Me Crafty? Hahahaha

Ok, sometimes when I'm not careful, I start to fancy myself as a "crafty" person... You know, someone who makes good cards or posters or whatever. But then I see someone else's stuff and realize that I'm really not - though I would like to be. 

Every year at Christmas, I have a blast making cards. Yeah, they aren't great but I have fun and generally they are well accepted.


Well, my most recent downfall is coming in contact with several crafty or home decor blogs... I see all these cute things and luckily I usually just think "hey, I could make that..." and then nothing happens. Well, I saw a project the other day and decided I really wanted to make it - it looked so easy! I definitely made a mess, but I did it. Most of the materials came from the dollar store, so this Easter Egg Wreath cost me about $4. It didn't turn out quite like the one on the blog... I did a few things my own way (of course) but I kinda like the way it turned out. Don't worry, it won't go to my head - but here's my Easter Egg Wreath! Once it stops snowing and being super windy, I'll get to put it up on the door.

Hooray!

We just got permission to add a 3rd grade ballroom class at Noah Webster Academy!!! We've discovered that another school in the area starts students in 3rd grade, only teaching dances you can compete at a younger age (swing, cha cha, and foxtrot) and I mentioned that I thought it would be a great idea to start our own!

Many students at NWA are interested in ballroom in 3rd grade but once 4th grade rolls around they are no longer interested ... this way we can start them earlier and then when they start Level 1, our teams match team will blow all the other teams out of the water!!!  Now I just need to come up with routines for the 3rd grade class... hmmmm

California

I was floating through old photos and found these. I thought I would share. They are from when we went to California in April of 2010 for Eric's Great Grandma's funeral.

Eric wanted to play "who can go in the furthest" -- seeing as how the water is cold and I have terrible balance (go figure... most dancers are very clumsy off stage) I didn't exactly want to play.

*Eric says that my hands say everything...

 The above photo is definitely my favorite

Luckily, he tried dunking me after the wave receded...
the water was then too low for him to put me in it.

Date Night

Eric had a crazy week of papers, projects, presentations, and exams. To celebrate it's end, I had planned a fun date night. We were going to go to the temple, make Pasta Salad, bike to the park, play games, and watch a movie.

Then, Utah weather decided to switch from the 70's that it was earlier this week to rainy, cold, windy, and cloudy!




But, I was not to be deterred! After the temple, Eric and I made Pasta Salad and sliced a cantaloupe. Then, I laid down a blanket in the living room! Voila! Picnic, complete with nature sounds (brought to you by the internet).

Dance

It has been a long time since I have danced - since I put my heart and soul into perfecting something. Taking a small piece and working and sweating and bleeding till I hate it, but it is perfect; and then moving on to the next small piece.

Dance speaks to me in a way that I had forgotten. Every dance has a story and each story has meaning. Dance has a spiritual side for me, a side that helps me connect to heaven in a way most find unattainable.

I did all kinds of dance - Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Tap, Clogging, and Ballroom. Ballroom was my favorite and of all the dances included in the ballroom genre, Cabaret was my dance.

I do not regret the decisions I have made in my life, but I will always miss dance. Dance was a huge part of me.

There were 2 Cabarets that spoke to me this weekend - I have included a video of my 2 favorites in order of my favorites... They respectively placed 1st and 2nd in the competition.

Dancesport

This weekend was Dancesport. Though my Level 1 team was unable to attend because we did not have enough boys, Level 2 was able to compete. It was a little sad that we went from top of Silver at UVU to bottom of Bronze at BYU, but overall I feel that the team performed well. It is difficult with different judges looking for different things.

On the up side, we had 4 couples (2 Level 1 and 2 Level 2) compete in the National Newcomer Swing event. Each couple made it back for at least 3 rounds. 2 couples made it to the semi finals, and 1 couple placed 3rd! The competition started with 177 couples... so I had 1 couple in the top 31 dancers and 1 couple that was the 3rd best!!!

Games

Before I married Eric, my family played games, but they mostly consisted of Uno and Go Fish. Every once in a while Crazy 8's was thrown into the mix. Now, we play board games and video games all the time. I feel that the games we play bring us closer together as a family.

Last week we played Battlestar Galactica with Laura and Melissa - though I failed to get pictures. And the week before we played Twilight Imperium with Laura (I won).  Last night, we had Mikey and Thomas over for a game of Rune Bound - - a game we had never played before. So while Eric read the rules and Thomas set up, Mikey, Wilson (Thomas' friend), and I made hot fudge and brownies. mmmmmm

 Following Rune Bound the boys wanted to play Halo. Halo 2 wouldn't work so the boys played Fusion Frenzy and later Halo 1 while Mikey and I watched. It was a blast to watch Eric whomp on Thomas and Wilson.

Our favorites to play as a family are:

• Galaxy Trucker
• Incan Gold
• Battlestar Galactica
• Starcraft 2

Eric and I also love to play:

• Twilight Imperium
• Race for the Galaxy
• Dominion
• Ceasar and Cleopatra
• Bang
• Blink
• Risk 2210 
• Blockus

If you haven't played these games... give us a call and come on over. We love to play and we have plenty more games... these are just our favorites!