dance regionals 2016

you practice 10 months just to prepare for 2 months of competition seasons in dance.

within these 10 months, you challenge yourself mentally, emotionally and definetly physically. this past Saturday, we had our first major competition and it was our regionals. going into the competition, we had zero clue what to expect.

we competed in Pom and Hip-Hop, and to say the least, it was a MAJOR success.

•we ended up winning first place in the Hip-Hop division, first place in the Pom division, overall Grand champion of the whole High school competition, and best crowd appeal award! 

•after the tears of happiness & realization this was my last high school regionals EVER.

•best friends EVER. the first picture is my friend Karen & I after me competing! & the second picture are my friends Emilie & Josie. 

my friend Mackinsey also came, but sadly we didn't get a picture!

true friends sit through a all day competition just to cheer you on, couldn't ask for better bestfriends then these people! 

•this is Rayven, this was my first Higj school regionals without her since she graduated last year! Of course she came to support us & we had to get a picture. 

•my sister came to watch & support us as well, she used to be a dancer so she knows the pressure and stress we're under to achieve our goals.

•these are my coaches. they've spent the past 4 years helping me become  so much more than just a dancer, they've shaped me into a leader, and have helped me learn so many life lessons.

•this is Whitney, the past 7 years she's been by my side helping me transform as a dancer. she was my middle school coach, and she also gave me lessons for years. this weekend I start back with lessons from her to prepare for college dance tryouts {EEK}. 

•my fellow senior/bestfriend Kylee! Every competition we get a picture with the trophies, can't believe this was our last regionals! 

•last but not least, my mini me. the first picture is my first High school dance regionals, which was her 7th grade year of dance. the second picture is my last high school regionals, and her sophomore year one. can't wait to come cheer this babe on the next 2 years, the only difference is it'll be in the stands and not on the floor. couldn't have made it all these years without her!

hope everyone has been having a first month of 2016, and can't wait to keep you guys updated on our teams successful season!

winter wonderland 2016

first full week of the new year: complete! 

it sure was a busy one! first off, I want to apologize for not posting very much this week! I have been beyond busy with dance, school & just life in general. I've had a lot of fun events happen over the past 24 hours that I'm more than excited to share with you- it'll be in 2 different blog posts.

this one is about Winter Wonderland!

every year, my dance team hosts a fundraiser at the school called Winter Wonderland. it's basically our schools winter formal, and most people say it's even more fun than prom! 

everyone dresses up, takes a lot of cute pictures and shows up and dances all night long. since I'm my coaches teacher aide, I was in charge of selling tickets {another reason I was so busy}.

my senior year winter wonderland was a COMPLETE success and I want to share some of my experience with you!

pedicures to prep for the dance, we all went and got a pedicure! sadly were all dancers & couldn't get a manicure since our team has a strict "no nail polish" rule, but the massage chairs and fazolis afterwards made up for it! {L-R: Eryn, Kenzie, Olivia, Emma, myself}

best friends these girls are the major reason my night was so fun! from getting ready together and singing Thomas Rhett together in the bathroom, these girls made it an absolute blast. 

our friend Bree isn't dressed up because she doesn't go to our school, so she didn't attend the formal! but she still came and helped us all get ready, because she's just great! {L-R: Sydnie, Emilie, Bree, myself, & Josie}

transformation the first picture is from last year's winter formal and this one is from this year's! 365 days may have made us a little bit better looking, but it sure didn't change our bond! 

date this is Saul! he was my date. sadly, he couldn't eat or go to the dance, but he still was able to go to pictures with all of us!

candid this picture definetly explains our friendship! 

winter wonderland royalty every year at the formal, the dance attendees vote for a queen, King, prince, and princess! I was completely blessed enough to win a Queen, along with one of my best guy friends Devon {first picture}

McKenzie {my mini me} was crowned princess.. I thought this was pretty cool since we're like sisters and I call her my mini me! now we're basically sister royalty!

so as you can see, my senior year Winter wonderland dance was a major success. from prepping for the dance to the actual dance, I had a lot of fun and I'm so glad I got to spend my senior year with all of these people! hope everyone had a great week!

Janurary bucket list

happy Janurary! I'm not a fan of the cold weather, but since I live in the South, it seems we're not having much of it this year! usually by now, we've already had dozens of snow days, but lately it'll randomly get in the 70's! crazy, right?

I decided I'd make a bucket list for Janurary, and some of these items aren't achievable without snow, so fingers crossed!

1. Go ice skating

2. Go snow tubing

3. Start yoga

4. Have a winter photo shoot with my friends

5. Go winter clothes shopping {winter clothes haul post?}

6. Build a snow man! {hopefully}

7. Visit somewhere new

8. Go prom dress shopping {hopefully successfully}

9. Make snow cream!

10. Start a scrapbook

I hope everyone has had a wonderful first few days of Janurary! I start back at school tomorrow, so wish me luck!

15 things that every high school dancer wants the world to understand

15 things that every high school dancer wants the world to understand 

 1. "Sorry, I have dance" isn't an excuse. Hangout after school? Sorry regular practice. Hangout on the weekend? Sorry 8 hour practice or competition.

2. Yes we have a lot of bruises and no we don't want to explain every one of them to you.

3. When we complain about dance, don't say "it doesn't look that hard." It doesn't look "that hard" because our job is to make it look easy!

