Change of Plans

 -  Blogmas  Day   Seven  . Normal  Work  Day  .   Shopping  Small  Biz  -

Hi everyone! Blogmas day seven isn't exactly going to be as exciting or festive as I originally was expecting it to be. Originally, this evening was supposed to be my Church small group's Christmas party. I was looking forward to preparing food for it and sharing pictures of this evening's event with you all but unfortunately, the party has been postponed due to illness of the host. So, ill be praying for the host in the meantime and you all can just look forward to a post in the future regarding our Christmas party.
It ended up being a fairly normal day. I worked- taught two private lessons, and then a ballet technique class, followed by a short pre-pointe class at Cavod's Manheim location. With only a week and a half left until Christmas break for the kids, it is always a fun time of the year to be teaching. I feel at ease with my lesson planning mostly all set, up until the final day before break, The kids are buzzing with excitement in anticipation of Christmas vacation, and while we haven't quite gotten there yet, Christmas music rings through the studios and halls of our school. Who can't help getting caught up in the Christmas cheer in that kind of setting!
I headed to Manheim early today so before teaching, I stopped by one of my FAVORITE local small businesses, Prussian Street Arcade! It is a super cute artisan craft market featuring the most one-of-a-kind, high quality, beautiful homemade crafts, home decor, as well as fashion boutique and antique items! They have a little something for everyone. I love coming here to shop but also to just walk around and be inspired! Today I sauntered through just to get some ideas on what I want to do for some last minute Christmas gifts I still need to get. I suppose it is not too last minute yet... The rest of this blog entry will feature pictures I snapped of certain vendor booths and items that stood out to me. Enjoy!

"I wish life wasn't so expensive, and dogs lived longer, and leftover french fries 
still tasted good heated up"

I spotted these cute little guys at Sweet Arrows Co.'s Booth.

...maybe someday I will have a booth of my own. 💭 #dreaming

Though I am sad our Christmas party got canceled, I must admit, it is extremely nice having a quiet Wednesday evening home early this week; Actually getting to eat dinner at a normal hour! (Whereas usually I teach lessons right through dinner time and eat once I get home, OR have church small group on Wednesdays). I have been in great need of a "Selah". With all of the engagements, Christmas preparations, and general holiday bustling that has kept me busy the past couple of weeks, I think this might be the first time in a WHILE that I get to actually pause, read a good book, and wind down early tonight. I am praising the Lord for this unexpected unplanned evening of relaxation! I hope your able to get some soon too! All the best,
______________________________________________ Thanks for stopping by! Comment and say Hi!

 ↓ For More Optimistic Reads ↓ 

Blogmas Day Four In Snapshots

  You know it has been a long day when my blog entries consist of more photos than text. After a long day (and weekend!), sometimes just doing a photo dump and going to bed early is what is best! I began my day with church, then attended and helped host a graduation party for a close friend. following that, I attended a neat show done by Piercing Word called "The Advent of Christmas". Piercing Word is a really neat Theatrical Ministry in Lancaster PA that puts on musicals with scripts consisting of only all memorized biblical scripture. It is pretty interesting and impressive. Before ending my day at home composing this blog entry and winding down for the night, I ended my day out back at church for our annual tree lighting event, in which I volunteered to help the kids make ornaments for it! Now I'm pooped, and ready to turn in for the night. Peace and Blessings.

____________________________

A little quiet time to start the day before I hit the ground running...

Happy Blogmas !

-Signing out!
______________________________________________ ↓ For More Optimistic Reads ↓ 

• December Bucketlist
• It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas- Day Two
• Crazy Blogmas Day Three

Crazy Blogmas Day Three

-    Blogmas  Day  Three  .  Nutcracker  and  Makers  Market  Haul  !    - 

Me and the Nut :)

Busy times! It looks like I'm about to knock out nearly half of my December Bucketlist

in just one weekend! Yes, busy times for sure, but also fun - lots of parties, church events, Christmas shows, gift exchanges etc. This month is definitely not without the challenging balancing act of how to best spend our time, money, and also energy too (which I often forget to take into consideration) without burning out! I hope this introvert makes it through the month with all the social engagements I've committed myself to. Ready or not, here it all comes! Can you relate?

