Pirouettes & Peonies

Nine Months

2010-12-29T10:09:00.000-08:00

Well I am officially 9 months pregnant and I can't believe it! Time has flown by and I am amazed that in a few short weeks my little one will be here. I still have four weeks to hit the 40 week mark but it feels surreal to know he could come at anytime. We are quickly trying to make our way through the check list of things to do and finish up the nursery. My mom is coming tomorrow and we are going to work on the bedding! Because of Nutcracker and working so much many things had to be pushed back until December to be completed. But it is all coming together I just take it a day at a time. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of the nursery once it is completed and before our little guy arrives!

33 Weeks and our little one survived his first Nutcracker!

34 (1/2) Weeks and all dressed up for a Christmas Party

Christmas Day and almost 36 weeks

Our anticipation is building daily and I can't wait to hold our blessing!

It's A Boy!

2010-11-19T19:53:00.001-08:00

This is long overdue but our little one is a boy! We are so excited and can't wait for his arrival!

It is hard to imagine what he looks like now as this seems so long ago. I do know that I am getting quite familiar with all of his little bumps and thumps and rolling around. I still don't mind it all but I know that may change as he gets more and more crowded!

One of my favorites from the ultrasound of his foot! I am amazed at how you can see all the little bones! He actually waved at us with his hand fully open during the ultrasound but unfortunately the nurse was not able to catch it in time.

I hope to post some pictures of the nursery over Thanksgiving. It still has a ways to go but Mr. Wonderful has been hard at work getting the room ready.

To Grandmother's House We Go

2010-11-19T19:15:00.001-08:00

Right now I can barely keep my eyes open and am overwhelmed by the thought of facing 100+ cast members tomorrow from 9-4pm in our first run through of Nutcracker. All I can think of is how much I wish it was Wednesday night and I was sitting on a bar stool in my Grandmothers kitchen talking about anything and everything. She only lives 3o minutes away but Mr. Wonderful and I will spend the night there and then I'll get to help with all of the preparations for Thanksgiving when our loud and crazy family will all get together(there are a ton of us!). I love nothing more about this time of year then waking up in her house having a cup of tea and enjoying a few moments with her before the craziness begins. I don't get to see her much these days because of the my crazy life which makes me look forward to this week all the more. Plus there is always something new to learn from her!

My lovely Grandmother the day of my wedding...I've discovered by doing this post that I don't have any picture of us! This is such a shame and something I will have to fix. I know we've taken pictures together so they must be on other people cameras.

My sister, Grandmother, and I celebrating her 75th birthday!

Well now that I have taken a moment to think about the wonderful things to come...I'll take a deep breath...and brace myself for tomorrow.

In the mean time I am now 30 weeks! It is so incredibly hard to believe I only have 10 weeks left! It feels like this time of being pregnant is flying by!

The Summer of Dreams

2010-08-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Wonder of all wonders another dream is coming true! Come January 25th, Mr. Wonderful and I will welcome our very own special little bundle.

13 Weeks

We are thrilled and overwhelmed with the blessing this little one will be and knowing how our lives will forever change. We pray the Lord directs us and gives us the grace and guidance to do all we can to love him or her in the way He leads.

15 Weeks

A Glimpse

2010-06-03T07:47:00.000-07:00

Since I have been on a blogging hiatus for months I thought I would give a brief look into various things that have been going on!

Finally made the curtains to go in my living room. (Thanks mom!)

NYC wedding, my husband was the best man, it was an Indian wedding and one of the highlights was getting to wear a sari for the first time!

I took over 300 pictures of this amazing wedding, but choosing what to put up was overwhelming!

Natasha, was of the many amazing people we met and helped me be confident in carrying off the look. She completed it by giving me a bendi(the jewel they wear on the forehead)

We had an amazing snowfall that resulted in an actual snow day instead of an "ice day."

The backyard...I know for my family and friends in the north east this is nothing compared to what you got, but for us it was pretty monumental. I think it was the most snow in 20 years.

Took the plunge and got bangs! (That's my beautiful sister!)

Visited my brother in Colorado...love him...miss him

Met our niece in Pennsylvania

Hayley is so sweet and we love her dearly!!

And we also saw our 1 year old niece Selah. It was so fun to see her run around and explore. Plus she would just run up to us and sit in our lap or let us hold her. Being the long distance uncle and aunt this did our hearts good. In this picture she had discovered Auntie Alissa's boots. I think we have fashonista in the making!

And we had our very own peonies bloom in our backyard!! The day it happened I had full intention of dedicating a whole post just to these beauties(we had about 12 in all), but it was right in the middle of production and that is just not a reality. They were miracle flowers really as they are not supposed to bloom in Texas due to the lack of winter. Well a week of the temperature being in the 20's and my dear husband's idea of putting ice on top of them resulted in some amazing flowers that I had all over my house for a little over a week. It smelled heavenly!!

That catches me up to April...from here on out I hope to do more individual posts about the goings on of our home.

Long overdue

2010-02-28T18:46:00.001-08:00

In honor of having our Nutcracker 2010 artwork completed by June 1st (!!!) I am posting pictures from Nutcracker 2009! We have a new graphic designer that we worked with that got it all done in 1 week. I can't tell you how amazing this is considering last year we didn't have one until the middle of October! For advertising purposes this is awful.

Well on with the pictures....they were taken from the wings by Mr. Wonderful and lighting was an issue so some are blurry. But it is a little look into my world.

Before the show in the "Green Room"

The Party Scene set with me taking care of last minute drama and de-stressing by fixing the bows!

My oh-so-amazing shoes! :)

Our magical clock that grows and has little 6 year old mice crawl from it

The aftermath of snow...unfortunately we didn't get any shots while they were dancing

Waltz of the Flowers

Our phenomenal guests artists that came from Dallas to play the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier (the are married and even brought their two adorable children. We later found out she was 3 months pregnant!)

P.S. I've missed blogging and think I should do it more often. I'll see what I can do!

