Livin' the High School Musical

Here was my super fun prom date from Snowflake. We didn't know each other before the date started, so it was a fun surprise to get to know him so well in such a short amount of time. Shayna and her date also made prom a ton of fun. I'm glad I got to spend it with these amazing people. Here is a picture because, cute.:)

I love the High School Musical movies! I have ever since they came out ten years ago. I honestly can watch them over and over, and somehow never get sick of them. As if they are not good enough, they have a musical number thrown into every scene.  I absolutely love music in general, so a great, cheesy movie, with amazing songs in it could not be better. I love all three of these movies but lately I have started to love the last one, High School Musical 3, a lot more.

To understand why this movie is so amazing, especially at this time in my life, I’m going to have to set the stage for you. This movie is specifically about our favorite characters’ senior year, as they are preparing for their final performance at East High School. (Which I am totally doing in choir as well). They are trying to figure out what to sing and dance about when the main girl, Gabriella Montez says, “I think we should stage the perfect prom.” They decorate the stage in magical lights and whimsical decorations. There is a staircase, and vines throughout the whole stage. Everyone is dressed to their best and the music adds to the fun atmosphere. Gabriella takes the stage with her hot boyfriend, Troy Bolton, and they dance and sing together in perfect harmony.

At first, the guys don’t really  want to put in all the trouble for a silly dance and the girls can’t wait to get dressed up in fancy dresses and have a “Night To Remember.” (The guys lyrics are in parentheses just to help you understand a little more)

“  It's gonna be a night, (can’t wait)

To remember, (aw man)

Come on now, big fun, (alright)

It’s gonna be the night, (I guess)

To last forever, (lucky us)

We'll never ever ever forget

(Her mother opens the door, I'm shakin' inside)

He's here, it's time, the hour's arrived

(Don't know why, her father's staring me down)

Where's my purse? Lip gloss?

Now I'm really freaking out

(Then something changes my world

The most beautiful girl right in front of my eyes)

It's gonna be a night, (oh yeah!)

To remember, (that's for sure)

Come on now, big fun, (alright!)

It's gonna be the night, yeah tonight

To last forever, forever more

We'll never ever ever forget

Everything about this song describe my feelings before prom. Before I got asked, I was planning on staying at home, probably watching HSM.:) I didn’t realize how sad I would have been to miss out on such a fun evening. This song is so fun to watch and listen to, but now it also has a bittersweet feeling attached to it. I had such a great night, as I’m sure all of you did, and now it’s over. Not to put a downer on the mood but, we will never go to another high school dance.

Simple  like this blow my mind. I can’t believe that just a few years ago we were listening to the famous Mr. Phaturos speech about getting on the graduation train. Folks, the graduation train is slowing down to a stop, right at graduation station. We are almost there!

Gabriella says, “I wish it would all just stop. At least slow down.” My sentiments exactly Gab. :)  It feels like life is going so fast, full speed ahead all the time, but I don’t think that is going to change. For these last few weeks of school I am going to try to enjoy every second, every minute, every laugh, every bittersweet moment. I’ll even try to make it like a high school musical. Enjoying everything as if there was music playing in the background, setting the mood. You should try it too. I think when we look back on high school we will remember it as a much happier, better few years, and we definitely can look back on it as a time to remember.:)

Experiencing Quite A Few LASTS

As we get closer to graduation, we are facing more and more lasts. Last meeting. Last Prom. Last lunch. Last Monday. I honestly don’t know what to do except cry. :)

This past week, some of my favorite people and I were in our prayer circle that we always do before a show. I firmly held the hands of the people next to me and looked around our very large circle, and couldn’t help but smile with tears in my eyes for this one last circle. I expressed my love for all of them and encouraged them to work their hardest on “sharing our show.” After my heartfelt prayer, we cheered and went our separate ways, starting the ending of Mary Poppins. We experienced a lot of lasts Friday night. Last love circle. Last cheer. Last prayer. Last Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Last thirty two second costume change. (Pretty fast right?;) All before our favorite last: Mary Poppins.

