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!