#disneypi

BlueJean’s done, now it’s waiting time. I have finally finished three BlueJean video interviews and I’m feeling a lot of emotions right now. I’m excited and nervous as I wait to hear back from the recruiters. My first BlueJean’s, for Conservation Education Presenter went alright. I felt good about it, but after I finished my second BlueJean’s for Marine Conservation, I’m not sure. I'm grateful that my third choice was my first interview though, because it set me up for my next two. 

The Marine Conservation (my second choice) BlueJean’s was awesome. They asked very similar questions to the Conservation Education Presenter so I was well prepared. The woman who interviewed me and I even had a mutual acquaintance! 

And finally, Marine Mammals. I was so incredibly nervous about this interview because it’s my first choice. Of course when the interviewer video called me she could not hear me, so she had to call me on the phone as well. Overall, I think that the interview went well too.

My best interview was by far Marine Conservation, but I am still waiting to hear back from any of them. It’s been a little over a week since my last BlueJean’s and people are starting to get offers left and right. I’m praying that I’ll get mine soon. 

Today has been such an exciting day! This morning I got an email from a recruiter to schedule a phone screen for the Marine Mammal Internship for next week, September 5th (I may or may not have cried a few happy tears). Later on in the afternoon I received another email (and a text message!), this time from Disney, to schedule a phone screen for the Conservation Education Presenter Internship. I scheduled them both for the same day, so they may or may not happen on the same phone call. 

If you’re wondering what a typical phone screen email/text looks like:

You see that, I’m a “strong candidate” 😉

In all serious though, I'm almost positive that they write that in everyone’s email. This particular internship has a lot of competition based off of the Google Doc connected to the Facebook group I am a part of. If you don’t know what I'm talking about, see my previous post!

As far as the Marine Mammal Internship goes, I am the only one who applied according to the Google Doc, so hopefully my chances for that one are a bit higher. After all, it is the internship that I would do anything for, I want this one the most.

I am a part of an amazing Facebook "support” group for everyone who has been applying for Professional Internships for the Spring of 2019. If you’re in this boat, or are just curious as to what the process is like, you can join by clicking here! This group has helped me immensely with my questions and maintaining my sanity through this process. 

Another saving grace has been Kyria’s Kingdom YouTube channel. She is amazing and has a video on everything and anything you need to know about DCP and PI’s. You can visit her page here (trust me she has all the answers).

Another cool thing about the Facebook group is that there is a spread sheet where everyone puts their name under the internship they applied for with the date they applied, their status, and the date they have interviews for. This is a good way to tell if there is movement in the program department you applied for. 

Both of my applications that are in consideration are part of the Animal Program, and thanks to this spreadsheet I can tell that there is movement. Going off what others who applied before I did, I can see that it takes about 7-10 days to get a phone screen. I’m only a few days in, so until then pray for me ya’ll!

Last week, I adventured into Epcot with friends and we finally rode the new Frozen ride. It was so adorable and my heart was just so happy. SO MUCH SINGING ALONG. We also met Baymax and it was pretty neat because we had just watched Big Hero 6 during our Tuesday move night. So fun! On Thursday, Kara and I went to Animal Kingdom for a little while and grabbed some goofy pics before the rain. We also saw our favorite animals in the park and creeped on a few friends (#whatsnew). It’s always fun to go to the park on our days off to see friends and eat delicious ice cream too! Later that evening, I got to put on my dancing ~boots~ and hit up a line dancing bar called Cowboys. I went with Becca and her friend, Kayle, and we learned a few steps and had a blast dancing the night away. Definitely going to have to go back! I may have looked like a fool, but it was still great pretending to know the steps/twirling around with a whole bunch of other people. Am I a real cowgirl yet? (not quite…still need a horse. Mom, you reading this?)

Day @ DAK with Kara:

  Cowboys:

On Saturday evening, I went to a Christmas Party with my friends Emily and Haley for the bible study we’ve been going to! It was a blast! Before the party, we stopped by Goodwill and I found a really great Hawaiian shirt that I love very, very much. The party was so great and there was delicious, festive food too! I was able to meet a few new friends and there was even a white elephant gift exchange. What a great evening.

On Monday, we had our regular Bachelorette night and IT WAS TRAGIC. WHAT IS LOVE? Luke went home and he literally had the best hometown date. Horses and a heart made of flowers on the ground? JoJo, how could you say no to that? #TeamLuke. Yes, I just dedicated an entire paragraph of this blog to The Bachelorette. Who am I? What am I doing with my life? Stoked for the finale next week!

