We All Have Our Favorites

Just some of my favorite things at the time :)

Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
I secretly want to be Astrid! I have the braid, I could sport the outfit, I think I'm kind of tough...Ya, I'm Astrid :) I'm also obsessed with the music in this movie!!

Music: Michael Alvarado
My friend Kayla introduced me to this artist, and I fell in love! Such a great voice, awesome songs, and he plays freaking EVERY instrument!!!
Take a Listen!!!

Puppies: Australian Shepherds

I want a dog more than anything!! I always take a break from homework and look online to see what kind of puppies are available. I can't have one now for several reasons, but the second it's an option, you can be sure I'll have a puppy the same day!!!!
                                                                        

T.V. Show: Criminal Minds
I am not super into television, mainly because I've spent the last 5 years without a television set or I've just been too busy! But on this break I have rediscovered my love for this show! It's creepy, mildly disturbing, but most of all it's super interesting! Not to mention I have a crush on Morgan, who wouldn't want to watch that guy run around catching criminals?!
Let me introduce to Morgan :)

Disney Princess: Cinderella
She's blonde, she wears the most beautiful BABY blue (my color) dress, she likes animals, she works hard, enough said!! I won't lie, if the opportunity ever came up to play Cinderella at Disney Land, I'd do it :)

Treat: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
Peanut butter+chocolate=perfection. The only wrong way to eat a Reese's, is to not eat it at all! 

Car: Subaru Outback
Don't hate. I love it. I want it. I will have it. However, car shopping has proven to be much more difficult than I was expecting! I just hope Pam holds out long enough for me to actually find one!!!

Favorite Show: Thriller
I love most every show Odyssey does. But I think Thriller will forever be my favorite!

Favorite stop on Tour This Year: Zermatt, Switzerland; Home of the Matterhorn!!
I DIED when we went here!!! I would have given anything to have had my snowboard strapped to my feet at that exact moment!! Instead, Chase and I just slid down the biggest hill we could find :) Seriously, I would do most anything to come back to this place and board with my big brother Mike!

Favorite Hike of the Summer: The Narrows
I went to the narrows about 5 times this summer, and loved every second, of every time lol! I seriously can't get enough of it :)

My first time there, it was actually closed because the water was so high.....we went anyway :)

                             The water was MUCH lower a couple months later!!!

     And it was the lowest when I went with some of the cast members, but still beautiful!!

And those are some of my current favorites :)

A Mouthful From Molls!!!

It's been about a month since my last post...Things got a little crazy!! So, consider this an update/catch-up post!!!

It's been exactly 11 weeks since I started my online classes. I'm taking Human Development, and an awesome class called 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. When I finish the semester in 5 weeks, I'll FINALLY have my associates degree!!! I've been taking classes since 2006.....this is a BIG DEAL!!!! I still plan on returning full time at some point for an actual major and degree, but for now, this is a major accomplishment for me! If you know me, you know I can be a little obsessive and a big perfectionist. The only way I've been able to keep on track with these classes is by these lists!!!

Big News....I CARVED MY FIRST PUMPKIN THIS YEAR!!!! Erica and Troy invited me over for nice night of Halloween fun, and helped me do my first pumpkin! These are two of the greatest people you'll ever meet by the way, if you know them, you know what I'm talking about! Another night, the cast had an official "Girl's Night," and Erica and I decided it would be great to go in our matching pajamas! I love this girl!!!

I also PAINTED my first pumpkin lol. Shayla Osborn through a great Fall party at her beautiful home for the entire cast! We ate the greatest food (she and her mother are incredible cooks and bakers!!!), played a horrendous game with skittles (I'm pretty sure most people know of it....basically involves storing huge amounts of skittles in your mouth lol), had a pumpkin painting contest (my group went for a black swan pumpkin...), and lots more!

                         Aside from making us all a little sick, the skittles dyed our mouths!!!

                                                 We won for having the Scariest Pumpkin :)

After "Little Mermaid" and "Grease" ended, it was right into Thriller! This is my favorite show I've ever done, and I look forward to it every year! I haven't done the show down in Tuacahn for 3 years, and it was great to do it back on that incredible stage! We only 2 REALLY cold nights, and the rest were quite bearable!! I got to do Frankenstein with Troy for the first time this year, and he was an incredible partner to work with! I had so much fun with him :) I also had a lot of great friends come out to the show! It was great to see them and have their love and support as always. Stacey Clark showed up with.....DIET COKE AND DOUGHNUTS as always!!! It's such a small and simple tradition, but it's just that- a tradition! It brings the biggest smile to my face, I sure do love that girl :)

                                              Such a great and fun partner!!!! Love you Troy!

