surviving.

I have survived my first three weeks in LA. Still getting settled in an amazing house with three of the coolest roomies. AHHH what madness. I have loved every second... well minus the times when I get a nervous pit in my stomach-- which unfortunately happens at every audition.... EEK. A wise roomie of mine said "thank goodness for that feeling!" me confused..."uhh whyyy?" she then replied, "because that means you give (pardon my french) two shits about what your doing!!" hahaha how brilliant is that. She is so right its ridiculous. If you never get that feeling, then you are most definitely doing something wrong. ha well besides the obvious class taking, audition going, and bikram domination (pah I wish), I have already had quite the adventure. Got a job teaching at a studio just 25 min. north of me :) hip hip hooray. Took an awesome vaca down to San Diego that involved country dancing and an attempt at surfing. Some semi creepy guys taught me how to two step and swing dance. I was pretty good... just saying. HA surfing on the other hand...... I will need some serious practicing to conquer that skill. I did manage to stand up once- YAY ME. I also didn't get beat up to bad, which is awesome considering I'm so accident prone. This week includes a few auditions, teaching, and preparing for a much needed trip to Vegas. four days full of creating and complete awesome-ness. Can't wait to see my lovelies :) xoxo

nEW aDVENTURE.

Helloooooo againnn. I am sort of failing at this whole blogging thing-- I shall try to do better, I promise!! Well my adventures were amazing in Vegas. busy busy busy!! but I loved every second of it! I fell in love with every dancer and I hope that they all keep pursuing their dreams! In NYC they were fantastic. I am so proud! They all walked onstage with confidence and genuine love for dance-- and thats all that really matters!

They did walk away with a Critics Choice Award and two dancers won the National title..... TOTALLY AMAZING! After a lonnggg ten days in NY, many hugs, kisses, tears and a lot of goodbyes I was off to Canada to visit the stunning Kiera Sangster! After 24 hrs at the airport with numerous cancelled/missed flights I finally made it.

She was performing in two shows at a theater in Niagara-On-the-Lake. I had a brilliant time submerging myself into the theater world and enjoying so many amazing plays. It inspired me to start taking acting-- which I'm extremely stoked about! Well those ten days flllewww by and then it was time to say another goodbye to one amazing gal:( Back to NYC for me then... (yes long vaca I know..) I was free to play, sit, sleep, EAT, relax, and see some pretty amazingpeople. I did take some class and indulge in some awesome Bikram! While in the city I got to meet up with some mates from the Zuidey... absolutely brilliant! I miss my Zuidey family!!!

As the ten days were coming to an end... One of my good friends went into labor! Happiest day of my lifeeee, I got to see the beautiful Penelope the day she was born-- love that wee one! It was an amazing end to my adventure on the east coast. Headed to Utah next, for a much needed visit with the fam then back to Vegas to enter reality again. With a quick stop to San Diego to get things rolling I was back with bells on ready for some hardcore choreo! ........................ Eleven pieces later.... I was all packed up and ready to start a new chapter in this crazy life of mine. LA HERE I COME!! After many more tears and goodbyes, I was off with a full car headed into an unknown adventure! After a few days of settling and getting lost, I'm ready to take on LA! First audition tomorrow, which unfortunately involves singing :| Ohh goodness wish me luck!!! xoxo

Fail.

Hellooo blogging friends. I have returned to the blogging world after a few months of settling back into life on land. boy was that weiirddd. I feel as though life on the ship is a distant memory... almost a crazy dream I once had and insanely amazing and weird things happened. I have to remind myself it was real and that these amazing people I got to spend 9 months with are still in my life.. there my family :) Coming back to land (reality) was odd. I had to do things like clean my room, make my bed, make my own food, I could DRIVE. There's no such thing as "passenger friendly," raft drill, A deck, the Lido, officers bar, or BRIGHT STAR. What kind of place was I living right?? ha well its good to be back although I miss my Zuidey friends dearly.

As for now I have moved to Vegas! I am working at a wonderful studio and am already attached to this new amazing family who have been so welcoming! I am teaching, choreographing, auditioning and taking class whenever I can! I am whipping these crazy kiddos into shape for nationals in NYC coming up in a month and a half! OH CAN'T WAIT! I am so happy for this opportunity and feel I am growing and learning in so many ways!

so much love.

xoxo.

Free Fallin.

Last cruise I decided to take a tumble down the four stairs of our Stage and Screen set... Actually the ship made that decision for me. I swear this ship is out to get me! It was probably the rockiest its ever been and of course THE SHOW MUST GO ON. Usually I cope pretty well when its rocky, have a good laugh, no harm done. This night I was absolutely terrified every time I stepped out onto that stage. As we make our way through the second show, with relief every time we exit the stage, we get all the way to Disco which is the number right before the finale-- this is when I decide to take a tumble. As I go to run down the stairs the ship rocks forward and literally throws me down the stairs. I tumble down all four stairs, and land flat on my face. Luckily my partner, Michael, was there to save me. As he lead me off stage I collapsed into the wing where I remained the rest of the show. Almost made it through both shows safely... bad luck I guess. Good news is there were no broken bones :) bad news was that I was a helpless gimp on crutches for the next week and was also stuck onboard until I was healed. Good thing I have a cute Scottish lad who took care of me while I was gimped out. All is looking good and healing quite well. I shall be back in action for In Concert this cruise! Happy December :) xo

CRAZY TIMES ON THE ZUIDEY.

