The Next Ginger Rogers

So, I got the job to be a ballroom dance instructor at Fred Astaire Dance Studio! After only two weeks of training, Bill, the manager, wants me and the four men to start next week. We will continue with intensive training--seven hours a day--before we start teaching in a week or two.

The pay is ok now but will get better once I build up a clientele, and the studio is in North Scottsdale where all the rich people live. I will work seven hours a day Monday through Friday. I won't have to compete professionally (thank goodness!), but I will compete with my students because only they get judged. I can't wait to wear an awesome costume!

I am so excited! And complimented. Bill told me that out of the 7 girls I was the only one who was ready. In fact, out of everyone, I am probably the most ready simply because I have the most ballroom experience (all the guys were hired regardless of their skill level because they desperately need male teachers). He also said that I have a good heart and personality. For that reason, he wanted me to teach specifically at his studio: the previous female teacher got transferred because she butted heads with his top female teacher, a pro Russian dancer, and caused a lot of drama. I appreciate when employers recognize my good attitude. I always try to be cheerful. Mel (my last boss) complimented me on it. And when I was working one busy night at Baskin Robbins 3 years ago, I even got a job offer from the manager of Chili's!

I am a little overwhelmed. I have so much to learn and retain in such a little amount of time. But I am so thrilled that I get to say, "I'm a ballroom dance instructor. I dance and teach and love it!" Oh, and I need to get new shoes because my old ones are trashed from fun times at BYU!

The Gateway Ward

So, today was our third Sunday in our new ward. It is very big. It consists of all the people who live in ASU family housing--3 villages--so the majority of the people are in their early thirties or younger. There are sooo many children. They have five nurseries (for children 18 months to 3 years) and two more coming later this year. Primary is a jungle. (Primary is combined Sunday school for children younger than 12. This ward has a junior Primary for 4- to 6-year-olds and a senior Primary for 7- to 12-year-olds.) And sacrament meeting is so loud because of the countless babies.

Today we got called to be Primary teachers for the Sunbeams, the children who will be 4 this year and just graduated from nursery. We had seven children in our class and no lesson, preparation, knowledge, etc. It was hard enough trying to understand the kids saying their names. They were a rowdy bunch. Cute but wild.

We've made friends with another couple that I met on the first Sunday. She and her husband were recently married. I invited them over for dinner tonight, and we had a blast! They are so much fun and they are hilarious! I haven't laughed so hard in forever, and Justin was even crying. We enjoyed dinner, Balderdash, dessert, talking, and laughing. It was a great night.

Thanks, Rachel

For any of you who doubt your blogs are worth it, you are wrong. You never know when someone will find what they need through you, your words and feelings and trials.

I found exactly what I needed on Rachel Marler's blog: a BYU devotional by Elder Holland entitled "Remember Lot's Wife." Thank you, Rachel, for sharing with me!

http://byubnew.byu.edu/talks/Talk.aspx?id=3403

Nuestra Casa

What I Love about My House:

• It is large and spacey. And we have tons of storage!
• The kitchen is great. We have lots of counter space for cooking and extra cabinet space once the lil Nishimoto comes around.

What I Hate about My House:

• The color is awful. The other options are yellow orange and sunset red. I was hoping for the red.
• Bugs. Crickets always get into our house. It's disgusting.
• No garbage disposal, so I have to make sure the sink doesn't clog.

The Good and the Bad:

• Tile floor: easy to clean, no need to buy a vacuum; cold, cold, cold, slippery, hard.
• Tinted windows: great when summer comes around and it gives us privacy, but there is little natural sunlight and the house is freezing even though it's in the seventies outside.
• Electric stove: no gas bill, but we both hate electric burners because they are harder to control.

"Cheek to Cheek"

(Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Top Hat)

Heaven, I'm in heaven,
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak,
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.

Heaven, I'm in heaven,
And the cares that hung around me through the week
Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.

Oh! I love to climb a mountain
And to reach the highest peak.
But it doesn't thrill me half as much
As dancing cheek to cheek.

Oh! I love to go out fishing
In a river or a creek.
But I don't enjoy it half as much
As dancing cheek to cheek.

Dance with me.
I want my arm about you.
The charm about you
Will carry me through to--

Heaven, I'm in heaven,
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak,
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek.

Strictly Ballroom

On Monday I began training to become a certified ballroom dance instructor for Fred Astaire Dance Studios. I was so nervous. I feared that all the others would be practically professionals, leaving me embarrassed for even calling myself a ballroom dancer. Not to brag, but quite the opposite happened. I am actually the best ballroom dancer in the group! I am the only one with lots of experience, although all the classes I have taken have been beginning classes but one (intermediate social dance). I know most of the steps and technique. The only thing I need to work on is learning the man's part. I sympathize with you men now. I never realized how hard it is to lead!

The dances we have learned so far are foxtrot, waltz, rumba, triple swing, and tango, which is the hardest since I have never done it before and it is extremely technical. Later we will learn cha-cha, samba, mambo/salsa, merengue, country western (two step), and west coast swing. The only ones I haven't learned before are country western and mambo (it's a little different than salsa). I have been to a country western dance (freshman year at BYU) and it was so much fun even though I hate country music! The guys knew what they were doing. They twirled, dipped, and flipped me all over the floor. It was amazing!

