A Tribute to My Mini Me

Ever since she was born, this girl has been a little ball of sunshine. I saw her every Sunday with a toothless, ear-to-ear grin. I held her once as a baby and thought she was the happiest little thing I ever saw.
As Jessica grew up, I found myself, amazingly and gratefully, given a front row seat to her life, so to speak. After a few babysitting nights and dance classes, she stuck to me like gum to a shoe. That was the cool part: she picked me. She requested me more and more to be her babysitter and every Sunday during Sacrament she sat on my lap. She still does it to this day.
Apart from being my little shadow, she came to almost every event that I performed in. That's the part that really gets to me. Being the youngest with 3 married siblings off doing there own thing, I found myself feeling very much alone. A lot of times only Mom came to my performances. Jessica and her family were like the family members Heavenly Father forgot to give me. I could always count on them to be there in the audience, cheering me on in whatever I was performing.
She has practically been my little sister for so long, it's hard to think of a time when she wasn't in my life. Heck, we even look somewhat similar. I have friends now who look at a picture of her and ask, Is this your little sister? And they don't believe me when I say no.
I know I say it a lot, but I always feel like it's never enough. I am so grateful to this little girl and her family for being there when my own family couldn't. They have changed my life forever.

How to Start Your Monday With a Bang

We have already established the fact that I am a dancer. I'm pretty sure we've already established that I'm also extremely clumsy, to the point of being handicapped. It was as if Heavenly Father decided to make a joke of me: a dancer who cannot stay upright for more than 5 minutes at a time. Ha. Ha. Haaaaa. Not funny.
You know, I really have come to the terms with the fact that I do extremely stupid things all the time. I'm fine with tripping every five seconds or falling down the HBLL stairs every time I go down them. It's all good. In fact, I find myself thinking it's a shame nobody saw that, or that nobody that I knew was with me so I could laugh about it too and not look like a weirdo. Oh well. However, it kind of sucks when the very first thing you do in the morning is fall. Lovely.
So I got ready in about 20 minutes this morning. I'm thinking, this is pretty legit. If only my dad could see me now. I even looked halfway decent, despite the ballet tights that made me look like a 6-year-old girl in a black sundress. So I was feeling pretty good, determined not to think too hard about the awful day ahead of me. I walk out of my apartment, take a few steps down the stairs and . . . I'm sure you can figure out the rest for yourselves. Nobody was even around to see it and my pride is still bruised! Now I'm thinking, Wow Shalese. Way to kick off your week!

Don't Ask Me Again . . .

As many know, dance is my life. I live, sleep, eat, and breathe it. So, it's no surprise that I have spent my whole life defending it's . . . legitness in the world of sports.
Okay people, let's get one thing straight first: just because dance has a lot of artsy-fartsy crap, does not mean that it solely classifies it as an art form. It is an artistic sport. I'll give that dance in itself is an art form. However, dance in a competitive level is most definitely a sport. Okay? Okay.
When arguing my side, I tend to ask my enemy what exactly classifies a sport to be a sport. The answers that typically get shot at me are like You have to have opponents, ref's, a clear winner/loser, and it has to be athletically challenging. Perfect! Guess what? Any type of dance competition fits all of these categories! YAY!
In fact, the definition that the Oxford Dictionary gives of a sport is: an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. And in my opinion, and many other's as well, dance is one of the most challenging sports out there.
Hey, if things like ping pong and fishing can be considered a sport, then why the heck can't dance?

My Man . . .

He's strong, comfy, and he catches me when I fall. He watches the Princess and the Frog with me and doesn't complain at all. He never steals the remote. He supports me when I do my homework and when I fall asleep. He keeps me warm. He doesn't fight, say stupid things, or stand me up. He's always up for a Friday night and he's never late. He catches my tears and loves it when I laugh. He looks good in any color. Actually, he's wearing several colors right now. It's hard not to go sit in his lap. He's extremely irresistible, especially when I come home from class. In fact, we've even spent a couple of nights together . . . don't tell my mom. His name is Cornelius and he's all mine . . . well, when my roommate's aren't sitting on him too . . . :)

Poetry Attempt Numero Uno

5 times I hit my snooze.
Twice I wash my hair.
Which outfit should I choose?
It's too early for me to care.

1 iPod, 1 cell phone.
8 Books, I'm out the door.
Walking, just me, alone.
Turn up the volume even more.

150 stairs
Breathing hard, I'm at the top.
I left my iClicker where?
Crap! This day needs to stop. . .

BYUckit List

1. Dance in the fountain at the JFSB
2. Eat at 5 Guys Burgers
3. Make out with a football player (Ha. ha. Just kidding . . . Seriously though)
3. Play Chopsticks on the piano in the WILK
4. Make it onto Overheard @ BYU
5. Kiss Cosmo
6. Marry Cosmo
7. Start a massive food fight
8. Have a picnic on top of the SWKT
9. Make an appearance on the Big Screen at the football games
10. Catch a duck at the bottom of the south campus stairs
11. Watch a movie on the ceiling
12. Kiss someone at the bell tower
13. Hike the Y
14. Form a dance crew to spontaneously break out dancing in Brigham Square
15. Graduate

Chivalry: It's Not Dead

Coming to BYU makes me a little spoiled, I guess. I rarely have to walk through a door without some type of assistance from a male. On those rare occasions when I have to open the door myself, something feels wrong. I love it. I love how the boys here (or most of them anyway) are gentlemen and will respect women.
Tonight, I got to go visit an old friend in Orem. He's a nice guy and super nice. Sometimes he can get a little obnoxious, but that's him and we love him for it. Spending time with him gave me the bonus of spending time with his roommate who just happened to be void of a sensor chip. Curse words were a major part of his vocab.
Now, as an English buff, you would think that I could tolerate a few curse words. Which I can. I just choose not to like them. Or say them. I feel like I sound stupid when I used them. So it bothered me a tiny bit when the roommate busted out a few F words now and then. Whatever, I was leaving soon anyway. However, my friend, being the gentleman that he secretly is inside, scolded him a bit for using that language in front of a 'Lady. A BYU lady, at that.' The roommate replied, 'I don't care. She's an adult. She can take it.' That made me want to deck him.
Seriously???