PLAY, COLLEGE & FIRST JOB!

       So I am an official high school graduate, nearing the end of my summer before I start college. I am so thrilled, but there's a lot I haven't updated on here from before school ended. Here I go again.
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       1. The last time I updated this blog, my Cup Song video from YouTube had a little over 600 views. That was in late April. It is now the beginning of August, and it currently has 5,258 views, 45 likes and 4 dislikes, but I honestly don't care about the dislikes. There's so many YouTube people who literally spend all their time watching cup song videos & criticizing them & leaving comments on them describing every thing they did wrong. Those people have not posted a single cup song video themselves. Losers. The only one that can judge my Cup Song video is Anna Kendrick, and I don't think she would.
       2. The play I wrote and directed at school turned out freaking amazing! During the rehearsal process, we had a couple problems with personal issues of some of my cast members, but we solved them. I wasn't having no dysfunction within my cast. We had cast bonding and stuff and we all felt much closer after that. I managed to get like half the school pumped about seeing my play alone, & everyone was excited because they knew I wrote it. I was really proud of it. My cast did great with memorizing their lines ahead of schedule and bringing their costumes and props. The first night of the show, there was a mishap with the soundtrack. I was playing it from my computer iTunes connected to an aux cable to play it over the speakers. But one of my cast members, TWO MINUTES before the show started, told me she forgot one of her costume shirts upstairs in the dressing room. There were some costume changes for all of the cast, basically, because the play took place over several days & we're not cartoon characters.So I had to run upstairs and get it, but during that time, my laptop just shut off. So between scenes, where there was supposed to be awesome indie music playing (that the cast and I honestly spent hours picking out), it was just silent. I wanted to scream. During rehearsals, when something went wrong, I would yell cuss words or just groan loudly, but having an audience silenced me. Eventually I got it working again and there was music. The audience loved it & I got so many compliments after the show from the parents of my cast and random people! The second night was MY FAVORITE. One of the best nights of my life. The sound & lighting was amazing, my actors had improved so much, and I was just so happy watching backstage. As Carry On played after the show finished, my cast bowed, and after they all bowed, I bowed because I wrote the whole damn 20 minute play all by myself! I spent so much time working on it & I felt I deserved a bow. AND WE GOT A STANDING OVATION! I almost cried, the feeling of satisfaction was so overwhelming. I will remember it forever. And honestly, so many people came up to me after & said my play was the best one out of all three student directed plays that night. So awesome. Then we had a cast dinner at IHOP after, wooo. Such an amazing experience, and I can't wait for theater at UT Arlington. :)
       3. I got an internship at The Branch church! And every other intern graduated with me or the year before me from Turner. Ughhhh. It's only for Sundays, entering college freshmen & sophomores come teach Sunday school classes (or just watch the babies) from newborns up to 5th grade. I teach (with an adult partner) the toddler class which is 18 months to 3 years old first service, and Sarah & I do 4th & 5th grade second service. AND it's a paid internship! But I think I would do it even if I weren't getting paid. It's been such a great experience. The toddler class is my favorite, they're just so cute & funny & becoming little people who actually know who we are & what's going on. The 4th-5th grade class is usually kinda tough, I leave tired every day. I also helped at The Branch vacation bible school, which was awesome, I had a class of 8-year-olds. Then I did Spotlight again, a musical camp for kids 1st grade to 6th grade. All counselors are teenagers, and my fellow counselors were pretty cool. We had 3rd & 4th graders. In my group there were several kids who became very attached to me, always wanted to hug me & hold my hand & sit in my lap. I loved it. One of them was an Asian girl, Maille, who was adopted into one of my favorite families there. She always was attached to me, & she would practically cry when I had to leave her to go do a counselor thing or to use the bathroom or anything. I think it has to do with the fact that her grandfather died recently, because the first time I had to leave her for a while, she asked if I was going away forever & if she would ever see me again. Awww. I had her older sister Olivia in my Spotlight group last year, & I got pretty close with her younger sister, Edie, who's six and so so funny. Maille & Edie are very close sisters and both became very close to me. I love them so much. Their family has adopted five kids & had two biologically, Olivia & Edie. Their parents are missionaries, so right now they're traveling & I'm sad they're gone for a couple months, at least. But I've had such a great summer with all the kids & volunteers at the Branch, and I definitely wanna volunteer in the future.


