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open, the lessons taught were able to keep my attention and I barely turned to my phone.

That being said, let me share the things I learned that I felt were significant:

A whole lot of things taught dealt with families and homes, and it made me think about my own.

With things that have happened in my family's life, it sometimes feels like we are being attacked.  My family is very close to each other.  My siblings and I are really close and we are really close to our parents, which is very unusual for families.  Lately, I have felt like my family and I are being attacked by illness and other people, but the reason we feel this way is because I believe that we are doing the right things.

Someone mentioned that we will be feeling attacked until the Second Coming because Satan wants to take people away from the Gospel.  We need to be able to keep our families strong and enjoy the blessing we receive when we are close to our families.

Satan will try to destroy the family, but if you remain strong and try to live the gospel principles, he will not succeed.

Another thing I learned is that

 We Are Worth It!

Why people won't respect you is up to them, but you can't let them not respect you.  You are worth it and deserve to be respected and you should expect to be respected.  You deserve it and are worth it and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Those are the main things I learned and I am going to try and live by them.  I need to stay close to my family, even while I am gone in Florida and I need to make sure I am being respected because I am worth it and I deserve it!

Have a wonderful week! 

LOVE,

KM

Wonderful Wednesday || Never Regret

"Never regret anything that has happened in your life,  it cannot be changed, undone, or forgotten.  So take it as a lesson learned and Move On."

I love this quote.  I was scrolling through my Pinterest quote board and saw this quote and it hit me. 

I apologize for not writing a Wonderful Wednesday post last week, or any post.  I got my wisdom teeth out and was out of it for a while, so my mind wasn't focused on writing.

But, because of this quote, I won't dwell on the guilt of not writing.

This quote really reminded me of Rafiki in Lion King.

"The past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it."

Things have happened in the past few weeks, that I regret.  Yet, I need to not dwell on it.   I may feel like I failed at something, but I haven't.  I just need to continue onward.  There may be regrets or mistakes, but learn from them.

I will continue to post and try to be better at posting more often.

Love you all.

LOVE,

KM

Miracles

Over the past month, I've witnessed several miracles and I thought I would share to of them with you, but I'm going to tell the one that happened most recently first and tell the one that happened first last.

My sister was canoeing in the lake with my cousins who were on a paddle board. They were in pretty deep water. They were playing and suddenly, my 9 year old cousin fell in. She floated because she had a life jacket on, but she couldn't get back on the board, so my sister jumped in and tried to help her, but in the process, her really nice and favorite glasses fell into the water. They started looking for them, but couldn't find them because they were in deep water and it was pretty dark. So my mom and I dove in to try and find them because we both are pretty great swimmers, but we couldn't find them.

5 days later, our last day there, after a lot of us were praying really hard, my cousins were back out on the water and were in the same area and suddenly they said they could see them, so my sister went in to find them, but she couldn't. So after a while, she asked me to help. I hate cold water, and the lake was freezing, but I dove in. After a little bit, we couldn't find them and my sister started saying that we should just give up, but I kinda yelled at her saying "I did not dive in for no reason." So I prayed again and continued looking. Suddenly we saw them. The water was really clear and we could see to the bottom even though it was 8-10 feet deep, at least. I went under for them, but didn't make it, so I started coming up and thought I was at the surface and let out my breath but water came in and I swallowed at least half a cup of lake water. 

After catching my breath, I dove in again and retrieved the glasses and we all cheered. 

The miracle is, they shouldn't have been able to be seen or found, but we saw clear water and were able to retrieve them.

The big miracle to me:

I have a security blanket, but it's not a blanket, it's a stuffed dog that I have had since I was a really little girl.  I got her soon after my grandparents' dog, Summer died, so I named the dog Summer and I don't think I have ever gone more than one day without having her on my bed at night. 

When I was in Spain for my choir tour in May , I accidentally left her on my hotel bed when we left that hotel. That was way back in the beginning of May. Near the end of May I emailed the hotel asking if they had seen it, but I got no response. So I gave up thinking that I would ever see her again.

My parents sent me to replacement stuffed dogs, but it's not the same, though I love those too.

If you have a security blanket, you know that nothing can replace them and they are precious. 

