Monday, March 31, 2014

The RODEO!!

Hello everyone!

After living in Houston for almost 2 years, I finally went to the Rodeo!  I know, how could I have missed it last year, right?  and I call myself a Houstonian...  well, actually, I don't really call myself a Houstonian,, I mean, have I lived here long enough to deserve the title?  probably not  haha

Anyway, David and I caught this year's rodeo on the last day, and it was so. much. fun!


We took the train there, and it was super easy to get there.  Thankfully, I live right by the metro station, and once we got on, it dropped us right in front of the rodeo!  Couldn't be easier.  I heard that if you try to drive there, parking is atrocious, so I highly recommend just taking the train in.

Even though it was the last day, there were still a lot of people, and we got to see so many cute little cowoys and cowgirls!  ahh so cute!  =D


The first thing that greeted us was a tunnel of food.  A very long tunnel (Well, more like a long tent) full of amazing food, so much meat, and lots and lots of people!


yup, this was at like,,, 10 in the morning and already full of people!  Go early in the day if you want to avoid being too crowded.


We also had to get in on the action, so we got some etouffee, which was like a,,, seafood/rice/stew ish thing.  It was the first time I've ever tried it, and it was actually really good!  Quite spicy though, so be warned  ;)



Then, we needed some meat, of course!  It's the rodeo after all!  and really, where else would get see a giant turkey leg, right? so we got a gigantic turkey leg.  Feeling soooo carnivorous!  haha



hmm... a Lady and Tramp moment...?  does the presence of turkey leg make it less romantic,,?  
aahaa.. haaa..  anyway, movin' on from that picture..

the Before and after photo of the turkey leg!  yup, we did good work!  XD


Next to the food lane, there are some indoor exhibitions, so we went to check it out!
It wouldn't be a rodeo without some cowboy hats!



some photo ops  =)
bahaha  David's photo is the funniest!


There were also some educational sections, and we got to see little chicks hatch!
I have never seen a chick actually hatching, so it was pretty cool to see.  Can you believe that the chick goes from that egg to that fluffy cute little thing we know as a chick in just a day?!

hatching from the egg                ::::         right after the chicks hatched     ::::                       a day later            

And there were other animals/baby animals present at the rodeo as well!
How cute is that baby calf?!  only about 2 days old!


I used to ride horses when I was younger, so I enjoyed getting to know this handsome stallion!  he was super friendly, and quite the magnificent beast!  =)




Then, we went out to enjoy the carnival!!



and even before I got to Houston, I had heard about fried Oreos, fried butter, etc, and when I saw that it was actually being sold, I HAD to try it!




the first bite!

there it is.  Fried Oreos.  In all its glory!   I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was actually pretty good!  and we didn't have a heart attack afterwards  =p




There were also other animals outside in the carnival as well, and we got to see some.  I heard there are usually more rodeo things happening (like actual riding of the horses, bulls, etc) but for some reason they weren't happening on that day..  So make sure you check the event calendar before you go!



camels!  in Houston!
and I think this was a possum?


Then, because I loooove me some amusement rides, but because David hates them, we just went on one ride  =)  see, compromises is what it's all about  haha  =p

I'm not sure what ride we went on, but it was one of those swing looking things that spin you really really fast and really high, and we attempted to take some selfies while we were at it.

I also snapped some while we were spinning around.  I couldn't actually see, but the camera actually did a pretty good job capturing the scenery that flew by us!

We got off the ride, wiped some tears off of our eyes (not because it was too scary, but because it was uber windy!  mmhmm) and walked around looking for some carnival games to try.  As we were walking around, we noticed this giant wall of smoke, and went to find that it was because of all of the BBQ that was happening!  I mean, look at all of these turkey legs!


Finally, we found two different games to try!



unfortunately, we didn't win anything  =(  those games are tricky...  but that's ok because it was still really fun, and we got to laugh a lot (mostly at one another  haha)

It was such a fun morning, and we would highly recommend going to experience it next year if you can!  I believe it will happen during March again probably?

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful week!
--Janny


Thursday, March 27, 2014

Rice Ballroom Team Match!

Hello everyone!

Last weekend was Rice Ballroom Team's Team Match, and though David and I didn't compete, we still went to go cheer on our team members and to perform at the showcase!  I think there were 4 different teams from different schools, so it was fun to see so many other collegiate level dancers.  It was also really fun because it was a much more casual event than, say Dances with Owls (Rice's annual competition) or the Austin Open which will be happening next weekend--there were people in crazy costumes (pirates, boas, etc) and many fun dances, so it was good to go laugh, socialize, and cheer on the team.  =)

so here are some pictures of the Rice team during the Latin rounds


Oh yes, Rice represent!


and here are some photos during one of the fun dances.  This was the 'Paso Doble with a real bull' dance  =p
Schubert was trying to lure the bull in with red balloons because, you know, something about the color 'red' pushes the bull's buttons apparently. but his bull, Emily, was not really intimidated by it or aggravated by it..  she was mostly entertained by it I think  haha


Schubert the matador, and Emily the bull who could only laugh at him instead of charging him  ;)


Then, we had a dinner break, and we got to have a wonderful double date with Satoko and Tyler at Collina's!
Aww so cute!  =D


David and I usually don't eat out very often, so our knowledge of Houston eateries is pretty limited..  so it's really nice when our friends recommend restaurants to try out!  =)




Collina's is a cute little pizza place with amazing pizzas (I mean, just look at them!  drool....) and it's also BYOB!  We would highly recommend it for your pizza fixes, and we will definitely be going back!  =)



After having thoroughly enjoyed our dinner, we hurried ourselves back to Rice so we could perform during the showcase portion.  True to our fashion, we got there at 8 for the show that was supposed to start at 8.. (we're always cutting things extremely close... something about a musician/scientist mix means that David and I are never, EVER, on time... le sigh..)  but thankfully, the showcase started later, and we were towards the middle, so we had just enough time to get changed.   

I will link the videos of the routines down below, but here are some stills from it  =)





So the one thing about being late and only having barely enough time to change into your costume is that you don't get to warm up...  I didn't think it would be a big deal, but towards the end of our routine, my butt muscles cramped up, and I seriously thought I would have to limp off of the stage! Thankfully, it happened during the very last section, and all I had to do was walk around with David and sit on a chair, and David said he didn't even notice, but man,,,  I'm definitely warming up next time we dance!   haha

can you tell in the photo below that my right gluteous maximus muscle is screaming?  haha

and, the end to a very interesting Rumba experience for me.. XD



After that was Rice Formation Team performance, which we thought was really awesome!  



and their final pose!!  Great job everyone!



There were also some performances from UT Austin and U of Houston dancers, but I didn't get to take many pictures of them because most of them went before we did.  However, here is one U of H couple doing Paso Doble!



a couple shots with the boy =)




now, here are the videos of our rumba and the formation team performance!  Sorry about the poor quality on ours, but sometimes things just happen this way. 
Thanks Elliott for filming!









It was such a fun event, and I can't wait for Austin Open competition next weekend!  =)
Hope you are all having a fantastic week so far and thanks for stopping by!
--Janny