A Weekend Full of Activities

At GV I've made two really good girl friends and this weekend we made our first "family trip" together. It was my high school's homecoming this weekend so Shay and I got home just in time for the football game, sat and froze our butts off, got some hot chocolate and then left. Thankfully in-between the hot chocolate and leaving, Igot to see two of the best people to have ever worked at Jackson High. My newspaper advisor, LC and my AP english teacher, La-a.

I can definitely say that their advice and encouragement have really shaped me into the person I'm becoming or am (I never know if I'm supposed to be finding myself in college, or if I should already know...). I always vented to LC about whatever was going on in my life and she always had a way of either showing me what I wasn't realizing about the situation, fixing it all, or she would side with me and take me to get hot cocoa to make it all better. Those moments are ones that I will always appreciate because without her knowing it, it helped me look at things from other views other than just my own. La-a was the best way to end the day. I had AP english as my 5th hour every day of my senior year and I loved it. Ending my day with the Yiddish Word of the Day, class discussions, having class outside, or the giraffe dance, always made it a good day. When I saw these two lovely women I was ecstatic! You know how they say you don't realize how much you missed someone until you see them? That's exactly how it was with LC and La-a! I feel like I'm starting to sound like a little teachers-pet, but I just really clicked with them and they were people I could open up to and felt totally comfortable with, LC was like my mom at school and La-a always made me feel welcomed in whatever was happening and both of them were always incredibly supportive of my dancing and school work.

Friday night Shay and I left the game and went back to my house to do what we do best, we sat on our computers all night then went to bed. Saturday morning I got to see my little man play, and might I add that this year, he actually plays soccer. I've surprised him at two of his games and both times he'll see me, you'll see the excitement in his face, then seconds later he remembers that he has to look cool in front of his team and tries so hard to play it off like it's no big deal that I'm there to watch him... But I know it does, because of the tight hugs I get when he comes to the sidelines during his games.

(Their team is called The Jedis, Jack-Attack likes to force the ball to the goal)

Saturday afternoon Shay and I picked up Delores and the three of us helped Keegs and her friends get ready for their last homecoming dance. It was fun getting the girls ready and listening to the drama going on with her and all of her friends and relieving because I wasn't having to deal with the drama of when and where pictures were, where everyone was getting ready at, where everyone was hanging out after the dance... Don't miss that. But helping them get ready made me miss my friends and reminded me of last year when we were getting ready for our last homecoming and how we were late getting ready, as always, and that pictures were taken at the same place they were our freshmen year. The weirdest parts? Doing one of my best friends' little sister's hair and taking their group pictures. Sooooooo weird.

After everyone was off to the dance my mom too Delores, Shay and I to see Footloose. It was amazing. Perfectly remade! We ended our weekend with a trip to Walmart to get a couple piercings. We all got two each and boy, was that fun! The earring lady didn't seem to believe that the 3 of us really were 18 until we showed her our IDs and even then she didn't seem too happy to be piercing our ears until Delores got her first hole done and it definitely lightened the mood! I swear, if we were a sitcom we'd have the highest ratings. We were laughing so hard we were crying, but on my end, crying and snorting. There were plenty of pictures taken to document the faces made as the gun pierced our ears and as we reacted to the slight shock of pain.

The weekend was nice and relaxing but filled with activities. I'd say the 3 of us had a very successful first family vacation together and I'm sure it will be happening again some time soon... But definitely not before Thanksgiving. We're all ready for some Laker Weekends ;)

Ten Things: #2

#2: I don't dance with my family any more.

Thinking about it right now, this is probably the hardest change I've experienced yet...

Let me explain this-

'My family' = The Jackson Ballet Company/The Academy of the Arts. These people are all my family. I don't care who tells me differently, every single one of them is included in my family. We've all grown up together, I've known some of the girls since they were little babies in pre-ballet! We've all gone through ups and downs, competitions, recitals, and pretty much everything under the sun, together! These people, are my family.

