CHANGE PLACES!

I don't know how else to describe how amazing both nights of Alice In Wonderland went, other than to copy and paste a few of the comments I've recieved and sent to some of my friends afterwards.

• "you guys were great! the disturbia dance was one of my favorite parts!" -Mackenzie
• "You were amazingggg! I wanted to hug you but my dadddy was there to early :/" -Jackie
• "You did so so so good! :D I was there :D" -Melissa
• "Great job Cinque:) I loved it and am going again tonight.." -Chris, my second mom (Mikaela's mom)
• "Good Job at the play!!Cinque! I bet it was a lot of fun putting it on. We wil be looking for our autographs on Sunday!!:)" -Lois & Pat (they go to my church)
• "I saw you at the play today!!! You were amazing and excellent!!! You were born to be a star!! When u were on stage.. I saw no one else!! Great job!!!! Will you be going to broadway? hehehe" -Christy
• "No problem! I enjoyed it.It was really good! And I loved everyones costumes!Great job!!! Good luck tonight." -Amanda

And I sent this to Amanda:

"Hey! Our second show was different than the first one, everything possible went wrong. But, it was still a great show because we're all absolutely amazing at improv.Hahahha thank God! Literally!The cast party was the most fun cast party I've ever been to. We always have our play cast parties at Liberty Lanes (the bowling alley in the village) but the majority of us didn't actually bowl. Instead, we just ate nachoes, pizza, cake and got all hyped up on mountain dew... Resulting in this MASSIVE game of truth or dare. It originally started out with me, and my friends Mikaela, Ashley, Mary, Mairi and her boyfriend Jimmy. But somehow, DZ (the director) got involved, and involved her son Scott, and his friend Kory, and Kory's mom, and then before we knew it... our little truth or dare circle migrated throughout all 5 adults, and a whole bunch more people in the cast joined in as well. The dares were crazy and hilariousssss, and we probably only had about 2 truths.HahahOh, and throughout the entire cast party, someone would just randomly yell "CHANGE PLACES!" so we'd all have to get up and move.Hahahhahaha it was awesomeeee!And of course I loved the flowers!!! They're beautiful! How'd you know my favorite color is orange!?!? :DI also ended up getting flowers from this kid I've known since kindergarten's mother, my friend Ed (who we all like to call Batman), my friend Alec, my daddy, my grandpa, and my little cousin Leah. She's 7. Haha and apparently afterwards, Leah rode home in the car with my grandparent's (her and her parents and 2 brothers came up from out of town to see my play and were staying at my grandparent's house) and I guess Leah told my grandma this outrageous story about how she played Snow White in her school's play, and my grandma was all upset we didn't know about it so she asked my aunt about it, and apparently Leah made it all up because she wanted to "have fun like me".HOW CUTE IS THAT?! Hahahah As you know, we did the school previews on Thursday and one of the little girls that goes to my church, her name is Maelin, she goes to one of the elementary schools we put on the preview for, and when she saw me at church on sunday she made this huge deal out of how I was in the play, and how much she totally admires me now. It was the cutest thing ever!!"

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

We did the school previews today!!! We did three previews all together, 2 were for the elementary schools in the district and one was for the kids in my highschool. I'm not sure why we never do a preview for the middle school... Probably because we don't have enough time during the day. But! I got to miss all of my classes, which, I guess could be considered a good thing in a way :) Except... tomorrow I'm going to have a lot of catching up to do! As well as preparing and resting up before my play. Yup - that's right, the actual productions are tomorrow night and Saturday night. I wish all of you could come and see it! If I haven't mentioned it yet, my name is Cinque and I'm in 9 out of the 11 scenes of the play.

But, back to the preview. Fortunately, they all went really well! And surprisingly, I wasn't nervous at all!!! Just, EXCITED! I love performing on stage in front of an audience; it's such an adrenalin rush! The 2nd elementary school preview was my favorite, all the kids got so wild and into the production it was awesome!!! It made me smile to see hundreds of little kids from kindergarten to fifth grade dancing and even singing in their seats, trying to contain themselves from jumping on to the stage with us!!! It was lovely and I was happy to see my fifth grade teacher, whom I used to know as, Ms. M!!!

After all the play previews we had about a 30 - 40 minute break and then the whole cast had to come back to the auditorium for rehearsal from 3 - 5:30. We were all so exchausted from the day though, that we had to have a 10 minute yoga session with the lights off to get ourselves a bit more relaxed. Boy, did that feel good!!! Although, even after the yoga session was over, all of us were still incredibly tired. Most of us didn't even bother getting into character for the scenes we performed, and instead just said our lines monotone. But luckily, our awesome director, DZ, didn't care because she understood how exhausted we all are after a long day of 3 wonderful previews.

I still can't believe it was our last rehearsal though. Not just the last rehearsal for Alice In Wonderland, but it's the last rehearsal we'll have for the rest of this year!!! I'm going to miss it so much. All the fun times, the late nights, and the goofing around. It's hard for me to grasp that one of our best actors, Mairi, is graduating this year. I'm going to miss her so much!!! She's hilarious, and she's definitely got some true talent.