Please Pray!

2010-01-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

I just got off the phone with my mom who told me my aunt has gone into labor at 5 1/2 months...she is carrying twin boys! She is in the hospital and the doctors are trying to stop the labor. The babies weigh about 1 1/2 pounds each...Please pray the labor will stop and that the peace that passes all understanding would surround them and comfort them!! Even two more weeks will give them time to have more developed lungs.

Thank you!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T08:16:00.000-08:00

It's so hard to believe Christmas is here already. Not to mention the fact that I have not posted anything since August 2nd. My life has been consumed by Nutcracker for the last 3 months and now I can finally breathe. I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to be a part of it from beginning to end although there were times I thought I would loose my mind! I'll do a post soon with pictures

In the mean time here are a few of our home. I barely made it getting everything decorated, but at least for the last 4 or 5 days we have been able to enjoy the tree and feel like things "look" like Christmas!

If only the accents of Tiffany blue could be scene in the trees!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Surprises and then some

2009-08-02T16:57:00.001-07:00

I absolutely love surprises! Even when I know one is coming and the suspense is killing me...I still love them! Thankfully I have a husband who likes to surprise. What he doesn't like is when I spoil it (not intentionally of course!) like I did yesterday. I did this by discovering before I even left our driveway instead of when I opened up my suitcase at my hotel in Houston hours later.

It seems that was the first of surprises and I wonder if they will continue through the week. I'm in Houston, Tx right now attending a Dance Intensive(workshop) where I get to dance all day with people from around the country and learn from amazing artists. The first day has just ended and I am blown away...it has been a breath of fresh air just what I have needed for some time-INSPIRATION!! To move and learn and experience is an incredible thing. My other surprise I referred too happened in the last class of the day (am-ballet, afternoon-modern, and then two electives finishing around 6:15pm). It was was all about dance in a Church Ministry setting given by Michelle Leaney, the director of the dance ministry of Hillsong Church in Australia and she has done it for 18 years. To go to this specific elective was a last minute decision because I had planned on going to one about "Faith in a professional dance community" I thought it would be applicable because I'm now working in a dance department of a secular college.

So I attended the Church Ministry session and it was really good-even thinking about getting her book because I love how she thinks outside the box! In the last 10 minutes I felt like my heart breathed again in a way it hasn't in a while...I've just been tired spiritually and feeling a little dry I guess, without a whole lot of energy. It was a moment of revelation where 'head stuff" became "heart stuff" because no matter how many times you tell yourself something it isn't until that light bulb turns on, heart beat quickens, and you can't figure out why on earth you are on the verge of tears that you realize there is so much more than simply knowing the right thing to say. God wants the word to become flesh...real...tangible...something you can taste, that makes you want to come back for more. He wants to inspire, engergize, and breath life into dry bones because with out that breath of life we, I, am nothing, simply a shell that walks and talks.

After everyone left and I asked a question to Michelle that moment came...followed by her looking me in the eye and speaking truth. I don't think I was supposed to go to that class and just hear about church ministries (I'm not even currently in one!), but rather to have my heart awakened to the truth that God has placed me where he has me and THAT is my ministry-secular or not. I may not pray with my students before class, or use Christian music persae, but living my life in a way he has called me too is a ministry to Him and hopefully inturn will cause an influence on those around me.

Walking out of that studio in tears was not what I expected at all, but I'm thankful for last minute decisions that really could have been little urgings from the One who knows me best. Surprises truly are a good thing. So for the rest of the week I would like to expect the unexpected and see what happens and what each day may hold.

It's funny to me because when I started this blog never did I see myself sharing, better yet baring, these parts of me. That is typically not my personality-it would be too personal. I had planned on posting about fun(or sometimes not so fun)projects, house stuff, cool finds, or visual inspiration. Maybe ever once in a while posting something about dance and my great life with Mr. Wonderful, but heart stuff? Would never have dreamed! Maybe it's part of the process for me right now because when I got back to the hotel all of the sudden all I could think about was somehow sharing what had just taken place. Maybe there is more to this than I realize...Well for those of you read or have stumbled on this I hope you don't mind a glimpse into my journal(because that is basically what this entry is!) So there it is for all to see and amazlingly enough I feel a little freer for writing it! Have a great night!

What's A Girl To Do

2009-07-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

While my dear husband is playing plumber and doing a pretty good job at tackling our waterless kitchen sink, I find myself getting all contemplative and maybe nostalgic. (i think those are good words to describe my mood) You see in just two short weeks my life is going to change. My new job will start and I will go from a relatively carefree day to day schedule to one that is based on many to-do lists, phone calls, and plunging into the unknown of directing a studio.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited and looking forward to the challenge as it has been a while and I'm ready to dive in. It's one small detail that has me feeling a little lost...what is a modern dancer supposed to do in a ballerina world?! I love ballet (most of the time-sometimes it kicks my tail and I'd like to throw in the towel!) and being on pointe, wearing pretty tutus, and the discipline of training my body. But in all honesty...I never feel more alive than when my hair is down, my feet are bare, and I can let my heart take over. Even sitting hear thinking about it makes me want to move...to release myself from the constraints of classical ballet! I will forever endorse classical training and technique-it truly is the foundation of all dance, but when I want to feel alive, to share my heart...I wouldn't touch a pointe shoe with a 10 foot pole.

So what will I do? How will I find a way to not only dance myself, but create/choreograph as well in the midst of thinking about glissades, jete's, and fouettes?!

I hope you'll pardon my rant...somehow I needed to let my thoughts out so that in the next 15 minutes when I am trying to fall asleep, I won't be laying there thinking all these thoughts and getting myself worked up into something that can't be changed at 11pm. (that already happened once this week)

Ultimately it comes down to trust...God provided this job, this opportunity and He know me best. In that I find peace and will have to actively, day-to-day, depend on Him for this area and then take the chances He gives me when they come. sigh. I think I'll try to sleep now...put these thoughts to rest for today. goodnight

The Dunes

2009-07-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

Ok...at some point I'll stop posting about this trip! I just keep finding pictures that I want to put up! I still have a few more and then I'll move on...promise!

