HOME

Today is Tuesday & I am at home instead of spending a day sitting at the dance studio. Again, it comes with mixed emotions. As for right now though - I'M LOVING IT!!! It's nice to be home. We even had FHE last night & I cooked dinner! I even plan on cooking again tonight! That's unheard of at my house. I'm usually always running. I even have plans (I guess the key word here would be "plans".) of getting the laundry all caught up today. Although I will miss the girls - I'm ok with this for now. I have been teaching for 16 years! Within that 16 years I've only had 1 year that I didn't teach. That's when we lived in St. George & I was pregnant with Kylie. Other than that, I've always been teaching. I welcome this change for now....

**P.S. - if you happen to know anyone who would like to buy some mirrors let me know. We are trying to sell the mirrors from the studio!! (I know - shameless! :) )

SAD WEEK

This is a sad week for me for 2 reasons...

1. Monday was the 15th. Which means that it was the 6 month anniversary of my brother's passing. It was a hard day for me remembering that. We did have a family party that night that helped me. I'm not sure if anyone even knew, but it was a rough one. I miss him - I've missed the normal Michael for years, but that doesn't make it any easier.

2. The studio that EmmaLee & I have worked so hard on is closing this week. We are so small, which is what we wanted. Well, we didn't want to be this small, but we didn't want to be huge either. With the economy the way it is & everyone cutting out "extras" - dance is the first "extra" to go for most families. Needless to say, we are no longer able to stay afloat. I debated about writing about this on my blog, but it is a part of my history, so it was necessary. Plus, I'd rather have people read about it than ask me how things are going & have to tell them in person. We are sad. Yet, we're also happy to be home more with our families.

On a happier note. We are excited for the holidays at my house! I am still working on our Christmas Cards. Surprise, surprise! It won't be much - I just have to do it. And we're going the lame route this year & emailing them out to everyone. So, if we don't have you're email be sure to leave a comment with it so we can get one to you. Thanks & love to all!

BEGINNINGS

Here's another one of my long week-in-review- posts. This is what we've been up to. School started this week. Here's Kylie on her first day of 3rd grade! (This was the best picture I could get out of her. She usually loves to pose for pictures, but we were a little too excited this morning.)

Jadyn started Kindergarten. I can't believe she's that old! Just crazy!
Here she is lining up to say the Pledge of Allegiance before they walk into their classroom.
When I picked Jadyn up from school she came to me & said,"Mom! This is going to be so cool!" She's so funny & just as dramatic as her sister.

**Erik & I were able to finally get our living room project completed with the girls at school. Check out my vinyl site link on the right for pictures of that.**

With the beginning of school also comes the beginning of a new dance year! Make sure you check out our dance studio blog & be sure to sign up your kids! We have some new classes & are excited to be in our new building! Here's the link:

DANCE DEFINED

Then, there's the beginning of the Olympics this week on 8-8-08. Erik's been waiting weeks for this to start & he's been watching it all weekend. (The Olympics take over our lives at our house.) We love them. The opening ceremony was truly unbelieveable! As a dance teacher I was amazed at how in sync everyone was all the time. I can't get a group of 5 girls to be together, but they can get thousands in unison. Absolutely amazing!! It was just breathtaking what they did. Here's my favorite picture of the night...
One of our favorite things about the Oympics is the stories they tell of the athletes. I love to hear how they came to be at the top & what they had to overcome to get their. It's always inspiring. Well, this was no disappointment. In case you somehow missed this moment - here's the story..

This little boy standing next to Yao Ming is a 9 year old survivor of the recent earthquakes in China. 2/3rds of the kids in his school were killed in the quake. After pulling himself out of the rubble - this little boy risked his life to go back into the rubble & save another student. Then, went back in to save another one. He was asked why he risked his own life to save the other children. He simply said, "I had to. I'm the hall monitor." How can you not love that? What an adorable little guy. Not to mention how just too cute this picture is. The shortest person on the athlete field with the tallest person on the athlete field.

Lastly, I topped the week off with a night out with some friends in my ward discussing the good old "Twilight" series. Even though we talked about A LOT of other things - it was a blast. Thanks ladies for a fun night! We'll have to do it again soon.

DANCE DEFINED

Welcome to my busy life the last month!! EmmaLee & I now have a new motto...
"If you build it, they will come."
That's what we hope for anyway! You see, for those of you that don't already know, EmmaLee & I have been lucky enough to find a space to rent for our studio that works perfect for us. We have been painting like crazy & trying to get it ready. Here's a before shot...

Now, here's an after shot...

This is our lobby area. We're still in the process of finishing up the rooms, but they're getting closer. Now, we just need to find students to fill it. So, here's where you all come in. If you would like - add our dance blog as a link to your list of friends. Here's the address...
DANCE DEFINED
Any exposure we can get would help. And if you really love us & would like to help - make a little post introducing this great new studio to the Gilbert area. Make sure you check out our blog often in the next little bit. My friend Heidi is going to do a "Boot Camp" at the studio as well. So, check back to get more info. on that. I've taken it before & it's well worth it!! Our schedule's on the blog & even a slide show of our recent recital. Thanks to all & be sure to sign up for summer classes by calling the # on the dance blog ASAP!!!

Dance Defined

Nothing too exciting is happening at my home right now! Although, my friend EmmaLee & I started our little dance studio this week. If you're interested in dance check out our blog for times & info. It's under my list of blogs I visit (or stalk) as Dance Defined. Hurry quick - we're going to start getting ready for our Christmas show soon! I know that sounds crazy - Christmas is only 3 1/2 months away, so we've got to get to work.