Don't Stop Believing

The back-story:: I have been going to dance camps for the past eighteen years (yikes!), some of those times as a camper, others as a coach, and many many more times as an instructor. I have been to hundreds of dance camps, seems like an exaggeration but...it is not and this past week at camp at the University of Puget Sound with Hanford High School I had hands-down best experience ever.

The set-up::Along with dancers and cheerleaders at this camp there was also a Mormon camp (Especially for Youth) going on at the same time. We all had the same meal times which was crowded and meant for long lines.

The story::Last night at dinner we were sitting down already with our food when EFY started coming in. Because the lines were so long some of those kids sat down at the piano in the main dining area and started playing. One boy in particular was really good,, he sat there for a while playing beautiful music, then he played something that he was singing to but no one else could hear what it was. When he finished playing that song I turned to the head coach and dancers and said “If this were a musical everyone would’ve started singing along and everyone would’ve gotten up and danced. I wish my life were a musical.” Approximately 5 seconds later I hear the opening notes to “Don’t stop believing”.... and do you know what happened?

That’s right. Everyone- cheerleaders, dancers, EFY kids, coaches, everyone all across the dining room started singing along and clapping. There wasn’t any dancing (probably because there wasn’t room and unlike musicals real people don’t dance on tables) but the spontaneous singing was enough for me. That moment will be one of my favorite moments in life.

Lazybones

Some days I wake up in the morning and I think "I'm going to be super productive today!" And then I modify that by making addendum's like...."right after I have my coffee" or "right after I read this chapter".... It goes on like that until sure enough most of the day is gone and I still haven't been productive at all. There is a small (teeny tiny) part of my brain that feels guilty about reading an entire book in one day and not doing anything else, but it's so small and easy to ignore that I barely notice it's there anymore.

Here I am

I've been doing a lot of things since I moved. Some of them fun, others...not so much.

Unpacking - Not fun. Going through box after box that I felt like I'd just packed trying to figure out where everything was going to go was grueling. Eventually, one by one, the boxes were emptied and broken down. My place is now coming together...but there are still quite a few things left to hang and things without a home yet. Pictures will happen once I'm satisfied.

Sunshine - So much fun! I've been over to the pool at my brother and sister-in-law's house a couple of times and taken advantage of having a yard of my own. I love having a backyard, I can throw on a bikini, walk out my backdoor with a book and feel like I'm hidden away in a warm world of my own.

Bike riding/taking the bus - Meh.... I made a HUGE mistake and for my first bike ride in many, many, many years I decided to ride over 7 miles to my sister Kareen's house. It was horrible and not nearly as flat as I'd imagined in my head. I couldn't believe how much longer the roads seemed and to make matters worse my seat loosened up halfway through the ride and got so low I couldn't extend my legs and the seat kept swiveling. It took me an hour to get to her house and my bike is still out there until I can trick myself into believing the ride back won't be so bad.

Riding the bus has been surprisingly okay. Although it's quite a bit different than public transportation in Portland, it's also a lot less crowded so I never have to sit by someone and people generally leave me alone. However the buses don't run after 6:30pm...so hopefully I don't ever need to go anywhere at night.

Family - Fun! I had Claire and Abby over the other night to spend the night and they were just oh too cute. I should have just video'd the whole experience because some of the things they said and did are just not as cute when explained. Plus when they woke up in the morning I could hear them giggling for about 10 minutes before they finally came out. I have no idea what they were doing but it made me happy.

Work - Surprising. I've found myself with two jobs for the upcoming year. Both dance related and I'm so excited about both of them! I've only just begun with them but I think they'll keep me on my toes.

I need a break

After living in a place for four years things tend to pile up. I knew I had a lot of stuff, but I had no idea that on day three of packing I would still feel like I am just getting started. I have filled 13 boxes, 4 plastic bins, and 6 duffel bags and no, that doesn't include clothes of any sort.

I have to fight my natural tendencies, which are: to look at all my things, read through my notebooks/journals, get sentimental about where things came from...or to put it another way:

I've always been that way and since the trait has lasted for 32 years I imagine I'll always be this way, I just can't help it. I'm easily distracted (for example, I am writing this blog post while I'm supposed to be packing) and easily worn out. When I was little and I was supposed to clean my room I'd spend most of my time closely examining a few choice little items and then spend a minute or two shoving everything I was supposed to clean into backpacks or suitcases or whatever I could find. My bed was flat on the ground so nothing could go under there.

However I don't think my parents would be too pleased with me if they showed up next week only to find I'd hidden things instead of packing them. So, I'm packing. Here's the proof:

Nerd Love

I was talking to my mom the other day about my move and how all my things were going to fit into my new "little house". My mom said she thought that one whole room was going to have to be dedicated to my clothes and that she wasn't sure how all my books were going to fit. I said that I'd been thinking that same thing myself, trying to imagine all my things in there and how I'm going to arrange everything. My mom then suggested that I could maybe just box some of my books and keep them in the garage for a while.

I think I paused for a little and then said "well, I could box up my out of season clothes and put those in the garage until I need them."

My mom laughed and said "I forgot who I was talking to."

I think most girls would choose to box up books, or get rid of them all together...but I am a special brand of girl, the nerd kind and I love my books more than I love my clothes.

Obsession

Lately I've become obsessed with this website: pinterest. At first when my sister Kareen said she'd started using it I didn't really get it. I signed up and spent a few disinterested minutes poking around before deciding that I'd much rather stumble and returned to where I was comfortable. I kept going back to give pinning a try and eventually I was full boar in love.

Here are some of my favorite pins to get you interested:

Words to live by:

Source: wanelo.com via Jill on Pinterest

Something to make:

Source: parlourhomeblog.com via Jill on Pinterest

Something to make you swoon:

Source: tumblr.com via Jill on Pinterest

Time you enjoy is not time wasted...

Fair

I am a very fair person. I think I've mentioned this before. If I am responsible for dishing things out/cutting/pouring, the task seem so important I will inevitably stress out trying to make sure everyone gets the same exact amount of whatever it is. I have tried to pinpoint this to my childhood, and reasoned with myself that I am this way because I grew up with so many siblings that I now have the desire to make things uber fair; except none of my other siblings ending up with that weird quirk. Just me. I go with it. In my world, if you are sharing something with me, it is going to be VERY fair.

Life at the moment does not seem to be playing along with those rules. It has been consistently giving me the smaller pour, so much smaller that I'm looking at my glass compared to the others and thinking "hey, you almost missed me entirely!"

Today my love, the father of my angel baby, moved out of our place. I am heartbroken, beaten down, and blotchy.