Hill House Reunion!

So, as Kath mentioned on her blog...we couldn't have asked for a better time together! The five of us girls who lived together originally in Hill House in college, all met up in Nashville to celebrate Carolyn's birthday and to reunite after a few years of not living together. Its amazing how so much has happened in each of lives since then, but like Kath said, we were able to pick up right where we left off. Laughing together, simply talking as girls on the couches, praying for each other as a "family," and crying together was deeply refreshing for my soul. I truly miss having those times more frequently. Here's a few pics from our trip!

Birthday Season!

Hey guys...just wanted to share with you some pics from our birthday dinners we had recently. Jud & I got to go out to CPK for my birthday which was a treat after these months of lean times. Honestly, that was a great mojito. Then, thanks to Kath's suggestion, we got a free Cold Stone because it was my birthday. You should all do that on your birthday! Just go online and print out the coupon. We also got to hang out at the cabin with my parents. They took us out to dinner to an amazing steakhouse for dinner. Thanks again mom and dad!







For Jud's we went to the famous Gus' BBQ Restaurant here in Pasadena. We had never been there, but driven by it many of times. Sunset magazine actually listed it in the Top 10 Best BBQ on the west coast! And wow.....honestly, it was the best food I have EVER, I mean EVER, had! I'm kind of bummed for what ever other food we have now, the next time we go out, because the bar has now been raised. =)

Balboa Park & Family

This last weekend I performed with the company at Balboa Park at the Casa Del Prado Theatre. The performances went great and it was fun having Karin, Caitlin, and Kellie there to watch. They had yet to see Benita Bike DanceArt Company perform. We stayed down in San Diego for the weekend to spend time with the fam and celebrate Caitlin's 27th birthday! Last night we drove back and went to our friend's Teya and Jesse's house in Van Nuys for a birthday dinner. It was also Teya's 27th birthday...she dances in Benita's company and they're a lot of fun to hang out with. She cooked amazing lasagna and a chocolate torte for dessert.









We took a visit to the Yogurt Mill in San Diego...honestly better than Golden Spoon if you can imagine! P.S. This is just the 'child' size...can you believe it?!


Tiff & I at Teya's birthday dinner last night...good food and good friends!

In Love with Hip-Hop...

In Maine, I fell in love with a new style of dance...hip-hop. I registered for this class with the original intent of learning some new moves to bring back to my hip-hop loving students. But unexpectedly I fell in love with the style myself. I hadn't taken an actual hip-hop class in probably 10 years. Jennifer Archibald is a new emerging, very talented, dancer and choreographer in New York. She is who taught this class. This is a clip of her and one of her company members dancing some of her repertory she taught us. Her style is unique as you can see...she fuses hip-hop intricacies with contemporary modern movements. She does have her own company called Arch Dance Company. You can check them out at: www.jenniferarchibald.com

Bates You Tube

Hey guys, you can check out this you tube video to hear what the festival was all about that I just got home from. Its a great 8-minute documentary and there's even a quick glimpse of me doing hip-hop in the first minute or so. The video does a great job explaining what Bates is all about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtO4AaM1we0&feature=PlayList&p=2CB50EC1FF160E57&index=0&playnext=1

Meet Bates!

Okay, so the day after I returned home, Jud and I took a walk and found this new little friend. She warmed up to us quickly, but we decided to leave her on the brick retaining wall to see if she was still there when we came by again on our way back. And sure enough...she was! We're still not sure if she belongs to anyone, so we're keeping our eye out for signs. But, if no one claims her, for the mean time, we are holding onto her. Surprisingly, her and Olly are getting along. They were both playing with their rafia this morning. So, appropriately, we have named this new little cat, Bates! She looks a little mean, but she is a sweetie...

Last of Bates!

Well, I'm home from Maine and recovering from the fun-filled, physically, and mentally exhausting festival. It was such a thrill to go with Heather and become closer as friends throughout the 3 weeks. This is us the festival finale show on Saturday. Below, are some pictures of me performing in a dance piece Kesha created while we were there as well as some pictures of just us having fun.