One night we headed off about 5 minutes down the road to the large sand dunes. Most of us had never been to anything like it. I had a blast and must confess that large open spaces, with the wind blowing, and the sun setting make me want to do one of two things...or maybe even both...either dance or fly! I just can't seem to help myself and if there were so many people around I might have tried to do just that!

Attacking the gigantic hill

Mr.W trying to slide down, but the cardboard wasn't too successful. Some kids were just taking flying leaps and rolling down!

It was beautiful although very windy!

Love this shot his brother captured while we were trying to get a more posed picture like this...

The most amazing thing is that the baby slept the whole time! With all the wind and the sand she simply slept only to wake up when getting in the car. We were pretty impressed.

Jumping off! Fun but note to self - don't try this again in a dress

Don't know what I am doing with my arms! Balancing maybe? Who knows but I look like I'm working on my "jazz" hands!

Finished off with a beautiful sunset...life doesn't get much better!

Cape Hatteras Adventures

2009-07-07T08:53:00.001-07:00

About mid-way through our week we decided to take off for some time to ourselves and head south to explore a little and ended up doing one of the most "touristy" things we've ever done together.

Of course always glued to the iPhone to navigate...even when the car has a navigation system in it!

We visited the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and Museum. It was a fun experience and I'm glad we did it although climbing the, I think, 9 flights of stairs to the top was quite the workout. Apparently this particular lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the country!

Just about to climb!

Looking down at the old keepers house...now the museum

On our way down that morning we had passed a house that looked like the one from the recent movie "Nights in Rodanthe" so we stopped on the way back to check and see. Plus get a few pictures. A couple days later in a gift shop it was confirmed to be the right house! I was pretty proud of myself for guessing while driving past it and I've never even seen the movie!

It was pretty incredible and the water even came up under the house at high tide...that part is kind of scary though and probably why they were only selling it for $800k instead of over $1 million!

Right by the Rodanthe house the beach was incredible. Hardly any people were there and the waves were so big! I could have stayed there for the rest of the day, but we had to head back. Still it was a great morning together!

More of the Beach!

2009-07-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

One of the best memories from the week at the beach was a surprise planned by my sister and brother in-law. Every night a different couple would make dinner for everyone and for Jonny and Alissa they made homemade pizza. Amazing! Afterwords they wanted us all to go on a walk and when we came back Jonny would be ready with dessert. So we headed off to the beach and when we came over the dune this is what we found....

The Masterminds!

Sister-in-law Tina and niece Selah

Nate, Tina, & Selah

My wonderful in-laws!

We had such a great time hanging out...and stuffing our stomachs with s'mores! I didn't even mind missing So You Think You Can Dance and to make up for missing "my" show, the Mr. let me do this....I am one lucky girl to have such a wonderful man who will let his wife put him through so much. He even had a little sunburn! And this is one of the many reasons I call him Mr. Wonderful!

"I could have danced all night..."

2009-07-02T13:50:00.001-07:00

The Best!

So this week Mr. husband and I had our first ballroom lesson together! Well...that's not totally true because we had one lesson a week before our wedding but that doesn't really count because it was such a whirlwind! And I really don't remember a thing about the lesson other than the fact the instructor was breathing on me with dragon breath.

We started off with waltz. Funny thing is, apparently ballet can sometimes work against you even in a waltz because you lead with your heal (big no-no in ballet) and not your toes. So I have some habits to break! Over all I think we both did well...and I made mistakes so I think that secretly makes my husband relieved that "the dancer" doesn't always get it first time around. I love him even more for doing this and that he actually wants too, not me having to drag him kicking a screaming!

I think we are doing Rhumba next week, but the one I am really looking forward to at some point is Tango! Not sure when that will come...in the mean time I'll work on not stepping with my toes and bringing me feet together!

p.s Sorry for the poor photo quality. It's a print I have that I scanned because all of their pictures are protected by royalties

Stuck in Currictuck

2009-06-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

I tend to be someone who likes to do things in order, but transferring pictures from my laptop to our main computer is proving to be a little difficult today and I am getting impatient! So much to my husbands dismay....I am going to post one of our more memorable mornings.

It was our second to last day in the Outer Banks ad we wanted to do one last exploring trip (we had already gone south and visited the Cape Hatteras lighthouse a couple days before) and see the northern part of the island. Plus if you drive far enough there is an where they have 4x4 cars only. We took my SIL Subaru and headed out!

One of the many AMAZING houses we saw on our drive

It was beautiful in the Duck/Corolla area and I would definitely love to go back there someday. I loved the community feel it had with everyone out riding bikes, walking, and running.

Another incredible house

Well we headed to Currituck, also hoping to see wild Mustangs! It's awesome because the road curves and suddenly you are on the beach!

Neither one of us had ever driven on the beach and my husband's first words were, "This is nothing like snow!" I don't think I have ever said this, but he is obsessed with driving in snow...not just a little bit either- a whole lot! Every winter he talks about missing snow, driving in snow, wanting to be in snow....you get the picture!

It was fun until all of the sudden our car wasn't going anywhere! One moment the sand was hard and compact and the next it had given way to a deep, none forgiving, felt like quick sand, ruts of sand.

Now I get emabarrassed pretty quickly, so I'm moaning and wanting to sink into the car seats never to be seen again, all the while he is telling me "Ashlee it's not so bad!" Then we got out and realized the sand was literally all the way up to the undercarriage of the car and the wheels were just spinning! One guy stopped in his Humvey only to tell us good luck on digging ourselves out! "You too little Missy!"(his exact words) He then went on his merry way....still can't believe he stopped only to tell us what to do. To make matters worse all of these SUVs and trucks kept driving right by! Surely one of them had a tow hook or something, either that or they just thought we got ourselves into it so we'll have to get ourselves out. So the Mr. got to it and jumped out in my flowy white skirt, strapless shirt, and pink nails and started digging!

