#adventureishere

If anyone reading is wondering about what DCP Arrival Days are like, I figured I would share my experience. My arrival date was set for September 8th at 8A.M. at the Vista Way apartments complex. As soon as I got there, I started to have a mini freak out session because I was just so anxious/excited/stressed/etc. Thankfully my dad was there to calm me down and we prayed that everything would go smoothly. When we walked up to the welcome tent I was told my dad couldn’t come through any of the check-in process with me, which was a little bit of a bummer but I just went with it. 

Everything after that was pretty much just waiting in a series of lines and going through a bunch of paperwork. Line #1 was where I was given my work location: The Yacht & Beach Club Resort! Line #2 is where I found out where I’d be living: Chatham Square (my first choice YAY)! Line #2 is also where I found out I was put in a suite with the girls I requested to be with (yay again)! So despite my nervous breakdown that morning, everything worked out pretty much perfectly. Line #3 was where I got an awful picture taken of me and slapped onto my new housing ID for Chatham. This ID gives me access to my apartment complex since it’s a gated community, and also gives me access to the bus system. After I went through a few more lines to go over my work authorization papers and getting my schedule for the rest of the day, we were sent off to casting. My casting was at 10am, and by the time I was done with check-in it was around 9:30, so I didn’t have time to go to my apartment first. 

Most of the new arrivals took a bus to casting, but since we were supposed to be out of the Vista Way parking lot by noon I just had my dad drop me off at casting so I didn’t have to worry about getting a ticket. Casting was just a whole lot more of waiting in lines, filling out paperwork, getting more schedules for the week ahead, and hearing about different rules and requirements for the program. The one cool thing about casting was the people I was waiting in line with. In the 2 hours I was there, I met people from California, Japan, Australia, the UK and even somebody who lived near my hometown! It was just so cool to have the world be so big and small all at once. By the time I got out I was exhausted and starving so mi padre and I went to lunch before I went to see my apartment. After taking a break from all the madness we plugged my new address into the GPS and headed to my new home for the next few months!

As I mentioned previously, I was able to link up with the girls I had requested to live with. However, when I checked in they also told me I would have other girls in our suite, for a grand total of 8(!) girls in our apartment. I wasn’t really sure how crazy that would be but when we got to the apartment I was beyond thrilled- not only was it super nice, it was GIGANTIC! We have four bedrooms (so 2 per room), TWO fridges, and 2 1/2 baths! We also have an enormous living room and fully equipped kitchen, along with a really cute back porch that’s the perfect outdoor brunch location (when the humidity isn’t killer). I don’t have pictures of the apartment as a whole but here’s a picture of what my side of the bedroom looks like!

Yes that is my Ed Sheeran flag acting as a curtain... He actually had a concert that night in Orlando that I was dying to go to but I waited too long to get tickets so I went to another show of his 2 days later in Tampa, which actually worked out because I got to spend some quality time with my dad his last night in Orlando (insert crying emoji here). So we ended the day by going to one of our favorite restaurants, Fudrucker’s, and I tried to cope with the fact that in less than 24 hours I would be completely on my own- the farthest I’d ever been from home before. I know this all might seem a little boring but it was an extremely emotional day for me and at the end of it I felt like I had just been caught up in a tornado and dropped back down in this big, unfamiliar place. The next morning I woke up earlier than I was comfortable with to do something that I wasn’t sure I was prepared for- saying goodbye to my rock, my superman: my father. Needless to say I was nervous about the road ahead, but as we hugged and I tried not to cry, I knew that everything would be okay. As I watched him drive away, I knew that things would get easier with each step I took forward, and that there was no looking back. My time is now, my adventure is here. 

Hello everyone! Firstly, I’d like to apologize for failing at keeping my blog updated, I’ve been in Orlando for 2 weeks now and I am just making my first post. However, I plan to make up for it with lots of posts this week about everything that’s happened since I left home a few weeks ago. So far the journey has been crazy, exciting and emotional but I feel so lucky to be here. So I guess I’ll start at the beginning of the trip. I left my home in upstate NY the last weekend in August, with my Ford Focus station wagon all packed up and full of CD’s to pass the time. This was my first time driving over 2 hours, and definitely my first time driving so many miles all by myself. My father was originally supposed to drive down with me, but something came up at work and he couldn’t take off as much time as he thought. My plan was to stop in Virginia and visit my Richmond family for a few days, which also helped split up the trip into more feasible portions. Here’s a picture of my girl Bailey who was the first one to greet me when I arrived in VA, who was (as you can tell) pretty happy I did:

After getting some much needed family time and celebrating one of my favorite people’s birthdays (Shout out to Stacey if you’re reading this, you’re the best), I started the second leg of my journey. My dad actually was able to come and meet me in Virginia and we drove down together for the last part, which I was grateful for. 23 hours and 1,200 miles later and after many, many loops of my favorite Ed Sheeran CD, we arrived in Orlando.

 My Aunt & Uncle and some of my cousins actually live only 20 minutes away from where I would be checking into my DCP a few short days later, and were kind enough to share their home with us before I moved in. Here my dad and I were able to meet my beautiful new cousin Katherine for the first time, and spend some time with my other cousins Abigail and Audrey (both under the age of 4 and both ridiculously adorable). Can we just talk about how adorably happy my dad was to hold his newest niece for the first time? 

 My uncle has a friend who works for Disney and was able to get us into the parks for free the day before my arrival date, which gave me the opportunity to experience Walt Disney World for the first time since I was 2 and too young to remember. It was magical, to say the least. We started in Epcot, then made our way to Animal Kingdom, and finished our night watching the famous “Wishes” fireworks show over Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom (pictures to follow). It was incredible, and the entire day I spent thinking “I can’t believe this is my new home.” My adventure is here.