Goodbye 2012

I spent half the day today in the ER because my leg hates me.
So, I am starting the New Year on pain medication. hah!

It has been a good end to the year though. I watched the last season of Friends with my mom and sister. (It only took us 2 months to watch all 10 seasons! I think we have a problem)

Dear 2013,
Please treat me well.

Sock Bun Sleepy Curls :)

 Before<3

After<3

A new kind of Bucketlist

I am filling a bucket full of ideas for songs. Some slips of paper just have random words on them. Others have memories, concepts, phrases that I have already started, and others contain whole chunks of my life. Some are feelings. Some have directions, like "Go watch this or that movie and write a song about it."
I am hoping that this will get me started faster on my 10 minute writes and help me to write better songs. No more writer's block. I won't have it. This is my Songwriter's Bucketlist. I will add to it as often as I can and take something from it everyday. So far I have 150 pieces of paper waiting to be read and written about. Results may vary.

The New Year came a little early :)

I feel things changing. I am getting more and more antsy and ready to leave this place. Maybe it will be another year before we even consider it, but man, I feel it burning a hole in my heart. 2013 is going to be a strange year, and I haven't decided yet if I am ready for it. I am anxious and unsure, but a little anxiety is good sometimes...right? I have some things I want for this upcoming year. I want to push myself in my music more than I ever have before. Next week I am taking this huge desk out of my room (finally!!) and making that corner my music corner. I am going to move my keyboard and guitars there and make that a place of creativity (instead of clutter) where I can make music and write. I need to focus. I need to make this more important than the things that always seem to take over. (God give me strength to do that.) I am not going to make myself a lot of promises this New Year's Eve though. I am not going to say I will do this or that when I know I won't last more than a month. But on the other hand, don't stop playing the game because you are afraid to fail.

I am making four New Year's resolutions. 4. Maybe that is too many, maybe it isn't enough, but that's the number I have. I know it is a couple days early  but I was really thinking about this today and I decided I am going to take every fresh start I can get. So in lieu of the New Year, (read : New Beginning) I am going to diligently seek and stretch myself to achieve the things that I desire for myself and my career. So without further adieu :

My four New Year's Resolutions. 

1. Play an instrument everyday. Now the reason I said "instrument" instead of being more specific with the instrument I should play, is that I don't want to limit myself. I want to be a fluent guitar and piano player. But perhaps I will learn how to play the harmonica or violin as well. The possibilities are there, it is only a matter of me following through. By playing everyday, I am actively solving a problem. I wish I was a better guitarist and this is how I plan to accomplish that. My first resolution is to play every day. 

2. Write for ten minutes every morning. I know I am making all of these "every day" things, but I think it is important to establish good habits instead of indulging bad ones (such as spending five hours a day glued to a computer screen). In this book I have about songwriting, they suggest writing for ten minutes every morning. The purpose is to engage the creative side of your brain, the writer inside of you, early in the morning so that you can see the world through the eyes of an artist instead of the sleepy eyes that you would see from otherwise. It will also make me a better writer. The more you do something, the better you become, right? That's the idea anyway.

3. Get in shape. I know what you are thinking, "how generic!" Am I right? But not only does working out and eating healthier help you get in shape, it also stimulates your brain and relieves stress. The more active my brain is, the better my songwriting and school work will be. (Are you seeing a theme? hah!)  I found that for me, it is easier to get something done or stick to something if I have a clear plan of how I want to do it. With that said I am making a plan to workout daily, if only for a few minutes, and do yoga every week. It will be a slow start, as it always is, and I will probably have to allow my plan to adapt as the year goes on, but I have to start somewhere.

4. Grow in my relationship with God. This is the most important one. I sometimes let my relationship with God go on the back burner, but I want to actively seek His love a grace more and more this year. It is going to be a year full of growth and new experiences and I don't want to lose sight of what is really important. I am going to stick my little nose in the Word and ask for eyes to understand. God is so faithful.

I spent all day cleaning my room. Not just cleaning though...I took everything off my walls, and got all the junk out of my entire room. I am beyond exhausted and my back is killing me!!! Wow. Hopefully I never have to do that again!

