Nutcracker: An Amazing First!

Since Gwen has taken ballet for going on 2 years now and has shown a love for expanding her abilities in dance, AND since she gets an ever-so-slight discount for being a Balletmet student (meaning, she takes her lessons in a school staffed by the same professional ballet company that astounds all of Columbus with their amazing performances year after year!), we decided she should see her first live ballet performance!

And what better first ballet than that of The Nutcracker?

We surprised her with our plans just a few days before the event, mostly so she could become very absorbed in our copy of the story, memorize all the various dances, and be prepared to inform me that they switched up the order on a couple things or whisper anxiously "that wasn't in the book!" when a character like Grandma was introduced or when Mother Ginger was played by a man!

So excited! The rest of these photos are courtesy of my friend, Wendy, who can be credited for suggesting the outing for our daughters, driving our party downtown, bringing chocolate graham crackers to share, and just being excellent company for the production. She also had a camera where I did not. :)

The Grand Theatre downtown is VERY late Baroque, very ornate, and even had people taking photos in the bathrooms because of the fancy tapestry and chandelier! Gwen was duly impressed with all of it. A little too much gold and brocade for my personal tastes, but it contributed to the 'specialness' of the occasion for Gwen. She really thought she was at a pretty fancy princess event!

She got to have her picture taken with the Mouse King and the Sugar Plum Fairy! 

Actually, OUR Sugar Plum Fairy was Asian, but I didn't point out this fact to Gwen, who didn't notice the discrepancy.
I loved Herr Drosselmeier's mechanical doll (the interpretation of dance as a mechanized toy was really fabulous!), the snowflakes with their handfuls of glittery snow, and the brilliant use of a huge silk sheet during the Arabian dance that created such interesting compositions!
But for the record, I have to say our Sugar Plum Fairy performed the most stunning solo dance I've ever seen! I get the impression that matinees are usually the less-prominent dancers and that the big stars are saved for the evening performances (which would make sense), but I honestly can't imagine a more artfully done performance than the one that our SPF gave us! Well done, bravo! I'm incredibly glad I got to see this lovely ballet! (Let's be honest, taking Gwen was really just a cover so I had an excuse to go! lol!)

Family Lip Sync

Our ward (church congregation) hosted a fun lip sync party!

We rocked out to "Final Countdown" by Europe!

We LOVED getting decked out for the occasion: bright eye shadow, silver face sparkles, huge gold jewelry, crazy zebra shorts, huge puffy hair, lots of sequins and tons of hairspray! Gwen even had crimped hair! I scored on our attire from Goodwill. Eric's wig was almost as epic as his mop twirling skills. Our kids were so excited--- Gwen asked every day to practice our "rock out song" and even Caroline was "SO es-size-ick, mom!"

Only Emmett was less than enthused. He wasn't on stage with us, maybe that was the problem. He wanted in in the action! 

What I learned from this experience? I inherited a total lack of 'shame' on stage (thank you to my mom and dad who are both hams) and apparently, so did my children who suffered from NO stage fright whatsoever! I also learned that I'm married to a man who is comfortable with himself and not afraid to rock a crazy wig and tight white jacket! 

In other words... 

I'm part of a crazy family AND I LOVE IT!!!!

#8 Dance

I LOVE to dance. Love it. This isn't me, but when I dance, I feel like this girl:

I recall being a lil girl in dance class and totally just goofing off. I missed an opportunity, I tell you what. Not that it would have really changed anything, even if I'd taken dance seriously, because I don't really have a dancer's physique or a dancer's talent.

But what I lack in skill, I definitely make up for in enthusiasm.

I've been told I'm entertaining to watch

(which is code for: you really look like a goof ball out there, but I can tell you're having a great time)

and I always throw myself into the music. Even if I stink at the style.

Hip hop is definitely the worst for me, closely followed by ballet.

But I really enjoy Latin, swing, folk, clog, dance wii, and basically anything that will push me to move my body to the max. I love how I feel while dancing: like a superstar. and I love how I feel when I'm finished: like an athlete.

High energy, exciting music, awesome bass, just letting myself go...

I'm in love!

Ships that have Sailed

No pictures of the girls on this post. Just a lot of thoughts. Here is an instance when my blog is my journal. so only read on if you are actually interested in what goes on in my head. If not, if you just like the funny posts, you are under no obligation to continue. I promise, I won't get my feelings hurt. :)

During our long day of flying to come back out to Idaho, Eric and I had opportunity to talk about a million different things. But the one that really stuck out to me--because I haven't taken time to really think about it...EVER-- was our discussion about 'wishes' or 'desires' or 'dreams' or whatever you would like to call them. A discussion about all the possible things we almost did with our lives as far as education and profession goes. Now I'm not talking about when you are 6 and you want to be a firefighter or when you are 10 and think you will be the next Jane Goodall (um, yes, that was my goal in 3rd-5th grade). Those dreams are valid, but my thoughts revolve around the choices in HS and college that shape your 'career'. Do you ever have those 'what if' moments? Like I said, I had never really thought about all the things I almost did, until now. Suddenly 'what if' is more on my mind.

