Thank You, SFCD

"You must recognize the importance of practicing your potential.

If you don't think it's important to work to your fullest extent, you're already in trouble."

I come home tomorrow. I feel like I just tried to drink out of a fire hydrant for four weeks and now I have to go into the drought hoping my gulps of information/motivation will carry me through and keep boosting me toward my goals.

"There is no place for reservation. It's not logical. Return to the fearless child."

Like last time, I'm coming back a new dancer. I have new purpose in what I do. It's rather exciting, really.

"Your choices are: get lucky, work hard, or don't. Those are your choices."

I'm excited to start another year with Theatre Ballet in two weeks! It will be a time of much growth and hard work. I can't wait.

"Practice and Doing What's Comfortable are two separate things.

Don't let yourself get away with doing less."

(quotes from Summer Lee Rhatigan, director at San Francisco Conservatory of Dance... just a few tiny drops from the fire hydrant I drank from)

this is the ad for the show we had this weekend. it was awesome.

Happy Birthday...

...to my one and only.

I love you, Peter

The Other Side

Alright boys and girls, we are back in business after a few wedding-filled weeks! We have officially crossed over to the other side. The MARRIED side.

There will be more wedding posts to come, once we get our fabulous pictures back from the fabulous Lizzy Bean of Elizabeth Helen Photography. (seriously, she is awesome. check out her stuff here.)

Suffice it to say that we are completely overwhelmed with the love, support, and generosity continuously given throughout the entire process. What amazing people we have in our lives.

Little Family, Big Changes

Well, folks, we are in the midst of some big changes for the Fullmer family. My lovely parentals are going to be empty-nesters by the end of this summer.

Four big life-happenings worth noting:

1. My sister Jasmine graduated high school last week!

They grow up so fast.....

...well....kind of.....

Congrats Jazzy! I love your schniggley face.

2. My dad was a State Golden Apple Award Recipient. This award given by the state PTA basically means he has been voted by parents and students as one of the best teachers, K-12, all subjects, in Utah. Not bragging, just celebrating. He has worked so hard and sacrificed much to pursue his passion of music and teaching. I know for a fact he has impacted thousands of students throughout his career, teaching them how to be better than their best. It was satisfying to see his efforts acknowledged. We're at the awards dinner, recorded to be broadcast on KUED:

I'm proud of you, daddy.

3. A trip to Vegas! By some cosmic miracle, the planets aligned and the four of us all had the weekend pretty much free. So dad decided, quite last minute, that we were going to go on a "last hoorah" trip before the wedding. Stay tuned for details on that trip. It was mighty fine.

4. Oh, hey, by the way, Peter and I get married in 10 days. 10 DAYS. For a sneak preview of the bridal photos, look at Lizzy's website here.

That's the scoop on our little family that is going through some big changes. Hope you all had a glorious Memorial Day weekend!

Back In The Saddle

I got back into teaching today. Like, REAL teaching. Not shepherding/policing bratty little kids who are too young to care about dance. No, I'm talking serious teaching--actual training. And you know what? It felt good.

It's been a long time since I've taught a a class full of dancers who are motivated and focused. I lost sight of why I love to teach. So, I took a much-needed break from teaching dance. That is, until tonight when I subbed a couple classes for my friend.

I admit, I was a little nervous about it. But once the class got rollin, it felt just like old times. The good old times, not the bad old times. I think the students enjoyed the class too. They stayed with me and were sweating at the end (a sure sign they were working hard!).

I'm relieved about all this because I start teaching private lessons tomorrow. I've also had a few job offers for the fall too. It's good to be back into the teaching swing of things again. Someday I'll fill you in on why teaching is important to me, but that is for another post.

(I used to teach cute little nuggets like these girls and loved it.)

OPERATION: Key Lime Pie

Of course, when I was itching to do a post, Blogger decided to have a freak-out.

But once again, all is well in the land of blogging, so let's get on with this post, shall we?

Peter and I have been busy sprucing up the new house we're going to live in once we're married. Actually, he lives there now, so technically I'll be moving in. In the meantime, we're having fun making it OUR HOME.

When we moved in, we were greeted with this lovely sight:

The minute we saw it, we knew the glowing green headache HAD TO GO. Hence, Operation Key Lime Pie was born and quickly became the #1 priority on the to-do list.

There was an extension of the operation--a "secondary mission," if you will, that involved de-grossifying the kitchen as well...

Observe the ugly yellow counter tops clashing with the boring, dull tan walls. ewww...

And so we were off! We taped and primed, painted and repainted like fiends. (We had some helpers too! Shout out to the painting posse!) After painting, we moved stuff around. We hung paintings and pictures, built bookshelves and hooked our electronics up. We really made it ours and are quite pleased with ourselves and the outcome. The transformation is complete!!!

(sorry for the blurry pics... I was in a hurry)

(we hooked our computer up to our TV!)

(even the gross yellow counter tops aren't as gross anymore)

(we love our white board. we glued a sheet of magnetic metal to the back of it so we can hang stuff up! look at us go)

It feels good to have a place of our own. I can't wait until I can actually start living in it! Thanks to everyone who helped out. Come over and we'll make you dinner anytime!

Easter Surprise

If you drive by my house, you will see a winter wreath still hanging on our front door. Yes, we left it up too long, but now it's too late to take it down....

Then, on Easter morning, we woke up to another surprise!

This picture was taken this morning:

Doesn't it just melt your heart! Here's to Spring!

Kiss That Semester Goodbye

First, I would like to comment on the previous post. For those of you very much out of the loop, Peter is the man I am going to marry. Yep, MARRY. (in 50 days to be exact....but who's counting anyway?) He will be a great contributer to this blog by giving it some life (he is an English major, you know).

