Day 4 of 7

(a report on me and my sister’s roadtrip…)

Day 4 – Columbia River Gorge & Mt Rainier

This was one of our more frustrating days, to say the least.  We woke up early, got biscuits with Kyle, and headed out of Portland – sadly.  We decided to go against our original plans for the day and decided to very flexibly explore the Columbia River Gorge, though we weren’t exactly sure what that meant.  Though we didn’t know exactly where we wanted to go, we knew that our first stop was Multnomah Falls, just outside of Portland.  The falls are beautiful, running 620 ft – the second tallest waterfall in the nation.  I kept trying to take artistic photographs… it was a little obsessive.  We didn’t stay at the falls for long – too many other places to check out!  Unfortunately, Erin and I had a hard time agreeing on what to do.  We really wanted to go kayaking in the Gorge and have a chill day, but finding a place to kayak was trickier than we thought!  We decided instead to spend some time checking out the Fruit Loop.

I’m sure you’re wondering what that is.  But let us first relish in the fact that it is named after a most delicious cereal with a parrot for a mascot.

Great.  So the Fruit Loop is a series of orchards and farms all in the Gorge area.  You can pick up a map and drive from place to place, basically in a loop fashion.  Our first stop was a lavender field.  We made the awesome/terrible decision of buying some dried lavender and putting it in our car – nearly choking us to death for the next 3 days of driving.  After the lavender field, we hit up a winery to satisfy Erin’s Napkin cravings.  (Luckily, her wine snobbiness wasn’t too embarrassing this time around…!)  While at the winery, I had a sudden craving for huckleberry milkshakes.  I didn’t know anything about huckleberries except that they were popular in that particular region.  Erin asked the wine pourer if there might be some place that we could find such a delight, and believe it or not, she directed us to the perfect place!  As we pulled up, we were thrilled to see a “Huckleberry Milkshakes” sign out front!  What are the chances??  The milkshakes were a great accompaniment to our sandwich picnic before we headed off to Mt. Rainier.

Now, I know this will be hard to believe, but Erin gave Mt. Rainier EXTREME rave reviews!  We arrived around sunset and took a short hike near the visitor center before setting up camp.  Erin was so immersed in the beauty that at one point she exclaimed, “This isn’t even real life.”  I tried to explain to her that in fact, it was real life.  But she just wouldn’t have it.  Erin, a master of hyperbole, also boldly stated that Mt. Rainier is her new favorite National Park.  During the months of June-August.  Although she really liked Zion National Park.  And Yosemite.  In any case, Erin would not say something this extreme unless she actually meant it, so when she says it was the best day ever… it was.

We really played our chances on this trip, finding campsites in the dark during a busy season… but this was one of our finest nights camping.  We built a fire, cooked hotdogs, and cracked open the Simpler Times beer.  Ahhh…

Day 3 of 7

(a report on me and my sister’s roadtrip…)

Day 3 – Portland, Oregon

The drive to Portland was excitingly foreign.  What a contrast to finally be in such a big city after what seemed like days in the wilderness!  We were exhausted, but knew we had a long day ahead of us since we only had one day to discover what was sure to be an amazing city.  We arrived at my friend Kyle’s house around 11:30am.  Kyle and I worked at Mar-Lu-Ridge Summer camp together, and he was gracious enough to be our tour guide for the day to ensure we packed all of the best stuff into our trip.  After getting settled into our house and taking our first shower of the trip, we headed into downtown Portland!

Now, when I say that Kyle was our tour guide…I really mean Kyle was our tour guide!!  I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone that knows as many random facts about locations as Kyle.  When I worked at camp with him, all he talked about was Maine, where he was residing.  But now that he has moved to Portland, he has found a new love.  Erin and I were so thankful to have Kyle along since we were not familiar with Portland at all.  Because Kyle was there, we were able to hit up… Portland Saturday Market, Mills End Park, a large bronze statue, Pioneer Square, Powell’s City of Books, Chinese Garden, the Kennedy School, and some Portland night life (including a drag show!).  We also had a wonderful ice cream sandwich as well as testing out the cupcake scene in Portland.  (I am sure I’m missing things, but with the fast pace that we kept, this is really the best I can do.)

