Weekly Wishes 8.12

Before I move on to my wishes from last week and the ones for this week, I just want to say... surprise!!!! I gave my blog an entire makeover! This little piece of the web is no longer called Of Thoughts and Things! (I figure everyone is allowed one major change like this in their blogging career, right?)

I even have my own web domain and everything! But there were some issues with that (my campus wireless network thought the website was malware. Campus IT and I are figuring that out right now.) but I should have my new URL up and running in next to no time! There are still some things I'm fixing and updating, so don't point your finger and laugh if something is not working or looks funky. I'm working on it, I promise! It was a lot of change to make all at once. *****Brownie points for you if you know which movie my blog title is referencing!!!*****

Okay!

Let's move on to the main post, shall we?

If you remember from last week, my wish was to get to the final round of at least one of my ballroom competitions. And guess what? I made it to the final round for all 3 events I competed in! Talk about meeting your goals!

My Ballroom/Latin partner and I placed 3rd in the waltz and rumba competitions. Considering that the couples who placed 1st and 2nd for waltz are on the BYU summer ballroom team and we are not, I'd say we did pretty good! And considering that my partner is not a Latin dancer whatsoever, we did pretty well for rumba too! (Pay no attention to the ugly background behind the dancers! We were in the backstage area and it was dark outside, waddaya want from me?!)

We weren't allowed to wear fancy outfits for this competition, so we made sure that we at least matched (hooray for electric blue!) and that I was wearing the flowiest (yes, that's a word!) skirt I owned.

My other partner and I came in 5th for the West Coast Swing competition. And this, I admit, surprised me because he just learned the steps the day before the competition. He just catches on to things really quickly, I suppose. We beat out people who have been practicing for the past month or two.

And, to report on my sub-goal of doing well on my Medals Exams... I got high honors on both Latin and Standard Ballroom! If any of you out there do ballroom dance, you'll understand. This is a big deal! I would have been pleased with just plain ol' honors, but... high honors?! Win! I've got big plans for ballroom dancing. Big big plans.

And now for my wishes for this week:

Mainly, I want to get my apartment entirely cleaned. We'll be going on a trip to California to see my family, and I want things to be in proper order so that I don't flip out over any messes when we come back home. Since the summer term is ending this week, I'll actually have time to clean things! Hooray!

So yes, that means I have to tackle our messy walk-in storage closet. Oh joy. Time to put on my game face!

Happy Monday, everyone. Get out there and make your wishes happen! And don't forget to link up!

To dance... to express... to live.

Every time I go to a dance concert, I remember.
I remember how beautiful the human body looks when it twists, turns, leaps, and reaches. I remember how it touches my soul. And I remember how badly I wish I could dance like those people.

I dance 18 hours a week, but that's so small compared to the years that people spend on their technique, form, flexibility, and expression. And it shows. Every movement has meaning - a meaning that touches me and moves me. I went to a ballroom concert last night, and they performed a waltz number dedicated to men who are in service; I was in tears. They did a Disney medley and I felt like a little girl again. The flowing dresses, the graceful lifts and twirls - it is all so beautiful.

A picture from the BYU Ballroom Company's European Pre-Tour Showcase that I saw last night (source)

Expression. Emotion. That is what I love about lyrical dances and contemporary numbers. I went to a Contemporary Dance Theatre concert a couple months ago, and they showed this animated video part-way through the concert. I've always really liked this video, and it's a great example of the passion and emotion that goes into dancing.

Human movement is a beautiful thing. I'm obsessed with it.

The good thing about going to dance concerts = they inspire me to keep trying and to work harder. Someday, I'll feel ready to truly call myself a dancer.

On a different note... for those of you who might not come here often enough to notice... I have a new blog design! I got on a random "re-design" kick yesterday, and I even (finally) made a facebook page for my blog and changed my twitter handle so it's less random and actually relates to this blog!

I finally feel excited about blogging again!

New blog interface! Finally!

Alright folks, I finally gave my blog the "modernization" that it needed. Like it???
A new layout, new header...

AND I made a blog button! Hooray!

For all you bloggers out there... don't be shy. Go ahead an snag it :)

I know many girls have "sponsors" and only put buttons on their blogs if you pay money... but I'm not doing sponsors (yet) so I'm basically doing free advertisements of some of my favorite blogs along my side column. To those girls lucky enough to make it up there... you're welcome. Maybe once I gain more followers, sponsors will be an option for me.

<a href="http://www.ashley-kristine.blogspot.com"><img border="0"  src="<a href="http://s1090.photobucket.com/albums/i369/apease23/?action=view&current=MyBlogButton.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i369/apease23/MyBlogButton.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>" /></a>

Also, I FINALLY realized that I had no links that allowed people to easily follow my blog... so the "follow" section is in the right column now!
I know that a lot more people read my blog than actually follow it (there's no other way I'd get that many page views in one day [and some of you follow it anonymously]) so don't be shy... go ahead an follow my blog!

There are a few other updates that I am working on, but I've done quite enough for one morning. I've got plenty of things to take care of today!