A few weeks of madness

In 17 days, I'll be a homeowner! After the past six months of looking for a house and dealing with bank and title people, I can't believe it's almost here!

This past weekend, on top of spending as much time as possible as I could with my mother in law who's been dealing with some pretty major health concerns, Austin and I started to pack up our apartment. Being a military brat and moving constantly, I've become quite the professional when it comes to moving. I've got labels and spreadsheets and more labels. I've got a system that I've been using for years in order to pack. Austin thinks its a bit insane to see the way I got about packing, but it really works for me (and it makes unpacking incredibly easy).

I usually just see packing as a pain, but, knowing that this is that last time I'll be moving for quite some time makes this experience bearable. Am I the only one like that? Just knowing that you're not going to have to put your entire life into boxes and move somewhere new for many, many years (if ever) is a great feeling. I keep thinking "The next time I unpack this, it'll be in my new house!" It will be unpacked into my house. A place that has my name on it, not an apartment's name. All of these things will be going into a place that will be my own. I can put these boxes into rooms and paint these rooms! I can change the flooring if I want! I can get the appliances in my kitchen that I want, not worry about making due with what an apartment has to offer. I can change the lighting if I wanted to! I'll have a yard! A real yard!

With a yard, I'll finally be able to do something that I've wanted for many, many years. I'll be able to foster a dog and eventually have one of my own! I'm really excited to start working with Paws in the City to foster dogs and find a pup that fits into my home. I've wanted to have a dog ever since I got out of my parents' house but I can't bring myself to get a dog when it would be stuck in an apartment all day. Finally being able to have a house and a yard for a dog is wonderful! And, since I have had my cats for years, I would want to foster a dog or two to make sure that the dog not only fit with me, but also with them. And, even if I can't find the dog that I want for many months, I'll still be able to give love and attention to a dog just by fostering them. The past few weeks I've been working with a few people with Paws in the City to get all of my paperwork ready so when we get moved in all they need to do is tour the home and then find a dog for us to foster.

The next few weeks are going to be insanely busy, so I might not be able to post too much (other than photography assignments here and there). I'll be helping with the office move next weekend, moving into a house (yay!!) the week after, finishing up my last two weeks in British Lit and my Photography course, and getting into the fourth quarter projects here at work. I've been told fourth quarter is when shit hits the fan... I'm hoping I'm ready for it!

Photography Assignment #4

I had many good ideas for my most recent photography assignment. Sadly, the only day I had time to actually go out and take pictures for this assignment was last night, so I didn't get a single shot that I wanted. The weather just refused to cooperate to give me the lighting I wanted. There's nothing more frustrating than going out with a specific look in mind and nothing you do as a photographer will achieve that look. I'm planning on heading back out either Saturday or Sunday morning to try and catch this park and the surrounding canals in the early dawn lighting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed the sun and the weather work better for me...

Shuffle

I love music. I've been going through my Google Play music library and came to realize that I have a lot of music. A quick look tells me that I have 689 artists, 1,584 albums, and 14,346 songs.

As you can probably guess, I don't listen to all of it on a regular basis. Like most people, there are maybe 15 artists I listen to on a regular basis so it really isn't surprising that I often find myself overwhelmed by trying to find something new to listen to. The easiest way to solve this dilemma of what to listen to was solved by a friend of mine suggesting to just put my entire library on shuffle. I've come across a few artists that I had forgotten I had, a few that I don't listen to and keep mostly for sentimental reasons, and a few new gems that I've been able to rediscover that I love. I've also come across a few artists that might be a bit embarrassing, but everyone has a few of those in their own library (Don't lie, you know you still have a secret love for Britney, Backstreet Boys, and the like).

Its a bit crazy how much this happens so much in almost every aspect of life. I've noticed the need to "shuffle" almost everything in my life. Even though I have a closet full of clothes, I often feel as if I have absolutely nothing to wear. It's not because I really don't have anything to wear, its more the fact that I find myself gravitating to the same outfits that I've become comfortable with. If I ever get the feeling that I have no clothes, I have to make an effort to pick out outfits that I haven't worn just to change things up.