Hey those pink nails came in handy...letting air out of the tires!

Another guy did stop and tried to help push, but that didn't help and then finally someone(guy with yellow shirt) with a nice big truck and hook stopped and had us out in a jiffy!

Now for all who may doubt....my husband is an very intelligent and savvy when it comes to things like this...so the fact we got stuck did come as a surprise. But hey, it can happen to the best of us!

Thank you Mr. Nice man who saved us from calling a tow truck and paying a ton of money for it!Free of the sand and heading back! (remember I am wearing a strapless shirt so I do have clothing on)

Sad to say our venture too see the horses was cut short and we turned around and headed back to the pavement. In the end I loved every moment of it! I love exploring new places and even the unexpected that can be, at the time, embarrassing, but that is how life works! And with our extra time we went shopping!! No complaints here;)Shopping at Tim Buck II

And then some sustenance at The Roadside!

Mr. W's yummy fish sandwich(and I don't even like fish!)

My first time trying shrimp and grits...it was so good!

And this great produce stand called "The Tomato Shack" next to the restaurant

All in all a great day...we got back to our house and lounged by the pool with the rest of the fam for the afternoon!

2009-06-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

It's almost been a week since we got home and I am still missing the warm sun, feel of the sand, and the occasional venturing into the water(when I was feeling brave!). It was a great week in Nags Head spent with my husbands parents, siblings, and spouses...and our niece! Such a great week and I am ready to go back.

I haven't really ventured back into blog land until now, so somehow I'll have to catch up! Plus I think it will take more than one post to share about our vacation...we had several unexpected adventures I can't wait to share about!

Somehow this week I am trying to get back in the swing of things...we also had our two year wedding anniversary!!! I can't believe it has already been two years yet at the same time I feel like we have been married forever and I don't remember what life was like before. It has been bliss!

We went to one of our favorite restaurants that has wonderful South American food and then we were going to go for something more fancy for dessert, but opted for our usual- Andy's Frozen Custard. So good and currently making my mouth water! It's the best...one of the best parts of the night was finding out that Mr. Wonderful got us ballroom dance lessons!! I cannot explain how excited this makes me! We have talked about it for a long time and but have never done it. I think we'll try for our first one this week!

This is the only picture we got of the night because I forgot the camera and we only had his iPhone. Apparently the iPhone isn't too forgiving...I don't know where those bags under my eyes came from!

Absolute Craziness...

2009-06-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

Good grief!! I have tried three times now to start this post and I just can't seem to get it! I know it's not that difficult, but for some reason I just can't seem to make the words work in the way I want them too. I would love to be able to give my announcement and big news to its fullest, but if I tried to write it out from start to finish I wouldn't make my 4:30 flight to D.C tomorrow! (Vacation here we come!)

Last Thursday I shared about my nervousness and the various other emotions I was experiencing as I faced reality for the first time....the reality being a parent meeting of the TJC Academy of Dance in which it was announced to parents that the current director has been offered, and accepted, a promotion to be the interim Chair of the Fine and Performing Arts and that someone else (me!) was stepping in to take her place over the Academy and Nutcracker! Craziness! Thankfully the shock and response was minimal as I had prepared myself for the worst. Everyone loves the current director so I figured there would be some drama. That may come later and I'll brace myself for it.

When I was asked to take the position I could not have been more surprised. Never in my wildest dreams or thoughts did I think that my director would give up her job. She loves teaching and is so good at it and to not have her at the head of Nutcracker seems a little unreal. Thankfully the director (I'll call her Mrs.D) will still have a vital role in the transition time and will be involved on a weekly basis helping to mentor me and work through the process of taking things over.

This is big...huge actually and I know that I am going to have to find a way to take it one day at a time because when I do look at the whole picture and what this new job entails it's a little overwhelming. (and that is putting it lightly)

Over all we are excited. Mr. Wonderful gets this silly grin on his face every time he hears me telling someone the news....it's nice to know he is proud of me!

Well there it is...my big news.....as of August 1st I'll the be "Ballet Master" {not a fan of the title but it wasn't up to me} for the TJC Academy of Dance. Mrs. D's new position is on a one year trial basis and for the sake of transition, parents & community, she will maintain the title of Director until that year is up. So I must brace myself to not cringe every time I hear "ballet master" for the next year....hopefully it won't be too often!

Just Breathe

2009-05-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

This evening at 5pm marks the beginning of a new and exciting change in our lives. It has been in the works over the last month, but today it becomes public in a very big way. I'm nervous, have butterflies in my stomach, and hope that everything goes well.

I'll have to wait to post it here (which is silly because only 4 people read this!), but as it is now only an hour away there was something in me that needed to just verbalize...I'm nervous! I know I'm not very eloquent with my writing like some I know or even some of those in blog land that I read, but this is my feeble attempt to express my tumultuous emotions.

In my life I am used to baby steps, but it seems today I am jumping off a cliff where there is officially no going back. I'll just have to plunge right in...

I pray that I can walk forward in confidence and courage knowing that God has shaped me, molded me, and prepared me for this day, this task, and this new adventure before me. I hope that I can do it with integrity, humility, and a whole lot of creativity thrown in! Right now if feels to big, more than I am capable of, but I sigh...rest in the peace that passes all understanding...and just breathe.

God never puts before us a task we cannot handle and with that, I trust in His sovereignty and His purpose for my life and our future. But above all, God I thank you for the blessing of this new season and the confirmation it brings to me as a person, an artist, and someone who longs to serve You in whatever place or capacity You put me. You sure are full of surprises!!

p.s I know the picture is random, but beauty speaks peace to my heart and that is what I need right now!

