I don't just dance. I am a DANCER.

One of my earliest memories is asking my mom to put me in dance lessons. It could be that I made this memory up, I have no idea. Regardless, it's one of my earliest. My mom says that when I was learning to walk, I would run from object to object on my toes. I knew even before I understood anything else that I was born to dance.

I was so little when I first started dance that I don't even really remember my first class. I know I took ballet and tap, but I did not enjoy tap. So, I stuck with ballet.

After my first year, I moved to C&C Ballet, where I met Liesl. She was my ballet teacher for most of my dance career as a ballerina and I loved her. She made dance so fun. My mom loved her too. We loved her so much, in fact, that when she moved studios, we followed her.

That's when I started dancing with American Dance Academy. And they wanted to me to branch out and try something besides ballet. I wanted to try tap again, but my mom

remembered how much I did not enjoy it before. She suggested I try Irish step-dancing, since that was similar to tap. I agreed and that year, I took both ballet and Irish. I loved both and both my teachers. It turned out that my teacher for Irish was Liesl's sister Leia.

As the year came to a close and we started looking at dance for the next year, I had to make some choices. If I stayed with ballet, I'd be starting point and with Irish, that meant I'd be at the studio a LOT. Also, taking both Irish and ballet wasn't in our family budget. So, I had to choose one. I don't remember why I chose Irish. I liked it, but I absolutely loved ballet. I chose Irish, though.

It was the best decision I have ever made in my life.

Shortly after this, Leia invited me to be a part of an all-Irish group, An Dragon Celtic. I joined and haven't been able to leave. Since then, dance has become more than just something I do. It has become a part of who I am. I cannot imagine my life without dance and I can't imagine dance without An Dragon Celtic.

I love dance. I love my dance class. Every single girl. I love my dance teachers--Liesl and Leia and Mindie. I love everything about dance. I say this a lot, and I talk about it a lot. There's a reason. It means more to me than almost anything else in my life. I would not be the girl I am today if I didn't have dance.

If I wasn't a dancer, who would I be?

Tender Mercies of the Lord ...

I really am so blessed in my life, in every part of it. I honestly don't know how I got so lucky. My favorite blessings, though, are still the wonderful people I'm lucky enough to be surrounded and loved by.

This guy. I am so grateful for. Luckiest girl in the world?

Oh, that's me.

I love my cousin Jeremy so much and will never stop being grateful for him and his friendship and the wonderful things he does for me, even still, while he's gone.

I am so thankful for dance. And my dance class. And everything to do with anything to do with dance. It's one of the best parts of my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love these girls more than words can express.

Do you have someone in your life that never fails to cheer you up? Who makes you laugh and leaves you a better person? That's who this little girl is for me and I will always love her more than I could ever say.

I have the best family. No contest. Sorry. Not just my immediate family, either. My entire family makes me grateful to be on this earth with them every day of my life

.

How did I get so lucky to have such wonderful best friends?

I am blessed to have wonderful memories with all these people. I don't ever want to forget a single day with them.

The Gospel and all the wonderful blessings that come with it.

This is the best blessing anyone could ask for and all the rest of my blessings in my life stem from this.

Today smelled like SPRING

We really are surrounded by blessings. We just have to open our eyes and see them.

Life doesn't get better than fresh strawberries and a clean apartment

My life. I like it a lot.

On Saturday, I got the contract from Deseret Book in the mail. It got me really excited. It's really going to happen, apparently. Really. I sort of can't believe it.

This song and music video might just be my new favorite thing in the entire world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdN5GyTl8K0&feature=relmfu

But actually this is my favorite song right now ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcWN6gmDKT0.

And this scene from psych is so funny, you should watch it ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5qmxA6LCMs ... Psych. Gotta love it.

Some little things that make me happy in a big way right now ...

Homemade bread and strawberry jam.

Piano music.

9 12 15 22 5 24 15 21

Seeing how hard my dance classes work.

A clean apartment. Really. Clean.

Dinner and TV shows with my family.

The movie The Help. It makes me want to write something important, something that changes the world.

Life really doesn't get better than this.

Don't forget to SMILE :)

Did you know that Hostess is going out of business?

I think I broke my toe. Yep.

