Interesting Television

Mrs. Eastwood & Company is a very interesting show...I just started watching it today. I really like Clint Eastwood, & I like his wife, Dina Eastwood.

The daughters...not so much.

Their show makes them come across as whiny little brats who think they're entitled to any & everything. In the current episode his daughter Francesca has a $100,000 bag that her photographer boyfriend gave her to DESTROY for a photoshoot. She wanted to keep it so he's letting her carry it around until they destroy it at the photoshoot.

Excuse me, BUT WHAT THE FUCK?!

Dina seems to understand. She keeps telling her how much that bag is worth could feed all of Monteray county, build 4 schools in Africa, how it's double the salary that her father makes as a school teacher in a year, it's like a "F-U" to society, etc. She tries taking them shopping at ROSS to show them all the different bags there that cost 1/100 of what the mildly cute bag she's been carrying around costs.

People like me, love ROSS...good call Dina!

I sometimes envy people who can afford things like that...sometimes.

Chase & I live pretty frugally for the most part. The things we spend our extra money on are things that we've wanted for a while, or on dates we take each other on like a nice dinner, the movies, Sounders games, drinks downtown... If I had that kind of money, I would make sure I had enough money to pay my bills & my family's. Pay off my parents debt, make sure I don't get into any debt, take one nice vacation per year & start a college fund for my 15, 13, & 12 year old siblings. That kind of stuff.

Oh great. Now they're destroying the $100,000 bag with a chainsaw...AND LIGHTING IT ON FIRE!! WOW, it's actually a good photo :-/ Take that, society. Americans would rather destroy $$ than sell that bag & give the money to someone who needs it. Rockin.

Now "Kendra" is on...I LOVE HER!!! Now there's a frugal, fun gal :-)

Admitted Facebook Junkie

Hello, my name is Christine & I am an admitted Facebook junkie. 

On my Android phone, I have a direct link to Facebook, notifications set to pop up when someone sends me a message/writes on my wall/or friend requests me, & it is also my home page on my personal laptop.

This is so sad.

What's even more pathetic is how often I check my Facebook account when I haven't even gotten any notifications that anyone has written me a message/on my wall. I spy on other "friends" status', their posted photos, & who is commenting on what. I click "Like" on pretty much everything.

Why do I care? Why do I have to know?

Facebook used to be such a huge deal for me to check because it's part of how I communicated with Chase back when we were long-distance. Now, it's just a way of me keeping family/friends updated on what's going on in our lives. Showing off pictures of Apollo, funny status' of what happened during the day, cute pictures of Chase & I, etc.


I quite honestly do NOT know why I've continued to let it be such a HUGE part of what I do throughout the day. I could be spending more time getting stuff done that I've been putting off for too long, trying new recipes, reading, or paying attention to Chase/Apollo rather than sitting on my laptop/phone scrolling through other people's (excuse me) Facebook shit.


This is not a jab at Facebook or any other Facebook junkies. I actually appreciate how it brings people together socially online, helps out small business', & re-creates long lost or new friendships. I will actually be posting this blog to my Facebook account once it is finished, but not checking Facebook again until later this evening.


Here is my mid-year-resolution: 
Only check Facebook 2-3x per day...possibly 1-2x if that. It doesn't need to be a part of an hourly routine for me anymore!!! SO, I have already turned off my Android notifications, & removed it from my direct link on my phone's home page so if I want to check my Facebook via phone, I have to push several buttons to get to the link. What's pathetic is, I already haven't checked Facebook at ALL through my phone today since doing that. After I post this blog, my new homepage will be GOOGLE's home page (not Facebook) & I will log out every time making myself have to manually login.

*sigh of relief here*

Public Announcement

I've decided that when I audition for anything, I will never announce it publicly EVER AGAIN. 

I'm very aware that most of you enjoyed following my posts throughout the past few months about my preparation for NFL cheer auditions...but having to say that I didn't make the squad over-& over-& over-& over-& over-& OVER again really takes a toll on me. People want to know why, they want to tell me how wrong the coach was to not choose me, they want to tell me I'll make it next year, and even though it's been a few weeks since I found out the road to Seahawks Cheer-leading was over for me, I will still have people over the next month asking me how auditions went.

I'm not blaming anyone or trying to make them feel bad, but having to admit defeat isn't something that I take ANY pride or pleasure in. 

