Recap of 2011

2011 was a great year! It was a year full of fun experiences, friends, family and memories. It was also a year of heartache as I sadly attended nine funerals over the course of 2011. More than I've ever attended in my life. Through the sadness, God continued to show his love through many blessings in my life. Here is a quick overview of 2011.

I got to start off the year by celebrating New Year's Eve in Charlotte with three of my dear friends from childhood (Leigh, Alana and Margaret). We all grew up dancing and teaching dance together.

In April I got to fly over my family's pecan orchard in south Georgia in a private airplane. What an amazing experience to see the farm from this view!

(Whoever planted the pecan trees sure did a good job planting them in a straight line!)

The week after Easter, Susan (my clinical teacher from when I did my student teaching in college) and her husband Tom came to visit my family at the farm. We made a day trip to Savannah and got to see the sights of the historic town.
This spring I made my first, "big girl" purchase. I bought a new car. After eight years of driving jeeps I sold my silver 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and purchased a white 2011 Toyota Highlander. It was a sad day to see my Jeep go away, but I love my Highlander! (I've already put 17,000 miles on it!)

This April, my former teacher, role model, mentor and friend passed away. Coach D was the Athletic Director of Salem Middle School and was the Women's Soccer Coach at Apex High School. There was a candlelight vigil at the high school after his death and the stadium was full. ESPN did an article on his life and published my picture with the article.

In May, my grandmother, Elva Alice Anderson Belcher passed away. She was almost 103 years old. She lived a long, healthy life. Full of love, blessings and joy. This picture was taken at Christmas when she was 99 years old.

This summer I traveled to Kenya for a 10 day mission trip with my church, First Baptist Cary. We built two houses, attended schools and orphanges. We got to share God's love as well as experience the true wildlife of Kenya.

While in Kenya, I got to stand on the Equator!! Sadly there was not a line drawn on the ground like there are on maps. Here I am standing with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one foot in the southern hemisphere.

In October I went with my childhood friend to the NC Hot Air Balloon Festival in Statesville, NC. We enjoyed the full day of seeing hot air balloon contests, mass ascenions and a twilight glow.

Throughout the year I performed with my tap company, Footnotes Tap Ensemble, at nine different performances throughout the Triangle area. We performed at places like UNC Children's Hospital, Sparkcon, the SECU House at UNC Hospital, the Burning Coal Theatre and the Carolina Inn.

I ended 2011 with New Year's Eve 2012 in Charlotte, NC with my friends Leigh and Alana. Sadly, Margaret did not join us this year,but we continued to carry on the tradition of dancing the night away!

Here's to 2012. May it be full of love, happiness, blessings and memories to cherish.

Christmas on the Farm 2011

Christmas has come and gone. We had another wonderful family Christmas at the Belcher Farm and the Lanier Farm. The Christmas tradition continued of gathering at my mother's family home near Statesboro, Georgia. By "near" I mean the family home is 10 miles away from the nearest gas station and in the middle of the country. There is hardly any cell phone service and we don't have internet. All we have is each other, deer hunting and fishing to keep us entertained. Nineteen of us all stay at my grandparents' 100 year old farm house with two bathrooms. This means Santa comes to visit nineteen people Christmas morning. The Christmas tree is always full of Christmas presents, especially when you have nineteen people giving and receiving. The first glimpse of the Christmas tree on Christmas morning is one of my favorite moments of Christmas.

This Christmas, Rundle (my nephew) is 15 months old. He loved getting to play with all of his cousins. One of his cousins, Connor, taught him a trick that turned into his new favorite toy! His new favorite toy was playing with a red Solo cup. He has become very good at balancing the cup on his head and loves handing the cup to others to put on their heads.

The day after Christmas we gathered for our traditional family Christmas with the Lanier family in Metter, Georgia. My grandparents’ house is nestled in the middle of two hundred acres of pecan trees. We are very blessed to gather with 36 family members. Seventeen of these are the third generation. Even though I am a part of the second generation, I'm still allowed to be in all of the "kid" pictures. Below is a picture of all the "children" in the Lanier family.

Of course, Rundle really enjoyed this trip to the farm. He loves doing "boy" things. He enjoyed getting dirty in the middle of the dirt road.
He especially loved getting to ride the tractor with his dad and his Daddy Ray!

This Christmas was full of wonderful memories and I can't wait to be back together again at the two farms that have instilled the importance of love and family tradition in each of our lives.

25 Days of Christmas

I know I’ve said this in a previous post, but Christmas is my favorite time of the year! This year has been a little different as today is two days before Christmas and it is 65 degrees outside. It has been a very mild winter so far, I still haven’t pulled out a lot of my sweaters. The temperature change has not stopped me from enjoying my favorite things to do during the season. This year I enjoyed another year of the Raleigh, Cary and Apex Christmas parades. This year my dancers continued to wear their tuxedo jackets and tap danced down the street to the new Mariah Carey song “Oh Santa.” We had a pleasant surprise at this year’s Raleigh parade where Scotty McCreery was the Grand Marshall. He walked right past us walking to his float where our dancers were lined up for the parade.

(Premier Dancers at the Cary Christmas Parade)

December would not be complete without our yearly cookie decorating event. Since we were in college friends have gathered at my friend Kiera’s apartment or house to decorate Christmas cookies. This year we decorated gingerbread houses! I think we did a good job considering this was a first attempt at making a gingerbread house for most of us!