But I'll never forget all the extraordinarily fun times we've had during the rehearsals for these plays, and the friends I've made/grown closer with because of it.

Matt, Bruce, Travis G, Jimmy, Ellie, Morag, Mairi, Nuber, Nick, Cody, James, Cassie, Tasha, Jasmine, Fai, Christina, Mo, Katie, Kelli, Sam, Leanne, Elyssah, Casey H, and Megan!

And of course, my already best friends before the show:

Mikaela, Ashley and Shelby

Hopefully I'll update soon with pictures from the real production and the cast party!!! I love you all, and I thank you for reading my blog and being patient with my posts! :)

Spring cleaning :)

It's such a beautiful day today!!! I'm so glad everyday this past week has been so nice!!! It was a great way to spend spring break, even though I was stuck at home instead of at some luxurious resort or on some hot beach.

But anyways, I was helping my parents wash the screens for our porch today after church and after a bit, my dad went inside for a break so my mom and I were left to put the screens up by ourselves. And we were like, "Okay, we can do this! No biggie!"

So there's this little knob you have to turn to lock the screen in on the top and on the bottom. And we were in the process of putting on one of the final screens, standing in our freshly growing garden surrounded by a short wall of rocks and stones. The screen we were attempting to put in at the moment happened to be the right corner screen. Earlier I had no problem jumping up and fixating the top knob, but this time was going to be a bit trickier for me because I had nothing to grab on to. But my mom, being the determined lady that she is, said to just grab on to her, and that I could do it. I was unsure of this, but I grabbed on to her anyways and proceeded to turn the top knob. BUT OF COURSE! It was an epic fail. I couldn't step up onto the ledge because it was so thin, and my mom didn't exactly realize that I'd be putting most of my body weight on her, so all of a sudden... we both collapsed and fell, in slow-mo, right on our backs. And of course, into a fit of laughter.

Fortunately, neither of us got hurt, except for the few scratches on my left arm.

Well, that's my story of the day.

Happy Sunday, everyone! :)

Love always,

Smara

Katie tagged me! :)

Fantasy Dinner Party Guest List!

Which eight people, dead or alive, would you invite to your dinner party and why?

This is easy. I would invite 8 homeless people, who have no means of getting food. I have always had this thing for helping the homeless..

And now I shall tag...

Two lovely ladies who go by the names of Natalie and Ali :)

Spring break is coming to an end..

Thursday I hung out with my friend Kelsey, she came over and we did some shopping and then went out to eat at Teddy's. I bought a Vera Bradley lunch box from Cornucopia, a tank top from Marshalls, and I saw my cousin Jenna while she was out for a walk with her friends. I miss her so much! :(
After, when we got back to my house, we went for a walk to the sandlot, which is this place down the road from me that my daddy used to take me when I was little. We used to ride down on the my Uncle Frank's fourwheeler (this was way before we bought our own haha) and have picnics there. I'm excited because later today my dad and I are going for a ride on our fourwheeler, probably through the woods and the fields and stuff I'm going to learn how to drive :) I LOVE LIVING IN THE COUNTRY.

Thursday night I spent the night at Kelsey's house, and Friday we went for a walk and spent most of the day jumping on her trampoline, until I came home long enough to eat Subway and watch Legally Blonde. Which I decided is one of my favorite movies :) Then I went to my best friend Mikaela's house and hung out with her, James and Kelsey. We went for a walk and saw James's uncle's kittens! And of course, named every single one of them :)

Right now I'm talking to Josh - I missed him, he was on a missions trip to Texas this past week! So I must be going so he can tell me allll about it. Enjoy the rest of your break, lovelys! :)

If it means a lot to you..

I went to the mall with my mom, my grandma and my friend Casey yesterday. We spent most of the time in Macy's and Charlotte Russe. I picked out my prom dress. From the moment I looked at it I knew it was the one. Can you believe it? It's the first dress I try on, and prom isn't until November. But it's strapless, it' yellow, and it's gorgeous. Meaning, it's pure perfection. And I'm really happy with it :)

I also bought a necklace, a headband, sunglasses, a tank top, a dress, a skirt, 2 pairs of capri pants, and a lacey vest from Charlotte Russe. Then we were hungry so we went out to eat at Panera Bread, where I ate the best chicken ceasar salad and toasted cheese sandwich I have ever tasted in my entire life. I also bought a 3 CD pack of MoTown music at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I love oldies!! :)

Then Casey and I went over to this store called The Loft where I bought a white cardigan and afterwards we just sat outside laughing and being really obnoxious, and just enjoying the beautiful day we had.

When we got home, Casey and I went over to my Aunt Cori and Uncle Frank's house where we had a humongous photo shoot. On the side of my aunt and uncle's house, they have a nice trail in their woods that leads to their backyard behind their fence and to the silo and a tiny barn. It's the house my daddy grew up in with his 2 sisters and 1 brother, so there is a ton of junk in the woods next to my aunt and uncle's house that no one ever bothered to move such as old, beat up trucks, John Deer tractors, empty refrigerators, and couches. It probably sounds really nasty, but it's a really great place to take artistic pictures. And personally, I like old stuff like that. It all has a history, and it really intrigues me.

