Playing Catch Up Part 2

Hello Everyone! So I'm really behind on the blogging..... I've just been so incredibly busy between performances, and finals and such that there has been absolutely no time. So here I am, ready to fill you in on all the details of my life as a dance major here in LA. I'm warning you this may be a long post, but a quality one at that. 

Since my last post I've had the chance to perform in the Dance Company Show here at AMDA. My friend Destiny came to me during workshop and asked me if I would be willing to let her choreograph a solo for me to the poem P.O.W by Alicia Keys. I of course said yes and as soon as we got back from Christmas break we started working on it. Well, the show we were originally trying it out for ended up getting cancelled, but I was then invited to perform with the Dance Company because they liked the piece so much! It was a super awesome experience performing with such talented artists and I can't wait until I get to perform with them again. 

This lovely girl Josie along with some more of my dancer friends here at AMDA joined me for The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner! It was super fun getting all dressed up and going out with the people I love hanging out with the most. Plus, it was super nice to go out and get away from all the craziness of finals and demos. 

 The picture below is of me and my best girl Daly before I headed to the airport. Just figured I would give her a lovely shoutout and I really like this picture so it's a win win. 

 The picture above is of the first semester advanced tap class. We've gotten super close as a class this semester and have just had a full on super awesome time in class together. We did out final demo to the song Brave by Sara Barielles, and not going to lie... it was totally and completely awesome. We basically just went out there for our demo and were like Boom. Done. The End. Needless to say, our demo got great feedback and moved onto division demos. 

So, over the past couple of weeks it's been a little crazy in my life, so I asked my dad if he would send me to Utah for a weekend and he said yes! Well, I was on the phone with my best friend Landon and found out that he was also in Utah and right then and there we decided that we were spending every minute together for the entirety of my stay. He picked me up from the airport, we surprised a bunch of people, went to temple square, watched movies, had a birthday party, and more. Overall it was a weekend we both really needed for a variety of reasons. I really didn't realize how much I missed that guy until I got to Utah. SO incredibly happy I got to spend the entire weekend with that guy. So incredibly happy. 

While in Utah, my niece Eden made a new friend with Landon. She was so totally convinced that he was my brother..... which was pretty funny. But at least she knows he's got her back. :) This is them playing IPad Saturday morning before Landon and I left to BYU. 

 We went to church with Shyla and Russell and Landon decided that we were moving in as new members of the ward. This is what he filled out. Apparently I'm married to Optimus Prime and Albert Einstein is my child. haha. 

 Landon also has a really I wouldn't say bad habit.... more like entertaining habit of just falling asleep. I kind of wish I had that capability. This is him sleeping while I'm getting my life together Sunday night before I left. I don't blame him for sleeping though.... we didn't sleep like at all for the entire time I was there. No worries he woke up eventually and took me to the airport Monday morning. He's such a trooper. :) 

Overall the past couple of weeks have been super exciting. I finished all my finals and now I'm just looking forward to seeing my two older sisters this weekend for our first annual sisters trip. Cymbre will join such adventures once she graduates high school. The first trip is to visit me here in Cali and then who knows where. I really can't wait to see them. They're pretty much my most favorite in the history of forever. 

Hope you all have a fantastic week! Love and Miss you all! 

Getting Back On The Blogging Train

Hello Everyone! This week's post is a catch up post. Mostly because I am a solid two weeks behind on the blogging. Don't worry I have tons of exciting things to tell you all, so get excited. 

This week was my second week back from Christmas break. It was really great these past couple of weeks to get back into my thing here at AMDA. I feel like a lot of people have a hard time feeling at home when they are away at school, but to be honest that's really not the case for me. I have an amazing group of friends, and awesome ward, and just really feel like I'm actually pursuing what I came here to do, and its totally fantastic. LA is definitely my place.

