Painting Flowers (day 30)

Painting Flowers by All Time Low

day 30- your favorite song
This is the most unfair one of the whole challenge. For me to pick ONE favorite song is just cruel and basically impossible. My favorite song changes all the time. It depends on the day, it depends on my mood, what music genre/artist kick I am on currently, etc etc. At this very exact moment, the title of this blog post I would say is A current favorite. It's from the Almost Alice CD, the soundtrack to the new Alice in Wonderland. And, in 5 minutes my favorite song could very well be something else.

Painting Flowers:
Strange maze, what is this place?
I hear voices over my shoulder,
Nothing's making sense at all.
Wonder, why do we race?
When everyday we're runnin' in circles,
Such a funny way to fall.
Tried to open up my eyes,
I'm hopin' for a chance to make it alright.

When I wake up,
The dream isn't done.
I wanna see your face,
And know I made it home.
If nothing is true,
What more can I do?
I am still painting flowers for you.

Show my cards,
Gave you my heart,
Wish we could start all over.
Nothing's makin' sense at all.
Tried to open up my eyes,
I'm hopin' for a chance to make it alright.

When I wake up,
The dream isn't done.
I wanna see your face,
And know I made it home.
If nothing is true,
What more can I do?
I am still painting flowers for you,
I am still painting flowers for you.

I heard everything you said,
I don't wanna lose my head,

When I wake up,
The dream isn't done.
I wanna see your face,
And know I made it home.
If nothing is true,
What more can I do?
I am still painting flowers for you,
I am still painting flowers for you.

Home and the Heartland (29)

Home and the Heartland from Riverdance

day 29- in this past month, what have you learned
I learned that my brain is getting really good at freestyle Irish dancing. I've been playing around with choreography and am coming up with some pretty fun awesome stuff. It makes me excited. :)
Friday is my Riverdance workshop with two of the leads from the touring troupe that's stopping in Salt Lake this weekend. I cannot wait it's so exciting.
One month from yesterday, my best-good friend, Jacki comes home from her mission. Also so exciting I cannot wait.
April is going to be an incredible month.

Silverwells (Day 28)

Silverwells by Natalie MacMaster

day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?
This was at my cousin Shane's wedding last year.

The only pictures I have of me this year so far really are dance pictures, so here's another picture from a dance performance.

So, how have I changed in the last year? I think I've pretty much stayed the same, just probably have a better perspective on some things. And I'm looking more to things to come rather than what I'm doing right now. Though what I'm doing right now will help me achieve goals that I have and whatnot.

Closer (24,25,26,27)

Closer by Joshua Radin

day 24- your last five facebook status'
*Thanks everyone who messaged, called and visited happy birthdays yesterday! I love you all. It meant a lot, you guys are the best. :)
*First me Gallbladder all weekend, now at the ER with the papa.
*Crazy weekend. Gallbladder attack, homecoming, viewing, continued gallbladder sickness..aye. I'm tired of hurting and feeling like tar.
*A Shine For Rainbows-great movie. Basically cried through the whole thing, hit a sob point in the middle. Kept crying after it was over. Highly recommend it-but keep something handy to wipe your tears.
*Of all the days for an Irish Dancer to have to go to work-today should not one of them...well hopefully my clients won't mind if I bust out in a jig or reel in the middle of the massage. ;)
day 25- what I would find in your bag
Which one? I have my dance bag and my purse. My dance bag has soft and hard shoes, black tape, ankle support, toe cushions, tennis ball, notes. My purse has hand sanitizer, lotion, chapstick/lip gloss, mints/gum, nail clippers, sharpie marker, pens, wallet, day planner, small notebook, glasses, grapefruit essential oil, camera.
day 26- what do you think about your friends
I could write novels on my friends. Bottom line is they are some of the best people I know. They are incredibly magnificent people and I don't know what I would do without them. Some I've known for years, some I've lost touch with and reconnected, some are related to me, some are pretty new, but I am grateful for each and everyone of them being in my life.
day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Cause it seemed like fun. :)

Finn MacCool's Reel (Day 23)

Finn MacCool's Reel by Pat Kirtley

day 23- something you crave for a lot
Um...That's a good question. I don't really have cravings-food or otherwise. Besides dancing, that is. haha. Travel is one I guess-I love traveling to places and don't get to do that near as much as I would like.

