Back Home

(Source)

Hello!

Happy new year everyone!

So... remember way back when I said I was moving to Georgia? Well that happened! Yep, we (my girlfriend Abby and I) moved 1,000 miles from home... But it didn't last very long. 

Oh man! Didn't see that coming did you? That's okay if you did. A lot people knew we would be coming back home, and if I'm being honest, I think that I did too. 

The biggest problem that we faced was finding jobs. We couldn't find work, as the town we moved to was quite small, which meant we didn't have money to help out our roommates with bills and such. 

However, this didn't stop me. I was willing to try my hardest to find employment and make it work on my own. But Abby became more and more unhappy and eventually I realized that maybe it wasn't our time. That we had made a mistake and we should head home.

So reluctantly, not wanting to have to hear the I-told-you-so's or have to move back under my mothers roof and feel so incredibly dependent, I packed my bags. I didn't want to have to come back home where everything was familiar and predictable. I didn't want to leave my start-all-over opportunity. I didn't want to go back to square one in my travels. But I did. Because I love my girlfriend and I wanted to see her happy again, and I know that everything happens for a reason.

We failed! And that's totally okay. When we came home, I didn't hear one single "I told you so..." not even from the people who told me "It's going to be hard!" and "You're making a mistake!". 

(Source)

Instead, I heard lots of "At least you tried."

And I know that even though it didn't work out, and even though I am back to square one, I still tried! I stopped everything and moved 1,000 miles from home with my girlfriend without any help. I took a chance, that taught me so many things, and provided me with so many new memories. Not everyone can say that. 

I'm happy that I failed, and came home. 

I'm happy that I tried. 

Lots of Love,

Mari!

Heading South...?

Hello World!

So... I believe that in past blog posts, I have mentioned a bit about wanting to travel and eventually possibly moving out of state. Well, until recently I had no set plan for as how I was going to start this, or when. 

Back in June, I took a trip to Virginia Beach for a friends wedding and while I was there, she and her now husband invited me and my best friend, who also happens to be my girlfriend, to move with them to Georgia! 

They had mentioned it a lot before we had gotten to VB but I was very hesitant considering, I hadn't met them until I came down for their wedding. (If you're confused as to why I want to a "strangers" wedding, it's because for my girlfriend, those were her best friends.) After meeting them I realized that they were amazing people and within the first couple of hours being down there, I agreed that moving to Georgia with them would be a fun experience and a good opportunity to start traveling. 

I have never been to Georgia, and neither has my girlfriend-Abby, but I am so excited to see where this takes us. I know that it's going to be hard at first, being so far away from home and all of my friends. As well as, I am sure that my anxiety is going to be through the roof for a bit but I am ready to work on it every bit that I can. 

I'm going to miss little things, like sitting on my couch at the end of the day with my mom and watching Modern Family. I'll miss my dog being hyper and annoying me like crazy (he is currently trying to drink my coffee) whilst still being the cutest pup ever! And my fat cat who was my only pet, and my whole world, for about 9 years. I will miss work because I finally have a job that I absolutely love and work with people that I love just as much. I will miss seeing my friends and having the greatest time in the world with them and knowing that if I need them, they are a text and a short drive away. And most of all, I will miss laughing with my mom. My mom is a very stressed woman and sometimes she goes a whole day without smiling and it breaks my heart when that happens. But the days that I can get her to laugh with me, even for twenty minutes, are some of the best.

But being away will help me to appreciate these things, and I am sure many more. It will help me to look forward to them when I visit home or when people come to visit me. 

So, in a little less than a month, we are going to be moving over 1,000 miles south. We will be driving about 14 hours from New York to Georgia and we have no clue what is on the way! If anybody has suggestions on fun places to stop on this longest-road-trip-we've-ever-taken they would be wonderfully appreciated!

I'm hoping to see some pretty cool places, because well I mean... Isn't that what road trips are for? But I think we should probably find out where on this journey these hidden treasures are, before we leave so that we aren't wondering... Should we have made a stop back there? Or... Is this really a good place to rest or is there some place cooler up ahead?

