Sister Date- The Nutcracker

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend! Last night I took my sister to see the Nutcracker for her first time ever! She's in her twenties and had never seen it... Being dancers (well we used to be), and since schools will often go see it for a field trip, you'd think she would have seen it at least once before, nope. So for part of her Christmas present- I took her to see it.
*NOTE* I forgot my camera... my iPhone had to do.

We first showed up at the wrong theater (doh!), but luckily the correct theater was a short walk away.


It was beautiful and the dancing was superb.

Needless to say- she loved it! We had a great time and enjoyed talking "dance" for a little bit after.


How was your weekend?? Did you do anything fun??

Happiness

Happiness is like a butterfly

via

The more you chase it, the more it eludes you.

But if you happen to sit still and let things be, it will likely come and land on your shoulder.

***

How can I become a butterfly?

You have to want to fly so bad, you're willing to give up being a caterpillar.

***

I read these quotes on my sisters blog yesterday and fell in love. I put them in a note on my phone so I can always have them with me.

I know that things can be hard and happiness can seem so far away. But when we stop and enjoy the small things, we will see happiness is all around us. And sometimes it takes giving up something we love- to find out what it's like to fly.

***

And if you appreciate dance in any way, you'll love these. My two new favorite dances.

If you havn't entered the giveaway yet, do now!

ENTER THE SPOTTED UMBRELLA GIVEAWAY HERE

Trying the Turban & Concert Time: Take 2 *click*

Last time I posted about the Turban I had a few people suggest I wear it with my hair down. So, obviously I had to show you.

What do you think? I personally like it both ways. I think they're just different. But I value your opinion sweet bloggers.

In other news...

Tonight was the last night for our spring concerts (for a dance studio I teach at- in case you missed it). One of my dancers (a different one than yesterday) gave me this darling necklace! Her class danced with umbrellas even! How perfect! I just love those girls I teach so much! They did such a fabulous job!

Tomorrow I get to see one of my VERY best friends! She is coming to stay overnight and play with me all day Friday! :D AH! I'm so excited! If you're curious to who she is just look over at my sidebar to my blog of the week. That'd be her! Go tell her hi and enjoy her blog! Seriously, GO!

Concert Time and Fake Outs

Tonight (done) and tomorrow night are/ were my concert nights for a studio I teach at. I always love concert time but come home exhausted- and seriously, I did nothing (comparatively) this time but I'm still exhausted. I guess I'm just kind of there for extra help which is new to me. So I hang out with my dancers while they wait for their turn to perform. They're the best! I seriously love those girlies! One of them even gave me this beautiful monogrammed charm necklace! I LOVE it! It's so dainty and pretty. I put it on right away. :)

In other news...

Lately I've been saying how I want a goat (yes, I want a goat), they're so cute, make the cutest sounds, AND if I did my research maybe I could even have proper goats milk and cheese! Sounds fun to me! THEN I got this picture from my parents the other day... (sorry it's sideways. I forgot to fix it, and am just not going to.)

I got so excited and thought MAYBE since it is my birthday soon they decided to get me a goat! (sidenote: I've gone back to the proper BirtHday instead of Birtday. I got sick of it really fast...) But no. It was all a joke. A mean one.

haha! Eh, I got over it really fast. A puppy is a bit more practical after all. ;)

Jk. No animals for me. My life changes too much.

Recitals and Awards

Oh tonight... tonight was the yearly review for a studio I teach for. I have the lovely job of teaching all the little tiny dancers and those are the classes that take a lot of work at the recitals. LOVE THEM, of course! But oh my goodness... I am glad I made it! haha!

Not only are there 10-15 little ones in a class, but some had lots of props to work around. Last year (oh how I WISH I could forget) I forgot to give one of the classes their "lollipops" to dance with! MORTIFIED as the music stops, curtains close, and I run out to get them to the girls... Take two.

I am proud to say that this year, it ran SMOOOOOOTH! I did everything I was supposed to, got them all lined up and in their spots in record time, got all the props on and off with lots of help. But boy, am I glad it's over... haha!

The only glitches were where one of my dancers decided to walk in front of the curtain as it was closing. Good times, running out to grab her. Then another little girl's shoe flew off during her tap number. Those are the things the audience loves to remember though. :)

In other news, today i was given this lovely award by Miss A from Your Key to My Heart. She is so great and you should really check out her blog!!

