Sunday

Our last day at Shine!  This was the day that was stressing me out the most in terms of making sure we had everything right- flash interviews and callbacks!  We had our team meeting first thing in the morning and were given our callbacks envelope.  86% of the Dallas Hub received at least one callback, and they told us that the audition we had done the night before counted as one.  So we knew there was a chance our envelope would be empty, with no new callbacks, but I made sure to pump her up and remind her that she DID have at least one and we're so proud no matter what and God's timing is magnificent.

Her envelope had two more callbacks.  Happy Mama, happy girl.  One was with an agency in LA, which was very exciting but not super realistic for our current situation.  But again, you never know, and God's provision over us had been amazing up to now, so why would we think it would suddenly change?  The other one was for a Dallas agency, which made me really excited.  My favorite scenario for her is that she sign with a local agency and do modeling- print work, maybe some commercials or small acting jobs, while she builds her resume.  Much more attainable for us. 

So, with a total of three callbacks, it was time for flash interviews.  We had gone through the hefty list of attending VIPs and decided who was high on our agenda for meeting.  Cross off all the singing and dancing agents, cross off the ones who don't see kids, and then check location and specialty for the rest to create a list.  We would see the three callbacks later in the afternoon, so now was the chance to meet with some of the others, give them her resume and/or model card, and talk to them face to face.  She was supposed to be prepared to talk for 60 seconds about herself, interests, personal things about the VIP that she knew, anything to keep the ball rolling, while answering any questions they might ask.  I was not supposed to step in, no matter what she was saying or not saying, unless I was specifically spoken to.  It was hard.  I wanted to remind her to tell them things or stop saying "like, um..."  But alas, I was not allowed.

It went well, as far as I could tell.  We spoke with quite a few.  A different LA agent was really super nice and said that if we ever decided to relocate to LA, she wanted us to call her and set up a meeting in her office.  Made us feel good.

It was pretty tiring though.  G lost steam after about an hour and was ready to go, and I figured there was no point in standing in line to talk to more people if she was going to look all droopy and not be at her best to speak to them.  So we went and had lunch and got ready for her callbacks.

The lady from Katz Kasting said we didn't need to stand in her line, since our callback audition had already taken place.  So we talked to the LA agent, who asked Gilly different questions than she was expecting and threw her off.  We had heard her talking to the boy in front of us- tell me about yourself, what's been your favorite part of the week, stuff like that.  She asked G what her career goals were as an actor.  I don't think that's something that she ever really hammered out an answer for ahead of time.  So she stumbled a little and then told the lady that she wanted to be the pink Power Ranger.  At least she came up with something.  I still wanted to do a face palm though.  Really?  That's all you got, sugar?  The agent chuckled and said she had a few years to go before she could really think about that, nice to meet you bye.  I don't honestly expect to hear from her, especially since we do live far.  But who knows?  Maybe that was a memorable and honest answer that will work in her favor down the road.

Then we met with the Dallas agency rep, who said she'd like G to work on a sixty second memorized monologue and prepare for a cold read.  We're supposed to go to the office the first week of February.  Very exciting. 

After that, it was SO NICE to be done with everything!  We went back to the hotel room and got ready for the fancypants banquet, followed by the dance party. 

 I love this dress.  We borrowed it from her bestie Kenzie, and it fit so nicely.  Really good for the humid Florida weather, and fancy enough to make her feel awesome.

 New friend.  Love this girl and her mama.  I wish we lived a little closer to them.  I would stalk her a bit.  In a good way.  She has a great cooking blog.  You should go read it.  But not right now.

Here's Trevor.  He's 18.  He told G to come sit on his lap and they both got the giggles.  I love listening to him sing.  And he still calls his mama "Mommy".  Warms my heart.

And here is G with our roommate.  She was such a doll.  We got very blessed with roommates.

So we ate the dinner, which was very bad.  They did have gluten free plates available for us, so I really shouldn't complain.  At least we got to eat something we knew was safe.  It just didn't taste all that good.  But it was okay.  The chocolate mousse was nice.

After dinner there was a big awards show.  They did a three minute highlights reel to kick it off with some of the best performances of the week.  G's runway walk was on there, which was exciting.

Even more exciting?  They called her name as a finalist for Overall Female Child Model.  Mama screamed real loud.  And she didn't win it, but she was a finalist!!!  Woo hoo!!!  It's still something we get to put on her resume, and right now her name is on a list on the main AMTC website.  After it was over we all got to go back up onstage and she threw confetti in the air.  The stage lights are kind of glaring, but I SO MUCH love this picture.  

 Pretty much sums up our week.  God is amazing.

 G's fabulous acting coach, Ms Chey

Our fearless and wonderful team leader, Ms Gina, who answered my questions and saved my bacon many times over.  I love her.

After awards, with child achievements, model finalist, and her friend as actor finalist.

All four roommates living large.  Such a great way to end our time in Orlando.

After that we went to a crazy loud dance party and then packed like madmen and left the hotel at 5:45 am the next morning.  We realized at the airport that we'd left her special bear that she's slept with since she was 2 in the hotel bed.  And at that point she lost it.  She'd been SO good the whole week, never complained once about being tired or having to be on best behavior, but the thought of losing Almond was just too much.  She sat down on the airport floor and sobbed.  It was horrifying.  Really, it was one of those moments as a parent where you would do anything, spend any amount of money, just to fix it for your kid.  I couldn't let that be the last thing she remembered.  So I marched her into the universal studios gift shop and spent too much money on the stuffed Hedwig I'd previously said I wouldn't buy, and then spent a few nerve-wracking minutes on the phone with the hotel.  They found him.  They said they'd ship him home.  They did.  I haven't seen my credit card statement but I don't even care how much they charged me to do it.  We're all home.  Me, my girl, her trophies, Almond, and about a thousand perfect memories.  It's all been worth it.