Out With The Old

dear friends,
I have decided to end this blog. I just don't like it and I never really have. That's why I don't post very often. If you want to continue to follow me just jump on over to a blog I have much more passion about. It is much simpler and much more me.
<3 mikayla
TutusOnTheSubway.blogspot.com

Life Changer

I usually don't do posts like this, but I have to because the craziest thing happened yesterday...

It all started when I watched the Saturday morning session of the general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (To watch or get more information click here!).  I love General Conference but I never watch Saturday session, I generally prefer to read the talks in the Ensign at the end of the month, however, the way that I have set up my budget, I was out of money to go into the city this weekend (do not be concerned, I will be there again next weekend) so I decided that I could watch general conference this weekend.  

When the session started and President Monson stood to address members of the church all over the world, I could feel the power of his presence blasting through my computer screen.

He made an announcement that will change the lives of countless people throughout the world... including mine: The minimum age that boys can serve missions has been reduced from 19 to 18 (after high school graduation) and from 21 to 19 for girls! I started crying and had no clue why. I have not always had a great desire to serve a mission, as I know many young women have, but suddenly in the events of the last several months it was becoming clear to my why I had had many of the thoughts, conversations and experiences that I did. All those experiences were not just weird, random and disconnected events, they were leading up to this announcement.

Did this mean that I would be serving a mission come my 19th birthday?

I know that this change in church procedure came directly from Heavenly Father because He wants more people to have the opportunity to teach and serve missions.

Does that include me?

I do not know yet what exactly this means for my life or where I will be a year from now but I do know that Heavenly Father knows where I will be and He is wants to help me get there.

What I pray for and ask about has been altered because of this announcement.

I am so grateful for this inspired change in church policy and the impact that it will make on so many people's lives. I know so many young women who want to serve missions that now will have a chance that they may not have had if they had to wait until they were 21 to serve.

This has been a life altering weekend.

A New Yorker at Last!

Here I am in New York! I am (almost) in my favorite city in the United States but the two hour train ride from Stony Brook University to the city is worth every minute... Trust me, I would know, I have done it every weekend since I got here! (If you know me, this is a fact that you are surely not surprised by.) 

The city is AMAZING! It is so obvious to me that this is where I am supposed to be!

Update: 

I have been here for 6 weeks.

I have seen 7 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows!

I have been to Washington DC (for the first time).

I have been asked for directions countless times in the city... which most of the time I can answer confidently and, more importantly, correctly.

It is so amazing being here!

The city isn't the only thing that I love... the dance program here! One word: Yes! Let me explain and say that all you fellow Utahans would be confused because it is nothing like the program at the U or any other university in the state. It is crazy small, there is no actual major, just a minor, you don't have to audition to be in the program and you don't even have to be in the program to take any of the classes! It's wonderful! And the best part is, I love them and they love me! Because I am  so excited about the classes, the teachers are excited to have me in them! They are amazing!

I am so happy!

Between dance and the city, I couldn't ask for anything different!

Blog Makeover!

My blog was needing a makeover so badly!  So I would just like to say thank you very, very much to Robmary who helped me to achieve this makeover (which is still partly in the works)!  She is fabulous! Truly. (You can also check out her blog by clicking here.)  I am so excited by how it is turning out and learned some great new tricks to change my blog as I choose!
I am so excited about my lovely new blog and am loving playing around on it!
... Now it is just time for me to get a makeover too. Here's to wishing. :)

I Guess I'm Now An Adult

Saturday I turned 18. I am finally old enough to vote, sign for myself and be the same age as my few remaining 18-year-old classmates! I am kind of disappointed because I feel absolutely no different than I did on Friday before I turned 18... Kind of a bummer. But my birthday was fun! I didn't really doing anything that exciting or even that out of the ordinary but birthdays have a way of making the ordinary a little something more. The highlight of my day was my pedicure. It was soooooo nice and Larissa is a master. You havent have a pedicure until you have had one from her. It is always the best our hour a half our any week that I get one. I would post a picture but I don't think that all the people at the institute out be very happy if iBook my boots off to get that picture. I did however snap a few pictures of my yummy meals that I ate (I really did eat real things in between but dessert-like foods are just prettier!)

