Houses

Our house has been sold! It is weird to actually have our house sold. We have been trying for a year now but it has taken forever. It has not even been a week yet and both of my parents have found houses to get (they got divorced).

On Friday my dad had to leave with my little brother to go to a soccer tournament. Before he left though he found a house that was newly listed in his price range on the market and put an offer down on it. He put down some payment deal to said that he is actually considering buying the house and he wont back out. Then this weekend while both of them were gone my mom and I looked at some houses for her. She went through 17 house just on Saturday alone. Then me and her looked for house on Sunday morning. She ended up looking through a total of 22 houses all together. But today when we were looking through houses we went through the house that my dad put a payment on. For some reason the lady still had an open house, which me and mom my thought sounded suspicious. The lady is selling the house herself through iowahomesforsale. When we went in the house she was showing other people around it like no one had even put an offer down on it and it was still up for sale. Apparently my mom told me she went back through and asked the lady if there had been any offers on it and she said that she had had three offers on the house and was waiting till Monday to accept one. Doesn't that sound a little sleazy and like she is cheating these people. My dad clearly thought that his offer was accepted and he had a house. My little brother even started planning out where his room was going to be and where the t.v. was going to go. This lady obviously is cheating these people out and in the end it probably will benefit her, but it still does not make it right. If my dad was home this weekend he could have been looking at other houses if he knew that this lady did not want his offer. It just seems cheap and completely unprofessional. I really hope he ends up getting the house and is not just played by this rude lady.

But some good news is that my mom found a house this morning and the offer was accepted through an actual reality company so it seems more legit and real than my dads acceptance. The only thing is that the house is like a couple streets away from where my dad wants to live. So it would be kind of weird living that close even though they are divorced. Oh well, I guess I will have to see how it goes.

Marriott

The Monday after we got back from break we had a performance right away at the Marriott Hotel for some business people. It was supposed to be a banquet I think to reward their "good/hardworking" employees. We had to be there a little bit after school so we could get ready and set up for the performance.

Most of the guys went into the big banquet room and helped set up the risers while the girls did their hair in the other room we were all getting ready in. All of a sudden I hear that one of our guys has cut their finger pretty badly. My mom was helping him out because she teaches a first aid and cpr class for the venture crew that I am in. Apparently he sliced his finger on the riser and it was cut really deep. It was bandaged up and no one really sent him to get stitches even though he needed them. I think he was just trying to make it through the performance first.

It is time for us to perform and we go out on stage and stand in our positions. A reverend says a funny little prayer and sits down in front. Now everyone is going through the buffet line at the back of the room while we are starting to perform so it is a little weird. And then everyone else is eating at the round tables in front of us. We start our show and it is going pretty good other than the awkwardness. As we get to our ballad we start off and we all seem really out of breath. Who knows if it was the room that was hard to breath in or none of us just did not really have as much adreneline as we usually do but you could tell it was a little rough. During the beginning, which is a really quiet time, the reverends phones goes off. He takes it out of his pocket and just looks to see whos calling...not even silencing it. After a couple seconds the reverend, who is in the front and center table by the way, opens up his phone and starts talking. It was sooo distracting and weird. I think he might be suffering from mental issues though, so I have to give him a little bit of a break.
During the middle of the ballad the guys finger has now bled through the bandage and is making a little pool on the stage of blood. He has a little five person solo part in the next song but right after the ballad he has to leave to go get stitches. So now we have an awkward situation to perform at in the first place, with a distracting phone conversation, and a leaking cut finger on stage.

....it was quite a performance.

Dog Sledding :)

Over Spring break I went to Colorado as you might know. There we got to go dog sledding. I was so excited because the time before this when I went to Colorado we went and it was the most memorable time there for me. When I was there this time with a lot of the people that did not really know what dog sledding was like I kept getting really excited over it and I am pretty sure they all thought I was going over board but I did not care. They finally understood when we went why I was acting that way.

We went to the same exact place that we had gone the time before. We arrived there and filled out forms then got all of the gear we needed and put everything on so we were ready to go. Soon our instructors came in and took us outside to the dog teams. Our group was split up into six and four because there are only six people allowed for each group. I was in the group of four and we had two other people from another group join us. We got to our dog teams and the group we came with all took a picture with the lead dogs. Then we soon met the dogs on our team and learned a little bit about them. There are eight dogs on the teams that pulled us. First off on our team was the two boys. The rest of us sat in a two bench sled thing that was being pulled by the snowmobile that the instructor was driving. Each bench sat about two and maybe three if you squeezed. The dogs are taught to follow the snowmobile so our instructor took off, yelled a command, and then the dogs took off.

Dog sledding it not the fastest thing in the world especially when they had been on the same trails day after day so they get bored. The people on the sled were going at a more leisurely pace then one might think. The instructor started to make new trails for the dogs to be interested and pay attention more. This just meant a bumpier ride for those on the sled behind the snow mobile though. It was fun for me but maybe not for the people that did not have things covering their face.

