2017 was a YEAR, wasn't it? Full of highs and lows, I wouldn't have had the year like any other. I've grown so much over the 365 days in the year and have learned a lot of myself. This year I turned sixteen, we got a car and I got my license, my first job as a dance teacher, and I travelled to some fun places!
BEACH GETAWAY
It's become a sort of yearly tradition for us to visit one of our favorite vacation spots; Dauphin Island, Alabama. It's a quaint, tiny little beach town that has only a gas station and a convenience store for emergency groceries. The island stretches seventeen miles from shore to shore so it's the perfect spot to do absolutely nothing but beach all day for a week. Well, that's what my family likes to do at least. We also take a fun lunch date to LuLu's in Gulf Shores, created by Lucy Buffet herself!
Dauphin Island is our vacation spot for many reasons. We love the laid back atmosphere and the fact that you can bike everywhere, the family time we spend together is the best! You can't beat waking up late, laying out on the beach all day, and having shaved ice for dinner. It's the epitome of summertime to me.
WALT DISNEY WORLD
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Disney. I based my whole blog around the love, for crying out loud. We had been planning that extraordinary trip for over 600 days...that's a lot of days. This was my birthday trip, taken in September. Despite it being three months after my initial birthday month, the fall is our favorite time to spend in Disney World because of the Halloween party, Epcot's Food and Wine Festival, fall decorations, and lighter crowds.
This trip was the best thing that 2017 had to offer! We were able to eat at all of our favorite restuarants and discover new favorites. We stayed in Disney's Beach Club resort and our room was a literal three minute walk away from Epcot, which is my favorite park. I'll never forget this trip and all of the fun times we had experiencing all of the new things the parks had to offer, as well as relishing in old favorites.
A MERRY CHRISTMAS SHOW
This was my studio's off year, which meant that there was no production of The Nutcracker. We did, however, put on A Merry Christmas Show which was the ride of a lifetime! I danced as a Santa Jazz dancer, sang in the Christmas Village, and partnered for the very first time as a Spanish dancer in the Nutcracker Suite. Even though I was stressed and nervous, it was so fun and fulfilling. I learned so much in this season at the studio and I'm so excited for what's to come!
We performed three shows with two dress rehearsals beforehand. I made so many friends and amazing memories with my fellow cast members that I know I'll cherish for forever. I'm also so thankful for my my partner and fellow spanish dancing lady who stuck by my side, and we became closer friends than ever before.
MY 2018 RESOLUTION
It's now 2018, two days in out of three hundred and sixty five. On New Year's Eve, I made one resolution for myself to hopefully remember to practice every day this year. This year I'm sort of going to try and live by one word; brave. It probably sounds silly, but it's a word that reminds me to voice my feelings, tell people how I truly feel, and do things out of my comfort zone. I'm pretty bad at doing the opposite of this and sticking to keeping things in (despite my dramatic nature, haha!) and staying in my comforting little bubble. This year will be different!
I'm a believer in the law of attraction, signs, and manifesting things for yourself. At a friend's wedding, I told myself I was going to catch the bouquet and this would be my sign that 2018 would be better than ever. What did I do? I caught it!
That's right, I caught the bouquet. 2018 is going to be our year, let's do this!
