I'm Back!!

Well, after my multi-month long hiatus I'm back! I feel a lot has happened since my last post about my audition in Las Vegas.

I graduated college (finally) with a B.A. in Dance and a B.S. in Psychology. My Sr. Portfolio performance at SJSU went splendidly, and pictures will be up soon on my website.

I have been enjoying life, and being able to actually live and breathe. Spending time with family, dancing because I LOVE IT without the pressure of a grade, taking walks, laying in the sun and tanning (I'm actually not super white this summer, it's pretty amazing!), scrapbooking and mixbooking like a maniac, I have a little pot garden on my patio, I've lost 15lbs since March (even if it doesn't look like it) and I feel great!!

Anyway, that is my brief update, and regular posts will resume.

20 hours for 1 hour

So I recently drove to Las Vegas for a dance audition, and I was told that I should journal all of my audition experiences, so here I am "journaling" and sharing with y'all.

About a month ago a friend of mine and fellow dancer told me about an audition being held in Las Vegas for female dancers 5'9'' and taller. We both fit that criteria and so we decided that we would make this journey together.

This past weekend was the audition. Now, originally we were going to start driving at about 2:45, then we changed it to 3:15. However, we didn't actually leave until 4:30, this was because as my friend was driving home from teaching her tire blew out.

Anyways, we were all packed and got on the road. Many of the snack that were supposed to also come with us got left :-( oh well.... It is amazing though how much "nothing" there is between the San Francisco Bay Area and Las Vegas. When we were hungry for dinner, we couldn't find anyplace to eat!! Finally we stopped in Boron, CA and ate the only restaurant they have called Domingos. It was actually pretty good, and it was also open late which good because we got there at about 10:30pm. The management liked us....primarily because my friend who is a tall white girl like me speaks Spanish almost fluently (definite plus in many situations). After a nice dinner and receiving pens for gifts we set back "on the road again". There isn't much to tell about the drive because like I said there was a lot of nothing so yeah...not very interesting. We just talked most of the drive.

Finally at about 2am we arrived at our hotel in Las Vegas and immediately crashed. Our check out time was supposed to be 11am but since we were sooooo exhausted and we didn't have to be at the audition until 1pm we asked if we could have a later check in, and it got pushed to 12pm. At about 10:30-11 we started waking up, showering, getting dressed, and getting all gussied up. the excitement was beginning!!! Then my friend pulled out her aqua leotard she was planning to wear for the audition, only to discover that somehow her pointe shoe glue had leaked onto her leotard, and there was now a big hard mess on her leotard. (and yes she did have the glue separate in a ziploc, but somehow it still leaked) She wanted to cry, and I wanted to cry for her, but she wasn't about to let a leotard ruin the experience or the audition and luckily she had brought a back-up (it was just black instead of a color).

We left the hotel found the dance studio where the audition was being held, ate a cliff bar, and went inside. We checked in, and submitted our headshots and resumes. We were the first to check in so our audition numbers were #1 and #2. Finally, other girls arrived, and we all went inside the room to learn the audition routine.

There were about 20 girls, and some were even taller than me, and I'm 5'11'' so that was pretty exciting. I was finally dancing with people who weren't midgets!! The routine was taught really quickly, and they didn't alternate lines or split us into two groups, so there was a lot of people trying not to kick other people. Once they taught the routine, they took all of us out of the room and brought us back in two at a time. My friend and i were the first two to be brought back in and do the routine, while everyone else practiced out in the hallway/lobby. The first time we did it, it was horrible. There were forgotten steps, wrong arms, ....yeah. Then we got to do it a second time, and we did it!! Yay!! It just wasn't as sharp and precise as we both know they were looking for. The entire audition experience lasted 1 hour, and then we left to have lunch/dinner and get back on the road. 20 hours of driving for a 1 hour audition...we are crazy!!

We probably won't get an email informing us that we are hired, but we both learned a lot from the experience. I first of all started getting an audition wardrobe together, because I bought all new stuff for this audition. I also learned that I need to be able to learn choreography faster and more precisely instead of being worried about how to "show off my personality". The overall technique of the audition wasn't difficult, the choreography was just insanely fast, and there was a lot of choreography for the arms so if you didn't do it accurately or fast enough they would get tied up in knots around your body. I think I want to start taking hip hop because even though hip hop is a different style than this audition it would get me used to learning and doing fast sharp precise movements with my limbs. Something that Ballet, Modern, and even a lot of Jazz classes don't emphasize.

After the audition we drove home, and arrived back into the Bay Area around 2am, just in time to get s"some" sleep before classes later that morning.

