Weekend in Review

Well this weekend was for the majority, spent at a dance competition.  I really loved spending time with my most favorite people. 

My life has always been hectic.  In high school I was at the studio 3-4 nights per week, was a varsity cheerleader, worked a job at a local ice cream shop, had a steady boyfriend, spent lots of quality time with my immediate and extended family, and got good grades through it all.  In college I kept the same pace and after graduation, I just kept going even though I got a full-time job and enrolled in graduate work - I just kept teaching at the studio and coaching a dance team.  It really wasn't a big deal to me, I was single and spending time with the people I cared about at the studio and my dance team was fun.

In the past few years as I met Hubs and began getting serious, I began viewing my extra jobs as a burden.  I wanted to spend time with him, I wanted to relax when I got home from work, I wanted to make dinner like a normal human being.  Now don't get me wrong, I had fun every single time once I got there - but very often I didn't want to go to start with.  I would come home from work and just cry because I was so mentally and emotionally exhausted and just didn't want to go work for another 2-5 hours (depending on the night). 

This weekend, my love was reignited.  I was reminded why I love my job at the studio.  My job at the studio is very often with beginning or intermediate dancers.  I feel like just when they're getting good, they get taken away from me because they get moved up to advanced or elite.  It just seems like a vicious wheel that never ends for me.  But this weekend, I sat watching many of my current and former students shine on stage and was reminded, that it is the purpose of my work ~ to make them excellent and then move them on to become better.  While I may not have a direct hand in their dance instruction today, they wouldn't be where they are without the foundation I {along with many other amazing faculty at the studio} laid for their current teachers. 

In addition to being in awe of my students, I genuinely laughed alot at the other staff.  Seriously, I am so blessed to work with my best friends and get to spend the entire weekend with them doing what we love.  I laughed harder than I have in a long, long time this weekend and it felt good.

So, as I prepare to begin another week, I simply take a deep breath in and count my many blessings.  Seriously, I get paid to do some of the best work ever.  :)

Disney, the flu, and catch-up

The title of this post has been my life for the past 2 weeks since I have updated this blog.  So, we're going to have a bullet list recap, to be followed later tonight or tomorrow by a picture update and an organizational project reveal.  Welcome back, friends!
On Thursday 2/3, I hopped on a plane headed to sunny Orlando, FL to cheer on my high school dance team as they competed in Nationals.

• My 1st flight was delayed causing me to almost miss my connection in Atlanta.  {I ran from gate C37 to A1 in 18 minutes...}
• I arrived in my hotel room at 1:00 AM - ugh, long day
• Friday, we had breakfast with the characters and spent time in Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom - great time!
• Saturday we competed in Pom, but didnt advance to semi-finals
• Sunday we competed in Jazz and advanced to semi-finals!!  {one of our team goals for the past 2 years}
• We competed in semi-finals and were 2 points from making finals - such an amazing time!
• Monday the Magical Express picked me up at 2:30 AM to go to the airport - HORRIBLE
• I flew home and was here for Kevin's birthday {stay tuned for a late birthday/Valentine's Day tribute to him this week}
• On Monday night I started feeling very sick
• Tuesday I tried to go to work but ended up feeling terrible and coming home before lunch
• I was attached to my bed or couch until Friday night when I finally started feeling a little better
• I had grad class all day Saturday
• and have been catching up on work I missed last week ever since.

So, as you can see, I really haven't had a lot of time for blogging/picture taking/organizing - but I'm vowing to make it a priority starting right now.

Welcome back!  :)

Surprise...!

I have never claimed to be the best blogger there was, but this schedule I have been dealing with has just been plain ridiculous.  Between work, grad school, the studio, Platinum, and being a newlywed - I just really have had ZERO time to blog.  But, I have made a promise to the many few regular readers of this blog that I will be better - and I have been trying to take more pictures.  I blog because I want people to keep up with our lives, but also because I want to always remember this time in my life.

