SYTYCD THOUGHTS

I have been a HUGE fan of So You Think You Can Dance since day 1. Fan might even be too soft of a word. Obsessed would probably be more accurate! Since I have been watching the show since Season 1, I feel my knowledge and terminology for the dance world has increased. I have even become obsessed with certain choreographers and have developed the talent to know who the choreographer is by just watching the dance routine. I watch the contestants beginning at their auditions and follow them through to the performance show at which point, I feel like I know them personally and get emotionally attached to my favorites. I love pointing them out in movies or television shows or even as back-up dancers during performances. (Janet Jackson's tribute to Michael at the VMA's AMAZING and filled with all my favorite choreographers!!) It has been exciting to watch the show get better and better and the talent get stronger and stronger but Season 2 will always be my favorite and Season 6, well, here are my frustrations with Season 6.

The first major change for Season 6 was that it was airing in the Fall instead of the usual Summer broadcast. I'm sure they make more money in the Fall but I think this change caused them to make too many alternatives. One was having three permanent judges. It was bad enough that in Season 3 Mary Murphy was a permanent judge but at least we still had different choreographers come on every week. It was a different perspective and some people I like more than others so it worked out. Now they have Adam Shankman, who I actually used to be a fan of but now it is so lame to watch the same judges every week and give the same comments. I don't like it. (My all time favorite judge to comment...Tyce Diorio)

Another change was how they introduced the Top 20. Before the competition began they had the Top 20 dancers come on and show their talent in their own genre. I actually thought this was an excellent idea because you were able to see the dancers strengths right off the bat. Then, the first two weeks they did the performance show as per usual except because of the MLB Playoffs, the judges had to cut two dancers on the same night as the performance show. This made me mad because it is supposed to be America's Favorite Dancer and the judges just got rid of four people who might not necessarily have been voted out. I guess they did what they could but I didn't like it. Oh and this year they had 3 tap dancers make the Top 20 and no offense to anyone that does tap, but it was kind of annoying to have them on. (Nigel is a tap dancer so he was ecstatic) If they did their solo the music had to change and microphones in the floor were turned on and they weren't very good at anything else. They were gone in the first couple weeks!

The performance studio has definitely been getting nicer as the seasons went on, but this year they added a backdrop screen that can show images or different scenes on it. Originally, I liked it because it looked nice but then I realized it distracted from the dancing way too much! I want to see good dancing and a good performance but it turned too much into...well I actually don't know what it turned into, I just didn't like it.

Mia Michaels, one of the best choreographers on the show (Wade Robson being the other) decided to leave the show at the beginning of Season 6. It is really too bad because her routines were always amazing and I loved when she was a guest judge because she actually knew what she was talking about. It really felt like there was something missing this season, and it was MIA.

Somewhat of a continuation of my previous point, the choreographers didn't seem to be producing that great of routines. Season 2 there were 3 or 4 routines that were nominated for an Emmy and routines that I still search for on YouTube because they were that amazing. (Ramalama-BangBang) This year no routines stuck out to me. My favorite routines have usually been the group routines at the beginning of the results show, and I honestly cannot think of one I remember. Having said that, there has been some really good routines from Travis Wall and Sonya Tayeh the past couple of seasons.

Another change was that this season, they had 6 people in the finale where its usually the Top 4. I really don't know why they had a Top 6, it seems like too many but again I think it is because Christmas is next week so they had to end the show this week. Dumb. Which leads me into my final point...

The last performance show for the finale was WEAK! First off, it was only an hour long and they did have every contestant dance with each other like usual but they did not have an all girls number like usual or an all boys number like usual and they cut out a very important part of the show...the rehearsal footage! This is where you see the choreographer working with the couple and see the falls and actually see the personalities of the contestants! They took this footage out of the Top 10 episode too which I was quite upset about. I was really looking forward to seeing the footage of the cute married couple from Provo during their rehearsals! How adorable is that to be competing on the show with your spouse??? I love it and apparently a little too much. And to make matters worse, the dancers didn't even get a SOLO!!!! Are you kidding me?? How are we supposed to vote (well, I actually can't vote here in Canada but I would if I could) on our favorite dancer if we don't get to see them showcase their individual talent. Oh I was mad! The finale is usually what I live for in the season and I was so disappointed in the performance show and even the results finale was lame too. They tried to fill it with performances of Leona Lewis (who just stood there...hello...its a dance show!) and Mary J Blige. Jennifer Lopez also performed, which I actually really liked BECAUSE, she used previous contestants as her back-up dancers! GREAT idea! Then because there were SIX people in the finale...it took forever to get to the winner, which I was REALLY happy about it! (CONGRATS Russell!) The weird part was though, that Russell injured himself early on in the show and so the remaining dances had to be old footage instead of live performances. The show must go on but kind of weird for a finale???

