Falling Stars

I thought for a second there that I went through April without posting once! How dumb that would have been. There is SO much going on all around me, and yet I don't take the time to record what is happening or what I'm feeling. How am I supposed to remember things when I'm old and grey if I don't write it down?! How silly of me.

Let's just re-cap for last month through today, a REALLY quick re-cap. SO, Zach & I auditioned for West Side Story at the SCERA. I actually felt pretty decent about it (however, not GREAT), but we didn't even get callbacks! Oh, well. I kind of expected that. I'm female and I'm in Utah, so it's not a big surprise that there's big competition. It's okay, though, 'cuz life is to crazy right now to have done a show! I mean, I definitely would have made time, but now I don't have to...

What else from last month... well, there's not much to tell. Finished the semester, got decent grades, better than what I deserved, but not as good as they SHOULD have been. It was a BLAST! I loved this semester! I actually improved upon my body and my abilities, and I can't say I've improved much lately. I have done okay with upkeep, but that's not enough. I want to do more, to be better and stronger.... and now I am! Most of it was just because I had 3 dance classes and practiced so much extra during the semester, but a major contributing factor was the Conditioning & Injury Prevention class that I took. I now understand how to improve upon myself safely, as well as having an understanding of how much work it actually takes to do more than maintain. It's not as hard as it could be, but it's more than they always tell you on television. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to take that class!

The COOLEST THING that's happened so far this month is... Zach & I bought a house, our very first home, and we closed on it at the end of April! We finally got our keys Saturday, May 2nd, almost 24 hours after we were supposed to move in. We've been fairly busy, so we haven't had time to do all the painting and moving that we've wanted to, but we've made fairly steady progress. We've obtained most of the paint that we'll need, and Zach has gotten some painting done in ONE room. We've decided to finish that room later and begin moving stuff into it. We're just too busy to be super detail oriented, and we need to have living space! I've done most of the putting away/organizing of stuff so far. Zach's parents will be in sometime today, so hopefully we'll have more done before they get in. I DO need to say that I am SO GRATEFUL for the wonderful friends that Zach & I met through the Center Street Musical Theatre! We finally got our keys and it was POURING! The Elder's Quorum in our ward was supposed to come help us move but NOBODY showed up. One guy called and told us something had come up, so we expected that, but there were still supposed to be 3 or 4 other men coming to help. Thank goodness for our theatre "Elder's Quorum"! Matt, Tyler, Erin... Also our awesome once-neighbors Aly & Spencer helped us soo much! They helped us finish packing, helped us load and unload our vehicles... It took most of the day! We also had Jaren & Kristin stop by our new home. They brought us yummy chocolate chip cookies! That's the first time anyone's ever greeted us at a new place and brought us treats... or anything! From this experience I have gained three main things, aside from my very own home: 1) That Zach & I have some of the most wonderful friends ever! I know there were people who would have been there if they had not already left for the Summer, or hadn't already planned events of their own, and I am grateful for them, also, because I know that they were willing to help. 2) That I ALWAYS want to make sure that when I say I'll help someone, that I do it. I need to improve my turn-around speed and my follow-up for situations that I deal with. I don't want people to feel that they are alone, or to be stressed. I may unknowingly be the only person that can help that person or group. I can't imagine where we'd be in our move if our friends hadn't shown up.. & 3) I think it would be awesome to be the "welcome wagon" for people! I want people to know that they are welcome where they are at, and for them to know what kind of people we are by the friendship that we extend. I know what it's like to be somewhere and feel completely alone. It's difficult to make friends and to feel comfortable in a new situation. I want to to be easier for the people that I come in contact with than it has been for me. Why am I so blasted shy??!

