Being A Part of Something Special Makes You Special

This post is a week late but I couldn't let the ending of Glee pass without a tribute post. 

Glee has meant so much to me. Growing up in a family where I was the only person I knew involved in singing and interested in Broadway and such, this show was near and dear to my heart from the very first episode. There was nothing anywhere on television, radio, or otherwise at that time that spoke to my passion for singing the way Glee did.

One major part of Glee for me that has inspired me so much is Lea Michele. She is such an incredible person. Her emotion and love for singing and music reminds me each time I watch her why music and singing are also my passion. She is by far my favorite part of the entire show and why I kept watching through some of Glee's slumps like Seasons 4 and 5 when the original characters went off to college and the new Glee club was formed at McKinley. If she wouldn't have stayed on the show I would have stopped watching, but I had to watch any opportunity I had to see Lea. She is not only super talented, but also an amazing person in real life. She has gone through so much throughout the course of the show's run and has remained so strong throughout all of it. I will follow her career forever!

I also identified so much with her character Rachel Berry. One of my co-workers even said I reminded them of her (personality wise) once. It was like the best compliment ever, haha.  

Another one of my favorite things about Glee was Rachel and Finn's relationship. I rejoiced with the other Gleeks when finding out that Lea and Cory were dating in real life as well. I think that everything that went on with Cory's passing connected the fans of this show so much more strongly to the cast because of the fact that we all mourned the loss together. It's a unique situation and I think it just made the fans of the show love the cast even more and vice versa. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news and I was very emotional about it. I cried a lot over it, and I still do when I watch Glee even now. I cry for Cory and Lea and the cast of the show and for us fans who miss his presence on the show and in life so much. 

Obviously the music was my other favorite part of the show. This show covered so many of the artists and the Broadway musicals that I love! Here are my favorite performances of each season! They're not ranked in any order because that would take a ridiculous amount of time.

Season 1

Don't Stop Believin' (from the Pilot)

Push It

I Wanna Sex You Up

Somebody to Love

It's My Life/Confessions Part II

Keep Holdin' On

Don't Rain On My Parade

I Dreamed A Dream

Faithfully

Season 2

Empire State of Mind

Toxic

The Only Exception

One of Us

Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again

Just the Way You Are

Bills, Bills, Bills

Take Me or Leave Me

Sing

Get It Right

Loser Like Me

Somewhere Only We Know

My Man

For Good

Pretending

Season 3

Somewhere

Fix You

I Can't Go For That/You Make My Dreams

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

We Are Young

Sexy and I Know It

Stereo Hearts

Fly/I Believe I Can Fly

Here's To Us

My Love Is Your Love

It's All Coming Back To Me Now

We Are the Champions

Roots Before Branches

Season 4

Americano/Dance Again

New York State of Mind

Oops … I Did It Again

Give Your Heart A Break

Don't Speak

The Scientist

Homeward Bound/Home

Don't Dream It's Over

Love Song

Bye Bye Bye/I Want It That Way

Next to Me

Don't Stop Believin'

To Love You More

Hall of Fame

Season 5

Yesterday

Here Comes the Sun

Seasons of Love

Make You Feel My Love

Applause

Roar

Just the Way You Are

Brave

Gloria

Hold On

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Just Give Me A Reason

Downtown

Lovefool

Pumpin Blood

Take Me Home Tonight

Pompeii

Season 6

Uninvited

Let It Go

Take On Me

Problem

A Thousand Miles

Uptown Funk

Listen to Your Heart

Take Me to Church

Chandelier 

Popular

Don't Stop Believin'

This Time

I Lived

I have over 320 Glee Cast songs in my iTunes and I hope one day I will have them all. I also own all the DVDs which I am currently re-watching. I am so happy to have these to keep Glee alive always! Thank you so much to the cast, crew, and creators for six wonderful seasons! 

Cruise Days 1 & 2

I went on my first cruise earlier this month with my mom and my husband and I absolutely LOVED it! We were at sea for 3 days and stopped in Cozumel, Mexico for a day. It was a short 4 day 4 night excursion but it was amazing nonetheless and a much needed break from school and work!

Wednesday March 4th we left for the airport around 2:30pm. Our flight wasn't until 5:45pm but we thought it would be nice to get there early and have a kickoff meal and drinks so we went to Chili's in the airport and got drinks and some appetizers.

 So excited!! 

Saying good-bye to the snow.

The weather when we arrived in Florida!

We got to Ft. Lauderdale and got a shuttle to our hotel for the night. We ordered a pizza and watched some TV in our hotel room before going to sleep.

The next day we decided that we wanted to leave for the ship around noon (it set sail around 4pm but you can still get on the ship early.) We took a shuttle to the marina and went through customs and walked onto the ship. It was honestly the most gorgeous ship!! 

We got on to the ship and got some drinks and walked around. We found our rooms and then went up to one of the highest decks while the boat set sail. They had such fun music on and I loved the atmosphere, everyone was just having such a good time!

After that we went to get ready for dinner. The dinner was unbelievable. It was 4 courses and you can eat however much you want. Like this guy at our table got 2 entrees lol. There was so much food already I would never need to do that but I thought it was cool. I had the best pasta I've ever had in my life, it was so good. All of the food was amazing. We shared our table with two very nice other groups, one of them was from England and I loved their accents. 

After dinner we did some more exploring of the ship. We went to a welcome parade at 10:30 and then just explored the ship until about 2:00am!! There was so much to see and do and so many cool bars and places to even just sit and relax.

 One of the most gorgeous pictures I took. This was when we went to the front of the ship at night and had our "Titanic moment" LOL. We were the only ones there. 

We were some of the only ones still out at 2am.

Days 2-4 coming soon!! :)

March Goals (A little late)

I've had a pretty busy March so far, so these goals are coming in a little late.

I was on a cruise from the 4th-9th, which I will definitely post on later!

Looking back on my February goals …

1. Lose at least 5 pounds this month (see below).

Absolute failure. If anything I gained a couple due to the cruise. Word of advice: NEVER go on a cruise when attempting weight loss. It doesn't work. I'm not beating myself up too badly though.

2. Find a bathing suit for our cruise in March without waiting until the last minute.

I actually did succeed at this, and with time to spare!

3. Get all of my BSN papers, assignments, and presentations done on time.

Yep! Even handed in two papers early so that I could have no work to do on the cruise!

March Goals

1. Gym 3 times a week. (Yes, I'm still working on a routine.)

2. Organize all mail and start files for each for our future file cabinet.

3. Set up my binder for school before my second class starts on 3/25. 

4. Floss everyday.

Can't wait to post about my cruise soon!