Dancing My Way Through the Lone Star State

Disclaimer: This isn't necessarily the most interesting post. Mostly just informative. So if you want to know a little bit about how my dance tour went, then this is the place to go. But maybe go watch a sitcom afterward or something, if you want to be entertained. That's all. Happy reading.

- Sunday April 10 -

We met at the Kirkham at 6:00 am...waayyy too early to be meeting on a Sunday morning. But, we had to get going. Too bad our tour manager was an hour late...we didn't pull out until 7:15. But....we still had to drive all day either way. The best part of the day was lunch...when we stopped I went with a bunch of people to In 'n' Out :) And later, for dinner, we were stopped in Cortez, CO where they took us to this restaurant called Tequila (on a Sunday, I know!). Such good, legitimate Mexican food! And after a total of driving for about 12 hours, we made it to Durango, CO, where we stayed in a gorgeous hotel! They even gave us huge, fresh, warm, chocolate chip cookies :)

- Monday April 11 -

Today was just another day full of driving....for 12 hours. Again. We got a little stir crazy today. Started playing games (like trying to balance in the aisle while the bus was moving, without touching anything), running around outside anytime we stopped somewhere. We also watched a bunch of movies, some of which included The Princess Bride, Tron (I mostly slept/read through that one...it was hard to watch on the bus), and Penelope. Everyone told me I looked like the girl from Penelope after watching that. (It wasn't until after I acted all offended that they said I look like her after she doesn't have a pig nose anymore...) So we finally made it to our destination...at 10:30. We were supposed to be there in time for the single's ward FHE. Oops. At least they still fed us though! Our first taste of Texas BBQ......

They sent us to our homestays, and as I was laying in bed, I realized that I hadn't gotten rid of my "bus legs" yet. As in, I still felt like I moving around like I did on the bus.....

- Tuesday April 12 -

Our homestay fed us waffles and sausage....it was 100% delicious! Then, we got to the stake center, where we got on the bus, and they took us to WalMart...for about an hour and a half. I'm still not really sure why that happened. Anyway, then they took us the the Petroleum Museum. It was...pretty interesting. We got a few good pictures though. After that, they were going to take us to see George Bush's childhood home, but it was too full. So instead, we went to this random little shop full of purses, jewelry, and hats. I got a way cute, bright pink purse :) I wasn't too sad about not being able to go to the Bush home...

Then we got to the high school where we would be performing that night. We performed in their dusty, dusty gym...it was a good experience :) So we got back to our homestay, and when I took a shower....I was sure I was either going to be either raped or murdered. I had to go through these tiny hallways, down a narrow staircase, and into this obscure corner of the house...and it was this sort of trashy bathroom, with no lock, and with a gaping hole in the ceiling. And the water only came out in a drizzle...never had I wanted to get out of the shower so fast, and it took a good 5 minutes to just get my hair wet....so horrible.

- Wednesday April 13 -

So after driving a couple of hours to our next stop, we stopped at the Stake Center where we tied quilts for the victims of the hurricane in Japan. Then we just ate our lunches while sitting on the gym floor there. It was pretty chill, which was nice. Then we went to a dance studio there, and taught two workshops: one contemporary, and one swing. I decided I didn't want to dress down, so I did the swing workshop. There were probably about half of us in there...and there was only one couple who showed up to take the workshop. But it was still suuuper fun! And then we went to our venue....it was at a bowling alley. We were performing in this tiny, tiny little conference room they had. We did cut out two of our numbers, but we still had a lot of numbers that had all of us in them. It was really close quarters...I got punched in the face. Twice. I definitely got a bloody lip. And then I got knocked over during a cartwheel. It's a good thing I wasn't upset about the situation :) I think I was laughing the whole night...

After the show we went to our homestay's and one of their little kids (Brent) did some breakdancing for us! It was adorable!

- Thursday April 14 -

We drove for a couple of hours today to get to San Angelo, where they set us loose for about an hour and a half! There were some cute vintage shops that I went to for a minute, and then some of us went back to the venue and ate lunch. Then they took us to Fort Concho so we could do a couple of hours of service...we split up into groups and did some different things. One group was picking up trash outside (mind you, it was suuuper hot outside...), and my group got to muck out some horse stalls....super great. We got super gross. And there was no way we could shower before the show. Someone didn't think that one through. But it made for some great memories :) So, after that we went to the San Angelo Civic Ballet studio where we took a modern workshop for an hour. It was actually really fun! I thought I'd be way too tired to enjoy it, but it was nice to be able to dance just for dance's sake. Then we went back, ate some more BBQ, and performed. Our venue was soo cool! It was an outdoor theater, right in front of a river! And there was no back wall on the theater, so nature was our background :) It made crossovers a little difficult...we had to duck all the way across, but it felt really nice to perform outside with a slight breeze.