ANOTHER cool thing that we just found out is that our friends from back home, Drew & Kristin, who moved to Utah just a few weeks apart from us may move into a house about a block away from us! They've put a bid on a home, and it sounds promising! that would be so wonderful! The four of us all have crazy schedules, but it would be so much easier to maintain a friendship when only a block apart, and both in our own homes. The fun thing is that the house they're moving into is one that we saw online right after we put the offer in on our home, and that we were interested in if somehow ours fell through. I'm glad we didn't get it, so that they have the opportunity to! AND it would give us a chance to help them move (and still be convenient). If they get this house, we may have our car trailer by the time they need to move, so we'd be able to help by loading up our truck and trailer, and hopefully save them some money! Don't get me wrong, we'd be willing to help them even if they don't get this particular house, but it would be easier for US if they move into this one. I know, I'm strange. Oh, well. :)

Did I mention I hate moving? I like to help other people move, but I don't like to move myself. We got most of our stuff moved out on Saturday, but we still had a TON of stuff left that we had to go back and get the next 2-3 days following the move. After all of that hassle, our VW & Rebel are still at the other place, because we haven't been able to move them out yet. However, as far as we know, there is nobody yet moving into the place, so it should be okay. We left a note that we will be getting them soon, so hopefully everything stays put until we get to it!

Aside from that, not much else is going on...I'm taking Dance 280 over again so that I can work on technique. My shoes finally just don't make the cut anymore, so I went and bought my FIRST pair of ballroom shoes! I bought latin sandals and heel guards, and even with the group discount it ran me a total of like $125!!! I have NEVER paid that much for a pair of shoes in my life, and aside from dance shoes I never will again... but they are comfy! I could have bought cheaper ones, but I was told that they would fall apart. The other ones that I could have bought hurt. But you know what? My technique was so much better in class yesterday! It is easier to place my feet properly, I'm not slipping all over the place, and the higher heel makes it so I don't have to dance on my toes as much, making it easier for me to remember to get my heel all the way to the ground during cha-cha & triple swing. I'd like to have some standard ballroom shoes, but I'm just not willing to pay for them right now... but the Latin Sandals were SO worth the money! It is worth it to have a pair of shoes that fits properly and makes me look good on the side. I do have to mention that it is not an imagined improvement just because I spent the money. I have noticed that, with dancewear, the pricing usually is representative of quality. You can always price shop, but if you go to a dance store and the price ratio is that one costs more than the other, then the more expensive one is USUALLY better quality. ALSO, I watch myself in the mirror frequently as I try to improve my technique. I really do look better and feel better. The shoes hold my feet properly for the style and they allow for more precise movement. I'm so excited that I will be able to continue to improve, and have fun in my class, now that I've already learned the steps. West Coast Swing is still a struggle, though. Better shoes aren't going to change that.

I almost forgot: the store I went to here in Provo was kind of small but they had a pretty good selection of items. I can't close without talking about my shoe buying experience. I'd like go give a quick ShoUt oUT to: Dance Works, located at 3228 North University Avenue, Provo, UT 84604. I will start with the fact that all I knew was that I wanted a latin sandal. I didn't know how it was supposed to fit for sure, what shoe to look for, what size I was for the brands available, what would be comfortable, or anything. I didn't get halfway into the store before an employee asked me if I needed help. I told her I had no idea what I wanted and she took me to where the shoes were. She told me which ones in the price range I was looking for were going to fall apart, which were comfortable, how it should fit. She went back and forth until we found the right size and stayed with me until I had made my decision. She didn't try to sell me anything extra or attempt to get me to buy a more expensive shoe. She was pleasant, helpful, and answered all of my questions. I would recommend this store to others because of it's good customer service. Also, she gave me the group discount, which took several dollars off of the price for my already expensive shoes. Despite the high cost, they were reasonably priced. To get the shoe online from the company website and add shipping would have been about $1-2 more than I actually paid for my pair. There are cheaper prices online without shipping costs, but that is only useful now that I know what my size is and what I like. Aside from the shoes, the store itself seemed fairly reasonably priced, though I think some of the tights may have been a bit high. The store was also easy to locate. Well, that's all for now!