Here are most of us Teacher Fellows that received scholarships to be there from all over the country. From left to right, there's Sinnamon, Heather, me, Kevin, Kesha, Kim, Amy, Jesmin, and Chi.


Here's all of us in the hip-hop class. Jennifer Archibald is an emerging artist and choreographer from New York and she taught the class. I have now a new found love for hip-hop fused with modern dance. If I ever get a chance to visit New York again, I will definitely be taking her class!


Here are the girls at our usual spot in the dining hall where we spent every amazing meal. Did I mention that Bates College has the title of "Best Dining Hall Food in the Country"?! The food was fresh and amazingly delicious! It is weird coming back home after not cooking for 3 weeks.


This is us girls at the last dance party of the festival. DJ Niles played music for us and we grooved to favorites of the 90's! Doesn't that make us feel old...=)


This is us in our modern class with Michael Foley. I'm there in the back with cut off gray sweats.


Same thing in this pic of us in hip-hop class...


Kesha created a piece for the Young Choreograher Show on Saturday. The faculty adjudicated the concert, meaning they gave about 10 minutes of feedback to Kesha on her choreography. This is me, Vicki, and Kesha performing there.


Her piece was about body image. It was a great experience and really fun to perform.






I am so thankful for the opportunity to go to this festival. It is great to be home though...it was hard being away from Jud for that long. I'm looking into a teacher's festival for next summer that's only one week long. =) I met some unforgettable dancers and choreographers including BB Miller and Robert Battle. It was an amazing networking experience for tools as a teacher and for future performing opportunities. Praise God for it all! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Atlantic vs. Pacific

Yesterday I got to see the Atlantic ocean for the first time! Now, it doesn't look much different from the Pacific, but the water is much colder and really foamy when it reaches shore...kinda strange. =) The beach, in my opinion though, is more beautiful than the west coast ones because of the greenery. The festival had an organized beach day that took us to Reid State Park about an hour away from where we are in Lewiston. There were trees, grass, rocks and picnic benches just before you walked on the sand. They had a snack bar with lobster rolls and french fries with cinnamon and sugar on them. It was amazing weather for the beach...we all layed out and attempted to go in the water but only made it in ankle deep.

Getting in Contact

The festival has been quite the experience thus far! Physically and mentally exhausting in a good way. Every night there's something going on. The first pic is of us girls at the dance party from last Friday night where our live musicians from dance class played live. It was pretty incredible having their talents accompanying our groovin'. The other pic is from a 'Contact Jam' that took place a couple nights ago. A Contact Jam is when a bunch of dancers get together to simply improvising by making contact with their bodies creating new moves. We didn't actually participate but we hung out and I played with my camera trying to catch cool moments. Needless to say, I can't believe my time here is already half way over, and I will definitely have some processing to do when I get home.

Dancing in Maine!

So, here we are in Maine at the Bates Dance Festival. We are having such a blast! We've been here for six days now but feels like weeks. We take four classes a day, two technique and two academic. One of my classes is a "Teacher Toolkit" class which is so helpful exchanging teaching principles and practices with other high school dance educators just like me.


These are just a few of the girls we've met and gotten close to. [Heather, Amy (from Texas), me, Keisha (from New Orleans), and Sinnamon (from Long Beach)]


The festival is on the beautiful campus of Bates College. This is the adorable New England home we get to stay in these 3 weeks. It is just across the street from where we're dancing. It is so peaceful and relaxing.


It definitely is more humid out here than CA but not bad at all. The weather has actually been beautiful, with rain a couple days, but also blue skies and cool temperatures for the summer. The campus also has such beautiful brick buildings all throughout. Speaking of...


This building I passed by yesterday while walking to one of my classes. This is for you Dana! I couldn't believe it...how ironic! =) So, just know, that yes, Dana, there is a building named after you on a college campus in Maine of all places.

Looking Back...