To add to the festivities of Christmas I performed with my tap company, Footnotes, at the Carolina Inn’s 12 Days of Christmas event series. Our performance, “Nine Ladies Tapping and a Guy” was so much fun. The audience was packed and was standing room only! Children gathered around the dance floor and we performed our favorite tap dances to popular Christmas songs. The Carolina Inn is nestled in the heart of Chapel Hill and is known for its’ history and University-spirited character.

Among all these festivities, my favorite part of Christmas is getting together with friends. Friends that have become family come back into town and the reunions we have remind us of why we love each other. Last night, Premier alumni Alana, Leigh, Margaret, Lauren and myself gathered at Monica’s house to celebrate the holidays. Monica has become our second mother/sister as she has been our lifetime dance teacher. The five of us danced together from the age of 3 until we were 18. We still continue to stop by the studio, teach and offer a lending hand at recital. We just can’t stay away! Last night we gathered around Monica’s kitchen table and looked at old pictures and watched old dance videos until the early morning hours! I don’t know the last time I laughed so hard. These friends are truly special and will forever be a part of my life.

What exciting activities did you do this December?

A Classic Christmas

I absolutely love this picture! This is a picture of my mom (on the left) and her older sister Mary Alice with Santa Clause. They met him when they were Christmas shopping in Savannah, Georgia. I feel like this picture would have been the perfect cover page for Time Magazine. It captures the "classic" thoughts of Christmas. It's timeless and brings out the joys of Christmas through the eyes of a child.

The Heart of Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! I love everything about it... the smells, the sounds, the music, the lights, the decorations, the colors, the movies, the television shows, the stories, the Christmas parties, the hustle & bustle of the malls (yes.. I love the excitement and energy) and most importantly - the birth of baby Jesus and spending time with family. I think the most important part of this time of year is to cherish it and not take it for granted. Take in every experience, soak it in. This time of year comes around only once a year and we need to enjoy every minute. This time of year is a true gift from God. He not only gave us his son this time of year, but he gave us the blessings of all the excitement this time of year brings.

I heard a song on the radio yesterday. It is by Christian artist Matthew West and it's called "The Heart of Christmas." I think it perfectly describes this season of the year. Here are the lyrics:

I'm gonna make a wish this Christmas

I'm gonna say a little prayer

I'm gonna stop here for a moment

before the moment disappears.

The world's in a hurry this December

City streets and shopping malls

I wish we could slow down and remember

The meaning of it all

Wherever you are, no matter how far

Come back to the heart, the heart of Christmas

Live while you can, cherish the moment

The ones that you love, make sure they know it

Don't miss, the heart of Christmas

Let's make it feel the way it used to

Let's find that wonder of a child

You can see the magic all around you

Come on, and open up your eyes

You can find it in the warm embrace of your family

Or calling up a long lost friend

You can find it in the eyes of a stranger

When you reach out a helping hand

In the shadow of a steeple

In a star that lights the way

You will find him in a manger

The heart of Christmas has a name

I'm gonna make a wish this Christmas

I'm gonna say a little prayer

Wherever you are, no matter how far

Come back to the heart, the heart of Christmas

Live while you can and cherish the moment

The ones that you love, make sure they know it

Wherever you are, now matter how far

Come back to the heart, the heart of Christmas

Live while you can, cherish the moment

The ones that you love, make sure they know it

Don't miss it, the heart of Christmas

Every year I get to spend this wonderful season with my extended family. The love that we share is apparent in the fact that we don't mind fitting 8 people on a couch!
A few years later, we didn't quite all fit on the couch. But we were still sitting on top of each other!

The State Fair

This year I made a personal record of 3 trips to the North Carolina State Fair! The State Fair is one of my favorite things to do each year. I love the lights, the smells, people-watching and the excitement that fills the air! After going to the Fair almost every year of my life, I did an activity this year I've never done before. I watched the pigs race! I rode the ferris wheel, ate deep fried Reeses', saw the 4-H animals and spent time with my dancers in the Folk Festival Tent for the clogging competition.

Anything that is deep-fried is a popular favorite at the NC State Fair. You can get anything from fried oreos, fried ho-ho's, fried cheesecake, fried candybars and fried Kool-Aid.

Hot Air Balloons

This October I went with my friend Amy to the North Carolina Hot Air Balloon Festival in Statesville, NC. Our day at the festival was amazing! We were there from sun-up to sun-down (literally!). Right after sun-rise the hot air balloons did a fly-over where they flew over the festival grounds and competed by trying to throw a bean-bag into a drawn circle as well as throw a ring around a tall PVC pipe sticking out of the ground.

In the early afternoon we got to experience a mass ascenion of 48 hot air balloons in the air at one time. It was the most beautiful and spectacular experience. To look up in the air and see hot air balloons everywhere. The shouts and squeals from children pointing and smiling at the balloons contributed to the excitement.

After dark the hot air ballons returned and were grounded. The pilots then lit-up the balloons for a Balloon Glow. When we thought the day couldn't get any better, this topped the cake! To be standing next to all of the beautiful glowing balloons was truly breathtaking.

This is a festival that I will need to make an annual experience.