So last weekend me and a group of my friends decided that we were going to hike up to the Hollywood sign.It was fun to get out with a bunch of people and just do something none of us had done before. It took a solid two hours to hike up and down the trail, which meant that we were pretty hungry/thirsty when the hike was over, so naturally we went and got slurpees at 7 Eleven. The photo below is us modeling our slurpees after our lovely hike.

 Pictured below is the group of us at the top of the Hollywood sign. Personally I love this photo for many reasons... but mostly for the guys poses. It's just too great. :)

 My sister-in-law Holly had a Golden Globes party, and she invited me to join the fun, so me and my girl Daly took a trip out to Redlands to party and to see my niece and nephew one last time before they headed back out to Utah. It was super fun to see everyone again especially because with me moving to New York in October. While we were in Redlands, my nephew Jack developed a little crush on Daly, and it was so incredibly adorable. He asked her out on a date and everything. Basically made my weekend.... and everyone else's.

 Me and Lucy snuggling it out.

 Little Lu modeling her Red Lips and Red Kisses from me!

Me and Daly being ducks.

 Daly and Jacko. Aren't they adorable? :)

 I got to get together with my old roommates so of course we had to document the original 402 being together again.

 In acting we had to do this super complex character analysis on our characters for our final scenes we present in a couple weeks, and it took us forever! Each of us spent a solid 5-6 hours at least on these and guess what???? WE GOT A's!!!! This was really the first major "paper" if you will we actually had to write so of course we took a photo and yes I sent it to my mom.... and yes she loved it, as any mom of a dance major would.

Happy Birthday to my girl Marisa! This lovely lady turned 19 this week and we celebrated by going out to The Cheesecake Factory and just had some quality Cooper Marisa time which we hadn't had much of since coming back to school!

 Friday Night we had a little family dinner and made Tacos! Actually I made the tacos and everyone ate them.... and I'm not going to lie they were extremely delicious. #yourwelcomekids The photo above is us having a little ice cream social after consuming our tacos!

And yesterday we went to the Santa Monica beach and just had a super relaxing day by the beach with some of my best friends! I also re-realized my love for the beach, and I came to the conclusion that I must live next to a beach when I'm older. There's really no other option.

So, really the last couple weeks have been super fun and really just full of fun and exciting things. I've continued to learn a lot and now the semester is almost over. Hard to believe I'm a couple three weeks away from finishing my first semester of college and that I will be done in 3 more. That's kind of weird to think about.

Oh, I do want to share something that one of my teachers told me in class last week. I was in my 9am contemporary core class last Monday when my teacher Yusif said to "crash into your brilliance". That really made me think. A lot of times I feel like so many of us shy away from our brilliance, instead of fully embracing what we are brilliant at, and if you think about it, it really doesn't make any sense for us to do that. Why be afraid of something your good at? Why shy away from something that makes you so incredibly happy? I think we all should all stop worrying about what others think of us and just live. Just fully run into whatever is thrown at you, whatever you're really good at and just embrace it. Embrace everything about it, the good, and the bad. I've made a point to really try and do that, and to be honest I've seen a difference. I've made a point to just let go when I'm in my classes and really just live and it's completely changed my dancing. I'm much more invested in my craft now and I'm really liking it. Just a little food for thought for your week.

Hope you all have a fantastic week! Love and miss you all! 

Christmas Break!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I absolutely love this time of year. Definitely one of my favorite times of the year besides birthdays. Anyways.. this Christmas Break was a much needed vacation. The week before break had a lot of build so after all the shows it was nice to just relax and hang out for a little while. Catch my bearings if you will.

