Just Dance- National Dance Day- Saturday July 25

One of my most favorite shows on television is So You Think You Can Dance.  I am glued to the TV watching these young people blow me away by their dancing routines.  I DVR the show so that i can rewind and watch over and over.  I started dancing when i was 3.  My mom had me in dance classes learning tap and ballet until i was around 10.
 Dancing came naturally to me because i was surrounded by music.  They go hand in hand in my opinion.  Daddy was a musician in a rock band playing guitar and piano. Mom played her albums nonstop.  Do you remember the record machines where you could stack your albums up to 5 i think and they would play in that order?  Yep we had one of those.  I remember owning several of the childrens carry record players that were in a box and would close up and buckle like a suitcase.  Totally got off track just then- anyway- music was a constant for me.  Then soon after dancing became a constant for me.  I loved dance and having my dance recitals. I learned early on about listening to instructors and team work with my fellow class mates.  I left dancing for a while when i was 10 and got into gymnastics for a few years.  Truth is that was still every bit dancing.  My favorite was the tumbling and the floor routines so i was still dancing to music. The gymnastics years improved dancing by leaps and bounds.  When i was 12, i was a cheerleader at my junior high. It was mostly all dancing and we didnt do any of the crazy stunts and flips that a real cheerleading team does today.  I joined the drill team in high school and danced all 4 years then joined the college drillteam and did that my freshman and sophomore years in college.  When i transferred to a large university, i enrolled in dance classes there.  I took a few semesters but by then i was working much more and my focus was on affording school and making grades in my "real classes".
Eventually life just happened and i gave up dancing as an active hobby.  I never thought i wouldnt be a dancer in some ways. I wanted to be a Rockette but i was too short.  Dancing was my life for so long growing up!!  I dont even take a Zumba class which i totally should.
I dance around the house when i'm home. I dance in the car when a good song comes on. I love going dancing at bars with live music. I love country dancing too at the country bars. I dance at church during worship time.  I guess i will always have Dance in me.
 This Saturday is National Dance Day!  The producer of SYTYCD show and a few of the dancers are going to be in Washington, NYC, LA and a few other places to have a big dance off. There are a few routines we can watch and learn or you can do your own thing.  I will most likely not record myself dancing and upload it to the website like they're asking for all of us to do. I will dance though!  One of my favorite things about the show Ellen is that she always dances.
Do you like to dance? What is your favorite style of dancing?  Do you watch SYTYCD?
Have a great weekend y'all!!!!

Music in my veins

I found these on Pinterest. I take no credit for creating any of them. I just really like them and wanted to share.










Enjoy some music today my friends!!

Sia with Elastic Heart.

Edgar Allan Poe to Rock n Roll

Good morning and Happy Wednesday Yall!!!   I am already feeling so much better after 2 days of meds. Now i just have the yucky cough but i have pills for that too.  yay!
So when i was a kid (1976- i was 8), my mom had an album of Alan Parsons Project and the name of the album was Project Tales of Mystery and Imagination Edgar Allan Poe.  The album was so cool because it was like a book and it had pictures with the lyrics.   Truth is by hearing EAP's poems put to music, i became a young fan of Poe and remain a huge fan of his work today.
Some of the songs were instrumental and were long songs like 16 bminutes long on the B side of the album.  One of the songs made it to radio and got lots of air time.
that song was (The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether 
Here it is

My favorite is The Raven .  I love the tempo being slow and then fast and then slow.  How cool is it to sing the chorus Nevermore Nevermore Nevermore Never!!
Here it is :

 I will share with yall a few more songs later but i gotta run for now.   Are any of you familiar with this album and the songs? What did you think about them? I was a weird kid what can i say! My parents were hippies.

A week from today i will be heading to South Dakota and into cooler weather. Yippee!  Have a great day my friends.

BOTB results , my dads new life anniversary and I feel like poo

I have to say that what makes both of the Battle of the Bands that I've participated in so enjoyable is how close they are in votes.  

Last weeks battle champion only won by one single vote. I didn't vote in this battle either because I really like both versions equally.  Five Finger Death Punch won 10 to 9.   I am new to this Bloghop for lack of better words The Battle of the Bands.  I will most likely, positively without a doubt , duplicate a battle hosted by someone else.  You are more than welcome to vote again on mine or choose not to. I really want to thank you for the sweet words of encouragement from those who asked me to stay with the battles.  

