dancing through life

In my last post "2014 so far" I mentioned I had my dance recital at the end of June. I also mentioned I've been at the same dance studio for nine years now. I started the summer between third and fourth grade and have danced every year since. The main reasons I like dance is because it's a good way to get some exercise, I've met so many amazing people, and it's so much fun!

 

I dance at Corinne's School of Dance owned by Corinne. She was a former Rockette and is now an amazing dance teacher! I've had the privilege of working with four of the amazing teachers at Corinne's and it has been an honor working with them. They each have their own visions and it's bind boggling at the amount of effort they put into each one of their dances. Over the last nine years I've taken a variety of different classes. I've taken classes in jazz, tap, ballet/pointe, modern, lyrical, kickline, and I've also taken some solo classes.

 

I love to dance and I've heard a lot of people say that it's not a sport or it's not active or an exercise but it is. It is also an art. People can be good at dance, meaning they can have an amazing technique but if there's no heart it doesn't feel right. Dance is a passion of mine because when I'm dancing on stage I get an adrenaline rush and I feel so free.

 

 I love to dance; what's your passion?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014 so far.

I am so bad at this... I've been working on this post for a few weeks and haven't even caught up... Here's an update of my year so far. 
The last time I posted was on February 20th. Ironically the next day I was driving home from my dropping my dad off at the bus station so he could get to the airport when I got in my first accident. It was a small little fender bender but it was the scariest thing I've ever experienced. While it was a small accident and no one was hurt it scared me so much. The main reason it scared me so much was because on February 19th a little girl and her mother were in a very bad car accident and in very critical condition. They were both rushed to a nearby hospital and from there the little girl was transported to different medical center where she died. This whole event shook up so many people close to me and so when my accident happened it was even scarier.
I was so grateful that my accident was very minor and that I had so many people who were there to help me out when my parents weren't near.

just some of us girls. <3

 

I am going to skip right to May. Every year since I was adopted my parents and I go up to Maine to go to this reunion. We call it the China 41 Reunion. It's for all the girls I was adopted with. We meet up and all the families catch up. This year was our seventeenth reunion and as always it is great to see everyone.




everyone trying to get into a selfie! <3

June! My best friend graduated! Yes my best friend is a year behind me but we are still best friends! It was amazing seeing her graduate! I was/ am so proud of her. She even made a speech that was so funny and very well said. I love her and can't wait to see her do great things in college and in life!

 

The following Friday one of my other friends walked as a graduate as well! She officially graduated the previous year but wasn't able to walk with us so she got to walk this year. I was so proud of her as well. It was a long time coming and I'm so proud of her for hunkering down and getting everything done that needed to be done. I love both of them and I know they are going to go so far in life. ♥

 

 

 

 

 

Skipping ahead to middle of June. I went down to Florida for six days to visit my mom! She moved down there in September last year and we've all been flying back and forth to see each other. Unfortunately she had to work most of the time I was there but it was so good to see her! Sadly I was also gone for fathers day but we celebrated before I left. Here's some snaps:

first snap at 6 am.. <3

 

finally on the plane!<3

 

&we're in the air! <3

 

hey look it's a palm tree!<3

 

mom's working... <3

 

french fry heaven, I'm in love. <3

 

driving across the state. <3

 

gopher tortoise! <3

 

laying in the sun!<3

mom and pa playing cards.<3

we went to the beach!<3

feet in the sand. <3

florida rain storms..<3

 

time to go home.. <3

beautiful day to fly.<3

I love the feeling of flying.<3

to be surrounded by clouds.<3

 

At the end of June I had my dance recital. It was amazing!! I've been dancing with the same company for nine years now. They are like a second family and I love them all so much! This year has been really hard on us and we all trying to cope with what happened together. Last year I was in about seven dances and this year I had to drop it to one because of work and everything else. It was a major change and weirdly I had a hard time adjusting. I did a 'modern' class and we danced to Haunted by Evanescence. It was a creepy and amazing dance. Here's an amazing picture one of the other girls took:  

 My mom video taped it here is the link if anyone wants to watch it: Haunted

 

July did not start out well for me. Gratefully I got to see one of my oldest and closest friends and she helped me out so much. I couldn't imagine my life with out her.

love this girl!<3

I get to be silly with her! <3

 

 I ended up working on the fourth but did get to see fireworks on the fifth with Devyn! It was so much fun! We got to go on her grandparent's boat and watch fireworks and a bonfire!

 

why we so cool? <3

 

 

 

 

So, I don't know if anyone noticed but I take a lot of selfies. Over the past month or so I noticed that my hair had gotten extremely long...

 

and I had been thinking about cutting it for a while...

 

 

so....

 

 

I did it. I cut off 10+ inches, donated it and got a 'lob,' long bob. It took me a little while to get used to it but it feels so good to get rid of the extra weight!

 

 

And now you're all caught up I've been working a lot but I'm really going to try and get into a routine of writing a blog post every week.

Thanks for reading! <3

 

 



traveling the world

me being sassy and my first plane ticket. <3

Traveling the world is one of my biggest dreams. I grew up traveling all sorts of places with my parents and now at eighteen years old I love traveling and I wish I did it more. The first plane ride I ever went on I was seventeen months old, coming home from China. My parents and I went on a two - three week vacation every summer when I was growing up. Some major trips we went on were amazing adventures and even though I was young they are some of my most fond memories of my childhood. 

 

Costa Rica

The second major trip we went on was to Costa Rica. We flew into San Jose and then went to Monteverde to the Cloud Forest. After zip lining and walking bridges over the canopy of the rain forest we went back to San Jose. From San Jose we went to Tortuguero where we got to see sea turtles make their nests and lay their eggs.



me, mom and dad in the rainforest! <3



I was only four years old when we went to Costa Rico but I remember a lot. We hiked through rain forests to see howler monkeys and poison dart frogs. We went on boat rides to look for monkeys and toucans. It was an amazing adventure for a four year old.

me, mom and dad in the canopy of the rainforest. <3

 



on the bridge walk over the canopy, coaxing mom. <3

This is one of my favorite memories. We were in the cloud forest and my dad had decided to do a zip line over the canopy. I remember I was so intrigued by it, I wanted to do it too. Imagine flying over the canopy of a rainforest. I wanted to do it so bad, but unfortunately I was too young. So to compromise my mom and I went on a bridge walk through the canopy. I have been told many times by my mother that I had a blast and I kept having to coax my mother across the bridges. I would say, "It's okay, mommy. Come on. It's okay."

 

me with a huge leaf using it as an umbrella. <3

mom and I on the plane home. <3

 

I think everyone should take some time and travel. It doesn't matter if it's far away or close by. Don't spend your whole life in one place. I recently attended a high school graduation where the guest speaker said something that has stuck with me. He had made a list of things to do when these graduates left high school and started their journey of life. One of his items on the list was to travel. He said, "New England is not the map of the world- go places." As much as New England is my home and I will never forget the memories I've made and the people I've met here, the world is waiting to be seen.