concerts, spontenaity, and long weekends

This past week my wonderful students had their performance of "Peter Pan" (two nights and four shows... we survived!). It was really fun and I feel so proud of them! I am so lucky to be a teacher and to see my students succeed. It is so fulfilling. There were some crazy moments with fast costume changes for some of my dancers, but in the end the concert turned out great, and my classes specifically got compliments. It was great to hear from the director and some of the more advanced students that they were impressed with my classes and the things they have accomplished. I am so blessed to be teaching such a great group of girls and I am so proud of them! It was also fun to teach the warm up class before the Thursday night shows. All my life I wanted to be a part of the dance world. Even though the dancing part is mostly over (though I miss it dearly) I am glad to still be a part of it. I am just on the other side now. I get to be part of the director side of things doing the teaching and choreographing and planning, and it is a new joy that I am finding. Now it's time to start lesson/concert planning for the next few months ahead!

Jr Company Ballet students. They were flowers.

Mini company ballet students. They were also flowers (their costumes were the pink tutus hanging up in the background).

Also, this past weekend was a 3-day weekend because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Yay! It has been so nice to spend some time home with Chandler relaxing. We have been able to use our new Wii to watch Netflix and do Just Dance! (Only I may never beat Chandler at Just Dance - he is so good!) On Sunday, I decided to surprise Chandler with a fun dinner date. I got everything ready while he was at a church meeting. My ideas kept progressing and this is eventually what I came up with for a romantic Sunday dinner:

Crackling "fireplace", mood lighting, fresh flowers, candles (not lit since I couldn't find matches), and a table set for two. We had salmon, homemade mashed potatoes, broccoli, and some stir fried veggies (mushrooms, peppers, and onions). There was also smooth jazz music playing quietly in the background.

And Chandler was our waiter! ;) pretty good use for a cardboard cutout if I do say so myself.

 Chandler came home from his meeting and was laughing in amazement for a few minutes straight. I love our spontaneous dates!