They came out with a new and improved For Strength of Youth.

https://www.lds.org/youth/for-the-strength-of-youth?lang=eng

I know, right?? It's pretty cool.

Have you ever read this talk by Uchtdorf? http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/forget-me-not?lang=eng&query=forget+me+nots I love that man, he always says the kinds of things that change my life. This talk for sure does so for me.

I got this new body wash and every time I use it, it makes me want to eat Captain Crunch cereal, because that's what it smells like.

That's all. Have a wonderful day and don't forget to smile :)

These Moments ...

Yesterday was a frustrating day. Even dance was frustrating, which doesn't often happen. As I was driving back to Orem last night, though, I was thinking about how even on bad days at dance, it's still a good day at dance. Somehow.

Two weeks ago, I landed a jump wrong while practicing dance and twisted my toe pretty badly. It still hurts. From TWO WEEKS ago. The more I dance on it, the worse it gets, but I have a hard time not dancing on it, since I dance every day of my life. It's hard to dance, especially in hard shoe. I was particularly having a hard time with toe stands yesterday. Doing them HURT, but we do a whole lot of them and I really need to practice them. It's really frustrating me.

My hard shoe is broken. The heel is missing a nail and every time I click my heels, the entire bottom part of the heel comes off. It's annoying, because then while dancing certain steps, I have to be careful of not actually clicking. I'm worried that I'm going to get into this habit, so that once my shoe is actually fixed, I won't be able to click anymore. It's also harder to do the steps and it looks terrible. This, combined with my toe, makes me wonder if I shouldn't just dance without shoes for now.

It's also a little difficult sometimes being in a class without a teacher. I love my class and I'm really glad things are the way they are. We've learned a lot, grown so close as a class, and been able to come up with really cool dances. I love the way we work together and I love coming up with choreography as a class. Sometimes, though, it would be nice to have someone there to make executive decisions for us (especially as performances approach) and to have someone there to keep us focused. We work hard, but we're a group of teenage girls. I mean, really. There are a lot of times we spend goofing off or talking that I sometimes think really should be spent dancing. It's hard to remember to stay focused, though, and to stay motivated when we're tired. Our technique isn't as good as it could be, though, because of that and because we spend a lot of time choreographing and discussing dances, instead of actually dancing and practicing. It's an important thing to be doing, but it still takes time away.

I'm so glad to have dance in my life, though, even on frustrating days. Dance holds something special for me, something that I will never be able to let go of. Everything about it--my dance class, the steps, even the pain and frustration--adds to my life in a way nothing else could. I wouldn't trade certain moments at dance for anything in the world. These moments ...

Core.

Stalker stories.

Finally being able to do a dance step or trick.

The cheesy traditional music. I really do love it sometimes.

Our inside jokes. We have plenty.

The studio itself.

My friendship with every single girl in my class.

Teaching dance. Best thing that's ever happened to me.

Actually choreographing something cool as a class.

Laughing while trying to dance. It's quite the workout.

Slip Jig. I still laugh thinking of that one time ...

Hot tamales.

No-sugar November fails.

Pie.

Our funny videos and pictures that are so random.

White elephant parties.

Performances like Sugar Space.

Just laughing with my class. That's probably the best feeling in the world.

I am now on a quest to find the best brownies out there.

Yep.

I Believe

I believe in fairytales

I believe in happily ever after

I believe in new shoes

I believe in love

I believe in the Gospel

I believe in children

I believe in the Book of Mormon

I believe in morning showers

I believe in magic

I believe in making your bed

I believe in brownies

I believe in prayer

I believe in courage

I believe in holding hands

I believe in the good in the people

I believe in friendship

I believe in miracles

I believe in hard work

I believe in dancing in the rain

I believe in lazy days

I believe in adventures

I believe in service to others

I believe in dancing

I believe in summer

I believe in cleaning

I believe in faith

I believe in America

I believe in things happening for a reason

I believe in families

I believe in dreams coming true

I believe in Five Card Mow

I believe in breakfast, lunch, and dinner

I believe in choosing the right

I believe in sleeping in

I believe in making mistakes

I believe in missionaries

I believe in singing in the shower

I believe in smiling

I believe in Christ