Hey guys. I loved how Carolyn posted all that God has done when she looked back over her last year. So, I took her advice to do the same. No wonder God tells us all throughout Scripture, over and over again, to REMEMBER! Remembering His faithfulness, taking the time to reflect...I wonder how much it would increase our faith and our joy if we did that more often?! So, here's in a nutshell, Jud & I's last year:

1. Made the big move from Long Beach to Pasadena
2. Got our first "real" pet, Olly!
3. I experienced bike riding to work for 6 months
4. God provided an amazing doctrinally-sound church at Calvary Bible Church
5. I started dancing professionally again, auditioning and joining Benita Bike DanceArt Co.
6. With the company, I got to travel to and perform in Kentucky
7. God provided the money to visit Jud's family for a week in Wisconsin
8. My grandpa Tures went home with the Lord on January 1st
9. Jud was laid off from his job with Fastenal
10. We experienced 6 months of unemployment...lean times...but God was faithful to us! The blessing was that during that time, Jud got time outdoors, hiking almost daily in Eaton Canyon and also took classes becoming a certified docent (nature teacher) there.
11. We lost Olly for 6 weeks
12. Some times of pain & illness with Jud having two herniated discs, a torn meniscus, and me getting shingles.
13. The Tures family had a wonderful, much needed, family reunion and memorial for my grandpa, aunt Robin, and uncle Dennis.
14. I put on my first full production with my students, our Spring Dance Concert 2009!
15. We got Olly back!
16. God provided an amazing job for Jud at Felikian's Carpet One, stable, enjoyable, and close to home!
17. Jess completed her first year of BTSA (a 2-year teacher's program required before becoming tenured)
18. And now Jess is going to Maine for 3 weeks to dance on a dance educator scholarship!

As you can see, flipping through our year at a glance, it is amazing how much can happen in just 1 year. But, it is also so encouraging to see that there are always going to be challenging times and lean times, but after that comes blessing! All praise and glory be to God for it all! I hope you find encouragement when you look back and reflect as well.

"...always giving thanks for all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father..." Ephesians 5:20

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Weekend Away before Maine

This last weekend was Jud's weekend off and our last weekend together before I leave for Maine to attend this year's Bates Dance Festival. All praise to God, I received a full scholarship to attend this 3 week festival as a high school dance educator. I get to take dance classes all day every weekday I'm there! I'm really looking forward to it. Plus, I get to go with my friend Heather who received the same scholarship and was the one who told me to apply in the first place.

We are so blessed to have the cabin in our family and the freedom to get away up there when we need it or just long for peace and quiet. It was so peaceful up there, especially when the ski slopes across the street are empty, covered with grass instead of snow. The only things you hear are the chirping of the birds and the mountain bikers riding up and down the hill. We got to sleep in, make pancakes for breakfast, turn our minds off while channel surfing, watched the movie "Traitor" (which we highly recommend), walked a bit around the village, spent way too much for the delivery of a medium Domino's pizza, and got to bond as a married couple away from our life here in Pasadena.

Fireworks in Big Bear!

For 4th of July, we headed up to the cabin to see fireworks by the lake and mostly to see the family. It was so great to spend time with Jenni and her boyfriend Gabe. They are really fun to hang out with. We've been wanting to get to know them better as a couple and its amazing how much God can multiply an evening together. We not only ate dinner together, the four of us, but then watched fireworks with Jenni's friends and my parents at the park near Big Bear Lake. Then, back at the cabin, we stayed up late playing dominoes. Sunday morning we left early to not only get back for Jud to work but to take Jenni & Gabe to the airport. It worked out great though because we got the 3 hour car ride together and that was a lot of fun!

Back to the Sierras!

Last weekend before Jud started his job, we went camping in the Sierras with his family.

We went fishing in the creek next to our campsite. That was a first for me; I've only fished in lakes before.


Jud & I hiked half way around this lake to find the perfect little spot. We crossed a stream, snow, and lots of bushes. It was amazing, we could see the fish right below us in the clear water before we caught them.


We caught 5 fish total (Jud 3, Me 2) mostly rainbow trout, but also a couple brown trout


Here's Kellie, Caitlin, Riley (Jud's cousin) and Dennis (Riley's boyfriend) just outside the lake. Isn't the snow in the background beautiful!