Then there's the endless fight with the food in my kitchen. Much like every other person with a refrigerator, I often open up a full fridge or cupboard or pantry feeling like there is no food in the house. Austin may have gone grocery shopping just the day (or hour) before, but I still can't see anything I want. I've started to actually keep a recipe book and pick out meals for the week in order to help stop this sense of "I have nothing to eat!!" I've been picking out recipes for the week and trying to not use the same recipe more than once every two weeks. It shouldn't be such a difficult thing to do, but it is. I get used to eating certain things because I know how to make them and I've perfected them. Then I fall into the zone where I don't want the same thing. And there's nothing new to eat.

There's also a problem that I've seen slowly fixing itself. Restaurants. I know which places have food I like, prices I like, drinks I like, and are in an area that's easy for me to get to. With this new job, I've been taken out to lunch at a lot of places I've heard are good but I never actually went on my own. I'm being forced to get out of the little bubble of places I like. And... it's really nice. Instead of the constant thought that I would like to go out but having no idea where, I'm being told where we're going and it's been exposing me to all of these great places in Dallas I knew of, but just never ventured to.

As rambling as this post may seem, I do have a point. Sometimes I find myself having to put my life on shuffle in a manner of speaking. I find myself getting into the same routine and wearing the same things and listening to the same music and going to the same places. By continuing in this manner, I'm not only boring myself, but I'm really limiting what I can and do enjoy. Since there isn't a "shuffle" icon for life, it takes more effort to shake up your routine than it does your music.

But the reward is well worth the effort.

Photography Assignment #3

This assignment, like all others previously, really didn't have a focus so I decided to make one for myself. Instead of using directions as vague as "background and foreground" I made this an assignment for me to work with three other girls in my dance studio to get shots of them dancing. And, since it was my lucky day, my dance instructor had them get in pointe shoes, making for even more dramatic shots.

This is only a small sampling of the pictures I took that night, so enjoy!

Photographs versus snapshots

The professor in my Photography class asked us all to think about what the difference is between a snapshot and a photograph. What sets the photographer and his work apart from the average citizen with a camera. He asked us to think about this and write a few short paragraphs about the difference between the two. This was my response. 

In this day where everyone has access to a camera on their cell phones and programs such as instagram available to them to "edit" their pictures, many people consider themselves to be photographers. What many people don't realize is that having a camera does not automatically make someone a photographer. What most people tend to capture is just a simple snapshot, not a photograph. 

The real question we must decide is this: What decides the difference from a photograph and a snapshot?

A snapshot is the picture that quickly captures a moment in time. The shooter does not contemplate the lighting, the angles, the settings on a camera. The only concern is capturing a moment in time quickly. A snapshot does not focus on the artistic side of the photograph, only on the sentimental value that will be held from this picture. The person taking a snapshot does not concern themselves with the aspects that are left out of the shot, they only want to capture a moment for their personal enjoyment. The only concerns about lighting are whether or not there is enough light in the shot to make the image visible. The only concerns about composition are whether one (possibly two) aspects are included in the shot. 

Photographs are not captured every day. A photograph is a work of art that is thought about. The shooter must take into account all of the small aspects that will affect the picture. What is in the background? What is in the foreground? What angles do you get from the light? What makes this picture different from every other one out there of the same subject material? The shooter not only has to think about what they are shooting, but why they are shooting it as well. Can this picture tell a story? Does this picture stand alone on its own? Will the image have meaning and value to others that were not at the scene of this shot? Why did the shooter want to capture what they did? What mood is evoked from the picture? Does the viewer have to think about other things that were intentionally left out of the shot? Is there a message to the picture?

All in all, the biggest difference between a photograph and a snapshot is the thought put behind the image. A photographer thinks about what they are leaving in (and out) of the shot whereas the person taking a snapshot only wants to capture a moment that has meaning to them. A photographer must see the world in a different way from the average person with a camera; they must look for beauty and art where others may only see chaos. 

Photography Assignment II - The Frame

My most recent assignment in my photography class was simply about the frame of a shot. Our instructor wanted us to think closely about what we were including or excluding from the shot, trying to get us to eliminate extra "noise" in the shot. Since I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to go out and take pictures, I spent a lot of time going around my own apartment looking at things that would make for a good shot. Again, this assignment was all black and white and no cropping was allowed. I think these four photos turned out pretty well and really made me think about what I'm putting into a shot and thinking about whether or not it adds to the shot itself. 

Photography Assignment I - Geometry

This past weekend I was able to work on my first photography assignment in quite a while. The assignment was Geometry and we were tasked with looking at our surroundings with a new eye in order to see this. Not only were we given the task of looking for geometry in everyday, mundane surroundings, but until further notice, we are not allowed to crop any of our pictures and all pictures must be submitted in black and white. These were the five photographs that I turned in. 