Were we crazy to drive all that way for this audition? Yes! Do we regret it? No! Would we do it again? Probably. Did we have fun? Absolutely! And did we learn things to take back with us? Most importantly....yes!!



Here is a picture I took of myself in our hotel room, just before leaving for the audition studio.

Overcoming Technical Difficulties

This past weekend was Grace Dance Academy's performance of their production "Creation". Costumes were finished, programs were made, the students had worked hard and gotten lectured about still not being on the right counts (even though the performance was the next day!!). Everything seemed to pull together last minute at dress rehearsal. Everything felt finished, and the dancers looked polished, all of the lecturing and hard work had paid off, and as teachers we couldn't be more proud or excited to open our show!!

An excited cast, and an eager audience, the curtain opened...and that is when we experience our first technical difficulty of the evening. Our slide show that so elegantly started a story that the dancers would finish through movement froze, and instead of a slide show the audience saw a gray box. (Not very exciting). Quickly the curtain closed! And shortly after the curtain reopened! Everything back on track!! The slides worked, and the show opened with a beautiful performance by GDA's Ensemble dancers.

However, that was not the end of the technical difficulties! During the second dance, dancers were on stage, dancing wonderfully and on the right counts (they were the once who were given a lecture during tech) when all of a sudden their music just stopped right in the middle of their dance!!! They froze, and didn't know what to do! We called them off stage, and tried to proceed with the rest of he show. But music was still being an issue, the next song didn't want to play and instead music from the second act began playing!! WHY?!?!?! Meanwhile the young dancers from the previous dance (the dance whose music cut out on them) were back stage crying upset (as they should be) about not even getting to perform a dance they had worked so hard to get right!

I know that dancers and other behind the scenes people began praying for the Holy Spirit to cover the show and prevent any other interruptions, and from that point on the rest of the show went (for the most part) smoothly. After the entire production, the dance that never finished came back on stage for a not-quite-encore encore...they did beautifully!!

To quote one of our audience members to our director: "It WAS amazing. The girls were amazing, you and all the other teachers are amazing and God was amazing, but we already knew that. My husband can't stop telling everyone he talks to today about how gorgeous the dancing was, how beautiful the message and what a wonderful tribute to the studio this must have been. He is not one to go on and on about dance, but he said he teared up several times last night watching all those girls dance for our Lord. Thank you for all your efforts. My family was all very impressed!"

Here our a few picture that I took at our flawless dress rehearsal.




Me and two of my students after the performance.

Creation!

If you live in or within driving distance of the Bay Area, I invite you to come see Grace Dance Academy's FIRST full length performance "Creation"! You will get to see some of my students, my choreography, and my costume designing skills all on stage at one time...how exciting is that!!!

For more info visit the Facebook event page or visit Grace Dance Academy's website Tickets can be ordered in advance or purchased at the door.

I hope many of you can come!!

Scandal

So I am sure everyone has heard and is still hearing about the sex scandals in the Catholic Church. It is true that there were some pretty bad things that have happened, it is a reminder to all people that no matter the person in authority or what kind of position held by a man, they are still just that, a man...a human.

I think that what happened was horrible. The sexual abuse, and the covering up/protecting the offender. I think that that should never have happened and should never happen again. However, I am aware of some other cases of sexual abuse (not in the catholic church) where the offender is still free. Relieved of his duties, but not arrested and not under house arrest. I don't know if the people are waiting for the "right" time to prosecute or if the people who came forwarded requested that he not be turned in, in either case there is a person who committed the same type of crime and is yet being "protected" or hushed up. Again I don't think this is right, I just think it is an example that this whole hushing up thing is not unique to the Catholic Church's situation.

Additionally, I find it interesting that the media has put the Catholic Church in such a spotlight when in "2009, [only] six credible allegations of abuse concerning people who are minors were reported to the U.S. bishops -- in a church with 65 million members." While at the same time youth who are in detention centers are also sexually abused. "Nationwide about 12 percent of youths held in state-run, privately run, or local facilities reported some type of sexual victimization" One center is reported to have had over 34% of its youth sexually abused in the last year, and that is just ONE center in the last year! Why aren't these centers as well as others who have high sexual abuse rates being criticized and investigated as intensely as the Catholic Church is? In comparison the Catholic Church's rates are minute; 6 out of 65 million members versus 4 out of 11.