And then we went to our homestays....oh my heavens....I had the hardest time getting that stinkin' shower to work!! I got in there, and the knobs were all broken, but there was a pair of pliers sitting there, so I was trying to get it to turn on...I finally did, but I managed to get the cold handle stuck on "off". But I was sooooo desperate for a shower after this day, so I took ascalding hot shower. Then after a little bit it turned lukewarm. Then frigid. Of course. I almost started crying. But then I decided...I had been needing this shower, and I really wanted to shave, so I was going to! Even if it was freezing cold! So I did. I was pretty proud of myself :) Then when I went to turn it off, I accidentally switched it to the tub faucet, and when the water came out, it looked like blood!! Freaked me out...I know it was just rust, but my shower experiences haven't been so grand so far on this tour, so I couldn't help my reaction...

- Friday April 15 -

So, apparently someone had told our homestays that they could take us to the stake center anywhere from 7-8...so ours took us at 7:30. The bus didn't get there until 8:00. The church was closed. It was cold outside. Oh the things we put up with. But, when we got to our next stop, we had 3 1/2 hours before we could even get into the venue, so they took us to the mall where we went to a movie! Most of us went to Hanna...crazy, crazy movie!! I enjoyed it. Then we made it to our venue...it was a nice auditorium! So nice after our last couple of venues :) The performance was fine...I got to do my solo tonight, so that was fun! Our homestay's house was soooo nice! Although, my bad luck continued here....I managed to step on one of my performance earrings. It went into my foot pretty deep...I had to pull it out, and then my foot started bleeding. Yup...it hurt. Makes for a good story though, eh?

- Saturday April 16 -

We had a 30 minute drive to just get to the stake center this morning...but it was abeautiful drive! We're getting into the gorgeous part of Texas...I'm really starting to like it here! Once we got to the church, we had a little "morning-side" for the youth. It was kind of a "they ask a question and one of us volunteers to answer it" kind of thing. It went pretty well though. Once it was over, we drove a couple of hours to get to the botanical gardens in Zilker Park. It was pretty. Then they took us to the Texas State Capitol. It was here that I went from being 95% sure to being 100% sure that Texas is the most conceited state ever. But it was still pretty cool to look around the capitol. Did you know that their capitol is 14 feet taller than the nation's capitol? I didn't. But they made sure we knew.

Our next stop was the Dell's Children Medical Center, where we did a lecture demonstration for some of the kids there, then we handed out toys and treats for them. It was heartbreaking...I talked to one little 5 year old boy who was in a wheelchair. I asked him what he likes to do, and he responded with "go home". I almost cried. Then there was this tiny little 5 year old girl (she looked like she couldn't be any older than 2!) named Isabella. She was cute, and we were having fun, but then her mom said she needed to go, because it was time for her treatment, and she started crying and freaking out...I felt sooo bad! Little kids should not have to go through that kind of stuff :(

Then we went to the stake center where they fed us...and they decorated the crap out of that place! Totally Easter-fied. They even had an Easter egg hunt set up for us! Sooo many treats, sooo many toys...I got a Pez dispenser :)

Then after the show, we took off with our homestays. Let me just say that....my weekend homestay was easily the best homestay I've ever had! I loved them! They had a beautifulhome!! We got to sleep up in the loft...the view was great, the beds were cozy...it was nice :) I absolutely LOVE Austin, TX!

- Sunday April 17 -

This was such a wonderful, needed Sabbath day. First of all, the bed wassooooo comfortable!! It was this huge, king-sized bed that I was sharing with Laurin. We got to sleep in until about 9:00, which was way nice. We left for church, and had to pick up a neighbor of our homestays. She was a character...she was suuuper pregnant, has epilepsy, and the way she talked made it sound like she might not live through the pregnancy! Then our homestay was telling us about her life after church...it's so crazy. I can't even remember details, but I just felt bad for her. Church was good...there were a few other DA members in that ward with us. After church, they made us a legitimate Italian spaghetti. He's Italian. It was delicious. I was stuffed. Then we took a 2 hour nap...she came up to make sure we knew what time it was. Haha, oops...but then she made us some chips and queso, and we just ate it UP! And then we ate some more Blue Bell ice cream (that's a famous brand there...like the Tillamook of Texas). Loved it! Anyway.....Tina and Tony (our homestays) were so incredible. They were the cutest older couple ever...you could just tell that they were best friends. I was so sad to leave!