So this weekend has been filled with fun for me!  Friday night I spent the night scrapbooking with my dearest friends.  At work on Friday one of my friends was like "ugh, I cannot imagine doing that - I would rather just slit my wrists - doesn't that just stress you out?!"  No, really it's just the opposite.  It is theraputic for me.  I love cutting, and laying out, and cropping pictures, and matching papers, and cutting out letters on my beloved Cricut.  Did I mention the company is fabulous?!

me, Jenny, Kim, & Jamie - these are my 3 best friends...I majorly love them! {Please disreguard the fact that my vest is all puffed up and makes me look pregnant...which I am NOT.}

Jamie completed her very first traditional scrapbook on Friday night - and it was ADORABLE.  :)

Saturday night my sister and her husband went out for a nice dinner and we got to watch their adorable children.  These are the people who make me smile.

And today, we went down to the Festival of Trees which is my favorite kick-off to the holiday season.  Our dance studio performed today on the mainstage and the kids absolutely loved this toy train village - it is pretty beautiful!

This is a picture of my neice Emma and I - it's a tradition!  We've taken one every year since she was a baby.  I LOVE this child - she seriously says some of the funniest things I've ever heard and I am SO glad I'm not her mother because I would not be able to discipline her through my laughter.

And both Sam & Maicey performed this morning - so here is a picture of them with Kim.  All my favorite people!  :)

I am blogging from my car while we drive Kaitlyn back to her mom and then we are having dinner with my family - this is the best weekend I've had in a LONG time. 

Hope your weekend was filled with blessings.

Much Love,
 Katie :)

86 Hearts, 1 Beat

I feel so blessed to be a part of such an amazing family at our dance studio.  Each year, we have a competition retreat where all the dancers gather for a night of fun, friendship, and focus for the upcoming season.  It is always a highlight of the year - and this year was no different!

The girls had such a wonderful time getting to know each other, creating cheers and posters, eating lots of junk food, and just having fun together.  They were up most of the night and us adults enjoyed our time sitting in the hallway laughing and having a great time together!

Here are some pictures :)

....check!

As many of you may or may not know, my sister and I coach a high school dance team here in our hometown. Actually, we started this dance team at our alma mater Pleasant Valley a few years after we graduated and it has been SO much fun to watch it grow into the amazing program that it is. I very much enjoy my time with the team and it has provided me an outlet besides the studio for my passion for dance.

This year, our team has helped me check another item off my "things to do before I die" list. This list was created in my head when I was in high school and has evolved and changed as my life has changed and I grow older and dream bigger dreams. This year, at only their 4th appearance at the Iowa State Dance and Drill Team competition...WE WON!! We are the Class 5 State Champions in jazz!!! It has been 4 days and I still get goosebumps when I type those words.

I will never, in all my life, forget the looks on their faces. I will never forget the sound of them screaming and shrieking. I will never forget them diving over eachother to hug eachother and us. I will never forget the days following when they were completely satisfied - everything they had worked for, we had. Being a dance team, it is not often we get alot of attention in our school. It was SO heartwarming to hear all the positive comments and read the congratulations emails from teachers and building/district administration. It's so amazing to watch the girls be commended for all their hard work and dedication, even before anyone was watching them.

I am both humbled and honored to be able to be a part of such an amazing and life-altering experience in their lives. And as a self-proclaimed, type A, list maker....I am LOVING that I can cross another thing off my life-long list!!

I'm still alive...

So if you ask my parents I am a terrible blogger and they have stopped even checking my blog! Yes, I am still alive and yes I am still updating my blog! Things have been slightly flipped upside down lately - in the past two weeks I have packed, moved, and unpacked again! To top it all off, I have spent two of the past three weekends at dance competitions cheering on my girls! In fact, I'm in the car on my way to Chicago to competition this weekend. With my new phone I should be able to update much more frequently! Actually, I might even be able to update again this weekend! :)