Year in Review, Continued

These are moments and events (smaller things/perfect little moments) that I neglected to mention in my last post...

Getting to go to Infinitus 2010 for a brief few hours
This was definitely unexpected.  I found myself in Orlando during Infinitus, but due to the constraints of working as an RA, I was sure that I wasn't going to be able to get time off to visit.  However, by some miracle, I was able to leave campus and hang out with Marlena and Leah in the gorgeous hotel pool, and was even able to attend a little bit of the ball...I got to see people I hadn't seen in AAAAAGESSSSS, and it was just genuinely lovely.  I'm still praying for a miracle to attend LeakyCon 2011, but audition expenses are proving steep and, due to the uncertainty of what I will be doing in July, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do.  Pray that something pans out and that I'm able to attend...I can't imagine not seeing DH Part 2 without the rest of the fandom.

Sneaking out and seeing Toy Story 3 with the Orlando RAs
It was late, we got lost, and it was a whopping $17 movie ticket, but that was one of the most fun few hours ever.  It was so great to see the culminating film of the trilogy with people that, like me, had grown up with Andy.  I have yet to watch it without bawling my eyes out. And I'm totally ok with that.

Deathly Hallows Midnight Release
This was the first release that had happened while I was actually IN school, so it was amazing to be able to go with two of my dearest friends. I used my Halloween costume and dressed as the Golden Snitch.  The film was brilliant, and I am so excited for what Yates has in store for us in July.

Serenade
Spring Ballet 2010 was not the greatest time I've ever had at IU...I felt kind of shafted because, for the third time, I was in the back of the Serenade corps.  But, while I would have much rather been cast as Dark Angel, or at least had the opportunity to learn Rubies, I was still so grateful to be performing my favorite ballet of all time.  The last show, I got a little emotional on stage. The music, the tulle, the movement...it was one of those religious experiences I occasionally have on stage, and it was beautiful.

Summer Session I
Living with two of my best friends in a house (finally!) where I could cook my own food and bake as much as my heart desired was amazing.  Yes, the being in school part sucked, but that was a small price to pay for those 6 weeks of bliss.  Brownies, wine, and countless trips to Redbox defined that part of my summer, and it was brilliant.

--- No photo evidence :( ---

General good times with IUBT
Because my sorority has been a much different place this semester (not that it's not great), I've been spending a lot more time with the ballet dancers, who I know will be my friends for the rest of my life.  So many bad days turned into fabulous nights, and when we couldn't take it anymore, we just said, "Screw it," and took shots.  I would not have gotten through Allegro or Snow Queen without praying with one of my dearest friends before all the shows.  I would have cried without baking nights or wine nights or general craziness that has occurred with these people.  I love them with all of my heart, and I can't wait to soak up every minute with them in 2011.

Well, I'm off to watch more of The Tudors, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows.  Damn, Showtime makes the 16th century look sexy.  Ok, enough of my ramblings.  Good night!

BEDA Deux: Orlando Highlight Reel

Day 2. Oh dear, I have no idea how I'm going to be able to keep this up for the rest of the month, but I'm committed, so now I have no choice.

I feel really lazy today.  I was planning on going into Chicago this morning to take ballet and possibly modern, but it turns out that my mom's car is busted, so she stole mine to go to work, so I had no way of getting to the train station, which foiled my plan.  Upon learning this, I went back to sleep and didn't wake up til 11...which is absurd and should never happen again.  Nothing else exciting has happened today, so I guess I'll more fully recap my five weeks spent in Orlando:

Most of the RA girls at Universal City Walk

There were 12 RAs total and 1 "head RA," ranging in age from 18-25...I was the 2nd oldest at 22 and Brandon, our head RA was the oldest (that's most of us in the picture at the top--last night/no sleep/don't ask).  And I felt old most of the summer...being around a bunch of 15 year-old ballet prodigies will do that to you.  Anyway, we resided on University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality campus, which was small, but fairly brand new.  The apartment-style setup of the dorm was lovely, and there was plenty of space to move around, and there was a pool--which would have been awesome for the whole summer, except that a pump broke in the middle of week 2, and the university never got around to fixing it before we left (UGH!).  The only complaint I had with where we stayed was the food (it was just awful) and the lack of things to do around campus (seriously, the only things within walking distance were a Publix, chinese food restaurant, and pizza place across the street).

The dancing was good, but I won't go into too much detail about it because talking about it would probably bore you.  The days were long.  There were a lot of baby ballerina prodigies.  My body was totally shot by the end.  And I got into better shape than I've been in for a while.