What a whirlwind of good times and craziness the past month as we made our way from Alaska all the way through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean. FINALLY WE GET SOME SUNSHINE! Visiting so many amazing countries, and getting a little taste of each culture. Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Columbia, and Panama. Truly amazing. I can't wait for the opportunity to visit those countries again. While we did our relocation cruise we also had a new addition to our cast. Mr. Matthew Cheney! We were also very lucky to have TJ (choreographer from LA) join him, to make our THIRD turnover as easy as possible. Two weeks later, Matty is in all of the shows and we are ready to experience brand new ports together! First stop, Half Moon Cay-- Holland America's private island in the Bahamas. We then head to Aruba, Curacao, Panama, and Costa Rica. After we hit Costa, we have two sea days as we head back to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. We have moved from 7 day cruises to 10 day cruises, which has brought many changes to all of our schedules. Lets just say we have A LOT of time off :). I can't believe Halloween has already passed. Insane how fast time goes! For Halloween we were allowed a crew party in the OB. My roomie Loosh and I dressed as Engineers. We got the white jump suits, the ear plugs, the goggles, a sick stache, and to top it off chest hair. Most of the party we mingled with other actual engineers onboard and I somehow got us into working the next day in the engine room.... at 6 AM.... ? Chief called us and told us to stand by.. definitely thinking we were going to bail. 15 minutes later we show up dressed for work. We get to follow Chris (4th engineer) around down in the engine room-- checking the oil on engines, turning on the boiler, checking the poop tanks, and doing other important engine room stuff. After an hour of pure enjoyment and crazy sweat, we returned to the control room to say our goodbyes. BEST ENGINEERS EVER! Birthday time! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOSHUA, STEVEN AND ME! We had a combined party to celebrate our day of births :) it was themed-- dress as Josh or Amber. Brilliant. We had about an even number or honorary Josh's and Amber's at the party. I am so grateful for this amazing family I have onboard and so happy that I could share my special day with all of them! As a present to myself, I will be skydiving this Aruba! wahooooo!!! We are now on Cruise number four, and the month of mama's is still a go. This cruise we are so excited to have Lucia and Lisa's mums onboard! yayy! Although I love having mama's onboard... it sure does make me miss my mum a whole lot! LOVE YOU MAMA! xoxo.

so many activities.

Well friends.. we are now on our last week in Alaska.. WOOT WOOT! Past couple of weeks were filled with some fun adventures... Adventure Kart riding, dog sledding, hiking, bike riding, birthdays, and more hiking. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL AND RICKAE!! We couldn't have asked for better weather the past few weeks... where was this the rest of the season eh?? ha well it made for some lovely times. Got to remind myself what a brilliant driver I am while cruising through the forest. Ha got to play with some week and a half old pups :) hiked/ biked to the most gorgeous places in Skagway, AK. I also explored my wild side while attempting to climb a waterfall.. which I failed.. but now I have a BAD A battle wound... Jealous?? ha well we are going to end the Alaska season with a bang!! We are able to do all of our shows this week.. first time in three weeks-- thanks to our new Stage Manager ROSS! Hoping for a Pinnacle dinner on monday and Body World next vancouver!! We will be saying goodbye to one of our cast members next week... BOYFRIEND I'M GOING TO MISS YOU! As we start the reposition we have another replacement coming.. hello turnover numbero three! IS THIS REAL LIFE?!?!

Party. Party. Party.

Big weekend of goodbyes.. The beautiful sarah went back home to Ireland this past vancouver, along with Tesch the videographer, drummer Greg, and two awesome engineers Chris and Shona. Sad day on the Zuidey I must say. They had a jungle themed going away party on friday night, which was brilliant. The cast went all out as usual.. best looking crew there for sure! haha. Vancouver was beautiful, Ash and I rented bikes from the ship and rode around the city all day. Had breakfast at Joe's Grill then we hit up this brilliant vintage store we found last week. After I purchased the entire store ha we headed to the beach to gaze at beautiful people. Our day ended in Vancouver with lunch at Nuba and a very sore nanny. That night we had a super unusual LUEY with about two people in the audience. Sunday started off with a tango class taught by Ashley and me, and a not so great two hour tech rehearsal for Stage and Screen. We got pyro in our show that night so it was well worth it! Following the show we celebrated Lisa's birthday with a stoplight themed party. Wear red if you are taken, yellow if its complicated, or green if you are single. Loosh designed me a pretty genius outfit I must say. Dressed in Green with a stop sign belt around my waist... Get it??? Today we are docked in Juneau enjoying beautiful weather and free internet. :) wahooo!