Resolutions aside, Last year was a great year.

last years resolutions. this years resolutions

What's funny about the new year starting is that everyone suddenly thinks that they can throw away the negatives of yester-year overnight and start "afresh", just because the year is now one number more than the last. But in all reality, who keeps their New Years resolutions? 

I was going through this blog of mine and ran across my new years resolutions posted from last year. NYE Resolutions for 2014 . While reading this I practically bursted out laughing at some of my attempts of "transforming." Who would have thought that I would be able to turn down cursing? Don't get me wrong I gave it up successfully for Lent, but for the most part my cursing has certainly not decreased. Another great one was learning to cook more, and again, being the college student I am, I cooked maybe a couple times throughout the year but nothing incredibly fancy. I became a big fan of the Magic Bullet, but making smoothies isn't exactly learning to cook more. 

"Write More" was one of the resolutions that surprisingly resonated throughout the year and I'm quite happy about it. Despite not keeping this blog up to date (I blame the hoopla of spring quarter last year and summers shenanigans), writing in general definitely stepped up: I took more literary journalism classes, finally decided to minor in it, and I also finished three personal journals over the year. Yay writing! 

For my other resolutions like "Thinking before I speak", "Owning it", and "working on my listening skills," these were all something that were practiced often last year, but also definitely thrown out the window. At times I had every good intention in having these resolutions follow through, but there are many moments in the year that I know did not follow through. And to be honest, I'm not too disappointed about it. Do I still say things without fully thinking them over? Unfortunately, yes. Do I still get embarrassed for liking a nerdy show or not knowing what the f**k I'm doing? No, and Yes. Have my listening skills improved? Still improving. 

See the whole point about New Years resolutions is to improve yourself-- but be realistic about it. Know that these kind of things really don't happen overnight, it's something that has to be worked on consistently throughout the year. That's the thing though: consistently. New Years resolutions are about consistency. If you aren't consistent about your goals, then what's the point? 

So for this years New Years Resolutions, I'm keeping three broad ones in mind.

1. Be better, not bitter. 

2. Consistency and commitment. Commit to what I start, and remain consistent with it till the end. For someone who isn't great at this, this will probably be one of the more challenging resolutions.

3. Honesty. Be honest with yourself.

Back again, only different than before...

Hello, Hello. 8 months later, and decided to start up the blog again, because well.... tis the season!

 A lot has happened since my last post, so I guess I should do a little update. 

:)

Let's travel back in time:

SPRING!

 Spring Quarter was a bittersweet quarter: Sweet because some of the most memorable moments of this year occurred during this quarter; Bitter because I had to say farewell to some of my closest friends that I made when I first started at UC Irvine. I got to perform with two ensembles that I love dearly: Etude Ensemble & Jazz Ensemble, and I also danced alongside my best friends in my old roommate and one of my first friends at UCI's thesis. It was a quarter of new friendships, dance & music performances, pub nights, and all sorts of wonderful. 

View of the Commencement Ceremony: UCI Class of 2014 feat. President Obama

Jamie Nishimura's Thesis <3

SUMMER!

In front of the Colosseum 

1. Rome!! I went to Rome this summer  and it was probably one of the biggest highlights of my year. I got to work and perform with super talented composers and musicians from Rome and improvise on stage with fellow UCI dancers. I experienced the beautiful ancient ruins of Rome and was constantly overwhelmed by the amount of history each part of Rome held. I immersed myself into the busy life of Rome and got myself lost in the city where I found some of my favorite things: little streets with no names, a cafe that opened up to a hip urban bar at night, and fountains constantly surrounded by emerging artists and university students. The experience of Rome is something that I will forever cherish, and I'm so happy to have been given the opportunity to go on this trip. 

NY/VA Photo Collage

2. After my Rome trip, I made a pit-stop on the East Coast! I was in NYC for a couple of days to watch a couple of shows, take some dance classes, and visit old friends of mine. Then I went over to Shirlington, VA to visit my lovely niece Lucy Evangeline Rogers who is the definition of the cutest baby in the world. I'm biased, mainly because she's my niece, but already she is full of spunk and personality and it's probably because she has the coolest parents ever. She's now almost 10 months old and likes crawling, biting things, and giving a mean stank face.

SKC

3. After being away from California for approximately a month, I finally drove back to dear old Half Moon Bay and worked for the remainder of the summer with Steve and Kates Summer Camp! It was my second consecutive year with Steve and Kates, so it was nice to return to a familiar environment. Always a trip when you see that some of the kids you were a counselor for last year have grown significantly taller...

FALL

 Fall Quarter was something that I was looking forward to starting, and by the end of it, I was glad to see it go. I had about the roughest fall quarter to date with a whopping 38 Units (Intro to Earth System Sciences, Poetry, Journalism on the Edge, Choreo Project II, New Slate Dance Concert, Jazz III , Contemporary Dance Immersion, Senior Seminar, Laban Notation, Jazz Ensemble, and Etude Ensemble) because I thought it would be a good idea to dive myself into school (spoiler alert: IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA). Despite the tears, stress, and an overworked state of mind and physical being that Fall quarter brought, I survived, passed all of my classes and made Deans Honors List! *pats self on back* I've never been so happy to see the end of a quarter. 