I had been praying to find her for a long time. Then a few weeks ago, I had a thought that I should email the hotel again. Two days later, I received an email that they had found Summer! I was worried it wasn't her exactly, but after a week of emailing back and forth and figuring things out, she was in the mail and her way back home to me.

She arrived in the mail when I was California and I asked my grandpa to open the package so I could see f it was really her. 

It was!!

I'm so grateful for these miracles and I know that miracles do happen, especially when we need them the most!

LOVE,

KM

Wonderful Wednesday || Be Yourself is the Greatest Accomplishment

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I truly believe in this.

When I was in middle school, I was kinda bullied by someone who made me feel that I needed to be someone else.  I know a lot of people feel that way or have felt that way.  I later realized that if I wanted to be happy and wanted to feel good about myself, I needed to be myself.  I need to be unique, and so I am loving this quote.

If you are feeling kinda down and not sure why.  Maybe it's because you are trying to be someone you aren't.  Maybe you are wearing a whole load of makeup and you don't like it.  Maybe you are wearing a style of clothing you dislike.  Maybe you like something that isn't completely acceptable in the world, like a book, or tv show.  But I would suggest that no matter how it looks to others:

Be Yourself.

LOVE,

KM

Sunday Thoughts || Be Still, My Soul

Life is hard.

We all suffer individually and feel alone at times. We can feel like no one truly loves us or understands us or what we may be going through.

You do not have to read this. In reality, I am writing this for my own purpose, but if you do continue to read.

 Thank You.

I love my church.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and today I was sitting in my sacrament meeting and felt an overwhelming sense of comfort and suddenly I had a thought that I should write a post about what I am feeling and thinking.

Someone gave a talk about service and comfort and love.

With my car troubles that occurred this week, I tried to keep everything in and be brave and not let others really know how scared and lonely and angry I was. Even you guys, my readers.

Yesterday I posted my Wonderful Wednesday quote, quite late. Even though I said I was positive or trying to be positive, it was incredibly hard. I started to get frustrated last night as I was babysitting my cousin. Every small thing that happened frustrated me and I realized, I wasn't being positive. I felt alone and like the world was against me, mainly because of my car. My mom drove in late last night and I gave her a hug and cried for the first time in several days.  My mom gives me comfort when I need it. And so does the church.

I know there are others out there who need the help and comfort from others and know that I am here and I would be happy to hear what you are going through and to help you in any way I can. 

I love to serve and I love to help others. It is true that usually I am positive, but we can't all be happy and positive all the time. It's pretty much impossible. But, I know that people are out there to help us. Like my mom. Our my church.

And so today, I opened the hymn book to one of my favorite hymns.

"Be Still, My Soul"

"Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side. With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; in every change he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly friend thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still my soul: Thy God doth undertake to guide the future as he has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be brought at last.  Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on when we shall be forever with the Lord, when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone; sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last."

Text by Katharins Von Schlegal and Janee Borthwuch. Music by Jean Sibelius

I love this hymn. It brings me peace every time I sing it, but today it struck me even harder and I felt completely comforted, loved and understood. Not by any one physically next to me, but by the Spirit. I know my Savior and Father in Heaven are there and know exactly what I fear and what is on my mind.

"Be still, my soul; The Lord is on thy side."

I know he is.

"With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide."

It may be hard to just trust in the Lord, I know if I do, I will be blessed and love and comforted.

"Stand with those in need of comfort"

I know I have felt that today, with my mom and with the Gospel.

"When disappointment, grief and dead are gone, sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last."

I feel this and love this and known that eventually my sorrow and grief will be gone and I will be blessed and loved and I will be changed and better. 

The scripture that goes along with this hymn is:

Doctrine and Covenants 101: 14-16

"And all they who have mourned shall be comforted. 

And all they who have given their lives for my name shall be crowned.

Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know what I am God"

I know this is true and I know that if you seek comfort and love and serve others you kind find the comfort you need.

I love you all and I hope you can feel the peace in your life to fill your life with joy.

With that being said, I love you so much!

LOVE,

KM

Really Late Wonderful Wednesday || Remember How Far You've Come

"Remember how far you've come, not just far you have to go.  You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be."