Of the above things mentioned, there were many highlights.  Kyle described Mills End Park to us as the smallest park in the world.  Erin and I were excited about this and expected to see a park perhaps the size of a small bedroom.  The actual size of the “park” was shocking and inspiring!  Erin couldn’t help but play in the park with the excitement of a little child.  Another highlight was our time spent at the Chinese Garden.  The garden itself was a beautiful escape from the city, even though the skyscrapers never left our sight.  We visited around 4pm and were feeling exceedingly loopy at the time.  It only seemed right that we follow the ritual of having tea time while we were at the Chinese Garden.  An hour later and several shotglass-sized cups of tea, we emerged from the tea house feeling enlightened...senses heightened, and abs sore from laughing…to say the least.  The tea ceremony was…beautiful, and… too much for Erin to handle!  Why go through the process of steeping, pouring, and smelling when you just want to drink?!  In any case, I’m not sure I’ve laughed that hard in a long time…so thanks to Erin and Ky for that.  That evening, we had dinner at the Kennedy School – an old elementary school that is now a bar and restaurant and hotel and lots of other stuff.  The designers really tried to keep it looking like a school, which was sort of creepy, but mostly fun.  A fun-filled day was completed as all fun-filled days should be – playing shuffleboard at a bar before watching a drag show at another bar!  Oh, Portland!  How we loved thee!

Day 2 of 7

(a report on me and my sister’s roadtrip…)

DAY 2 – Lava Beds and Crater Lake

Eating breakfast on what we later learn is "lava splatter"

It sure is easy to get up early when you’re camping and FREEZING COLD.  When we left the day before, I asked Erin what she thought about the weather on this trip.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  She assured me that places like “Lassen Volcanic National Park” and “Lava Beds” sounded hot, so they must be hot.  Well, it turns out that it was well below 40 degrees that night as we camped at the Lava Beds.  Good advice, Erin.

Needless to say, we woke up early and went spelunking through the caves of the Lava Beds!  What an adventure.  We had the chance to go through an easy, medium, and difficult cave (though we didn’t make it too far in the difficult one).

Naturally, we didn’t have much time to spend at the Lava Beds, seeing as how we needed to cover some massive ground over the next week.  So, we hopped in the car after buying our emergency 2 gallons of gas and drove straight to a gas station for a real fill-up.  After singing On the Road Again – as was tradition – we continued our other morning routines.  Mornings generally consisted of choosing classical music that we thought was befitting of our surroundings and our destination, and doing a dramatic reading of information from our travel books along to the music.  By the time we would reach our destination, we not only knew the history of the place, the most popular hiking trails, and the best way to view the park in only one hour, we had also really set the mood with the music we had chosen.

There is no better way to describe just this mood-setting than our experience driving to Crater Lake the afternoon of Day 2.  As we left the Lava Beds, we listened to Aaron Copland – it only seemed appropriate.  But as we began climbing the mountains to the overlook of Crater Lake, it was clear that a different song was needed.  It suddenly struck me that one of my favorite orchestral pieces was just suited for what I anticipated to be one of the most beautiful outlooks of my life.  So, we put on “Nimrod” from the “Enigma Variations” by Elgar.  If you’ve never heard this piece (or in particular, this movement of the piece), put it on your list of things to do before you die.  Or better yet, things to do before next week.  The only problem was, this particular movement is only about 4 minutes long at best.  So as the piece came to an end and curvy roads continued to unfold before us, Erin shouted, “Repeat!!” and I pressed the back arrow to give the piece another try.  Our timing was, how should I say it… AWFUL.  We listened to “Nimrod” – no joke – 9 times before hitting the nail on the head.  The 10th time, we knew it would be just right, the strings reaching maximum intensity as the view of the lake finally stretched before us.  Erin and I both stared at the bright blue water in silence as the climax of the piece died to it’s final dramatic decrescendo.  Slightly embarrassed, I turned to Erin with tears running down my face, only to find that she, too, was overcome with such an intense feeling of joy and beauty that all there was to do was to cry… and subsequently, to laugh!  Man oh man did we laugh.

Crater Lake was probably my favorite stop on our trip.  Looking back, I can’t say if it was the view or the music or the combo of the two, but either way, as I said to Erin during our picnic lunch, “I wouldn’t mind being proposed to here.”

As if the Lava Beds and Crater Lake wasn’t enough, we eventually left Crater Lake and headed to Bend, Oregon – a cute hippy town in Oregon.  We were told by a friend of a friend that there was a “non-campsite” that was popular with the townies where we could stay.

