last little bit of 2011

We finished up 2011 with 3 competitions in December.

Southeastern States in Orlando, FL. We took 1st in Rising star smooth, 2nd in rising star theater arts, 1st in pro show dance, 2nd in pro rising star, 1st in pro theater arts. it was a very busy weekend since we did 3 different show routines in addition to all the rounds of smooth, but we had a great time and we were even able to spend some time in Sea World (which was really cool!!)

Holiday Dance Classic in Vegas. We took 1st in rising star smooth and 1st in open pro show dance. we made the semi final of the open pro smooth. This was also a fun weekend since my parents were able to come and watch again. We were also able to spend some time with our really good friends who moved from new jersey to utah.

Yuletide Ball, Washington D.C. We took 1st in rising star smooth, 1st in open pro showdance, and 1st in pro smooth. Talk about a great way to end the year.

We were also able to ring in the new year by performing with the philadelphia orchestra on new years eve. It was such a fun and exciting event to be apart of. It definitely had its challenges since dancing to live music is subject to interpretation and different from the recorded version we had practiced to, but we were so glad we could be included in this special evening. What an honor to perform with such an amazing group.

Puerto Rico

We had so much fun!!! aside from dancing we had some pretty fun adventures.


Wednesday we arrived in the afternoon and just checked out the gorgeous resort. That night we went to a pig roast for the welcome party, and it was delicious!!! afterward we went with some friends to another resort and played a little roulet. my parents arrived late that night (and rightfully so they were pretty grumpy after flying all day).

Thursday we took it pretty easy: checked out the resort, lounged, found the local market to buy some snacks and then danced rising star that evening.

Friday we went downtown to explore old san juan. it was a fun afternoon activity, not my favorite, but still nice to get out and see the city. for dinner we all went out to dinner with our friends the Marzells and had such a nice time. after dinner we dance open pro smooth.the fort at old san juan

what a freak!!!

this delicious coconut beverage was created right in front of out eyes while this man was just hacking away at the coconut, kinda scary since one slip and there goes his hand. but it was a tasty refreshing treat.

Saturday we spent most of our time at the beach just lounging and swimming in the ocean. so beautiful and so relaxing and i actually was able to tan a little, a REAL tan, finally! That afternoon we went to watch a local cock fight, which sounds really horrible and shady but it was crazy becuase the arena it was held in looked like a mini NBA sports arena with a jumbo tron in the middle, it was such a nice facility. this was definitely my dad's favorite activity and in general we all had a nice time. That night we danced showdance.

look at that happy face

the locker room where they are prepping the cocks

Sunday we rented a car and they upgraded us to a jeep (which was so much fun) and we drove to the local rainforest, which is currently in the running for one of the wonders of the world. It was pretty fun to drive through and hike around a little. Then we drove to a beach and took a kayaking tour to the bio-luminescent bay, which was such a fun activity. The tour lasted about 2 hours and the four of us were laughing the entire time especially whenever we tried to race. it was really funny to see my dad play a little "dirty" in the races, one time he rammed our kayak and pushed us into the trees, it was so funny. It was really funny becuase we all managed to stay dry for the most part until at the very end when we were all getting out of the kayaks in like 12 inches of water and my dad caught his foot and fell in, i guess thats what he gets for pushing us into the trees :)).

famous waterfall

look at that leaf

happy little campers

the sun was so bright

hiking into this waterfall was so funny because it was pretty hot and every time we turned around my dad had shed another article of clothing

Monday morning we woke up early for one last swim in the ocean. then we ran inside, showered, packed our bag, and left for the airport. It was so hard to leave, especially since this is the first time i've gone on a relaxing tropical vacation with my parents and it was so great to see them relax a little and just hang out. All in all we LOVED the weekend and LOVED being able to spend time with my parents, since we get to see them so little now.

last swim!

busy busy busy!!!!

We have been traveling like crazy the since my last post. here is what we have been up to:

Sept 23-25 we went to boston for a competition. we didn't dance since there weren't any pro events, but travis took a few students and they did SO well! One of his students' took first in her scholarship event and his other student took first in her single dances. woohoo!

Oct 1 Constitution State in Stamford, Connecticut. we took 1st in showdance and 2nd in open pro smooth. they didn't have rising star at this competition.

October 7-9 First Coast Classic in St. Augustine, Florida. we took 2nd in Rising Star (we weren't very happy), 2nd in show dance and 4th in open pro smooth. Even though we weren't very happy with our results this weekend we had SO much fun hanging out. It was such a crazy weekend because we flew the same day we danced and we had a layover in DC where we missed our connecting flight because we were complete idiots and we were just talking and laughing and next thing we know boom... the door was closed and we missed our flight, ah! however, we were able to get on another flight and barely make it in time to dance. Also, we rented a car for the weekend and they randomly upgraded our car for free to a mustang :)). plus we were able to do some great shopping at some outlet malls near our hotel, so we managed to have a good time.

Oct 14-16 Hotlanta in Atlanta, Georgia. This competition was awesome we had so much fun yet again, plus we had great results as well :). We took 5th in open pro smooth (amazing result), 1st in showdance and 1st in Rising star smooth. plus we spent a day in Atlanta hanging out. we went to the world of coca cola which was so fun since they have a big tasting center where you can try all of their sodas from around the world. we also had lunch at a place called mary macs. they found out we were dancers and they took our pictures and thought we were famous, it was so funny.

Oct 21-22 New Jersey State Open in Longbranch, NJ. We took 1st in open pro smooth, 1st in rising star smooth and 2nd in show dance. definitely a good weekend plus it was nice because we were able to drive each night to the competition and spend the day at home for a change.

