Tyler

My favorite month in the year is finally here. Having my birthday in October is not the only reason it is a superior month, but it is definitely a key factor.

Unlike today, October is usually the perfect temperature. Chilly enough that I can wear my big, comfy sweaters with a scarf wound around my neck with thick wool socks and boots on my feet. But it is also warm enough that I don’t feel  like I am living in the actual Tundra.

Because Halloween is quickly approaching, the grocery stores start filling up with the best candies and treats. First of all, everything pumpkin. Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin seeds. But more importantly, Halloween candy is on full display, including my favorite holiday treat, candy corn.

The leaves are beautiful, especially at the University of Iowa. Even when I am so tired and want to hop on a Cambus to get me up the hill, I choose not to because it is absolutely beautiful outside.

Even though we are more than five weeks into the semester, and professors are packing on the homework and exams, take some time to enjoy the my favorite and best month of the year.

“Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn.”

 Elizabeth Lawrence

I never considered myself a morning person. In fact, I still would not consider myself a morning person. Though surprisingly enough, I am able to wake up at 4 a.m. and be a functioning human being. At least for a little bit.

When the marimba music starts blasting from my alarm clock at 4 a.m. I immediately get up and roll out of bed. If anyone were to see me in the wee morning hours, they would assume I am impersonating a zombie. My eyes glazed over as I shuffle to the kitchen to make my daily bowl of maple brown sugar oatmeal with a scoop of peanut butter. I even eat my oatmeal at a dreadfully slow pace. When 4:30 a.m. hits, I head to the trusty keurig and make a fresh cup of coffee with hazelnut creamer. By 4:45 a.m. I am out the door on the way to Caribou Coffee.

By the time I enter the coffee store, I  have no choice but to force myself to be wide awake. I quickly pull shots of espresso and steam milk for lattes for overtired, cranky customers heading to work. My four hour shift flies by. I am on my way back to campus by 9:15 a.m. I quickly make a pit stop back at my apartment to get on my leotard, secure the ballet bun and pack my lunchbox. Yes, I am a junior in college and I proudly say that I carry a lunchbox with me. Anyways, I usually make it just in time for early morning plies in my 10 a.m. ballet class. Most of the dancers woke up within the hour, yet I have already been awake for six hours.

I make it to late afternoon before I feel like death. A nap is first priority, or more coffee. If I am lucky, I get a rejuvenating energy burst that leads me through my three hour dance rehearsal to follow. A gallon of sweat later, rehearsal is over and it is homework time. Even this dance/journalism major has homework. In fact, I have quite a lot. Post-rehearsal/homework time always comes with a snack. Hummus and pita is preferred, but sometimes I have to revert back to the trusty Quaker oatmeal for the second time that day. You can never have to much oatmeal, is what I like to think…

Homework, homework and homework. But after the fairly unproductive study session, it is time for bed. Of course I am looking forward to my next early morning Caribou shift.

After my entire blog of work complaints, you may be wondering why exactly I am putting myself through this insane schedule. Well, today I made over $6 in tips, plus my actual pay. A poor college/starving artist can buy a lot with $6. I could get two hummus and pita packs from Oasis. I could get Chipotle or that Jimmy John’s that I have been craving for far too long. Or better yet, I could get mint chocolate chip ice cream from Whitey’s and then hit up Yotopia for some more frozen treats. Don’t even get me started on Mesa’s macaroni and cheese pizza… Obviously, I am quite hungry right now.

Well, I am off to eat some hummus and read some examples of narrative journalism.

I have had such a busy first week of classes, but that is not what I want to blog about. I want to dedicate this post to the new and improved library. It is absolutely beautiful. For anyone who hasn’t visited the library this year, they are sorely missing out. The first floor of the library is unrecognizable. I walked in there for the first time since the renovation, and I was so surprised how great the transformation was. Granted I have a terrible sense of direction, but I could have gotten lost in all the shiny new technology filled library. For anyone who goes to the University of Iowa get your butt in the library. For all the past graduates, I am sorry you missed out on this new beauty. During exam week, you will definitely find me there.

Check out The Daily Iowan’s article on the new learning commons!

Happy studying, Hawks!

Oh, Iowa City how I have missed you. It is so great to be back. I don’t even care that the high for today is 90 degrees and my apartment does not have air conditioning. Well, I guess I care a little bit because I went to Starbucks to blog not only for the iced coffee, but more importantly the air conditioning. I love summer, but I think I am ready for some colder Fall-like weather. Halsey Hall doesn’t have air conditioning either, so I basically spend my first month on campus constantly sweaty. But nonetheless, I love being back.