To read more and learn about the history of sexual abuse in the Catholic church, as well as read some statistics of sexual abuse (priests vs other religious leaders vs men in general) read this article by Dr. Thomas Plante is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University as well as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine

50th Anniversary

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I think I will let this photobook of about 100 photos tell the story of my Mom and Dad's anniversary celebration.

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Dance Pictures by Dillon Engstrom

I just wanted to share some pictures that were taken in a photoshoot last week. All pictures were taken by Dillon Engstrom. Thank you Dillon for a beautiful and fun photoshoot!

Why the Olympics Make Me Ashamed of America by Ian Patterson

Why the Olympics Make Me Ashamed of America

Costume Dyeing

On Saturday I ventured to the faraway land of Tracy, CA so that I could use my parents' great farm sized back yard to do costume dyeing. Luckily it didn't rain and so I was able to spend the whole day dyeing, it was however cold and windy which just made the experience more....uhm...more memorable.

I used 3 dye baths. The first was 2 gallons of water and 1/2 package of RIT Royal Blue dye, the second was 2 gallons of water and 1 whole package of RIT Royal Blue dye, and the third one was 2 gallons of water 1 package of RIT Royal Blue dye and 1/2 package of RIT Navy Blue dye.

I dyed all of the leotards the first dye bath to get them a light blue color. The pants were immersed in the light blue, and then dipped into the second dye bath, and then dipped into the third dye bath. I feel like the results were great!



Below is my work station.....

And my assistants! (my niece and my mom)

And this is me with the costumes drying on the clothes line. As you can tell it was cold and windy.



















I couldn't resist! I had to try it on!!


I can't wait to see the entire costume assembled and on the dancers. It's going to be amazing!

My Choreography!!!

I am finally posting my choreography!! This piece is from a performance at SJSU on December 5, 2009. It is titled "Hippocratic Oath?". The Hippocratic oath is an oath that doctors take when they become practicing doctors:

"I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts."

However, people are faced by decision or pressures of doctors/Insurance companies to euthanize or end life support. It makes me ask whether this oath still holds true or if it is somehow now void.

This piece seeks to illustrate the dilemma people are faced with when forced to make this type of decision. I hope that it educates people whether they are for or against euthanasia. I feel like no matter what your belief or views are they should be chosen out of education and not out of ignorance. When asked why you are for or against something you should be able to answer why and know what the ramifications of your decisions are.

I hope you enjoy this dance as a visual piece of education as well as a piece of fine art.

Super cute!

Ok my dear friend Kelley the Drawworm posted this video, and it really made my day!! I hope you smile and enjoy it too!!

Testing 1-2-3

Yesterday was Presidents Day as well as a Campus Furlough day, and so since I had the day off but couldn't really go do anything because many places were closed (also my husband was out of the house working on a game creation project, so he wasn't around to freak out for fear that I was about to dye the entire apartment blue), I did some practice dyeing!

I have "designed" the costumes for the modern class that I teach. This is a picture of what it should roughly look like.

The dance is about the Sea/Water, the creation of it, the movement of it, etc. The dance is abstract of course and as you can tell so is the costume. The idea for the costume is the blue of the water, the deeper down you go into the sea the darker it is, and when waves splash it often looks white and foamy or s"splashy"...hence the dark o light blue gradient and then the white swooshel over-top.

The costume consists of a tank leotard, jazz pants, and an "asymmetrical dress". Right now all of the are white. The pants and leotard are waiting for me to dye them blue. But before I delve into dyeing the real costumes I wanted to play around a little bit to get a feel for how the dye takes to the fabric, and how the color will/should look. Here are some test pant legs.
This was enough for me to figure out how I will go about dyeing the actual costumes!! For my test I used one dye bath (the left was navy blue and the right was royal blue because I didn't know what color would be the right blue), meaning that I used one color at one intensity or one level of concentration. For the actual costumes I will have 3 different dye baths each at different levels of dye intensity. First I will dye the entire garment in the bath that has only 1/4 amount of dye, then dip the garment to the appropriate level in a bath that has 1/2 amount of dye, then dip the garment to appropriate level in full strength. (intensity of dye is determined by amount of dye per 2 gallons of water) This will yield the actual ombre gradient that I desire. I am excited!!

Also I have decided to use Royal Blue dye because the Navy looks too purple as it goes lighter.

I can't wait to post pictures of the actual dyeing process as well as photos of the completed costumes!!

Lot's of "yummy" things

Since I haven't posted in a while and since there is a lot of yummy things to write about, I think this post should be broken into sub-posts. Below you will find that that I have labeled sections as "recipes", "school", "thoughts" and "praises".