 

So let's see what exactly did I do over break. I did a lot. The first couple days of break I spent it with my mom because she came up for closing night of All Cracked Up. I was super excited that she got to come up and see what we've been working so hard on for the entire semester. She loved the show and it was fun for it to just be me and my mom for a couple days. Sunday my dad and sister Cymbre met up with us along with my brother, sister in law, and niece and nephew. Monday we went to Legoland. It may have been my favorite day of the vacation. Tuesday was the San Diego Zoo. Wednesday Sea World, Thursday Segway Tours, and Friday I saw Frozen. And I loved it! I may be slightly obsessed. Saturday I followed my brother back to Redlands and spend some time chilling getting my life back together before heading back to Hollywood for the week. While in Redlands, I got to spend a couple extra days with these cuties. :)

 

 

 Tyler (Kellie's fiancé) and I striking a pose before all of our New Years Eve festivities. I spent NYE with him and Kellie and I'm so glad I did. We had a small get together, ate some delicious food, sat in the hot tub, played some games, and watched the ball drop. Overall it was a super fun night and I'm so glad I got to spend it with them! Thanks so much!

 

 

 Jack and Luc striking a fancy pose before I left Redlands!

 

The last half of the week I got to spend in the valley with my friend Amanda. Absolutely love this girl. While I was at her house I got the chance to take some dance classes, and come on who doesn't like them a solid dance class over break? Nobody. I was super excited to get back into the studio and do what I love, and plus I got to meet some new people and I loved it.

 

After our first class Amanda and I decided to head to the mall to grab some lunch before going to another studio to take another class. After we ate we had some extra time so we figured we would wander around the mall for a few minutes. Well, We went into this furniture store... don't ask me the name I don't remember.. and we came across all these books! The one pictured below is easily my favorite one and I thought it was hilarious that there was a book like this. I'm thoroughly convinced it was made just for me. Inside there's a bunch of blanks and you just write reasons why whoever you're giving the book to is awesome. Really... how much better can you get? :)

Pictured below is Amanda and I at Olive Garden. Her dad offered to take us out to dinner and we matched without even knowing it. It was fun getting to meet her dad and spend a couple days with her. Plus we got a big chunk of our project done so it was really a win win.

 Now the photo below is easily the best one in this entire post, definitely my favorite one. Me, Emily, and Miriam went grocery shopping. Actually they went grocery shopping I just went along for fun. So because I wasn't buying anything I asked if I could ride in the cart. And I did, and this is me trying to text one of my friends. A grandma even came up to me and told me I looked cute. Pretty much made my day. The End.

All in all the past two weeks were an absolute blast. I got to meet some really amazing people, hang out with some really amazing people and caught up on sleep.... Finally! I hope everyone had a fantastic break! Class starts again tomorrow and I can't wait. I really missed dancing everyday. More next week! Love and miss you all! Make good choices!

Catching Up!

Hello Everyone! So I'm kind of maybe possibly like two weeks behind on my blogging. Mostly because the last two weeks of my life have been absolutely INSANE, but in a totally good and awesome way. :) 

Really in all honesty the only thing I really remember doing two weeks ago was having tech rehearsal for my show "All Cracked Up" from 7-11 every single night... then having it from 10am-10pm Saturday and 4-11pm Sunday. Then this past week we had a performance every single night... and it was pretty much super fantastic. I could easily perform every night, and having to do that this past week was just a little taste of what hopefully will be my life in a year or two. 

I did also make the decision to officially move to good ole NYC for my second year of school. I finally decided that I really wanted to focus a little more on the Broadway route of dancer life as a starter, but I can still do the whole film commercial side of the dance life as well. So that was super great to finally be able to figure that out. :)

This week I finally got to go to church for the first time in like 4 months. Also it was my first time in a Young Single Adult ward and it was SO WEIRD. Sacrament Meeting was so quiet... it was crazy! I'm definitely not used to that... AT ALL. hahaha I called my dad when I got home and he died! He thought it was the most hilarious thing. haha So the picture below is of me and my friend Reba.. like Reba McEntire but not when we just got to church! Let's just say we went on the perfect day because it was the Christmas Program so we got to sing all my favorite Christmas hymns... it was so incredibly fantastic!

 The picture below is of me and my bestie Will getting ready for Opening Night!

 Amanda and Me!

 Me and my boy Brian!

 Thursday night we had a Cast Party after the show! We had a cake and everything, plus it was super fun to just hang out and chill with everyone after the show.