4. "Did your hip just pop?" yes, every part of my body pops about 10 times every 5 minutes and it feels seriously amazing.

5. When we come to school and we can't walk up the steps, understand we probably did about 20 toe touch splits during an 8 hour practice the day before.

6. We can complain about our team, you can listen to us complain about our team, but you're not allowed to say anything bad about our team because we will probably snap.

7. Unless you practice a minimum of 15 hours a week you have no right to critique any dancer or performance. 

8. We can't just "miss practice" like that doesn't exist unless you have a signed letter from a doctor saying you cannot dance for the sake of your health and everybody else's, but you'll probably still have to go to watch and make sure you don't miss anything.

9. We sing our music and mark our 8 counts in class by force of habit. Don't judge.

10. Don't try the "dance isn't a sport" argument because we will win, and you will feel humiliated.

11. We promise you we do much more than just "twerking."

12. Anytime there's a competition you're just going to have to understand every dancer is going to overload Instagram with 200 photos because we are proud of our accomplishments, and let's face it: competition hair, makeup, & uniforms are good for insta worthy pictures. 

13. Our closets are mostly filled with t shirts from competitions and leggings because A. they're comfortable & B. we can wear them to school and to practice without having to change, and after practice if you want to go crawl into bed and sleep for 20 hours, you're prepared for that too #lazyprobz

14. When we run we may nonchalantly throw out a leap combo and not even think twice. Again, don't judge.

15. Yes, we hangout with our dance friends more than anyone else because they understand our problems and what we go through. 

neon practice

hard work. what a word! it can mean a world of things to different people, and how everyone takes the word and uses it says a lot about them. 

hard work is never easy, heck the first word says it itself! but it is ALWAYS worth it. you work hard for your results, because good results aren't just handed away like candy. 

I am a member of a dance team that really values hard work! we are ranked 3rd nationally and number 1 overall in the state of KY. we have so many practices and so many sweat and tears are put into  what we do. I don't think anyone understands the pain and determination of a dancer until they are in their shoes, surviving a 6 hour Saturday competition practice early in the morning, using what little determination they have left and being able to pull through for the rest of the day. today, we had one of those practices! today was a little different because we had our first themed practice, and I think it made it a little more enjoyable, atleast for me anyways! 

•here's my lovely team, we have a pretty BRIGHT season ahead of us if you can't tell!

•these 2 pictures are photos of my freshman, Eryn {left}, & I! not everyone decked out on the neon like us, so we had to take a picture! beyond thankful for this girl and it's nice having someone as crazy and bubbly as me around! 

 •this is McKenzie {left}! she's my sophomore. I've had the privealge to know her for the past 5 years and I've enjoyed every second of it. she's became one of my bestfriends, and after I graduate this year I'm not sure what I'm going to do without our everyday photo sessions, fitness trips & us telling jokes all day everyday! regardless of her age or height (LOL) she'll always be my mini me!

•of course we had to take a little group photo just because we're basically a little family! {L-R: myself, Mckenzie, & Eryn} I see them taking many road trips to my college next year!

at the end of the day, being on a team that values hard work isn't always easy! there are so many times I want to give up and walk away, but it's the times that you push through it and give every single bit of the little you have left in you that makes you into a champion. the work is definetly worth it! 

New Year's Day

page 1 of 365 was a success! I had a really relaxing day for the most part, and a lot of good food!

my family is seriously superstitious, especially when it comes to the New Year. it's a tradition at our house to have dinner on Janurary 1st of "good luck food"

tonight's menu:

-bake & shake pork chops

-stuffing

-cabbage

-black eyed peas

-BBQ weenies

-corn bread

Weird mix right? the only good luck foods are the pork chops, cabbage, and peas, the rest were just in there because they taste good!

I'm a HUGE baby when it comes to eating food I don't like, and cabbage and black eyed peas make that list. I took exactly one bite of cabbage & ate exactly one pea, and it wasn't too bad!

To start the year off with some positivity, I made a list of 5 things to look forward to in 2016!

1. I turn 18

2. Senior trip

3. Go to college

4. Senior prom

5. GRADUATION!

I hope everyone made the most out of the New Year's Day and I can't wait to spend 2016 blogging my year away! 

NYE 2015/2016

NYE definetly was up to par! They say the night is what you make out of it, so I had a mind set to make it the best night to end 2015 with and I can honestly say mission accomplished!

Here are some lovely pictures of my night!

•last year on NYE, I spent it with one of my all-time bestfriends, and I got to this year too! we tried to remake a photo we took last year and I'm pretty sure we nailed it! 

•I was seriously amazed by these balloons, I think it's safe to say Emilie is the best party decoration shopper!

•we also had a little fun sneaking Emilies new puppy into Walgreens on our visit! wemight've got seriously funny looks, but hey: who cares! 

•what's NYE without a warm fire & some awesome friends?

•here are some more pictures of just my friends and I the rest of the night!

1st picture: {L-R: myself & Karen}

2nd picture: {L-R: myself & Skyler}

3rd picture: {L-R: Katie, myself & Mackinsey}

I think it's safe to say last night was a night I'll always remember! If the rest of this new year is as fun as last night was then 2016 looks pretty promising!

I hope everyone had a fun & safe new year and makes the most out of the first day of 2016! 

Here's my friend Emilies and my feelings about this year: LOL