The Cheater Post

So ... I'm gonna post about my dance lessons ... all 3 of them. Now, I will admit ... this is kind of the cheater post. Not only 'cause I'm talking about 3 bucket list items in one post but also 'cause y'all may think the following stories about my swing dance lessons, country line dance lessons, and hip hop dance lessons are fakes ... or at least ... not good enough for counting 'em "checked off." But I'm allowing 'em. Ha! They may not be "formal" dance lessons at a dance studio ... but who says they have to be? ;)

Swing Dance Lessons Part 1: Just over a year ago, I took a ballroom dance class at IUPUI. It was my only elective in my 4 1/2 years of college. It was a ton of fun! Every Thursday night after class, the "Swing Cats" would come in and practice their swing dancing. About half-way through the semester, I finally braved it up and stayed after for some swing lessons. They taught me two basic swing moves that would help give me a foundation for the rest of swing dancing. (Now, I only went to probably 3 of these swing dancing nights ... I was only really intimidated! ... But that's beside the point.) I had swing dancing lessons.
Swing Dance Lessons Part 2: For that ballroom class, we had to go dancin' at a real dance studio ... on one of their open-dance nights. So I piled a group of girls from my class in my car, and we rode to the Starlite ... a ballroom/other dance studio. We danced with several guys. And one of those guys was an instructor at the studio. He pulled me on the dance floor for some swing and taught me a bit as we went. Fun, fun!
Swing Dance Lessons Part 3: As a part of my ... was it 21st birthday? Or was it the 22nd? I don't remember. I think it was my 21st. As a part of my 21st birthday celebrations, Jared Wade, Mags, Hannah, Tiffany, and I went to Fountain Square for a night of swing dancing. They have swing dancing there nearly every Friday throughout a good chunk, if not the entire, year. They have lessons before each dance party too! So we went for lessons and dancing. It was a ton of fun ... and I also learned a swing dance routine there.

Country Line Dance Lessons Part 1: For VBS at my church this summer, we did a Wild West theme. And for the kickoff last Sunday night, we did some country line dancing! Oh, it was so fun! The Sunday prior to the kickoff, a lady from my church taught us a couple of basic country line dance steps: the cotton-eyed joe and something she called the 16-step. Too much fun! And dancing at the kickoff was a blast ... there's a video of our cotton-eyed joe on my Facebook page. Check it out!
Country Line Dance Lessons Part 2: Yes, I am this cheesy! After Patty (the wonderful country line dance "teacher" from church) taught us some steps, I was hungry for more! So I headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a Country Line Dance workout video!!! It is a ton of fun! I've learned at least 10 more country line dance steps! Amazing!

Hip Hop Dance Lessons: Again, I am this cheesy! :D ... The day I bought my country line dance workout video, I also bought a hip hop dance workout video. They are both fun, but I absolutely love the hip hop! Sooo much fun! And what a workout! I'm learning to "shake it" and "pop it" and "roll it" ... ha! So I'm sure y'all will understand when I tell you I only dance by myself in our people-free basement! ;)

The Bucket Continues!

Well, I'm still addin' to the list ... but at least I'm beginning to knock 'em off my list. The stories for each item should be coming to you soon! :D

MICAL'S BUCKET LIST .... still continues!

#1 Hike through New Zealand!!!

#2 - Run a mini marathon.

#3 - Read through the Bible AT LEAST 3 times ... once in my NIV, once in an ESV, and once in my wide-margin NASB.

#4 - Learn to play bar chords on my guitar.

#5 - Take swing dancing lessons. (CHECK!)

#6 - Marry an oober godly guy!

#7 - Have at least 4 kids and homeschool them.

#8 - Take a 3-day solitude trip! (CHECK!)

#9 - Visit my sponsored child in Bolivia.

#10 - Read all of Mere Christianity.

#11 - Take a BBF trip to the Bosom Buddies Cottages in Canada with Emily!!!

#12 - Be a waitress.

#13 - Visit all 50 states!

#14 - Go to a Gaither Vocal Band concert. (CHECK!)

#15 - Learn to Country Line Dance (CHECK!)

#16 - Learn Hip Hop! (CHECK!)

#17 - Go Hot Air-Ballooning

#18 - Ride a water motorcycle

#19 - Take some Bible classes

#20 - Read Psalm 25 in front of the Appalachian Mountains

#21 - Get a piece of my writing published in some way, shape, or form

You can't beat a night of INCREDIBLE harmonies!!!

What a night!!!!

The Martins, The Isaacs, The Booth Brothers .... The GAITHER VOCAL BAND!!! Wow!!!!!!!!! The talent in this building last night was crazy!!!! The night was full of fun glimpses of grace too ... not just INCREDIBLE harmonies ... but lots of little things that made me smile all night long.

First - I met Charlie and Rosie from Greenwood while we waited in line to get in the door. Such a sweet couple! Rosie went on and on about how I looked like and reminded her of her oldest granddaughter, Karen. My hair isn't as red as hers ... I found out. :) I hung out with them for a few minutes while we browsed the booths before the concert ... and then they headed to their FLOOR seats ... yes, I told them I was jealous - I was in the nosebleed section! ;) We waved to each other and agreed that we'd see each other again - in eternity. :) Praise God for meetings such as this ...

Second - There was a jazzy-kind-of-band outside the arena, playing while people browsed booths and got their tickets checked in. They were pretty cool! I leaned against a brick pillow and listened for a bit. A piano, a trumpet, a clarinet, a trombone, a bass player, and a drummer. Such great music!

