Day 31--(Day 92): New Year's Eve (Day 1)

I spent the day at the beautiful sandy beach!!!

Day 30--(Day 91): The Hunt for the Pink Purse (Day 2)

Today I continued my hunt for the perfect pink purse...no success so far :( in the mean time, I get to look at my aunt's beautiful tree!

Day 29--(Day 90): Rachel!! (Day 3)

Today I got to see my friend, Rachel! I haven't seen her for about a year, so it was great to see her again!!! :)

Day 28--(Day 89): Lights, Camera...Menorah! (Day 4)

Today we drove past two houses that were decorated beautifully with lights and all the decorations you could ever imagine. Here are some pictures of the the first house:

At the top of this post you'll find a video of a Christmas Light Show. This was at the second house we visited. This family set up a light show and timed it to their own FM radio station. It was super cool! My mom says I should do this in my dorm next year. :)

And today, on the eighth and final day of Hanukkah, I finally discovered the mini Menorah I've been looking for! :)

Day 27--(Day 88): Jewelry Making and Little Sisters (Day 5)

My "aunt" Susan is a terrific jewelry designer and every year when we come to Florida, she shows me a new jewelry trick. She showed me how to make a beautiful wire creation that I will make into a hair clip. Susan is one of my favorite people. She always gives me good advice and she is so kind. Not to mention that she is wonderfully sporadic and random. She definitely keeps me on my toes in the best way possible. :)

Today is also the birthday of my "little sisters" Angela and Elise! They are two of the sweetest girls I know.

Angela is the energetic one! She's always bouncing off the walls and having fun,

but she can also be pretty serious and sensitive sometimes. I love her so much. I see her everyday

at lunch and her big smile always makes my day.

I am so proud of her.

And Elise is the quieter one. She's fun and amazing, but she's a little reserved sometimes and

that's okay. She's super smart and very kind. She would do ANYTHING for her friends. She really sticks to her commitments and she is an extremely hard worker. I love her and I'm proud to know her.

I love these girls!!!

Day 26--(Day 87): Relaxed (Day 6)

I didn't do much today. I helped my aunt bake a cake and make some potatoes for dinner, I went swimming, I worked on math homework, and slept. It was lovely. I spent most of the day wearing these: my lovely comfy new slippers. Yay!

Day 25--(Day 86): Flying on Christmas (Day 7)

Every year, my family goes to Florida for Christmas. Though it's fun to go and see relatives, I do miss a lot of fun new years parties. We also fly down on Christmas day, so that's not always fun. But, it's great to get away and spend time with relatives I don't see very often.

Day 24--(Day 85): Christmas Eve!! (Day 8)

Happy Christmas Eve!! :) This is a picture of me and my dad's cousin, Beanie. :)

Day 23--(Day 84): Remembering Grandma (Day 9)

One year ago today, my Grandma Dorothy died. She and I weren't particularly close, but of course I still miss her. Here's a couple pictures of her.

Day 22--(Day 83): The Prince is Giving a Ball! (Day 10)

Oh my goodness! More friends at Cinderella tonight!!

Day 21--(Day 82): Chanukah! (Day 11)

Only 12 days until 2012!!

For the last two days I have been celebrating Chanukah. It's been fun so far. Here's my "menorah."

Day 20--(Day 81): Friends!!! (Day 12)

Today, my friend Anissa came to see Cinderella!! It was super fun to see her!!

Day 19--(Day 80): Christmas Presents! (Day 13)

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is making presents. Here's some of my sparkly crafting stuff. :)

Day 18--(Day 79): Cinderella Overload! (Day 14)

I have worked five performances of Cinderella at the Ordway in the last 3 days. It's been a blast. The show is just beautiful and actually quite touching. I'm not ashamed to admit that I did get quite choked up when I saw the first act for the first time. There's just something that tugs at my heart strings. I adore the actress playing Cinderella. She and I have a few mutual friends and I met her for the first time yesterday. Jessica is just the sweetest person. Every time she walks on stage (which is a lot), I just smile because there's something about her that really draws me into the story. All of the performers are great, but Jessica is my personal favorite because she REALLY commits to her character. It's really lovely to watch her onstage. She's really Cinderella.

This is Cinderella's Castle. It's a playhouse that is being donated to the Ronald McDonald House. :) It's pretty awesome.

Day 17--(Day 78): I'm so lucky! (Day 15)

I am so lucky!!! I get to go to work at this beautiful place and I get to see great shows and meet amazing people. :)

Day 16--(Day 77): Funky shoes! (Day 16)

Percussionists are the coolest members of the band because we have matching (sort of...) shoes!

Day 15--(Day 76): I love choir concerts!!!! (Day 17)

Today was our choir concert! I am so proud of my friend, Angela, who had a solo!!!! :)

Day 14--(Day 75): College friends!! (Day 18)

I went to caribou coffee today and was looking at the chalkboard. I giggled because someone had written the name of one of my friends who is away at college, Maura. I don't know who wrote it, but it was super cute, so that's my picture for the day.

It made me really happy to think about Maura and all my other friends who are away at college who are coming home for break. I'm so excited to see them!!

