3...2...1...so long, 2018!

Well, here we are. It is the final day of the eighteenth year of the twenty-first century, the eighteenth year of the third millennium AD. What a year it has been for me, my family, and the world. I usually like to spend New Year's Eve reflecting on the last 364(5 during leap years) days and seeing where my life was one whole year ago. 

While I usually feel like not a whole lot has changed, this time of reflection ends up revealing SO MUCH. As It turns out, there were some major moments that happened and I have much to be proud of this year. I may have some goals I did not achieve, but that doesn't mean I'll never get to achieve them. It just means it's not time yet. That is why I reflect and then look forward to the coming year ahead. 

Just as a refresher, I am going through some pretty important events that happened in 2018:

January - Judge Rosemarie Aquilina was the #1 judge all year with how she handled the case involving That Doctor Man. She was an advocate and a hero for sexual abuse survivors, and that is something to celebrate forever (I dressed up as her for Halloween this year too).

UK Gymnastics also started their best season ever in Rupp Arena for the first time. 

February - I performed in one of my all time favorite productions (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). The show was hugely successful and an overall amazing experience that I'll remember for a very long time. I even made some pretty cool friends and fellow alums in the process.

On a much sadder note, I lost my beautiful grandmother Gloria, the only grandparent I had the privilege of knowing in my lifetime. She was a rock for our family. Losing her was truly devastating, but I know my family is much stronger from it. 

On another happier note, Adam Rippon won the Olympics. Not just his bronze, but the whole Olympics!

April - I performed in my first Spotlight Playhouse show (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) in several months, and it was so nice doing another one with my friends!

UK qualified a full team to NCAAs for the first time ever! UCLA won the 2018 NCAA Gymnastics title with their sixth year senior Peng Peng Lee scoring two 10's on bars and beam to clinch the victory.

May/June - I picked up another show with Rose Barn Theatre (Over the River and Through the Woods) and it was definitely my most cathartic experience. The show dealt with a grandson making a tough decision to move across the country away from his grandparents, and I had still been working through losing Grandmother. Our last regular performance ended with me in tears and breaking down in the most emotional moment of the whole show, and I am so happy with that. Theatre isn't just dressing up and reciting lines. It's life and the experience of living. 

Oh yeah, I also went to Canada for two hours when my family visited Niagara Falls. 

July - My longtime most favorite furry friend Butter was put to sleep at the age of 15. He was the best cat ever and he rightfully got the top center spot on our family Christmas tree this year. 

September/October - A certain SCOTUS hearing revitalized the conversation on sexual assault and rape culture and I opened up about a part of my childhood that I had never revealed to anybody. I feel so much better about it and it no longer bothers me. 

October - I turned 25 and started my quarter life crisis!

December - I did a '40's Christmas radio show with Spotlight and it was super nice creating more art before the year was over. Bonus: the second performance date marked a double two-year anniversary (1. Me performing with Spotlight and 2. Me living on my own in my apartment). 

Well, 2018 was quite the year for me. Now, I wonder how 2019 will turn out. Here are some goals and resolutions I have in mind:

1. Continue to grow as an artist and have many more opportunities that further my career.

2. Continue to love my family and  friends and keep them close. 

3. Figure out the next important steps I want/need to take in my life...and take them! 

4. Maybe another trip to New York or even a trip to somewhere I haven't visited yet.

5. Focus on my body and my soul a little more and treat them with the respect they deserve. 

6. More gymnastics! I want to try new things and stop doubting myself. If I'm landing on a squishy mat, it'll be okay as long as I don't land on my head!

7. Read more books and plays. I'm still allowing the post-college literature fatigue get to me and I need to just erase that from my being and just pick up a book and read!

8. Get around to my Film Bucket List. I still have yet to watch Citizen Kane and Casablanca. 

9. Explore more in the kitchen and try new recipes. Also, bake more!

10. Be more in the present and stop thinking I need to have a phone in my hand to pass the time. 

I'm sure there are more things, but those are the main ones I have been thinking about for a long time and I just wanted to share a little bit. With that, I don't think I have much else to say except I hope everybody had a fulfilling 2018 and that 2019 will be even better!

Happy New Year, everyone!

A whoie lot of downtime, holidays, and a show?!?

So, it's been over two months since my last post. A lot more happened, which is fun and exciting. For starters, I was in my first show in several months. I have also continued to audition for more shows and apply for a few more jobs. It's been a...promising job, I guess you could say. 

Halloween was a thing. I revived my Tina Belcher costume for trick or treat, but was ultimately the Honorable Queen Judge Rosemarie Aquilina for 2018, and she praised my costume on Twitter and we exchanged a few tweets. It. Was. GLORIOUS! Thanksgiving was also a thing and I ate way too much (surprise surprise). 

Now, it is almost Christmas. It's been a lovely festive season thus far. I have only a couple more presents to get for the morning of the 25th. I have watched the usual many Christmas episodes of my favorite shows and cartoons, and I am almost done with it because it is the 20th. 

Among all this festiveness, I was a part of Spotlight's Old Christmas Radio Show, which was really fun. The rehearsal process lasted only a week and I had a couple of solos as well. The second performance coincided not only with the two year anniversary of me living on my own in my apartment, but also the two year anniversary of my first opening night at the Spotlight Playhouse. It was very ironic that I was performing in a Christmas show when my first show with them was, you guessed it, a Christmas show. You gotta love Christmas anniversaries.

Now, it's crunch time, but the best kind of crunch time. It's Christmas, which means parties upon parties, gatherings, dinners, and presents galore. Most importantly, it is a time to be with family and friends and cherish one another. I am really excited for Saturday, specifically, because my family is having a huge dinner because this will be the first Christmas since my Grandmother died. It will be very special. 

Before I leave, I must mention that I have also decorated a bunch, including my family's Christmas tree. We have had an ornament with a picture of our cat Butter (RIP) on it and that made the top center spot, right under the angel, because it's what he deserves. I wish we had an ornament with my Grandmother's picture because it'd be right up there as well. Maybe some day.