Well folks. the Winter 2011 semester came and went. I will miss:

my humanities lectures,

my lovely ballet buddies,

going to the dance training room.

I will not miss:

early mornings,

busy days,

writing a truckload of papers,

homework in general,

commuting to Provo once or twice or three times a day,

the list goes on...

Although my days won't be filled with busy schoolness, it will be a new kind of busy. A fun busy.

You see, Peter and I are planning out wedding (not my most favorite thing in the world...more on that later). And after the wedding, we will get to live in our own little space where our own ideas can take shape and we can build our new lives together. We're so excited about it that we're already making plans. We have chosen the paint colors, our furniture, what the layout of the place will look like, where we will put all our stuff, etc.

(this will be our new place come June. it was a drive-by picture, so it's not the best. but we are thrilled with our little burrow. it will be fun to make it our own.)

We bought a giant white board to put on our future wall. Then we went to Home Depot and got a bunch of tools and a magnetic piece of metal to glue to the back of it. It's pretty much the most fantastic thing ever. Can't wait to use it! We already bought markers and stuff for it...

A Face Lift For My Week

I'm giving my weekly routine a much-needed face lift. Due to many reasons I shan't bore you with (yes I just said "shan't"), I put in my notice at THAT JOB (you know, the un-fulfilling, time-consuming, soul-shriveling one).

and I FEEL GOOD.

I celebrated by going to dinner by myself. I've never done that before, and it sounds kind of strange, but it was exactly what I needed. I was nervous to break the news to my boss because I've never actually "put in my notice" before. The idea of quitting has floated around in my head for awhile now, but I didn't know if it was the right decision. I felt so light after I had done it though. So I headed over to a little family-run Chinese restaurant during my break, sat in a booth, and enjoyed my meal in the peace and quiet. I was the only customer and they were playing that calming Asian music that makes you think of blossoms and umbrellas and Tai Chi....

(in case you needed a visual of Asian cherry blossoms--from DC trip '08)

The weekly face lift includes more hours spent working at the other happy job, less gas money spent, less stress for Hilary, and a break from teaching for awhile. We'll see how that last part affects me...

The Proposal

This is how it went down:

Friday, January 14, 2011, we went to Costa Vida (the first place we ate together) and then to Velour for a rockin Imagine Dragons concert. Said concert lasted 4 hours (SO worth it) and ended around midnight. (Pete was texting my sister and aunt the whole time because they were in on THE PLAN.)

We had planned to do things after the concert, not knowing it would last for so long. Pete still wanted to hang out so he followed me home in his car (20 min drive--I thought he was crazy). On the ride home, my aunt called me "just to chat." It was definitely 12:15am, but I was driving home with nothing better to do, so we chatted it up for about 20 minutes.

Peter was nowhere to be found, long after I got home. While I was on the phone with

my aunt, he called me and said, "I know you're tired, so just come outside and say goodnight." (He IS crazy, I thought)

When I opened my front door, there was a candle, a rose, and a note explaining that this was his little way of celebrating our one year anniversary. So I followed a trail of candles, roses, and notes about our history together.

This little trail led me over to a sentimental bridge I've grown up crossing since I was a little girl. As I started walking toward the bridge, Pete flipped a switch and the whole bridge lit up. He was standing there in his suit, holding a rose. There was a little table there with Martinelli's and crystal glasses. When I got to him, he handed me the rose, pulled the ring out, and got on his knee....

Needless to say, I said yes! Even though we had picked out the ring earlier, he had me believing it was still being fixed in California and wouldn't be here for another few weeks. I was totally surprised.

I loved the whole thing. It was romantic, classy, beautiful. simply perfect.

Thanks to all who helped out (and schemed behind my back...haha), and thanks to everyone for their love and support! We couldn't be happier!

The Story

I have some news. BIG news....

I am ENGAGED to be married to my perfect match. I really don't know how I got so lucky. (Well, actually I do. We give full credit to Sandra Dutson) Peter is my person: my match when I need to be matched, my complement where I am lacking. And I think I'm the same for him. I am grateful every day that he is in my life. I sure do love him.

The Story:

Nov-- Freshman Hilary is randomly assigned to stay at the Wolfley residence during BYU ballet tour to CO. Realization that their son and her grandparents were at the time serving in the same mission in Armenia.

June (ish)-- Post-Freshman Hilary receives phone call from missionary grandma who says there's a new AP named Elder Wolfley. Wolfley is her favorite and thinks the two would get along nicely...

Aug-- Returned Missionary Peter calls Sophomore Hilary. They have a splendidly long talk.

Aug-Dec--Lots of long chats, clever emails, and all-day texting between the two parties.

Jan 2010-- Peter and Hilary officially start dating

Jan 2011-- Peter and Hilary are officially engaged to be married JUNE 10!

(details of THAT event in the next post. stay tuned...)

I Have No Business Starting This Blog.

I can't even write in my journal regularly (meaning more than once every four months...)

HOWever, I somehow talked myself into it based on these facts:

• I spend too much time reading other people's blogs and feelings and goals instead of examining mine.
• I want to be good at writing. Therefore, I must practice.
• I can type faster than I can write (and I'm on the computer so much anyway).
• I am overcoming fear...

- of not being diligent

- of not having anything interesting to say

- of being judged

• My journal is sick of waiting for me to record my life. This is new motivation?
• My posterity or whomever reads my journal will probably want it digitalized anyway.

Regardless of my reasons (or justifications) for taking this leap, I am taking it in an attempt to record MY thoughts, feelings, goals, impressions, etc

reaching Such Great Heights...