Leaving The Gateways To Fantasy

     I would like to start of this blog entry with a simple and plainly true statement: I love my friends. Every once and a while, I'll be the characteristic teenager; feeling like I'm alone, that no one understands, the basic angst. However, I am always - almost immediately - reminded that I am the opposite of alone. I have incredible friends that will understand no matter what. And even if they don't understand, they'll sit by my side, hold my hand, and tell me everything will be alright. Last weekend, I departed for Disney World with my school's marching band, a trip of a lifetime. When eighty high school band members are thrown together for almost every hour of every day for nearly a week, problems are bound to arise. Blossoming relationships, ending relationships; new friendships, and bickering between circles of old friends. I was scheduled to share a hotel room with three of my closest friends, and I love them each dearly. Honestly, I was expecting to be slightly annoyed with each of them at least a little bit by the end of the trip. It's natural when four girls share a room for several nights that eventually, they'll get a little sick of each other. I couldn't have been more wrong.
     After this trip, I love each of my roommates just as much, if not much more than I did coming into the experience. This vacation also brought me closer to a few new friends. I don't know if it was the bond of marching band, the sense of community after a twenty two hour bus ride, or maybe a little Disney magic, but I feel like we all came out of this trip better people than we were coming into it. It feels like we were all bonded together a bit more through being away from our families at the holiday, sharing the good times and the not so good, seeing each other at our best and our worst. Now that the "trip of our lives" is over, any time anything Disney-related is mentioned in our presence, my friends and I all feel a pang of "it's over" syndrome in the pit of our stomachs. However, I feel like I can come away from this trip with some amazing memories, great friendships, and no regrets.
     I don't want to feel sad that this trip is over anymore. Instead, I've decided to look towards the future. Instead of reminiscing how much we wish we could go back and do last week all over again, maybe we should plan a fantasy senior trip back to Disney World, even if we only ever just talk about it. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. And with the help of some Disney magic, anything is possible. I have dozens of examples of how my friends helped me, surprised me, made me smile, made me laugh, encouraged me, humored me, etc. But all I have to say is that - while it's extremely cliche - I can honestly say that on Thanksgiving, I was never more thankful to have such amazing friends.

P.S. To my wonderful roommates: Turkey Spooning and Everest Helen-Kellering For Life

187 Days Has Turned To 1

       The countdown started not 187 days ago. No, the countdown to this event began when I signed up for band as a mere 8th grader. I was all planned on quitting, I didn't want to have to do marching band. The silly hats, the extra practices, it just didn't seem like something for me. But then, my best friend and I heard something that changed both of our minds. Every four years, our high school's band makes a trip to Disney World. I had some reconsidering to do. While my reason for joining band may have been a bit selfish, I'm so incredibly glad that I changed my mind. I can't even imagine my life if I hadn't called up my councilor and begged him to fit band into my freshman year schedule. Band is something I enjoy and look forward to. It's where almost all of my closest friends have come from. It feels like - while not everyone necessarily likes each other - everyone loves each other like family. That's why tomorrow afternoon, dressed in sweat pants and no makeup, we will all board buses to embark on the 22 hour journey to the happiest place on Earth.
      The bus ride will be loud, excruciatingly long, and by the end, I'm sure we'll be smelled all the way from the Magic Kingdom. However, I'm actually looking forward to it. My friends and I have decided to look upon the journey as a good thing. Not a time to dread, but a time that we can spend with our friends; watching movies, playing card games, trying to sleep, failing at trying to sleep, laughing, and belting out Disney music.
     I'm wary of this trip for one reason, and one reason alone. I'll miss my family. We're traveling during Thanksgiving, my second favorite holiday. I'll miss my sister coming home from college, the most delicious food of any Thanksgiving anywhere (aka, the kitchen of both of my grandmas), and preparing for the upcoming Christmas season. This is all stuff that I look forward to every year, and I'll be gone. Not only that, but in my past, I've only gone to Disney World with my family. We all know who likes what rides, and which rides are the biggest priority for fastpasses, and where everyone loves to have lunch. With friends, it's a different experience. Not that it will be a bad one. Just different. I'll have completely different experiences and opportunities that I would never have if I was just going with my family. But that doesn't mean I won't feel a pang of sadness when I go on Splash Mountain and my Dad isn't there to scream higher pitched than his three daughters. When I go on Haunted Mansion and my sister isn't there to throw doll heads into the deepest pits of the ride (yes that happened, don't ask). When my Mom isn't there to obsess over Norwegian food with.
    I'll miss my family. But I'll be traveling with a different kind of family. My band family. No, it won't be the same. It will be great, new, and incredible, just in a completely different way. And when I am marching down Main Street, surrounded by Mickey and his friends, in front of Cinderella's Castle, it'll all be worth it. The days of counting down, missing Thanksgiving, it will all cease to matter. And with that, I urge you all to watch the Disney World Thanksgiving Day Parade, live streaming at www.banddirector.com