 Me, Natalia, and Ryan!

 This was my partner in the show Ryan!!! Basically he's probs one of my all time favorite people, and he's crazy talented. This guy is graduating in February and he's going to go so far in his dance career! So thankful I had the chance to dance with him this semester. Going to miss this guy so much!

 Cast Photo!!!

 Me and Kayla! Aka... Clara in the show! She did an incredible job playing Clara! So thankful I had the chance to dance with this lovely lady1

 This is Andrea starting our Gingerbread house construction!!!

 Me and my girl Josie!!!

 Me, Emily, Josie and Will photobombing us as per usual. :)

And this is probs one of my favorite photos from the show. We got dressed one day and then realized that Will looks like Corny Collins and I looked like Amber Von Tussle from Hairspray... so naturally we had to photograph it! hahaha I personally think we look super fierce in this photo.... definitely a fav #yourwelcome :)

All in all this week and last week was my first real taste of what tech and a show every single night would be like. Not going to lie there were some nights that I was like what the heck but I'm so glad I had that experience. It totally paid off in the end and the show was amazing! 

Hope all of you have an amazing Christmas! I get to spend it with my family here in good ole San Diego, California. perfect weather and all. :) Miss and love you all! Muahhh!!!

The Week of The Midterms

Ello Everyone! This week was a busy one. We had midterms this week which puts a little added stress on things and we put the entire show together for "All Cracked Up". I do have to say one thing though.... my midterms are nothing like an average college students midterm. Normally you would have to actually study for a few days and do review sheets and such, but not at AMDA. Literally all I had to do was perform different dance combos we've been doing all semester. It was pretty fantastic. Like this is my life everyone... its too great. :) 

So this is one of my friends John! He left for his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this past Monday and I couldn't be more proud of him and the decision he made to serve The Lord for the next two years! The people of Nevada are so incredibly lucky to have you! For those of you who aren't sure what a mission really entails I'll tell you! Basically, young men who are of the age of 18 or young woman who are of the age of 19 can choose to go on a mission and serve The Lord for a designated amount of time. Young Men go for two years and Young Women go for 18 months. What they do is teach people about the Gospel of Christ and its truly a really fantastic thing. You can see first hand what the Gospel of Christ can really do for people, and see their lives change for the better right in front of you.  My brother went on one and I have multiple friends out on one right now. So if anyone ever has any questions feel free to ask me! I would love to answer! :) 

 I also got to go back to the temple this past week! They've put up Christmas lights and everything so that was super cool to be on temple grounds and look at all of them! We finished walking through the Visitors Center and even caught the ending of a Christmas Concert that they had going on which was super cool. 

 This lovely lady turned 19 this Friday! We've become super close in the past few weeks and I'm so glad I got to celebrate with my girl Andrea! We've just recently moved in with each other, and we are LOVING it. We even decorated our place with Christmas decorations and everything. Pictures will be included in next weeks post once all of them are up. Also in case anyone was wondering... the 99 cent store has some seriously cute decorations. Yes.. that is where we bought all our decorations... yes it only cost us 20 dollars. Thank you 99 cent store. I love you. haha Anyways, back to the birthday girl! We were supposed to have a meeting about a webisode we both are in.. but it got cancelled last minute which meant we could get all dressed up and go out to eat at this super delicious Italian Restaurant called Bucca di Beppo! If you've never been there go... like now. I won't be offended if you leave and then come back and finish reading... that's how incredibly delicious this place is. You order family style and then share everything so we got spaghetti and meatballs! Heaven.. just heaven in my mouth. haha. 

 The GIGANTIC icecream sundae we all shared for dessert! 

 The GIANT bowl of spaghetti that 6 of us shared and still didn't finish it all. But boy was it a delicious one. :)

 And another pic of me and my new roomie! 