Hey then! Let's breathe deeply, take it all in stride, and make sure we count our blessings as we go! 😉 
____________________________


This Morning,  I started my day by stopping by the Lancaster County Christian School Holiday Craft Show. I really enjoyed the experience and meeting some of the vendors. My original intention for attending the craft show was to show support to some special friends of mine who were selling their amazing creations to the world as first-time craft show vendors, which I thought was really exciting and inspirational! Participating as a vendor in a maker's market myself is something I have always dreamed about doing. I also ended up getting a little shopping done as well!

My friends at their lovely stand! 

This is what I bought: A few books, some fun cookies, and some crocheted items, all to be gifted!

In The Afternoon,  I attended the local Nutcracker with another dear friend of mine, one of my students. It had been years since I had last seen the Nutcracker! Put on by the "Viktor Yeliohin International Ballet Academy", It was cute and we has a good time.

"Cheese!"  📷

Bravo!

Thought I would share a pic from when I was in
The Nutcracker. I believe I was 13 or 14 here.

Then,  I went home to prep things for my tomorrow, which is going to be even more full and more crazy but I guess you will just have to stay tuned to hear more about it!! I think the following picture captures it well... All those bags...No, they are not groceries, No, they are not trash, but all those bags are what I will be loading into my car tomorrow morning and are what is needed for all my Sunday adventures. 

... Stay Tuned !

😁
______________________________________________ ↓ For More Optimistic Reads ↓ 

Blogmas 2022

-    Blogmas  Day One   .  Feels  Good  to  be  Blogging  Again !    - 

 Well, here we are. December 2022. I've decided to give Blogmas a go again this year. For those of you who don't know Blogmas is when bloggers everywhere commit to posting daily material pertaining to Christmas, lasting for 25 days starting the 1st of December and leading up until Christmas day! It is a fun way to get into the Christmas and blogging "spirit", and since I've lost my rhythm with getting content out, what better way to get back into it, and a festive way at that!
 I am not sure that I will always have very interesting things to blog about every day this month, but I guess we will see. The fun part will be simply documenting it as it unfolds. It is easy for me to see my simple redundant teaching-dance-all-the-time-life as rather predictable and unfascinating, but one of the things I love about keeping this blog is that it forces me to take a closer look at my day and note all of the smaller but just as important and precious things that take place in it, in an effort to scrounge up something interesting to tell you all about, giving me opportunity to discover things I can be grateful for that I might have otherwise overlooked. Over the next couple of days, you will be hearing about many of the mundane happenings I will be experiencing, but also about some of the special moments too! I'm sure throughout the month you will also be hearing about the lessons God is teaching me, and I will see what I can do about slipping a DIY or holiday recipe in there too somewhere if I can.  

The beautiful Christmas tree at Cavod Performing Arts!

Today I will begin Blogmas 2022 by simply sharing with you all my bucket list for the month of December! Enjoy!

-  DECEMBER BUCKETLIST  -

• Finish a book

• Go ice-skating

• See the Nutcracker

• Attend a holiday Makers Market

• Build a gingerbread house

• Go see Christmas lights

• Make Christmas cards

• Bake cookies

• Attend the Christmas Eve Church Service

• Successfully participate in Blogmas all 25 days

😊

____________________________

25 days until Christmas! What will you be up to this month? Stop by for some more daily Blogmas updates from me!Love you, my dear readers!

______________________________________________

   Have You Read...  

Easy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Would ya guess? Baking is not my favorite thing to do. I'm not great at it. I would rather cook, or better yet, be the taste tester. 😊 I feel like baking is so much more of a science than cooking, but this season, with SO many people in mind that I would like to gift-give to I've decided that giving homemade baked goods might be the best way to go this year! Today I'm going to share with you this delicious and easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. My old Ballet Magnificat housemates would make these cookies all the time in the winter (dancers do eat cookies) and now I'm giving it a go. If you're like me, a novice baker, this is the perfect recipe for you! Oatmeal is delicious and super easy to work with. They also don't require a lot of time! I of all people know, time is a precious commodity. Prep-time is short and they only bake in the oven for about 8-10 mins. That's all! Not to mention, the cinnamon and nutmeg in these cookies give off a fragrant delicious aroma that will make your home smell divine! Who wouldn't love their home smelling like delicious fresh-baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, during the holiday season?

