State Champ!

State Champ baby!!!

Fez won 1st place in the
Architectural Drafting division of the
SkillsUSA competition on Friday.

It was a surprise when he won the SLCC competition
(see post here)
about 2 months ago and thought he should
compete at state at least for the experience.

There were 7 other guys in his category
and he beat them all by 27!

It was quite a surprise when they called his name
but we were so excited!

He now gets to compete at Nationals in
Kansas City in June.

Good job babe!

What a great accomplishment!

And the verdict is...

A dislodged rib.
Awesome.

It started out as feeling like a knot in my back muscle that progressively became more of a bother. I would have Fez massage it for me which would help but not for long term.

Last Thursday just before bed he gave me a little hug and squeeze. I felt it half pop and asked him to 'pop' my back to finish it off.
Bad idea.

It definitely popped but not in the way I thought it would.
It crazy hurt! We thought it must be a muscle spasm and got a heat pack to help soothe it. It did a little but I couldn't sleep at all that night.

The next morning I went to the chiropractor and he gave me the verdict. It wasn't a muscle at all but my rib. He tried a couple things but said it was too inflamed from the heat I'd put on it and would just keep hurting me. I was told to ice it all weekend and he'd fix me today.

The pain has almost completely subsided except for when I breathe deep or put pressure on my right arm. Who knew such a little thing out of place could be such a bother?

Here's hoping I've iced it enough for the fix today!

Clogging and camping... yes and yes.

So I meant to post this about 2 weeks ago but...

basically I'm a slacker.
Here is the update to the post here
about our wonderful weekend!

Competition?
Awesome!
I loved being on stage again.
Despite trying to dance my guts out and
realizing I don't have an 18 yr old body any more
I still felt really good about my performance as well as my team.
We ended up taking an overall in one of our dances
and placed 2nd in the other.
It was so fun!


Camping?
Fantastic!
I really do love camping.
I am no good at starting fires, eating what I can find,
hiking up big scary mountains with nothing to hold on to,
or packing only the essential items.
But I still love it!

Here are a few highlights of the trip:

Pretty canyon

Johnson Arch


Rock or poo???

This is the help we had finding the geocache!
They were super helpers!


Our tent and backpacks. So fun using them!

GIANT strawberry marshmallow =
DISGUSTING.

We found this geocache before heading home.


Beatutiful view of Snow Canyone
where the geocache was.

Belated Christmas Present

Well the present isn't belated

but the blog post is WAY belated...

Fez had been planning on what to get me for
Christmas for months ahead of time.
He had stolen my clogging shoes from my parents house
right when I was looking for them to use for class.
I couldn't find them ANYWHERE because of
sneaky Fez and mom.

He dumped them on our black coffee table
one night and took a bunch of pictures.
He then picked 9 winners and
tracked down 9 square black frames to put them in.

I didn't realize what they were when I opened them.
I thought they were the pictures that already come in the frames.
But then I recognized the taps and was so surprised!

I absolutely LOVE them!

My shoes look kind of gross in some of them but it
just shows how much love and hard work went
into making them that way.
It was so sweet to show his support for me
in my life of dancing this way.

We don't have a wall big enough to put all 9 frames up
in our apartment so I picked 3 of my favorite for now.
Thanks again love!!!

Here they are:

That tape was a life saver at times!

I like that is says my name.

Even my mom had shoes!
None of us probably would have danced
if she hadn't started first
Thanks mom!

I wish I could hold my breath...

...Because I'm pretty sure something
DIED
in the women's bathroom.

Yesterday I went in there and about passed out
from the wave of stench that came at me.
It was HORRENDOUS!

I tried with all my might to hold my breath
but I found out I am NO GOOD at this.
I've never moved so fast.

Today wasn't much better.
My coworker said she remembered this smell from
when a MOUSE DIED in the sewer.

Mr. Cleaning Man,
PLEASE figure out what that rancid smell is.
I will work on holding my breath longer,
but it has GOT to end!
Sincerely,
Out of Breath

oh the excitement.

Today is the start of a great weekend.

Competition this afternoon.

Camping the rest of the time.

It's been about 2 years since I have done a dancing performance.

And about 4 years since I have competed.

I am nervous!

Last night I was slightly freaking out inside that I was feeling nervous.

I have danced practically my whole life

but I am out of practice!

I am very excited to be doing it again though.

The anticipation before going on stage...

Waiting for the music to start...

Telling yourself "You've got this"...

The adrenaline rush as you complete step after step...

The second wind that hits after cheering for your teammates

to keep it up...

I LOVE IT!!!

Fez and I are driving straight to St. George after to meet up

with his cousins to go camping.

We have been gathering essentials for the past few months

and are very excited to try them out.

New tent, sleeping bag, backpacks, stove, utensils, etc.

We aren't hiking into our camping spot

but we are packing and pretending as if we are

so when that time comes we will be ready.

I love camping.

Waking up to the sunrise.

Wondering what adventures the day will hold.

Feeling a little dirt on ya and not caring.

Sitting at a campfire bonding with those around you.

I AM EXCITED!!!

(Hopefully my camera won't die

so I will have pictures to post next week)

Attempt at Cooking #1

I do not cook.

Hardly ever.

I would like to be better at this

but it is very intimidating.

Last night I decided to face my fear.

I made lemon pepper chicken and

roasted rosemary red potatoes.

I learned what 'saute' means.

It looked like I burnt the chicken but only the pepper on it a little.

I finished everything at the same time.

And the smoke alarm went off only 3 times.

AND it tasted yummy.

Even Fez wasn't lying when he said it did to make me feel good.

Attempt at Cooking #1...

SUCCESS.