Studio Update: We. Have. MIRRORS

We do We do!

We have mirrors.

I have mirrors.

Never again, ever again...never again in my whole entire life will I have to dance in front of our door mirror getting frustrated beyond belief because Matt can't possibly move the furniture over any more in our living room.

Ah. I want to cry....never. ever. again.

I have mirrors. It's real. 

I'm ready to grow as a dancer.

I'm not too old and I'm going to take full advantage of this. 

I can't wait to get over there tomorrow to teach my teams hip hop classes. I'm going to go all out.

This is what it's all about...

Right now, my dance kids are my kids. They always will be. We got couches yesterday and you would had thought it was Christmas at the studio. I can't wait to see how the react when they have mirrors to dance in tomorrow! They haven't really had that yet. In the preschool room we do hip hop in at the Community Center there is a mirror but it is on the side and we never usually use it. 

I could be crazy stressed out all day at camp and the second I get to the studio with my "kids" everything is all good. I love them so so much. One of my dance moms told me that the other day she overheard her daughter refer to it as "Our Studio". I love that. It is theirs. It's ours. I love that I get to watch them grow here. 

Here are the pictures of the studio as of this afternoon.

My haven. Here I get to create, teach, dream, grow, build, love and instill the same passion I have for dance into these kids. I feel very blessed.

In the past 5 months Emerald City Dance has grown from being a dance program at our local community center to our Studio, two more community centers and 6 preschools. It's all happening very fast, but I'm running with it. So far, so good. 

Bring. It. ON.

This is only the beginning of this adventure. 

We're in this together.

I'm so thankful that Matt and I are in the situation we are in right now and that Matt is able to help me so much with this. It is starting to feel more and more like "ours" instead of just my dream. It's obviously not his dream, but it's a huge part of his life now too. It will be a huge part of our children's lives as well. It will be their second home. I was telling Matt the other day that it's pretty cool that our kids will never know any different than their mommy & daddy owning a dance studio. As Katie says, they won't be just raised by us...but by an entire village. They'll have so many "big sisters" and tons of "moms". I love that. We already have like 10 babysitters. 

Next Steps:

*barres

*Walt Disney quotes all over the walls

*finish painting (office area/bathrooms)

*Office area 

*Outdoor parent area 

*Fix concrete area outside to make it accessible to our dancers and families

Matt told me yesterday that Walt Disney said Disneyland will never be complete. I hope that is what this is. I don't want us to ever stop growing and changing. My dream now is that this will become a place where we don't only have amazing dancers, but that we make a difference in these children's lives. I want to watch them grow to be girls with a passion and motivation to do great things in their lives. If that is dancing...great. If that means they become an incredible doctor one day...great. One of my kids told me at camp today that I'm her "2nd Mom". I love that so so much. 

Yesterday Matt and I were brining the couches in and ballet had already begun (I do not teach that class). We were outside and could see the kids from the window. It was my Mini Team. All of my 5-8 year olds in their black leotards, pink tights, ballet shoes and hair in cute little buns. They were all lined up at the wall like they would be at a ballet barre. Matt and I put the couches down and just took it all in for a minute. It was so awesome to see them all there and to see another teacher with them and to see the beginning of all of this from the outside. It was a moment I will never forget. It is like those pictures you see of all the little girls lined up at the ballet barre...

Then....they all saw us...started waving...and, I disrupted class (fail) lol. 

Matt said, "Wow, the atmosphere here is so different than when you are in here with them teaching hip hop." Ha....yeah.....I'm kind of loud....which...makes them kind of loud....

Oh well, I like it that way ; ) 

Ok...done blogging now. Dance & Cheer Camp this week. 

Emerald-City-Dance! Yeah! ; ) I've been sporting my Sofee shorts and tanks all week. Love it!

-Chelsea-