Third - They gave us key chain flashlights that said "Gaither Homecoming 2010" on 'em when we checked in. A woman walked up the stairs and laughed loudly as someone tried to hand her a key chain ... she said, "I think I've still got mine from last year" and laughed really loud. She had a huge smile on her face ... and for whatever reason, it made me smile really big too. Smiles are contagious, aren't they?? :) She was just a hoot!

Fourth - I met a woman named Bonnie once I got seated. She sat two seats down from me, and we got to talking. It's amazing what you learn about a person in just a 10-minute conversation. Bonnie is quite the spunky lady. She is 65 years old .... got hooked on Souther Gospel in the early 80s ... has been to about 6 Gaither Vocal Band concerts .... has been divorced twice .... is a Seventh Day Adventist .... and she was at the concert alone just like me. Not everything we talked about was happy conversation, but it was a blessing to talk with her just the same.

Fifth - I saw Paul and Lisa Barry while I was there. They are a couple who used to go to Calvary. It was such a surprise to see someone I knew at the concert! We stopped and chatted for a minute ... what fun!

Sixth and Lastly - Like I said in the beginning, the harmonies were flippin' incredible!!!! You can't beat 5-part male harmony ... you just can't! And you can't beat David Phelps and Wes Hampton!!!!! They are the two most incredible singers I've ever heard!!!! I wanted to box them up, bring them home with me, and have them sit in my room and sing to me all day long ... everyday!!!! Absolutely amazing singers!!!!! And the tight, gorgeous harmonies brought tears to my eyes at least half a dozen times!!!!!

So the entire night was awesome!!! :) I'll have to put a second Gaither Vocal Band concert on my Bucket List!!!! ;)

The Killer Raccoon

It was the third week of March ... 2009.

I went to Turkey Run for a two-night, three-day camping trip ... By. Myself. Whoa! Are you kidding me? That is stinkin' brave! I remember feeling so COOL when I planned the trip ... and even COOLER as I packed up my car and headed to my destination ... and the COOLEST when I actually stayed for the two nights and three days. Wow! What a crazy woman!

First of all, it was March. Umm ... 30 degrees. Outside. In a tent. Umm ... yeah. I'm crazy.

Second of all, it's outside ... at night. Eight words: Snarling raccoon in the woods near the outhouse. Yeah. No joke! I had to get up and pee in the middle of the night 'cause that's what you always have to do when it's flippin' cold and flippin' dark and you're flippin' sleeping all alone in a tent in a nearly-deserted campground. Ha! Yeah ... I'm not only crazy, I'm stupid. Tell me about it later, okay? ;) So ... I nearly cried thinking about walking across an empty campground AT NIGHT ... when anything could jump out and get me! But ... I pressed on ... I really had to pee, ya know? I crawled out from under the covers ... grabbed my flashlight, which was dying. Yep! On top of a dark, cold, long walk to the outhouse, my flashlight was barely working. Haha! So I braved it up. I grabbed my cursed flashlight, slipped on a pair of shoes, and started the long, scary, dark, noise around every corner trek to the outhouse. My heart was pounding a bit, but I was doing okay. After all, there was a lone light above the outhouse across the way ... no animals or people in sight, so nothing was out to get me, right? Umm ... yeah. So I'm 20 feet from the outhouse when I hear this loud snarl in the woods!!!! I don't think I had to go to the bathroom anymore ... but I just wanted to duck and cover! I froze in my place. Scared out of my mind that a killer raccoon was about to jump out of the woods and eat me alive! Because ... yes ... raccoons can do that. I waited a second ... I shot up a quick prayer ... and I bolted for the outhouse door!

Yeah ... it's a miracle I made it out of that camping trip alive! No joke, right? Wow. I am a crazy woman!

All in all, the trip was really good for me. I had some time to reflect on some things that had been distracting me. I journaled a lot ... and prayed. I got my "I need my space" fix ... that's for sure! Before the first day was over, I wanted to be around people again! I got lots of hiking in, and I love to hike! I even went up against a killer raccoon!!! What more could a girl seeking solitude ask for? :)

Mical's Bucket List ... the Adventure Begins :)

So ... I'm starting a new blog! Wahoo! Over the past year, I've thought a lot about my life, who I am, my dreams and aspirations, and on and on. I watched the movie, "The Bucket List," with a couple of "big" actors - ha! They can't be THAT big (at least not to me) 'cause I can't even remember who was in the silly movie. ... It's been several months since I watched the show. I remember it wasn't all that impressive in and of itself ... but the idea behind it was pretty daggone sweet! :)

A bucket list - a list of "things" a person wants to do before he/she dies.

The movie got me thinking about what I want to do before I kick the bucket. I've worked on this list on and off over the past several months. And here's the latest version ....

MICAL'S BUCKET LIST (not necessarily in this order)

#1 Hike through New Zealand!!!

#2 - Run a mini marathon.

#3 - Read through the Bible AT LEAST 3 times ... once in my NIV, once in an ESV, and once in my wide-margin NASB.

#4 - Learn to play bar chords on my guitar.

#5 - Take swing dancing lessons.

#6 - Marry an oober godly guy!

#7 - Have at least 4 kids and homeschool them.

#8 - Take a 3-day solitude trip!

#9 - Visit my sponsored child in Bolivia.

#10 - Read all of Mere Christianity.

#11 - Take a BBF trip to the Bosom Buddies Cottages in Canada with Emily!!!

#12 - Be a waitress.

#13 - Visit all 50 states!

#14 - Go to a Gaither Vocal Band concert.

So ... this blog is for this list. I will set out to achieve these items on my list ... before I die. And since I plan to live to be about 101, I've got a lot of years to get these done! :D Come with me on an adventure called life! It's gonna be good!