Photo from Cierra's Choreo Project

"Moji" New Slate Dance Concert 2014, Choregraphy: Elke Calvert, Photo: Skye Schmidt

Now: 

I'm currently on Winter Break where I'm enjoying days where I can sleep without having to set an alarm, spend time with my family since it's rare to get all of us in the house at the same time, and binge watch on Doctor Who, American Horror Story, and The Office. Why did I start this blog back up again? Probably because of the sudden surplus in leisure time I have due to this break. But mainly, this blog was kind of a writing outlet for me.Writing is something I've always loved, and it's nice not having to write up something for an assignment every once in a while. Hopefully I'll be better about updating this little thing for the upcoming year. :) 

Update Part 2: I'M AN AUNTIEEEEEEEEEEEE & Going to ROME

Also, Just wanted to let THE WORLD KNOW:

My sister gave birth to a beautiful little girl by the name of Lucy Evangeline Rogers on April 13th, 2014!

SHE IS THE CUTEST!!!!

Lucy Evangeline Rogers <3

Flashback to the very first day Jackie and Phil told us about baby Sesame on the way!! 

TEARS OF JOY

I seriously can't wait to meet her officially... I've already met her through Facetime but she probably doesn't remember because she was sleeping. Also she was like four days old and I don't think anyone can remember stuff from when they were four days old. She's got such a cute derpy face. HEH. I'll be meeting her in the summer after my Rome trip...

Which leads to my ROME trip!

I'm officially going to ROME with seven other dancers from UCI-- three undergraduate students(including myself) and four Graduate students. This was actually a really last minute decision, but I've decided since I wasn't able to study abroad this summer, I can DANCE abroad-- which is basically like studying abroad. It's going to be really cool because we are working and collaborating with musicians at the University of Rome and doing three performances there. Last time I was in Europe I was in Austria performing with my old dance studio.... and it was the best time of my life, though I admit I was quite young at the time and didn't really understand how precious it was. SO i'm super excited to go again to Europe for dance. I'm also just really excited to travel to Europe satisfy my traveling crave I've been having ;)

Also who knows, maybe I'll meet an Italian popstar who will ask me to impersonate his Italian popstar duo partner that looks coincidentally exactly like me and then I'll have to sing and dance and present an award at the italian pop music awards and then---- oh, right that's the Lizzie Mcguire movie.... woops.

I'M READY FOR MY OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE! Lexi Friday takes on ITALIA WOOOO

Update Part 1: Dance Escape & first UCSB/UCI Exchange Performance

It's been a while since I've updated, but I've finally found time to blog a little bit before things start getting crazy again. 

I'm in my Spring quarter at UC Irvine, and it's so far been a great quarter-- although I'm finding it incredibly hard to find motivation in doing homework.

I just got finished with two dance shows this quarter:
1. Dance Escape

Dance Escape was a great Graduate choreography show, and I was really lucky to have been casted in two very different but equally awesome pieces.
The first piece I was in was called "81?728" choreographed by Cara Scrementi. Cara was a choreographer that after seeing her piece in New Slate this year, I knew I wanted to work with during her time here at UCI. Her choreography is so quirky and brilliant-- I was more than ecstatic when I saw I was casted for her piece. Though her choreography was a bit of a challenge for me because of its precision and intricacy, it was something that I was really proud to have worked hard and perform it with other talented dancers. Also, I really loved the music we danced to... I'm still listening to it even after the show is over!

Listen to:
Adieu by HitRecord
My family's role in the world revolution by Beirut

A++ songs, yo.

Here's a cool photo from her piece!

I'm in yellow on the far right in the back... Check out Emily (front, center) and her super amazing leg!
Photo By Lisa Bates

The second piece I was in was called "And then what happens?" choreographed by Steve Rosa. I've taken social dance from Steve earlier in the year, so I already had in mind that this was going to be a really fun piece. And I was right! It was a lot of dancers I've never danced with before, so it was great being able to meet some new dancers. We were a pretty goofy cast (in the best way of course!) and it was never a dull moment in class and on stage. Steve was a blast to work with and I definitely had a lot of fun.
Here's a photo of us embracing our weird selves ;)

The second show occurred right after the weekend of Dance Escape::

The dance ensemble I'm apart of ,UCI ETUDE ENSEMBLE, travelled to Santa Barbara to do a research performance exchange with the dance department over at UCSB. It was an amazing experience and definitely too short. We spent the day in SBm took pictures at the beach, and performed Donald Mckayle's repertoire from "Songs of the Disinherited" as well as our Dance Visions piece "Even as the river and the sea are one."

I wish we had more trips like these, because it was such a great way for our ensemble to bond-- even if it was for a brief time. The only thing is, I wish Mr. Mckayle was able to come with us. :(

Here are some photos from the trip!

Even as the River and the Sea are One

Original Class of 2014 <3

Class of 2015 <3