'I don't dance with....' = My family is based in Jackson, a good 2 hour drive from where I am now. I don't dance with them because I don't want to, it's because I physically cannot. I would if I could get myself there!... and get it to count as college credit :)

We had a saying at my old studio (old studio.... I don't like saying that, it's still my studio) that we ended up putting on a shirt one year for competition. On the front of the shirt it said, "Academy of the Arts Est. 1995" and on the back, "Our home away from home." The quote on the back could not be more accurate. I lived at the studio. Starting around 7th grade I was there +12 hours every week and that number continued to grow as I grew older. I never dreaded going to the studio, sometimes to classes, but never the building in Spring Arbor.

I love dancing with all of my heart, it's become a part of who I am. But, I can't say that the movements of dance alone was what got me to love this art form so much. One of the main reasons why I've always stuck with dance is because of the friends I've made there. It's true when I say we've known each other nearly our whole lives. Most of us started dancing at 3-5 years old, so I've known most of these girls, that I consider my family, for roughly 13 years. These girls, and Dustin, know more about me than I bet most of my best friends know. When I think about it, it might not have been on purpose that they know so much, I think it's just because of the fact that we've spent so much time together over the years that you pick up on things about people that you didn't have to be told. You just know.

Number 2 sprung on me when I was in ballet class this morning. Some times I'll walk into the studio, expect to see JBC warming up at the barres, and then I'm taken back for a minute realizing that this isn't what I'm used to. I'm not at The Academy, I'm not late and running into class, I'm not taking my usual spot at the center barre in the middle of the classroom... I'm at GV in the Performing Arts Center watching all of the majors and minors warming up before class. Sounds weird that this happens sometimes, but when you're so used to something then it changes all of the sudden it throws you off every once in a while.

Last night my best friend, Rel and I were talking about how much we missed taking dance classes together. Rel is minoring in dance at college so I know she's feeling my pain here with #9. I know that when some of you are reading this you have to be thinking, "Wow, this girl is seriously complaining about this?? I don't get it." Well that's okay because it's not meant for everyone to "get".

All I know is that it kills me when I think about how much I miss my girls and Dustin and how much I feel like I'm missing out on their lives while I'm away... Whats the best part about all of this though? I'll be back. I'll get to dance with my family again and feel the connection I have with all of those wonderful people soon. As soon as I'm on a holiday break, I'll be there dancing with them again, smiling and laughing and loving on my family.

I can't find a picture of the whole family, but these will do!

I'm missing you, JBC :)

Ten Things: #1

Lately I've realized some things that are new or different in my life and how much they're really impacting my life. I've decided to make an ongoing list. Top 10 things that have changed in my life, things that I'm okay with and things that I'm just not feeling. The list will go on and be updated every so often... We'll start with number 1.

1. I have to travel more than 5 minutes to see my boyfriend/best friends.

Big change. The people that I have depend on the most have always been within at least a 5 minute drive. Now, one of them is about 4.5 hours, one is about 2.5 hours, and a couple others are about 1.5 hours... That's not okay. Yes, I'm loving Skype, but that's not the same as sitting in the same room as someone and just venting to them.

Luckily, I've made some great friends that I feel I can confide in. They're awesome. I feel like I've known them for years. But as I just said, it's not the same.

My best friend and I have been (with the exception of the beginning of junior year and last summer) a 15 minute drive, a walking distance, or a 7 minute drive to each other our whole lives. She is now living in Chicago, CHICAGO. Ever since I can remember Rel has always said she wanted to live in Chicago. I should have assumed she would've ended up there, she's been dreaming of it her whole life, but the fact that she's already there and establishing her new life seems so surreal to me.

Last summer I confided a lot in Ty, because Rel was out of reach. From my dad's house, 4 minutes. From my mom's house, 7 minutes. I could get there until 5-10 minutes either way. If I needed anything he could get to me easily, also. But when one person lives by Lake Michigan and the other lives by Detroit, it makes it harder to get to each other. Although, we have been making it work... it's just different (key word here).

I have a group of 9 girlfriends who have been around since 5th grade on. There's really no point in saying that we're really close. We all know things about each other that others don't and we're always there for each other. Each of these people were always within a 15 minute drive from either of my houses, now I have to drive to Lansing, Florida, Illinois, Ann Arbor, Mt. Pleasant, or Saginaw Valley to see any of them!

I know this whole post was just complaining about how I miss people that used to live closer by, but I do understand that times change and that it was bound to happen eventually, I just don't care for it that much right now. I miss my friends and I can't wait until the first holiday break when we will all be reunited.