Our sad and lonely tent, surrounded by miles of forest

So we followed her detailed directions (turn onto the dirt trail…when it looks like there’s a clearing, turn right…) and found ourselves alone in the middle of a large forest/bike path.  It would’ve been okay except we kept making jokes about how if serial killers were anywhere, they would be there.  We did a pretty good job of scaring ourselves.  So we set up camp and headed into town for martinis and dinner at a brewery.  That was seriously some good sister time.  And we survived the night, serial killers and all.

On the Road Again…

Phew.  We’re back in business.  It has taken me awhile to get settled into all the newness of September, but I think I’m ready to share some of the wonderful things that have been happening in the past few weeks!

As soon as LVC ended (August 12th), I packed my bags and departed for a road trip with the sis.  At first, this caused quite a bit of stress for me since I wasn’t entirely moved into my new house and didn’t entirely wrap up my old job.  In any case, I (barely) made my flight in time and was on the way to good ole California before I knew it!  The next week was quite indescribable, but let me just preface my trip summary by saying that I took over 800 photos, which can be viewed at my Flickr site!  So, to add some perhaps inadequate words to some breathtaking photos, our sister roadtrip went as follows (- I’ll have to break down the days into multiple posts, so enjoy!):

DAY 1 – Lassen Volcanic National Park

We woke up bright and early, put Michael Jackson onto our iPods, picked up some bagels, and headed to Northern California for the first leg of our trip.  It only seemed appropriate to start the morning off with “On the Road Again,” by Willie Nelson, which quickly became our morning tradition.  Lassen was a beautiful spot to picnic, and we followed lunch with a short, beautiful hike on ”Bumpass Hell” as we started learning volcanic jargon like mudpot and fumarole.  

I can’t say I’ve ever hiked a trail that smelled quite this strongly of rotten eggs before.  Yum.

After a short stay at Lassen, we decided to take the “small roads” to the Lava Beds National Monument, where we would camp that night.  I took the wheel and headed out on what seemed like a beautiful drive.  The back roads are totally the way to go!, we agreed, patting ourselves on the back for a decision well-made.  An hour later, and the gas gauge dropping quickly, we started rethinking our route.  There was no one else around, the roads were getting smaller and curvy-er, and the idea of our gas running out was turning both Erin and my stomachs into knots!  It only got better when the road we were driving turned into a gravel road.  I felt the car hydroplaning (gravelplaning?) as I desperately tried to slow my speed.  ”The Lava Beds better be AWESOME after all this!” I shouted at my sister, who was laughing hysterically at me while I was freaking out.  

The gravel road lasted for about 10 miles, finally bringing us in – the back way, we later learned – to the Lava Beds.  

The night only got better (how could it have gotten worse??), as we learned that we could purchase 2 gallons of gas from the Visitor Center of the park if we were desperate.  We set up camp, cooked some pasta, and even made it to a boring ranger talk after chugging a beer.  

First day – check.

‘Twas the Final Countdown…

Wahh!!!!  Everything has been happening so fast that  I’m not entirely sure of what’s going on at all.  Yesterday was my official “last day of LVC” and last day of being the Program Coordinator for the Steinbruck Center for Urban Studies.  Today I  moved completely out of the Bon house…gave up my key and everything.  And right now, I’m about to head to bed in Napa Valley before waking up to embark on a weeklong adventure with my sis as we travel up the west coast to Oregon & Washington.

I have much to share about the end of LVC, and I’m sure I’ll have much more to share after our Pacific Northwest journey, so check back in a week and a half or so for tons of exciting posts!

Also, you can look forward to hearing about my new apartment and new housemates – Allison and Tom Paradise!  If you’d like to send some love-mail or perhaps a housewarming gift, our new address is:

28 Seaton Place NW Unit A

Washington, DC 20001

Time for bed!!

Top 10 Reasons My Intern Is Better Than Yours

Way back in February, I struggled with the decision of whether or not I should hire an intern for the summer.  I knew nothing about supervising someone else, and quite frankly, I wasn’t sure if there was enough work to go around.  But something was telling me that Intern Rd. was the way to go.  So I hired Colleen – the best intern ever.  In a short 6 weeks, Colleen mastered the ways of the Steinbruck Center and formed many lifelong relationships!

