Jar of Hearts

Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri


Dear Monday,
Thanks for having the word "mon" in you. That's French for "mine", in case you weren't aware, Monday, but it makes me think of you as "my day", and frankly that sounds like a much more promising start to the week.

Another Monday. A snowy Monday, no less. I'm telling you, the universe knows when I need things like this. To either help me feel better from a sad/mad day, or to enrich the good days. The flakes today are slow falling, fluffy, snow-globey. I love it. Now I know not everybody loves snow--but I'm probably happy enough to cover for those who aren't so thrilled. No worries. I've gotcha covered.
Happy Monday.


P.S. Scary thought: Oireachtas is NEXT Weekend!

And Winter Came

And Winter Came by Enya


Ladies and Gentlemen, we have flakes. Flakes have been sighted. Flakage, if you will, has begun. It's the first snowfall of the season. It's very lucky. Make a wish.
It finally happened. It snowed!
The world changes when it snows. It's quiet. Everything softens. Everything's magical when it snows, everything looks pretty. The clothes are great. Coats, scarves, gloves, hats.
It's sparkly, blanketing everything in a peaceful, white coat. You get to curl up under a blanket, watch a movie with some hot chocolate (cocoa-lattes!!). When it's summer you get so hot and you can only take so much off and then you're still too warm! In the winter-you can pile on as many layers, blankets, and sip tasty warm drinks as you like! Snow. Pictures in snow! There's just a beautifully cozy feeling about when it gets cold and snowy.
Luckily I made it home from dance rehearsal just before the roads started to get covered. Not even kidding. I was home two minutes when the roads started going white. Oireachtas is two weeks away. Holy crazy! The stress is going away and I'm starting to get excited.
Now, if you'll excuse me, there's cozy warm clothes and a cocoa-latte waiting for me.

The Inferno

The Inferno from The Divine Comedy


"And when, with gladness in his face, he placed his hand upon my own, to comfort me, he drew me in among the hidden things. Here sighs and lamentations and loud cries were echoing across the starless air, so that, as soon as I set out, I wept. Strange utterances, horrible pronouncements, accents of anger, words of suffering, and voices shrill and faint, and beating hands-all went to make tumult that will whirl forever through that turbid, timeless air, like sand that eddies when a whirlwind swirls." [Dante, as he enters the Gates of Hell. Canto III, Inferno]

Happy Halloween to all. I remember when my band played this song for one of our fall concerts. It was crazy to learn, but amazing when we pulled it off. Listen to this song, I get lost in the eerie beginning and haunting melodies that this composer was inspired to create. Sometimes I really miss band.
When you're feeling down, try what I did yesterday: Drink some root beer, watch Anne of Green Gables, and take a nap. No day is so bad that it can't be made at least a little better by a nap.
Now today, to help me hopefully continue to feel better-I will do some yoga. Run. Dance. ahh yes, endorphins. And then another Halloween party.

Open Your Eyes

Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol


Um..Where did October go? It was pointed out to me today that this will be the last full week of October this year. This makes me sad. But, that means we're getting closer to winter. And that news thrills me.
Now, I know a lot of people do not like winter and are not looking forward to it. You can go ahead and blame me when it snows. I have people who already do. I'm fine with it. I'll save my reasons for why I love snow when it actually snows so stay tuned. In the meantime-watch this:

Mmm..pretty.
P.S. there's nothing funny about hitting your funny bone.

Dreams

Dreams by The Cranberries

Had a new experience this week. A new sensation, perhaps. It starts with an A and rhymes with schmallergies. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I've managed 22.5 years without exposure to this inconvenient human experience. I also thought that since I made it 22.5 years, that I had missed out on the "allergy gene". Nevertheless; I am not a fan. To those of you who have been unfortunate enough to have been learning to cope with this biological phenomenon, I am sorry for your suffering.

