Lovely Orlando :)

Hi everyone!

I just had a wonderful week in Orlando :) My roommates and I are taking the day to catch up on some much needed rest! We have had a very busy but fun week. Let's see....what did we do...Well I got to meet the Mayor of Orlando! My parents were in town so I stayed with them for a couple of nights and took Tuesday off to spend time with them. It was a nice break from the busy Up with People lifestyle.

On Wednesday, I was thrown right back into the thick of things. A group of us went to Quest Camp Thunderbird, a summer camp for children and adults with either physical or mental disabilities. There, we did mostly grounds keeping. I did a lot of raking :) That evening we held our Culture Fair and I was able to share with my cast mates a little of the North Eastern culture. The fair was really great! I learned so much! I was foolish enough to trust my Mexican friends when they said "close your eyes and open your mouth"...let's just say my throat was on fire and my eyes watered uncontrollably for a good ten minutes.

On Thursday we got a taste of "real" American culture...we went to a NASCAR race in Daytona. That was quite the experience...( I actually really enjoyed myself).

We had two shows here in Orlando. Both went really well! We had a small but great audience both nights. I had quite a few family members in the audience which was so great! The most amazing feeling is getting a standing ovation during the flag processional in our finale. It will never get old.

Oh! I was selected to put together a workshop on Anti-Bullying with two other girls from my cast! There will be four of these student-run presentations throughout the semester. The three of us will hold a two hour long workshop with our cast in two weeks so I have a lot of work ahead of me but it will be so much fun! I am really excited! And next week we get to go into classrooms in Vero Beach to do Anti-Bullying stuff with students there.

Well, today is a day off so I will be taking advantage of that and relaxing as much as possible. I'm thinking hot tub maybe? Tomorrow we are going to Epcot as a cast!!

It's about time...

Hello all! I'm sorry it took me so long to start doing this. Things have been a bit crazy in the last month. Anyway, I am having an amazing time with Up with People! I have finished the staging process in Lakeland, FL and have started touring. Last week I was in Fort Myers and I'm now in Orlando.

I absolutely loved my stay in Lakeland. I made some great friends and have already developed some really strong relationships. There was a lot of rehearsing to be done the first month but we also did quite a bit of educational stuff to prepare us for our tour. I've already learned so much! While in Lakeland, I got to do some service work at a local children's home which I really enjoyed. We're truly becoming a family. It's great! I could not be happier :)

Now that we're on the road, things are flying by! Last week in Fort Myers went by soooo quickly! I did some promotional work with our Marketing Team one day and was recording backup vocals in a hotel room the next. Never are two days alike. My cast was lucky enough to be a part of the Fort Myers Edison Festival of Light Parade on Saturday night which was a blast! A bit chilly though... Our two shows on Sunday went extremely well :) Our matinee was completely sold out!

I'm now in Orlando staying with my parents for a couple of nights which has been really nice. I took the day off today to spend some time with them. Back to work tomorrow though! (If you can call it work).

Well, I apologize for taking so long with this. I'm going to try and write at least once a week from now on to keep you all updated on my travels! If you ever want to know more feel free to email me :)