Nearing The End

So here we are in the last week of the semester of my first year at AMDA and it's been quite a year. I've had some really good amazing moments and some not so good ones as well, but all were for a reason and I'm grateful for them all. 

I know I haven't blogged in awhile, so I figured I would spend the afternoon catching up on things and updating you all on the last couple months here at AMDA LA.

First off Easter came and my roommates and I decided we would have this super cute Easter dinner get together. We made Easter shaped pasta with red and white sauce, garlic bread, green beans and just enjoyed each others company. Below is a lovely picture of me modeling out Easter feast! 

Dance Concert was at the end of April and it was a huge success! The cast was extremely talented and worked so incredibly hard on the show. As a cast we had our moments but it all paid off when we walked on that stage together. Below is a picture of us during circle up on opening night. 

Kellie and her fiance Tyler came to see the show and I'm so glad they had the chance to! I've gotten super close to those two over the past year. Neither of them had ever seen me dance before so the show was the first time they got to see me and everyone dance together. They loved the show and I'm so thankful they got to come hang out with me for a night in Hollywood! 

My dad and brother both came out to see my show in April and I was so incredibly excited about it. My brother hadn't seen me perform live since I was like 10 so him coming out to my show in college meant a ton. They both flew out on a Friday and stayed over the weekend. It was fun to have the both of them here and spend time with two of my favorite guys in the world. 

 Above is a photo of the car my dad and brother drove up to AMDA in... yes that's a mustang.... yes that's my dad striking a pose in a mustang. You gotta love him. 

The guy pictured below is basically the best brother anyone could ever ask for. This kid has been there through a lot of crazy situations and means the absolute world to me. If you ever see the two of us together we are always just going at it with the teasing and messing with each other, but know we are really just best friends, which is how a brother and sister really should be. He hasn't seen me dance in forever, so when I got into the show I called him and invited him to my show. The next day he called me and told me he was coming with my dad. Let's just say my day was made. :) Below is a photo of the two of us right before I said goodbye to him after my show! 

So now we get to my favorite part about Dance Concert weekend. THIS BOY... aka Landon Badoni... also my best friend in the entire world, drove.... for 12 hours... all night to come surprise me at my show. What the heck... I know. I was so incredibly surprised and beyond excited and happy to see this wonderful boy. And it really meant the world that he drove all the way from Utah to come see me perform in my show. The funny thing was is everyone in my entire family knew he was coming except me and everyone either called or texted me the day before he came asking me if I knew if he was coming or not. haha So since he came I really got to spend the entire weekend with three of my most favorite guys in the entire world.  Basically it was one of the best weekends ever. 

Pictured below is me with Kyle! He's both one of my Jazz teachers here at AMDA but he also was one of the directors for the show. I'm so incredibly thankful that I could work for and be inspired by him over the semester. 

 Below are just some fun snapshots from the past couple of weeks with me and my friends. I cut my hair, we went out to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Mother's Day and just had some good ole quality friend bonding time since the show was over and I could actually hang out with people again. 

 Marisa and I at The Cheesecake Factory! 

 The picture above is a photo of Troy and I. I met him my first week here at AMDA and I absolutely love and adore this guy. I love the way he dances and he's like my brother here at AMDA. 

Pictured below is of me, Amanda, and our Musical Theatre Accompanist David Rada!  

 

Me with Eileen Barnett! Eileen is my Musical Theatre teacher and I can't thank her enough for helping instill the love of Musical Theatre in me. 

 Santana and I on performance day in DTP! 

The Last Day of Musical Theatre class photo. 

This photo below is of Me, Riley, Michelle, and Josie. The three of us took our first jazz class here at AMDA with Michelle and we had the opportunity to continue taking jazz from this wonderful woman through our second semester of school. Now all of us are going our separate ways whether it be taking the summer off or moving to New York.

  Below is a photo of me and my big sister here at AMDA Vesta! She came and saw a group of us perform at a show last night and we matched so of course we had to take a photo! 

 This is me with one of my most favorite Jazz teachers here at AMDA Dasha. Her class is insane but it gets you in crazy good shape. I'm so thankful that I could be apart of her piece last night. It was truly magical. 

 The whole cast with Dasha! 

 This is just a cute snapshot of me and Josie ready to perform last night! 

Below is a photo of me and my girl Nini. She left yesterday for the summer but won't be returning to AMDA, and since I'm moving to New York we had to say our goodbyes considering we weren't exactly sure when we are going to get the chance to hang out again. I love this girl to the moon and back and I'm really going to miss messing with her all the time. 

Overall this semester has been a really good one. I've made some really great memories with some really amazing people over the semester and I can't wait to make more. Now being the last week of second semester we just have our final demos and then we are officially done for the year. I perform 6 dances and then if anything gets picked for final showings I'll do that and then head home to Texas for the summer. Dad comes up this week to help me move back home and then I'm spending the summer working, traveling, and keeping up my training. 

I'm so thankful for AMDA and the opportunities it's given me throughout this past year. It's going to be hard to leave in a week but I can't wait to see what New York has in store for me. 

Love each and everyone of you and I'll see you all in a week! 

