The Summer of Selena! - October 15, 2008

So here we are, at the last installment of our thrilling Year-Long-Blog. Then we'll be all caught up with the trials and tribulations of Selena, your favorite little Asian, and I can regale you on my latest saga of Levi moving to.... oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.... let's backtrack to, saaaay...

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June - The month of Transitions!

Well, something I left off in my last blog, that I thought would be worthy of leading off this blog was my life-changing news! A few days before my birthday, I got a call from casting at Disney. Not thinking much of it, since our contracts weren't up for a few months, I answered casually as I perused a JoAnn Fabrics for supplies for my Wii-Themed birthday party (In May of my last blog). It was actually NOT a casual phone call, but a phone call I've been waiting for for literally YEARS. Shelby of Contracts at Disney called to formally offer me a contract at my dream show in my dream role, flying as the Bird in Festival of the Lion King!! I immediately started crying (my natural reaction to good news) and freaking out in the middle of JoAnn Fabrics. (I can only imagine what the scrapbookers around me thought the news was...) I eventually accepted the contract, of course, but was very, VERY sad to have to leave my family at Castle. When my last day came I cried and cried as if I was moving across the country and not across property!

So, back to June, I was freshly 25 after my birthday on May 26th, and starting a new chapter of my life as I prepared to move over to another stage at Disney. I felt like everything was going to change so much, as it naturally did, and I just felt like this was going to be a huge transition in my life. Little did I know it would be a huge transition in more than one way!

Changing stages was a huge transition, of course. I went through rehearsals with two new boy birds (they didn't hire any new girls, so they just used me and the other full-time Birds) who were my two friends, Kai and Dante. They were wonderful new Birds, and we had lots of fun in rehearsals.

Another huge transition, though, was the announcement that Levi and his band had decided to move to New York City! After the Florida Music Festival in May, an A and R Rep for Universal approached them very interested in representing them. But the band was already in a demo-deal contract with another company, so they had to see that contract though and make a demo. After the demo was completed, it was sent to Columbia Records, who passed, so the band moved on to see what Universal's new subsidiary had in mind for them. And what this Rep had in mind was moving to New York City! So they all began preparing to move, and I began preparing to live alone. *Sniff* I decided that if Levi was moving, I would rather move home with my family and not pay rent, so we began to prepare for that, with the estimated date of leaving near the end of September.

At the end of June I went to Chicago again to shoot another wedding with my sister. I had been going up about every other month this year so far to shoot weddings, and this was just another in that loooong series. I absolutely love shooting with her though, and I eventually plan on moving up there to start a photography business with her. But that is another big transition for another time. For now, moving stages and moving my boyfriend across the country was enough to wrap my head around!


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July! - The month of Fireworks and Freefalling!

July started off with a bang (ha-ha) this year in a bigger way than usual. I know everyone watches fireworks on the 4th, but this year, I got to watch $100,000 worth of fireworks shot off at one time! I was booked for a special event for a wealthy family at Disney. They spent around a million dollars putting together a special 4th of July weekend for them, and one night was a flapper night. They asked a few dancers from around property to be flappers, and I was lucky enough to be one of them! We performed a really fun, fast roaring 20's dance, and then filed outside to see what was going to be the most fireworks Disney has ever lit at once on property! And it didn't disappoint! I've seen Orlando's fireworks, Chicago's fireworks, Universals and Sea World's fireworks, but I tell you.... NOTHING will ever compare to that night's display. Cast members who weren't even working the event lined up on the beach adjacent to the Grand Floridian where the event tent was pitched because the news of these fireworks was so big on property! It was the most amazing display I've EVER seen.... and after seeing it I declared that I never wanted to see fireworks again, because nothing would ever top that show!!


The day before the Fourth, I decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

Really.
Well, ok, I've been planning on this (against my parents most fervent worried looks) since i was 21. It was my brother Danny's birthday present to me, and it only took him four years to follow through. *sigh* haha.
So yes, we got strapped to our instructors (Mine was named Chip STEELE!!!!! BEST. NAME. EVER. And it was his 17 year anniversary skydiving, so I felt really safe!) we got in a plane, went waaaay up in the air, and jumped! It was the most AMAZING feeling ever. I thought I loved being an aerialist and flying that way... well I realized that what I loved about it was that it was really like skydiving- my new-found love. It is the most free feeling, with nothing around you and the world rolled out below you like the most amazing carpet.... I could see clear to the Kennedy Space Center! It was absolutely worth the 4 year wait, but I won't wait that long to go again! We almost went last week!! I'm seriously considering getting certified, so I can dive on my own!!! (And maybe changing my name to something awesome, like Chip STEELE!!!!!! haha)


I did some really awesome photoshoots in July as well, including some of my friends jewelry from her new jewelry shop, and my friend's drum act at the Holy Land (yes, I said the Holy Land....)
But by far, the photographic and overall highlight of my summer was Levi's sister's wedding in goregous MAINE!!!!!!

(Which, unfortunately, needs to be a blog all to itself....)

So, tune in next time for the ever exciting continuation of my blog, featuring a gorgeous wedding, my new life at Lion King, and a GALA! Not to be missed!
haha!