I am going Huffington Post Style tonight!  Reblogging a blog!  A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I am now posting this on my blog.  I am going to attempt to follow through on some of the tips and let you all know how it is going.

TINY BUDDHA: Feel Happy and Stress-Free: 7 Simple Tips to Stay in the Now

Soooooo… some may notice that I am not posting every day.  It was a very ambitious thought but not realistic.  So moving forward, I will be posting as often as possible.  However, probably less frequently than I originally thought.  But look for a post soon!  I have been inspired!

So, I remember being in high school thinking about what to do with the rest of my life. Choices were: go to college for dance, tryout for the Radio City Rockettes, or go to college for psychology. After a lot of thought, I decided to go to college for psychology, which later became a major in Early Childhood Education. My thought was that I could get my “practical” degree and then pursue dance afterwards.

Of course, once I graduated and got a job, my dance dream quickly got put on the back burner. It had been there soooo long that I thought it was burnt. I was beginning to come to terms with the fact that I was out of practice, slightly overweight, limited financially, and getting to be too old to be a professional dancer (let’s remember that back in the day many dancers were well into retirement by my age).

Plus, I love being with children, most of the time. I love what I study. I just felt like I missed the bus on the dance career. I knew I was on the way to being a stage mom, forcing my child to pursue dance because I had missed my chance to shine…. wait, isn’t that from the movie Center Stage?

Anyways, to the point.

Last August, I remember walking home from the train, passing empty rows of store fronts. Then one day, one of those store fronts was a dance studio: NorthSide Dance Theater (NSDT). It was like the doors of dancing heaven opened before me. I ran home and Googled them. They were affordable and 2 blocks from my house.

So, I began taking Jazz once a week. The classes were small, just Ali and I for over 3 months! I quickly found out that I love this place and these people.

In December is when this story really starts. After seeing the in house company perform, I decided that I wanted to be a part of this! So, I auditioned and became an Apprentice member of GI Alliance Dance Company.

And here we are!! After years of regret, months of hard work, a handful of meltdowns, lots of drinking after Friday night rehearsal, hugs, ballet, laughs, shoe painting, super stretching, booty shakin, boy watchin (that’s what happens when you have a large window in front of us while we do barre), Sewing lessons, strip teases, Sunday post-rehearsal lunches, pole dancing, and love….. I am dancing with my first professional dance company this weekend!!!

NSDT and GI Alliance have given me the opportunity to revitalize a dying dream, make great friends, and be a part of something special.

Thanks, Jenn, Amy, and Steve sharing a tiny piece of your dreams with all of us.

Thanks Ali, Andy, Noelle, Rachel, Kareem, Maria, Allison, Tiffany, David, and Steph, for making up my newest dance family.

Ahhhhhhhh

Tonight’s lovely moment goes out to my bathtub.  No, it isn’t the one pictured above (That one is my goal tub).  But, Mix hot water with relaxation and any tub is a dream tub.

Bonus:  Thomas ran the water and suggested the idea to take a nice warm bath with Epsom salt.  So, tonights lovely person moment goes out to him!

Today was fantastic!

I went to my first yoga class at Imagine Yoga.  Then, I spent the day fixing pants for the dance company’s upcoming show.  What is so amazing about this is that I went to help with non-sewing aspects of costume repair and making.  You see, I have had a sewing machine for over 5 years that I have used twice and was pretty clueless about.  Today,  Jenn and Ali (sewing masters…or mistresses?)   were super patient and taught me what to do.  Now I am super excited for everyone to try on their newly altered pants!

And, Ali’s had this to say at the end of the day…

” Tell them[GI Alliance Members] to come help out, because if you can do it,so can they.  That came out like an insult but it really wasn’t”

So, laughing is important to a good life.   I am discovering that when you spend a lot of time with children, they are constantly giving you reasons to laugh.  For example:

Today a 4 year old invited me to his house.  When I replied, “Sure!  What are we going to do at your house?” He offered the following….

“I have a Hot Tub.  You could come over and take a bath in my Hot Tub.”

Not even a week in and this is getting difficult to keep up with!  But I do not quit!  Here it is…

Hugs!

You can hug one person,.  You can hug 2 people.  You can even hug yourself.  Always available in some form or another!  There are “I love you” hugs,  ”Good Job” hugs, “Calm Down” hugs, “I’ll miss you” hugs…. you name it there is probably a hug for that too!

No picture to go with this one because I am exhausted! But my moment of Zen…

I was sitting with the children, listening to a teacher read a story, at work today. I had one of my sweetest 4 year olds sitting in my lap. At some point in the story, she turns to me and says, simply…

“Miss Tiana, I love you.”

Today’s message of beauty is brought to you by “The light at the end of the Tunnel!”

I registered for Fall classes for my third, and FINAL, year of graduate school at The Erikson Institute. While the light is still far away, having it in sight is a beautiful thing!

I stumbled upon this phrase while surfing Etsy last night.  It really stuck with me.   I think it is my new life motto.  It reminds me of what I was taught about making mistakes in dance competitions.  You don’t stop and say “Hey, Everyone!  I just really screwed that part up!”  You just keep going, stay in character,  and rock it out!  This is especial important as I quickly approach my first big dance performance in over 10 years…  which will also be my first professional performance, EVER!

But to the point.

This isn’t just a dance reference.  It is a life reference.  You can’t make lemonade out of all of the lemons that life throws at you.  You can’t go back and fix every mistake.  Sometimes you just have to keep moving forward, dance on, move on,  carry on, and just let it be.