Once again, those are the major events of my past couple months! I'm so excited for college. I've got my schedule, dorm & roommate all set up, and I'm just so ready. Hopefully I'll have time to update this & do more YouTube videos. Have a great school year!

xoxo, Erin

HUGE UPDATES #2

   4) I got re-baptized!! As you can see, so much has happened in my life in just six months, let alone the five years that have passed since I was first baptized. So I just wanted a little re-affirmation of my faith in Jesus. I went under the water, and came up anew. I just love Jesus. 

       5) I WROTE A PLAY! And submitted it to Hollomon for me to direct it in this year's Lions in the Limelight. No other seniors submitted to direct, so the directors ended up being me, my friend Brooke, and this girl Krista who farts all the time. Not the gorgeous Krista Heard, but an awkward junior who likes to listen in on conversations. We had auditions and the first time I saw people read for my characters, there were tears in my eyes. It feels amazing to watch people be characters that you created, and read dialogue you wrote. It's great. So we all casted our plays and mine is going amazing. We just had cast bonding with a bucket of chicken, games and sharing our feelings. I won't post their names for privacy reasons, but they're a great bunch of actors. I will definitely post pictures, the video of the play, and everything :) it's gonna be great! I know it.

       6) Last night I went to prom! This was my first and my last. I would've gone with Lane, but he supposedly had no money, plus he just got a job, so he worked last night anyway. So I asked my friend Jio to go with me, and he said yes. He was very excited, he's a freshman. He played General Schmitz in Seussical, and he was a HUGE hit. He's so talented. He was in Spring Show with me too. He has adorable little brothers that love me. :) So yeah, we went to prom together and had so much fun. We slow danced, fast danced, and did every dance imaginable! That boy knows what he's doin' on the dance floor. And so do I, we're a perfect match ;) but I don't like him like that. Oh, the dinner was amazing! I could've eaten all that pasta Alfredo. I had fun with my other friends too. Bonnie & Matt, and Maddie was there! I was so glad she came, I can always count on a good time with her. She's hilarious and neither of us care what other people think. The three of us took pictures (that were free!) in this photobooth thing with props and it was really cute and fun. OH AND GUESS WHAT. The DJ played Teach Me How to Dougie, the dance to which I first impressed everyone with at a party two years ago. This girl Edina dragged me out to the middle of the dance floor screaming, "MAKE A CIRCLE, ERIN'S GONNA DOUGIE!" So I did, and everyone loved it :D all the popular people saw me, and they were loving it! It was so fun. I don't usually put myself out there like that, but I'm sooo glad I did! I hope someone took a video or something, that needed documentation! People kept saying, "Erin, I didn't know you could dance so black!" and other variations of that. Mainly because those people don't really know me. And people kept telling me how pretty I looked and how Jio and I looked so cute together. It's wonderful to get all dressed up for a night, go dance with people you do know and people you don't, and just enjoy your life. My first and last prom was one of the best nights of my life. 

Sooo there ya go! Hope that update was sufficient. Those were the main events that have occurred since the last time I posted. I'm really gonna have to keep up with this so I don't have to make super long posts like this one. I'll be at UT Arlington, so I don't know if I'll have time. I feel like I don't have time now, I wonder how college will be :o maybe I'll do a video diary on my YouTube! I posted the Cup Song, and it got 600+ views :) it's nice to be noticed. Thanks for reading all this.

Have a great week!

xoxo, Erin

 Me getting re-baptized! The water & weather were cold.

 Me in the car on my way to pick up Jiovanni, my prom date.

 Me & Jio at prom! We look so cute together. But I'm taller than him. Sigh.

 Me & Jio outside his house! He picked a gorgeous corsage :)

 Me outside my house! & the Coach wristlet my cousin let me keep!!

 Me and baby Merryn. I love this picture. We're so grown up!

 Me & Ronnie! This picture looks like we're straight from the 50s. Love it.

HUGE UPDATES

     

       

       I've meant to upload! Really, I have. I haven't posted since October. I suck. So much has happened in the past six months. SO HERE I GO GET READY WOO

       1) I didn't get the Sour Kangaroo in Seussical. I was absolutely distraught when I saw this random sophomore's name next to the character that should have been me. So Lane took me to McDonald's and to his house to vent and cry. I ended up being a Who. I had two kids, Audrey and Mackenzie. I bonded so much with them, especially since they already knew me from Annie last year. The musical ended up being a huge success! Mueggenborg was in it, lol. Lane was an awesome Grinch! I had so much fun with the kids and my friends.