People kept warning me that having an intern is actually MORE work than doing it all on your own.  These people are clearly not hiring good interns.  Here are just a few of the reasons why you probably should have hired Colleen:

10.   She is tall and can reach very important resources that I can’t access without some serious chair-help.

9.   Her mad Spanish skills have opened up a whole new world in the Steinbruck Center.

8.   She doesn’t mind when I think aloud.

7.   She somehow remembers everything I forget (she’s better than my Google Calendar!)

6.   She actually likes making phonecalls – a nice complement to my telephonophobia!

5.   She’s so outgoing that nothing is awkward with her… or perhaps everything is… (which is probably why I like her)

4.   She knows how to do just the right amount of complaining about bad groups.

3.   She fully supports having a Rita’s break during the worday.

2.   She calls me “boss” in such an uplifting manner that it actually makes me want to be a boss.

1.   When I joke about continuing to give her work assignments after she’s gone, she gladly agrees to be my forever-intern.

Cheers to Colleen!

Weber Family Reunion 09: Return of the Pranksters

Immediately following our LVC retreat, I had the chance to gather with the whole Weber side of the family for a family reunion.  Well, it wasn’t really a chance…it was, in fact, MANDATORY.  That’s right.  Our family is so busy that we have to make reunions mandatory to get people to attend.

Now, just for a little history… (and this may not all be accurate, but my memory is…) We used to have family reunions every summer.  We would all gather at the beach for a week and stay in a humungous beach house.  This was generally funded and organized by Wanda Weber – my wonderwoman grandma.  Family reunions were generally a time to get a nice tan, eat wonderful home-cooked meals (rotated between families), watch Aunt Grace’s slideshow of her most recent trip abroad, play bizarre organized games and do family trivia, and… play pranks.

As the youngest cousin in the family, it took many a year for me to be included in such tomfoolery, but you can bet that I wished every year that I was old enough to finally participate in my cousins’ pranks on the adults of the family!  I watched year after year as my cousins would do something bizarre and hilarious, like take off all of the toilet seats in the house and replace them with kids floaties.  The chance to finally participate was one of my greatest achievements!  (Isn’t growing up the best?)  One of my favorite pranks was the year we bought huge blowup raft-animals – a huge alligator, lobster, shark, and octopus.  2am came and went as we blew up the rafts, snuck into the adults’ rooms, and hung the massive floats just above our snoring aunts and uncles.  That same year, we did many other small pranks.  (**Note, saran-wrapping my dad to the bed did not turn out to be very successful and resulted in one angry uncle.)  The following year, we decided to tone things down a bit since it seemed as though the adults were still angry from the year before.  That time around, we simply took the large row boat from the backyard and brought it into the kitchen.  That caused a minor disturbance.

Here’s the thing, though… the adults secretly love it.  Every year they wonder what we’ll pull next.  Well, as the cousins got older and many of them had their own kids, our family reunions began to evolve.  We somehow moved from the beach to the mountains (to keep the adults from getting sunburned?).  Year after year, less people were able to attend.  That’s when it suddenly became mandatory this year.  ATTENTION WEBER FAMILY!  You MUST attend at LEAST 2 days of this reunion in Amish Country, PA.  So, for the first time in many years, over 30 of us gathered once again.

It didn’t take long for the cousins to deviously smile at one another with dreams of a new prank.  (It seems as though we have to wait up less late with each year as the adults go to bed earlier and earlier…)  That first night, around 10:30pm, the cousins circled up.  “We HAVE to do something good.”  We quickly recognized that our location was prime.  We were in Amish country for goodness’ sake!  Another resource came from a game earlier in the evening that involved Peeps; we had boxes and boxes of Peeps at our disposal.  Peeps?  Amish?  This prank would have to get creative.  We thought of idea after idea, but most seemed impossible.  How glorious would it be if the adults walked into our eating area in the morning and there was a HORSE?  And/or a buggy??  But how could we get our hands on a horse and buggy?  Impossible.  The night drew on, and we needed to make a decision quick.  We realized that to have a really good prank, we’d need another day.  But to throw the adults off a bit, some of the cousins stayed up late to do a mini-prank with the Peeps, staging them around the room, ready for combat in a Peeps Revolution.  Our idea worked – the adults were slightly inconvenienced but mostly amused, thinking our prank this time around wasn’t so bad.  They weren’t ready for the hilarity that would ensue the next morning.

