My Miracle On 34 Street

Hello world! I bet some of you are anxious to hear how the New York trip went. For those of you who don't know, my dance team, the Texas State University Strutters had the privilege of "Kickin' in the Macy's Parade" this Thanksgiving.
Surprisingly there was a lot of stuff throughout the trip that tried to get me down, like it was really weird how "off" the week was for me. I always try to be aware of what the enemy is trying to ruffle me up over. I seemed pretty alert, so most of the weeks events I just shook off and moved on. It's so hard to not be grateful to God in the midst of everything when you're in New York and dancing on national television.

So from the top. After already experiencing some roughness that morning, we packed up a bus and then flew out of the Austin airport. Then we arrived in New York! We got picked up by another bus and before we even got off at our hotel we saw Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel. A day in the life. We had dinner in Times Square and then had some team meetings before bed. -- which we never really slept that week. Like at all. Like we got back to Texas almost a week ago and I'm still dragging because of New York week. But anyways, got up SUPER early then went to the Statue of Liberty! That was a fun day. I did my first street bargain for a designer bag that day. -- a proud moment for me.

That night we had rehearsal with NBC for the parade. This was when we all discovered the texture of the floor we were dancing on and the (lack of) friction with our dance boots. I actually bruised my tailbone this night. Kind of comical, kind of embarrassing and kind of disastrous considering I had to dance for tv just a few days after. Almost a week later it still hurts, but God is good and when Thanksgiving day came I ran off adrenaline and ignored it. On the plus side, when I got hurt the NBC camera people asked me if I was ok. I can't tell if that makes me cool because they talked to me or a loser because they saw my little slip up. Whatever.
The next morning the team went to Radio City Music Hall for their Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes. I am like obsessed with the Rockettes. They're beautiful. And talented. The whole show was so inspiring, and they had the nativity story as part of the show and that just really made me love it even more. It was the 85th celebration for the Rockettes and I'm super glad I got to be there for it.

After the show we were let loose to go shopping and explore the concrete jungle that is New York. I went to FAO Schwarz-- a really neat toy and candy store, H&M along with a billion other stores on 5th avenue then I ventured into Rockefeller Plaza where I got to see the big tree! Fun times for sure.

The morning after that Strutters performed for Spirit of America dance & cheer. Another side note, my little sister got to be a part of the parade too through Spirit of America. So she got to see me perform, and my high school dance director was there too! I had so many people I loved with me in New York.
After our performance we went and shopped at Macy's! What a blessing to be able to dance for that huge company. I obviously purchased some new clothing while I was there :) we also walked around and visited some other stores, but Macy's was just so festive.

That night we went to Mamma Mia on broadway! It was the night before parade day and we didn't get back from the show until 11 that night, but it was worth it. The show was so fun, and because of my obsession with the A*Teens back in the day I knew all of the ABBA songs.

Then after a few hours of no sleep.. IT'S PARADE DAY! So much excitement throughout our hotel with all of the performers getting amped up so early in the morning. We took the subway to the parade route and began warming up. -- During this time Jimmy Fallon took a picture of the Strutters. Yup.
I also ran into sista. We got to feel like celebs that morning. We had people recording us and taking pictures of us because everyone thought it was insane that two sisters were in this parade with two completely different organizations. Saying we are blessed doesn't cover it. I'm so thankful to the Lord that we both got this opportunity. To Him be all of the glory. We worked our tails off to get there, but we still wouldn't have made it if God didn't do such mighty things for us. We missed our family that day, but they did such a great job cheering us on from Texas and South Carolina.
THANK YOU to everyone else who helped us live out this dream, your contributions and prayers and support all had an impact. So grateful for the kind hearts of those around me. All of the text messages after really made me realize what a great support system I have. Your sweet notes made my day and made me miss being home. But I had an incredible Thanksgiving in New York. After the parade (which was FREEZING by the way) the team piled up and we went and got some barbecue for our Thanksgiving meal and we watched our performance along with some footage of us throughout parade day -- so much went on that morning that national television didn't get to see. We spent Thanksgiving day basically laughing at ourselves. OH! We ran by Carly Rae Jepsen that morning. Can't forget that little detail.

I'm sure I left some parts out. Everything was so fast paced in New York -- now I know why God gave me some down time the day before I flew out. It was all kind of like a blur, all of the days meshed together because of the lack of sleep and we were ALWAYS doing something. You see the pictures of all the fun stuff we got to do, but there was also work being done every day we were there. We had rehearsals and meetings that took up time to. I'm so happy to be back home, but my trip to New York was a blast. Thanks again to everyone who supported me last week! Much love to all of you.