Getting Ready to Leave Home

3 weeks to go! 21 days! It is crazy how fast time is flying by. I think about what my life will be like in 3 weeks from now and it’s hard to imagine it exactly. In some sense I feel like it hasn’t truly hit me yet that I am going to work for Walt Disney World for one year! But as I get closer and closer to my start date and as I tick more things off my to-do list, it’s becoming more and more obvious that a huge change is about to happen.

Getting ready to leave home and embark on a new adventure definitely is scary and nerve-wracking. At this point I am feeling so so SO many emotions! Excited, nervous, scared, overwhelmed, nostalgic, happy, loved, disbelief…. The list could go on! I have been talking to a few people who are arriving the same day as me or are starting at Disney a few weeks before, and I feel better knowing that I’m not the only one who is feeling nervous. I think it is because that leading up to my arrival date there are so many unknowns and as my family and friends know, I like to be in control (hehe). Where will I be living? Will I get to request a roommate? How many roommates will I have? When will I start orientation once I get there? How much stuff can I really fit in the back of my dad’s truck (LOL)? Obviously with a new adventure there will be unknowns and I am trying to “just go with it” but I don’t think my nerves will really settle until I get there and begin working.

In my final weeks I still have a lot of things to accomplish, but not working has made that a lot easier (FUNemployment!). The past month in my life has been action packed with some pretty amazing things! I have been really trying to focus on spending time with family and friends before I leave on September 9th. Coffee with co-workers, breakfast with mentors, lunch with old friends, it has been really great to reconnect and recharge relationships before leaving for a year! I even saw some of my students from last year who still don’t believe that I am going to Disney and just expect me to walk in the door on the first day of school to teach math. This past weekend, the most amazing thing also happened… My boyfriend’s brother got married! I can honestly say that being able to celebrate this amazing day with Joe and Debbie and all of their amazing family and friends was one of the best experiences in my life. I don’t think I have ever been so happy! Helping to plan some of the final details, getting ready with the bride, watching as the bride and groom sealed the deal along beautiful Lake Ontario, chatting and catching up with cousins who we don’t see too often, cuddling babies, eating delicious food, dancing with Matt, hanging out at the beach until 4am…. All of these little moments will never be forgotten and I am thankful to have been able to share in this experience right before leaving. The wedding and just being able to spend time with those who I love most made me reflect on all that I have in my life and I am truly blessed to have such an amazing boyfriend and to be able to call his family my family.

The wedding consumed a lot of time and so many great weekends were spent with their family getting ready for the wedding. The wedding has always been a check-point on my radar of things I have been looking forward to before Disney so now that it’s over (sad!) it makes my departure to Disney seem even more real. In the last few weeks I still have quite a bit planned! And I really only have two more weekends in Canada ahead of me since I am leaving on a Friday! More dates with friends, doctor’s appointments, going away parties, packing! In my head three weeks sounds like a lot of time, but with the amount of things I hope to accomplish in that time, I know that September 9th will be here before I know it!

Before I end this blog post I want to share an article that I came across recently that really has helped me come to terms with some of the emotions I am feeling as I get ready to go. It’s called “20 Beautiful, Heartbreaking Honest Reminders for Anyone Preparing to Leave Home” and it can be found here: http://thoughtcatalog.com/marisa-donnelly/2016/08/20-beautiful-heartbreakingly-honest-reminders-for-anyone-preparing-to-leave-home/. While each of them resonates with me in this time of change, one that particularly stood out to me was #14 “You will have second thoughts; this is normal. But you can’t let your anxieties cloud what you truly want, and need, to do in your life right now.” I can’t count the number of times that I have thought to myself that I can’t believe that I am doing this and questioned whether this was really the right choice. At least once a week I shed a little tear thinking about the goodbyes and the things I will miss here while I am in Florida. But I have realized that sometimes it is hard to see the big picture when you have so many things to be happy about and thankful for right in front of you. I know that this year in Disney is what I need to do. I know that I would regret it if I didn’t go. And I know that even though a year seems like a long time now and September 7th, 2017 seems like forever and a day away, in the grand scheme of my life a year is so short and will fly by. So even as I get ready to leave my home in Niagara, I can honestly say that I am excited for what adventures lie ahead and I can’t wait to go back to my home in Disney.