During our brainstorming session, my cousin John interrupted all the talk about horses and buggies and said: “This is kind of a different idea, but what if when the adults walked into the dining area in the morning, we were all gathered around fully dressed like the Amish, holding some sort of morning meeting?”  We liked this idea, but it seemed impossible.  Would we take Amish clothes off of someone’s clothesline??  Well, my sister and cousin hit the jackpot and found a Goodwill.  They somehow scored outfits for 11 people for a total of $18, and before we knew it, we were fully decked out in Amish outfits!  7:30am was the earliest we decided we could muster, knowing there would be a good chance that many of the adults would already be eating breakfast.  Still, we filed in silently in a straight line – men first, women last.  We gathered round in a circle, and for the next hour, we held an improvised meeting, calling one another by our new biblical names to discuss issues such as the barn raising, my (lack of) suitor, and expressing our gratitude for the crops through song and prayer.  While I’m sure this was a ridiculous and politically incorrect sight, it was clearly one of the most fascinating “pranks” we’ve ever pulled, and certainly of a different nature.  And boy – once again – did the adults love it!

(See more photos from the reunion here)

Are your family reunions anything like this, or is my family crazy???

…or has it just begun?

LVC Closure Retreat.  July 9-12.  Sad, sad, so sad.  6 LVC houses from the East Coast met together for the third and final time of the year outside of Lewes, Delaware.  We had a lovely opportunity to retreat from work and the chaos of the city and just relax on the beach, toes in sand and sand in undies.  This was the most unscheduled retreat we’ve had all year – giving us some time for reflection as we all try to wrap our minds around the year and what comes next.  Amy Sens, Baltimore/Wilmington City Coordinator said it well: “You may not realize yet what we’ve done to you this year.”

This is most certainly true.  We have been given so much and been set up in such a strong and supportive program, that we might literally fall on our faces when the support and structure is taken away.  And just like it is with any big experience in life, I’m finding it hard to wrap things up…come up with some life-long lessons and conclusions.  I’ve been given at least a million evaluations to fill out for LVC, and these questions are not easy!

What were your expectations when you entered LVC?

What are the most important things you’ve learned?

How have your ideas about social justice, community, simplicity, faith, and spirituality changed?

What practices do you hope to continue in the next year?

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t answer all of this!

Until I move on to the next stage of my life and realize what I’ve lost, this is where I’m at right now:  LVC has not been an experience, but rather a lifestyle.  This year we have learned to live it.  Whether we continue it or not is our choice.  But for me, it is a lifestyle that has both grounded me in my beliefs and opened me up to many different perspectives.  This is certainly no ending!  It is a HUGE beginning.  I have learned that I have so much MORE to learn.  In my mind, the keys are to always yearn for knowledge, surround yourself with other people, and create space for God.

As I fill out these evaluations and continue to think through the year, I’m sure I’ll have many more thoughts to stick onto your screen.  In the meantime, here are a few phrase droplets to give you a taste of our retreat…

…vintage snoopy tent, cuddly nights, waves crashing, salt-tasting, jellyfish spotting, dolphins jumping, sand everywhere, bag lady clothes, constant ‘mallows, gnat infestation, 500 photos, holden on the beach, lobster belly, curly hair, dogfish head brewery, housemate gratitude, fluffernutters, rainy 4am, american girl sleeping bag, double dutch, pine needle fires…

This is the start of many lasts.  Many goodbyes.  And for anyone who knows me well, many tears!  We did an affirmation exercise with our housemates where we had the chance to share with each person in our house what we appreciate about them.  Boy, was I a mess!  It will be a tough next month with a lot of transition.  But if one thing’s for sure, the fun will not stop here!  In case we weren’t sick of each other after retreat, the Bon House is doing our own house trip this weekend to an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay.  Someone’s going to have to drag me away from these lovely ladies, and that frickin roof deck… shoot!

is this the end?

It seems to be harder and harder to find the time to write, and as always, there’s more and more that needs to be said.  It’s Thursday morning, T-minus 20 minutes until our departure on our last LVC retreat.  We’re heading north to the beaches of Delaware for 3 and a half days or so, and although we can’t WAIT to hit the beach, it’s a sad reminder that our time together is almost over.  These last few weeks have been spent in lots of community with my housemates and other LVCers, celebrating birthdays, July 4th, and one another!

