I'm staying in AZ!!

Hello Reader,

I'm going back to grad school!! I was accepted into the Dance MFA program at ASU this week and I couldn't be more excited about it!

It also means I'll be sticking around this valley for at least a few more years.

A few months ago I really started to wonder why I was out here thousands of miles from everything and everyone I know.  I believe everything happens for a reason, and I couldn't figure out the reason I was only offered this one job in the opposite corner of the country. I felt there was a person I needed to connect with, or opportunity I should take advantage of, or something out here that would not have presented itself if I had stayed in Maine. I felt a little like Princeton from  Avenue Q trying to find my purpose (click here to listen to the song) and I think I finally found it in this dance program.

Ever since seeing that I was accepted (all 48 amazing hours) I have felt a new calm come over me. Knowing that I'm not moving again sometime soon, or needing to find a new job is incredible comforting. I feel like I can finally settle in here, get in regular routines throughout my weeks, and make the place I live mine. I don't feel rushed to travel all over the state, the Grand Canyon isn't going anywhere and neither am I for a few more years!

I should also mention I've been on a quest for an MFA in dance for over 4 years. I have plenty of friends and family who can attest to the fact that I have not been the same since stepping on that plane to my first audition in January of 2009. And now after being rejectioned by three dance school in 2009, receiving an acceptance later that summer into a grad program in education which I never thought I would pursue, and a year and a half in a job I never thought I would have, I am finally taking the first step toward my goal of an MFA in Dance!

Naturally, I felt the need to mark this joyous occasion with dessert. I made a celebratory batch of cookies yesterday. And I think I consumed a dozen - this is not an exaggeration. I seriously think I ate a dozen cookies in one afternoon...and they were amazing.

Thanks for reading!

- M