There are a few things you must do to accept this award:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award and link back to them

2. Tell us something about yourself

3. Nominate 10 other bloggers

4. Contact these other bloggers and let them know they've received this award

Some things about me:

- I have dreams like you wouldn't believe! They're full on stories that are intense and incredibly detailed (and I remember every detail)

- I laugh A LOT and it doesn't take a lot to make me laugh

- I am left handed

- I have really big teeth for being such a small person

- I am still guzzeling OJ... someone stop me!
- I love road trips! A LOT!
- Fall is my favorite season
- I will never go sky diving... or scuba diving... maybe it's just diving in general

10 Well Deserving Bloggers:

A Charmed Life (and real life sister!)

Adventures of Natasha Louise

Keep Calm Carry On

Legen- wait for it- Dary

Little Mrs. Me (and real life bestie!!)

Miss Ashley

Oh So Rosie
Outside Voice

Stephanie and Such

Sunny Days and Starry Nights

It was not easy picking just ten... I know some of you have already received this award as well. :)

Have a great weekend! What's left of it. haha!

Tiny Dancers... WMML Post #5!

Have you seen this video?? Isn't it hilarious? I am so lucky because I get to be surrounded by things like this every week! Seriously, the little ones I teach NEVER fail to make me laugh at least once per class.

Examples: One day after class, a little girl decided she wanted to give me a hug. She'd already put her shoes on, but they were those slipper-like boots. So she starts to run to me with open arms and slips, tries to stand and slips again, and again and again. I finally got up and went to her. It was so funny!

I LOVE it when they know the words to all the songs we play and sing it loud and proud! All while admiring themselves in the mirror of course.

I love my job and am incredibly lucky. :)

Dance... Inspiration Post #25!

Today I am inspired by dance. I have danced since I was three and it's always been a huge part of my life. I am now teaching, and I love it! I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't danced.

I know there was a request to post a video of me dancing. Well, I'm still working on that one. For now, here are some VERY low quality pictures of the ballet I attended tonight. It was Peter Pan by the Utah Regional Ballet. My good friend Rachelle starred as Wendy, and a previous student of mine danced in the Lagoon scene. It was so much fun to see them do so well! It was a really fun show.

Here are the Darling children with Peter Pan about to head off to Never Land.

See? Terrible quality. Sorry. No flash photography.

This one is a LITTLE better. This was the scene where the Lost Boys meet Wendy. It was so cute. The scenery and costuming was excellent!

Moving on.

I was tagged in a fun little game by Pia called the "handwriting game". So here you go...

1. Write your name/ name of your blog- Gentri

2. What is the URL of your blog?- http://gentrilee.blogspot.com/

3. Write "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"

4. Write your favorite quote- "You may not see what He is shaping you to be"

5. What is your favorite song?- "No way I could ever pick a favorite"

6. What is your favorite music right now?- "Anything HAPPY!"

7. What do you think about your handwriting?- "It's sloppy. It's also half cursive and half print."

8. Tag 3 other people (I tagged 5)

Sarah, L. Caroline, Hayley, Chablis, and McKenna

(if you've already been tagged, sorry. You're it again. haha! jk)

Anyone out there know how to analyze someone's handwriting? Since I write in half cursive half print... does that mean I'm undecisive? I could see that. haha!

Side Note: I heard recently that those who are kids right now will not learn or know about cursive handwriting... I think that's awful. I prefer writing in cursive. I can't write in just print. If I do it's all caps...

Happy Weekend!!!!!

Summer Concert

Last night was the summer concert for a studio I teach at. I just had to show you these pictures because their costumes were all amazing! Wonderland was our theme and the dance was to the song Tea Party by Kerli.

I made these girls all get their own costume. I helped, a little. But they did a great job on their own! My friend (Michelle Cluff) made the ears for the White Rabbit, March Hare and Door mouse! She's basically amazing.

In this picture we've got (from left to right) Stayne (the gaurd in the new live action Alice in Wonderland), Tweedle Dee, Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dum, the Caterpillar, Alice, the March Hare, White Rabbit, White Queen and of course the Queen of Hearts. This is our Mini Company. They were the Cards and they got to dance with the toadstools from Gracie's bday party.
Here's our Junior Company. They were the Rose Garden. Again, Michelle made their headbands but also their tutu dresses!

Here's Senior Company. There's a better look at our door mouse's ears.
And PDC

Here they are all together. :)

I would show you the video... Buuuuut my blog and/or my computer really doesn't like uploading videos anymore. So just use your imagination!

Zero To Hero!

Here we have one of my dance classes summer performance! :D I was super excited about this dance because, as you would have guessed, it's to a disney song! haha! They did a great job, expecially for still being so young. And while it still had it's glitches (gotta love summer for that), I still can't help but watch it over and over.

I promised one of them I'd post it on here so she could see it. So, here you go! Enjoy!