Kristen has been trying desparately to teach us to double dutch.  Countless evenings on the street in front of our house have introduced us to many of our neighbors.  We’ve been trying to meet people since August!!  Who knew that all you have to do is start twirling those ropes and the crowds come…

The summer of work has actually been quite pleasant as well!  I was really worried about my first summer with no significant change – no camp, no vacation, no nothin.  But even though there haven’t been big changes, the little ones have sufficiently lifted me out of a summer-work-depression.  One such blessing was my experience dancing in my Jackson hip-hop performance class (see previous entry)… and how ironic that he died just 4 days later?!  Another change in my summer has been hiring an intern at the Steinbruck Center!  I was hesitant many months ago as to whether or not this would be a good idea, but it has been wonderful!  Colleen has been a great friend and coworker…it is so nice to have company on the lonely days in the office.  We’ve made great strides in the Steinbruck Center this year; in fact, I was just recently told that we are the reason the church is in the black!  Now, if only we could keep that up another year…

Lots of transition is about to happen.  Lots.  Colleen leaves July 24th.  LVC ends August 12th.  My sister (and brother?) and I go on a road trip August 13th-21st.  Two August weddings to go to.  Moving into a new apartment (probs with Allison and Tom?), though we have not yet found a place.  Then the start of a new, but similar, job at Luther Place.  It seems like I’m not really going anywhere, and in many ways, I’m not…but many things around me will change.  Being in LVC this year has really provided me with a strong support group, things to do, parties to go to, people to share dinner and conversation with… and it’s all about to disperse.  Eek!

Hopefully the post-LVC community will welcome those of us sticking around with open arms

All right… T-minus 11 minutes until departure.  Gotta go!!!  Check back next week for tons of photos!

Dance Performance Declared “the bomb… dot com”

I suppose now is as good a time as any to report that I’ve been taking dance classes since September. I have never danced before that in my life (except for a short stint at the age of 4), but for some reason, I’ve always felt like I should be a dancer. Maybe it’s because I’m so little and have so much energy…I don’t really know. The closest I came was a year of gymnastics, but after being unable to do a cartwheel even with a year’s work, I gave up. So this year, I decided that it was time for another try to get my body to move.

On top of just a general desire to dance, I’ve had a few influences in my life that have led me to this point. 1) My best friend Kelly was a cheerleader back in the elementary/high school days, and I’d always get her to teach me her cheers. I never wanted the stereotype that went along with it, but I loooved the moves. 2) Towards the end of my college career, I watched a lot of dancing, and I even wrote two compositions for dancers. Watching the whole process was such a joy that I wanted to get out there and move to my music! 3) As I grow as a conductor, I’ve found that I love the listening and critiquing part of conducting, and I feel totally self-conscious about the waving my arms part.  How do I learn to feel more comfortable in my own body?

So all of these things led to the goodness that is DANCE. It has been a wonderful path! I started in the fall by taking an Intro to Dance class that included 2 weeks of ballet, 2 weeks of jazz, and 2 weeks of modern. I learned that I am totally disinterested in ballet and extremely inflexible. Simultaneously, I took a 6 week Intro to Hip Hop class. I laughed at myself the whole time. After that, I continued to take drop-in Hip Hop and Jazz classes, and I signed up for an Intro to Social Ballroom class that did 2 weeks of waltz, 2 weeks of foxtrot, and 2 weeks of swing. The information on the class said you didn’t have to sign up with a partner, so I didn’t. Turns out the class was comprised of about 5 30-year-old couples…and ME. Sounds lame, but in the end, I mostly danced with the instructor, which was awesome. I love ballroom!

Finally, I decided maybe I was ready for a performance class rather than my random weekly drop-in classes. I scrolled through my options, and then I saw it:

“Jackson Tribute Hip-Hop Performance Class”

I knew it was for me, and after I checked with my housemates and closest friends, I signed up for this 10-week class, excited to dance to Michael, Janet, and the Jackson 5 and perform after lots of hard work!  We rehearsed diligently every Tuesday evening from 9-11:30pm, and finally performed this past weekend!  All of our hard work paid off, though it’s hard to imagine that 10 weeks of work results in a 10 minute performance.  We danced to a medley of songs, including: Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough, Beat It, ABC, Control, Billy Jean, What Have You Done For Me Lately, Pretty Young Thing, The Way You Make Me Feel, Smooth Criminal, and Thriller!!  Phew.

My mom asked me if I’ll be auditioning for the next season of So You Think You Can Dance.  I don’t know how good she’s imagining I am, but I’d like to remind everyone that I still laugh at myself while I dance.  Even so, considering the fact that I had never danced before September, I’m quite proud of our accomplished performance.  After all, my housemates did decide it was the bomb dot com…

(check out more photos on my Flickr site, and stop by to watch a DVD of the performance!