Soon enough it was my turn and I went by myself first with no one sittting in the seat area. He asked me if I wanted to go the easy way or the hard way and I told him the easy for this first time.... sooo he went the hard. Well I have gone dogsledding before but I was no where near an expert. He took me down and path where the corner takes a hard steep right and then quickly a hard steep left. Well luckily I got the first corner down without hitting the trees on my right. But then there was too much slack in the line that attached the dogs to the sled and dumb me forgets how to break at the moment we try to go around the second quick turn to the left. The dog were going so fast and got the turn but the sled did not and whiplashed out to the right taking me in the same direction. I pretty much launched off of the sled and to the snow. It was fun that I fell but I kind of wanted to have a re-do and prove that I could do it. And just my luck too, the other six from our group had just crossed the trail across from us and saw me launch off the sled. One of them even got a picture.

Moving on to another exciting part of the trail ride was when a little boy in our group who was one of the additions rode on the dog sled. He was probably in elementary school or middle school. He was so light and little though, so he got to ride a lot so the dogs could pull him easier and we could cover more ground. Our instructor unexpectedly led us up this crazy little snow ramp thing. It is hard to describe but it didn't feel like we should make it over but somehow we always did. Well the dogs get excited to go up it and the instructor takes us up then we looked back and see the dogs come over and then soon the sled.... but with no little boy. Then we circle around and the dogs follow so the boy quick jumps back on the sled. Again we go over another one of those crazy little ramps and this time we all think the little boy might make it because we can see him on the sled coming up... but then the sled flicks over that quick hill and launches the boy up. It was sooo crazy, he did like a superman in the air. That was the talk of the day for me.

The entire experience was sooo much more amazing the second time than the first. I think it was a little bit more adventurous too. I loved dog sledding and I wish I could do it more often because it is so incredibly fun and enjoyable.

Wild Horse Saloon

The night we found out our results for show choir performance we all got ready and went out to the Wild Horse Saloon. Here we had dinner and learned a line dance with a bunch of the other show choir kids that were there. It seemed like it would be such a great time for all of us. The night was full of food, people, music, and dancing... what more could you ask for? There was a guy that came out and kind of looked like Keith Urban :) Well I was at the front of the stage with others from our group just dancing and having a good time. It was kind of one of those times where I didn't really care what people thought and I was just letting the music and experience take me over. I had this feeling once he started to change to a little older classic songs that he was going to play "my song" (when I sang the solo for Don't Stop Believin'). Everyone usually freaks out when that song comes on. Usually I don't really care to sing along since I feel like everyone does not really hear me anyways since they are singing. It never really felt like "my song" until that night when the guitar started to play the intro. My whole group freaked out and started attention towards me and one of my friends lifted me up in a hug for a second. The singer obviously knew that I had sung it or somehow that song was really important to me since he was watching it right in front of him. For some reason though I just started tearing up with all these emotions. I let it all go and just sang my heart out along to the song with everyone else. I did not care about anything around me, it was just me and that song. Then on the chorus the singer let me singing one of the belting parts.... It probably wasn't that good though because I was still pretty much letting the tears flow but oh well :/ Then I still remember when he was singing another part he looked down at me and winked. I loved it! I loved the entire feeling of that time on the dance floor. It felt like the best night of my life! The feelings I get when I remember that night are great. It really is one of those "priceless" moments that I never will forget.

Colorado!!!

Spring break was also filled with going to Colorado, specifically Keystone. I went with my venture crew. The leader has a condo up there that ten of us all stayed in. It was another realllllly long car ride over there.... even longer than driving to Nashville. Once we got there we bought our lift tickets and food for the week at a local grocery store. As soon as we had arrived at the condo everyone put everything away and the new guys explored the condo. I had already been to this place before a couple years ago along with one of the other guys too so I did not need to look around.

The next morning my ski boots were not fitting so I had to go to the local sporting goods store to get some while everyone else started off their skiing/snowboarding sessions. I finally found some and went over to the slopes when we all met for lunch. From there I got to ski, but soon my boots were starting to bother me, which was not good at all. That night we went back to the ski place and just got some incerts which were supposed to help support my foot and move it so it did not hurt as bad. Mostly they told me though that I was supposed to wear them a lot to have them settle to my foot.

The next couple of days we went to the slopes again. The first two days had snowy weather which was good for the slopes but made it cold and hard to see when you went down the hill. The last day we went though was sooo beautiful. It was a nice ending to skiing. By that day my shin was hurting from an old bruise and just wearing the new boots in general all the time. But to take a break our leader took some of us snow tubing. It was a lot of fun since I never really knew exactly what it was and how it worked. I kind of wish I was not wearing ski boots though because you are not allowed to go down with anyone else since the boots are dangerous to others if they get hit. You go down this section out part of a hill, like a big slide kind of. Then you have to walk to the belt that takes you and your tube back up. I thought I could just figure it out and did not need any help, but I was wrong... I ended up almost falling backwards because I was not leaning forwards enough. Luckily there was a helper guy that was on his way up right after me that pretty much caught me from falling backwards. I felt really dumb. Either way it was still fun though. That Saturday was our rest day pretty much. We cleaned in the morning before we went back home and then went dog sledding and had a nice dinner out before returning home the next day.

Nashville!!!

