yesterday was the battle in detroit.

i must say it started out rough.. very rough. rough as in i said maybe 10 words the entire way there... thats 3 hours of 10 words people. no no no.. 3 hours of 10 words approximately 20 thousand break dance beats and lingo between 3 dance junkys that would be enough to drive any sane person to stab 3 forks and a spoon into their eye.

we got there 2 hours early. 6 to be exact.

the bboying was sposed to start at 8, NOTHING started (except for the cyphers) until 9:30 and 61syx didnt battle until 11:30. now tell me, how much fun would a breakdancers GIRLFRIEND have for 5 hours surrounded by a zillion talented dancers in a hispanic youth center? tons actually....! once we got there and started driving around detroit it was just really exciting (i had never been there before) we went to this burger king and all the workers were black and they were just so funny. just like the ann arbor battle.. im amazed at the way people can move their bodies. i had no idea how INSANE breakdancing can be. i've seen clips on keegans computer of other crews.. but when you actually SEE them... hooooolly wow.

61syx took prolly 8th out of 16 which is pretty good for a crew thats only been together for a year.. versus Chicago Tribe whos been together for 6. (they won by the way)

it was just incredible... very cool INDEED. but yeah.. so we didnt leave until about 1.. got lost trying to find the CORRECT high way, seems how there's 80 of them (ish).



but above all i love curling up and falling asleep after a long day with the person who just 'gets' me most.....and then waking up and eating chilli... lol. gotta love keegans mom.



yesterday before the battle we went to a distribution center in grand rapids for toys for tots (we being me, my beloved red flannel girls, emily secor, shannon potter, and keegan) and helped familys pick out toys for their children. we did this last year for red flannel, and loved it so much that we just HAD to go back this year. its the absolute best experience we had last year, and now we have another incredible memory. its such an eye opening experience. you meet all these people who are just so blessed to have an organization to help them out. all day i was waiting for that ONE person that would teach me the biggest lesson, that i would remember most. and finally i found her. she was middle age woman, very well kept and so incredibly nice. and when i greeted her she told me that this was her first time so she would be so happy if i walked her through it and helped her out (which we do for all the people anyway) when i told her that she could pick 3 toys per child and a stocking stuffer she was in disbelief and kept saying how wonderful it was. immediatly i noticed this incredible energy to her. when we got to the teenage table i told her that she could pick one toy because we had a shortage when it got to that agegroup and told her that that's one thing we want to change next year. she replied with "oh its fine. and SOO greatfully received, truely it is. this is such a blessing" a little bit later she told me that her girls (4 of them) lost everything in a housefire. all their christmas gifts, possesions.. everything.. and then proceeded to tell me that it was their father who set the house on fire. with everything that this woman had been through, she still found the courage to be strong and ask for help when her family needed it the most. i didnt want her to leave.. i just wanted to continue talking to her and feed off her high energy. it was so wonderful.

it just makes a person realize that you never know when you're going to need help from your community. thats what we're here for. to help eachother out. this woman made the comment that "god willing, next year it will ME thats helping other people in situations like mine out" and i couldnt have said it better myself. as community members we all need to step it up to help others in need.. and no im not just trying to be corny or whatever else you might call me... but if you dont believe how much you can truely do for your community even by donating an hour of your time to talk to people who just need someone to listen.. then please contact a distribution center for next year and see for yourself how great a need even just OUR community and surrounding communitys are for added help. you never know when it could be YOU thats asking for help.

above all, toys for tots finally got me locked into the christmas spirit. i just feel like making christmas cookies and going caroling! lol.. and ACTUALLY.. i was talking to linds a bit ago and we'd really like to go with a nice sized group. so if anyone is interested leave me a comment and perhaps we can set something up for this week.

i hope everyone has a great break and a great christmas.

STAY SAFE on the roads!

*winks... later kids.

2 Felt the pain... | How does it feel?