It's harder than I thought it would be to keep blogging. We're all pretty exhausted when we come home in the evening but I definitely want to keep everyone at home up to date with what we are doing down here. Last night was soo much fun! We rode in a Celebrate Mobile parade and threw beads and candy to the crowds. We were new to the parade route and ended up throwing all of our goodies out just over halfway through. We got a few yells about that, but no harm done. We tried to made conversation instead :) It's incredible how creative these girls can be. The first few days were a little bit awkward with everything. No one feels totally comfortable being out going and everyone is a bit tense. These days are thankfully over. I feel like I've been hanging out sweating my face off with these girls for years! Being in the gym inside Springhill Baptist Church for long rehearsals made us bond quickly. We get in trouble for talking quite a bit but what I think is so cool is that most of the talking comes from girls helping girls get the steps down. Everyone encourages each other and helps other girls to get the routines down as best they can. I can't emphasize enough how impressed I am.
I also got to give myself a small pat on the back for getting my journal entry published in the newspaper yesterday. I love to write but I've always been a little bit shy about people reading anything. When we sat down for breakfast at the University of South Alabama yesterday, the President of the school and his wife congratulated me on my writing. I allowed myself to do what I often times have a hard time with, accept a compliment. My picture was on the front page of the paper as well with some children some of the Junior Misses and I met on our day of caring. About a third of the group went to the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center in downtown Mobile and we spent the morning with a group from the Dearborn YMCA day camp. It was a blast! The kids loved having us there with them. I had lunch with a group of middle school girls and they made me laugh so hard. One of the girls would have been a hit on "Kids say the Darndest Things." I'm not going to lie, it broke out hearts a little bit saying goodbye to some really great kids knowing we may never cross paths with them again. It's weird how that happens.
Prom last night: AMAZING!
Of course we are 50 girls who haven't seen boys all week so maybe that was half of the fun :)
My escort was Austin (Doe...(I didn't get his last name)). He was a total southern gentleman. He gave me quite a glimpse into the way charmers do their thing down South ha ha. My biggest problem was the fact that I have two left feet when it comes to couples dancing and he had clearly taken more than a few lessons. He was such a great date and I was just a mess. I couldn't have asked for a better night. Whoever chose the boys did a fantastic job because we all had a blast. I think one girl even fell in love with her date(don't worry Mom, it wasn't me).
Today we rehearsed a lot and we were dragging. I know I was so tired that everytime we were on the ground for a dance move, it took all of my, and sometimes my buddy Alexis' strength to get me back up ha ha. As tiring as it was, the day was very very productive. We have finished learning everything and now we just clean things up. The dances are really complicated, but they look awesome. Gia is a phenomenal choreographer. We went to the Bell Air Mall tonight to sign autographs and we all felt like celebs...or at least like Hannah Montana. I sat with Alexis(from Texas...we all love it, she does too) and she wore her cowgirl hat. Let me tell you, it was a tough act to follow. One woman told me that Idaho was one of only four states she had never traveled to. Depressing, but I've been talking up beautiful Idaho, especially northern, so that people will come check us out. My big seller is that there isn't any humidity but it still gets really warm. Don't be surprised if you hear some lovely "yes mams" this summer when people take my advice.
Tomorrow should be a relaxing day. We have all fun things planned and a whole day break from dance rehearsals. I'm having a wonderful time. Every once in a while I have a rough few minutes, it's the sleep deprivation, but how lucky am I?!
Sorry this was so long, I had some catching up to do. Love you all! xoxo
Hannah Yeats
Idaho's Junior Miss
Hannah Yeats