- Monday April 18 -

So, we got on the bus at 7:00 this morning, where the Austin coordinators gave us even more treats...including a Texas-shaped cookie. Everything there is shaped like their state. Slightly ridiculous. Yet highly entertaining. Then we drove to Brenham where we went to the Blue Bell ice cream factory. 'Twas fun and delicious. Then we went on to Houston, where they took us to NASA. It was pretty cool...it wasn't what I expected...it was just a museum. Which was still neat, but I guess I was just thinking I would see where they launch the shuttles and stuff. Which is kind of ridiculous, now that I think about it. Welp. We got some good pictures out of it! Also....we are now in the humid part of Texas. It wasn't unbearably hot yet, so I actually kind of liked it!

Anyway, after NASA we went on to Galveston! This was a section of Texas that got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Katrina, and where some of the oil spillage was. So anyway, since it was our day off, we got to stay in a hotel, so they checked us into our rooms, and then we went out to the beach to have lunch and to swim. I finally got to swim at a real beach!! I've been to beaches before, but never swam....I LOVED it!! I would go to the beach all the time if I could :) Anyway...then after the beach, after we got all cleaned up and everything, a bunch of us walked around downtown to find a place to eat some food, so that was fun. It was super windy, but it was still pretty darn warm! It was a long--but really fun--day.

- Tuesday April 19 -

Breakfast today was at McDonalds. Brother Hillier took our orders, and got everything for us. It was alright. I love their hashbrowns! So then we went off to the Houston temple! Such beautiful grounds! We went and did baptisms (or those who were endowed did a session). It was really neat, because my grandparents had mailed me 15 family names that needed done, so a couple of us got to do those. It was a really neat experience. After the temple they took us to a mall for lunch and a bit of shopping. Let me just say that.....I love Forever 21. Then they took us to the venue, where we set everything up, then went to the stake center where we did an uber short fireside (very similar to the morning-side we did earlier), ate some tasty Mexican food, then went back and performed. My homestay tonight was the Stake President...I got my own bedroom and bathroom! It was nice to have a little bit of solitude for a night.

- Wednesday April 20 -

Our homestay made us french toast today. With real fruit, powdered sugar, and syrup. 

And there was bacon. Oh heavens how I love breakfast. Our drive today was 5 hours, to get to the University of Northern Texas. Our show today was shared with a bunch of 

other dancers. I'm not sure if they were schools, or studios, or what...but it was bound to be neat. We were the special guest artists, so that's pretty cool! Anyway, after laying the marley floor we went to a school for people with special needs, and did a little 

performance for them, just doing a few of our numbers for them. Then we went to the 

stake center, had some more BBQ, and went back to the venue. We only performed our 

hip hop, ballet, and cajun numbers, so it was nice to have a more relaxed show! Then we went to our homestays....I stayed on a ranch!! It was a huge place! We got to have this whole huge apartment to ourselves while the family went back to their house, which was just a couple minutes away. We went exploring for a while :) I even to to pet one of their horses! It was fun...until it was time for bed. Then it was a tiny bit frightening. But, I 

did still sleep pretty good. How could I not?

- Thursday April 21 -

We had to be at the stake center at 5:45 this morning...yup, pretty horrible. We did 
another morning-side, and we sang our musical number. We sang I Feel My Savior's 
Love, and I got to perform my first ever vocal solo! I really enjoyed it! I think I forget 
how much I absolutely love to sing, because I'm just always dancing. Anyway, then they fed us breakfast, and we got back on the bus for another 5 hours. We got to Gilmer, set 
our stuff up at the Civic Center there, then they took us to an old folks home, where a 
few couples performed our swing number, we sang I am a Child of God, and then we 
just mingled with the residents there. Then they took us to the stake center for dinner...
and guess what? No BBQ! They had soups and sandwiches for us! I was soo happy. 
They also had pie and ice cream, so they could make pie shakes for us! They were so 
great :) Then we performed...then went to our homestays. Our homestay made us these 
yummy smoothies, which was super nice and refreshing. Also, it felt like my bed had 
plastic over the mattress...like it was the resident of a frequent bed wetter or something. Odd.

