Oh my!

I have seen a doctor and am optimistic about the new medicine she put me on (no major headache for almost two and a half days now!) so hopefully I will be able to resume life as it was before the migraine haze made it difficult to sit in front of the computer for long.
I really really miss blogging! There are so many stories that have slipped away forever because I didn't write them down. It makes me really sad to think about it, actually.
I do remember:

• Danielle's (Happy birthday Danielle!) birthday party last night at the Spaghetti Warehouse downtown. The Spaghetti Warehouse is like the Texas version of Spaghetti Factory (one of my 3 favorite restaurants, along with Red Robin and Tomato Street). The food was delicious, but (sorry, Texas) it's a little less classy than Spaghetti Factory. There were plastic checkered tablecloths, and several items on the menu included something called "beer chili." "Spaghetti with Beer Chili?" Really, Texas? I may have smuggled a small loaf of sourdough bread home in my purse. In my defense, once it's on the table they have to throw it away, and that bread was too good to get thrown away.
• Last time I made cookies I made so many batches at once that I broke my little electric mixer. I think that counts as my official initiation into the world of bakers, since my mom bakes a lot of cookies and seems to break a mixer every year :) Too bad I forgot that the mixer was broken today until I had already put the ingredients all together in a bowl. There was no turning back, so I forged on and made a batch of chocolate chip cookies by hand. I do not recommend it, though my right arm is feeling very buff right now. Also, I have a cookie jar! Someone at church was giving away some big glass jars, the kind that balance on their sides at an angle, and Travis brought them home for me! The biggest one looks very nice full of cookies.
• My new (to me) music discovery of the month is Owl City. I'm in love! My favorite song is "Fireflies." I also recommend going to Pandora.com and making a radio station of music similar to "Owl City." It's my favorite pandora station ever!
  
• We are going to a Mariners game! I have seen the Mariners play at least once every season for as long as I can remember. And I was so worried that I would miss them this year. But then . . . Travis got us tickets to see them play the Rangers in Arlington (three hours north, between Dallas and Fort Worth) next Sunday! Obviously Travis is more excited about the Rangers, but I am still resolved to call it the Mariners game. I-CHI-RO!
  
• Another reason that I haven't been blogging much is that I have renewed my commitment to making friends here in Austin. Travis has a way of seeing things that I don't let myself see, and he let me know (very gently) that I was in danger of becoming the kind of person that turns down invitations so often, they no longer get invited. I knew immediately that he was right. I sometimes talk about needing female friends here so that I won't drive Travis crazy telling him everything about everything, but I get so busy with headaches and dancing and work and church that I hadn't really allowed myself to get to know anyone well (other than my co-workers). And Travis (again, gently) pointed out to me that there have been many opportunities and invitations. So these past few weeks I have spent time going to movies, lunch, and coffee with friends, and it has been a breath of fresh air. On my coffee date with Tiffany at Mozarts, we even got to see turtles! This little family was swimming in the water right by the deck where we were sitting! The baby was probably 8 inches or so, just about the size of my old friend Dmitri (my college roommate Bethany's tortoise ). We saw many more turtles, but Dmitri Remix and his mom were my favorites.
  
• A few days after our coffee date, we had Tiffany and her husband Andrew (Travis' friend and co-worker at the church- Tiffany and Andrew both volunteer with the youth at Covenant too) over for dinner. Tiffany and Andrew each brought over a dessert- amazing ice cream sandwiches made with chocolate chip cookies, and homebacked blueberry pie. So. Good. And we played Boggle- Travis and I had never played before. I am addicted. I had a ridiculous streak of beginner's luck, though, so we'll see it any of them ever let me play again!
  
• Next week I will begin two weeks of teaching the dance intensive at Austin Dance Company. I can't wait to get back in the studio and see my students again (especially since I get to teach with Adele, my friend from Borealis!), though I am feeling very aware that this means my summer-of-just-one-job is almost over. The dance intensive will be every weekday from 1-4 for two weeks, and on the Saturday in between Adele and I will teach the choreography intensive, which means we will teach the dance team their competition dances for the year. I am really excited to be choreographing for competition-- it's an honor-- but also nervous. My experience with competitions has been mixed. I've seen some of the coolest, most creative dances of my life at competitions and in videos of competition pieces (including my mom's favorite dance, the lizard tap dance we saw when I was 17. This girl was wearing a full body lizard suit, including tail. That takes commitment). But competitions have a terrible rep in the "serious" dance community for being all about glitz and tricks, and taking the artistry and history out of dance. It's certainly true that you'll find very few studios with a competition team that focus heavily on classical ballet. My hope is to create dances (lyrical jazz for 6-year-olds, afro-brazilian jazz for 12-year-olds, and another as-yet-unspecified piece) that are creative and compelling without losing focus on good technique and sincerity.
  
• Our Borealis shows last week went really well- we were able to fundraise several hundred dollars, and also make more connections in the dance community. My least favorite part of the day was the migraine that made balance and concentration difficult (I am so thankful for my medicine, though- can you imagine me trying to dance with a migraine in high school, mom?). My favorite part of the day made up for it, though; our whole Austin family came to see me dance! This was the first show I've invited them to, since it was just our company performing, and the studio where we had the show was only a few minutes from their house. They were really supportive and encouraging, and I was very excited to be able to share this big part of my life with them.
• We are really enjoying getting to know the new youth director, William, and his family. They are from Orange County, and seem to miss the freedom of summer on the West Coast (breezes and bearable temperatures) as much as I do. Here are Joe and William in front of the beautiful display board Travis made. When I asked them to pretend they were talking about youth ministry, the first few pictures showed Joe pretending to throttle a teenager, then both of them laughing hysterically. After they composed themselves, we got this (very posed) shot.

Don't all of Travis' flyers look great?!