Please do let me know, if you know of any interesting places along the way!

Lots of Love,

Mari!

Trip to Florida!

Hello lovely people!

I am back from my wonderful week long trip to Orlando, Florida! As happy as I am to be home, sleeping in my own bed and no longer living from a suitcase, I miss the warm weather! The winter here has been brutal this year (as it has been in many places) and that short lived feeling of summer was something I didn't want to have to let go of.

I did not bring my laptop with me which is why I didn't post anything while I was there. I just wanted to spend as much time as I could with my cousin (I was visiting her for the week as well as vacationing). 

The trip was so much fun and much different than my prior visits to Orlando. This is because those other visits were solely trips to Disney World. This time we stayed in my cousins apartment rather than a Disney Resort Hotel, and we had two cars for transportation rather than none. 

(crappy phone picture I got on the plane on the way down there. you can also find this picture on my instagram!)

We spent the beginning of the week mostly in water, going to places like Wet n' Wild water park and Wekiwa Springs. I have always been a fish out of water so if you give me some to swim in, I can go for hours, which is what I did.

Friday was our shopping day in which we went to an outlet mall. I love a great deal and my-oh-my did they have some great deals there. I even got a new Victorias Secret bra for only twenty dollars! (Rather than the usual fifty or sixty dollars.)

We went to the beach on Saturday and that was my first time ever swimming in the ocean! I was on cloud nine. They had to practically drag me from the water when it was time to go. 

(me in front of the Hogwarts Express! you can also find this on my instagram!)

Since I found out I was going to Florida, I talked about how badly I wanted to go to Universal Studios, specifically for Harry Potter World. But I knew the tickets cost a lot of money and it probably wouldn't work out for us to go there. They told me we weren't going to make it there and instead we were going to Sea World which I accepted because I understood and figured that there would come a day when I could finally go! 

On Sunday they surprised me in telling me that we were actually going to Universal and I cried! Some of you are probably judging me for crying, but I am an emotional person and I was so happy that I couldn't help it! It's not like I sobbed... 

(the Magic Kingdom castle!)

We finished the week off with going to three of the Disney World parks (Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios) which was fun but nothing like my first two visits there. I decided that the only way to truly get the full Disney experience, you have to stay in one of the resorts, everything becomes so much more magical that way. 

~

This trip was so much fun and I wish I could keep reliving it! One thing I realized is that I was right all along. Something that I need to do in my life is travel. I have always said that I want so badly to go new places and get out of here. This trip gave me the tiniest taste of that and showed me that I'm correct. 

I can't wait to see the world someday.

Lots of Love,

Mari!

Traveling to The Big Apple!

(You probably don't need me to tell you but, this is Times Square)

I hope this past week and weekend was wonderful for you and Happy Monday! 

As you may know, if you read my last blog post which you can find here, I went to NYC last weekend (Dec. 5-7)! It was my second time in the city and it was honestly, so much better than my first trip! We did so much more and this time I was with some of my best friends and people that I've known since I was in diapers. It was just wonderful!

First I would like to say, please excuse my camera-phone-quality pictures. I know they're not the greatest but I didn't trust myself running around NYC with a good camera in my hand, so I relied on my iPhone! 

I went with 50 people from my dance studio! We took a bus, which four unfortunate strangers had to share with us. It was a bit loud on the bus due to the fact that about 30 of the 50 people we went with, were under the age of nineteen. 

On the first night, we went to Radio City Music Hall where we had a tour of the building, at the end of which, we met a Rockette!!!! (That was so awesome).  Then split into groups and had two hours to do what we wanted before we had to be back for the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular; my group went shopping in Times Square.

Of course, me being a big sap, I got a bit teary-eyed watching the Rockettes. They were so amazing! Any dancer would probably agree with me that it would be a dream to be on that stage and to have the talent that those women do!

On the second day we got a tour of the city, which was cut short because we had to make it to our dance classes at Broadway Dance Center, but nonetheless it was quite cool to learn so many things about the city that never sleeps! 