Praises
First of all I would like to let you all no about how great God is. You may recall me talking about a couple who were recently pregnant and the woman wanted to have an abortion, she didn't even want to go to counseling. Well, she did go to counseling, and "postponed" the abortion. Since then though, the abortion seems to be canceled completely and they are excited to find out the sex of their baby! Praise God for the new little life, and the preservation of that life...God is so good!

School
It's crazy!!! Luckily I am officially registered for everything which truly makes this my last semester (this takes one stress off of my shoulders...waiting for add codes and petitions to exceed units really sucks).

Dance rehearsals have started for the Sr. Portfolio concert, and I am really excited. Both pieces that I am dancing in already seem magnificent. I can't wait!! My piece I am excited for too, but I am having trouble placing my concept and ideas onto my dancers, a sort of choreographers block. I have tons of ideas and things I want to do, I just can't seem to materialize them into movement. It will come though, and I have great dancers!!!

With normal classes, dance rehearsals, and teaching for Grace Dance Academy (and finishing choreography for their spring concert in April), I am kept extremely BUSY! At least its all mostly stuff I love (except for the a few classes in school).

Thoughts
For anyone who has read the Sparks novel "Dear John" DO NOT go see the movie!! It will make you upset. They rushed through all of the important parts and took some things out, and yet added things that never happened and changed things. It was a real disappointment! The book however is wonderful, and if you haven't read it please do!

On a more serious an theological note (for Christians): Is there ever a point during our life on earth where we can truly say "I am saved"? If so, can salvation be lost? Additionally, can it be gained back again? This has long been in debate between different theologians and churches, and was the topic of discussion during a meeting I had earlier this week.

Matthew 24:9-13
⁹"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹²Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Hebrews 6:4-6
⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Philippians 2:12
¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Most of the verses I found when looking up the term saved, seem to describe salvation as something to come, which suggests that we have the hope of it but don't actually have it have it. The verse from Matthew says it quite clear "those who stand to the end WILL BE saved". The other two verses show that obeying God's will and seeking His forgiveness will lead us to salvation. Additionally, Hebrews suggests that we can even lose the hope of salvation, by committing an unrepentable sin.

I think this is interesting because many Christians and churches hold onto the belief that there is a single moment a persons life where you are "saved" and from that point on you are guaranteed your place in God's heavenly kingdom. This belief is much more comforting to think about, it seems so much more simple. Believe and be saved, and then do your best for God and all is good. If that were the case however, Paul wouldn't be "working out his salvation in fear and trembling". Paul seems to be much more aware of Gods power and mightiness that Christians are today. Today we like to picture God like a Santa Claus, big friendly, jolly, can give great bear hugs, and is there to give us things we ask/pray for. In a way God is those things; I mean he isn't mean, but he is just and just for some people (and probably many people) isn't nice, happy, and jolly, and definitely not something they want. So I think from our human persepctive and relaization of time, salvation is a process. Something that we must currently strive for, but we can be comforted in the fact that we have the HOPE of that salvation.

Now if we think about things 4th dimensionally (which is always a much more interesting and precise way to think about things) we can see that we are either saved or not saved, and it's simple as that. God is outside of time and sees our entire life all at one time. He knows what we did, what we are doing, what we are thinking now...and now....and now, and knows what we will do. becauseHe sees our entire life as one complete piece of fabric He knows whether or not it is something He can use in His Kingdom. To Him we either saved or not saved. We are not almost saved. We are not once saved and then oops.. not saved. We are not unsaved and then suddenly saved. He simply sees the fabric of our entire life and judges whether or not is beautiful enough for His house.

Recipes

I have done a lot of cooking, and baking. Some were successes, and some were... well, not so much.

Pasta Sauce

One fun new thing I did was jar some of my homemade pasta sauce.
My sauce is delicious if I do say so myself, but tricky and interest part is the jarring process. Actually, it's really not that hard.

Step 1 Make your sauce
Step 2 Once the sauce is finished, keep it hot (boiling temperature), and in a large pot filled with boiling water boil the empty jars and their lid/lid parts for 15 minutes
Step 3 Take the jars out of the water pour water out of the jars, and set on the counter (put a couple of towels underneath them so they don't scorch your counter)
Step 4 Fill the hot empty jars with your hot pasta sauce
Step 5 Place the lids on the jars and screw on tightly
Step 6 Place the sauce filled jars back into boiling water and boil for 35 minutes
Step 7 Take the jars out, place on counter and let cool until cool enough to put away in your cupboard

Lanie's Oatmeal Surprise Cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup of chopped coconut cashews (they are at Costco)...(chop them by placing in a ziploc bag and smashing until a nice "chopped" consistency)
  

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, and cashews; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. ENJOY!! Store tightly covered.