Day 13--(Day 74): Work buddies!!! (Day 19)

This is a picture of my work buddy, Claire!! We got to work together on the same door tonight! So much fun!!!!

Day 12--(Day 73): AHHHH! (Day 20)

AHHHHHH! I got accepted into college!! It's not my first choice, but it's a great school and at least I know I will be going somewhere!

Day 11--(Day 72): Rice Park (Day 21)

I have a great job at the Ordway Center. Every night when I leave, I get to see the beautiful Rice Park. One of many great perks. :)

Day 10--(Day 71): Living Nativity (Day 22)

Only 23 days until the New Year!!!

Today, I got to see the Living Nativity at my church. Normally, I participate, but today I had other plans so I only got to stop by to watch for a little while. The concept is simple: basically, actors playing Joseph, Mary, Jesus (usually a doll, but sometimes real), and the 3 Wise Men act out the three wise men presenting their offerings for the Holy Infant. It's simple and beautiful and actually quite moving. It's one of my favorite parts about Christmas.

Day 9--(Day 70): DONE!!!!! (Day 23)

Oh my goodness! I could scream!!!!!!!! My college apps are finished!!!

Now onto this pile of music for auditions...:)

Day 8--(Day 69): College Apps! (Day 24)

College Apps should die. That's all I'm going to say.

Day 7--(Day 68): A day which will live in infamy (Day 24)

Today is, of course, the 70th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Much respect to those who died on that day and those who fought for our freedom in that War.

It is also a significant day for me. Today is the 6th anniversary of the day I met one of my heroes: Julie Andrews.

Here is my favorite Julie Andrews quote:

"Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it." -Julie Andrews

Day 6--(Day 67): A Great Quote (Day 25)

I found a great quote today which (surprisingly) came from Glee. It's a good show, but I don't totally love it.

"Performing is what I need to do. It may be difficult, but it was what I was born to do."

I love this quote!!

Here's a picture of a pretty snowflake I like.

Day 5--(Day 66): Cranky day (Day 26)

Today was kind of a cranky day. It was a good day, but I was cranky. End of a show plus exhaustion just does not equal a great day.

I started a new show today though! I'm assistant directing the musical at my old middle school. We're doing the Phantom Tollbooth the Musical. It is going to be super fun!

Day 4--(Day 65): Final Fiddler (Day 27)

I honestly cannot believe that Fiddler is over. It seems like just yesterday we were having our first rehearsals...how strange.

I have so loved being part of this production. I loved that there were so many kids and so many people new to theater. That is the beauty of Southwest Theater Project: it really brings tons of new people into the theater world. Though we all made mistakes over the course of the show and though it wasn't perfect, I have to say that of all the shows I've been in, this was one of the most fulfilling.

Everyday, I drove about 40 minutes to get to rehearsal. That's a lot of driving and a lot of gas. But, it was SO worth it. The reason I wanted to do this show in the first place was to finally work with Tinia (our choreographer). I've known Tinia for almost four years now and she has been a true inspiration and mentor to me. We met when I was doing a show with Grant Richey and we have managed to stay in touch over the years. I've always wanted to do a show with her and I can't believe that it actually happened and now it's over.

That brings me to my other "big" reason for doing the show: Grant Richey. Grant was the person who sparked my interest in theater at the age of 12. I grew up knowing him and he died when I was 16. I was doing another production of Fiddler at the time (adding yet another reason for doing the show). Southwest Theater Project is a big part of Grant's legacy. It was a company that he started and knowing that, I had always wanted to do a show with them. It was such a cool experience to be working with people who had worked with him and people who knew him.

So, that was what made the show worth it for me (especially at first). But, I didn't know that I would meet so many wonderful and talented people.

This is a picture of Dawn, our fabulous music director. She is AWESOME!! She really taught the entire cast about the basics of singing and I swear that she could get ANYONE to sing. :)

And Terry, our director. He's probably one of the best directors I have ever worked with. So kind and so smart. I loved his ideas! He was always there to support us as actors and willing to help us whenever we needed it.

Our Stage Manager and Front of House Manager, Tree. I absolutely love this lady!! She is so amazing!! I would really love to work with her again.

My mama, Beth. What can I say? I just adore her. She's so sweet and so supportive. She's a really hard worker, but she loves to be silly as well.

And of course my sisters, Sadie and Zoe. The girls who laughed with me, cried with me and everything in between.

This has been such an awesome show!!! I love everyone!!! :)

Day 3--(Day 64): Yay for 2 shows and lots of fun friends!! (Day 28)

You'll have to forgive this very brief post. We had 2 performances today and I am exhausted! Here's a picture of a bunch of friends who came to Fiddler today!

Day 2--(Day 63): Opening Night!!! (Day 29)

Only 30 days left until the New Year!!

Tonight was opening night!!! I am so proud of every member of the cast. We really rocked it tonight. I can't wait for the rest of our performances. I'm starting to get sad that this wonderful show is ending...but, we have three performances to go!! yay!

Here is a picture of my buddy Josephine. She is just the cutest!