UDA College Nationals

What an incredible experience the UDA College National Championships in Orlando was!  I'm already looking forward to next year!  It was truly a national competition.  So many colleges from all over the country were there competing in all types of cheerleading and dance!  Endicott competed in the open division and placed 5th in the nation for Pom, 3rd in the nation for Game Day and 3rd in the nation for Jazz!  So amazing!! 

We arrived on Thursday.  The place where we stayed had a beautiful heated pool.  The weather was a bit chilly but there was lots of sunshine and blue skies. Florida in January is my kind of weather...

That evening we went to Disney Springs for dinner...

I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and donuts!! I know it sounds weird but it was so good!! 

Gianna brought a friend along on the trip...

The competition was held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. First up was the Game Day competition.  

The venues are gorgeous and the stages are huge...

Before your school performs, family and friends line up outside the arena and then file in while their school is being announced.  Then you sit on the floor right in front of the stage to cheer your team on.  This was my view during line up...

They competed in the preliminary round and the top teams advanced to the finals later that day.  Here is the award ceremony....

 

Endicott placed 3rd and won a Bronze Medal for their Game Day routine!! 

Day Two of competition was the preliminary round for Pom and Jazz. They were against about 20 other colleges in the nation for each routine.  They were so excited when it was announced they would advance to the finals round the next day for both routines!!  Let me tell you...the competition was no joke!!  

There were three different panels of judges for each division...D1, D1A and Open. 

Warming up with her team...

Getting ready for the Pom Competition...

Jazz Competition...

Buddy Team...

Finals Award Ceremony...

They placed 3rd for Jazz and 5th for Pom!! Amazing as the competition was so incredibly difficult!! 

Freshmen...

So proud of our Gull!!  

They received so much support from their family and friends...

Then that night the Magic Kingdom held a special celebration for all of the college competitors, family and friends.  We had the park to ourselves from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m....

What a weekend it was!!  Memories for a lifetime for this Gull...

Open Pom Finals

1.    Minnesota State University, Mankato         94.5797

2.    St Cloud State University                            93.1159                 

3.    Northwest Missouri State University          92.029

4.    University of Minnesota-Duluth                 90.8116

5.    Endicott College                                        90.1304

6.    The College of New Jersey                         87.7536

7.     College of St Benedict                               87.5652

8.     Pittsburg State University                          83.6594

9.     Peru State College                                      83.2029

Open Jazz Finals

1.    Minnesota State University, Mankato         95.942

2.    St Cloud State University                            93.8261

3.    Endicott College                                         93.3043

4.     University of Minnesota-Duluth                 92.3333        

5.     College of St Benedict                                89.9275

6.     Miss Gulf Coast Community College         89.6812

7.     Northwest Missouri State University          89.6667

8.     Stockton University                                     89.5797

9.     Lindenwood University                               88.8551

10    The College of New Jersey                          88.8261

Open Game Day Finals

1.     St Cloud State University                            91.4667

2.     Minnesota State University, Mankato         90.1167

3.     Endicott College                                        90.0833

Integrity

 

With integrity - you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. 

Natural Life 

Four more days

Four more days until Nationals! They're working so hard!!

Living Room refresh

I was tired of working at my kitchen table...so I had this grandiose idea of getting rid of my old couch in the fireplace living room and putting a new desk in its place.  Well...I hated it.  

I really missed having a couch! So off we went to the furniture store this past weekend and we purchased this new couch and side table...

I moved a chair out of the room and put my new desk in its place...

And voila...I love the room now!  I'm so happy!!  It's really cozy...

I'm waiting on a larger white ottoman that matches the white chair.  It's on back order until February so in the meantime that little one will do...

Then...what do you think about painting the brick on the fireplace...white?  

Holding my breath

Hoping and praying Julia and her teammates stay healthy and get to travel to Florida to compete at Nationals in two weeks.  Also praying their flights (and ours too) don't get canceled or make traveling difficult. This Virus it taking over right now and making life so complicated!!  I feel like I'm praying for a miracle : ( 

2021 Highlights

The year began with me and my siblings putting 486 on the market... 

and then selling it for way above the asking price. It came with so many mixed emotions. My heart was very heavy for months and months and I cried many tears over it.  What a generous gift it was from my grandparents and my Mom. 2021 was definitely a lucrative year for us. In addition to the sale of 486, we also sold the business and I received a generous raise at work.  Just in time for the kids heading off to college.    

Nicholas earned EHLP "Top Goalie of the Week" and "Goalie of the Month"!  So proud!!! 

and he got to play in the Frozen Finals!!

Then in the fall The Boy went on to sign with a new junior hockey team, The Springfield Pics...

and he just earned USPHL Northern Region "Player of the Week"!!!

We were very brave and remodeled not one...not two...but all three of our bathrooms!  What an undertaking that was but they turned out so nice...

Gianna turned 16...

and she got her license!

We finally got to go back to Cancun after missing our vacation in 2020 due to Covid...

After Julia's junior prom was canceled due to Covid too, she finally got to go to her senior prom!  She was stunning...

Julia had the most amazing and successful last year of dance at NEDA by winning first place at Elite Performance Challenge, placing 2nd at Starquest and winning the senior soloist national title at Elite Performance Challenge Nationals...

Right after that she placed in the top 5 for her solo at the Hall of Fame Nationals which led to her recompeting in the Showcase Showdown!!!  So exciting!!!

She was also on the cover of the NEDA dance recital program...

and received her 15 year award...

She also earned a coveted spot on the Endicott College competitive dance team...

She graduated from high school earning two cords...one for National Honor Society and the second for the National Language Honor Society...

We had a graduation party for Julia and my two nephews.  We took a Smith family picture to document the last time we would all be together for quite some time.  My brother and nephew moved back to Florida, my other nephew moved to Michigan for college, my sister moved to Maine, Nicholas moved to Springfield for hockey...

and Julia moved to Beverly for her freshman year of college...

And last but not least...I finally got my braces off after two long years!  I learned you are never too old to improve your smile...

What a great year it was after the debacle of 2020!!