4th Weekend in July - Our July Dance Competition

While everything else was going on in July, J and I were also getting ready to compete in our ballroom dancing competition that month. All year long we work towards these events. When the competitions get closer, we work THAT much harder!!

Up until now, I had been competing in Bronze Level International Latin: Intl. Cha Cha, Samba, Intl. Rumba, Paso Doble, and the Jive. In ballroom competitions there are four classifications: bronze level, silver level, open level, and gold level. Most people traditionally start out competing in the bronze level.

My instructor and I were still planning on having me compete in the bronze level for this competition. About a month or two before the competition, we decided to go ahead and start working on my silver level routines in preparation to compete in the silver level at our next competition in January of 2011. I went ahead and memorize the Silver routines to help us prepare that much faster. So in the months leading up to the competition, we worked on both the bronze level routines and the silver level routines.

The day before the competition, my instructor called me and told me that his student who competes in the Silver level had to back out of the competition at the last minute. He also told me that according to the heat lists, I was going to be dancing uncontested the entire day. He suggested that since I already had the silver routines memorized, I should go ahead and compete in silver level the next day now that the spot was now open. He and I both knew that I already had the routines memorized. Even so, I was VERY nervous about this! However, I knew that if I had stayed and competed in bronze level the next day I'd be getting first places... but only because I was competing against myself. So, I decided to go for it.

I was very proud of myself. So was my instructor. I placed higher than we anticipated for my first competition in silver! I even placed higher than those who had already been competing in this level. I'm very excited to continue to work and improve in Silver! I've got 5 months till my next competition.

J also did VERY well with his students as usual. All of his students danced beautifully! Overall, it was a great weekend of dancing!

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My instructor and I are pictured here getting ready to dance the International Latin Jive.




J and one of his students dancing Bronze level American Smooth.



My friend, and one of the instructors at the studio, dancing Professional American Rhythm with her dance partner. They placed second in their division that night!!! So proud!




After we were finished dancing, J and I watched the professional America Smooth, American Rhythm, International Latin, and International Standard competition rounds.

3rd Weekend in July-J's Birthday!

SO the majority of July was also spend on planning a surprise birthday party for my husband. With the help of our friends Karen, Juanita, and Jason, we got it done.

We knew J would wouldn't want something big, so we had about 8 people there total including he and I. We ordered food from a barbecue restaurant close by and enjoyed a few beers and some cake out on the back deck. It was very low-key and laid back, but very nice=)


I would have loved to have included more pictures of the food, but we were in a mad hurry to get everything set up. Our "distraction" for J ran a little bit later than we planned so all of the food was kept in the restaurant's original plastic containers to save time. No time to set it all out in my pretty serving dishes!

I'm Back!

SO....I'll be posting about the last month of our busy lives! July was super busy! I'll post a recap and start by posting the first three weeks in this post. Here goes:

1st Weekend: The very first weekend of the month was July 4th. J was out of the country for business, but I had a wonderful dinner with friends!

2nd Weekend: I has helping execute a large event for my college alumni association. I'm currently volunteering as the student recruitment chair. We held an event for over 100 students and their families. Unfortunately, this is my last event with them as I am resigning my chair position next week. I've got too full of a load between working full-time, training and going to dance practice, getting my fitness on, and spending time with the hubs. I've decided I'm going to need to resign. It's been fun, but I've got to narrow my priorities down. Well, let's just put it this way...I'm going to multitask a little less!

3rd Weekend: My Family and I went to the Aquarium in my state. We have a really nice aquarium just 2 hours from my house. It's LARGE! My family lives one state down and only 1.5 hours away from the place so we met in the middle to spend the day there. We had a great time spending time with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

Here is a picture of my Dad and I in front of one of the exhibits: