Dance 2012

Okay so it has been forever since I've blogged. My mom keeps bugging me and even my hubby has asked why I haven't posted lately. What can I say life gets busy and other things take over. So for my first blog bag I am easing into it by posting something sweet.

This year was Ballet 1 and exams. She practiced hard and was prepared for the big day. Missed a morning of school for the exam and full of nerves she did it. Passed with Merit. Again. She thinks she really wants to work harder and pass with Distinction next year. She was only 5 points she of getting in this year so I think it is doable. As long as she dances with a smile on her face it makes me happy. I am doing my very best not to turn into a dance mom! I think that is why I love the studio she is at. It has such a warm family feel to it. Lots of fun mixed in with the technique. I think if you want to be serious you can and will succeed there, but if all you want to do is go out and have fun and dance it is ok too. It's the perfect environment for McKayla because she is such a perfectionist I think a strict,highly competitive environment would swallow her up and she would lose her love of dance.










With her fellow Ballet 1 exam girls


McKayla has enjoyed dancing with company this year at her dance studio and I have enjoyed watching her confidence grow from the shy young girl who was afraid to go into the first class with all the big kids to fitting right in. She has become such a leader in her other classes as she is the only one in company. It's amazing how quickly she is growing up and turning into such an amazing and beautiful young lady. I will admit it has been hard putting on her make-up for performances lashes and all! Not exactly how I want to see my baby girl, but when she is on stage she shines.





With company members Nicole, Ella, and Sara.


With me backstage.


One of her besties Katelyn came to cheer her on.


Traditional photo with daddy.



After Feet First she was focused and ready for Showcase which had dances from her classes she was taking. Her favourite? Happy Feet. Or as she calls it the penguin dance. When I get the video I will try to post a clip from it. The only downside? She is in company so she didn't get to hang out with her classmates backstage, but that doesn't mean we couldn't sneak off and grab some photos. She performed beautifully of course and I have a totally unbiased opinion. Okay not really, but come on anyone who has seen her dance would agree, so there. Every time she was on stage she would scan the crowd to look for her daddy because I will admit it she's a daddy's girl. And wouldn't you know it he stepped out for a bathroom break because there was no intermission and didn't make it back in time for one of her ballet dances that he hasn't seen yet. sigh. Oh well, she didn't let it get to her on stage, but definitely made him answer for it as soon as she saw him. I guess he will actually have to watch the video this time so he can see it. Afterwards one of her best friends Alessandra came over for dinner with her mom and sister. It was a good day.





With her Happy Feet tappers



With Alessandra and Julia we snuck upstairs to grab pics



With another bestie, Alessandra





Her company also performs at the Bread and Honey Festival in Streetsville every year and this year we went. We worried we would get soaked because it had poured the day before and the clouds over Streetsville were very gloomy, but the performance went on and she had fun. Even got to eat her bread and honey. We didn't stay around for the festival, but we did stop for face painting on the way out and wouldn't you know it while Maddox was getting his dragon painted on it started to rain. So we waited under the tent for a bit hoping it would stop. It didn't. So we decided we're hungry so let's get out of here and start walking. Then, it started to pour. We called my hubby to come rescue us, but he didn't come before I was drenched like I had jumped in the lake! We would have been miserable, but I had extra clothes in the car and McKayla's beautiful ballerina she had painted on her face didn't wash off! Amazing. Shannon, the director of TDS Dance Space, met us with her family for dinner which was fun. I think it brought a very dramatic ending to the dance season. She has a few weeks left, but it's all fun and games now. And we wait for next year and the adventures she will go through then. maybe this time one of her classmates will join company along side her.



Maddox and his dragon.


McKayla and her ballerina.

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Flashback Friday: Days of film

It seems forever ago, but before there was digital there was film. I loved it. Don't get me wrong digital is awesome you can easily and quickly take a lot more pics. It's also cheaper than having to buy film and store it, process it, stare through those magnifier at each pic to decide what you like. Before retouching came around it was so much cleaner and fresher. Don't get me wrong DI has it's place, but sometimes they overdo it so much that I can't even recognize myself. Altering actual facial structures to the point where it looks like plastic surgery gone wrong. I can see how it is confusing seeing photos and than seeing people in real life and not being able to recognize them. Work days go a lot faster with digital. Clients can immediately see exactly what they are getting and be satisfied or unsatisfied and change the direction it's going. You know what else I miss? Polaroids. I loved being able to take home a polaroid of the job I just did especially because a lot of the time you don't see the final product. Even if you do it always looks so much better. They were perfect for keeping a journal of what I was doing. So this post is dedicated to the days of film when you got exited about racing to the agency to see the new film and be a part of the selection process. Now it seems you take the pictures for a test and the photographer edits a handful of pics for you to choose from. I don't even see it until the final product. I've lost half the fun of doing a test. Plus you don't get to see the mess-ups like eyes shut, goofy faces, blurry photos, chopped off heads, etc. I love the mess-ups.