Today I had a hair appointment, I just got highlights and a trim because I'm still growing my hair out. Then my mom and I went to Rite Aid and grocery shopping Wal*Mart... In the check-out line at Wal*Mart, I was helping my mom put stuff on the check-0ut counter and she went to pick up this huge bottle of V8 juice that we were buying for my dad, and somehow it slipped out of her hands and spilled all over the floor... splashing all down my legs and feet. It caused this whole commotion, but to be honest, it was rather funny. What an adventure :) hahaha...

Feeling peachy ;)

I took a nice drive to the city about 40 or so minutes away today, with my mother, my Aunt Connie and my cousin Adam. We stopped at the mall for a short while, and then to some crafty department stores. I bought a really cute pair of white lace shoes from H&M, and an awesome box that looks like a mapped out piece of luggage from this new store called Hobby Lobby. Then we stopped at Panera Bread for lunch, and I had my usual: Chicken Ceasar Salad and Cheddar & Broccoli soup. Mm, yum!

I had a fun time hanging out with Adam today, he's probably the cousin I'm the closest with. In every store we went in today, we managed to start some sort of ruckus, such as juggling artificial peaches in AC Moore, and sword fighting with rugs in Tuesday Morning. I love that kid, I don't know what I'd do without him.

Now I just plan on going outside, perhaps to finish writing my 6 paragraph AP English essay and listen to some tunes on my new iPod. Have a swell evening, lovelys :)

Happy Easter!

First off, I would like to wish everyone a HAPPY EASTER! I hope you all had a lovely and beautiful day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. :)


My Easter consisted of:

- Waking up to a tiny pink Easter basket filled with Cadsburry Mini Eggs, Reeses Pieces, and a 32 GB iPod touch; then eating some hard boiled eggs (that I have called "Easter eggs" ever since I was little) for breakfast.
- Going to church; experiencing wonderful worship, a spectacular message on salvation and the resurrection, and some great specials such as videos, skits, a mime act, and a few songs.
- Visiting my grandparent's house for a delicious lasagna dinner... and opening my very late birthday present from my Aunt Norma. She got me this adorable little tank top all the way from India! I also got a beautiful card and an iTunes giftcard from my grandparent's as an Easter gift :)
- All in all, I had a really nice day and I hope all of you did as well!



Last night, my parent's and I went to my cousin Rebecca's house for Easter dinner with a whole bunch of people from my daddy's side of the family. I always enjoy getting together with them, because every one of them makes me laugh. They're all so much fun to be around. And I got to see my cousin Josephine's engagement ring from her fiance Matt! Their wedding is August 22 and it's going to be on the lake... I can't wait!!! I just love weddings...

Oh Blogger, how I missed you so

It's been a while since I've posted anything, hasn't it? My apologies, I've just been so darn busy lately! A lot has changed in the past 2 months or so. I'm sixteen now, for one thing. My birthday was March 11th and it was one of the best I've ever had. I also took 2 road trips to Pennsylvania in March, the first one was to Lancaster to the Sight & Sound theater with my mom, my Aunt Connie, and my friend Casey. The second trip was to Erie, to an indoor waterpark with my parents and my best friend Mikaela. The reason I've been so busy lately, though, at least for the past month, is because I've had rehearsal everyday for my school's spring play. We're doing Alice In Wonderland, and my name is Cinque. I'm one of the six speaking cards, along with Travis D, Cody, Ellie, Mikaela and Ashley. We are in every scene except 2 of them. Right now it is Spring Break, and even though I'm not travelling to any place spectacular like most of my friends are, I'm enjoying the relaxation at my own home. Last night, I went into the city with my parents, we stopped at the mall for a little bit, and then we went to the movies and I met up with my friend Ed. I love that kid, he's like my older brother. We saw Adventureland, which, I probably wouldn't recommend, because it definitely was not as funny as I was expecting it to be.

Some Things That Have Happened In The Past Couple Of Months:

1) I am finally 16

2) I have become super duper close with people like Jimmy, Travis, Matt, Ellie, and Mary
3) There are only like 40 days left of school until summer vacation!
4) I am in my school play of Alice In Wonderland as a card named Cinque
5) I auditioned for Honor's Theatre

6) My current favorite band is My Favorite Highway

7) We had a holocaust survivor come speak at my school a couple of weeks ago, a whole bunch of us cried..

8) Apparently my daddy has type 2 diabetes... :(

9) I got elbowed in the eye by this kid named Greg during rehearsal on Thursday, so HELLO redness and bruises on my right eye :/

10) It's Spring break!!! :D

Hopefully from now and on for a while, I will be updating more, but if not, I'm sorry but I have a really busy life right now.

Happy (almost) Easter!

Love,
Smara