 So I'm wearing the same shirt I wore yesterday, but only because it is so dang comfy. And it is Winter Break. So there. I am also watching episodes from season four and five of Gilmore Girls because I like Logan. He was always my favorite of Rory's boyfriends. But I kind of do this every Winter Break. I hide upstairs with my earphones and blanket and watch old episodes of Gilmore Girls until my little heart can't take any more.

I just got home from my guitar lesson. I am going to do a cover of Tell Me a Lie by One Direction pretty soon. It should be great :) I am really excited about it!

I got those lovely little diamond(looking? I don't know if they are real) earrings. I love earrings and so it is nice to finally have a pair that I can wear again. I used to have these pair of earrings that I got at an art festival but after wearing them pretty much every day for a couple years, I lost one of them. So.SAD :( Anyway, that's why I am  happy to have new earrings :) Hurray!

Boy Band Mania ~ One Direction ~

I am a 1Directioner for life.

Beginning in the entertainment industry is hard. I go through seasons of confidence in my craft and the things I want to do with it, but I also go through seasons of doubt. Is this worth it? Do I have what it takes to make this happen? It is tough. And there are no real answers.



I hope when I am older, I reread "Letters to a Young Poet" and I hope I get more and more out of it every time.



Read. Learn. Practice. Perform. Teach. Read. Read. Read. Learn. Dance. Sing. Read. Act. Perform. Learn. Watch. Listen. Grow. Grow some more. Practice. Practice. Learn. Grow. Practice. Read. Listen. Listen. Talk. Act. Learn.

Happy December 26th:)

 I got a green straightener&curling iron for Christmas. I decided to try it out and see how it looks. I brushed out the curls this time, so it is more wavy then anything else. Maybe next time I will see how it looks not brushed out. Fun fun fun!

Also, I am really frustrated that there is no name for the day after Christmas. I don't know what to do.

Reading is a luxury. I wish I had more time to read during the school year. For now it is reserved for late nights and Breaks from school. 

Right now I am reading :

Happy Christmas :)

 When I was younger, I watched the first three Harry Potter movies just about every week. ABC Family has Harry Potter marathons for every occasion, including Christmas. Anyway, I'm telling you this because in the first or second movie, there is a scene where Harry and Ron are at Hogwarts and they go down stairs on Christmas morning. Harry isn't expecting any presents because he has never received any before. Ron races down the stairs and gets there before Harry, and they just say "Happy Christmas" to each other. It is such a sweet scene and when I was younger, I thought it was so cool that he said Happy Christmas instead of Merry Christmas. The point is, Harry Potter obviously influenced my life a lot and so Happy Christmas<3

 My sister and I made these shirts for the family. We had to finish them last night and we made our parents wear them this morning for Christmas. It is kind of a sweet thing because this is Sabrie's last Christmas in Oklahoma...maybe not forever, but for now, and we are all feeling a little sentimental about it I think.

Every year for about 5 years, all my mom has asked for for Christmas is a picture of Sabe and me with Santa. Well the 25th of December snuck up on us really fast and so we had to get the picture on Christmas Eve....but we got it! It will be weird next year not being able to give my mom this simple gift.

This is Louie. He joined our family only about 7 months ago, but he is one of us<3 We got him a little Santa costume for Christmas morning. He was mad at me for about half the day for making him wear it. That poor dog. Max is lucky that she won't wear doggie clothes, otherwise, we would probably make her wear something festive for every special occasion.




Anyway,
It has been a lovely Christmas. We watched a couple movies (Pitch Perfect & The Hunger Games) and had a great day with the family.

I spent all day making chocolate covered pretzels for the lady's my dad works with because they always buy candy from me when I'm doing fundraisers, and support me in everything. So I decided it would be nice to make them something to say thank you.

I MADE OVER 500 CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZELS TODAY.
500.



I am sore and tired.

It is hard work!


Also, I cannot even wrap my mind around the fact that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. It has never felt less like Christmas time in my life. I honestly have no idea where December has gone.

afro.afro.afro.surprise.afro.

I'm about to take some Nyquil and sleep for 13 hours.
Brb.