A first time for everything & Thrifty Shopping

2009-05-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would be brave and post at my very first Link party! Rhoda at Southern Hospitality has one every Monday where we can share our yard sale or thrifty finds of the week. For weeks now I have looked at everyone's finds and this week I thought I would have a go at sharing my own. (shh...I'm a little nervous!) My finds are not all that grand, but fun none the less. Even though I grew up going to garage sales with my mom if feels like I am just now learning how to venture out and find treasures on my own!

Well this past Saturday I helped my grandmother put on a garage sale that her church was hosting. It as actually a youth group fund raiser where you rented the space and brought your stuff to sell. We had a slight scare with rain, but thankfully only a few drops and nothing more! I had very little to sell myself, but my mom and grandmother...well that's another story because my grandmother had a whole trailer full! It was actually fun(normally I like to go to the sales-not put them on) and I found a few things along the way.

These are Kate Spade saucers I picked up. For $.75 a piece (as I know you can see...the tags would not come off and I gave up for the time being). I looked them up to see if I could find cups to match and for a set on eBay the sell for $23 for the cup and saucer! The white one has a paisley print on it that is so pretty!
At the same place I got this little urn(I think that is what you would call it!) for...well you can see... $.50.
Then another lady had this silver tray in what appeared to be a cast-a-way box of stuff. It was still in its original box! So I'll add it to my growing collection and I probably won't even clean it...my husband asks me all the time why I don't polish the silver I find. sigh. I just seem to like it the way it is! But I'm sure if I use it for entertaining or a shower or something I'll clean it up.

While there was a decent showing of sellers I think my grandmother and mom had some of the best stuff. There were even items that made me think of others who blog and wonder "Now would they buy that?" or "what would so and so do with that?" I'm telling you-blogging and entering the blog world makes me see things in a whole new light!

And while I thought they had great stuff I had to refrain from loading up my car with it! I did manage a few things and all for free!

This little picture frame and shadow box...I plan on painting both and then I am not sure what I'll do with them after that.
Then there is this basket-love the shape and it makes me think of something Jane Austen character would carry on one of her walks. The tea cup, saucer, and tid bit plate-love it! Then again I have had a thing for tea cups since I was a kid. Then last of all the book-I am an avid reader and can consume books at an alarming rate. I haven't read this author before, but it intrigued me. Oh! and my mom bought a whole stack of books that I'll eventually get a turn at too! And I won't have to pay a cent!

I realize now there are more words than pictures! Oh well I'm learning. Thanks for having a look!

R&R

2009-05-08T06:37:00.001-07:00

4 weeks from today we leave for vacation!!! We are meeting Mr. Wonderful's family (his parents, two siblings, and their spouses) on the east coast at the Outer Banks for a week long R&R at the beach. This is a first with his family and it will be the longest we have all been together outside of the week of our wedding.

I am already on the lookout for the perfect book(or books!) to take with me... Any suggestions?

Today I am heading out to find a swimsuit...not too thrilled with this as I have already ordered 3 different ones and not been happy! I want the vintage 1940s feel

Something like this
or this...That can be found here and I would love a big hat to go with it too!

Wish me luck!

(images borrowed from superstock.com)

Whirling and Twirling

2009-05-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks have been none stop and filled with driving, rehearsals, lighting cues, final dance classes, rounding up tiny girls in tutus, and more make up than I can handle. It seems I can't even recognize myself now that I have gone back to "normal" amounts of make up on my face! (or none at all for that matter!)

My first instinct is to give the play-by-play of my life between two different dance studios, in two different towns, but I know it would become long and tedious and I doubt anyone would really read it anyway!

Unfortunately I was so busy the first weekend I was hardly able to think much less get any pictures of the performance where I teach modern dance. I have two classes and then take one myself. It was a great performance with over 160 dancers total! In addition to dancing I was also the stage assistant for Act I and the back stage manager for Act II. whew! It was a lot of running, reminding students to whisper, and counting dancers to see if they were all there!The beautiful flowers I received for the first weekend of performing...love them!

The week after was filled with nightly rehearsals for Giselle and the college where I graduated and still take ballet. I was also a guest choreographer there this spring for the teacher who was on maternity leave. Such a great experience despite students who never come to class!

I wish you could see the fun eye make up we did, but it is a little too far off

Giselle is all about a girl who dies of a broken heart and become a "willi" or ghost (who are jilted maidens that come out at night and trap men and cause them to dance to death!). It is quite the somber story but in the end Giselle forgives the man she loved (who wooed her even thought he was betrothed to another) and goes on to be a willi forever.Getting ready!Danielle and I just before the showalways telling stories and maybe a little drama too :)

All the little girls waiting in the "green room" to go onstageBack view of Giselle's grave the college performance credit class made...and yes it is crooked...drove me nuts all week, but I couldn't fix it!And the big girls warming up onstage right before the curtain opened!Oh the drama! We were not allowed to smile through the whole production! I cannot tell you how hard that was at times! ( just after coming off stage from the last performance...tired but still had the 2nd Act to go)

The first show was my best, but both were great and I had soo much fun. Not to mention my fancy-shmancy new pointe shoes came just in the nick of time and I love them! Too bad I won't be dancing for a little while. My life has officially slowed down now and am ready for the break. Now I can work on things at home that have been neglected. Plus I have projects to work on and post about!

Looking beyond the surface

2009-04-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

I love how I am learning that just because something is made one way doesn't mean it can't be changed with a little creativity! Over the past several months as I have become immersed in the blog world and discovering how many amazingly creative women there are out there, I have learned this lesson and I am now finding myself learning to not only take things I see at face value, but also to think about their potential and what they can become with a little TLC! It makes me think of some of my beginner dance students who are pretty rough around the edges when they start...but with direction, some encouragement, a little patience, and time it is amazing what can happen! (they performed this past weekend and were amazing! I am so proud!)