Stepping away from the barre

I came across this article on The Healthy Dancer and thought it was well worth sharing with all of you. Every ballet dancer knows that the beginning of every class begins at the barre. Many non-dancers know this to be a fact as well (remember Black Swan and the barre work?). This article theorizes that barre work isn't helping the dancers as much as we always thought it was.


I know that every class, I have "my spot" on the barre and I always feel like I need this time at the barre before venturing out to the center. My instructors have always told me that barre work is essential so you can warm up and prepare your body for all work preformed in the center. Without the barre and stretching and the various exercises, your muscles will be too tight to be able to perform as they should. Also, without the barre, you present the risk of injuring yourself because your muscles aren't warmed up and ready to go. 


The above post shows evidence that barre work isn't as essential as many instructors seem to think it is. Yes, it does prepare your body for what it is to come, but your muscles never have to work as hard at the barre. Because you use the barre for support and balance, your muscles don't have to work as hard as when you're in the center of the room, depending on only yourself to stay upright. While the barre is helpful, the article goes so far as to say "exercises performed at the barre may not be preparing the muscles and body for the work that is done in the center." 

I don't find it hard to believe that barre work doesn't prepare your muscles for the work done at center. I do find it improbable that the barre doesn't warm a dancer's body up to prepare them for work done in the center. It's not hard to realize that just because you've stretched out and done a few plies you're not ready for pirouettes. But, without doing your plies, développés, battement tendus, and rond de jambes, your body isn't going to be ready for anything. Your muscles wont respond properly if you don't warm them up and you will put yourself at risk for an injury. 

While it is important to keep in mind that the barre doesn't prepare you for the same things as doing them center, I think the barre is still an essential tool in dance. Any dancer that has used the barre to try their first échappés knows that they were able to get higher than the first several times they tried their échappés in the center. Why is this? Because you can use the barre to help you get up. When there is no barre for you to help push yourself up with, you obviously don't get as high. Does this mean that the barre isn't helping you preform the échappés? No. The barre isn't used for performance. It is used to help a dancer learn a new step, figure out the way the body is supposed to feel while performing the movement, and prepare them for eventually going to the center. 


Once the dancer is in the center, their muscles will need to work more to make the movement as graceful as it was at the barre, but the dancer should have a good idea of what their body should be doing. It has taken me quite a while to learn exactly how my body feels when I perform a proper développé. It has taken many lessons of my dance instructor instructing me to turn my leg out, shoulder forward, other shoulder back, square yourself, leg up. My dance instructor still points out different things about turning out my leg, properly unfolding my leg, but I know how my body is supposed to feel. It's Now that I know how my body is supposed to feel and respond when I do it right, I can feel when I'm doing it wrong in the center. It will take me many years to get the perfect développé, but I'm on the way to it because I continually work on it at the barre. 


I'm not denying the article's main point that barre work doesn't make you immediately ready for the center, but I am saying that the barre is still an essential part in dancing. So, while the post did present some interesting views on barre work, I don't intend to lessen my barre work any time soon.

Home sweet home?

A little over a year ago, I wrote this post about the fact that I had no intentions of buying a house any time soon.

Just shy of a month after being married, people kept telling me and insisting that my husband and I should be looking at buying a house because it was a buyers market blah blah blah. Mostly, people were trying to tell us to buy a house because it was something that we were supposed to be doing. Not because it fit where we were in our lives. At that point, Austin was travelling a lot and was being sent to any office in a 150 mile radius on any given day. I also wasn't sure where I would be five years from now. I knew I didn't want to spend my life as an executive assistant but I hadn't the faintest clue what I would do with my life.

So, in short, buying a house was a terrible suggestion because it didn't make sense for us.

But, that's all changed.

Austin has worked in the same office for a while and knows he'll be in one location for quite some time. I've gotten a job that I really like in a position I love. I've been going to the same dance studio for three years now and don't plan on going anywhere else anytime soon. In short, we've started to settle down. We knew that our lease was coming to a close mid-August(ish). We  know where we plan to be for the next stretch of our foreseeable future. So, about three months ago, we started the house hunt. And, about a week ago, we put in an offer on a house. We wont be closing on the house until the middle of August, but we're well on our way to having our first home. And I'm on my way to having my very own dance room!