       2) I sent college applications to Harvard, Baylor, and Oklahoma Christian. I ended up getting into the last two colleges, with $20,000 from each one :) a huge blessing. But what I, my family, and my friends were waiting for was acceptance to Harvard. We all spent months praying for it. When I got an email from them on March 28, and it was paragraphs explaining why they couldn't accept me, I was devastated. My friend who also got rejected by them picked me up that night and we just drove around and chilled, while ranting and cussing about the unfairness of life. We ended up getting Pillow Pets, I got a unicorn that I named Friday. :) I'm over it now, but I will apply every new school year. I won't give up. And even if they never accept me, I can still be successful, and I'm still a very smart young lady.

       3) I auditioned for Spring Show, this play at school that's directed by this well-known director, Demond Wilson. I improved my audition monologue and I cried and impressed everyone in the room! I ended up getting the lead role of Beth Willow, the emotional mother of a paraplegic young girl who wants her daughter to stay under her wing forever. I've learned so much about acting and becoming a character. The director was awesome and I had so much fun. Although I had to kiss a gay guy who played my husband. Lol. And people at school aren't letting that go. Oh well. It was such an amazing experience to have such a great lead role. It was set in like the 50s-60s, so I wore my grandma's old denim dress! Very authentic. Yeah.

    

More updates in the next post! :)

NOW FOR PICTURES EEEE

 Me and Lane in his Thing costume! He's adorable, my boo.

 Me and Merryn, who played Mrs. Mayor! She's gorgeous.

 Me, Yaritza & Krista, who were Bird Girls. They're so pretty! 

THE PLAY & OTHER NEWS.

      So the play went REALLY WELL. We had Senior Circle like three days before the last show, which is where all the seniors in the show go around in a circle & say something touching. Now, I'd been an emotional wreck all week, but this was too much. I started thinking about how much I would miss theater after high school, and all the friends I've made because of it. Honestly, I would have way less friends if I weren't in theater productions. So when it was my turn, I didn't say anything cause I was trying not to cry. Then, I literally exploded in tears. I hate crying in front of people, but this time, I had no control, and it was scary. It scared everyone else too. People don't know what to do when I cry. Eventually I reeled my emotions back in and spat out something about how theater helped me make friends & how Sarah boo was the one who prompted me to try out for my first musical. But those emotions :( everyone kept asking me for the rest of the night if I was okay.. Then after the last show we all went to Chili's, but at that point I was like "I'm tired of being around all you jokers, I wanna get in my bed." So that was that.
      Now we have Seussical coming up! It's a bunch of plotlines & characters from Dr. Seuss books put to music! I want to be the Sour Kangaroo. It's a lead part. I'm not saying that all seniors are entitled to a lead part simply because it'll be our last show, but that's one reason why I deserve it. That and the fact that I'm damn good. I have the Sour Kangaroo's part memorized, and the songs! I told Hollomon that and he reacted somewhat positively, of course it was about 7:45am but still. I hope desperately for this part! I feel like I've waited long enough for a lead role. I always get crappy parts. But this year I'm so ready for auditions. I've sung the audition song a million times. Everyone I asked thought I would make a great Sour Kangaroo. She's the leader of the Jungle of Nool, and she thinks Horton is an idiot for thinking that people are living on a clover. She thinks she's right about everything which isn't really my personality, but I could definitely play it well! She's sassy and has gospel vocals, which I am definitely capable of. I honestly don't see anyone at our school getting that role except me. I just have to throw down, kick some ass, and totally WRECK at auditions so I can be sure I've got the part. Pray that I get it guys!

I've been really busy since school started. The play, homework & tests, college applications, not to mention living my life. Last weekend, the play ended. Friday, I went to Hannah's birthday party. VERY FUN, I love her. Saturday morning, I had my ACT, feel very good about it. Saturday night, Laney boo's party. EXTREMELY FUN, he's my best friend. Church this morning. Tomorrow & Tuesday, auditions. The rest of the year will be busy. I just hope it's in the thrilling way. In other news, I might start to learn some instrument. Guitar, keyboard, or saxophone maybe. :)

Have a wonderful week!
xoxo, Erin

HOMECOMING?.. WAIT, NEVER MIND.

