cheering for valentine's day...

Do you have plans for Valentine's Day? We do. We will be driving back from our cheer trip to LA for our West Coast Competition. I say "we" because (as of now) we are making it a family trip. I don't really mind that it falls on Valentine's day either, because we've done the whole "go out to dinner" that night and it's a crazy mess. We have vowed to never celebrate "the day of" any longer. We still celebrate, but not on Valentine's Day and not with flowers (because i made the mistake early on in our dating years to say that I don't like flowers. it's kind of true- just because they die and fade away so fast- but i do like getting flowers as a surprise every once-in-a while- i hope joe is reading this, wink wink.)Maybe it's not flowers, but the special thought that counts. right now for me it would be a McDonald's or In N Out burger, or some candy or big spoon (wink wink again).I guess I'm speaking to myself too...I could do more surprises for Joe as well.

I cheered all throughout high school, went to Florida 3 times for Nationals and to LA a few times as well. I loved it...have a national title and some of the best memories. This is my 5th year coaching cheerleading. Joe and I started our relationship my first year as a cheer coach. He randomly appeared at JV football games and hung out in the bleachers with me. So cheerleading has some emotional ties for me as well. I've been coaching this year dragging Judah to practices- and now with our second on the way- I'm retiring for a few years. Need to focus my energy on being a MOM. Regardless, this year has been a huge growth year for me. Dealing with parents, injuries, a varsity squad, and now boys (we will be competing as a coed squad, and we are loving every minute of it...)

I guess I'm writing about this because it's swarming in my head. We just had a parent meeting tonight and an awesome practice. Our team is working so hard to pull this off. It's our last horrah! We still have a ways to go of cleaning up our routine...but we are on the right path. We are performing at the winter banquet rally on Friday. So we are working tirelessly these next couple days to perform to the best of our ability.

I'm so looking forward to our trip. Say a little prayer for us if you think about it...we are leaving Feb 11-14. The girls/guys have been working so hard, and we are praying that their hard work pays off with a big win! We also get to experience Disneyland while we are down there...so looking forward to it...this would be Judah's first trip down there as well.

Here is a sneak peak into our practice today (don't mind us yelling in the background):