My last few weeks of summer were a whirlwind. I went from a week of non-stop dancing in St. Louis to sightseeing in New York City to ending the vacation paddle boarding in Hampton Bays on Long Island. Of course it was great to spend my last days of summer with the family and meeting up with some old friends. I couldn’t have asked for a better summer.

Hopefully that happy, summer spirit will travel with me throughout my junior year at Iowa. I am already starting strong… I will be the newest employee at Caribou Coffee starting next week. Making extra money and getting free coffee, sounds like every college student’s dream!

It has been 64 days since I have last blogged. I wish I could say it was because I was backpacking through Europe or studying yoga in India, but I have been in Indiana. The summer is flying by, but before I throw myself a pity party, I will be honest… My summer has treated me well, considering I have been in the humid Midwest.

 Since I have last blogged a lot has happened, so let’s rewind to May when my summer officially began.

The Friday of finals week my older sister and mom picked me up in Iowa City. We had lunch at the Bluebird Diner, like usual, and hit the road. That first weekend home the family packed up the car and hit the road for Indianapolis. My younger sister had a soccer tournament. We shoved our 5 person family into one very gross hotel room and made the best of the weekend. It was good to be back with the whole gang, two sisters and parents. The only thing that was missing was the pups.

Leo and Abe are the best looking dogs around and have been my sidekicks for the summer. So shout out to them for making me feel loved when all my friends are hours away.

Of course, once I got back home I started working at Coach again. Selling handbags to the ladies and husbands of the mall. Most days I find myself very bored and antsy working. I spend most times dancing around while no customers are in the store. Though when a fabulous customer comes in, they never fail to make my day. An older couple came in not too long ago. They were so appreciative of my help. They even went on and began asking questions about me and Iowa. People like them make working at Coach a ton of fun!

I am not working everyday so I try not to be completely lazy on my day’s off. When it is not scorching out, I try to go for a run. I began the summer running 2 to 3 miles maximum. I simply thought I could not possibly run any more or I would drown in my own pool of sweat. That all changed when I ran 5 miles for the first time. Now I try to run 4 to 6 miles, and it feels great!

Oh, and my family and I did go to Florida. We spent the week down in Palm Beach Gardens where my Grandma lives. We would lie around her pool and in the afternoon we would drive up to the beach. I got a good little tan and read a fabulous book. My sister and I became Kadima pros.

We also went to Lion Country Safari. It is like a real African safari, but in the United States. It sounds a little strange, considering we were in Florida, but it was actually really impressive. We had an ostrich come right up to our car. Lots of animals crossed right in front of the road and even jumped right over the hood of our car.

Being so close to the water, I still could not get myself to try seafood, maybe next time. 🙂

My latest and greatest adventure was to the oral surgeon. I knew I eventually would have to get my wisdom teeth out, but I was hoping to bypass it this summer. All four of my teeth had to come out. And honestly it really was not terrible. The surgery was the easiest part. It was the four days after that really dragged on. The pain is tolerable, and as long as you don’t mind sitting around doing absolutely nothing then you will survive. I had a hard time with that. I wanted to be able to go for a run or play frisbee. I was sick of watching movies and bad reality television. But I am slowly recovering. The pain is finally going away, and the chubby cheeks have gone back to their normal size, thank god.

I have about a month left of summer, and I still have two exciting trips left. In a week I am going to St. Louis to dance and visit my sister. And then right after, the family is going back home to New York to reunite with the extended family. Then it is back to good old Iowa City for me. Can’t wait to get back to non air-conditioned apartment in Iowa City, but seriously I am looking forward to it 🙂

As finals week begins, the semester comes to a close. The libraries get more action this week than the rest of the semester. The IMU is hopping at 4 am with free coffee for students. The Blank Honor’s Center even extends its late night hours a little later to accommodate for students doing some late night cramming.

The University is a completely different atmosphere during finals week. The only obligation for most is to study and do well on finals. There is also packing for summer and laundry that needs to be done. And for those graduating, they have a week to try to get their lives and emotions in check, and hit up all the graduation parties.

I am just looking forward to summer. The weather is making me forget what summer sun even feels like. I wore jeans and a sweater today… uhh isn’t it May?!! So hopefully this week’s forecast permits shorts and sandals.