Nov 2-7 Caribbean Classic in Puerto Rico. Best competition of my life!!! so much fun and the most amazing vacation all wrapped into one. and it was double the fun becuase my parents were able to come and see us dance for the first time since we turned professional. it was so fun having them come and seeing how proud they were. we took 1st in rising star smooth, 1st in open pro smooth and 2nd in showdance. I will post details about the vacation portion with pictures later.

Nov 17-21 Ohio Star Ball in Columbus, ohio. This was our first time going to the infamous Ohio Star ball and it was such an exciting weekend!! We took 1st in the Professional Theater Arts division which was a HUGE accomplishment since the couple that took 2nd has consistently beaten us in the past, so we were shocked to win and couldn't have been more excited. In open pro smooth we made the semi-final, we were hoping to make the final, but we were very happy with our dancing. For rising star smooth we took 1st in all dances, which was exciting and we were very happy with our dancing for the weekend. all in all it was a very successful weekend and definitely one to be proud of, especially since it was our first time ever attending the event.

3 years!!

This past week we celebrated our 3 year anniversary. CRAZY!! In some way i feel like: "WOW, has it really been that long already??" but on the other hand part of me feels like we've always been together. Unfortunately i was sick and we weren't really able to do anything on the day of, i fell asleep as soon as we got home from work. However, over the weekend we were able to have a nice evening to ourselves. I still wasn't feeling super so it was a really short night out, but we were able to go to the mall and pick out a new nice winter coat for Travis. It looks really sharp. while he was trying it on in the store strangers kept coming by and commenting on how stunning he looked.

It has been a wonderful 3 years and i can't believe how much we have been able to do and see together in that short amount of time. I'm so happy to be married to such a wonderful person who is my best friend. We literally spend 24 hours a day together 7 days a week and we still manage not to get sick of each other, i think that's pretty special.

competition results

September 1-5 Embassy Ball in Irvine California. We placed 2nd in rising star and 6th in open pro. They didn't have show dance so we weren't able to compete that. However, this was a really fun competition for us since we had quite a few friends from school come watch. We were able to spend a day in disneyland with our good friends Chris and Rachel Husberg and Travis and Diana Menghini. It was such a fun weekend and it was nice to finally be able to spend some quality time with our old friends.

September 6-11 United States Dancesport Championships in Orlando, Florida. This was a really busy week for us, but we were happy with how we placed in general. we took 2nd in Rising Star, 4th in Theater Arts, 5th in U S Cabaret, 7th in open to the world cabaret and made the semi final of open professional smooth. Not bad for our first time at the comp and only 6 months of competing professionally. :)

Shoe Sponsor!!!

This past weekend at Capital Dancesport Championships we were approached by Capezio and they offered us a shoe sponsorship!!! HOORAY!!! we are super excited to be working with them. They don't currently have the greatest quality of ballroom dance shoes, but they are trying to break into the business and are looking for people to wear their shoes and give them feedback on how to improve them. and yes, i just might have a pair of danceshoes named after me, and yes perhaps one day you or your child will be sporting the JaimeeTuft. In addition to having them customize my regular competition shoes, they also said that if i ever needed special shoes for our showdances, such as boots, that they would make them for me as well.

Also, they are wanting to include us in their catalogs, so the next dance catalog you pick up just might have a picture of us inside. They are officially re-launching their ballroom line at the Ohio Star Ball, so if you plan on attending keep your eye out for their booth, because it will probably have a picture of us in the back drop of their display.

Just like everything else that has happened to us it came as a huge surprise and much earlier than we anticipated. we thought if we were going to receive a sponsorship it probably wouldn't be until after nationals, at the earliest. But we couldn't be happier!!

competition results

I know alot of you are probably sick of hearing about our results, but oh well... here goes:

August 12-14 Empire State Dancesport Championship. This was held in Manhattan, in a hotel on times square. It was really convenient for us that it was so close so that we could just drive in each night to dance. Friday night was rising star smooth, we placed 1st. Saturday night was show dance, we placed 1st, sunday night we danced both the theater arts compulsory event, which we placed 1st in, and also open pro smooth, which we placed 3rd. Overall, not a bad weekend!!

August 19-21 Nevada Star Ball in Las Vegas Nevada. It was really nice because we were able to stay at a condo in Henderson that was only 5 minutes from the competition!! We had a heck of a time getting to Vegas since our flight kept getting delayed, but we made it safe and sound. Saturday night we danced rising star smooth, we placed 1st. Sunday night we danced 3 rounds of open pro smooth (which is alot) and then ran into the dressing room and quickly changed to do our cabaret, it was EXHAUSTING. we placed 6th in the open pro smooth (which we weren't happy about) and 1st in show dance (which we were extremely happy about!!). We also received some INCREDIBLY EXCITING news, however we will have to wait to tell you about them until they are 100% official... so stay tuned!

August 25-28 Capital Dancesport Championships in Washington DC. This comp was crazy because there was an earthquake only 2 days before it started and there was a hurricane going on during the competition. kinda crazy!!! Thursday night we placed 1st in theater arts compulsory division. Friday night we placed 1st in rising star smooth. Saturday night we placed 2nd in show dance and 3rd in open professional smooth (which was an awesome placing!!!). In addition to placing so well we also received some AMAZING news... which i will tell you about in our next post (and yes, this is different then previously mentioned).

we still have 2 more big competitions coming up. this weekend we are going to LA for the embassy ball and then directly from there we are flying to Orlando, FL for the United States Dancesport Championships, which is a really big deal, so stay tuned to see how we do. we aren't expecting to have incredible results since its our first year, but we have been having some great results lately so you never know what could happen....