Nice Knowing You.... 2011

 Wow, I can't believe 2011 is over. So many things have changed, I am pretty different now then at the beginning of 2011. Last year I did monthly year highlights, and now I like to go back and read that post. I love that post so much that I'm gonna do it again this year (with a little more detail).

January: Moving into our new dance studio building. My dance studio has rented a suite for a long time, and another dance studio moved in next door. Long story short, them being next door made us look bad, so we moved into a new building down the street. It didn't come quite that easy, the other studio bought our studio from us so that they could have more space. They needed the space before our building was ready. So we spent all December and most of January renting a little tiny dance studio in a storage closet in the back of a sports complex. Yep, that was not much fun, but yep, it was so worth it. Starting with the fact that we have our own back lot where we can hang out when it's warm...

February: Becoming a Teenager. I enjoy it thoroughly! Everything from more freedom of where I can go with my friends (I wasn't allowed to ride my bike to Baskin Robbins when I was 12!), to belting out Demi Lovato songs when I'm home alone (I'm a terrible singer) or with my little brother (he's a terrible singer to, so he understands). I also love just getting to be, crazy, outgoing, which is sooo much fun!

March: My first Blogiversery! I am so thankful for all the people who read my blog, and got me through 1 going on 2 years!

April: I finally got my parents to agree to let me audition for the Company. Nothing more to say, other than I WAS SOOO EXCITED!

May: Dressing in our nicest dresses and going to Subway with a bunch of dance friends, well, then we we went to see my ballet teacher dance in Cinderella. It was so wondeful, and when my teacher came out in his ugly stepsister costume I was laughing so hard that I was crying. It was really funny!

June: Winning the Young Dancer Award at my dance recital. It was one of the most proud moments of my life. It means the world to me that my teachers all saw potential in me, I look at my plaque almost everyday, and it makes me smile everytime I look at it.

July: Dance intensive at our studio. It was incredible, the classes weren't the best ever, but oh my goodness did we all have an amazing time. There is no better time to get to know eachother then dancing 6 hours a day everyday together for two weeks. We have so many memories and inside jokes left over from dance intensive. Everybody became so much closer through it.

August: My First Company Performance. I got to dance out in public for the first time, we danced at a mall Fair. The stage was so tiny, and so slippery, and dancing on it was so hard and scary. However, I look back on it, and I had an awesome time. As for the stage, it's something to laugh about (until we have to dance on it next year!!!)

September: Going to Washington DC with my family. It was an amazing experiance. I saw and learned so much. Quick funny story about the trip. I had a friend who was going to DC the same week with her school, and we joked about how funny it would be if we saw eachother in the middle of the Smithsonian. Well, Tuesday afternoon of our trip, we were going to the food court in the Museum of American History, and I hear someone say "Boo!" behind me. I turned around, and lo and behold, it was my friend!!!! It was soo funny, and just in case you don't know, the Museum of American History is part of the Smithsonian Museums.

October: Going to the dance conference, once again, amazing bonding time with all the girls at my studio. It's funny, cause there were girls who are in the company that I never talk to, but when we are the only ones from our studio in a class, you of course talk to them and it helps you get to know them better. It was really great.

November: Moved up to Tap 4. This was the first time that I have ever moved up partway through the year. I was sooo happy, and I still am! I love tap 4, and it's much for challenging and fun! Also, I got to move up to Pointe 5 because of Tap, and Pointe 5 is really fun to!

December: Here's some news that I haven't shared with you guys about yet that I'm totally stoked about. So you know how we do our little storyline for our recitals. Well, the lead cast comes from the girls in the company. I didn't think I would get in because it's my first year in company, and not everybody gets a role. But.... I DID MAKE THE LEADCAST! I'm going to be a Princess in the ballroom scene from another country. I'm doing a pointe duet with another girl!!!!! I'm sooo happy!!!

It's December 26....

I know for a lot of people this is a very sad day. It would be sad for me to, but I left for Indiana today to have Christmas with my Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. Just thought this is something that lift you up a bit. I know it makes me smile. :o)

Merry Christmas to All!!!

   Merry CHRISTmas! What a beautiful day it is. I kept thinking it was really sunny because it has been such a sweet morning but I just looked out the window and it's grey and rainy. I still feel sunny and cheerful though! Anyway, here's what I got:

Soul Surfer on DVD

A Curling Iron
Heat Protector Spray
A CD case (for my recital DVDs)
AG Pretty and Plaid Outfit
AG Ballet Outfit
AG Addy's Flower Picking Dress
AG Red Polar Bear Sweater Set (it was an exclusive)

A Book about Ballet (it looks really nice to!)

A Black Leotard

Things to put in my dance bag to make it not so smelly
A Ballerina Picture Frame

Ballerina Band-aids (ROFL! I don't know where "Santa" found them!)