<< That thing might have been helpful-except it wouldn't have been, really. Plus it would have looked a tad silly.
I cannot tell you how many times at work I have said, "I'm not sick, I promise, it's just allergies." Actually- I can. During every session. I felt I should preface my unpredictable sniffling and congested sounding voice before anyone got worried about contracting some sort of illness. But learned that my clients didn't care. And even sympathized with me. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's completely fine. I understand." And commenced to turn into lethargic putty as I massaged away.
In any event, when I get to create my own world-allergies will now add the list of things that will not be invited. Along with thunder+lightning and mosquitoes. (Speaking of the nasty, relentless, little blood suckers; I got a mosquito bite on my leg while I was practicing dance in my garage today. Boo.)

To you reading this, I have a question. Do you believe our dreams have meanings? Or are they just our brains way of keeping us entertained while we sleep? Because while I am subconsciously entertained by saxophones and giant tubas in one dream, I can't help but draw similarities to real life in hiding in a bathroom stall waiting for someone to find me, and being found by said person in another. So, is this whole dream thing just stuff and nonsense, or is there really some almost vision-like parallel?


Please, feel free to discuss..

Falling Slowly

Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

A new adventure will be coming to me next month. I will be doing my first Irish Dance Competition. On November 19, I will compete with a team (thank goodness!) at the Western US Oireachtas in Anaheim California. A regional competition. So not only will it be my first competition-it will be a regional competition. Not a local feis. This both excites and terrifies me. I just wish to do well for my team, and myself. This will give me a taste of the competition world, and see what it's all about. Yes, I have been dancing for a while now-but competing is something completely new. I'm just glad it's with a team, we'll give that a try. I'm not sure about solo competing yet.
Other than dancing (and work), life has been filled with bowling, laughing until I cried, baking a TARDIS cake, turning Voodoo into Tinkerbell into super birds, Holy cows into people worshiping dogs. Eye shadow into a magic carpet, and secret admirers into stalkers (only a few people will understand that last bit).
It's starting to turn into Autumn. Which is wonderful. And Winter will follow closely, which makes me even more excited.
I forgot how cathartic painting was (Not quite as good as the feeling of flying Irish Dance gives, but can hold its own ground), must paint more often. I even have my idea for my next piece.
I really really want to go play with my camera.
And horseback riding.
:)
This weekend (and last weekend, too, for that matter) can be summed up in one word. Great. Hanging out with friends, painting, personal growth, lots of dancing (return of the evil dance blisters), being blessed to watch General Conference. Life is good.

Rolling in the Deep

Rolling in the Deep by Adele

(P.S. Adele is fantastic to work out to.)
I did a stint of 6 weeks eating no sugar. Mostly to see if I could do it. And I did. I felt so much better not ingesting processed sugar. Natural sugars from fruits and honey I would still eat, but no sweets. No candy, ice cream and (sigh) root beer. Now that I know I can get along with out added sugars I've decided to carry it on-yet indulge once in a while.
My sister is expecting baby # 2 in April! Exciting, yes. Though I'm not sure how she's going to manage with Muppet and now a Muppet Jr. (Poppet).
I switched dance studios and am now back at my original school, The Crawford School of Irish Dance. It was not an easy decision to leave LaRae's. I am incredibly grateful for all she's done for me and know that she's impacted my life in a greater sense than anyone possibly knows. But I feel that at this time, this is the best decision for me. I want to explore as much of the Irish dance world as I possibly can-and part of that is competing. Now while I am not a competitive person, I think starting with some figures/team dances may be a good way to explore this area and see what it's all about. Crawford recently got two new instructors, Alan Scariff & Kieran Hardiman. Both former World Champions and also former Riverdancers. Incredible dancers and teachers. I got dance blisters for the first time in years this week in class. Right on the ball of the foot. Painful yet awesome.
Speaking of Irish Dance, my friend Aly (fellow Crawford Irish dancer) posted this article on her Facebook, about the toll Irish dance has on the body (Click HERE and read). It's incredible. I had no idea all these years I was a paratrooper, and was subject to 4.5 G forces! But does that scare me? Nope. :) Haha. If anything-it definitely makes me more proud of what I do.
Fall is fast approaching, which mean...Winter is closer. Which makes me happy. We got some rain the last few weeks, the air is cooling down. This is great.