I've only posted like 12 times this month, which really bothers me because this is the last month of the year, and therefore the last month this particular blog will be alive and I can't stand it that it is already the 22 of December. Christmas is seriously in 2 days. I still have to finish shopping for my family and I'm sick. This year has gone by so fast. I know I say that about everything...but it feels like yesterday I was celebrating this first day of 2012. I have one more semester as a Junior in High School. That feels so good say. I'm really going to try so hard this semester, because I want to get good grades and I think I owe it to my parents to try hard at everything I do, because they do so much for me. I have approximately two weeks before I have to go back to school. So I have about two weeks to prepare myself for this last semester. I think I am ending the first semester with a 4.0, I will know for sure on January 8th.  That is also the first day back to school, and the first day of musical practice. I am glad that we are doing Footloose this year because I want to get in shape and Footloose requires a lot of dancing...which should help a ton with the whole getting in shape thing.

Next year, I will be a Senior.
That doesn't really feel real.


I'm going to go apply for scholarships.

Goodnight for now.

Work Out
Head Cold
One Direction
Potentially curly hair (I'm trying this new "no heat curls" thing, so maybe tomorrow my hair will look fab.



I really want to get in shape. I know everyone always feels that way, especially around the New Year, but I wanna make this actually happen. It will only help me. Here are some reasons I want to do it :
1. I will feel more comfortable in my skin.
2. I will have a healthier life style.
3. It is always a plus to be 'fit' in the entertainment world.

So maybe this is a pipe-dream and will never happen, but I might as well try, right?
That's the way I see it any way.

Winter Break Day One

 I've been sick the last couple days...but I was feeling a little better today and decided to try some new hair tricks I found on Pinerest. Here is my Sock Bun <3

Wendy Jo

So, I didn't get the part in Footloose that I wanted. I'm a little disappointed, but I am trying to remind myself that in the entertainment industry, I will get more "no"s than "yes"es, and this is just one of those times. I am not letting myself get mad and blame other people or myself or make excuses for why I got a Cameo and not the Lead, because that is not how I want to feel and I know it has nothing to do with me or anyone else. This is all in God's hands. So, maybe I didn't get the role I wanted...that doesn't make me a bad actress, or singer, or dancer. All that  means, is that I didn't get the role I wanted. Life is full of lessons and if you pay attention, you can learn some of them sooner rather than later. Well, I am making the choice to learn this lesson sooner. God has a plan for me and I know I was called to be in the Entertainment Industry. I got the part I got, because that's what I need right now. I am going to do the best I can with this character and bring her to life because that is my job as an actress.


Say Hello to your Wendy Jo<3

Wednesday. Thursday. Friday.WinterBreak.

I am so exhausted, but I'm going strong. This morning when I went to Starbucks to get coffee and study, the lady who was working remembered my name(and how to spell it) and also what I had to drink the day before! haha! I was pretty impressed. Also, those two wonderful bearded men were there this morning. It was a little distracting~ I really hope I do well on my history final. I would hate to think that all this coffee has been consumed in vain.

Today was Day Two of the "Ballet" Leg workout thing. I'm sore. hah!

Tomorrow is the first day we shoot the PSA. I'm pretty excited :) Next week we film the seizure scene. I'm kind of nervous about that because I haven't had a ton of time to practice having a seizure. It is a TON harder than it looks. It is so hard to figure out what to do with my eyes. I am having a hard time letting them relax enough. So I will be practicing a lot until we film so I can make sure it actually looks decent.

Auditions for Footloose are going pretty well. I am so nervous to see the cast list (which comes out on Thursday) I really want to play Aerial! But I also have to remember that if I don't get cast as Aerial, it is not the end of the world. I will take whatever role I get and do the very best I can with it because I know that God is in control. So, I am trying to put away my fear of not getting the role I really want and just relax. I am doing the best I can with my auditions and everything else is out of my hands, so I have to let everything else go.

I have had so much coffee today.
I am crashing hard right now.

Dress from Jelena

Tuesday.Wednesday.Thursday.Friday.WinterBreak.