Lemon Recipes

The Lemon recipes below were made because I was given an enormous amount of lemons from my mother-in-law; Myer Lemons from her tree. So yummy, but I was then stuck with the decision "what do I do with 20 lemons?!"

Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces whole-wheat angel hair pasta
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 chicken cutlets (3/4-1 pound total), trimmed
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 10-ounce package mushrooms, sliced (use portobella)
  
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (I added more lemon juice)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed (I added twice as many capers)
  
• 2 teaspoons butter

Preparation:
First we have to boil a large pot of water. Once the water boils, we put in the angel hair pasta. We have to let the pasta cook for about 4-6 minutes till it becomes soft. Once done, drain the water and remove the pasta.

Then we beat (piccata) the chicken broth and 5 teaspoons of the flour together. Then, we have to season the chicken with salt and pepper (as per taste, but generally 1/4th teaspoon of each is used), and dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour. Once dredged, heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a non stick skillet. Pan-fry the chicken for 2-3 minutes per side on a medium heat till the chicken turns brown and then remove it off the skillet and keep it warm.

The last 1 teaspoon of oil is used to pan fry the mushrooms over a medium heat. Once the oil is heated, we add the mushrooms and cook them for 5 minutes, till they brown and start releasing the juice. Next, add garlic and wine to the pan and cook for 1-2 more minutes. We take this mixture and stir it in the flour-broth mix with the lemon juice and another 1/4th teaspoon of salt. Put the gas on a low flame and cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes, till the sauce thickens.

Next, add the parsley, capers and remaining mushrooms. Add the pasta into the pan and cook, continuously stirring. Serve the pasta topped with the chicken and voilà!! Your easy mushroom chicken piccata recipe is ready!

Lemon Cookies

Omg!! This recipe is sooooo involved, and they didn't even come out close to looking like they do in the picture!! They are pretty tasty anyways, but way too much work.

Lemon Merengue pie

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 lemons, juiced and zested
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 4 egg whites
• 6 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
3. To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

Falling Behind

So we are beginning to fall behind on our two books "A Year With C.S. Lewis" and "The Five Love Languages". Since school started I have a lot less time in the mornings, and instead of finding myself able to wake up early and relax in the morning with my husband, I find myself waking up early (6am as opposed to early mentioned 6:45) and rushing around the apartment to find my dance stuff, pack a lunch, fix breakfast and get out the door in time to make it to my 7:30am class. As I sit here writing this I am wondering if the excuse I described above is just that....an excuse. Or if I (and my husband) have valid reasons for falling a bit behind in our morning readings and quiet time. Maybe we aren't trying hard enough?! I mean the C.S. Lewis book is pretty much a paragraph a day!!!

Unfortunately our reading and prayer-life aren't he only things that have gotten forgotten about over the past week. The apartment looks disastrous, and instead of having meals all planned out for the week like I had hoped, I find myself scrounging last minute for ideas of what to cook for dinner. Am I just a weak woman, only able to concentrate at one thing at a time? ...Curently school. Or are these valid and universal dilemmas? Anyone with advice on how to be superwoman; balancing: 20 units of school, being a wife, being a homemaker, and being a dance teacher, please share!!! Luckily I'm not stressed out yet, I'm just sad that the house is in disarray, my husband ALWAYS sees me in dance sweats, and school seems to precede spending quality time with my husband and with God. Maybe I'm just experiencing senioritis? Afterall it is my LAST semester....yeah that must be it. *sigh*

First Week

I just finished my last first week of undergraduate school!!! That's right I'm graduating this May. I am excited beyond words!!

I'm finishing up my B.S. in Psychology with the following:

• Psyc 117 Test and Measures
• Psyc 160 Clinical
• Psyc 186 Field Work (I actually already did the work, I'm just now getting the credit)

Support for the B.S.

• Phil 160 Philosophy of Science
• Bio 21

And I'm finishing up my B.A. in Dance with the following:

• Dance 140A Modern III
• Dance 142B Jazz IV
• Dance 194 Credit for performing
  
• Dance 198 Sr. Portfolio

Oh yeah, and I'm taking a random upper division G.E.:

• Nutrition and Health Science 135 Health in a Multicultural Society

Its my last semester and still have a pretty full plate, but I'm actually feeling pretty motivated in all of my classes. I know its my last semester, and I want to do well. I am really looking forward to growing in my dancing this last semester too, the teachers I have are great and the choreographers I am dancing for are brilliant.