The Wandering Kind

The Wandering Kind by Josh Groban (The little prelude song on his Illuminations album)

Today my friend Sheree and I went on a hike up Alta Basin area, on Catherine Pass. It was beautiful. Here's pictures.

Bullet From A Gun

Bullet From A Gun by The Script

I know, I've been horrible at updating this. Mostly cause there's not much to update lately. And the people that read this, I'm guessing I talk to them a lot in "real life" that they don't have to keep updated on my life through the internet. But for any of you who follow this and I don't talk to often, I apologize.
My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came to visit the week before the 24th. It was so great to see them again!! I haven't seen them since Christmas, and my brother got time off approved so they were able to come down from Washington. I greatly enjoyed seeing them and hanging out with them.
One of the main things lately has been my ankle. About a month ago I was going down the stairs and my right ankle popped quite loud. Ever since then if it gets at too much of a dorsal or plantar flex, there's a good amount of pain that goes on there. So, before I continue dancing, I wanted to get it checked out by a doctor. I went to Advanced foot and Ankle, and Dr. S said that he thinks it's either the fluid capsule in my ankle is inflamed and pinched, or my extensor digiti minimi tendon (Which is what I thought it was before I went) is inflamed and strained. So he gave me a brace (which is similar to the one I'd been wearing since the incident) and heavy duty anti-inflammatories and a follow up appointment in 3 weeks. So far I can't tell much of a difference, but I did a little testing on my ankle today dancing and it seemed to hold up better than I was afraid it would. So keep your fingers crossed! Dr. Said as far as dance goes-as long as my foot/ankle will allow me to, I can do pretty much whatever I want. The strength in it seems fine, he's not worried about me rolling and spraining it. Just to know my limits and not overdo it.
I'll leave you with these thoughts: Pro/Con lists are only helpful if they aren't equal in numbers. If they are-prioritize which ones are more important. And: If you want something bad enough, you'll do everything you can to make it happen.

Time

Time by Chantal Kreviazuk

Crazy last few weeks. We had some scare with my kitty kitty, Tiger. He's a rather old cat (17 years, basically he's an 83 year old man) and had some strange behavior occasionally. So we took him for a geriatric feline checkup. He had some pretty bad mouth problems, a thyroid that was like it was on speed, and a slightly overactive liver. So we took him home with some medicines to help get thyroid and liver down so he could have mouth surgery. But he stopped eating and drinking and started throwing up a lot. 5 days later the poor cat was basically just a bag of bones, and was pooping blood. Terrified that this might be the end, my parents took him to the vet once more. The vet seemed optimistic, and wanted to keep him for a few days to see if he could make a comeback. He was severely dehydrated and had lost a little over a pound in 6 days. (He only weighed 6.12 to begin with) So they kept him, and I visited every day (except the first day he was there, that was too much of an emotional day for me). The day after he was admitted he seemed like a whole new cat, purring instantly when I picked him up and rubbing his head on me. He even started eating on his own again while I was there. Day 2, more improvement. All his levels were back down into the normal range. Day 3 in the animal clinic he was even eating hard food-which he hasn't done in over 6 months. He's insisted on canned soft food. Because he was doing so well, Dr. Ben and Dr. Joe thought he could undergo his mouth surgery and we could take him home shortly after that. They let him gain strength and fill up day 3 and morning of day 4 he had his mouth surgery. And handled it beautifully. I visited, like always, before I went to work. He was a little drunk on kitty morphene but seemed great. Afternoon of day 5 (Friday) they let us bring him home. As soon as I carried him out of the clinic he wrapped his paws around my neck and tucked his head under my chin. Super happy to be going home. Friday night, he started out curled up by my legs like usual but then, he climbed onto my stomach and fell asleep ON me. Which he hasn't done before. He's really glad to be home, and I'm really glad to have him home. He's my shadow/my life companion (I've had him since I was 5)/my child/my sibling. Every close relationship you can imagine. One of my favorite things is when he climbs up on me, lays down, purrs loudly, and head-butts my chin. It's his form of snuggling. This picture was yesterday:
And this picture was this morning:
He's still eating and drinking all on his own, and doing great. And I couldn't be more happy he's still with me.