- Friday April 22 -

Our homestay today made us biscuits and gravy, along with bacon and eggs...why do they have such great breakfasts in Texas?! Love it :) Then when they got us to the stake center, our homestay gave us a bag filled with a bunch of mini snickers, gum, and a signed Texas flag!! So funny, yet adorable of her. Then we got to our final venue of tour! We met with the Longview Dance Team (they're a ballroom team), and watched them rehearse a few of their numbers after we laid the marley. It was pretty fun :) I think they're mostly (if not all) high school students. Also, this was the place that they said had asbestos...but they also said it wasn't bad enough to be concerned about. But then they said we probably shouldn't walk around barefoot if we could help it. Which is weird, since I'm pretty positive asbestos is an airborne kind of thing. Anyway, we had quite a bit of time to just hang out, and we sat outside in the sunny warmth. It was quite blissful.

Then we had a matinee show, where we just did about half of the show, combined with the dances from the other team. Then we ate dinner, and then we were called into the auditorium...there were a few members of our team who put together a spoof, I guess you could call it, of all of our dances put together. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!! Then our show was about to start, and the Longview dancers did all of their numbers as a sort of preshow for us, then we performed our show for the very last time! It was a really good show.

Funny story time: I got to do my solo tonight, and I have a super fast change to get into my costume. Well, once the lights go off on stage, it's pitch black in the wings, which normally is manageable, but I couldn't find my chair! So finally my friend Shanae found it and handed it to me and I went on stage and started dancing. It wasn't until probably 30 seconds into it that I discovered that it was this nasty, tan, beaten up folding chair that wasn't even ours! It definitely threw me off for a second, but it was mostly just really funny...

The rest of the show practically went without a glitch. Then I started bawling during the second to last piece while I was watching it, and I just couldn't pull myself together. During the whole closer I was just sobbing. I wasn't even sure why...it wasn't because I was sad. But it was just happening. So after the show, and after everyone was done crying, we finally put all the costumes away, and took off with our homestays.

- Saturday April 23 -

This is the day we got to go home!! We had to meet at the stake center at 5:30, so we 
could make it to the airport in time. Because guess what, people? I got to fly for the first 
time!! This was a really big deal! And everyone made sure I remembered how exciting it was :) We sat in the Dallas airport for a while, just chilling, looking around the airport, 
listening to Elizabeth and Katie play the ukelele. Then finally....we got to board the 
airplane! Everyone was so excited for me :) Once we were seated (yes, I did get a 
window seat :) even if it was right next to the wing...), everyone kept looking back at me to see my reactions to the plane. It was really funny because I was toward the back of 
the plane, so I would see all these faces just turn around and look at me. I felt really bad for this one guy who was stuck in the middle of all of us...he looked super annoyed. But especially once we started taking off....I almost had a hard time knowing how to react, 
just because everyone was expecting some sort of amazing reaction from me, hahaha. 

But I really did enjoy flying!! I really love it, actually! I want to fly all the time :) So, it was a 2-3 hour flight, and I just read Harry Potter/slept the whole time. When I wasn't 
just staring out of the window, that is. Haha. But then we finally landed (and again...I got a bunch of stares) in SLC, and we got on another charter bus to take us back up to 
Rexburg. There were quite a few people who took off from the SLC airport though, and 
there wan't any equipment on this bus from our tour, so there was a bunch more room, 
and I got a whole two seats to myself. So I managed to take a real nap! And the next 
thing I knew, I was back in Rexbug, back in my apartment! This was a much different tour from the one I went on last year, and honestly it was a little bit harder for me for some reason, but it was still such a great experience! I have thoroughly enjoyed this year on 
DA, and have fallen in love with eastern Texas.

This is the earring that pierced my foot

This is Kevin and Nate

They are great

This was the outdoor theater next to a river

Our incredible bowling alley venue

That one time I got a bloody lip from getting punched in the face.

Twice.

Jesse and me dancing together at the swing workshop

Showing off all the items made with petroleum

At the Petroleum Museum

Who knew I had an ancestor who was in the oil biz?

Just posing...at the Petroleum Museum

Starting off tour while we're still fresh and rested

The view from my hotel room at Galveston

WE'RE AT THE BEACH!!!!

Cleaning out a horse stall at Fort Concho

Taking a break from cleaning to play on the wagon

We are angelic

Tying quilts for the Japanese hurricane vicitims

Kevin, me, and Bethani

Hiding from the asbestos...