     

     
        So school's going well! My only challenging class is Pre-Calculus, I hate it. My grade's been dropping, gotta pick it back up! Rehearsal is going well. I get to be a hippie-stoner as the Apothecary in Romeo & Juliet! Did I say that last time? Oh well if I did. I'm so excited for this production. But I'm even more excited for Seussical!
       People have been really irritating me this week. I spent a lot of time crying. My two best friends both decided to go to Homecoming with someone else after previously saying they weren't going at all, so that really hurt. & this one girl at school said I wouldn't get accepted into Harvard. It made me super upset. Like, how dare you say I won't get accepted when you're too stupid to get accepted anywhere? I choose to think positively, since I tend to think the worst about everything, & believe I will get in. Harvard has been in my heart as long as I can remember, so I know God has a say in this. I'll work hard in school and let Him do His part. I've been feeling a bit lonely these days. On the bright side, people have still been saying I look thinner, even though I haven't been working out (but they don't know that). I guess because I don't always eat breakfast/dinner, so I haven't put on any weight. Whoo! Just gotta keep it up, and keep not snacking like I used to, cause I've been doing well with that. But anyway.
       The guy I wanted to go to Homecoming with asked another girl. The other guy isn't going at all, but he might go to prom, and I hope he asks me :) I've been seeing girls get asked to Homecoming in the sweetest, most creative ways the past few weeks. It's made me feel pretty sad. I know I have lots of time for relationships, but I'm 17. Excuse me for wanting one now. It's just part of being a teenager. So instead, on Homecoming night, I'm going over to a new friend's house with some other friends to hang out! They think I'm funny and cool, so they invited me over! Glad to have people who seem to appreciate me, even though I haven't even met two of them yet.
       Another thing I've been thinking about: sharing faith on social media. I think people should be free to discuss or express their faith however much they want. My Muslim friends tweet about Allah, my atheist friends tweet about not believing in God, so I should be able to tweet about Jesus, shouldn't I? I don't judge them on their faith or lack thereof. But some people actually state how they hate when people tweet about religious matters. I think, if you don't like me tweeting about my Savior, then unfollow me, unfriend me, whatever. Won't hurt my feelings. I'd rather have my God forever than have you as a temporary friend any day.

Happy almost-October!
xoxo, Erin

P.S. One Direction's new single, Live While We're Young comes out tomorrow! :D

REHEARSAL.. & PLAYS & WESTERN-NESS!

       The first two weeks of school have gone pretty well for me. Since I have two aide periods, I really only have 5 classes that I need to focus on, & one of them is a computer class. So four. This is gonna be a chill year & I sure as hell deserve it! The last three years of high school have been almost brutal for me, so I'd been praying senior year would be awesome.
        I've also been thinking more about who my real friends are. I'd say Lane is the best best, because it seems like he's the only one who genuinely cares about me and shows his love to me every single day. I am so in love with our friendship. Then Jaysha, though it's hard cause she's a million miles away in Florida & I haven't seen her in over a year. I send her pictures, but I miss her :( & Bonnie. She needs me right now, & I cannot turn away. And Gabe! She is just too freaking awesome for words. She's my best partner in fun crime buddy :D so yeah, everyone else who's in my life is either just a friend, or like an acquaintance (except my family, obviously). I'll say hi to you and make small talk or whatever but I'm not gonna tell you what really goes on in my life. You have to earn those stories. But I do love telling regular funny stories to anyone who wants to listen! It's my senior year, and it's gonna pass way too quick to spend another minute with people who don't really appreciate me. I guess Merryn would be in the good friend category also, she's been with me through everything.
        August 30th was my birthday! It was pretty chill in school, some friends gave me money! I was a little pissed that nobody brought me cupcakes or balloons to be honest. And I had callbacks on that day too. I can finally say I'm 17 :) WHOOO! I can finally go see rated-R movies.. legally ;)
       Rehearsal is okay. I got the role of the Apothecary in Romeo & Juliet, and I wanted to be the Nurse. For whatever reason I didn't get it. It makes me mad that our director always gives main roles to his favorites, when I'm just as good as them; I just never get the chance to show it. It's not fair. Lane & I always talk about how we're gonna go so hard in Seussical auditions. I have to be the Sour Kangaroo, I'm partly memorized on the script and the songs already! I would be the best damn Sour Kangaroo they ever saw. I'm gonna do so well in my auditions, there will be no reason for him to not give me the part. But I guess the Apothecary is okay. This is why I HAVE to be a director in LITL this year. I'm writing a script for it already & considering the people I want to be in it! One of them is the girl who got the part of Juliet. So excited! I can give people a chance to show their talent.
        Tuesday, Bonnie & I went to go see a play with other kids from theater. Our school got a grant that lets us go see plays at a downtown theater for free! They're always amazing. So far, I've seen 4 I think. My favorite was God of Carnage, it was AMAZING! I want to buy the movie version with Kate Winslet. Last night's was an improv group from Chicago with a few non-improv sketches that were basically poking fun at Texas culture--I THINK SOMEONE JUST FIRED A GUN OUTSIDE. Hmm. It was soooo funny! Just makes me wanna be a stage actress even more. Not necessarily as a career, just a hobby. <3
        Also it was Western Day at school Thursday! We have theme days to go with football. I'm gonna try to participate in all of them since it's my last year to do so. Our morning pep rally is when we all follow the drumline through the halls of the school & jump and do cheers. I was literally dripping with sweat. It took me about half an hour to finally cool down and for my shirt to dry off. Then Bonnie & I went to our afternoon pep rally & had fun together :) Lane is a crowd-jazzer, a Lion Keeper we call them at Turner, & he looked adorable & like he was having the time of his life <33 he drove us to Burger King before rehearsal to get some nourishment after our exertions. Makes me even sadder about not having my license. I literally daydream about all I'd do if I had a car. Anyway. Good two weeks!

