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Well, I just recently got back from a trip to Sarasota and Orlando Florida for my job. Every year, 32,000+ sonic stores compete to see who will get to go to the finals hosted by Dr.Pepper. This year, my "team", the sonic on custer and 15th, got to go!!! =) we were all excited! now, only 6 people got to go and so i got to sign up! i went as the swi
tchboard operator, meaning i took all the orders. Well,we didnt have to pay a dime for this thing...and...we got paid to go!! how cool is that??? so....we flew to Sarasota on sunday september 14th, and we got to just chill that day. That night we had a really nice welcome dinner for all 12 national finalist teams...it was cool to see one of our "neighbor" stores, the one in frisco, so that was nice knowing someone! anyway, we had a welcome dinner and then a free night for us! we got to go meet alot of people from all over the country. That was cool! =)
The next day, monday, was our first day of competition, team competition. We worked really hard and did rather well i think! =) it wasnt easy, but it was worth it. our team went last, so we got to hang out with all the other teams while we all waited to go. we got close with the frisco store...haha...good times! =)
after the competition, we had a free day, so i went with some other finalists to the town to go look around. it was really pretty there! we had alot of fun! that night...well, we partied! ( there wasnt any alcohol, i promise....they werent allowed to yet because of the competition)
it was awsome! we got to late night swimming..and uh...kinda got busted, so we just went up to frisco's room and played games.
The next day was individual competitions. Those were nerve wracking! =/ that is where we were tested on how well we knew our station. I was switch board and the judges said i did really well actually....anyway after the competition, we had a free day, so frisco store and plano store went to the beach for the day! that was the best ever!!!!! =) i hung out with chris and matt from frisco. awsome guys! =) well, chris liked to pick on me.....we would be in the water and a really nice big wave would come and he would pick me up and throw me into the waves, but i would pull him in with me...hee hee...i got him back!
we all got roasted..hahaha, just a little huh?
That night we were all really tired so chris matt and i just ordered pizza, well, word got around and soon enough, 10 people wanted some...haha....oh, in the picture above, matt is the one in the middle, sitting down, and chris is the one with the glasses right in the middle....
But we just had our own pizza party and had fun playing dominoes...chris taught me how to play and i am a mean player now! so watch out!!! hee hee
The next day we transfered to Orlando, staying at the Marriott world center just out side of Disney World! =) awsome view! but anyway, we got there and the first thing we did was go out to eat lunch at Planet Hollywood! it was amazing! it had kinds of fun props and things from all different kinds of movies! it was neat! after that we had a free afternoon to do whatever we wanted, so we went to the pool...it was HUGE!!!! about an acre!!! i have never seen a pool that big!!! it was awsome! That night we had our first convention....wow...can you say zzzzzzzzz??? hahaha, it was so boring! we didnt have to be there for all the talking about sales and what looks good with what...ugh....zzzzzz...chris and i kept texing each other to keep us awake...i caught my manager alseep once ..that how bad it was .....yeah
But that night was worth all that wait! we got to go to Universal Studios! Sonic had rented the place out for the night! =) it was AWSOME!!! i went with ashley from my group and chris, dwiane and matt from frisco. We went on the Mummy...that thing scared the begibbies out of me!!!!! the roller coaster part was awsome, but the whole dead thing popping out at you freaked me out...i dont think chirs could feel his arm after that...hahaha..ooopps...sorry. Then as we were walking out of the ride, there were these guys on stilts dressed as like these ancient egyptian guard things...and well..i thought that they were just statues, nope, they werent...they decided to jump me and i FREAKED me out!!!i nearly jumped into chris's arms..hahaha. well, that was wed. FUN FUN!!!!!
This is one of the speakers, he was actually kinda fun!he got us involved!
Well, thats all for that day....thursday..more convention...more trying to stay awake...with out success...hahaha. that afternoon we had free too, so chris, matt and ashley and I went to the pool....it was tiring....but fun....that night was a huge pool party. But because we had gone swimming earlier, chris, matt, ashley and I went up to chris's room and played dominoes! haha...i finally got to beat chris!!! =) he was surprised i beat him....thats what happens! anyway, that was a tiring day.
This is the Frisco team. From lef to right, James, Kiona, Matt, Al, Nichole, Chris, Ryan, Tammy
This is my team! =) left to right, Tracie, Ashley, Stefanie, Me, William, Will, Dustinn, James
The next day was what we had all been waiting for! the day the medals were presented!!!!! =) we are all on pins and neaddles!!! it turned out that we got 4th....we didnt get a medal, but 4th out of 32,000+ stores??? thats pretty good! =) the team that got first was frisco! we were so happy that our friends go it!!!! all of that hard work really paid off!
The rest of the day we got to go to epcot!!!! i had never been! it was......oh...i cant find the words! amazing? awsome? the best ever!!!!
we had so much fun! i got to go to germany, just for my dad who served there in the army, and had some brotwurst....pretty good! then we got to talk to a lady that paints eggs by hand and she taught us some basic german phrases...it was really cool hearing her say it in german!
This is matt and the cashier at Germany!
that was fun! we stopped at every country and i think i bought at least one thing at each one, if not a thing, then like some native food or something..it was so worth it! i am so glad i got to go!!
Over all, it was an amazing experiance. I would not have traded it for anything else in the world! it was really cool getting to know my team's non-working side and the other teams! there were some really cool people there and i am so glad i got to know them! i had a blast!!!