Oh Texas....

I LOVE SUNSHINE!!!!

I don't have any costumes left!! The show's over!! :(

Chilling in the airport...playing the ukelele

My first ever plane ticket!

Walking down the tunnel into the plane

Look how excited everyone is for me to fly on this plane :)

ACDF

Back in March I got to go up to Moscow, ID with the school to go to the American College Dance Festival. ACDF is where a bunch of different colleges and universities come together and perform and take classes. Each school brings two dances to perform--one done by a student, and one by the faculty. It's not a competition, but there are adjudicators to give feedback for each piece. During the day we took all sorts of classes. Some of the ones I took included modern, hip hop, jazz, african, falling, nuzzle and wag (yes, that's really what it was called...and it was one of my top favorites!), contact improv...among others.

Then at night, there were concerts. Wednesday night opened up with a concert showcasing and introducing the adjudicators. Then on Thursday and Friday the concert contained the pieces of all the participating schools. We performed ours on Friday night. Our student piece was by Amanda Conley (I'm so obsessed with her dance...it's incredible!), and then the faculty piece was our women's piece that we did for Extravadance. Then the adjudicators chose some of their favorites to perform for the concert on Saturday night. There were some seriously incredible pieces! And also some really stupid ones. Gotta have a good balance I guess :) We had driven up on Tuesday, checked into our hotel, and got ready for the week.

Me and Jane sitting in the back of Clifford, one of the bright red 12 passenger vans we took. The other one was named Big Red.

Story time!! We had been driving for a good number of hours, and were stopped at a rest station. Needless to say, it felt really good to get out of the van. Me and Jane were the last ones to the van, so I was trying to hurry while still enjoying the last few seconds I had outside. So I was just frolicking to the van. Well...frolicking on gravel isn't as easy as one would think. I had been fine on the grass, but as soon as I stepped off the curb, I fell down faster than...okay, so maybe analogies aren't my thing. But I fell hard and fast. Everyone in the van said it was hilarious/confusing, because one second I was there and the next I wasn't. So I managed to entertain everyone, but all I got out of it was a scraped up, bloody knee, and a hole in my $100 track suit. But you know, it made for a good story, right? :)

Me, Kelsey, and Taylor. I think this was the rest stop where I scraped my knee...

Me and Bethani! That was my official name tag. Everyone had one, and you had to have it to get into the classes and the concerts.

Jenese, Abbie, Bethani, and me posing before one of the classes

They had a pizza party for everyone on Friday (I think...), and the pizza they had was HUGE! And super tasty, of course :)

Me, Kelsey, and Alyssa putting our talents to good use before one of the concerts

It may have been a bit windy, but it was still pretty nice, so we had lunch outside one day

Kenzie, me, Bethani, and Kelsey posing with Abbie Fiyat. She's an incredible modern teacher from University of Utah. Our teacher, Ashley Hoopes, just recently got her master's degree from there and recommended that we take this class, because she knows her. I was not disappointed....it was easily one of my top favorite classes!!

Patiently waiting for a concert to begin...and of course I can't take a normal picture...

We are dancers. We like to take pictures.

This was just before we performed our women's piece on Friday night.

Just another picture of us enjoying lunch outside on the sidewalk

Me, Jane, and Taylor...again, just waiting for a concert to start.

I really like these guys.

Me and Shay had mismatched socks the whole time...we planned on taking a picture of our feet every day, but we only ended up with two. And the other one is on her camera...maybe time :)

Hers are a little more matchy than mine...hers both have orange in them at least!

We had to wait for a while before we got to do our lighting rehearsal.

We were tired.

So we slept.

Just one of our many talents :)

One last story...we were on our way home, and it was already a super long drive, when one of the vans (Clifford) ran out of gas. But we were probably 20 miles away from the closest gas station. So those of us in Big Red went ahead to get some gas to bring back to them. It took awhile, because the first gas station didn't have any gas cans, but we finally found a place that did. So some people stayed there while we went back to save Clifford. Well, we had the gas can, but something wasn't working...it just kept leaking and none of the gas was getting into the vehicle. We kept trying to flag down cars, but no one was stopping. Finally, an older couple stopped to help. Turns out, the cap just wasn't screwed on tight. Well, Taylor (the only male who was with us on this trip) ended up getting a lot of crap for not being able to figure it out. But hey, we ended up getting it figured out, and finally got on our way! I think we ended up driving for at least 12 hours that day. I was sooo happy to be back in Rexburg!