 

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My other family.

So I know I have mentioned before that I practically lived in Dallas, well this post is about this summer and getting to see my other family again as well. Enter Jacki and Ty. Well Jacki was quite literally like one of my best friends. I know crazy because she is sooooo much older *wink*. Ty was my first agent. He's the one that got me into this craziness. He saw me when I was 11 and said, "I am going to have my eye on you. If you grow taller I am going to want represent you." At the time I thought who is this creepy old man and what is he talking about. He did approach me at church and he was married to a Fair so I figured he couldn't be too creepy. Two years later and having completely forgotten about the previous encounter sure enough he asked me to come down that summer and do a test to see if I was photogenic and would be able to work in the industry. My parents agreed and fast forward 17 years later we are still friends. Sadly, I only got to see Ty at church as he was working when I went up to visit the rest of the family. When I first went down to stay with them Blaine was just 5 months old so to see him entering his senior year of High School made me feel really old.

Here I am with Blaine and Si. These boys are crazy, but fun. I can't believe they're so big now. We had to get the blue steel going. Leyla was born the same year as McKayla except her birthday is in January and McKayla's is in October. They first played together when McKayla was 3 1/2 and this summer when they saw each other it was like they have played with each other their whole lives. They got along so well. Made me wish I lived closer to home so they could visit with each other more often. It is nice when your kids are the same age and get along so well.

Jesse is the same age as Maddox except he is also a January baby and Maddox's birthday is in July. They definitely didn't quite get along as well as the girls due mostly to the fact that as a three year old someone else your age is more likely to take your stuff and not give it back. Nevertheless they had a lot of fun playing with each other. I think they connected on the whole we like to make trouble and be wild side.

Some say that we are like sisters, but every once in a while I would get mistaken as her daughter. Yea she was never very happy about that. She isn't that much older than me. I am hoping that we can always stay connected. Friendships are hard especially when you are dealing with long distances. It takes a lot of effort and time to stay connected. My goal this year? Trying to stay connected with all of those that I love especially family and not excluding those awesome friendships which bring you together like family.

The whole point of my blog is to stay connected with the ones I love at least on my life and what I have been doing. Luckily in this day and age we have ichat, skype, facetime, internet, and online gaming with family and friends that can keep us connected. My kids have enjoyed facetime with their cousins. It is nice to know that even though I live so far from my family we can still be close and see each other. Yesterday I even got to see my nephew in his new glasses he just started having to wear. Little things like that makes me happy. I hate being the last to know about what is going on in my own family. I also talked on the phone with my brother for almost an hour and a half! I know it's crazy. I think that is the longest conversation I have had with him in a long time and I hope we have more. It's easier to carry on conversation when you know what is going on in each other's lives. Sometimes it might seem like your are struggling to keep the conversation going, but the more you do the easier it becomes. Didn't mean to go on forever, but I guess my point is make an effort in keeping the conversations going in your families and with your friends. Don't let facebook turn you into a hermit who never actually carries on a real conversation with anyone. As a social network it lacks in actual social developing skills. Who do you want to connect with more?

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Flashback Friday: JCPenny

Some of my first modeling jobs included a lot of catalog work, which was great because back then they booked you for the entire day and it paid really well. These days most of the department store catalogs only book you for a couple of hours at most a half day at a time. Also JcPenny headquarters were in Dallas at the time that made it easy for me being an Oklahoma chick to go down quite often. I think the headquarters are probably still there now, but by the time I turned 17 or 18 they started shooting in places like Miami instead. Or they only booked you for a couple of hours. Which made going down for just an hour or two just not seem worth it anymore.

