Throw back; Too Good to be True
-Kayla Watson
On a random Monday during Summer 2013, I got an email around
noon saying that I had been chosen to receive tickets to the 'Dancing with the
Stars finale'. Go ahead, roll your eyes, I did too. They said I was able to
bring a couple guests too if I just replied acknowledging I wanted the tickets.
I figured what the heck and did.... they responded right away with tickets. I
was totally skeptical, but it looked legit, so I called up Aly Raisman's
biggest fan, my best friend Bry, and Kellie Pickler's biggest fan, my best
friend Meagan, & invited them. They willingly accepted. The tickets said we
had to be well dressed and arrive there by 3:30 for
our guaranteed admission.
I explained to the girls that I wasn't 100% sure these were
real, but they agreed that we should try anyways and if it was a scam, we could
go shopping In L.A. instead. Tuesday morning, we got ready and headed out to Los
Angeles. We arrived to CBS studios around 3:00. Approaching the entrance was
insane! There were roughly 500 people that were lined up to see the show. My
tickets said to skip the line and instead, talk to the person in charge as soon
as I got there to check in. I found the lady in black and she asked for my id
and crossed my name off a list of four other people. Then a gentleman looked at
me and said, "Right this way miss."
Umm, hello, this was totally awesome. While all those people
were waiting in the hot sun, I was being ushered right past them all. It was
crazy. AND my name was on some exclusive list. I was feeling pretty cool. We
walked down some stairs and up some ramps. My friends and I kept smiling at
each other. We finally got to this place where about 20 people were sitting
down. I assumed these were the other people on the list and their guests. As we
were just about to sit down, a guy pointed at us asking, "These are the
girls?" my heart started to pound... "Right this way ladies".
"Uh oh", I thought. This was not good. I had no
idea where those tickets came from. I thought I probably being arrested for
fraud. I felt terrible for dragging my friends into this situation.
"Stay here." The guy left and my friends and I
started laughing. I assured my friends that I would just explain to them what
happened & no one would get in trouble. We waited for about 15 minutes
before he came back.
"Ladies, I want you to be in the front row." He
said.
I had to pause the escape plan brewing in my head to hear
correctly. Yeah, that's right. This guy was asking Meagan, Bry and I if we
would line the dance floor during the dancing with the stars finale. We were
stoked. While waiting, we saw Kellie Pickler who waved at us and Sean Lowe from
the Bachelor who also gave us a sly wink and wave. It was so cool! I couldn't
believe that we were getting all this special treatment.
We got inside and the studio was tiny! The dance floor
couldn't have been bigger than a basketball court... they told us that we were
to line the stage, but after the celebrities danced, we would have to move so
they could take our seats and go up to the balcony. We opted to take some nice
seats behind the judges instead.
During the commercial breaks, we got to briefly say hi to the
final four as well as the gorgeous Derek Hough. It was such a fun experience
and the judges were a blast, dancing all the time. We weren't allowed to bring
our phones in, so I don't have any good pictures, but the whole experience was
wonderful. The dancers were so passionate and beautiful. The costumes and
lights were incredible. It was so fun seeing people who love doing what they're
doing perform right in front of you.
(This isn't a picture from the finale, but I’m just to the
left of Kari Anne's left shoulder if you're looking at her, you can see my big
curly hair!)
Sometimes, it’s worth it to take a risk! Since then, I’ve
done The Price is Right, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Chelsea
Handler, Jimmy Kimmel, and am planning to do one with a comedian soon. I’d love
to do Ellen, but I heard those were so hard to get into. They are so much fun
and I have made some pretty worth-while memories because of that one tiny risk.
Jess
Response:
Kayla! I love dancing with the stars and am so jealous that
you got to sit in the first row. Season 16 was awesome. I am really looking
forward to the next season starting in a few weeks.
Thanks for sharing. Hey reader, do you want to share your
fun or crazy story? Comment, DM on Instagram (@jess_sharingus) or email jessicaleonat@gmail.com. Your story
can be featured on my blog!
---
What Happens in Vegas
xoxo Maddie Hanline
It was
Thanksgiving of 2012. I was a freshman in college spending the holiday in Las
Vegas with my older sister and friends. We’d spent the week having fun on the
Strip and downtown on Fremont Street. This particular night, we were at the
beautiful Bellagio Hotel. We’d been through the casinos, the festive garden,
and seen the underwhelming “World’s Largest Chocolate Fountain.” Seriously,
it’s not even close to Willy Wonka’s. Anyway, the next attraction was the
famous Bellagio water show.