Thinking outside of the box is at times difficult for me in many areas, but I crave the ability to do so. And I admit that I am proud of one of my first attempts even though it is rather simple... 2 vases that I got for $3.27 a piece at Target! I wasn't thrilled with the grey, but loved the shape and thought they would look great in white. By the way...I love white, especially white dishes! My husband teases me about it and has even gone so far to say "Isn't white boring?" (tsk, tsk) It makes me want to cover the poor "ears" of all my lovely white dishes and say "Don't listen to him, what does he know anyway?!" ...He knows a lot actually and I'm proud of him for it! (sometimes he even helps me pick out which shoes to wear!)

Here he is doing "man" stuff and starting a fire...well gettin charcoal ready for the burgers he was making. And of course the kitty keeping watch

Anyway, I got a $.98 can of white paint at Wal-Mart and was so eager to paint that I didn't get a very good "before" picture of the original color.(I had actually painted the other side white already, oops! Like I said...a little eager)
I still have one more coat to do...didn't realize this until they were dry and back in the house. I love their shape and can't wait to use them on my dinning room table or even my mantel. My mind is buzzing with possibilities for them!

There is so much to be seen and discovered in this world if we only stop and take a few moments to discover it and look beyond the surface!

Finding Red

2009-04-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Last summer we planted 3 strawberry plants and had no idea how they would turn out. They multiplied but never bore any fruit. Well in March little white flowers started popping up and now everyday I am finding more and more red! It is so exciting and even a little strange to think that I have strawberries in my back yard. This could be because I never imagined myself planting anything other than flowers.

We have even been able to eat a few! It's amazing how they really taste different from the ones you buy at the store. yum! Now all I need is some vanilla bean ice cream covered with strawberries on top!

A Night for Inspiration

2009-04-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

(Not the greatest picture...the stage curtain)

This past Saturday I witnessed some of the most incredible dancing I have ever seen!! A group from the studio I teach and dance at went to Dallas for the night to see a performance of contemporary and classical ballet called TITAS Command Performance. There were 10 pieces total and each were a duet, or pas de deux in ballet terms. The dancers are brought in from major companies such as American Ballet Theatre in New York, Alvin Ailey, San Francisco Ballet, and so much more. They are some of the best in the world and we didn't have to travel all over to see them!

Anther highlight was Mia Michaels, choreographer for many things, but most recently recognized for her work on the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance, was there and received an award from the TITAS foundation. This only added to our feelings of being star struck... to actually see her there, here her speak, and see a piece she created especially for that night! Such a treat!

It is so hard to describe what I saw and I wish I had pictures and video to show you, but of course that was not allowed. It was amazing and some of the best spent $20 ever... no exaggeration I promise! I didn't get too many other picture of the night but here are the few.

Marlene, our fearless driver/dance director

Rachel while passing out the tickets

Some of the ladies in the van

Danielle and I after the show!

This past week I have felt dry and out of creative juice when it came to dancing, especially in creating choreography for my classes. It just seemed everything was zapped out of me. Going to this performance was the perfect medicine and exactly what I needed! I only wish I could reply the dances over and over again so that I might enjoy them more!

Family Fun

2009-04-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

Most years for our family get-together at Easter (or any holiday or major function for that matter!) we are at my grandparents house for all of the fun and craziness that means family. This year was no exception and despite the chilly weather it turned out to be a great day. We all had lunch together and then my cousin Tiffany gathered up some help and went to hide the eggs! It was quite entertaining to watch it all... especially Tres, Tiffany's 15 month old, he was running all over the place and didn't seem to quite know what to do with himself!

Tiffany, the mastermind behind it all

Some of the crew hiding the eggs

Here come the kids

And they're off!

Tristan already counting his

Jori always seemed to find the ones up high

Kayla on the hunt!

The lovely lady behind it all...my Grandmother!

Tres seemed to simply love to dump out his eggs...

And then given them back... repeat!

Jori and her basket

Sisters!

There was much more I wanted to do with this post, but my internet or maybe blogger itself is giving me grief so I give up!

Have a wonderful day!

Dancing Feet

2009-04-08T10:04:00.001-07:00

Isn't it pretty?! Well probably prettier in a tracing than the real thing anyway...

In the midst of being sick I have also been considering ordering new, fancy, shmancey, pointe shoes that are supposed to last forever from Gaynor Minden. Which is a good thing considering pointe shoes can for some last days, but for me it is usually a month or so....needless to say.. the $ adds up quick!!

Well since I don't live near a "fitter" I decided to try the online technique where you download a form, trace your feet (or you husband does if you have one), fill out a ton of info, take pictures, and send it all in. If only it could be that easey! I think we traced me feet 4 1/2 times(the half being only 1 foot), talked to the company 3 or 4 times...including Mr.Wonderful calling and talking to them (there is a reason I call him Mr. Wonderful!), my computer not downloading the right thing or submitting the form...and me stressing over whether or not this will all be worth it!

After my last call to the company, the lady said just mail it in. Which sounds crazy to me and a little archaic if you are supposed to have high speed technology at your finger tips! I guess in the end it is better to snail mail the tracings and pictures so the computer can't distort them. sigh. I really hope this works.

I'll let you know how it turns out and maybe the shoes will make my feet look like thisIn the mean time I'll keep dreaming!

(image borrowed from superstock.com)

Shop 'til you drop

2009-04-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

Well now that the week is about half over I decided I would finally get around to posting about my weekend! It really started out great, but ended on a not so fun note with me getting sick...hence the delay in posting. Now I know writing only requires sitting in a chair and pressing buttons, emitting only small amounts of energy, but I'm sorry to say I just didn't have in me and instead preferred to be completely covered in my down throw, with a box of tissue, sleep and maybe watch a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. I didn't even go to ballet on Monday. That decision is always a hard one but since I have rehearsals and performances in three weeks I knew I needed to rest up and get better rather than push myself. ( I need to remember that today as I head back to class)

Enough of the not fun stuff!