Have fun in school!
xoxo, Erin

pictures from the play! I am in love with my shirt <3

and a picture of me from Western Day! I sent it to my mom & grandma & they showed people who said I look thinner :D I'm so proud it's showing!

SENIOR YEAR STARTS TOMORROWWW

       So, my senior year of high school starts tomorrow. Bittersweet.
My high school experience hasn't been as great as I thought it would be when I was younger, but it seems weird that it'll be over this year. Summer was pretty nice, I enjoyed relaxing, and now I have to go back to school and see people I never wanted to see again. I have to start socializing again, cause I've hardly talked to or seen anyone from school the past 3 months. So lemme, ya know, reintegrate myself into teenage society.
       At least I have my schedule. It's alright. Mainly excited for Anatomy & Physiology and AP Literature. And I'm an office aide, so I get a period of relaxation :) except for delivering passes and stuff to classes. I know I'll for sure have people to eat lunch with, since Jaysha isn't here, and I don't wanna be a loner and eat by myself. Someone eating by themselves is one of the saddest things I've ever seen. Each college is having their own lunch, and there are 4 now, so look who won't have lunch with most of my friends. I do have friends in my own college, the medical one, but lots of my friends are in the media arts college :/ oh well.          
       Also, Bonnie, my other best friend or so I thought, I suppose I'll be seeing tomorrow. I don't think we have any classes together, and I'm kinda okay with that. She's still my best friend I guess, but things aren't the same. She told me once, well into our friendship, that she would never be able to give me the attention that a best friend deserves, and that's always made me think: well should I even call you my best friend? I have Jaysha, even though she lives in Florida now, and it breaks me over and over when I think about the fact that she's not here for senior year. And Lane. And Gabe, too, but she's at college now having fun :) Bonnie and I have connected and shared things, but it feels like she's purposely not hanging out with me. She'll tell me she wants to hang out but that she's working or otherwise busy, then I'll see her on Facebook saying she's hanging out with other people. I can't even say how much that hurt. I don't want to cut her out, but I deserve better!! I have to keep reminding myself that I deserve better than what a lot of people are willing to give. I think I'll wait for Bonnie to notice me, to hunt me down or get my attention in the halls tomorrow. I will not be the first one anymore. I love that girl and she loves me, but not as much as I deserve.

       With senior year comes so many responsibilities, decisions, tryouts, applications, and tests that I'm only partly ready to handle. At least I have my mom :) I'm applying to Harvard, and if I get in, they'll pay my way there! Praying I get in <3 my heart is set on Cambridge, Massachusetts. If not, I'll apply to TCU, ACU, and a few other universities. And my 17th birthday is Thursday! And my grandma's 71st! What a great coincidence :D

Have a great first day!
xoxo, Erin