Nashville was such a great experience. It was so much more than what I was expecting. I did not really have a good experience when I went on another kind of trip the spring break before that, so I was so glad that it had surpassed my expectations.

First there was a tremendously long bus ride there, but.... oh well. I pretty much slept most of it away anyways. When we got there we stayed at this amazingly huge hotel. It is the biggest hotel I have ever stayed in. There was like a jungle type area in the middle with a gondola ride going around the center. In the middle of these places were little shops and gifts places to go enjoy on free time. At the beginning of the trip everyone was in awe of the hotel, the city, and the time we were about to have. But soon everyone was switched into show choir mode. We had to go that night we got there to watch other groups. They ranged from middle schools all the way up to varsity groups. All of the groups were good and had different styles. There was one middle school group that just blew everyone away. They had sooooo much fun. There was a little red head in the group that I had caught my eye from the beginning and then I find out that he has the funnest solo later in the show. He had everyone laughing, clapping, and enjoying themselves. It was so powerful to see the entire auditorium in an uproar over this little boy and this middle school group. I loved it, and that is the show I remember most out of all the show choirs.

We performed the next day and found out that we had made it into finals which was exciting. That Friday night we went to the mall and Dave and Busters. It was kind of a relaxing evening before we had to perform the next morning. Then Saturday we perform our show and come to find out that we only make fifth. A lot of us were so upset and just started getting mad in general and taking it out on other people. I thought it was a little ridiculous. I mean we had beat lots of others out of finals. Yeah, we had been going pretty strong but things happen. I just really wanted to enjoy the experience for what it was and not dwell on the fact that it could have been better if we would have gotten a different placing. Oh well. I'm still glad we got to experience how it felt to perform on that stage in the Grand Ole Opry. The sound was so amazing. I kind of wish we had listened to our own show from the back of the theatre, but that would be kind of hard to do and perform at the same time. This experience was soo fun and great.

Spring Break!!!

This spring break has come up pretty fast. Actually the entire school year has gone by pretty fast I think. Maybe not the school day or week itself but... Well I just really love breaks. The worst part is going back to school after they are over. This spring break though I have a full schedule. The Thursday before our show choir group leaves at 3 in the morning to head for Nashville, Tennessee. From there we come back that Sunday. After that I have Monday free then Tuesday at 6 in the morning I get to leave again to go to Colorado with Venture Crew 2000 that I am also in. I do not get back until the Sunday before break at about 9. I have no idea when I am going to be able to do my homework in between all of that. And I know that my teachers will give it because obviously breaks are when homework should be done. Plus I will have to make-up those first two day that I will be gone.

This spring break should be very exciting though despite all the homework I will have to worry about. I can not wait to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. The stage I have heard is amazing to sing and dance on. I think the experience will be unforgettable. There is a spot on the stage that is a part of the old stage. It is a different color of wood and kind of out of place. This spot is supposed to be like lucky or something like that. Many famous people have stood on that very spot in the floor. A lot of people in the group really want to stand there. And those that have that kind of a spot onstage are so excited and think it will be destiny or something when they stand there. I can kind of see the excitement peice but I really think a lot of people have stood there and never been really famous so I really do not believe that part of it. The experience will just be amazing in general though singing there on the stage.

I really can not wait for this spring break. Hopefully all the hecticness and stressfullness can get behind me and I can concentrate on having an amazing experience spending time with friends in a new place and just having so much fun!!!

Fired Up!

Movies are always enjoyable to go see. Fired Up! looked like just another girly cheerleading movie, but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be like that. I loved the spunky personality the movie seemed to have to it. Through out the entire movie there was always an energy running through it. The home cheer team really have a quirky feel before the two guys come along and all of a sudden tremendous improvement starts to happen. You can tell that this movie is really supposed to make you laugh with the dramatic things that happen. Every scene had something funny to enjoy.

It starts out with these two guys who are big football stars at their school. They want to get all the ladies though and they don't get that by running around and tackling men on the football field. Soon they think up an idea to join the cheerleading team. They are strong guys that could really benefit the team. One of them has a prodigy sister who helps them with cheers and tricks. In the summer instead of going to a grueling football training camp they go to the cheer camp. Here they meet all the other teams that are training and competing against them. The team at their school has never really been anything amazing but with these new additional guys on their team they start to become something. Just like any movie there is always a rival team to beat. The way they are presented though gives you something to laugh at even though they seem better then the team that you want to root for.

This movie was a very enjoyable movie and kept me laughing. The main guys are really where it all revolves around. Their characters are entertaining to see interact with one another. Also the main cheerleading team all have their silly characters within them. I think this would be one of those movies that would be easy to watch again because you can always pick up on new funny things that you did not see the first time around. There are many little things that are slipped into different scenes in the movie. The two guys stay with a bunch of other guys and one of them starts to have a connection with another cheer guy living there. He just thinks it is a great friendship but soon comes to find out that the cheer guy is actually thinking that they have another kind of connection.

Fired Up! was a really funny movie. It was one of those movies to just sit back and enjoy the hilarious humor put into it. Even though it kind of seems like a chic cheerleading movie, there was plenty of masculine humor. I do think this movie was more geared toward the younger crowd though and not really a family movie.