Saturday ended up being a whopper of a shopping day, I'll tell you what! And it ended up being with a small contingent of my large family. We all met at a place called "The Farmhouse" (half of it looks like a barn and the other half a house) for a good 'ol country breakfast! This included both of my parents, my sister, my grandmother, grand pa Sonny, my uncle Brian and his fiance Jennifer, my wonderful husband (who sacrificed his Sat. morning soccer with the guys to be with me), and myself. whew!! Breakfast was great...filled with lots of laughs and good conversation...I only wish I could somehow capture it for you because to an outsider I can only imagine what it sounds like! Then we were off to First Mon day Trade Days....Welcome to First Monday...an old shot but wanted you to get an idea of what this place can look like on a typical first Saturday of the month(every month). Oh the madness!

After our cars promplty got seperated, which led to parking on opposite sides of the "park", the vehicle I was in parked at the back and started off at the Convention Center. Right when we walked in we discovered this booth that was filled with laundry carts filled to the brim with every kind of linen you can imagine! And she had piles of quilts all over!
This is me feeling slightly overwhelmed...what you can't see is all the women on either side of me digging for their lives! (that was the overwhelming part)Me and my mom digging through the scarves with a little silliness in between.
And of course the proverbial "husband chair"...I guess so many men would flock to it that she eventually deemed it official!
I have a thing for aprons, even though I decided to pass on them that day...along with the quilt I carried around for a while, and the napkins I dug through! But by Sunday I was glad I had because I ended up with something better! I'll tell about that later...

After exploring the rest of the convention center, filled with antiques, old movies, jewelry, and so much more, we ventured outside and promptly got separated from my mom and dad. Did I mention how hard it is to stay together?!

I wish I had taken more pictures of the outside booths but I was too taken in by all of the wonderful things to explore and dig through! After about two hours of looking, and a little buying, I discovered second heaven! I absolutely love old jewelry especially the kind that involves vintage swarovski crystals. Oh! and the rhinestone necklaces which my husband even encouraged me to buy!This little picture does not begin to do justice the wonderful things this guy had and everything was 1/2 off! I felt like a kid in a candy store there was so much excitment and I think the owner was secretly laughing at me! I just couldn't decide and then when I thought I had decided I found another layer of trays underneath....anyway I came home with these two beautiesThe picture does not do them justice at all! They would have been $77 for both but I got them for $38 with the sale...yippee!!

We almost bought at least 3 different pieces of furniture while there including this corner piece I wanted for the dinning room. So pretty, but in the end I was glad we passed it by. The debate over this piece actually caused us to get seperated from my grandparents and uncle for the 2nd time...to which we spent the next hour trying to find them, finally giving up, then finding out they were headed to their car! Oh well, the time we were with them was fun.

I think we ended up walking and shopping for about 6 hours...still can't believe how the time flew. On of the pavillions we went in (not even sure how many they have on the 200 acres) had this booth that I could have looked at for at least an hour in and of itself.
I absolutely love this display and wish there was some way I could recreate it in my house or anywhere for that matter so that I could enjoy it more often. I seriously want collums like that in a house someday. And thank you to Mr. Wonderful for taking the picture even while you got in trouble for it....apparently there was a rule about taking pictures inside the Arbors, but we didn't know it until informed while he was taking the picture. Oops!

So after we had our fill of it all we went outside of the park grounds to a great little Mexican food stand and had tacos and tamales, followed by a little more shopping at a place called Paul Michael Company. Where we bought this:

Pardon the Kleenex...I have spent the last 2 days on that chair exactly where my husband left it after bringing it it. We will probably move it to a better wall in the office, actually the one I am sitting at right now.

Last but not least we stopped at the Dairy Palace for ice cream and headed home...which is when I started to feel sick. I am just sooo glad it was after the shopping! (smile)

Here is what else I came home with:
Silver candle sticks for $10
Glass ice bucket ( I think) $2, glass bowl with silver bottom $2, silver forks $1 a piece, silver tray $3, and the white container $1.I love this fun tablecloth that I got for $7. It was such a fun day...thanks for letting me share it with you! (If you made it this far-sorry for an extremely long post)

Full blooms and treasure hunts to come

2009-04-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

This is one side of our front yard and I wanted to share our Azalea's while they are still bursting with color. Our whole neighbor hood is filled with different varieties of Azalea's in all colors and sizes. The two sides of our front yard are a drop in the bucket compared to some! I'll try to get out and take some pictures before they all start to disappear. Already the pink dogwoods are fading to green and it makes me sad because they are some of my favorites!

Now onto treasure hunting... two weekends ago I convinced my husband to spend our Saturday morning going to garage sales with me. Even though we went to almost 20 different places it was a pretty disappointing outing and we only came back with a large frame for $2(which I painted black as soon as I got home), an old suitcase for $1, I have never seen so many childrens clothes in my life! It seems that and some adult clothing were all people were selling everywhere we went.
My silly cat, Mynx, freaking out at the strange object, aka drying frame, hanging from the tree! I thought she was going to pounce it!

Well this weekend we are going to venture out again, only this time to First Monday Trade Days, a flea market/anything and everything you can think of extravaganza! My mom, dad, sister, and possibly my grandmother are going to join us...so I am looking forward to the treasure hunt as well as time with people I love... now if only we could have Eddie Ross there to point us in the right direction!

My Very Own Mistreatments

2009-03-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of things I did over spring break...the fun ones at least. No one wants to hear about or see pictures of cleaning, vacuuming, and all the other necessary but not so fun jobs I also accomplished.

The first was our bathroom window. As of right now I can't sew a thing other than the ribbons and elastic on my pointe shoes (and probably a button or two) so instead I used my hot glue gun to "hem" the edges and create a pocket to insert the rod through. It was actually a lot easier than I thought and I love how a little bit of fabric and ribbon made such a difference in the way the bathroom feels!

My second window was the kitchen and not quite as difficult because all I did was fold it and tacked it to the wall using upholstery tacks. Not the most sophisticated method I know, but I just wanted something simple that would provide a pop of color to an otherwise white room.