Mr. Dublin Taxi man shared this: "The Mad cabby in Dc had a good customer who worked in the finance sector. One day he saw her driving a cab in Washington. So he paid her back for all the good tips he got from her as a passenger and coached her in the art of taxi driving. I often wonder how people would cope if positions are ever reversed." I share that because of a-the kindness of the Mad Cabby, and 2- the last sentence. How would you do if you were in the position of someone else. IE your waitress, cab driver, massage therapist, etc. Makes you maybe appreciate their services a little more?

Set In Stone

Set In Stone by Brian McFadden

It's been quite a while. I don't have much of a reason. I was either really busy or nothing was happening. Let me tell you about the first two days in April and how they were basically the happiest weekend of my life. April first, we had two main Riverdance dancers come up to our studio and do a workshop with us. Caterina Coyne and Maeve Croke. A number of local newspapers covered it, there were reporters and photographers in the corner of our studio. It was so incredible. I have never been so exhausted and exhilarated. Pushing the gas pedal driving home from the studio hurt my calves. They helped with some technique pointers, and taught us some drills and choreography from the show. It made me want to be like them. I know my chances of that are, well, non existent. But even a local thing like that would be cool.
The next night, Mindy (a good friend from dance) and I went to Riverdance at Kingsbury Hall. From the beginning dance, Reel Around the Sun, I was enthralled by Irish Dance all over again. By the end I had cheered so much through it I lost my voice a little. Who looses their voice at Riverdance?!?!? Oh yea...I do. heh.
Here's some pictures from the workshop.
In this first picture-my legs are on the right. In the black shorts.




Then a few weeks later, my "best-good" friend, Jacki came home from her mission. I went up to Logan the week after she got home to see her. As well as Tim. It was nice to be around Jacki again. And to have the three of us (Jacki, Tim and I) together again was a bit strange cause we've all changed in the past three years. But it was still as comfortable and easy as it has always been.
This week, my niece and sister were here for a visit. Jason was on a business trip in California-so instead of staying home alone, Nicole brought my Muppet for a visit. It was really fun having the two of them here. My niece is now a year and a half old. And she loves me. She's not talking "real" words much-she uses a lot of sign language she's learned. I swear she said "Hi Stacy" when she would see me. I'm pretty sure my cat got jealous of me spending my time with "the tiny human". If you've ever read Pet Diaries I could imagine my cat's inner dialogue every time he would see Syd. "Dang. The tiny human is still here." She loves Tiger. I think she talked to him more than any of us.
I had quite a bit of dancing the past few weeks. We had our studios spring recital, and then, One of my dreams came true. I got paid to Irish Dance. That's right. I had my first paying dance gig this week. There's a local famous Celtic band called Idlewild (I'm not sure how big they are outside of Utah), they had a thing Wednesday morning and wanted two dancers to come and do dances to their songs. So my teacher picked me and one other girl to go. I was so nervous! I normally don't get that nervous before a performance. I'm fine up until about 3 minutes before I go onstage, then I get nervous and forget all my dances. But as soon as I'm on stage and going I'm fine and everything goes great. This particular performance, however, I was nervous about two hours after I got the phone call up until I was done with the performance! I had a few rehearsals at the studio, and practice on my own. I had this "Dancer's Prayer" going through my head the morning of the gig:
Dear angel, Ever at my side,
Be there today, my feet to guide.
Help me dance high, and light, and free,
So everyone will be proud of me.
Every dance I'll remember with pride.
And angel, please keep my shoelaces tied.
The gig went well. The crowd and the band loved it. One of the band members said we made the show. It was pretty cool. I'd have done the gig even if I didn't get paid-but the fact that I just got paid to do dance is pretty great.

Here are a few videos for your enjoyment. The first one was shared by my friend Marné It's so incredible.

This one I stumbled upon after watching the first one.

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!