Wow! What a fun weekend.
I started it off on Friday by accompanying at the BSU Vocal Jazz Festival. There are always both good and bad performances to watch. But ours went well, and I loved the fact that our clinician actually took the time to talk to us rhythm section for a few minutes. That hardly ever happens. I got some good pointers, which I can always use when it comes to jazz! For those of you who know about this kind of thing, they had great clinicians--including Vijay Singh and Kirby Shaw. Fun!

My parents, Jodee and Andrea got to Boise around lunch time so we had a great meal of Arby's and they got to meet Lucy! She was reasonably well-behaved while we had company. This was the first time we have had people spend the night since we've had her, and besides being a little bratty in the evenings she was pretty good. Oh, and besides the fact that she loved to attack Andrea's feet every time Andrea wasn't hiding up on the couch. !!

Saturday was the main reason my mom and sisters came. Kick-Off Boise 2010! Our annual clogging competition out at NNU. It went great, I was really happy with how we did, and I think my teammates were too. The best part was that I got to see Andrea dance! She did a duet and 2 team dances, and I loved them all. She is super cute and I'm impressed with her director, they have really cute choreography and costumes.
My team did 4 dances! 3 were oldies that we competed last year, but one was a brand new one! The Cup of Life, as seen in our beautiful picture below:
We did great!!! I love these girls.

And how could I not mention something SUPER exciting that happened as well--Centennial WON Districts! Ya-hoo!! The last time Collin's team won districts was 3 or 4 years ago when they ended up winning state. Not that I'm saying that will necessarily happen . . . but I am really happy for them to be doing so well! And it's great to have a happy hubby! I will be heading over to Poky this weekend to cheer them on! And congrats again Pats!

We ended up all heading to the Olive Garden for dinner that night and had a great evening watching the Olympics as well. (My family is totally where I get my Olympic-Junkie Syndrome from!) Thanks for coming guys, it was great!

Lucy's Pretty new Coat

Lucy got a new coat! Wow, this had me laughing for like half an hour last night. I think she looks absolutely hilarious. I tried to get a good picture like 80 times but she wouldn't sit still, of course.

....ta-da! This last one is my favorite! It is like, her model shot! ha ha! I seriously had the giggles after all this last night. Collin says he thinks it's beyond stupid--but I could see a gleam in his eye, he loved it too! ;)

The Facts of Life

1. I am too lazy to walk out to my kitchen to get my camera and video camera to upload something interesting to post.

2. I am currently indulging in my Olympic-Junkie side and won't stop till they're over

3. My dog is stinking cute!

4. I spent a total of 4 hours at 3 people I visit teach's houses today.

5. I admit I've stopped reading a lot of blogs..... no offense but seriously is everybody and their dog pregnant or what! :P

My dad had a heart attack Monday night. I am so grateful to be able to say that he is doing well and is already home from the hospital. I know I put a little blurb on facebook about it, but I don't want anyone to get too worried! My mom called me first thing Tuesday morning to tell me--so of course the initial thoughts running through my head forced me to basically freak out and start bawling immediately! Thankfully she went on to tell me that he was fine. That is something no one ever wants to hear, though. Still when I run the words "my dad had a heart attack" through my head my eyes well up. I think that sometimes things like this happen when we need a good kick in the bum to remember all we have to be thankful for. I for one am so grateful for my wonderful family, especially my parents. We have had our ups and downs, but I love my family with all my heart, and I'm so thankful I have them. I'm especially glad that my dad is here and doing well. I guess he is still planning on going backpacking this summer, if that tells you how fully he should recover.
I love you, fam!

Lucy's Revenge

The victim:

Date Night--Robertson Style

Collin and I were finally able to get away for a date night Saturday night. It was great! We didn't feel like spending much $$ (haha-"feel like"--as if we had buco bucks to spend if we "felt like" it!)
Went like this: some delicious pizza at Primo's followed by

A GREAT movie at our favorite dollar place! It was a good one. I would like to watch it again, knowing what I knew by the end. (I'm trying not to give anything away)

Thanks for the fun night, honey!

Friday--another fun day!

So, I had a TON to get done last week. As you probably read in my earlier complaining post. It was made doubly difficult because I was freaking out about our awful dog who just bit everyone all the time.

Well Friday, I had gotten pretty much everything together so I had some time for some more fun!

We had our Feb. TVMTA (Treasure-Valley-Music-Teachers-Association) meeting that morning. It's a fun one where we all play the upcoming Sonatina Festival pieces for each other. My 2 performances went pretty well considering I had 2 days to learn them. It was GREAT to hear the others too. Then we headed to lunch at Table Rock! I had never eaten there but I really liked it!! Plus it is SO fun to get together with that group. I don't have normal "co-workers" so that is my time to actually have some fun with others who do what I do. It was great! So, after all that I was in no mood to work so I came home and enjoyed the SUNSHINE with Lucy while I read! Great day!!