-Rick Warren

As my blog post yesterday was all about being stranded along a path way, I thought this quote was appropriate.

"Remember how far you've come"

While traveling I had to realize that I had come quite a long distance.  Though I had quite a lot more to go, I kept thinking about how far I've come, even when I was stranded.  Once I was stranded, I only thought about where I wanted to go from there.  I didn't really enjoy the adventure I was living at that moment.  I wasn't focusing on where I was but where I wanted to be and what I wanted to happen.

I wasn't remembering that I had come quite a long ways and I was different than what I used to be.

(If that makes any sense out loud, please let me know.  Sometimes it makes sense to me and I wonder if others understand what I am trying to say.)

But that is not what I want to focus on.

I want to focus on life itself.  

As I think about what lies ahead with my life, including Disney and life, I realize that it can be intimidating.  I look back several years, or even a few months and I realize that I am different. I've grown.  I've learned.  I've lived.  I am still me, but I am also different.  In a few months, I will also be different again, which doesn't necessarily relate to DCP, but it can at the same time.
Because of DCP, I will be different.
But even if I think about it, it scares me.  New ideas.  New adventures.  Fear of the unknown.  It is all  quite frightening, but if I can just stay positive and focus on the now, focus on where and who I am now, focus on how far I have come and focus on what I am because of how far I've come, i can become a better person.

Who are you and what have you become because of your past?  Who do you want to become but where are you now?  How can you stay positive?

Answer: Love yourself and who you have become and love what you can become and how you can become different!

I hope you all focus on loving yourself and not stressing and dwelling of the fear of the unknown and fear of not being something you might want to be, because who you are is beautiful and who you are is the best thing for today.

Enjoy your day!  Think about your dreams and what you can be thankful for right now!

LOVE,
KM

Stranded In Wells

I was on a family vacation in Truckee, California at my grandparent's cabin all week.  There is limited wifi and service coverage there.  So all week, I haven't been able to go on my blog much.  I was planning on writing one on Sunday, but then I didn't have wifi and I didn't have much to say.  Yet, I did plan on writing a Wonderful Wednesday post on Wednesday.  On Tuesday I started to write, but again, the wifi was against me.  Wednesday I was driving home, which is an 8-9 hour drive, so I thought I would just post something late Wednesday around 9:00 pm Utah time, but then an adventure began...

My sister and I got stranded in Wells, Nevada.

It's a long story, but I will tell it all.  

I'm also in the process of editing my first video on my new channel where my sister and I told the story, but a little bit of a shortened version.  

So here is the story of how I got stranded in Wells.

When we left Truckee, we wanted to leave late morning so we could get home earlier rather than later.  But also, my sister wanted to see her dog, Duke.  And I wanted to see my 2 year old cousin before she went to bed.  So we left about 10:00 AM and we stopped in Elko for gas.  Thirty miles outside of Elko, twenty miles from Wells, I was traveling down I-80 East and suddenly, my engine seemed to have stop and the car started to slow down.   I pushed on the gas pedal to see if maybe I was just going crazy, but nothing was happening, so I started to pull off onto the shoulder as far as I could before my car would stop completely.

The car was running fine.  It didn't say it overheated; it didn't say oil was low; it didn't say check engine; it didn't say anything.  Yet, the engine still stopped.  I tried to turn the car over, meaning I tried to get the engine started again, it made a noise like it was trying to start, but it didn't.  I opened the hatch for the engine, and a smell I didn't completely smell at first, surrounded me.  I can't really describe it.  It was kind of a burning smell, but not entirely.  I checked the oil level, and the dipstick on my car is really hard to tell where the level is, but I finally discovered that it was extremely low.
I called my mom to figure something out.  What I should do.  I had several family members heading my direction about an hour and a half behind us.  My mom said she would call AAA, but then their systems were down.  So we called Geiko and were able to get a towing company's phone number, but we decided to wait and see if maybe it was the oil.  So we waited for my family to catch up after they stopped in Elko for some oil and then they caught up with us.  We poured the oil in, waited a little bit and then tried to turn the car over.

It didn't work.