My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday...I turned twenty-old :-p Despite spending the majority of the day writing 2 papers for my winter session bio class (the last assignment of the class that just ahd to be due on my birthday), I had a good day.

I wanted Chipotle for lunch, and just for telling them it was my birthday I got a free burrito!! It was awesome!

In the middle of the day I was pleasantly surprised by a delivery of birthday flowers from my sister and her family. (Thank you Sissy!!)

Later in the evening Rob took me to play glow in the dark mini-golf and then to Dave and Busters. Both things I have been wanting to do. I had a nice fun time with my husband, and I was really glad that I didn't have school on my birthday for a change. Usually my birthday is the first day back to school, so everyone is too busy to remember your birthday, and I'm too busy to celebrate. But this year I had a nice time, my husband made sure of that. :-)

I did some celebrating earlier in the week too. On Thursday night my parents-in-law took me to a nice restaurant in Downtown Palo Alto called Pampas a place I highly recommend. It was such a fun experience!! You have to order the Rodizio!

And on Sunday I went to my parents for dinner; my mommy cooked me yummies!! There is nothing like a home cooked dinner by your mom...it's something I miss.

So yes, I had a very pleasant day. Thank you to everyone who thought of me and sent me birthday wishes.

Dancing Rainbow Pasta!!!

Ok maybe not quite dancing rainbow pasta, but pretty close!

Today I danced for 3 hours at Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet at the San Francisco Dance Center. I am taking a weekend long choreography workshop with awesome choreographer Mary Carbonara. We are working a new piece of hers which will debut soon. The piece is consist of her choreography as well as some of our own, and she is piecing it all together in an interesting way. I can't wait to see the finished product tomorrow! Rumor has it that this workshop is an informal audition to perform in this piece (or join her company) when the piece makes its debut. I think it would be super awesome to get asked to dance in her piece!! Whether that happens or not though I am having a lot of fun...dancing hard, and sweating lots...its GREAT!!

On the way home from San Francisco I saw a rainbow. The picture you see here doesn't do it justice, the real thing was much more magnificent. I could actually see the the entire arch...the entire half circle. It was pretty awesome!!

For dinner my husband and I made homemade pasta. That's right, real HOMEMADE spaghetti!!!!


















It was sooo much fun, and the finished product tasted absolutely amazing. it really is better than store bought. The texture is better, and its fresher, so its better...ha! We made our pasta noodles with a genuine authentic Italian pasta maker, "The Imperia".



















I had fun making looooonnnng spaghetti's!!




From really insanely long lasagna noodle to beautifully perfect spaghetti noodles YAY!

















We made some to have for dinner tonight, and some to dry and use during the week. My husband Rob liked our pasta so much he wants to have a weekly pasta making night on Saturdays.




I made my own sauce too (which came out pretty darn good if I do say so myself), and we sprinkled our dinner with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.


















We served our delightful dinner with a nice cabernet that was given to us as a New Years gift.

Today truly was a wonderful day, filled with many of my favorite things: dancing, rainbows, my husband, and pasta!

The Precious Gift of Life

Life is so valuable, and so precious! I am in awe of the mystery and wonder of human life every time I dance, spend time with my husband, hold a baby, discover a friend is a pregnant. I am also often shocked by peoples choices made out of selfishness.

Last semester I spoke with someone who's friend was pregnant with her third baby. The woman wanted to have an abortion because she felt that her and her husband could not afford to take care of a third. She was spoken to about adoption by her friend (the person I spoke to about this) and her husband. The woman's response to adoption was that she wanted to have an abortion instead of put her baby up for adoption because she thought that after carrying the baby for nine months and then giving birth she would not be able to give the baby up, and she didn't want to put herself through that.

Earlier today another friend of mine who is starting to lead a bible study for some non-quite-yet-Christians but seeking people emailed and said that a couple he knows is pregnant and the mother wants to have an abortion. The father doesn't want her too, and instead wants her to see a counselor...she refused and scheduled an abortion for this coming week. After prayer by a group prayer warriors, I found out that she has postponed her abortion by a week and *might* see a counselor. I don't know her stance on adoption, I wish I did because I would consider adopting the baby in order to save his or her precious life.(I'll post more on this another time, and share an idea I have for starting a ministry)