Hugs and Kisses! 

Midterms Round 2

This week was the week of midterms. For those of you just joining midterms at AMDA are totally and completely different than midterms at a normal college. My midterms here mostly include just performing a series of combinations that we have been working on throughout the beginning part of the semester and or doing a small project on the side. The only class we actually have to really study for is Dance History, and believe me it was an exciting one. My midterm for that class is actually tomorrow, but me and my dancer friends got together for a lovely study session... yes with cheesecake and a study game involved. Below is a photo of us studying super hard. haha. 

                                       

My friend Marisa went out with me and did a photo shoot for me for some new headshots and action shots for some auditions and such. Here's a sample of some of the ones that I got done. 

Dance Concert is going just oh so swimmingly these days. We are officially a week and a half away from performing so we have started rehearsing as a full cast. I would just like to say that I really do love the cast of this show. The people are amazing and really genuinely care about the work being presented. I really can not wait for everyone to see the show. The photo below is some of the girls in the cast this semester... all of which I love oh so much. 

All in all this week has pretty much been just midterms on top of midterms on top of rehearsals. It's been a fun week though. It's hard to believe that in two months I will be back at home in Texas. Not going to lie I am really going to miss LA when that time comes. Sorry this post is short this week, but that's about all the exciting things to share for the week. I promise next week and the week after will be a little more exciting for everyone. 

Love and Miss you all!!! 

Semester 2

Hello Everyone! It's been a while since I've written on the good ole blog, but fear not. I am back. Alive and kicking. There's so much to catch everyone up on in the crazy life I live. So fair warning this may be a lengthy post, but I promise everything will be quality. 

  

Semester Break my two big sisters came to visit me in LA. We've made it a goal to have an annual sister's trip every year. Every year we are going to try to get together and go somewhere new. Who know's maybe one year we will take a tropical get away, but until then we will aim for cool places within a more friendly budget. Below are just some photos of the week! We had tons of fun and it was super nice and relaxing to just spend a week with some of my most favorite people in the world. I really don't think I've ever laughed so much in my entire life than I did over that week. Such good times, such good times. 

 Britni, Me, and Shyla at the Newport Beach. 

 Shyla and I modeling our Mike and Sully hats at Disneyland. 

 Britni and I modeling our Car's Hats at California Adventure. 

 I really just think this is a super cute photo of Eden and I so I thought I would share it with you all. No worries, you're welcome.

 Just a little snapshot of Shyla and I before she left for Utah! 

 The gang meeting Mulan. 

After that exciting week, it was back to school for me. I basically have the same schedule as last semester but I have a couple of different classes. This semester instead of taking Acting, I chose to take Musical Theatre, and I'm actually really liking it. I've recently have gotten really into singing and really feel myself improving as I've been working on it this semester. We've had one performance in Musical Theatre already and I do have to say it went really well. I got assigned my new song and its "Roxie" from Chicago. I LOVE that song, and I'm super proud to say that I can actually sing it really well. Below is a picture of some of us on our first performance day. The group of us below had to sing "Home" from Beauty and the Beast. 

We finally went on a Roomie date like a week ago. We went shoe shopping...(no I didn't buy any) and got some dinner and then just hung out back at our place. Below is Yami, Andrea and Me. :) Room 311 coming at cha! 

Okay, I absolutely love this next picture. It basically explains Landon and I's relationship totally and completely. Landon and I will have been best friends for two years this summer. We've gone on TONS of crazy adventures together and basically this guy is the coolest guy there is. Well, in being best friends, we talk often, and a lot of these times are late at night because that's the only time we both are available. Well, a lot of times we end up falling asleep on each other. A lot of times Landon is the first one to fall asleep but sometimes I give in first, but in this particular instance we were video chatting and both of us just crashed. You have to admit though, it is a pretty cute picture. 

 This lovely girl is my "big sister" here at AMDA. Actually, I feel like a lot of peoples little sister here which is totally cool with me, but this girl is amazing. We call ourselves "Cookies and Creme". We have the chance to dance with each other a ton this semester and I'm so incredibly excited about it. I'm so honored that I get to share the stage with this girl. She is such an inspiring dancer and person. She's definitely my go to girl when I'm having a bad day. 

 Me and Big Sister Vesta!!

I also don't know how you stretch during runs of rehearsals but this is how LT and I do it. :)

These next two photos are really funny. Today we had a 9am Modern CORE technique class. Well basically the whole class which is literally 8 people walked in with black and grey on... so of course we had to take a photo to document the occasion. I like to call it "Promoting Unity in Black and Grey" haha. 

Believe me when I say we don't always look this exhausted. Most of us had a 9am-11pm dance day yesterday so we look a little brutal Tuesday mornings, but don't worry we push through it like champs... because there's not really another option. haha. 

Okay, I think that about catches you all up on all the crazy things that have gone on in the past few weeks. Oh! I auditioned for Dance Workshop for this semester and got in. I was cast in like 7 pieces and just recently found out that my dad and my brother get to come and see my show! So incredibly excited about that.  Other than that I think that's about it for now. Just know that I love and miss you all and can't wait to see you all during the summer before I head off to New York City! 

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!