All things considered, I still love the show and I absolutely LOVE dancing. This just shows how passionate I am about it. Or does it show that I am out of my mind and have too much time on my hands at work?? (I can't believe how long this turned out to be...how embarrassing) Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed getting all of this off my chest as my dear husband is probably grateful that I didn't deliver this rant to him! Thanks for listening!

Great News...

...Austin is officially GRADUATED!!!

I am so happy for him and couldn't be more thrilled that we are both done with school! It took him a little longer then expected because my mom's condition for him to marry me was that I had to finish my schooling! So, after we got married he came down to Idaho for two semesters so I could graduate and this prolonged his timeline for school. I am so grateful that I was able to get my degree and that now he is graduating with his International Business degree. Congrats Austin...I love you and I am so proud of you!!

To the American People

Happy Halloween from President Obama and Sarah Palin...

A Day Well Spent

Austin and I have been feeling pretty stressed with work lately. We are trying to save up for a house by working at jobs that we really don't like or want to do long term. We have both been really busy and our schedules never seem to match up. If I have a morning off; he has to work. If I have to work late; he gets off early. Thanksgiving dinner was our first dinner together in a really long time.

A couple days ago I had a day off and Austin was able to take the day off too!! YEAH!!! We were able to spend the entire day together and it was so nice. We made some plans but didn't really get to them. We had a lot of running around to do to try and catch up with all the errands we had procrastinated and Austin ended up having to deal with some work stuff as well. Usually, I would have been really annoyed that the day didn't quite go according to planned, but I actually was ok with it. We were able to talk about so many things as we drove all over the city and it was just so nice to be with him for an entire day! Austin felt bad that he dragged me all over the place so he let me pick where to eat dinner! Oh how I love him!! I was very excited because I had been wanting to try this new Mexican place called, MuchoBurrito!! So GOOD!!!! I highly recommend it!

Anyway, I was extremely grateful to spend the day with Austin and we had so much fun! It really is too bad that the real world interrupts time spent with spouses or family. I really just need to win the lottery and buy a beautiful house and spend all day with my husband and family! Haha. Ok, maybe not everyday. I hope everyone in Canada had a happy Thanksgiving!!!

Oh Calgary...

It is the beginning of October.
I woke up this morning, and it was snowing.
Did we skip over Fall?
It's time to move south for the Winter.

Summer

This summer was a little different for me. I was working and I wasn't used to being restricted on vacation time which prevented me from going to SMITHFEST (I know, my own family reunion!) and a Gough family trip to San Diego! We still tried to make the best of our summer and started it off with the fabulous CaLgArY StAmPeDe!

It was so fun to dress up western!

The weather wasn't that great and it started pouring when we sat down for the Grandstand Show so we bought these awesome Canadian ponchos to keep us dry. Ironically, the rain stopped as soon as we bought them but at least we got a cute picture!!!

Our next stop was to Shuswap Lake with Jason, Suzanne and Brooklynn to stay at the Lee's cabin for a few days. The weather was AWESOME and it was so nice to lay out in the sun and do nothing.

This is Austin and me jumping off the cliffs which took quite a bit of convincing for me to jump. I've done it before but I always freak myself out!

Austin was into the water sports where I was fine with just hanging out! Thanks Jason & Suzanne for inviting us! We had a blast!!

Every year in Calgary, there is an event called Taste of Calgary where restaurants from all over the city set up booths to try their food. You buy tickets and you can get chinese, ukranian, italian, greek, and other kinds of food plus some tasty desserts! It was only my second year going but its so fun to try all the different types of food and see the different cultures in the city! I highly recommend it to anyone who is in town during the Taste of Calgary to check it out!

Max and Miley love hanging out by the window and checking out what's going on outside.

Miley has a ridiculous amount of hair and our dear friend Suzanne is kind enough, or should I say patient enough to cut her hair for us. Instead of getting hair all over our clothes, I had the idea to use the ponchos we bought to protect ourselves. (See...money well spent) Miley ended up tearing mine apart but it did the trick.

The final part to our summer is moving. We are departing the Hamlet Spot and moving in with my mom for a few months. I really, really, REALLY want a house so we thought this would be a good opportunity to save up some money and spend some quality time with my family. I'm sad to leave the Hamlet and all the friends we have there but we'll see how this goes. I'm grateful my mom is welcoming us in with open arms! Summer was pretty good even though we missed out on some things but we were able to spend a lot of time with each other which is what matters most!