This first picture makes it look like a tacked it straight.(I know it's a little crooked, but I hope you will join me in ignoring it! I promise it's not that back in real life!)

Here you can see how I fluffed it out

I also made a trip to Lowe's for these terra cotta pots, made labels on my computer and planted my cosmos, zinnia, and shasta daisy seeds. I cannot wait till they get big! (can you see the snap dragons peeking out behind the pots from my window box? They were planted by Mr. Wonderful)

The Breakfast Room Makeover

2009-03-21T12:13:00.001-07:00

Although the smallest room in our house, it is my favorite and one of the main draws to the house as a whole when we originally looked at it. I'll never forget being held up by my dad so I could look in the window and low and behold the house had an original built-in! Add to that the fact it was built in 1937, had all hard wood floors, and two beautiful chandeliers...I was ready to say sold on the spot! But of course the roosters had to come down, a nice coat of paint, and a few more projects for the room to fully come alive.

Here is Mr. wonderful scraping off the roosters that refused to be removed! Thankfully he was up to the task that night because I know I wasn't.

We decided to leave the checkered floor, which I sometimes have regrets over, but that mainly happens when I am trying to get it clean. For the table and chairs, from the beginning I knew I wanted a white round table(which took months to find) and then we decided that instead of having the chairs the same we would find four different chairs, paint them white, and recover their seats with different fabrics. In the end I decided I liked all the seats to be the same. The chairs were more difficult to find than I expected, but after looking at a flea market, getting one from a garage sale, and then finally our fourth ended up coming from my grandmother. Overall we worked on them off and on for quite a while when we had a chance...lots of sanding, some wood glue, and a staple gun, but I can say that I am VERY pleased with the outcome!

3 of the chairs before (and there are 4 even though I only show 3 for some reason)

and after...

This picture shows the chandelier that I continually debate on whether I should paint it or not. Right now it is some sort of gold color that makes it look really dated. I have thought about painting the metal portions either with white or black, but I can't make up my mind if I should even do it much less the color!

I love how the room feels fresh and like spring year round! It will be even better as my flowers in the back yard start to bloom and I can bring them in for splashes of color throughout the house. Just thinking about it gets me excited and makes me smile!

Spring is Here!!

2009-03-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

After days and days of rain the sun is out and shinning today! Also after only three days in their pots these little guys are peeking out and saying hello...

Despite the rain, which for the most part I enjoyed, I had a really good spring break and was able to get many of the things done that I wanted too. I should have a post about it all very soon!

Sprink Break...

2009-03-09T09:10:00.001-07:00

is here and while we are not going anywhere I do have quite a list of things to do! Most are projects that have been in the works, but have been waiting to finish them during a time when I don't have to run off to ballet in the middle of it.

One such project is in my living room...creating my much needed window treatments. Well actually I am going to do "mistreatments" that I discovered a while back on The Nester. I absolutely love going through her blog and reading her thoughts and ideas. For a struggling perfectionists like myself her motto "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" helps me tremendously! The funny thing is when I showed my mom some of the posts, her response was that she had been mistreating for years...funny how I never noticed that, but when I think back I do remember her making pillows without sewing or creating window treatments without a pattern or a lot of hoop-la (is that a word?!) and yet they always turned out great. So maybe mistreating is in my blood and I just needed the nudge from reading the Nester to get me going. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

Oh the beautiful

2009-03-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

Next to peonies my favorite flower that simply causes me to sigh and wish for a whole bundle in my arms are the elusive ranunculus. I say elusive because I so badly wanted them for my wedding to go in my bouquet and for my prince charming's boutonniere and yet they were not available in the month of June! Last year we also tried to grow them in both our front and back yard and only managed to get three blooms...two pink and one yellow. I guess the Texas heat is too intense for them! Already I have seen a few of their leaves popping up so maybe, just maybe, I'll get one or two this year.

My lone survivor out of 80!

Look here to more pictures of these unique and charming flowers! (and the post I stumbled upon that sparked my own thoughts and reminiscing) It is actually an inspiration blog for weddings and I only wish I knew about it when planning by own.

My Bridal Bouquet, beautiful even without the ranunculus

Release

2009-03-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

I finished school several months ago and with that season now at a close I am excited about other opportunities I can now explore! One of which is starting a community dance company. This is something that has been in the back of my mind for a while, simmering, and waiting for an opportunity to be brought to the forefront. Then about a year ago by dance teacher/mentor/friend casually mentioned the desire to do the same! Yet it wasn't until about a month ago that we finally were able to sit down and share our thoughts and ideas. (till 2:30 in the the morning!)

Typically a company means commitment, scheduled rehearsal times, performance opportunities, among many other things, but for us we wanted it to have a more relaxed format where dancers can be a part as they are able. It's all still in the beginning stages, but the most exciting part was within days of our discussion we were both asked separately to dance at the very same woman's conference! Talk about timing...we knew what we hoped for but didn't even think we would get an performance/ministry opportunity withing days of talking about it! This seemed to solidify we were headed in the right direction and that we had a release and a beginning to something new! I cannot tell you how excited I am even though we don't know what happens after this, whether we'll have a name or identity that can be used within our community, or if this format will really work, but honestly I am trusting that all will happen in its perfect time.

Our first performance was a great success. It has been several years since I have operated in that capacity...going in, setting up equipment, placing costumes, communicating with contacts, and so much more. I loved it and realized how much I have missed doing this. It was a deja vou of what is was like when I lived on the road and toured around the country performing .

As we were leaving I was wishing I could do it all over again the next day and the day after that! Hopefully more doors will open for us and we can do it again...

To New Adventures

2009-03-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

For months now I have enjoyed reading what others have written, the projects they share, the beauty they find, and the overall happenings of people from all walks of life. So after much thought, prompting, and encouragement(from my husband) I decided to venture out into uncharted territory. I am not the greatest writer in the world, but really just want to share who we are and the adventures we have together!