It is already the 17th. I don't understand. How has December been so busy and gone by so fast. I'm working my butt of and I'm afraid that it isn't paying off. I guess all I can do is hunker down and pray that this works.

Dance Auditions were today. It was actually really fun. I was kind of nervous about it, but it ended up being pretty easy and I had a blast<3

I am going to start this hip-butt-ab workout yoga thing today. It should only take about 20 minutes a day, but I think it will pay off! I just need to stick with it...that is always my problem though. So this is Day One. I'm making this work.

This is the last week of school for me. I am SOOO ready to be done with this semester. I just need a break from school for a little while.

PSA

Sabrina has a film project in her Moore/Norman class and they have to make Public Service Announcement about prescription drug abuse. She asked me if I would be in it and of course I said yes! I am super excited about it because it is something I have never really done before. It will be good film experience :)

The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts:)

The last couple of days, I have been calling The NY Conservatory to get more information about the Summer program I got a scholarship for last January. Everyone I have talked to there has been so nice and helpful and willing to answer questions. I am so impressed with them! The more I think about it, the more excited I am about the whole thing. I know this is what I am supposed to do. I know that...I couldn't tell you how I know that or what makes me think that way, but I have a gut feeling and a calling from God, and that is all I need. We are still trying to figure out all the specifics of the money and how we are going to pay for everything, but God will provide.  I am so excited to go to New York, to live there for a month and go to one of the best performing arts schools they have. It has been so long since I have been challenged in my acting. It has been so long since I have been pushed. I realize now how much I crave it. I want to get better and learn and grow. I need to be pushed and be uncomfortable sometimes...because that's how I learn. Another great thing about it is that it counts for 6 college credits. Think how amazing it would look on a resume! I want to go to New York, more than I have ever in my life. I am so excited for this Summer and everything it will bring. <3

Red Lipstick Monday

I am really proud of myself because I had to start skinning a cat today in Anatomy and I didn't throw up! Go me!

It is only Monday. This can't be real.

December has been flying by. Pretty soon the New Year will be here and then Footloose, and the end of my Junior year and Sabrie moving out and the NY Conservatory and hopefully I will be working more on my CD and WOW! I am on the edge of so many cliffs right now that it is just one step more before I completely fall off of all of them. 

I just have to make it through these next two weeks. I have to make good grades on all of my finals and end the semester really well and then I can worry about everything else. I can do anything for two weeks. I am going to make Kevin study for the History final with me because I am determined to make a good grade in that class and if I did well on the semester test, it would raise my grade a bunch! 

Also, I bought my mom this really great Christmas present that I know she is going to love, so I am super excited about giving it to her! I still haven't figured out what to get my dad or sister, and I want to send a package to Serbia for Jelena! I have to figure out all of that nonsense pretty dang fast though! 

Feels like Friday

Today was red lipstick. Today was having your hair in a bun. Today was hair ribbons and gray t-shirts. I'm feeling more content with how everything is recently. I am just ready to be in a new place. I can't wait to go to New York this Summer and be in a school that is filled with passionate people. I am depending on God to provide a place for me to stay and money for everything to be possible. I know He can provide because He has before. I have faith. I have been reading Uncle Tom's Cabin for my APUSH class and I have completely fallen in love with the book. It is so good! The characters are incredible, I have cried reading this book, I have rooted for certain people and I have found a new trust in God. Life is good, you guys. Don't forget that.

Also, today, I deleted all the messages on my phone between him and me. It was a step I needed to take, but it was a step I needed to take slowly. It is hard dealing with the fact that everything happened like this, and that we haven't talked since October, but maybe it is for the best, ya know? Maybe this is a good thing. It is just hard to see that sometimes, because I still miss my best friend, but this is how it is now. I cannot let someone I care about treat me terribly and let them think that is okay to treat me terribly. I had to draw the line, but I drew it with a concrete hand. I will just get some more songs out of it and deal with it the only way I know how.

  

Hello, December

It is December 2nd and I don't think the weather has caught on yet. Ohhh well, I'm not complaining! <3 December is going to be a great month, I can feel it. I can smell it everywhere. December has great potential to be something amazing.