At Downtown Disney for Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba (eating Wetzel's Pretzels) with Kendrick, Lauren, Kelli, and David

The weekend excursions on which we accompanied the kids were probably the most memorable part of the program.  I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend all four trips--Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Aquatica (Sea World's Water Park), Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba, and Universal's Islands of Adventure (aka THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER).  I really don't have much to say except that it was all AMAZING and MAGICAL and AWESOME and INCREDIBLE and I'VE RUN OUT OF ADJECTIVES AND THOSE DON'T DO IT JUSTICE.  My family was not one of those families who went to Florida every year.  In fact, before this, the only two trips to Florida I'd taken were a visit to Ft. Lauderdale as a toddler of which I have no recollection and Virginia School of the Arts's 20 hour bus ride to Miami to spend four days at The National High School Dance Festival my senior year in 2006.  Needless to say, I'd never been to Disney World before this.  When I walked in and began walking down Main Street and got my first glimpse of Cinderella's castle, I started crying.  It was just so magical and wonderful and I was with my amazing RA friends and there was so much togetherness and loveliness and AHH!  Moving on...there's not much to say about Aquatica, as it was cloudy the day we went, and I hate waterparks, but whatever.  La Nouba was freaking awesome, as I've never seen Cirque live and there was a ballet dancer and it kind of got me thinking about the many options I have as a dancer, not just this closed-minded view of the ballet world.

In front of Cinderella's Castle...clearly more excited to be at Disney than most of the six-year-olds there

And then...(drumroll, please)...there was The Wizarding World!!!?!?!!!!!!  My friend Liz and I arrived at Universal and literally ran, as fast as we could, to the back of Islands of Adventure to get to the park.  And I started crying when I saw the gates of Hogsmeade.  It really was like my imagination had come to life right before my eyes.  And it was amazing because the park hadn't even been open for a month, and I was there.  And with people I loved.  True, it would have been even more epic to experience it for the first time with Infinitus goers at The Night of a Thousand Wizards, but it didn't matter because I. Was. At. Hogwarts.  There's really not much else to say...I started crying again while riding The Forbidden Journey-tears of absolute unadulterated joy.  I never thought I'd get to go, and here I was.

In front of the Hogwarts Express... "I will miss the train ride in..."

With my good RA friend Liz in front of Hogwarts Castle :D :D :D

Another awesome thing happened in Orlando.  As the program coincided with Infinitus, I was able to go to the Royal Pacific and hang out with some of my favorite people, if only for a few hours the night of the ball.  I spent the early evening swimming in the amazing pool with Marlena and Leah, and then hung around and waited for people to get ready for the ball.  While I didn't have a ticket and couldn't stay that long, my dear friend Adam had the brilliant idea of sneaking me in...and it worked, and I got to hang out for an hour or so, and see lots of awesome people.  I didn't want that night to end.  But, alas, it did and I returned to the land of bratty ballerina children.

From left to right: Adam, Marlena, Leah, and I at the Infinitus "Night of Frivolity" Ball...clearly I'm a little underdressed, but I didn't mind because I was with people that I love <3

Speaking of bratty ballerina children...I've literally never in my life seen kids this bratty, spoiled, or entitled.  I think it must be a generational thing because all of us RAs were just appalled at some of the things that went down.  It was as if these kids had never been told "NO" in their entire lives.  It also appeared as if they'd never had to do anything for themselves, including cleaning a bathroom or making a bed.  They felt they were owed everything by the RAs and sought to constantly bend the rules and see how far they could push our buttons.  It was outrageous and awful and I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hope I was never like that as a 14-year-old.

One piece of not-so-great news...my grandfather passed away while I was in Orlando, forcing me to go home for a few days during the second week.  He was 88 and just a few days shy of his 89th birthday.  He had been battling cancer for several years, and it was peaceful and quiet.  It was hard to say goodbye, but I'm glad I returned home to do so.  You are missed, Grampa.

And so another day of BEDA comes to a close.  I'll try not to make my posts so long from here on out, but I felt like I needed to write about my experience in Orlando.  Happy blogging.  Love, me.

I have a blog? Oh...right...whoops...

Hello there, old friends.  Or new friends.  Or people who read this.  Which is probably no one, but that's fine.  I'm sitting up in bed way, way, way past my bedtime and remembered that I used to use this.  But then I forgot about it.  And didn't have anything to write about.  So I stopped.  As usually happens with me...and then I don't do something for so long that I feel weird going back to it, etc., etc., you get the gist.  Whatever.

Anywho....I guess I'm writing now because I can't sleep and have nothing better to do and I've been home for a total of 5 days and I'm already completely stir crazy and cabin fever ridden and dying.  O hai, run-on sentence.  You're awesome.

Let's see...where to begin?  After spending 6 weeks at IU for summer session I and the next 5 in Orlando, Florida as an RA for Orlando Ballet School's summer intensive, home is a complete and utter bore.  I'm restless and I miss everyone and I feel old and I'm just generally frustrated.  You see, I haven't spent much time at home since I went away to high school at 14, so, naturally I don't really have a life here.  Yes, my family's here and yes, I love them, but there's only so much togetherness I can take before I start going nuts.  And to make matters worse this time around, I'm 22 and the few friends I did have who still live here are now graduated from college and beginning their lives elsewhere.  Which is great for them.  But no so much for me.

Also, everyone I met in Orlando is truly, truly amazing, and I miss everyone and it sucks.  And I also got to go hang out at Infinitus for a few hours and see some awesome people, which was awesome, but then sad because I had to leave them.

So, basically right now I just feel like I'm in a kind of limbo...waiting for something to happen...anything to happen, while I figure out how I'm going to survive northwest Indiana for the next 3 1/2 weeks.  Any suggestions?

Sorry this was rambly and whiney...I'll have a real update about what I've been doing with my life for the past 4 months very soon (hopefully).  Okloveyoubye.