We went out around
midnight to stand out by the fountain to wait for the show that starts every
fifteen minutes or so. As we stood against the stone wall around the water, we
leaned against the gate just talking and taking pictures. I stood with one foot
propped on the bottom of the wall and my arms resting on the top. Elvis
Presley’s Viva Las Vegas blared from the speakers as the show began. Now, the
hotel may have under delivered on the chocolate fountain, but in my humble
opinion, the water show definitely lives up to the hype. It’s impressive.
Somewhere along the way, I must have slipped my foot completely through one of
the gaps in the railing because when the five minute show ended, I tried to
slip it back through…with no such luck. I gave it a few tries from a few angles
without success and the panic set in. I was definitely stuck. I gave my leg a
few more pulls but I was stuck for real. I dropped to the ground
hyperventilating as I envisioned the Las Vegas Fire Department having to use
some big, scary tool to cut my foot out of the concrete columns.
My friends tried
to help me get it out, but even with three people working to free my foot, it
just wasn’t happening. By this point, people were gathered around watching,
some with concern, some for entertainment. Some even took pictures. Including
someone in my group apparently. Just as I started attempting to come to grips
with my future life as an instillation at the Bellagio fountain, my friend
worked his magic and somehow slipped my foot right out. At the pinnacle of my
panic, the situation resolved itself in quite the anticlimactic fashion. From
this Bellagio blunder, I’ve learned not to overreact about things too soon. And
that most situations can eventually be laughed at. I also learned that what
happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas if you blog about it.
---
Christ-like Road Rage
Sunday Rush Hour
By: Mackenzie Hendricks
Rexburg, Idaho is not your typical college town. Sure, there are fast food restaurants dotting the streets and more apartments than houses, but a majority of the students spend Sundays at church rather than at a local bar. (That’s another weird thing about Rexburg—very few bars.)
This last Sunday,
I left church from where we meet at the Taylor building on campus. The wind
blew and a mist settled over the parking lot, and, in our dresses and high
heels, my roommates and I braved the bizarre rainstorm (we are much more
accustomed to snow than rain). As we climbed into my car, we noticed a line of
cars both entering and leaving the church parking lot.
It was noon, high
time for church to both start and end depending on your given session, but
today the traffic seemed worse than ever. I backed up, attempted a fancy turn,
and ended up in line, although sideways. This of course set off a round of
giggles from me and my roommates, but we were in line, so, hey, who cares?
Soon my car was
properly in line, no longer sideways, but it took several minutes before we
neared the front of the parking lot. Deciding to be Christ-like, seeing since I
had just come from church and all, I gave room to let someone waiting on the
side move in front of me. I gave them a smile and an inviting wave,
Then, out of nowhere,
this silver car came screaming past, cutting into the gap I had just made for
someone else. My roommates and I erupted into NO YOU DIDN’Ts, and we looked
around frantically at the other waiting cars to share in our shocked anger. We
motioned at the silver car in front of us in disgust, our faith in humanity
somehow stunted by this ridiculous act.
In that moment,
all thoughts of church went right out the window, and my roommates and I
adopted a live or die philosophy. We would fight to get out of this parking
lot. Still indignant over the silver car’s rude actions, we then had a complete
lack of sympathy toward any car that now wanted to squeeze in. Then a
realization struck me.
“You know,” I
said. “It’s funny how one moment I am trying to be kind and invite a car in,
and when that happens exactly as I wanted, just from a different car than
expected, we all freak out. I clearly need to work on this whole Christ-like
thing.”
Our anger
dissolved into giggles, partially at our own antics and the situation in
general. By the time we made it out of the traffic jam, I could barely see from
laughing so hard.
I’d like to think
that the next time a car cuts in front of me, I might just remember this
after-church adventure and smile instead.
Response:
A case of the giggles is always a blast with close friends. Kindness should be universal and we should all be willing to take care of each other. I got a kick out of your story Mackenzie! Thanks for sharing.
Want to write on my blog?
Want to write on my blog?
Contact me through Instagram (@jess_sharingus) and you could be featured next week! Commenting is always welcome!
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