For each dance we have been assigned a partner, and by next Friday we have to perform our own routine for each one. We will be graded. My partners are ok. My favorite is my swing partner, a girl (there are four men and seven women), because she is so much fun and she can dance. I would say she is the next best dancer in the group. Unfortunately, she is taking the later class starting next week so I am losing her. The others have lots of different dance experience, from ballet to belly dancing, but ballroom seems to be their weakness. We also have to learn how to teach and we will be tested on it as well.

The course lasts six weeks. I am not sure at what point I will know whether or not I am guaranteed a job; I have heard several different things. I just know I would be so excited to do the two things I love most: dance and teach!

A Whole New World

I already miss BYU so much!!! It is a whole new world out here. I took some free newspapers outside the Student Union (here at ASU). The first was for the Phoenix area: restaurants, events, etc. In reality, the majority of it was ads for and job opportunities with adult entertainment. I tore out the 1 1/2 pages of real classifieds and threw the rest away. The second newspaper was the campus newspaper. I read an article about moving in and living with your significant other, passed over a sex and relationships advice column (this time it was only about picking your battles, but who knows what next!), and cringed at lingerie, bar, party, and nightclub ads. If only I had the Daily Universe instead of this crap.

I was in Provo for so long that these things shock me now. I mean, I grew up in Southern California, so I am no stranger to immodesty and vulgar conversations. But I grew so used to The Bubble--as we call it--that now that I'm out in the "real world" again I can't stop getting over how even more degraded everything has become. We've seriously got to step up our missionary work!

Moving Woes

So, 6o percent of you voted that packing is your least favorite thing about moving. I agree that it is very tedious and time consuming. And it's frustrating trying to get everything to fit in boxes. But it's not the worst. For me, it's finding a new job! I had one interview Monday to become a certified ballroom dance instructor at Fred Astaire Dance Studio (naturally, the name attracted me). The owner said he liked me and he invited me to the 8-to-10-week instruction program that starts this upcoming Monday. It's not a guarantee: there's weekly exams you have to pass to continue on. They are based on dancing skill, teaching skill, and personality. I also sent out an application yesterday for a well-paid editing job in the Curriculum Design Department at the University of Phoenix. I hope to hear back from them. In the meantime I'm still looking.

Moving In

Tuesday morning we packed up the truck and car and headed out, Justin and I in the car and Justin's dad driving the U-Haul truck. It was snowing. We traveled all the way to Flagstaff, AZ, and the snow gave way to desert and sun. The road trip was beautiful! I took so many pictures of the landscape, mostly red rock. We spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express and left early the next morning. We got into Mesa before 10. Our move-in date was changed to Wednesday--the day we arrived--instead of Thursday, but we couldn't move in until 3:30.

In the meantime, we got some errands done. The most exciting thing was finding our furniture. We asked a lady at Target where we should go for inexpensive furniture, and she recommended a place called Terri's Consign and Design Furnishings. It sells used, and some new, furniture. We checked it out and found a great deal: 2 green couches for $298! We also found a wooden table we liked, but it was missing a chair so it would have cost extra to buy another one. We checked out other places, but we didn't find anything better. We went back to pay for and hold the furniture. I checked out the tables again and found a better deal: a table that extends and 4 chairs for $98. The extension had a big scratch on it, but we didn't care and we bought that one instead.

Once we checked in and got our keys we moved all the boxes inside and assigned them to rooms. We didn't do much unpacking. That night Justin and I slept on our new mattress for the first time. It was wonderful! We absolutely love it!

The next day we picked up our furniture. At the store we looked around again because a truck had arrived the night before with new items. We found a large 9-drawer dresser for $198. Justin had been begging me for a dresser, but everything we found was expensive and I wanted to check out other places. But this was a great deal: it was in excellent condition, it was large, and it was reasonably priced. So we bought it. It hadn't even been on the floor 24 hours!

I can't believe that in 2 days we found all our major furniture. I thought it was going to take a while to find something we liked and could afford. It was so convenient too because we still had our U-Haul truck to transport everything. Heavenly Father is definitely looking out for us.

We spent the rest of the day unpacking. With our furniture and the kitchen all set up, it's starting to feel like home already! I even cooked the first home meal last night and we watched Iron Man while curling up on our comfy couches.

Everything with the move has gone so smoothly so far. Now if only I could find a job...

Moving On

Tomorrow is the big day: we go to Provo to pack up the truck and then we are off. We get into Mesa on Wednesday and we move in on Thursday. We moved out of our apartment last Wednesday. Since we were sick all weekend, we were behind and barely made it out on time. We've been staying at Justin's uncle's place in Highland for the last week.

Everything has happened so fast that it's just finally beginning to sink in: I am done with college forever, I am moving to a new state, I will be working (hopefully), Justin will be going to school, we will have our own house, we will be starting a family this year. It's weird to be growing up so fast! Twenty-one is still young and yet I have moved on to the next stage of life.

I'm sad to go. We had a goodbye party and have been visiting some friends this past week for the last time. There are many people I will miss and hope to keep in touch with.

On the other hand, I am excited to make new friends and meet new people. I am looking forward to having time to do things I didn't have time for before (like this blog). I am excited for the heat and sunshine. And I am way excited about our new place! We bought a mattress set last week and I can't wait to buy more furniture and decorate our home.

I hope we travel safely and are able to find jobs. Those are our priorities right now!