                                       Some of our great friends who came to our closing night :) 

While I am so grateful for the opportunity to be taking my last two classes online, and performing every night for the past 6 months, it sure made it tough to spend time with my friends before I moved back home. All I wanted was to play every day, stay out all night, and soak up every last ounce of St. George that I could. But I found myself stuck with homework most of the time and busy with work. I was able to say a more or less "formal" goodbye to just a few people, and had to leave others with a mere message. I suppose I could have had some big party or dinner or something of the sort and get as many people together as I could, but that just isn't my style! I am NOT good at goodbyes, at all!!! However, I am not far, and a visit will be coming shortly!!

Something kind of funny...after 6 months of having basically NO night social life, it has been really strange getting back into it!! The night after Thriller closed, I hung out with just a few friends. We went to a basketball game, and to Apple Bee's for dessert and Karaoke. I felt so weird the entire time!!! It was strange to be in normal clothes instead of dance sweats or crazy costumes, weird (but oh so great) to have a face free of loads of makeup, and I felt so awkward being surrounded by people just doing their thing! I almost didn't know how to act, what to say, or what to feel lol. Most of you wouldn't understand, but it was a bit of a shock haha! I wonder if that's a fraction of how RM's feel?! Anyhow, it's much better now, and I forgot just how much I enjoyed being out and about with friends!!!

Being home had been really great, and really hard! I really miss St. George and everyone there, it has really grown on me! I think it's also hard because I'm actually on a BREAK. Like, I have NO obligations aside from school. It's super nice because it's been so long since I had a break, but it's also driving me NUTS!!! I'm so accustomed to being busy and constantly on the go, it's hard to sit back and relax for a hot second! I think things will get easier once rehearsals start up, and I've got more of a schedule. Anyway, there's the update!!!

27 Days...And Kind Of Counting??

So, I've been in St. George since April 26th, and in 27 days I'll be headed back to Salt Lake......And I can't decide if I'm happy or sad about it. I've had so many amazing experiences here, met some inspiring/awesome/great people, been on fabulous adventures, learned some difficult lessons, and discovered several things about myself, both good and bad. I've missed my closest friends (though I'm so grateful for the fantastic friends I've made down here), missed my family (especially my big brother and sweet nephew), and am currently missing something that's been a part of my life every September and October since I was 17. So, you can see this is a bitter-sweet situation for me! I have a hard time organizing my thoughts most of the time, and I find that writing them down seems to help!

Things I will miss greatly about St. George:
*The chill and fun friends that I've met
*The Smith's family who has so kindly "adopted" me this summer!
*Sharing a stage with such beautiful, talented, and inspiring people
*The abundance of available outdoor adventures, and the people willing to play!!!
*Having to get a running start to jump into my bed every night
*Going to hot yoga with my Tuacahn peeps
*Wearing my chaco's everyday!! Salt lake is too cold for that now
*My roommates singing in the shower everyday
*Being able to do all 3 loads of laundry at the same time!!!

Things about home that I'm excited for:
*Spending time with my nephew...lots of time!!!
*Seeing my friends
*DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*A bigger bed :)
*Snowboarding
*Car shopping (yes friends, Pam is on a downward spiral)
*Sledding
*The rest of my wardrobe lol!
*game and movie nights with the family
*Climbing sessions with my big brother!
*7 Eleven hot chocolate :)

I've had so much fun this summer, and I know I'll be sad to go, but happy to be home. I can pretty much guarantee that I'll be visiting St. George all too often!!  There are just too many great people down here, and too many awesome things to do! I can't say that I would ever permanently live here, I think I'm more of a city girl who loves to escape to the outdoors. But then again, who knows :)

So, thanks everyone who has made this an unforgettable summer. Thank you for sharing your talents, your passions, your adventures, your hearts, and your time! I truly feel that I met each person down here for a dang good reason, and I appreciate the time we've been blessed to spend together!

Confessions of a Dancer!

Thought this could be fun! There a lot of things you probably don't know, wouldn't guess, or choose not to believe about dancers! Now, this doesn't go for ALL dancers, just myself and most the ones I know well and work with lol. I think some dancers would deny a lot of this out of embarrassment. But, I don't really care!!!

