A Humbling Experience

With each breath, I remember how lucky I am to be alive, and I thank God for the health of myself, friends, and family. It is so easy to take “the little things” in life for granted, but it is important to remember that everything can change in an instant. Nothing is ever guaranteed. As I let my feet sink into the earth, I embrace the sounds of nature and consider how fortunate I am to hear the birds sing. I think about how blessed I am to have vision that allows me to see the amazing world that surrounds me, and a voice to speak what is on my mind… I thank God for waking me up because today truly is a gift.

---

I danced for the patients at the hospital yesterday, and it was a very humbling experience. Emotions stirred within me as little kids reached for the tutus, stretched their arms up, and moved their feet… I am so grateful that I could share my gift of dance with such an inspiring crowd, and it is something that I will never forget. It felt so rewarding to see the joy on their faces, and I hope that I can do this again in the future. Props to my friend, Claire, who organized the event because it would not have happened if it wasn’t for her… Thank you for everything!

Have you had an eye-opening experience recently? What have you been up to this weekend? I hope that you have a fantastic week.

Dryads & Shades

Excerpts from two beautiful ballets filled the stage last week as dryads instantly transformed into a kingdom of shades.

Right after floating through the dream scene of Don Quixote, I only had a few seconds to recover before jumping into the first shade variation of La Bayadere. I had performed it before, but I forgot how physically demanding it was especially in addition to the corps de ballet work. It is one of the fastest variations that I have ever done, so maintaining precise execution of each step, despite the fatigue, is an incredibly challenging endeavor. However, the encouraging cheers from the audience gave me so much energy, and I finished stronger than I ever had in rehearsal. When I hit my final pose, I couldn’t hold back the giant smile that radiated from my face… It was a great show!

Sweet Reminisce

sipping on tea in the middle of May

enjoying the sweet reminisce

and allowing recollections of melancholy days

to dissolve in the laughter of bliss

 

thoughts had been brewing

while life continued at a fast pace

and stories were certainly worth sharing

to a missed and familiar face

---

I was able to meet up with a good friend for lunch last week, and it was so nice to catch up after months of separation. This amazing vocalist, Sofia Caterina, has released another song after receiving over 80,000 streams of last year’s hit, Velvet. I encourage you to go check out her newest single, Walk Away, and share it with as many people as you can. It is NOW AVAILABLE to stream on all major music platforms, so go give it a listen!

What have you been up to lately? Do you have any big plans coming up this summer? What did you think of her song? 

*Photo Credit to Sofia

February Favorites (Playlist)

Whether I am working on my never-ending pile of homework, cleaning, driving, typing up blog posts (hello), or doing practically anything, music is always playing… I have always loved music, but my obsession has grown tremendously within the last year. I am constantly adjusting my playlists, and I love discovering new songs. Today, I decided to share a few of my February favorites in no particular order. There is a pretty large genre range, so I hope you find a song that you like! Enjoy!

Current Top Songs:

*Over You by Daughtry

*1957 by Milo Greene

*Roots by Imagine Dragons

*Space Cowboy by Kacey Musgraves

*Die Trying by Michl

*Meant to Live by Switchfoot

*Big Plans by Why Don’t We

*Sixteen by Thomas Rhett

*Coastline by Hollow Coves

*Drive by The Glades

Have you heard any of these songs before? Which one is your favorite? Do you have song suggestions for me? 

From my window…

From my window, I sit frozen in time as the bitter wind cuts across the night sky. My gaze shifts to the lonely pieces of paper as I contemplate the words running deep within my mind. Hidden corners of these cold thoughts contain unwanted memories of what use to be. My pen remains untouched as I am not sure where to begin writing the story that left me lost in my own imagination. The confusion still rings as I wonder what could have been. The sting of another winter day sends shivers down my spine as I sit frozen in time sipping warm tea from my window…

_____________

I know this one was deep. I wrote this a few nights ago, but I am actually quite pleased with how it turned out. What are your thoughts? Did this connect to you in some way?

On a lighter note, I am thrilled to see so many votes coming in for my blog post poll! As I am writing this, Backstage Secrets is in the lead, but it is very closely followed by My Blogging Experience. If you haven’t voted yet, be sure to head over here and drop your top choice(s) in the comments section. Remember, this poll closes February 1st! 🙂 Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Blog Post Current Polls:

Embarrassing Moments: 3 votes

Backstage Secrets: 8 votes

First Few Months of Driving: 2 votes

Guilty Confessions: 3 votes

Playlist: 3 votes

My Blogging Experience: 5 votes

The Buck Target

My sister and I got a rubber buck target from our parents this Christmas, and we have had so much fun strengthening our archery skills (and arm muscles) these past couple of days. I really love our new target because it is so much more exciting than the paper targets that we had used in the past. However, this is the closest I will ever get to a buck with my bow because I think killing a real animal would be too emotionally hard for me. Fishing doesn’t bother me, but I have absolutely no doubt that hunting big game would. Maybe this will change in the future, but I will only use targets for now.

Have you been hunting before? Do you enjoy archery? I hope that you all had an amazing Christmas!

Music…

Music… The mood booster that always ends your day on a good ‘note’…. The influence of your highly off-pitch voice screaming lyrics into your imaginary microphone. You think you are having a great time until you realize all of the windows of your house are open and all of your neighbors can hear you *cough*. ANYWAY, I wanted to dedicate this post to all of those music lovers out there who are always searching for new songs… Enjoy!

Safe Haven (Hillary Scott)

Dear No One (Tori Kelly)

Poetry (Wrabel)

Beautiful Like You (Lee DeWyze)

*Shout out to the autumn daydreamer for being the inspiration for this post!

Removing Doubt

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

~Mark Twain

*Photo credits to Jason N.

All because of a FRIEND

Knowing that someone is always there to catch you when you fall is assuring as life is filled with unpredictable roads and cliffs. With one wrong slip, you find yourself descending into a canyon of empty thoughts. When you finally reach the bottom, you realize that you are trapped, and you ask yourself what steps you should take to begin the climb. You stand there. Motionless. Suddenly, you are offered a helping hand… Together, you reach the top of the mountain. Together, you overcome all of life’s problems… all because of a friend...

Feeling thankful today for the

really great people

in my life who

encourage me to defeat the

negative thoughts that somehow

discover the way into my head. With the

support of true friends, positivity always prevails!

The Greatest Showman

Phenomenal… Outstanding… Touching…

My new favorite movie.

I had been wanting to see this for awhile, so I was so excited when my friend invited me to go see this with her a few days ago. The Greatest Showman was very well done, and I think it is one of the best movies that I have seen in a long time. Aside from the film, the soundtrack is amazing, and the songs have such great meaning. I will definitely be watching this again, and I highly encourage you to experience this yourself!

Have you seen this already? What are YOUR thoughts?