It's come down to just a few days... Tuesday afternoon I leave behind my comfortable life in God's Pocket, and trek ahead on a new adventure in the Emerald City.

Auditioning for a school like Cornish was something that never even crossed my mind. I had my life planned out so differently. The Dream: Go to school in New York, marry a rich man with an accent, have 2 children, adopt 2 more children, and spend the rest of my life performing on Broadway and traveling the world.

By January of my senior year, my plans turned into... Go to school at Clatsop Community College, transfer somewhere with an AAOT... Then move to New York and do the "real stuff"... While I knew I needed to make the choice at first to forgo that plan and stay here, I didn't know why -- and I wasn't totally happy with it. I WANTED the other plan. I WANTED the charmed life. I WANTED the Dream.

I've learned so much in the last 3 years -- all about how our plans NEVER go how we want them to. Life is funny like that. I've made and changed plans at least 5 times over the past year and a half alone... There is no way we can ever know what is REALLY going to happen!

If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be attending Cornish in the Fall of 2010, I'd have never believed you. At this time last year, I was just going to move to Seattle, work full time, perform part time, hopefully obtain my equity card from the 5th Ave. Theatre, and THEN go about the Dream.

Only now am I realizing that this whole life... It's ALL the Dream. It's just taking the scenic route.

I'm moving to Seattle instead of New York. I'm going to Cornish College of the Arts instead of Manhattanville. I'm majoring in classical voice performance with an emphasis on musical theatre voice performance... Okay so that's the same :) I'm living in dorms and not a penthouse with a rooftop terrace. I'm spending hundreds of dollars at the U Bookstore rather than at Bloomingdales. I'm performing in recitals rather than in "Wicked" or "Les Miz". I'm not married, no kids, and the farthest I've been out of the U.S. is Canada... And I'm HAPPY.

I AM living the charmed life. I AM blessed. I AM loved. I AM living the Dream.

Plans change.

Our plans do, anyway.

God's plans are always the same.

Put your trust in Him, he'll get you to where you need to be.

NEED being key.

What you want isn't always what you need.

I know that now.

I'll still get to New York, just not right away, and maybe only for a little while. I'll still get married... He may not be rich, but he'll probably have an accent (I just can't get rid of that one so easily :D) I'll still have kids and I'll still adopt -- but 4? Maybe... Maybe 6. Maybe 8! It's not totally up to me. I'll travel, but I don't know where. I'll perform, but it might be open mic night's for the rest of my life. I have no way of knowing every detail of what's ahead. I have no way of planning out every single day.

A friend of mine recently consoled me during a bad day by saying, "Don't worry little one. Everything always works out the way it's supposed to. Isn't that comforting?"

Comforting, indeed :)

Don't be afraid of changed plans, because in reality, they haven't really changed at all.