Where will I be?

This year, I applied for the National Student Exchange Program. It is like the coolest thing in the world! You get to pay for your own school's (or the other school's) in-state tuition and attend another university for a semester or a year! I have always been dying to go out of state to school, and even though the U is great, this is my opportunity to finally get away!
I got an email yesterday that I would find out where I am going on March 21! It is coming up fast! I can't wait to know!
My schools that I will potentially be going to are:

1. University of Washington - in Seattle
2. Portland State University - in Portland, Oregon
3. Stony Brook University - just outside of Manhattan

Where will I be next year? Well, I have yet to discover my destination! But I'm looking forward to it!

Asha Means Hope

About a month ago, the world lost an amazing young woman named Asha Davenport.  She was an outstanding member of our LEAP Service Learning class at the U, our community.  She really exemplified what the whole "service learning" class was about and her whole life was centered around service. What an amazing girl! I wish that I had taken the opportunity to get to know her better than I did.
My LEAP Advisor Laramie came up with the amazing idea to make bracelets that commemorate her.  They are only $2 and so cute. The money that is made from the bracelets goes to research and help for epilepsy, which she lived with (though no one would ever know it by the way she acted) and ultimately died from.  Buy a bracelet and make a difference.

The Bracelet

A week or so before her passing, we were talking in class about what our names mean, she told us that Asha means "Hope" (her last name also means "couch" which is funny).  She lived up to her name bringing hope to others.  She is loved and missed.

Our Beautiful girl Asha "Hope" Davenport.

Dance. What else can you say?

 Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery.  ~Martha Graham

I have always thought of Martha Graham as a genius. Not only did she dance beautifully, choreograph amazingly, but she also wrote honestly.

I had a hard time deciding what to use as my first (yes, this is surely not going to be my last) quote on dance, until I came across this one.  As my blog is titled "Discoveries," how could I possibly pass this up? 

I Dance For The Love

I dance for the love

I dance even when I feel pain
I dance knowing there's something to gain

I dance for the love

I dance for me
I dance for everyone to see

I dance for the love

I dance as the sunshine
I dance hoping you will be mine

I dance for the love

I dance with words to say
I dance all day

I dance for the love

I dance even when you leave
I dance and still believe

I dance for the love
~Amy Lee

This sums up why I dance.  It is a part of me.  One of my favorite parts.  I dance for the love, the love of dance.

PS I loved this quote too (however I didn't think that it was the best way to start out a blog:)

Dancing: the vertical expression of a horizontal desire legalized by music.  ~George Bernard Shaw

Three of my favorite Modern Dancers of Utah's modern dance company RDT (Check them out Here! Can find show times and even start dance classes taught by the company members. My favorite is the Advanced Modern class Tuesday nights!)

The ever fabulous Martha Graham Dance Company!

hAir cUT

Here is the new hair cut that  I got this weekend.  Different, but a little bit too first-grade-teacher for me... Good thing I am getting it redone tomorrow! Gonna go SHORT!

This is a little more what I was going for... Hopefully it looks good on me!

My Past Looking To My Future

A couple years ago, I went to Peru on a humanitarian trip with the organization AYS.  It was the most amazing experience of my life! and it gave me a new appreciation and desire to do more; to serve, to travel, to explore, to grow.  Right now I am working on doing some sort of internship or volunteer trip for my summer.  My top two organizations are ProWorld and HELP International.  They are both great and have so many options!  If you would like to join me let me know! (You would make my dad's life to have him know that his little girl was not going to a third world country alone:)  I am looking forward for my two months of service this summer!

 My Wonderful Group at Machu Picchu.

 One of my favorite pictures of the trip: the sweetest little boy's hand in mine.

 Isn't he the cutest thing?! And this picture looks professional!

 Anna. Would you believe that she is five!? I held her for hours.

 These beautiful children in their new clothes generously donated from the states.

The sweetest, most beautiful little boy in the entire world.  What I wouldn't give to see him again.