Just The Way You Are (Day 22)

Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars

day 22- what makes you different from everyone else
How funny that this question comes on my birthday. I am different from everyone else because I am ME. haha. No one else can be who I am, we are all individual in our own wonderfully unique ways. We are each given talents and gifts that fit us better than we may realize, and we may have more than we think we do.
If you read day one of this 30 day challenge, you'll read "interesting" facts about me. Also to go along with those- I think the green NyQuil tastes like liquid candy. I don't know why; it just does. I absolutely love the snow. And the Universe knows when to send it to me. Saturday when I was having gallbladder pains and problems I got huge white gorgeous cotton ball fluffy snow fall. This morning when I woke up it was all snowy for my birthday. I hate thunderstorms. It can rain all it wants because I love the rain but as soon as thunder comes into play the fun stops.
No one else has been through the trials I have been through-and they've made me who I am. People can't say "I know exactly how you feel", because no one does. Nobody has gone through your Exact situations, there's always something different in people's stories that have been through possibly similar experiences-but no one has been through our exact same stuff. So each of these things: trials, talents, gifts, quirks, etc. make us who we are as our incredibly individual selves.
Happy Birthday to me on my Golden birthday. 22 on the 22nd. Thanks to everyone who messaged, called and visited to help make this day special for me. It started with snow, and it ended with dance class. In my opinion- there's no better way to book-end a day.

Star Mile (Days 19,20,21)

Star Mile by Joshua Radin

Catching up again-I had a gallbladder attack this weekend so I'm a few days behind.
day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them
Most nicknames are just playoffs of my name. My mom calls me JoJo. Sometimes my sister will call me Josephine. Apparently my niece will be calling me Auntie Tacy when she gets talking. I have also been called: Stacky, Shawty, Miss Stacy, Principessa, to name a few.
day 20- someone you love
I love a lot of people for many different reasons. It's cruel to have me pick someONE. So we'll just go with one group of people: my family. Parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncle, grandparents, niece and nephew.
day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy
This combines a few things. Dance. Photography. Music. All make me deliriously happy. This picture was taken by my dad, edited by me. It won in a photo contest, also.

This = Love (Day 18)

This = Love by The Script
day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have

Basically keep going on the road I am on now. Continue in my career, doing what I love and am blessed to love what I do.
I hope to travel more, to places I've never been-and also places I've visited.
Continue to progress with dance, our dances are so much fun and I love the hard work it takes to do what I do. And I hope to continue to develop the talents that I have been given and never lose them.
Keep taking things in stride, and I greatly look forward to what life has in store for me in years to come. Cause it's going to be an adventure-I can tell you that.

Little Life (Day 17)

Little Life by Rachael Yamagata

day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

Anyone currently touring with Riverdance. I would Love to experience the grueling schedule, completely exhausted and aching legs & feet. I've had some pretty crazy Irish Dance days-but I would love to experience what it's like to be a Riverdancer. I can only imagine what caliber of stress, pain, exhaustion those athletes go through. Call me crazy-but it's kind of a dream of mine. haha. I would love to be a part of a show like that.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

So She Dances (Day 16)

So She Dances by Josh Groban
day 16- another picture of yourself

This was Saturday night's Celtic Celebration show. Our final bows, I am on the end.


Also from Celtic Celebration, this was the dance we did with the band- Stone Circle- Gravelwalk.

The Dynamo of Volition (Day 15)

The Dynamo of Volition- Jason Mraz

day 15- put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play
The Dynamo of Volition- Jason Mraz
Oceano- Josh Groban
Just My Imagination- Pete Yorn
They Do, They Don't- Jack Johnson
Tear Da Roof Off- Busta Rhymes
Learn To Do It- Anastasia Soundtrack
Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer- Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack
Take A Chance- Landon Pigg
Brokenpromiseland- Bon Jovi
Stuck in the Middle- Mika

We Are Family (Day 14)

We Are Family by Sister Sledge

Day 14- A picture with your family

This was taken this last Christmas. The first time in three years my immediate family was together. It was great.