The year I started working I moved to Dallas for part of the school year. Inner city school was a change for a country girl. We had to go through metal detectors to get into the school. Definitely an adventure. I remember doing my best to avoid the wrong crowds in the hallway afraid something would happen to me if I looked at them the wrong way. But I made some good friends and it was good I was an honour student so at least I was in classes with kids who didn't get into trouble.

Summers after I started working I spent partially in Dallas and the rest of the time travelling around which is fun when you are in Junior High and from a small town. By the time I finished my freshman year we (my management, parents, and I) decided to switch to home school so I could travel full time and pretty much live in Dallas.

Going back home this summer I realized why I didn't really know how to get around Ft. Smith very well. It was because by the time I got my license and was driving I was never home. I only drove to Wal-mart, church, the mall, and the movie theatres. The occasional stop in other places, but never really spent a lot of time driving. I also discovered just how fashion has changed since I was a teenager. I remember very clearly thinking that the 80's were bad for fashion and how cool we looked compared to them. Now looking back I actually think the 80's had some good stuff. A lot of bad stuff, but more good stuff than I think that came out of the 90's. It was definitely not very flattering especially for one like myself who was a little curvier than most models out there. I know you probably think I am crazy, but seriously I was! So enough of a back story I found some old JCPenny pics I wanted to share.



So here I am barely 14 years old. Who had a denim dress of any kind? Or who ever wore denim head to toe? I know. That was a bad look, but people did it.



I actually think I owned skirts similar to this one. Who wore flannel? Lots of flannel and the knee high socks with the mary janes. I know I wore this one frequently. Although I still think this look is cute. The whole schoolgirl thing going on.



This one is the kicker though. Who wore the high waisted jeans or pant with front pleats? Whoever started this style should be shot! Tapered leg and all. So unflattering. Maybe that's why they had my sit down. Not to mention the shoes. I think they are more appropriate for a grandma then a teenager. What do you think? Stylist also like to put me in pigtails a lot. Sometimes braided and sometimes not. I think they wanted me to look Native American or something. I remember always thinking Pocahontas they want me to be Pocahontas. Actually before Princess Jasmine came along every time we played dress up or pretend I always had to be Pocahontas. Not fair I just wanted to be Aurora or Ariel, just once.

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Maddox doing his GQ thing.

So Yesterday as I got my little monkey ready for church he looked at me and said, "I so handsome." I of course agreed and then asked if I could take a picture. I quickly took out my phone, because he changes his mind really quick so I have to hurry and take advantage of the moment. After I took one shot he looked at me and said, "No. Get your awesome one camera. In the black bag." That's right he demanded better quality photos. So I obliged and took a bunch while he just posed and gave me some GQ moves that I have never seen from him before. Even though it seems I have tons of pictures of him he really isn't the easiest kid to photograph. That is until yesterday. Maybe it was because he knew he looked good so he was showing off. Who does that remind you of?

I hope that more opportunities to get some good photos out of him without his crazy faces are in the future because this was fun.

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Flashback Friday: GO Team GO!

So a good thing about my vacation from blogging was I retrieved some valued pictures from my mom's house. Can I say it is so much fun to look back and see not only how awkward I was and maybe still am and how fashion has changed since the 90's.

I will start by saying my fabulous sister was the cheerleader in the family. Strong with no monkey arms. Peppy and filled with team spirit not awkward and grunge like I thought I was. I was definitely the black sheep. Refused to go along with the norm, which when you grow up in Oklahoma includes cowboys, country, football, pool halls, and numerous other things. Instead I was into alternative, speech/drama, sledding on car hood in the winter, and catching craw daddies in the creek. I have to say I did join one main stream thing. Band. What? I loved it! Traveling to all the games, competitions were the best, and marching in front of the crowd. I guess I showed a little team spirit.



So here I am posing for a dance costume. I worked several times for this cheerleading/dance catalog. Definitely out of my element, but at least I have a little dance background to look decent in the photo.




Ok. You see it broken wrists and all. Should have had my sister give me lessons.


This one kills me. I look so out of place. I have always wondered the numbers on these. How many uniforms were actually sold because of me? My guess probably not as much as the other girls. They had a lot more spunk and experience. I was only 14/15 in these photos. I like to think I got better as I got older.

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Vacation 2011

So I thought I would share this photo book with you. I cannot promise that I won't post some of the same pictures and blog more about my vacation. I had such a fun time playing that I might have to talk about it for a while. Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

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