That night was more CENTENNIAL WRESTLING!

PATRIOTS

vs.

MAVERICKS!

CHS WON! It was great. I never believe Collin when he says he is worried about the matchup--mainly because the last like 6 times he has said that they have won by like over 40 points. But I know that MV really is pretty serious--so it was great to see those Pats come out on top!

...when I was watching, anyway. My favorite coach's wives were there, so we had some catching up to do!!

What I've been frantically reading because it's due back to the library in a week:

Sad, but good!

Fun Day--Monday!

I am usually not a big "Monday" person, mainly because all my procrastinating over the weekend finally catches up to me!
But I put everything off for one more day last Monday and had some fun! I met up with some ward girls and we had a tasty lunch at Costa Vida--I forget how much I LOVE that place!

Then we headed to Hobby Lobby--good prices, horrible checkout lines. That could be a whole nother post. All I say is, make sure you plan for an extra half hour standing in line, and keep a list of what's on sale!

After rushing home to teach, teaching, and gettin back home again, we headed over to Cam and Chaly's for some leftover b-day cake and some good old Super Mario World! It was quite hilarious.

*sigh*...if only all Mondays were that fun!

Take Steps is Back!

I have GREAT NEWS!

I was so bummed that Take Steps ended up on a Sunday this year. I declined to help out because I didn't feel comfortable advertising and encouraging participation in an event I myself had no intention of participating in.

BUT . . .

It turns out that so many other people also had problems with the Sunday date--that we are now officially having a "Take Steps Bowling Night" the Friday before the walk! So, friends, family, mark your calendars now for June 4th! It is going to be a party! I am super excited. I met with the Walk manager from Seattle last week and we hashed out a lot of details and we are getting going on all the planning!

Here is the link--please join my team! It's free, unless you want to make a donation. Remember that if you raise $100 you get a walk shirt.

The Semi-Colons ;)

The bed has arrived!

Our bed finally arrived! If you recall, this was our Christmas present. Here you see the before, the beautiful metal frame perched on cinder blocks so we had a place to store our luggage! And after:

Isn't it amazing how much nicer one piece of furniture can make a whole room look? Now granted I did get a new comforter set also, a great deal on Black Friday. But it has been so fun having a fancy new bed! Thanks to Jason for helping Collin set it up on Saturday---although I doubt he hated it too much because every time I walked by they were deep in "Wrestling Conversation." :)

Collin's little helper

Collin got a little yard work done on Saturday, and had a little helper following him around.

Piano Olympics!

My latest creative outlet...and motivator. I admit I'm not much of an artist, but how hard can it be to draw a medal podium and the Olympic rings??
This has been a huge motivator already for my students. If you zoom in you can see the "judging criteria" at the bottom--for every 3 days they practice they move up one notch towards 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place. It only goes through Feb. so they don't have much time. We will see if it continues to work for the next few weeks! I am still working on the prizes. . . but I got a great idea from Chandra I think I will use--something with York peppermint patties! If anyone knows where to get GOLD foil-- let me know!!!
Let the games begin!

My Savior

All it took was 3 times. The biting has stopped!

(HA-LE-LU-JAH!!!)

So much to do...so little time to do it

So, I know I am eating my own words here but a puppy is a LOT of WORK! jeeze! It is a good thing Lucy is so cute. Otherwise I may have slipped her a poison cracker by now. just kidding! She has gotten into biting at us--All-The-Time. It gets old quick, and we keep disciplining her the same every time, so hopefully someday it will freaking catch on! Anyways, she was being particularly naughty last night, and we were both sleep deprived anyway, and had long days between the millions of things I have to do this week, the support group, and Collin's match. I was telling Collin that it IS like having a baby--except a baby you can put diapers on.... and a baby you can put down somewhere and it will STAY there..... and a baby doesn't constantly try to bite you! Not that I'm saying this is harder than having a baby..... but it has turned out to be some good birth control for the moment!

I feel like I have been in overdrive "have to get everything done" mode all week and it will be continuing. Between TVMTA--getting the Feb. newsletter out, primary singing time, piano--preparing for festival and Certificate of merit, accompanying at 2 schools, getting ready for a performance I just found out is THIS Friday not next, and watching a puppy 24/7 I have been more than stressed out! It's crazy. Let's hope we make it through this week. :) I have already eaten more than my share of chocolate!