So, after talking to my mom, my dad, my grandpa, my uncle, and my grandma on the phone and the other family members who were now with me, we decided to call the tow company to take us to civilization, and then my grandfather would drive three hours from Utah to come tow us home with a trailer.  One of my family members left to get back on the road.  The other waited for a while.  We waited for the tow truck.  We've already been waiting for a couple hours.  I killed the time pretty much on the phone.  My sister had been killing the time by digging a hole in the dirt and rocks and she also drew the illuminati symbol out of rocks.  Just for fun.  By now, our phones were starting to run low on battery and I didn't want the battery of my car to die too, so we tried to preserve them.

Just before the tow truck, my other family left, and we were left alone again, but I was starting to feel a little calmer.  Well almost.  I decided that laughing was better than crying and stressing and freaking out.

Finally, after three hours of waiting, the tow truck came.  We were seated in the tow truck while the guy hooked our car up.  He told us he was a little slower because we were his third tow ever, which was cool, but also made me a little nervous.  He was really nice though and I was able to relax a little bit as the car was securely hooked up.

We were taken to Wells, Nevada.

He dropped us off at the local auto shop, which was closed at this time, and then the tower, is that the right word, left and my sister and I were left to wait for three hours for my grandpa.  We walked around for little bit and discovered that we literally were in the middle of no where.  This town, as my sister described it, was ''like out of a post-apocalyptic scene or a wild west movie.''

Buildings were abandoned, or looked abandoned, mainly because it was about seven and pretty  much everything except restaurants and motels were closed.
There was a little street, not far from us, that was filled with old, historic buildings.  And not far from that, there was a bar and grill.  I was nervous to go anywhere because I couldn't really tell where the entrance is, and I wasn't feeling comfortable in this old town in the middle of nowhere.
Yet, the entire time my sister kept giving me tips for self defense and she kept telling me that because she was there, I was safe.  Given, I can be tough and I have taken Karate, I mean years ago,  but still, but I do get freaked out pretty easily.

We found the restaurant entrance and were able to charge our phones.
We ordered cokes and pizza (our waitress was really nice), and waited for a while.  While we waited, we talked.
We were asked to play pool, but declined.
We ate.
And finally we paid and then we went back to our car and sat there for 45 minutes until my grandpa came.  Every car that passed us, I jumped.  I turned on my hotspot and my sister turned on DanceMoms to get our minds off of it, and about 10 minutes before my grandpa rescued us, I started to calm down quite a bit more.
At this time, it was probably close to 10 and it was pretty dark.  Finally, Grandpa rescued us.

We tried for probably close to an hour to get the car up on the trailer, and we were doing pretty well, until the come along broke and we couldn't loosen the straps.  After stressing out about it all, a sheriff came and tried to help us and a highway patrol man came by and helped us too.  It was stated that it was impossible to get the car on the trailer, so with the helps of the police officers, we were able to get the straps off and then we got on the road back to Utah.

After sleeping in the car and arriving back at home and sleeping for a few hours, Grandpa and I got back in the car and drove 3 hours again, back to Wells, but instead of a trailer, we had a dolly.  The thing that U-Hauls tow cars with.

We got to Wells again and with the help of strangers pushing the car, we were able to get the car on the dolly.  We tied one tire down, but the other tire was near the main street, so we tried to move the car away into a parking lot, but the tire that wasn't tied down ended up getting off the dolly and the front of the dolly got hooked underneath my bumper and it seemed pretty damaged and unfixable, but we pulled the car forward, enough that the tire started to move, and I jumped on the front of the dolly and was able to push it down and we got the tire on and tied up.

It was quite an adventure, filled with stress and anxiety and fear.
It is quite the story.
A story for the children.
A story for the blog.
A story to let others know of adventure.

But we still don't know what's wrong with the car and I am freaking out kinda because I was planning on bringing the car to Florida, but now it looks like I might have to figure something else out, but it is all good.  I was having trouble staying positive yesterday, but now I think I am doing better and trying to feel more positive.

And so tomorrow I will upload another really late Wonderful Wednesday and I feel like it relates to this story, especially since I didn't think I could stay positive about it, but now I want to.

Have a wonderful night, and I'll talk to you later.

LOVE,
KM