I don't think you could ever understand how much it moves me...

I am in love with Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera". I grew up with the soundtrack with Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford. We used to listen to it during road trips. When the movie came out in 2004, I was so excited to see it. My parents had taken my brother and sister to see it on stage in Seattle, but I didn't go for who knows why. It's been a lifelong dream of mine to see it on stage, and the movie was one step towards the real thing.

There are aspects of the movie that I do really enjoy, but I still wanted to see the real thing. When I went abroad, our teachers were able to get enough of our money together for us to be able to do something extra in London. My lifelong dream was finally realized! Not only was I able to see "Phantom" on stage, but I saw it in "Her Majesty's Theatre" -- the place it was originally performed.

It was magical! Just hearing the music gives me chills. I don't even know how to describe how much I am moved by the musical. I get so wrapped up in it, and I always want to cry for the phantom....always. Even when I read the book (in which the phantom seems more cruel to me), I thought I would not feel bad for him in the end, but I still nearly cried.

I could go on and on about specifics and comparing the movie with the stage production, but I don't think I'll do that at this time. Just trust me, you must see "The Phantom of the Opera" on stage before you die.

To make the dream even more awesomely fulfilled, when we went to Paris, Megan and I found The Paris Opera House, where Gaston Leroux's novel takes place!! It was hard to get good pictures of me, but it is beautiful. You can't see all of the opera house, but there are still stables and 17 storeys (or something close to that). Something else we learned is that there actually is a lake underneath the opera house.

The infamous chandelier!!!

So there is a brief look at a dream fulfilled.