Everything'll Be Alright (Day 13)

Everything'll Be Alright by Joshua Radin

day 13- a letter to someone

Dear Everybody.
While I've got you here I just have a few points I'd like to suggest. Just something I've been thinking about and have thought maybe we need a little reminder to us all in general. Be kind to one another. Be respectful. Be friendly. Smile. Don't judge. Give as many hugs as you can, and when you appreciate/care about/love/respect/etc. someone-tell them. It's always a good thing to hear. Be grateful for the daily blessings and gifts that we have; there is always something to be thankful for. Help your neighbors. Be there for each other through all things. We're all on this earth together-and so we might as well make it a wonderful place to be. I'll bet if we focused more on the positive things in life and ways we are blessed, perspectives would be a little brighter. Just a thought, do with it what you will and hopefully put into action for the greater well being of all of us.
Love,
Me
P.S. I love you.

Gravelwalk (Day 12)

Gravelwalk by Stone Circle

day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one
(It still counts as day 12 because I haven't been to bed yet-even though technically it's day 13...which I'll do later.)
Um. I don't remember how I found out about it. I have one so that my family that don't live close by (i.E. my siblings) can still keep up to date on what I'm doing (even though we still talk on the phone, And friends and whoever else wants to read about my sometimes exciting adventures.

Tonight Celtic Celebration was pretty good. The two pre-performance things that usually without fail did in deed happen to me. 1- Nervous pee. Right before the show-even if I just went to the loo, I feel like I have to go again. While I may not be nervous, my bladder thinks I am. and 2- I forget the steps. It's all muscle memory, baby. Before the show I forget how all the dances go. It's terrible and freaks me out way more than my nervous bladder. Do either/both of these things happen to anyone else?
I had lots of fun dancing at Peery's Egyptian Theater. I am proud of that performance and I'm glad I got video of it, too. :) Those of you who didn't go-surely missed out. Though I'm a little disappointed I did not see the ghosties that reside in the Theater. But it was a great night anyways and I'm sure they enjoyed the show.

For anyone who is wondering-my health is continuing to get better. If anyone has/gets a sore throat try 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne pepper in 1 cup orange juice, heat it up, and drink it. It may sound gross-but trust me it's not. And it Works! If I'd known how great that works I would not have waited almost 4 days before I got desperate enough to try it. You can't even taste the pepper, so don't let that throw you off. My throat feels SO much better today I can talk, drink and swallow without wanting to cry.

Higher Window (Day 11)

Higher Window by Josh Groban

day 11- another picture of you and your friends

Emma, Aly, Sarah, me and Kiramey. My old dance friends from my old dance school. I loved dancing with these girls and miss them a lot. But my new dance school is better suited to what I want from dance. We had a ton of fun and lots of parties and after dance trips to Dee's. Even though I was the youngest by like 5 years, our ages never seemed to matter-or even noticed for that matter. We just meshed and got along really well. This picture was taken on one of our dinners at MacCool's Pub.


This is me with Mindy. She's my new dance friend. She's pretty cool, we get along well. We're going to Riverdance together on April 2nd.


A Group from high school-at Darin's farewell. I'm not going to name them all. But this was kind of my central group of friends in high school-plus or minus a few people. We had a lot of good times.
ONE MORE

Elise, Myself, and Colton. We're a pretty great trio. Colton and I met in 9th grade when our jr. high's came together for one Valentine's dance. We had a friend in common and she introduced us and we danced together. Colton also took me to Sr. Ball. He's basically awesome. Elise and I met my senior year of high school through Joe. He and I were hanging out one day and she showed up, too. Joe had to go somewhere and while he was gone I saw that her key lanyard said "IRELAND" and I said we should be friends. She agreed. And that was that. Seriously-that's how we became friends. And pretty great friends right from that moment on. We immediately started laughing and whatnot and when Joe came back I think he may have been a little startled/confused at what he missed because we were acting like we'd known each other for years before then. It's a great story. She was and is one of my top confidants. We have many great conversations- either about serious matters or our never ending Gilmore Girls quotes. :)

Mother Nature (Day 10)

Mother Nature by Natalie MacMaster

day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad
Music posts for me could go on for a long time..but I'll try not to get too carried away. This list is in NO way complete and/or solid, it's just to give you an idea of the type of music I listen to depending on what mood I'm in. And even then it's not always right.
Happy songs are: Love Today and Lollipop by Mika, dancey Irish melodies. Step Up 3 Soundtrack, The Script, Flogging Molly!, So She Dances by Josh Groban. . .
Sad songs: slow/ melancholic Irish melodies. losing your memory by Ryan Star, sound of silence by Simon and Garfunkle. Everybody Hurts by REM, Black Roses Red by Alana Grace, Let Me Fall by Josh Groban, Be Your Love by Rachael Yamagata...
Hyper songs: Basically the same as my happy songs. Anything with a good up beat. No specific songs pop into my head here-cause it's basically my happy music. Which is way too many to list..
Mad songs: Lots of bass, loudly. NOT scream-o stuff. "Scream-o" music is NOT music. I don't really care what you say, it's my opinion and I'm going to defend that until I die. A Perfect Circle's pretty good angry music (Lex introduced me to them in like. . .sophomore year? We were driving around in the red truck listening to them.) German rock stuff is good, too. I have no idea what they're saying-but when does that matter as long as the music is good?? Pretty much just loud music. . .no specific songs come to mind.

