A Great... with a capital "G", weekend

This has been a GREAT weekend. 2 amazing accomplishments... passing the written part of my drivers ed test and getting a 1st in my Reel.

Lets start with the drivers ed. Drivers Ed started on February 2 and ended March 6. I went every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 6:15-8:35 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 3:15-5:30 on Saturday. That takes up a lot of your time. The people that I met at drivers ed are probably people I will remember forever. The people I would hang out with could always make me laugh. We would have about 20 min. breaks and we always went to Walgreens... I now have MANY great memories at Walgreens. One I will never forget is my friend Andy singing a love song to the cashier. My friend Tyler and I were outside laughing so hard at him we were crying. Anyway, on the last test we had to take the DOL test (Department of Licensing). There were 50 questions... all multiple choice. I studied for many weeks... AND I PASSED! I was so nervous! I would highly suggest doing driving school through 911. They were a great! And try to get instructor Craig Metcalf... he was amazing. He made the class so much fun. Now, I just have to wait till December when I can take my driving test, and then wait till January 29, 2011 and THEN I can get my license!

Now... onto the dancing stuff. This part will have pictures... don't worry! So, for the past 3 years I have been working my butt off to try and get my Reel into Prizewinner. Now for all of those dancer people... let me explain.

When you start dancing you are in level "First Feis" (You pronounce it Fesh). Then you move up to Beginner 1. And if you want to move up to Beginner 2 you have to get a 1, 2, or 3rd place in the dance. If you don't get a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, then that dance stays in that level. Once in Beginner 2, you have to get a 1st or a 2nd to move up to Novice. And once in Novice, you have to get a 1st to move up to Prizewinner.

I had all of my dances in Prizewinner. All but one... my reel. I would always get 2nd. And 2nd is just not good enough to move it up to Prizewinner. It became like a mental wall. I had convinced myself that I could not get a 1st in my reel. It was almost impossible in my mind. At the beginning of this fall, I made a goal for myself. It was not to get a first the reel, but to enjoy dancing again. I had hit a wall where I didn't like dancing anymore. I wanted to quit. But I knew that if I had quit, I would miss it a lot and wouldn't know what to do with myself. So, I kept dancing, not competivitivley, but just to enjoy it. My teachers did an amazing job bringing me back to enjoying dancing. And so just to get back into the swing of things, I (with the strong suggestions from Lauren, Patti and my mom) decided to try Feis. And I would just do my reel. So, I was enrolled into a Feis called the Northwest Championships. And what were the results....

FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, after all that hard work I FINALLY am in Prizewinner. It feels so good to get past that mental block and move on. Now I get to learn new steps with trickier moves in them... WAY EXCITING!

This is the face of relief

This is Patti, my amazing dance teacher. She has helped me so much! Thanks Patti!

And I believe that Lauren deserves a shout out too! THANKS LAUREN FOR HELPING ME WITH EVERYTHING! YOU ARE AMAZING!!!

This is a really old picture. But I ran across it and thought that it was cute. This is Emily, Thomas, Lauren, and I at Laurens wedding. We got the be the flower girls and Thomas was the ring bearer. We are doing our victory pose.

A feis is a strange place. Lots of girls are bouncing around practicing for their dances in their curly wigs. Yes, in case you were wondering... my curly hair is a wig. And there is music... accordion music. So if you can not stand accordion music... DONT COME TO A FEIS! I am not even joking. Ask anyone who has come to a feis. When you come, the music is stuck in your head for WEEKS! Dont get me wrong, I love Irish music. I think it is beautiful. But when you hear it played all day long... sometimes you wish to never hear it again.

Oh Accordion...

Like I was saying, a feis is a weird place. I mean... where else can you find.....

a TUB of wigs. Yes a tub. Those are all wigs. You go and find your hair color, then try it on. People fuss with your head and pull and yank on your hair to find a perfect wig.

make up that is THAT bright... You should have seen it. They were CRAZY colors!

Socks with sequins in them

Oh the things one can see at a feis. It is quite amazing. And if you are looking for a good people watching place... a feis beats all. I promise you!

So, you might be asking yourself.... "What does somebody do after a feis?" Well let me tell you....

Ben & Jerry's Ice cream of course!

I had never had Ben and Jerry's Ice cream before! So here is a picture (not a good one) of me taking my first bite (yes I bite my ice cream... I dont lick it) of Ben &Jerry's Ice cream!

AND... it was just a girls trip. So that makes it even more fun... sorry boys.

Yup... this has been a GRRRRREAT weekend! Lets hope that the following week is just as amazing!