Flower Hair Clips

Frog Socks
A TON of Candy

Smiley face toe-tape

Slipper Socks

Red Scarf

Gray knee socks with pink snow flakes

A Candle (from my tap teacher)

and my favorite thing....

I got a BEAUTIFUL Eggplant Purple Leotard! It's so pretty! I won't be able to wear it very often, because our dress code is black, but I *might* be able to wear it for my long pointe class, and I'll be able to wear it for special things like Dance intensives and Conferences. I love it soooo much!

I normally ask for something big, like a new bike, a sewing machine, or an MP3 Player, but this year there was nothing big that I wanted, so I just asked for a ton of little things.

Also, tomorrow we are leaving for Indiana, and we have our big family get together, and I am getting another present there. I am hoping for a 72 color eyeshadow and blush pallette, but I also put a Kohls gift card on the list :)

I have to leave for church now! Merry Christmas!

The Real Meaning of Christmas

It's Christmas Eve!

Today is Christmas Eve, and I am BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS EXCITED! I feel like a 4 year old! I'm just soooo EXCITED!!!!!!!!! I love Christmas. I think it is a beautiful time of year. It's so sweet and happy. It makes me cheerful and just EEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!! Wow, I need to calm down...

Anyway, I have a busy day today! I have to:

• Pack for our Trip to Indiana (we leave 12\26)
• Make Our Christmas Pies!
• Go to Christmas Eve Service!
• Do our family gift exchange!

Basically, what our gift exchange is, is it's just my family. What we do is we all get eachother a gift, it can be bought from a store, handmade, or something that we already have but don't want anymore. Here's the catch though: It has to cost $2 or less. It's really fun, because we usually shop at the dollar store, and we have to really think about the person. For example: This year, I got my older brother a pack of dinosaur erasers because they were funny, and (as a joke) he's been having a tough time with Pre-Cal this year. So anyway, I am really excited cause I got a great present for my little brother, that he is gonna love!!! I can't tell you though because he stands beside me while I am on the computer a lot...

Hope you guys have a great Christmas Eve!

A Dancing we will go.....

 Wow! It sure has been a long time since I have posted! I have just been so busy, that there is just no time to post, because I have so much talk about, I'll do a couple update posts over the next couple days. But right now I want to tell you about a fun trip we took this year:

So in October, I went to this dance conference in Tennessee with my studio. It took place in a city about 2 1\2 hours away from where our studio is. About 14 of the girls in the company in my studio got to go. We left on a Friday afternoon, and most of rode in a 12 passenger van with one of the girls' mom. But a couple of the girls didn't want to miss there Hip Hop class, and came with the studio director later. We got to the hotel, and we divided up into our hotel rooms, and my two closest Company friends and I shared a room. We ordered pizza that night, hung out, watched the Shake it Up: Make Your Mark thing on TV, and sat there and came up with corrections for all the dancers.

The next day, we went to the conference, and we each took four master classes that day. I took tap and jazz in the morning. Then we ate lunch, watched a brief student choreography contest (I can't say the choreography was that great), and then we took our afternoon classes. I took modern, then I took ballet. None of my classes were to hard, except tap! And even the top level girls at my studio had a hard time with it! Then we all drove back to the hotel, and ordered dinner. I had this turkey sandwich with avocados and brie on it. It was cold, but really good. That night, we had a late night pool party! Rather than having hours on the pool, you used your hotel key to get inside, so we went swimming at like, 11:00 pm!

We had to get up pretty early on Sunday morning, because we needed to block our piece for the show that afternoon. After that was done, we sat at the tables outside of the auditorium and just talked. We had a nice time, but it was really boring, because our classes didn't start for 2 hours! Finally, it was time for classes, and I took a ballet class and a pointe class. During ballet, I was the only person from my studio, which was a little nerve racking to me. However, my regular ballet teacher came and watched me, and he was able to give me a lot of helpful corrections the next week during my regular classes.  Pointe was pretty good, and wasn't that hard. After pointe, we walked back to the lunch room and ate lunch again. Then we all rushed to the bathroom to put on our costumes and makeup for the showcase performance. We did our company modern piece. I didn't think we did very well, but that was okay. After the show, we saw my old ballet teacher, and I was really happy to see her.

That afternoon, before we went back home, we went to downtown Chatanooga (the city we were in for the conference). First we walked across this really cool walking bridge, it was probably 1\4 mile long. Then we go to walk across a glass bridge, which was kind of scary, because you could see right through it! Then we walked down this neat set of stairs that has a fountain going down it! Finally, we stopped for ice cream (I had chocolate with M&Ms) and we got back into the car, and sang Christmas Carols and Disney songs all the way home!