Best Wedding Entrance

I wish I was part of this wedding party!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0&feature=fvw

Lack of Communication in Mexico

At 4 AM this morning, Austin left for Mexico! He went with the Director of Operations for the company he is doing his internship for. They will be visiting all the Mexico offices and will be gone until Saturday. Great experience for him, not so great experience for me! I'm excited that he was able to go but he couldn't take his cell phone and this will be the longest we have ever gone without communicating! I've already started a list of things I want to talk about so I don't forget about it! We've been apart before, but I tell ya, it doesn't get any easier! If anyone wants to chat, give me a call!! I would love to hear from you!!!

Summer's Have Changed

It has been awhile since I have worked during the summer. I was on the Summer/Fall track at BYU Idaho so I was always at school during the summer. That may sound horrible to be at school during the summer, but now that I'm working during the summer, I would much rather be at school!! Here's why:

I would schedule all my classes in the morning so I could play all afternoon and at at night. (I would fit homework in there I'm sure). I would also try to schedule all my classes Monday through Thursday so I always had a long weekend! My roommates would usually try to do the same thing so by noon we could head to Rigby Lake for the afternoon. Or go boating with some locals. Or go rafting down the river with my FHE group. Or get snow-cones and tan in front of the Ridge.

Also during the summer, I would do some traveling. My first trip was to La Canada, California, one of the most beautiful places I have been! I went with Remi and we had a blast even though we slept in a closet and was ditched by our friend who took us! One of my favorite trips though and it was the first time I touched the ocean!

Another trip I took was to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We went for the 4th of July and accidentally ended up in the middle of a family BBQ. They were so nice to feed us and it was there I discovered my love for Scotch-a-roos!!

Remi, Ashley and I also were apart of a Nauvoo Church tour where we rode a bus for 36 hours straight and Ashley's ankles gained ten pounds each. I have never, and probably will never laugh as hard as I did when we discovered how big her ankles had swollen. We also slept in and missed our bus and had to take a Taxi to meet up with our group. I learned a lot though and am so glad I went on that trip.

Last summer, Austin and I made several trips to Utah for friends' weddings and they were so much fun. It was good to see people we hadn't seen in awhile and we were able to stay with his relatives that live there. It was so nice to get to know them better and so nice of them to always be so accommodating! (Thanks Jason & Luisa! We miss you guys!)

There were also numerous trips with the roomies to Utah (..mmm Cafe Rio) and of course trips to Canada for the Calgary Stampede and Flames games! I had the best roommates and I was able to go and do things I never would have done if I had not gone to BYU Idaho in the summer. The summer semester at BYU Idaho I think is the best time to be there! I've had to grow up and graduate and now I'm working all the time and get no time off to take my fun trips and hang out with my friends. I sure am grateful for all my memories I made and the friendships I will cherish forever!

I'm still going to try and make this summer fun. I better hurry though, its almost July!!!

Careers & Internships

This is where I work; at Landmark Homes as a Sales Associate. I have always loved looking at Showhomes growing up with my mom and in my spare time, I look up different floor plans that I like. I didn’t feel qualified for this job when I applied for it but I was called in for a couple interviews and was asked to join the company! I was so excited to learn more about the home industry and to get some sales experience. I also was quite proud of myself for getting this job all on my own; without the help of Lyle (who usually finds work for me) or any other sort of networking. I did it all on my own. I was partnered up with an awesome Area Sales Manager and fell in love with the job! The hours are different because the Showhomes need to be open when most people aren’t working but its given me time to work out and do other things in the morning before work and I don’t drive during rush hour which is AWESOME!

This is where Austin is doing his internship. I actually did my internship at the same place so Mr. Lyle Tomie has really helped both of us finish our schooling! The company brings people up from Mexico to Canada to work since there are many jobs available up here. The timing right now is a little unfortunate due to the outbreak of the Swine Flu, but Austin has done really well at this company and has been able to be involved in quite a bit. The best part of it all?? He will be graduated in August!! YEAH!! It is such a great feeling knowing that we will both be done school early on in our marriage. Once he is done we’re trying to plan a vacation to celebrate our graduations! Any suggestions???

I feel left out...

So... I’m not too sure what I’m doing starting a blog, but I began to feel left out with all the people that had one. I was never fond of the idea of having my own blog but I loved reading my friends blogs and sometimes creeping on other blogs of people I may not have known. I’m going to try it out even though I think mine and Austin’s lives are not too exciting right now. A lot of my friends started a blog after they got married and Austin and I have been married for over a year now so that's old news. Then I noticed friends starting a blog after they had a baby. Well, Austin and I are not in that category either so we’ll see how this goes. Wish me luck!!!