In contrast to the above two stories my dear friend Genevieve posted the video that I am now posting below. A beautiful story of two selfless individuals. A husband and wife who realized that their call to parenthood was a gift. Where many would look at their situation as a bad circumstance, they looked at every single moment as a blessing. I hope and pray that my husband and I can be as good of parents as these two. I found this story incredibly inspiring, and I hope you do too! (Note: you may need some tissues)

99 Balloons from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

A Fight Against the Enemy

As you may or may not know I am a dance teacher for a Christian dance studio called Grace Dance Academy . This studio is seeking to train dancers to not only be outstanding dancers, and performers, but how to also be missionaries through dance. Unlike many other Christian studios and companies, GDA wants to bring dance and the Word of God to people outside of the church, as opposed to performing at churches, for churches, to people who already know about Jesus. Currently GDA's Ensemble (an advanced group of dancers who we take to perform at various events in the community) are preparing to perform/minister this weekend at large performance concert here in the Bay Area, called "Winter Showcase". However, in the past week 3 of our dancers have gotten seriously injured; 1 broken wrist, 1 sprained ankle, and 1 bruised/ possible fractured spine.

Is it coincidence that our dancers get severely injured right before a performance where they would actually be spreading word of God's glory to those who have never heard of it? Or is it the devil trying to pursue, and attack us using the best possible attack for dancers? I think it is the latter.

Instead of giving in to the devil's attacks, we realize where our strength and grace comes from, and are turning to God in prayer and praise. The teachers of GDA will be coming together weekly to spend time together in prayer, additionally the students and families are invited and encouraged to join us, as we journey together to praise God and dance for the Glory of His kingdom.

I can not express enough to my injured students how sorry I am for their pain both physically, and emotionally from not being able to dance for a while (I understand what it's like; I've been there). But I am excited to see that the enemies attacks are backfiring on him, and that God will make the students stronger because of this, and the studio stronger too.

³ I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

⁴ He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.

Too Early

So if you read my previous post about not being lazy, you know that my husband and I have been waking up at 6:45 every morning. This is something we just started, but today 6:45am seemed too early! I know, I know... it is too early in our attempt to establish this routine to be saying that, I mean come on we JUST STARTED this schedule, I can't deviate away from it YET. Nonetheless, 6:45 was too early this morning, and I hit snooze and slept in until 7:45. Hopefully, waking up tomorrow will be easier and my 6:45am schedule will continue (going to bed nowish would probably make it happen). I think for now I am going to just blame my sleepiness on the cold, windy, rainy, weather.

Afternoon of Techniques and Evening Stirfry

Jewelry
So yesterday afternoon (after my biology exam) I learned a few jewelry making techniques from a dear friend of mine. She taught me how to do wire wrapping and twisting, how to make my own head pins, and how to make a bail. We also went shopping for some beads and things! She bought some materials to make herself a piece (something she has needed to do for a while, after making pretty things for other people you have to stop and make something for your self once in a while). I bought something to go with beads I already had, and I also bought materials for a entirely new piece.

I am very excited, because I am having fun making and designing jewelry, but have lacked confidence in my designing and creating skills. My friend taught me some techniques that I can now work on to perfect, and she also told me that I need to just play around and come up with my own style and personality.

When I got home, I started and finished (yes finished!!) a necklace. I think my designing skills are already improving! And I know my creating techniques are.

Here are pictures of the finished product!!!
I made the chain with silver wire, and he beads are made of Snowflake Obsidian, a semi precious stone that is volcanic glass. I even made my own bail for the pendant!!


Food
In addition to Jewelry making, my husband and I had another wonderful dinner! Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Shrimp-and-Noodle-Stir-Fry-103376
We used yaki soba noodles, added broccoli, and forgot to add the jicama. It was DELICIOUS!!!

And just to let you all know, MY HUSBAND DID THE COOKING!!! Yes, that's right folks, my husband cook occasionally and it's wonderful and yummy. I'm such a lucky wife!

Portabella Mushroom Burgers

Ok so last night I made these burgers for dinner, and it was quite yummy. It was a portabella mushroom cap brushed with a marinade grilled, and topped with melted swiss cheese and a grilled roasted red pepper (along with produce). I thought I would Share the recipe!

