Sloppy Hoes: and the scatterbrained blog

I'M ALIVE AND WELL!

(KIND OF LIKE THIS GUY):
And completely re energized for another season, my SIXTH season to be exact!!

I have so many things to say about the past 6 months of my life and I don't even know how to begin to share them. I feel like so many things have happened. I've changed and evolved more over the past 6 months than I have in the past 5 years. And whether is was something "good" or "bad" that happened, it happened and it's life. I have come to REALLY realize over the past couple months how excited I am to be alive and to be doing what I do. I mean, we always say that... "I'm so lucky to be doing what I love"... but do we really know?? Do we really know HOW lucky we are? I'm know I'm just BEGINNING to realize how lucky I am. I have so many passions in my life that keep me going and inspired EVERY SINGLE DAY. I AM lucky. Especially with the world as it is now. Sometimes, I feel like I may be the luckiest girl alive. You know, this world I'm in, the ballet world, it swallows people whole. Sometimes it is hard to see outside of it into the "real" world. We spend most of our lives cooped up in our "own" world, only talking to our "own" people, without an escape out. If I've learned anything over the past couple months it is to branch out. Branch out and talk to people I would normally never talk to. Make relationships I wouldn't normally make. Learn as MUCH as I can from as MANY people as I can. It makes me appreciate what I do that much more, and it allows me to share my story with people that often times are unable to comprehend what it is I even do for a living. "What school do you go to?" or "Soooooo, you teach?" No, I'm a professional ballet dancer. I work 40 hours a week. I perform ballets. I learn. I move. I create. I inspire. I do what every little girl wished she could do when she grew up. I tell them the work I put in, the hours I put in, the emotions I put in, the physicality I put in. They slowly start to comprehend. AND I feel happy knowing one more person outside in the "real" world may have a little insight into "our" world. What I want for myself in the end, is to love EVERY SINGLE MINUTE that I've put in. I want to be able to look back on it when I'm older and as a sane beautiful old woman and say "I really had a wonderful career as a ballet dancer. I don't regret, and I am not bitter about one part of it." I want to make it my goal to never lose my passion for the dance. Never let anyone take it away from me, no matter the battles I face. And to promise myself the second that I become un-passionate about my life and what I'm doing with it, it is time for a change. But I think the most important thing of all for me, is knowing. Knowing what I love. Knowing what I do. Knowing my goals. Knowing it all for me and no one else.

And there is a piece of my mind lately... Take it or leave it ;)

On Another note:

This year I will be turning TWENTY-THREE on the TWENTY-THIRD of August. You know what that means?? GOLDEN BIRTHDAY. I have always been obsessed with golden birthdays. I don't know why... Gosh, 23 sounds so mature..... Too bad I'm the farthest thing from being any kind of mature. Especially after you read the rest of this blog.....! HA!

AND ANOTHER NOTE:

We have just put our second week back under our belt after a lovely 4 week layoff this summer. The first two weeks back are rough and tough and full of pain.. I'm mean like serious pain. Like hit by a mac truck pain. Like beaten with a bat pain. Like..... Likeeeeee... Likeeeeeeee thrown out of a plane and landed on jigged jagged rocks and woke up the next day and tried to walk pain. Like you've been chased by a pack of wild banchees and couldn't stop running for 3 days or else they would eat you then you finally found a safe place to sleep, and you woke up the next day and had to do it ALL OVER AGAIN...

OR IMAGINE THIS..

Going from:

LOUNGING around for 4 weeks, feet free from pointe shoes, body free from leotards, mind free from drama, eating GLUTENOUS amounts of your all time favorite foods, desserts after every meal, doing WHATEVER you want, sewing a vest here, baking a cake there, getting your hair did, painting your nails, getting a massage, doing a little fishing, starring at the mountains, playing a little golf with the daddy, and just sitting, drinking and being merry....

To:

Being in a leotard for 7.5 hours a day, starring at yourself in a room full of floor to ceiling mirrors at the body you just spoiled to death, feet trapped in pink coffins, being in a constant state of a hot sweaty mess.....

YEAH.
And you know what?
Honestly,
I couldn't be happier to be back.
Now does that make me mental????!!!!!
Probably, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I. LOVE. MY. LIFE.
:)

As for this 110 degree weather compared to my prefect Idaho 80 degree weather... I'm not so sure. But somethings gotta give, no??

AND ANOTHER NOTE:
Finally now onto the Sloppy Hoes.
Sometimes I think auto text might be the most genius invention ever. And it is not for the reason you think. It's not for all the times it changes "teh" to "the" for me or so kindly throws that apostrophe in the "don't" for me... it's for changes like this:

"SLOPPY HORS"

I was telling my mom I was making sloppy joes for dinner and it so kindly made it sloppy hors. I couldn't have found it more hysterical, so I decided to make a meal out of it... no pun intended.
actually ALL PUN INTENDED.

I made some SLOPPY HOES.
Take your childhood favorite Sloppy Joe and make it healthy. And, in turn, you have the SLOPPY HOE.
Just like your good friend Joe, only healthier.

Start off by switching your cow for a turkey.

Then throw in some of your favorite roughage.

And you got a hoe.

Here is my recipe.
It kind of rocks my HOE world.




SLOPPY HOE:

1/2 package lean ground turkey
1/2 package dark meat ground turkey
1/2 large yellow onion
2 roma tomatoes
1 jalapeno
1 shredded carrot
1.5 cups cremini mushrooms
1 tablespoon whole seed mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup

Start off by browning your meat in a large skillet. Add diced onions, jalapenos, and mushrooms and cook about 8- 10 mins. The turkey meat will let off a lot of liquid.. but don't fret, It will be okay. After your meat is brown and you've broken it up add the chopped romas and carrot cook another couple mins. Then add the rest of your ingredients and bring to a boil and let simmer for another 20 or so mins. until it has thickened up into your SLOPPY HOE! Serve on whatever bun or bread you want!


On a random note:
Go buy a cherry pitter.
It is my most prized possession.
If you love cherry season, it will be yours too.

Now for some VACA photos:

The Palouse

"The cabin"

Double rainbow all the way over my back yard.

It was my dad's 50th birthday.. I made him a Guinness chocolate cake with homemade farmers market fresh milk, heavy cream and eggs. It was to die for.

The Cabin

The Cabin