* Sometimes you'll be brushing your hair when getting ready for a show on Monday, and you'll brush bobby pins out from the show you did on SATURDAY!
* When you have to use a microphone in a show, you're required to use mic tape to keep the mic close to your face and the cord on your neck.....When you do 6 shows a week, this mic tape becomes part of your skin! Sometimes, you go to give someone a hug, and your cheek gets stuck for an awkward second because your skin is permanently sticky from the mic tape!
* Especially in shows that require a load of makeup (Thriller, Cats, Tarzan), you still find makeup of varied colors behind your ears, on your neck, in your hairline, or up your nose even after you've showered!

* It's quite normal to be covered in someone ELSE'S sweat at the end of the night. And sometimes, even their spit!!!!! If you've seen Thriller or Giselle, you've sat there and watched this occur :)
* Dancers will share pretty much anything.... And I mean ANYTHING!
* There is nothing more disgusting than a dancer's feet after they've rehearsed barefoot for 7 hours, or in who knows how many pairs of shoes.
* We close up splits in our feet with superglue, and just keep doing it every time they rip back open.
* When you rehearse for 7 hours, and then teach for 5 hours....sometimes a shower is the last thing on your mind. First comes food, then comes sleep! Showers are skipped, it just happens lol
* If we have a show on Wednesday night, and a news highlight on the morning show at 5 in the morning on Thursday, chances of us sleeping in our makeup and recycling it for the news are really high!!
* When a cast of dancers goes out to eat after a show, the thing you see most of is milk shakes and fries! 
* If you knew how much ibuprofen we took on a weekly basis, you would call us addicts.
* When we go on our European tour, we wear the same dance attire (includes booty shorts, bra, tank/tee, and sweats) an average of 3-4 times each. Mind you, the only laundry access we have is the bathroom sink!

* When we do our show Thriller, most of us paint our nails black because "it's Halloween and it goes with the show".....I paint mine black because then you can't see how dirty they get from all the makeup and stage dirt!
* We all have our little superstitions, some are worse than others. Mine is a pair of ripped up black tights. The very first year I was onstage with Odyssey Dance Theater (I was a member of Odyssey II at the time), I had to provide my own pair of ripped up tights for a costume. Well, I've used that same pair of tights EVERY SINGLE YEAR now (this will be the 7th year), and they haven't been washed ONCE!!!! You just can't wash something like that, ever!
* Most girls feel like bums when they wear sweats, like they are dressed way down....Dancers feel most comfortable and quite confident in their sweats!!! It's what we are wearing when we're doing the thing we love the most!!

* Dancers can undress themselves faster than you could ever imagine!
* You want to know our big "diet" secret? I'll tell you....we eat what we want, when we want, because we dance for 7 freaking hours a day!!!
* If a dancer tells you, "It's really no big deal if you can't make it to the show, I understand." What they really mean is "This show has been running for (insert correct # here) weeks/months, and you're telling me you can't make it to ONE  SINGLE SHOW???? I DON'T understand." Now you know :)
* If we hear a really good song in the car, we are more likely to bust out moves while driving rather than singing the words. And we usually get caught in the act...so many awkward looks from other drivers!!
* We are basically the CRAZIEST people you know, on most every level!

Well, I hope this was.....enlightening for you all :) And dancers, I hope that you are not too embarrassed to admit any of this, because its basically hilarious! I love all you amazing dancers with all my heart, and especially my ODT family, you're the bomb!!!

The Most Memorable Days Usually End With The Dirtiest Clothes!

  I saw this quote on pinterest the other day: "The most memorable days usually end with the dirtiest clothes." I couldn't believe how well that defined my life!! I can't count how many times I've left the house nice and clean, and come home dirtier than ever! But every time I came home that way, it was one of the best days ever. So here's to all of those adventurous days, that may have started off fresh and clean but ended nice and dirty, and to the great memories we created in the process!!!!!

 

                                         Always crawling on, up, around, and in things!!!

                      Covered in dirt head to toe from following these guys for 5 hours!!!

                                   Thinking we could clear that swampy river.....FAIL!!!

             I guess sometimes we made it out clean....but then we were soaked!!!!

                           You only make it out of paint-balling clean if you are a pansy :)

                Doesn't matter if you're dressed for the occasion.... we'll do it anyway :)

      Again, sort of clean. But definitely walked around wet the rest of the afternoon!

                                       Yes, that is DIRT!!!! And I think some bruises :)

                                    Four-wheeling through miles of mud...the best!!!!

So, a huge thanks to laundry detergent, spray and wash, and bleach, for continually preparing my clothes for the next adventure!!! I can't be more grateful for all the dirty laundry I've had the pleasure of washing, and the wonderful people in my life who helped me get it that way!! I'm not always the dirty kid, my mom says I clean up quite nicely :) BUT, I certainly LOVE TO GET DIRTY!!!!