Sleeping On Top of Things (Days 7,8&9)

Sleeping On Top Of Things by The Voluntary Butler Scheme

Alright, I missed a few days from being sick. The bright side is my temperature is no longer 103 degrees and I can almost swallow without wanting to cry. I went to the doctor and while the strep throat test came back negative, I'm being treated for it anyway. Plus I have an ear infection. I haven't had an ear infection since I was like 12. I'm feeling better today than I have been so while I'm trying to push the liquids I figured I'd catch up on this 30 day thing. So since I need to catch up there will be days 7, 8 and 9 all on this post.
day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Hopefully this one won't require explanation. But basically at the end of the day it all comes down to Him.

day 8- short term goals for this month and why
Um....this month I just am excited for Celtic Celebration on Saturday (for which I WILL be recovered). And my birthday. As far as goals go-just keep taking care of my health.
day 9- something you're proud of in the past few days
Haha, funny. The past few days I really haven't done anything. I've thought my fever broke twice already-but I think it's finally gone now. So-that's something to be proud of!

Soft Kitty (Day 6)

Soft Kitty by Sheldon Cooper

Day 6- Favorite superhero and why
Batman. I just like his story best. And I like his movies the best (more specifically Christian Bale). Besides: Dunanananananananananananananana BATMAN!

In case you're wondering why the title of this post is "Soft Kitty"; I woke up this morning feeling sick. Stomachache, sore throat, headache. I've spent most of the day sleeping. And in The Big Bang Theory-when Sheldon is sick, he needs "Soft Kitty".
Anyone want to sing it to me?

Into The West (Day 5)

Into The West from the Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King Soundtrack

day 5- a picture of somewhere you've been to

Ireland

Washington

Hawaii

I know it said A picture you've been to-but I couldn't pick. So these are my top 3 favorite places I've been to (currently).

Unbreak

Unbreak by Ryan Star

day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have
That habit I stole from a nun. (Just kidding. Get it?? Nuns wear habits.)
Sometimes I wish I didn't need noise to fall asleep. That's the only one I can really think of at the moment.

More Than Anyone (Day 3)

More Than Anyone by Gavin DeGraw

Day 3: A picture of you with friends

Eric, Lex, Morgan, Me, Joseph and Talia hanging out in my basement one night. (The weekend before I went to Ireland)
I have known these amazing people for years. I went to Junior High with Lex and Talia, and Eric married Lex a few years ago, Morgan and Joseph I have known through High School. These friends are super important to me and where there for me faithfully and unfailingly through some of my toughest trials-they never left my side. I would not be the person I am today without these people. I love each of them dearly and feel lucky to call them friends.

Lindsays Rigby and Hanson, Carolyn and I one new years. These girls are incredible friends of mine. Rigby and I are actually related (like 5th cousins, but related nonetheless) and have known each other since Jr. High. Hanson and I bonded at a party sophomore year over me telling her to stick her hand in my gut. :D Carolyn and I became close friends as she was the TA in my band class. Each has strengthened me and shown their undying friendship for which I am incredibly grateful they are in my life.

My Tim and my Jacki. I met both up in Logan. Jacki was my roommate-we bonded over walking through the cemetery at night, and taking random road trips on Saturdays. Many late night deep conversations and midnight root beer runs. She's an outstanding friend and I cannot wait for her to come home from her mission next month. Hugs will not do it-we will most likely nearly tackle each other the first time we see each other again. She and I met Tim one night at an institute party the beginning of the semester. She, James, Tim and I saw each other every day since until Christmas break that year. We bonded over eating ice cream in the closet, hockey games and blanket forts in my living room at 2am. Frosting fights and making scones for general conference.
I have the absolute best friends I could ever ask for. I am grateful for each and every one of them. More friend pictures to come for day 11.