We had beautiful weather the entire time except for the high winds during the night. It did drop down to 35 degrees the last night. I slept with 3 layers + my mittens and scarf all while sleeping in a severe weather sleeping bag. Let's just say they weren't the best nights of sleep but it sure was fun being in a tent again and hearing the roaring creek next to our campsite.


This is Karin & Bob's dog Mookie. She started to shiver from being cold, so we thought we'd help her out a little by giving her Kellie's hooded sweatshirt. Is that not the most hilarious thing?!

God Never Fails Us (even in the "lean" times)

So.....as many of you know, God has had Jud and I on this amazing journey for the past 6 months. We have been trusting God, waiting on God, praying earnestly for God to provide a job for Jud. At first, we saw it as a time for Jud to find the "perfect" job for himself. But, as time went on, we realized that we needed to leave this up to God solely and let Him choose for us. Our faith was strengthened when we saw God come through every time at the end of each month. We saw Him provide in ways we'll remember hopefully always. He never failed us!

Last week, Jud was called into a 2nd interview for a sales position at this business. And before we knew it...God had provided a job! (And in this economy, we were thankful for any job). But, God does not just settle for something, He chooses the best for our holiness and growth in becoming more Christ-like. There are so many amazing blessings about this job: it is not only a full-time permanent position, but it is owned by a wonderful family, the business has been rooted in Pasadena for over 30 years, it is only 3 miles from home (we feel so blessed to both now work in the same city we live in), and it provides the variety and people interaction that Jud was wired for by God. Jud's first day on the job was today and he loved it! There will be lots of intense training for the next 3 months learning all the details to the carpet and flooring the company sells, but Jud loves learning new things and is great with interacting with people. He has already clicked with Andre who's training him and they even made a few sales today already! I am so proud of Jud for persevering in these past 6 months, trusting in the Lord no matter what. We praise God for knowing what we need when we need it, for providing when we least expect it, and for giving us His best when we don't deserve it. We know this job was from the Lord. Please pray that we would continue to praise Him and thank Him, remembering His faithfulness toward us. May we live our lives and work at our jobs FOR HIM, and HIM ALONE. All glory be to God!

Family & Friends

With the busiest time of the school year done and 6 days officially until summer starts, Jud & I have had more time to see family and friends. Jenni came down from Berkeley after her finals and she got to go church with us, go to our favorite Pasadena hole-in-the-wall Mexican food restaurant, and then her and I laid out by the pool to talk about boys. That was really special. I don't ever get a few hours just to talk with my sis. I miss her a lot.


Last weekend we went over to Nick & Rachael's house for a BBQ and finally got to meet their new son, Caden, as well as Marc & Esther's new daughter, Avery. They were absolutely adorable. Abie & Aaron were also there and they was great fun getting to know them better as a married couple.

First Show a Success!

Well, our first Spring Dance Concert for Pasadena High School was a huge success! It was such a thrill to put on, but man, was it a lot of work! I am secretly relieved its over so I can spend time with my husband now without fighting the urge to work on something for the show. The details definitely consumed my mind for the past two months.

God definitely blessed it though! We had sold almost 500 tickets ahead of time which I was thrilled with. Our auditorium seats over 2,400...its pretty large. But to our surprise, more than half of it filled up the night of our show last Friday! We couldn't believe it. There was an energy in the audience that has not been seen in years apparently at the school. Now, with my stage manager going to the hospital and having to take over calling all the show's cues 5 days before the show, I was juggling quite a bit at once. I had help from parents and students, but this definitely couldn't have gone as well as it did without the Lord! He was present the whole way, even when I didn't acknowledge Him. I praise Him for the success of our show. The students were amazing! So many of them had never even performed on stage before. Although I made some mistakes that night with some cues and not making some acknowledgments that took me a few days to forgive myself, in the end, I was so proud of my students and the history we made that night for PHS! Praise God for it all! May He continue to bless the program that He so distinctly and unexpectedly called me to 3 years ago.