Easy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 sticks of butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
•  1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 3 cups of oats- The "Old Fashioned Quaker" kind works well!
• 1 bag of chocolate chips- add to your liking

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper 
4. Scoop out 1 inch round balls of your dough and place them out on your sheet with adequate space between them as they will expand and grow a bit.
5. Bake anywhere between 8-12 mins, until the under-edges begin to brown slightly. 
6. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cook a bit as they will continue to firm up even after being taken out of the oven.
7. Enjoy!

 

Nom, nom, nom!

Buen Porvecho!

Give this delicious recipe a try, 
and then please let us know how yours turned out!
Thanks for stopping by! Happy Baking!
comment, follow, subscribe, and don't be shy! 

______________________________________________

   More Optimistic Reads  

We Don't Do Nutcracker

-    Blogmas  Whatever  .  Thalia  Mara  .  Came  &  Went  .   2  Days  Until  Christmas  !   - 

I'll be honest as if it's not already obvious, but I'm NOT really that good at this Blogmas posting-everyday-business. At least I gave it a shot. The fact is, the reason why I haven't had much to report to you about my life lately is because my life really isn't that interesting when I'm on break for the holidays. Sometimes it is. Last year's holiday break made for good blog posts, but most times my days on break are just filled with lots of R&R and chilling around the house with my family. On this break so far I have enjoyed having lots of time being in the Word. I have been posting a lot of entries on my Faith Page lately if you want to check those out, but it seems like the posts you guys like reading about the most are the ones about my ballet life. If that is so, stick around then because you'll probably enjoy this post.

Once you come to terms with the fact that we are a ballet company that doesn't do The Nutcracker, the second fact you should come to terms with is that we offer a Christmas show that is just as spectacular, if not more! Yes, I may be a tad bit biased, but if you don't believe me because you've never seen any of our Christmas shows before, then you will have to catch one of them next year to formulate an opinion of your own. This year's featured Christmas production which was Light Has Come is an extraordinary show depicting the story of salvation from the unique perspective of the angels. From the first story recorded in the Bible of Adam and Eve in the garden, to Jesus Christ the Messiah appearing on the scene, this ballet of the greatest story ever told draws the audience in to experience in a fresh way the power and glory of the King of kings and the love that He has for us.  

Though this recently produced production does not encompass the same timeless traditional richness that The Nutcracker has achieved for itself over the years,  "Light Has Come" certainly has its potential, having a finesse and charisma of its own. Just one week ago Ballet Magnificat took over Thalia Mara Hall in downtown Jackson, Mississippi to perform our biggest shows of the season of "Light Has Come". It was the 50th year of performing there for our founder and Artistic Director Kathy Thibodeaux!
I did my best to document "Tech Week" leading up to the shows this past week and into the weekend to give you an insider look into all the preparation that gets put into making these shows at Thalia Mara happen! Enjoy!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 12/11 Monday:  We had this day off to recover from the previous weekend full of performances. 

 12/12 Tuesday: We had combined rehearsal with the trainees and school of the arts.

 12/13 Wednesday: We loaded into Thalia Mara Hall. What a beautiful Theater.

 12/14 Thursday: We had combined rehearsal again 

 12/15 Friday: We had 1/2 Part dress rehearsal for both acts one and two. 

 12/16-17 Saturday and Sunday: Showtime! 2:00pm and 7:00pm Saturday, and 2:00pm Sunday  

All the shows went well. Everything ran so smoothly. We love performing at Thalia Mara Hall and can't wait to do it again next year. 

I was delighted to know that good friend, Elisa was in the audience

Alpha group picture before showtime

Loved seeing these smiling faces after the show! Just a few of my Pastor's children.

If you missed "Light Has Come" this year, it looks like you will have to catch it on tour sometime next year (Spoiler Alert!) since it looks like we will be doing our production of "Snow Queen" next Christmas season at Thalia Mara.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Am I right that you just LOVE reading about ballet? What kind of ballet things are you interested in me writing about next? Would you let me know your ideas, comments, and questions down below? I do hope you all are enjoying your holiday season! Have A Very Merry Christmas! God Bless! 🎄
______________________________________________

   Have You Read...