Oh, friends. Haven't posted a thing since Halloween. Haven't had a chance.
Every year of grad school; every semester has been challenging in its own way, but nothing could have prepared me for this last fall. Putting on a thesis concert is no joke.
Ups and downs, that's for sure. But I have to say, and I could not be more honest right now, that my five dancers were completely enchanting, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the end product. The stage design was (dare I say) perfect, thanks to a friend calling in a favor at hale theatre down in provo. And the costumes! They were exactly what I envisioned. I remember leaving the last night-- feeling like I was gleaming on the inside. Without a doubt, the best piece I've ever created. That feels good.
After the concert I exhaled, got on a flight, and when I woke up, I was in Texas.
Texas. With it's warm starry evenings, and its big-sky sunsets. Texas with the home I grew up in, steeping me in memories every time I walk in. My parents have been doing a lot of remodeling the last few years; every time I walk in the house, there's a room that seems completely new. The memories though, they stay. Every time I go into the kitchen I walk by the wall that I accidentally kneed a hole in while I was horsing around once with my brother Josh. Then there's the bathroom that I'd have "spa days" in when I was a kid. There's the feeling my parents leave in the house--it feels like a warm hug and a cup of cinnamon tea. Goodness. I don't know how I ended up with the best parents in the world.
Then I watch my niece and my two nephews playing in the same rooms that I grew up in. Having their own shenanigans. And then I just ache with baby fever. (No, unfortunately this is not an announcement...)
And as I watch little miss mimi singing to herself as she prances around the larger guest bedroom (used to be my brothers' room...), and watch gabey patiently looking into the glass window of the oven waiting for his Christmas cookies to finish baking, and then see Alex (the newest nephew) sitting with a big gummy grin, I think of the sweet memories my nieces and nephews are building for themselves, and for us. And then I think about how the best part about Christmas is being with family.
(sigh) It really is the best time of the year, isn't it friends? Can't wait for next year.