For months I have dedicated hundreds of hours on making the character of Mary Poppins come to life.  I worked on my accent, my wardrobe (goodness was that a tricky one!), my lines, my songs, and I focused a lot on myself. Who would blame me? The musical is called Mary Poppins for a reason.:) But then I realized, this was my last high school musical. This was my last chance to perform with these wonderful people I grew to know and now love so much. I focused on trying hard to enjoy every moment backstage, not focusing on myself. I tried to hug EVERYONE, literally everyone backstage got at least one hug from me, to show that I truly loved and appreciated them for all the work they put into making this a great musical.

After putting in so much effort into this project, the moment finally happened. The show started at 7:01 and I was getting ready to “appear” in scene two. Everything that I had prepared for for months was culminating in front of an ecstatic audience. The night went practically perfectly. Everything on and off stage was running smoothly. All our magic worked! All our songs were perfect! It was one of the most fun times I have ever experienced. And now it is over. 

I am terribly sad that we won’t have practices going until midnight on school nights and that I won’t get to call Mrs. Caffey old any more.:) But I am mostly so grateful that I was able to be changed by this experience.  I feel so grateful that I was able to improve myself at singing and acting, and I was able to be tested in patience, which I think all will prepare me for college. 

Just because it is over does not mean we have to forget. Thank goodness we have pictures and brains that will help us remember the good times we have shared. Everything we know is going to change, and I am so excited to start this new adventure, but at the same time I am going to miss it so much! All we can do is remember the great ride we have had and be grateful for every memory we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

I would also like to publicly thank my sweet grandparents for making the wonderful effort to come all the way from Florida to support me in this role. I love you two very much! Also, thank you Uncle John for enduring quite a long trip just to come see me. I love you all so much!

Love Without Words

October 13, 1964

November 23, 1991

December 18,1997

These dates are some of my favorites.:)

My dad was born October 13, 1964.

My parents got married November 23, 1991.

I was born on December 18, 1997.

I absolutely love my family. I have been blessed with such amazing parents who love us crazy kids and are great people to everyone. They have raised us to be kind to others and I always strive to be like my parents. All of these dates brought me my family and I can’t ever show enough gratitude for them.

Although my mom says differently, my dad has always told me I was a daddy’s girl.  He would always take us on amazing outings, hikes, and camp trips. I loved these adventures and I was never more than two steps behind Dad, jumping off cliffs or climbing up trees. I don’t know what it is about teenage girls but when I became a sassy teenager, me and my dad weren't so close.  I guess I lost my footing and fell a few steps back from him, but he has never been too far from me to see how great he is.  

I have his bright green eyes. I have his stubborn attitude.  Sadly, I also have his bad communication skills. We used to not talk about anything but surface discussion topics.  He would ask about my day, I would reply, “It was fine. I gotta go do homework.” Although we didn’t talk much with words, he spoke a very clear message to me about how much he loved me.

When I was about thirteen, I decided to paint my room from gray to tan.  For some reason, this task was way harder than I anticipated. I painted for weeks. Little patch here one day. Little spot here another.  I could only reach about five feet from the ground so there was a gray area for about four feet along the whole room that I couldn’t seem to get done. After a long day at school I went down stairs to my room and every wall was painted light tan. I was dry and perfect. My dad never mentioned anything about it but I made sure to thank him. He blew my gratitude off like it was nothing but I think he knew how much it meant to me.

I see him doing small acts of service for my mom all the time as well. He hates doing the dishes but he does them almost every single day, just to make her happy.  He has made our house a playground and spent countless hours building swing sets, fire places, and even a pool, so we can have fun.

My dad may not be the most outgoing or loquacious person I know, but he shows his love for our family, and for everybody through his kind acts of service. Sometimes I forget all he does for us and I have to remind myself of all the things he has done willingly without ever being asked.

I am so grateful for my dad and the wonderful man he is. I’m so glad that I have such a great person to look up to as a dad. He has instilled a sense of service in me and made me want to be like him when I grow up.  Finally, I am able to talk to him now and I get the chance to learn more everyday.