Moving on,  yesterday was the 2year anniversary of my dads double lung transplant. Last year we had a HUGE  party for him but this year we didn't do anything because he and my stepmom just returned from a 10 day trip to Colorado and back in their RV.   Dealing with Daddy's illness is what prompted me to begin my blog 4 years ago in August.  Dad is doing really good.  He still loves pretty slow and has to take breaks along the way if he's walking far distances but we'll take it!  I'm so so blessed and lucky to have both my parents and both of my grandmothers. 

Here are some pics from last years party:

My friends Wendy, T and Di

My cousins Kerrie, Ashley and Dusty. They're all sisters. 

My step sister Rachelle

The hubs and myself 

Me and the most interesting man in the world with dads face. 

I have a nasty head cold and sinus infection that I got from traveling home last week. Planes are germ tubes and its the second trip I've been in this year where I feel crappy hours after I get off plane. I really should wear a mask like I've seen others do. I need to bedazzle one. Also , be honest , how many of you have shoved a Kleenex up your nose and left it there when no ones looking because you're so tired of your nose dripping!  Pretty visual I know. I'm sorry. I went to a CareNow and have 3 prescriptions- Zpac, steroids and cough meds. I have severe sinus infection.    I have to get better for my trip next week. 

Have a great Tuesday yall! 

Book signing and girl fun

Hey y'all, I am back home and not traveling for another week and a half.  Did i mention that we're going back to Sturgis again this year? It will be my 3rd time and last for me. Its fun but i told Todd if he wants to again after this, i'm out.  I came back home last Thursday from Ohio and a few hours later after landing, i met up with my friend Julie for a girls night out and book signing from a fellow blogger who recently published a book.
My sister-in-law Sarah introduced me to Brittany's blog a few years ago not long after i created my blog.  After reading her blog , i also started to follow her Facebook and Instagram too.   Her blog is Brittany Herself.  She contributes often to BlogHer and is a TED speaker where she spoke out about loving yourself and being overweight.  Brittany is very inspirational and i wish i had a quarter of her confidence.  Her book is Fat Girl Walking which is a memoir and has already made New York Times Bestseller.
Brittany has a very close friend that lives in Ft Worth and has visited a few times over the years but i was never able to make the events. I planned to see her this time in advance and i am so excited that it worked out.  I invited Julie to go with me because i knew she would love her as much as i did.  Sure enough, she bought her book and was ready to meet her in person.  I honestly knew that Brittany would be just as cool and laid back in person and she is on her blog and her book. She's very real and hysterical.  She talks about her husband Andy and her 3 kids often and they are every bit a normal family from Ohio.
The event began close to 8pm and they served wine so definitely off to good start.  The plan was she would talk and have a Q and A with us, then sign our books and then head to a restaurant a block away to have dinner with her.  I think there were at least 100 of us give or take and was a nice crowd. It took her so long to sign the books because that was our time we could also talk to her about anything we wanted. There was not a time limit and she didnt have an agent shuffling us through like cattle.  The good news was that i was very close in line for the book signing but bad news was that she had at least another 40 people who were still in line and it was getting late.   Julie and i were starving and we needed something to soak up the wine we had.  We went ahead and decided to leave and not have dinner with the group.  We stumbled on this taqueria Salsa Limon and dang was it delicious!! I had 3 tacos and could have gone back for more but i really needed to get home.  The event was in Ft Worth and is about an hour away from where i live.
I had Brittany sign my name and i also asked her to sign Thank you Sarah . I took a picture of that and texted Sarah because i knew she would appreciate that.  It was a great evening with my sweet friend Julie and it was awesome to meet Brittany in person and have her sign my book.

If you want to read a funny but true book, I totally recommend hers!

