Ten Years Ago...

Ten years ago I was busily preparing to say goodbye to my hometown, my closest friends, my boyfriend, the house of my childhood, and my family. I would leave the swim team I had participated in for 12 years, the dance studio which had become like my second home, the familiar roads, stores, bike trail, Mt. Diablo, and so much more. But, all of those memories would carry me to my new adventure. I had just graduated from Acalanes High School and was on my way to Newport Beach, California to attend the University of California, Irvine as a double major in Biology and Dance. I would be the next doctor who performed both in the hospital and on the Broadway stage!

I never would have imagined what was to come of the next ten years. If a fortune teller would have told me I'd move to New York for a Musical Theater program, quit biology, and dedicate my life to theater and dance, I MAY have believed her. If she had also mentioned things were to end between me and my high school sweetheart, I might have questioned her abilities. If she would have continued to say that I would leave school altogether to move to Japan, work for Disney, and marry a musician, I would have asked for my money back.....

We cannot predict the future, nor can we change our past. It is a part of who we are and who we are to become. I am so proud of all I have accomplished and experienced in the last ten years. It may be quite different than what I had originally hoped for ten years ago, but it only makes me excited to see where the next ten years will take me!....Although, I will try not to hope for too much. I found out things never turn out the way we think they will.... -M

Oops I Did It Again.....

We all have those moments.... you know... the ones in life where you think to yourself, "Did I really just do that?" "Did I really just say that to him (or her)?" "Did I really just trip in front of them?" "Did I really just ask about the girlfriend that they just broke up with?" "Did I seriously just spill my entire glass of wine on myself in front of everyone?" Need I say more? We find ourselves in these precarious situations, some more often than not, and yet we still manage to repeat the same mistakes over and over again in social situations. You know.... the ones that drive us to eat extreme amounts of cheese or chocolate.... or lead us to tear-stained pillows or late night phone calls to our best friends... I wish I could say that my life was free of these inconvenient embarassments, but it is actually full of them! I find that in retrospect, these moments give me more strength in the end. I am capable of taking full responsibility for all of my actions... even when wine is involved. ;) And, ultimately, it is not what others think of us, but what we think of ourselves that matters the most....right??? -M