To recover from that tragic evening, some fellow explorers and I went kayaking on Tuesday. If you were wondering, that is why the title of this refers to Pocahontas’s arm strength b/c ya girl is SORE. She makes canoeing look so easy and ~majestic~! Nicole, Yuri, Dario, and I went to Weeki Wachee Springs (Best. Name. Ever.) to kayak and enjoy nature. We really wanted to see river otters and manatees. Even though we didn’t end up seeing those animals, we still loved the beautiful scenery and we even identified a few birds and turtles (because we have access to a handy dandy birding guide @ work everyday. Have I mentioned we have a cool job?) Dario and I swung off of a ropeswing and I was terrified and it was great (minus a little bit of ropeburn). I think that definitely contributed to my sore arms because ya girl has very little upper arm strength… Overall, it was a very memorable experience, even though I’m still feelin’ it today. Also, it was fun pretending to be Pocahontas and sing “Just Around the Riverbend.” I think Pocahontas may be a ~little~ more majestic than we were.

Kayaking with friends:

Yesterday was truly MAGICAL. A group of us decided to get up early and go to rope drop at Magic Kingdom so that we could be there for park open. We got there just as they were opening up and we did ALL OF THE THINGS. We hit up the rides that usually have really long waits and we even met Ariel (b/c Kara basically IS Ariel). It was so much fun! We scored a lunch reservation at Be Our Guest, which is a fancy restaurant inside the Beast’s castle in Fantasyland. The inside was gorgeous (feautured below) and I just really love Beauty and the Beast and it was magical. After that, we went over to the front of the castle to wait for Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire. We were in the front row and it was AWESOME. I got some really wonderful pictures of all of the characters and my heart was so happy to be dancing along with friends. What a solid day. After that, we did a few more rides (all of the Mountains: Splash, Space, & Big Thunder), and we took a squad pic in front of The Purple Wall in Tomorrowland (#squadgoalz). Everyone also did a “first.” My first was riding the train around the park! It was great and definitely a classic that I had been missing out on. Later in the evening, we mini-golfed as an explorer team! T was a blast, even though I was terrible at it! This “weekend” was incredible memorable and I’m so thankful for these new friends and spontaneous adventures!

Meeting Ariel:

Be Our Guest:

Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire (MY HEART IS SO HAPPY):

Squad @ The Purple Wall:

Thanks for reading this shindig and hope that you are also having a wonderful week. Also, shout out to one of my college BFFs, Mel, for getting a job in NYC! You’re rockin’ friend! So proud of you and definitely excited to come visit and reenact scenes from the classic TV show, Gossip Girl. XOXO, Molly J

So maybe I’m not cut out for Top Chef

BUT I COOKED A THING. MOM THIS ONE’S FOR YOU. Okay, so maybe I made soup (b/c that makes sense in 91° weather), but I did made it in a crockpot and it looks ~fancy~. I’m most definitely more of the “sit on the couch and watch Food Network while eating a bagel” type, so Mom is sending me recipes to develop my non-existent cooking skillz. So far, so good. The only thing I broke was the can opener…

MK with fellow explorers:

On Wednesday, I made a classic Dunkin trip and then explored Mickey’s Retreat & Fort Wilderness with Becca. It was a blast and I’ve decided I never want to leave Fort Wilderness b/c it’s beautiful and there are PONIES. We hopped on a complimentary tour of the draft horse barn and it was super neat getting see all sorts of fun things about the horses (& learn about Walt Disney’s love for horses too)!

Fort Wilderness with Becca:

He really struck a pose for the camera:

For Fourth of July, a big group of us went to Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom and IT WAS DELICIOUS. #NOMZ. It was awesome to eat great food and ride fun rides/take awesome ride photos. I’m so happy to be working with such amazing & kind people…such a great way to spend the holiday while away from home. After Animal Kingdom, we went back to apartment and set up lawn chairs to watch the MK fireworks! They were beautiful and lit up the entire sky, & it is awesome that we can enjoy them from our apartment!

  4th of July @ DAK:

Today, I am ~adulting~ it up on my day off to grab some groceries & gas, and then I’m meeting up with a friend to have ice cream for dinner (I’m def not an adult yet). Also, this week I have been really excited to talk about butterflies with Guests because they are SO COOL. If you have any extra time, check out some info on the monarchs/plant milkweed in your backyard/tell yo’ friends about them b/c they are just so awesome. A really great website to visit is http://www.monarchwatch.org and/or Disneynature has a neat film called Wings of Life (on Netflix hollaa) that has some really beautiful footage of them!

Also, I just have really fond memories of this scene from A Bug’s Life:

Below are a few more of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks! I’m loving Animal Kingdom and my roomies :)

Hope everyone is having a great day and I’m excited to update again soon!