The next time I audition for anything, readers will only know about it if I make the cut. THAT'S something that I will happily be posting in my Blog/Facebook/Twitter accounts :-) 

Everyone's life goes on, whether you want it to or not

I don't think I'm meant to be a cheerleader...I say this because for the past two years, I have auditioned to be an NFL Cheerleader for the Seattle Seahawks & haven't made it yet. Forget that I've been dancing for the past 20 years, or that I've been instructing dance for the past 13 years. I'm just not the cookie-cutter-type of girl that the Sea Gals coach wants. She wants the type of girl that she can mold into what she wants, & someone who won't stand out next to the other girls during performances.

Last year, I had little to no prep work & made it all the way to the Final round. This year, I started preparing for auditions in late January & didn't even make it to Finals. They will never tell you WHY you don't make it, they always say to NOT ask them & just re-audition next year. When I performed my semi-finals routine, I didn't mess up, I smiled, had a lot of energy throughout the dance, high kicks, & still wasn't chosen.

I'm not gonna lie, when my number wasn't called, I thought there had been a mistake & maybe they were saving my number for last or had misplaced it. When this didn't seem to be the case, I didn't clap. I didn't smile. I just knew I needed to get out of there. The tears had started by the time I stood up whether I wanted them to or not. I grabbed all of my belongings, & started out for the parking lot. Before I could get to the door, one of my friends who also didn't make stepped in to give me a hug & yes- I started to "ugly cry" on her shoulder (literally). She told me it was going to be okay, & though I knew what she was saying was true, I was too confused, & angry to comprehend anything other than what I was feeling. I had spent SO MUCH TIME & MONEY in preparation this year to look & feel my best once auditions rolled around.

I tried calling Chase a few times on my way home, but he was at Greenlake with some friends & his phone hadn't rung out-loud so he didn't know I had called. So instead, I called one of my best friends on my way home, crying hysterically, fake eyelashes falling off from all my tears. Chase called me back as soon as I got home. He sounded really surprised to hear the news that I hadn't advanced to the Final Round. He then asked if I wanted to meet him at the lake or wanted him to come home to be with me. I honestly just wanted to stay at home & cry for the rest of the day. Then, Chase said if I came to the lake, he would buy me some Ben Jerry's ice cream...decision made. I hadn't had Ben & Jerry's in who knows how long. Lake & ice cream it was!!! I cleaned my face off, changed my clothes, put Apollo in the car, & headed to the lake. Once we arrived, Chase gave me a huge hug & we ended up having a great day at the lake with Apollo & his friends. I ended up getting the COOKIE-COOKIE-SUNDAE at Ben & Jerry's...it was GLORIOUS!!! Yes...like I said on Facebook, I ate the WHOLE THING.

 That night, I started thinking more about not making it because I was getting tons of texts & facebook messages from people wondering about how auditions turned out. I tried to answer them as best I could without getting too depressed but was feeling pretty awful by the time I woke up the next morning. (Life goes on whether everything goes your way or not!) I then get on Facebook & see that I have a message from a fellow dancer whose performances, & team I admire greatly. She basically re-confirmed what everyone had been telling me & told me not to let not being chosen get to me. I was really happy she thought enough of me write me a message.

Plan for now? Eat the foods I've been avoiding, watch & get drunk during the Sea Gal Finals with good friends, enjoy my summer, & get back on the audition-horse this fall & audition for the Stealth Bombshells Dance (not cheer) Team. They're all fabulous performers who can actually DANCE!

Keep an eye out for updates. Down, but never out. I am determined to be a part of a dance team again!!

Preliminaries

SOOOOOOO, as many of you know, the preliminary round for the Seattle Sea Gals was yesterday! I arrived 45 minutes early to Century Link Field, & quite a few girls were already there stretching/warming up, so I joined them. I recognized a handful of girls from last year- a little less than 200 auditioned at preliminaries last year, & this year was around 150. 

We didn't get started with registration until around 11:15am when we were supposed to start at 11am. Oh well, not a big deal. Registration took until right before 12pm. To get your audition number, there are small pieces of paper flipped upside down with numbers on the other side. Last year, I was #170-something. HOWEVER, THIS YEAR, I drew #8!!! I was SO EXCITED to be going in one of the first groups rather than having to wait forever, watching everyone & psyching myself out. 