All in all this week was a super fun one! Yesterday we went out to The Grove and got Andrea's computer fixed and looked at all the Christmas lights and such. Got some of my favorite people Christmas gifts and just relaxed! It's officially two weeks until we have Christmas Break here at AMDA! My mom comes in two weeks to see my show and I'm super excited! 

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Holiday season! I absolutely love Christmas time... it's totally my favorite holiday other than my birthday. Which speaking of COOPERPALOOZA is in like 2ish months people... GET EXCITED! :)  haha Anyways... I've got to go get ready for rehearsal this afternoon and evening so I love and miss you all! Make good choices! Muahhh!!! 

It's Christmas Time!!!

This week was probably one of my most relaxing weeks as well as one of my busiest. That really makes absolute no sense... but I promise it will by the end of the post. haha!

This week even though it was Thanksgiving, I still had class Monday through Wednesday. And along with normal classes I also still had my normal rehearsals. You know as you do when you're in shows and such. This week was the last week that the actual choreographers got to work with us in rehearsals... so we basically just spent the entire time running the dances over and over and putting some finishing touches on them so that we could put the show together in the coming three weeks! It's crazy that in 3 weeks I'll be doing a show every night. I really can not wait. :) 

Okay so this story is actually kind of funny. haha So Sunday i got out of one of my rehearsals early so me and my friend Christina decided because we both really wanted some Starbucks to go. So we did... and it was fantastic and oh so refreshing. haha But you know how they normally ask you your name when you order... well they didn't for me and literally right after they called the name Christina they called Christina's friend... we thought it was hilarious. hahaha so for anyone who wants to know Christina and I are officially friends via Starbucks. 

 Wednesday after I finished rehearsal I drove out to Redlands to spend Thanksgiving with my Sister in law and her parents! And while I was out there I got to hang out with my totally and completely adorable niece and nephew! Seriously though... look at em... they are the cutest. :) 

 Me and Little Lu! 

 This is how Lucy fell asleep Thursday. Apparently having your aunt come visit you along with eating tons of turkey and going for a super night adventure wears a little girl out. :) 

 This little guy will forever be my Man Crush Monday. haha 

 I had the chance to go see the Redlands Temple while I was up there, which was super exciting! I hadn't been there since my brother got married and that was when I was like 11.... kinda a while ago. haha! I didn't get a chance to go in as we just drove by on the way to seeing Catching Fire and it was like 10pm... but it was still super fun to see! Man I really love that place... no but really the temple is seriously one of my all time favorite places to go in the world. It doesn't matter which one... just being on temple grounds always just makes me feel so much better about life. It's so incredibly fantastic. 

 Friday morning I woke up and drove back to good old Hollywood and me and the roommates were extremely hungry. So we went to The Waffle.... BEST FREAKING WAFFLES OF MY LIFE. Mom we are so going to this delicious place when you come up for the show in December. I had a chocolate chip waffle with hash browns and it was HEAVEN.. just heaven in my mouth.... man I love me some quality waffles. Just deliciousness... pure deliciousness. 

Okay, so these next couple of photos are of me at the MICHAEL BUBLE CONCERT. Really if you know me at all you know IM OBSESSED. I love all of his music... and he's just fantastic. His concert was amazing... and he's just amazing. Michael Buble... you get an A.... in everything. The End. 

 Today we designated the day to finding Christmas Presents and we were somewhat successful! Me, Daly, and Savion drove out to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and wandered around for the entire afternoon. We had tons of fun and it was fun to get out of the city for a little while. 

All in all this week was a super great one! Got to see some of my favorite people and had some time to just relax. Thank you to the Chatfield's for letting me tag along in their Thanksgiving festivities this week! Yall are the best! We just have a few short weeks until Show week and then its my favorite holiday in the world. CHRISTMAS! I absolutely LOVE Christmas time... with a passion... deep in my soul. It's really the best time in the year. Besides Cooperpalooza.... and Cooperpalooza is coming peeps... so GET EXCITED! 

Love and Miss you all! Can't wait to see some of you in a few weeks! Get ready... cause we are going to party! Muahh!!!