I love art. and I love biological science. In my younger years, I was pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. I'm not even kidding when I tell you that at the end of 10th grade I told my adviser I wanted to illustrate biology textbooks as a career. I think I would have been amazing at it. Eric tells me there is actually HUGE demand for qualified science-artists who can illustrate what the intellectuals can't. But, that ship has definitely sailed. I don't remember much biology. And this field would not afford me the interaction with people that I thrive on.

I thought about being an architect. The art and engineering was both lovely and challenging... but I was intimidated and scared to pursue such an ambitious field. Plus, BYU didn't have an architecture program. If they had, I might have given it a shot. But that ship has sailed too. I am neither prepared to go into such a rigorous field nor confident that I could design anything fabulous. I guess I will just have to be one of those admirer/critics that appreciates fantastic architecture when she sees it.

Then I was going to be an industrial designer. Again, that combination of art and science was so intriguing to me. But I got in there and realized I was not trendy enough to make really great designs, nor skilled enough to really master all the industrial materials, nor interested in the huge time commitment and ridiculous work hours. I didn't fit in the program and really didn't see myself fitting in the profession. Again, I can admire great design when I see it... but don't want to be the one making it.

I thought I'd make a pretty fabulous landscape architect because I love gardening and being outdoors. But I got talked out of it (I won't say by whom), which I think is a shame. Because I could have been great in this field. But that ship has sailed too because going into landscape would require full time education which I'm not willing to do with little kids... and let's face it, when they aren't little any more, I probably won't want to do it then either. I'll probably keep it as a hobby-- or at least be an annoying client looking over the shoulder of whomever comes to trim our trees when I'm 50. :)

I thought about floral design-- the hands on, almost sculptural elements were satisfying along with the 'outdoorsy' quality to it. The foil, of course, is the business side of things. Plus it could easily digress into floral grunt work and lose that creative, stimulating quality. It can't be all weddings and events, there are also the 'boring' bouquets and balloon thingies.

I thought about illustration because it is a career with a more stable paycheck. I could definitely have done that, and I suppose that door hasn't entirely closed, but it would require self-marketing and business sense.... which, shamefully, I don't possess much of. Which, by the way, is why I would make a terrible 'artist'. I'm not interested in trying to get into the gallery scene, which is where the money is to begin until commissions come in. And that's just it. I'm not eager to seek out commissions.

I love sculpture. That hands on thing again. And I can do it outside or work with natural materials like wood and stone that are just so satisfying. I'm very good in sculpture too, it comes naturally to me. And my work is actually-gasp-right up there with my competition instead of mediocre (like my painting). but it is a)expensive. equipment and materials. b)space consuming. equipment and materials. c) time consuming. I want to focus on my family. and d)marketing. the bane of my artistic pursuits. I guess sculpture will just remain a strong desire-- or a very expensive hobby, if we ever have the money to make that a reality.

Then there are the fields like culinary arts that would be amazing because I LOVE to cook, I love the intellectual, scientific challenge of it combined with the sculptural element to food presentation. Or there are the performing arts that I would have LOVED to actually do something with-- musical theater particularly. Though I'm not the best dancer, so that would probably have been a flop. Still, there are always community productions...

So then we come to teaching. Because that is the field I'm actually pursuing. I can take the art I love--and all those talents at appreciating good design that I DIDN'T create-- and combine it with an art history intellectualism I'm good at and teaching skills that aren't too shabby either... and voila! you've got a career that is flexible enough to allow me the familial focus I demand, stable (hopefully) so I'm actually employable, artistic but without business savvy, and intellectually challenging. I think this is the best I'm going to get at this point. And I think I'll be good at it. and I am excited to teach.

but sometimes I wonder...

especially those hands-on or science-oriented fields that would be so fun...

what if...

But you know what? An entire fleet of possibilities has sailed. And it won't do me any good to mourn their departure. I'm not on a leaky rowboat or anything, I've got a decent rig--- and my beautiful family is here with me too. So while it may not be the first dream or the most exciting or exotic dream I've had, it is a fit. And for those of you who successfully caught the ship I dreamed of catching at one time or another, I'll admit sometimes I'm jealous of you. But I also don't begrudge you your happiness. Maybe I'll take a vacation tour on one of your ships some day. In the mean time. I've got a ship to sail (aka, a paper to finish) and a family on whom I need to focus. Today is infinitely more vital than possible tomorrows of yesterday. So to all those ships that have sailed...

bon voyage.

So I Thought I Could Dance

Sometimes I think I can dance like this: Until the weather turns so nasty I am forced to switch to indoor workouts (and I don't have a gym membership) so I check out a new hip hop dance workout DVD from the library...

and then I realize...

I really dance like this:

Or Heaven forbid... like THIS:

Obviously, I've got some

delusions of coordination

to get over....

Or perhaps I'll just get a new workout video.