Winter (Day 2)

Winter by Joshua Radin

Day 2: The meaning behind your blog name.
It took a bit to come up with a title that I liked. I wanted it to (try to) fit a good chunk of who I am. Trying to think of things that fit me, dancing, my Irish heritage, and how there's a lot of layers to who I am. I can talk for a long time and you still may not know anything of significance about me. (Just ask my old roommate, Jacki. You can't cause she's on her mission for another month and a half.) You have to get through the first few layers to get anywhere with me. I've been through a lot in the past that has sort of forced me to do that. There are also a lot of layers/aspects to my life, each one has a big significance to the whole being that I am. I love music, also (as you know). So A Wild Irish Rose Dancing Through Life is what I came up with. My Wild Irish Rose is an old Irish song, Dancing through Life is a song from Wicked, Roses have layers (which was a lot more appealing than my first thought of onions. So it has music, Irish, Dancing, and layers. Pretty heavy for a short title, but I like it.

Straight To You (Day 1)

Straight To You by Josh Groban

Day #1 A Recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

This was last week. I woke up one morning to find my cat laying half on my pillow, half on my shoulder. I had to take a picture because it was cute, and he's my little buddy who is never far from me when I am home. We got him when I was 5, so in cat years he's an old man but he still seems to be pretty healthy which is good, I don't know what I'm going to do when he's gone.
So, I guess we'll try and find 15 "interesting" facts about me. . .
1- I am an Irish dancer. You all know this already, but (aside from my Irish dance friends) how many Irish dancers do you know? It's my go-to when someone asks for an interesting fact about me. And it may not even be that interesting to some people, oh well.
2- I am learning to play the bodhrán. A bodhrán is an Irish drum and it sounds so cool, I am not that good yet. My ultimate goal is to play the bodhrán and dance at the same time. Because how cool would that be?
3- I hate most chocolate flavored things. Chocolate milk, cake, pudding, ice cream, frosting, frosty's from Wendy's, etc. If it's actual chocolate, then it's okay. But for some reason the chocolate flavored things taste gross to me. My sister has "disowned" me many times for this because she LOVES chocolate and doesn't see how I can't love it as well. It's easy-there are much better tasting things out there.
4- I pretty much always have music or something on for noise in the background. Why? Because silence is so dang loud! On the music note- you know my blog titles are songs, but do you know that they usually are either a- the song I am currently listening to or 2- a song that is describing something or someone currently in my life?
5- Root beer is my weakness. If it's been a bad day-you can tell how bad of a day it's been by how much root beer I drink.
6- I may or may not have broken my left foot at my Senior all night party the night I graduated from High School. I say that because I never went to the doctor. Most people thought it was broken, and looking back-I think it may have been. I couldn't walk on it for a while-to turned real gross looking (bruising all over). But we taped it up and I used crutches for a bit. But-I was able to go back to dance faster than I would have if they stuck me in a boot and cast.
7- I do believe in Karma. So ya'all best be watching out.
8- My mom laughs at me (usually) at least once a day. Okay, that may be more about my mom than me, but it's me indirectly. Usually it's about something I say. I can be a very opinionated person, and apparently use humor in expressing some of them.
9- My favorite sandwich is The Junction from MacCool's Pub. Which I've learned has sadly been taken off the menu. This seriously made me way sad. It's so delicious! Why would they take it away?! It's a grilled mozzarella with prosciutto and fig jam on sourdough bread. Yeah, I thought it sounded weird too but it's SO good!
10- One of my pet peeves is hearing people chew. Not just chew but slosh their food. It makes me lose my appetite. Also if I hear chomping of gum. Yuck.
11- I have never had short hair. Except for when I was little and it was just growing. (It was also Platinum blond) The shortest it's ever been is just below my collar bone. I Absolutely love my long hair. (Which is to my low back.) I also had a perm through most of my growing years. I am jealous of all you naturally curly haired people out there.
12- I have royal blood, Irish and French (nice combo, huh?) I am related to Brian Boru, the last high king of Ireland. And one of the Kind Louis's.
13- I believe in ghosts. And have had experiences to back it up. I love watching those paranormal shows (Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Intl, Ghost Adventures).
14- I actually like being pale. Or "fair" skinned, depending on who you talk to. I have never really wanted to be tan.
15- I had never planned on being a massage therapist until 2 weeks before I started school for it. But love what I do, and am blessed to have a career that I enjoy.