My audition went off without a hitch & I was proud of the routine that I performed for the judges. I watched the other girls audition & was impressed by a few, but not many. Some girls were so bad, I thought, "Is this a joke?" One woman looked to be in her 40s-she wore a coin skirt-& looked like she was doing Zumba (badly). Kudos to her for having the courage to audition, but REALLY?!

2 hours (and a back-ache from sitting on the hard ground) later, those invited back to semi-finals were announced. All of my friends & I advanced to semi-finals!! We were so excited :) About 10 minutes after semi-finals were announced, we started learning the routine we will be performing next Sunday. It's 8-8 counts that repeats to the song "Starships" by Nicki Minaj. If you haven't heard that song, it's pretty awesome! I love dancing to music that I know and pumps me up, so luckily our routine this year is to a song that fits that description :) Last year it was to a song called "Hot Mess" that I had never heard before-NOT the one by Cobra Starship. 


The choreography isn't complex, it just seems difficult when done to the quick beat. I had one of my friends video me doing the choreography after we were done learning it so it was fresh in my mind & I would have something to go back & reference if I got stuck. After finishing the video, about 4 girls whipped out there phones & asked me to do it again. I know it's a competition and all, but I believe in Karma, so I repeated the routine for the ones that asked. I practiced the semi-finals routine a few times when I got home last night after I had gotten the correct cut of the music from the Sea Gals coach drop-box. 

Semi-Finals aren't until next Sunday (April 29th) at 1pm, but I'm already feeling confident about making it into Finals again this year :-)

100%

I want to make it VERY clear to everyone that I am going to be 100% OKAY if I don't make the team again this year. BUT- I will also be 100% OKAY if I DO make the team :-)


I was convinced I was going to make it last year, as were a lot of you. When my number wasn't called at Finals, I didn't allow myself to cry until I got into the car & even then, it was only for about 5-10 seconds, then I got over it- texted everyone on my list that I didn't make the team (whether they were watching the LIVE stream or not) & went straight to McDonald's for a double cheeseburger AND FRIES. 

I appreciated everyone's support and words of encouragement last year, but I do have a request for this year:

PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEEEEEEASE, don't tell me "it's their loss" or "you should've made it".

Tell me, "you did great" (if I did) or "you worked so hard" (because I did).

There is a reason for everything that happens in our lives whether we realize what it is in the moment, or later in the year. I didn't make the team last year for a reason. I doubt they recognize not having me on the team as a loss. There's a lot of FABULOUS girls that made the team last year, & a lot of FABULOUS girls that didn't. (Something to remember, is there are about 50 other girls that look JUST LIKE ME at the audition.)


Preliminaries are this Sunday the 22nd at 11am. Wish me luck if you like, I will be posting on Facebook and Twitter if/as I advance to each round.

As if I didn't want it enough before...

This past Saturday, I attended a 3 hour long NFL Cheer Intensive Workshop lead by Sea Gals coach Sherri Thompson. As the title says, "as if I didn't want it enough before", I want to be a professional NFL Cheerleader even MORE now!! 


We started out with a basic warm up/stretch & then went into some technique work (turns, kicks, leaps). In doing so, I was reminded of how much I LOVE & have missed doing leaps across the floor. We also worked on choreography learning 3 routines, & also on public speaking, ie-introducing ourselves to the judges. 


We went in groups of 2, saying our full name, where we were from, & what we do for a living. If any girl was too quiet or didn't sound confident enough, Sherri would make them repeat what they had said until they were both loud & confident. After I said, "Hello, my name is Christine Burgett. I live in Seattle-Washington & am a Group Fitness Instructor," she pointed at me and said, "She has the kind of confidence that comes through her voice making me WANT to listen to what she has to say." Which made me very excited that she had thought I had done a great job. She also pointed at me & another girl later on, recognizing us from making it to Finals last year.

Towards the end while we were waiting for the Sea Gals makeup artist to get there, I approached Sherri to ask if she had noticed anything I could improve on for the auditions starting in 2 weeks. She replied, "Honestly, no. You looked great today." 

I REALLY WISHED SHE HAD NOTICED SOMETHING THOUGH!!!!

I'm ecstatic that she said I looked great, but since I made it so far last year-& not onto the actual squad, I was hoping she would give me some constructive criticism. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiince she didn't, I suppose I will keep doing what I'm doing & hope that this year it's enough to make it all the way.

She said making it onto the squad will -really change your life-. I'm ready. 

BRING IT ON.