Battle of the Bands- Round 2

Hey y'all!!! So i'm working this week in Ohio and i've been swamped. Its funny that the BOTB has ended up being both weeks that i've traveled. I almost went to bed when i remembered that tomorrow is the 15th and thats when the battles get posted.   Remember how it was raining cats and dogs when i was in St Louis? Well I brought it with me here and its been crazy storming around me.  Last night the winds and the thunder woke me up.  Stay safe out there if you're in the path of these storms. Its also crazy here with some kind of baseball All Star shindig.  Cincinnati is the host of the sport thing and all the hotels here are packed and tons of people are here.  Meh! Is how i feel about baseball.
Lets get started on the songs shall we.  Its after 11 and i have to get up early. This is my second time to play in the battle and i'm nervous that someone has already done the same battle.  I guess i just need to not worry and also know that i have different followers so your vote will be a new one.
My song this week is called Bad Company by the band Bad Company.  The song was released in 1974.  They were a British band and were considered hard rock back in the 70's.  They also have other hits such as Feel Like Makin Love, Running with the Pack, and Cant get Enough.  I have their greatest hits CD and its a great road trip CD to listen to!!

Ironically 5 years ago on my birthday May 17th, 2010 a very heavy metal hard rock band called Five Finger Death Punch released their album that included a cover of this song.  I ask you to be open minded because quite frankly, i think they do a FANTASTIC job!! Some of their other songs are pretty heavy but they reined it in on this song.  This band started in Las Vegas in 2005 so they've only been around for 10 years. They're doing pretty good and have won a couple of Indie awards, Rock Radio awards, etc.  They released a song last year that i like called Wrong side of Heaven.  I'll play it for you sometime....

I am excited to hear your vote and i will post the results on the 21st i think.  HAHA- i have to check to see when i'm supposed to.  There is quite a few battles being hosted and the list is at Stephen's page.  Please Please go there and vote for other songs. You may hear some new songs and artists that you like.   Have a great day tomorrow!!

My Junkin finds....

Good morning, I'm at the airport about to  board plane heading into Dayton, Ohio. I'm working at our office located at our Loveland location and it's my first time to be there.  I've mentioned my company is merging with another company on several occasions. This office belongs to the "other side".  Let's just hope I stay upright today and I don't fall down like the last week when I traveled. Hahaha! 

Saturday I was on my way to a thrift store that (benefits battered women)  to donate bags of clothes when I realized this one neighborhood was bulk trash day.  Yall I have no qualms about dumpster diving and porch picking! I scored a heavy white wicker chest of drawers. FREE!!! It was super fun loading it in my truck by myself.  All it needs is some TLC, new knobs and fresh paint.  Last year I found a white wicker headboard so now I will be selling them as a set.   

I was surrounded by garage sales and my thrift store didn't open for another hour so what's a girl to do!!  Shop. 

I can't believe the great things I found. 

I found a glider rocking chair stripped down of course by the curb.  Easy to fix for sure!  I bought a solid wood desk that is too cute for - 10$!!!! It's not plywood yall it is the real deal.  I bought a globe, a drafting desk (10$), and a ladder bench, and a chandelier(5$) and a head board. 

Have you seen benches being made from headboards? So cute! I bought a twin size headboard and footboard a few weeks ago for 10$.  I found a gorgeous wooden board by the curb. It was just too pretty to leave behind.  

I bought a Victorian love seat last weekend at Canton but didn't post picture. 

I also bought a brand new floor rug to replace our other one that my dog practiced potty training on.  I hated throwing that rug away but the stains didn't come out.  The rug is huge and it was also 10$.  Score! 

I love this old picnic basket I bought. It was made in Iowa. 

A plant stand for 2$

The drafting desk I'll be painting 

Headboard I bought and piece of wood I found 

How cute are these silver salt and pepper shakers? 

So funny story about the lamp- it was in the curb and I only wanted the lampshade for the shade frame. This guy opens the door and yells "the lamp works"!  I thought he was mad for grabbing his trash but actually he came out and said " I know you may think it doesn't work because it's in trash pile but it does work. I just set it out this morning".  So I had to take the ugly lamp because I didn't want to hurt his feelings.  Then the lamp shade ended up being in terrible condition and it crumbled in my backseat.  I may clean this baby up and see her shine! 

Fred Sanford ain't got nothing on me!! 

No room inside the truck either! 

Have a great day yall! My blogging may be slow this week depending on work load.