Considering the only input I've ever had on buying a home in the past is when my parents would buy a house and my biggest concern was picking my room and picking the paint for my room, I honestly had no idea how much of a process it is to buy a house. Not only is it difficult to try and find the perfect house (and not one that isn't waaaay outside your budget), but there's a lot of paperwork that goes into buying a house. Did you realize that it takes about a month to actually go through the process from the time you put in an offer until you actually close? I didn't. I hadn't the faintest clue. I feel like I'm selling my soul. Or first born. Or something equally as dramatic. So, if you're out there thinking about buying your first home, don't think it's going to be as easy as walking into a realtor's office, picking a house and getting the keys a week later. There's also the bank, the inspectors, the seller, the seller's agent. Everyone is trying to come out ahead and it is just exhausting. But, at the end of it all, if you're deemed worthy enough by everyone, you might find yourself with a house.

So, keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly! Hopefully, possibly, maybe I'll have some pictures of the new home in a little over a month!

To ice or not to ice?

So, as you all know by now, I dance. I dance a lot. And, part of dancing this much comes with sore and pulled muscles.

One of the things that I've heard that can help ease and prevent sore muscles is to ice before you even get to the studio and start dancing. Since I know that you need to warm up you msucles, it did seem an odd idea to ice your muscles to start with. So, being as curious as I am and not wanting to tear a muscle or tendon unnecessarily, I did a little research into pre-icing and found some pretty information.

I do read Pointe on a fairly regular basis and came across this bit of information from Vicky Valet's blog, featured on Pointe.

"A recent study at the University of Ulster and the University of Limerick showed that icing actually reduces muscle strength, bodily awareness and agility for 15 to 20 minutes afterwards. This is because the cold temperature slows nerve impulses, which prevents muscles and tendons from working together. The study also found that icing right before class or rehearsal could make a dancer more likely to get injured. If their muscles are numb, dancers might push themselves right past their limits and into an injury. Don’t write off icing all together—it’s still a great way to relieve pain if done after stepping off the marley for the day."

In laymans terms, icing is good after an intense workout if your muscles are in a bit of pain, but dangerous prior. And really, this all makes sense and I'm glad I looked into it before I actually started trying it.

What is next for the Stars?

A few months ago, I wrote a post about the fact that the Dallas Stars needed to make some changes. Well, it looks like they've started to make some pretty big ones by trading some of the well known players.

Saturday, Ribeiro was traded. Sunday, Souray and Burish got traded. And yesterday, Ott and Pardy got traded. Anyone that has known me for any amount of time can attest to the fact that I love these three players. Ott has been my favorite Stars player since I started following hockey. So, seeing him be traded (and to Buffalo, ugh) is just heart breaking.

But, maybe this could be good.

I'm not sitting in on the Stars' management meetings, so I haven't the faintest clue what the big picture is for the start of the season. I would like to claim that I know the direction the team is going and all of that, but I don't. And unless you're part of the Stars' management, you don't know either. The talk is that the Stars are going for a younger line in order to really develop the team. And, let's be honest, Ribeiro, Souray, Burish, and Ott aren't exactly young anymore. Then again, a few players we acquired aren't exactly young either.... But I'm going to hold judgement on whether or not these were good moves because I haven't seen our new team play together. I don't know what is to come. Maybe this is exactly what the Stars need in order to finally bring the Cup back.

And really, if the Stars can bring the Cup back, who is going to be criticizing these moves? That's right, no one.

Also, last night everyone got all upset when Ott had the absolute audacity to say something along the lines of the fact that he's looking forward to working in Buffalo. Really? Really, people? Just a few hours ago everyone was bemoaning the fact that Ott was leaving and how much we all loved him. Then suddenly, he says that he's looking forward to starting fresh and he's the devil? Really? You've got to be kidding me people. I'm just as upset as everyone else that he was traded, but I'm not going to begrudge the man for doing his job.

Now, can someone please confirm that Benn is getting his contract renewed??? I don't think I could stand it to see him get traded. At least Eriksson has a contract through the 2015-2016 season...

Music Monday - Alex Day "Good Morning Sunshine"

I love Alex Day and one of his three newest songs, "Good Morning Sunshine", is sure to get you in the right mood on a Monday morning. This tune is sure to brighten your morning and out a bounce in your step.