Oh and soon I will be an upperclassmen in college. That is crazy and a little intimidating. So for now I will not think about that 🙂

Good luck to everyone on their finals. Safe travels for all going home. Go Hawks!

I love tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, queso, and rice. And any holiday that allows me to indulge in any or all of what I mentioned in the previous sentence is a great day. Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, or the fifth of May, or Sunday. I did not eat much of any, unfortunately. I had a few chips with salsa, but it was definitely not a fiesta. Though, I did something even better than eating a bucket full of spicy carbs. I salsa danced.

In the ped mall, Sunset Salsa was having an open jam session. It was a beautiful afternoon, and as my friend and I went to get some froyo, we heard the salsa music from afar. Being dance majors we could not resist ourselves. We investigated where the music was coming from. We were delighted with what we saw. Naturally, I grabbed Katie and we began to dance our way into the group of people.

It did not take long before we started laughing and had to stop dancing. That is when a nice salsa dancing gent asked if we wanted to dance. I could not pass up an opportunity like that. So there I was on Cinco de Mayo in Iowa City in the ped mall dancing with a complete stranger.

So, I obviously did not have a huge Mexican feast leaving me ready to burst, nor did I go to a fiesta so loco I lost track of time. But five minutes of salsa dancing was just as good. 

We packed up our three vans Thursday afternoon and hit the road, despite the pouring rain and flash flood warnings. The weather did not stop DIC from making the trip to Chicago. We had quite a busy day with three different gigs on Friday, and we did not want to disappoint the audiences.

It rained for a little bit on the drive over, but besides that the weather was fairly permitting. We stayed at a DIC dancer’s house. The basement was flooded and they had a “lake” in their backyard. We managed to squeeze in all 14 of us and get some rest the day before we performed in the city. We spent Thursday night playing charades and eating spaghetti, leaving us all to be very tired the next day.

That morning everyone was sleep deprived, so we filled up on coffee and got back in the vans to do a little bit of dancing. Both of the schools we danced for had dance programs for the students. We were asked to teach master classes for the kids, as well as give them a performance at the end of our time with them. It was such an exciting experience to be around students who were equally as passionate about dance as DIC is. We taught three classes and had three small performances.

After those two gigs, we headed back into the city for a meeting with the outreach program of Hubbard Street. Hubbard Street is a nationally renowned dance company located in Chicago. It was such an amazing opportunity to hear the other sides of dance. They work with schools and children teaching creative movement. They also teach a class for Parkinson’s patients. They also told us about job opportunities and internships available. It was a ton of valuable information, leaving all of us so excited for our futures after we graduate from UI.

We left the beautiful Hubbard Street facility and got dinner at a restaurant across the street. It was great to get some real food and relax for an hour before we got back to Iowa City. DIC only has one more tour date left, and it is so sad to think that this season is coming to a close. Amazing friendships were made, and fabulous dancing has been performed!

Teaching a modern class to the high school dancers

Tomorrow I am going home for a total of maybe 35 hours. I have never gone home besides vacations and long breaks, so it will be fun to just be home long enough to see the family and puppies and eat some home-cooked food. My younger sister is getting confirmed and I am lucky enough to be her sponsor. I wish I could stay longer, but I need to be back Friday morning for another Dancers in Company tour.

DIC is going to an elementary school. We are going to do a short performance for the students and then we actually get to teach the kids a creative movement class. Our past tour shows have been with college students or older, so it will be fun to get to work with some kiddos. I get to spend my afternoon as if I was back in 1st grade without a care in the world and a lot less homework!

Yep, that is right. Tomorrow is going to be sunny and 55 degrees! Finally the gray skies have lifted and the thermometer has risen to a bearable temperature. At Iowa, we have been waiting for this moment for what feels like months now. Lets just hope it lasts…

The second semester is more than halfway over. It has been flying by.  Touring around the Midwest with the Dancers in Company my weeks go by so quickly. I end up missing at least one day a week traveling to different schools performing. It is my schedule hectic and my homework out of control. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Dancing for students of all ages has been such a wonderful experience.

Setting up the stage for the performance

This past Wednesday, we traveled to Ottumwa, Iowa. We got to meet about twenty-five college students who are all active in their theater class. We taught a master class and performed for them. It was so awesome because they are currently in the rehearsal process for the production of Fame. We got to show them what we do, but they also gave us a little taste of what they excel at by showing us a section of the musical.

It was another rewarding day in the Dance Department. We have a busy week next week, two days of touring. Bring on the new week and the sunny weather!