*Note: I was confused that the word "portabella" was not recognized as a word by bloggers spell check. I began to wonder if it was spelled "portobella" or "portobello". According to the Mushroom Council I am corret in my spelling of "portabella" so we will go with that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaricus_bisporus

Portabella Mushroom Burgers
2 servings
Ingredients:
marinade (recipe below)
2 large portabella mushroom caps
jar of roasted red peppers
swiss cheese
mayo
lettuce
tomato

For marinade:
2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinger
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
sprinkle of sage
sprinkle of basil
sprinkle of pepper
sprinkle of steak seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of mustard (deli works really but I used regular yellow last night)

Directions:
Mix the marinade. Brush the mushroom caps top and bottom with marinade, and place on grill (normal grill, george forman, cuisinart, etc.). After about 3 to 4 mins, turn mushroom caps over, and brush with whatever marinade is remaining. Grill for another 3 to 4 mins. Now place a roasted red pepper on each mushroom cap, and grill for about 2 minutes. Now place the slices of swiss cheese on top of the mushroom/roasted red pepper. This time don't put the top of the grill down (if you are using a george forman or cuisinart) but lower it enough so that the heat of it can melt the cheese. Grill until cheese starts to melt.

Spread mayo on bun, in my case I used slices of homemade garlic cheese bread which was overwhelmingly delicious (I'll post the recipe for that too). Place your mushroom/red pepper/swiss cheese onto the bread, top with lettuce and tomato. ENJOY!!

Garlic Cheese Bread (for a bread maker)
Ingredients:
Water 1 and 1/3 cups + 1 Tablespoon
Salt 1 teaspoon
Sugar 2 Tablespoons
Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded 1 cup
garlic 1 bulb, take each clove and cut the woody end off and then slice each clove in half lengthwise
Bread Flour 4 cups
Bread Machine Yeast 4 and 1/2 teaspoons

Directions:
Place in bread maker in order as listed, and put bread maker on "Fast Bake" setting.

(If you don't have a bread maker, I am pretty sure you could mix everything together, and then let it rise for 30 minutes and then bake it for about 30 minutes, I haven't tried it with this recipe but I don't see why it wouldn't work)

It's not even 6pm yet!?

Well, wow...it's not even 6pm yet and I feel like I have done 2 days worth of stuff!! Waking up early is empowering!

I watched documentaries, and read chapters in a book for my class (that I happen to have an exam in tomorrow).

I created a 50th Wedding Anniversary invitation for my Mom and Dad to use. I used Illustrator and iPhoto to create it. The invitation looks pretty nice if I do say so myself, plus it is simple but personal like them, providing the invitee with the mere details and a wedding picture from...well....50 years ago! (I blurred out the details to ensure no "Anniversary Crashers" :-p)
I also made a necklace that I am rather proud of. It took quite a while to make, and although there were probably other things that "needed" to be done I am glad that I spent the time today to start and finish this piece. (I however really need actual jewelry display to display my pieces for photography, my black wool coat doesn't quite cut it)
So far a very fun and productive day, despite the cold, rain and wind. What else can I fit into the rest of the day?!?

Being NOT Lazy

So my husband and I have never been morning people, but we are beginning to feel like this aversion to mornings is leading to lazy behavior. In order to become more active individuals and couple we are have set up some new parameters or guidelines for living.

• We are going to start waking up at 6:45am everyday. This sounds ungodly, but so far we have done it 2 days in a row, and the feeling of having 2 days in one is phenomenal!!

• We are going to eat breakfast together every morning (what a concept). This will hopefully make us healthier people, and it also allows us to spend time together in the mornings before we start our separate busy days.

• My husband is going to start going to the gym 3 days a week, and I'm going to be taking a dance class at least once every week day.

• We are going to start planning out our meals for the week together every Sunday. I personally think this will not only eliminate the "what should we have for dinner?" dilemma but also enable us to purchase and use only what need, as opposed to getting food items we don't need and that consequentially go bad before they are finished.

• We are also reading two books together! One in the morning during or after breakfast, "A Year with C.S. Lewis Daily Readings from His Classic Works" and one before we go to bed "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman.

• We are also both being a little more dedicated to technological means of communication, in my husbands case his use of Twitter, and in my case this blog (I already use twitter and facebook. I guess I am a "TwitFaceBlogger"? hmmm).

We think that these plans will contribute to a more active lifestyle physically, emotionally, and spiritually for us as individuals and as a husband and wife unit.

The Great Start

So I have tried doing diaries, prayer journals, food/diet records, and I fail at keeping them up. However, I am pretty much addicted to facebook, so I figure if I can be that addicted to keeping track of friends, I must be able to keep up something a little more complex like a blog.

I plan on blogging about recipes, art and craft projects, work related opportunities, things I am learning in my marriage, and things I am learning about God.

I really think this will be a good outlet for me to speak out through, and knowing that someone might read it or understand what I say helps me feel that there is meaning to this all instead of it being a pointless diary or daily accounts of boring tasks.

So here it goes.......