(An awkward panorama I got of Grand Central Station where the side of my friends face appears to be floating in midair. Oops!)

One thing that I was super pumped for was Grand Central Station because that, like many other places in The Big Apple, are in so many movies that I have seen and it was cool to finally see it for myself. I also thoroughly enjoyed the 911 memorial. I have wanted to see it for a long time and am pleased that I was finally able to. 

The two images above are pictures of the memorials where the twin towers once stood.

This is a picture of The Survivor Tree. You can learn about it here.

After the tour, we took our dance classes. We had one group one that all of the dancers, and one of the teachers, took. This was taught by the amazing Ellenore Scott who was in the top four of So You Think You Can Dance season six and an All-Star on season eight. It was such an honor to be able to meet her and take a class with her. She was such a genuinely sweet person who made us feel so comfortable and unjudged. 

After that class we had the option to take more classes if we wanted to. I took a "funky jazz" class with some of my friends. It was very fun and I loved the combination we learned! But by that time I was tired and starving so I was over it! 

A lot of the girls and I then shopped for the rest of the night while some people went to see Broadway shows.

On Sunday we shopped and shopped some more. There were two groups of girls that took more dances classes and after those we got on the bus and headed home!

I really enjoy going to visit The Big Apple, but like many other people say, I would never be able to live there! There's too many people and buildings and not enough nature! I don't mind visiting quite frequently, but I'm definitely not a city girl! 

(A sunny photo I got of Times Square on Sunday, which was the only day it was sunny and not raining!) 

With Lots and Lots of Love,

Marissa! <3

Recap Back to NYC!

Hello!

              If you can't tell, I have been a bit distracted and busy lately and I never got to tell you about my trip to New York City. Now that I have a little bit of free time (Sadly, just for today as this week I have rehearsals for my dance recital on Sunday and have a performance for theater next week, followed by competition that weekend and exams starting the week after! Yikes!!) I decided to fill you in!

                 Let me start by telling you, expectation kills experience. This is something that my theater teacher has told my class many, many times since we first entered his class (and has resided to leaving it on the board for the remainder of the year). And it is very true! If you don't know how much everyone loves NYC and talks about how amazing it is, then where have you been!? Anyway, due to all of this hype, I expected my experience in NYC to be some sort of life changing event where seeing the lights of times square would make me feel brand new. (Yep, I'm quoting songs regularly now). But I didn't feel this way at all. I'm not quite sure if it was my expectations killing my experiences, or if it was the fact that I was with my teachers and people who I actually grew closer to on the trip, but weren't my dearest friends whom I would like to share my life changing experiences with. 

             We planned to do many more things, including Ellis Island, Madame Tussauds, and The Museum of Modern Art. But I guess bad time-management was the result of not seeing these things! (Possibly the lack of activities was a factor in my experience not living to expectation). 

          Neverless, NYC was still fun! We took a dance class at a well known studio called STEPS, seen the Tony Award-winning musical Pippin on Broadway (which our own school had put on stage, about a week before our trip, as this years musical) and did lots of shopping in times square and chinatown! 

                Although, one thing I am slightly upset about is I didn't seem to take many pictures, and I seem to have deleted the ones from my camera, therefor the few I have left are from my phone. My apologies! 

 (Macy's and The Empire State Building.) 

(I love the painting on this building in Little Italy.) 

                    Well, I hope you liked my few sad pictures from NYC! I will be going again with my dance studio in November, which should be better than this time considering I will be with some of my best friends and people I have grown up with. We are like a family at my dance studio, so I believe that I will enjoy it much more! (And I will remember to take more pictures!)

                 If you have ever gone to NYC, how was your experience? If you haven't, what would you be most excited to see if you went?

With Lots and Lots of Love,

Marissa! <3

(Source)

             P.S. Please don't think that NYC is some boring horrible place because of what I said, it is actually amazing! And everyones experiences are different, this was just mine, yours can be the total opposite! Your experience is what you make of it!