Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Sisters Baby Shower

It's a GIRL!!! Can you tell Im so very excited to meet my sweet little neice?
I thought I would share a few photos from my sister Mandi's baby shower. This is her first baby and yes we are all so excited that we will be welcoming a sweet baby girl into the family! She is not due till mid November so we have just a little longer to wait to hold this sweet little angel.


 Mandi and our Momma


Mandi with Mother in Law- One of the sweetest ladies i know...and proud to see her very first grandchild!


Let the games begin...The pooop game..yuk...gross...My little neice (brothers girl) taking a good little wiff

 The super mom game...while someone distracts you (grandma) you need to talk on the phone, hold baby, and get the cloths on the line in speedy time! This is our aunt Sandy!

 Here is mom giving it a try and of course was the SUPER MOM WINNER!

Cousin photo
 this time lets get the orange out of our mouth Gracie...lol

 our sweet gramps just soaking it all in, thinking we are all nuts while playing the games..


Mandi and I with our aunt Sandy ...shhhh Im her favorite neice!! lol

I love my sister more than anything! I am so proud of her and her husband for what they have become and so happy they are giving me a precious neice. :-) Love you BOO BOO!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Closing the doors on my business...

Big life decision for me to make..Here is a little history and me just sharing my heart!

The beginning:
Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of one day having my very own dance studio. In 2000 I decided to take the big step and go for it. Having two kids under the age of 4 I knew this may be a big difficult to juggle business and family, but my husband was my #1 encourager and supporter. In 2000 I opened my door in the basement of my home thinking I would start out small. After a couple weeks I clearly needed a larger space to call Tina’s Dance Studio. We found a great little building and opened up for my first season with a great show at the end of the year. My number one goal was to always keep my students in a positive and fun learning environment, to never have suggestive dance movements or vulgar music. I stood solid on that for 11 years. I vowed my studio would be different also with the fact that I would incorporate Liturgical dance and never being ashamed of God or expressing his love and strength. Using this expressive dance I know touched many and may have offended some. The growth of the studio steadied off after about 5 years and I kept around the same numbers. Sometimes I would put in countless hours depending on what time of year it was, and teaching around 17 classes a week. At times this did wear me down and tire me out as any job does. It was always my heart for teaching that kept me going.

Pulling at my heart strings:
In 2009 we brought home our sweet daughter from Korea. My life got even busier with 3 children now. I was also starting to feel that I was missing out on the other two because when they were out of school I was going to teach. This created “mommy guilt”. For many years my husband definitely had the itch to change his job career. He had many opportunities to do so. But I was not ready to leave or give up my studio. Now looking back that is my one regret. I should not have hung on so tightly. In 2010 – my decade mark… I felt in my heart it was time to say good bye to the studio. Yet at the same time I had students that certainly did not want me to stop just yet.

2011 Saying Good bye:
Starting season 12 the reality of saying Good bye to my dream….to my business sets in.
This is a hard one to write about…a hard one to think about but I am forced now to face it. First just let me state that this is not like walking away from just any old job. This business, my career was started and built by me one student at a time. It was my heart, my soul, my life that was put into this year after year. It was my family that had to sacrifice as well, weather that was my husband giving up job opportunities, my kids giving up time they could have had me around more at night, or them all dealing with my exhaustion and stress that the business would often bring my way. Anyway that you look at it we all sacrificed to keep my business doors open. But today it is evident that it is time to say goodbye to my dream, goodbye to the number of years I worked hard and put my whole self into all my kids. Yes it was work, yes it could be stressful, but at the same time I can not imagine my life with out dancing, or without teaching!! This is my passion and is something that is so deep with in my soul that it is hard to even put into words. It is hard to say goodbye!! I can not picture myself with out it and it feels like a whole in my heart. It will take me a while to discover what is next for me, but the door is wide open now. I do know God has a plan. I trust that. I will miss the little pitter patter of my tiny ballerinas coming into my studio each week, the million hugs, the I love you’s, the smiles, the zillion x-mas parties all crammed into one week, the satisfaction of putting on a show and seeing all your work when that curtain opens and the success that many felt when they finally got that dance step they have worked so hard on. I will miss my kids (students) more than anything. They will never know how much joy they each brought to my life week after week. But those are the things I will treasure in my heart forever. I regret not being able to have a proper goodbye with them, that saddens me beyond measure. They brought light into my life and I was able to share my gift with them for many years. For that I consider myself blessed.
I thank you Lord for blessing me with this opportunity for over a decade of my life. The memories are etched deep in my heart!! The good, the bad, the laughs, and the tears have made me who I am today. Yes my heart will ache for a while, maybe a long while. Lord help me…. because letting go is one of the hardest things I have had to do. Dance is deep in my spirit, it is who I am.
On a positive note:
The tug of mommy guilt and trying to balance my business and family is no more-that is a big relief. I am looking forward to being home at night and being able to spend more quality time with my kids and family. My husband also took a new job opportunity in Rapid City and we are open to a move sometime soon. What will my next career be? I guess right now I don’t know, but I am excited to pursue other passions that I do have. I trust HE has a grand plan and I look forward to seeing it unfold.
Just like the Scripture I put in my studio web site 10 years ago says…“For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you NOT to harm you , plans for hope and a future”

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

some time at the cabin....

 this weekend we got away and took off to the Cabin.  Its so peaceful up there, very quiet, yet so much to do if you like to hike, swim, and play, or just relax! The weather was a little chili the first day, but the second day we were able to get in the pool. 
 view from the cabin deck.....
 Terry and I went on a Hike, which is certainly something him and I have never done before. We have always wanted to go cut down our own xmas tree, so he found the perfect one. Hopefully we will be able to find it again in December :-)

 right across from the cabin is a club house....the kids love to spend time playing over there!!




Amanda took her best buddy Mariaha...here they ar going on a walk