In December 2010 Richard and I graduate with our bachelor's in square dancing (see photo with us and our instructor Carter Ackerman). We began dancing in January 2010 and have been dancing on Monday nights ever since. In 2010 we completed both a basic level class and a mainstream class. Now we're learning plus moves so that we can dance with Centre Squares, the square dancing club in this area. One of the cool things about graduating is that you not only get an official diploma, but you also get a Centre Squares badge, indicating that you are a bona fide member of the square dancing club. We had a pretty big graduating class, which included my friend Esta Tamanaha (she's in the picture with us at the Farm Show). Our friend, and home teacher Ty Glade got the three of us involved in square dancing and now we've become square dancing advocates ourselves. We went to Ty's graduation in May 2010 and we graduated one semester later. He's moved on now and he's now square dancing in Utah. 
Unfortunately due to some of Richard's church meetings we can't dance with the club, which meets on Wednesday nights. We were able to attend the club a few times in January 2011, but it doesn't look like we're going to be lucky enough to continue dancing with them at the moment. As I'm knee deep in my dissertation we aren't going to be able to attend the Monday night class as regularly either. Oh well, at least we got our diploma and our badge. When the time's right we'll do some more square dancing.
But our year learning how to square dance didn't end with graduation. It culminated with the Pennsylvania Farm Show where we competed with around 50 other squares. This event took place on Monday, Jan. 10, 2011.
Centre Squares (namely Frida Holt) was nice enough to organize us and let us borrow clothes so that we could have three squares from the club compete. Carter and Ruby Ackerman, our instructors, were also nice enough to teach us the moves and help us get ready. The event was a lot of fun. My brothers flew in two days prior to the Farm Show, so they were able to see us dance. In addition, they were a great picture takers. Inside the arena there was so much dirt in the air that many of our pictures are not clear. Most of the time it was hard to even see through all of the dust. By the end my lungs felt like they were coat
ed with dirt. That's not the most pleasant feeling, but it was definitely worth it. :)
We are grateful for the many friends we have made dancing each week. [FYI: The slideshow of the Farm Show is quite long.]
State College/Bellefonte, is a little hard to describe. Today, around 4:30, after I finished teaching my class, I decided to take a few pictures of what PA looks like on a gray day. In reality, I just wanted to take pictures of Old Main, the building featured in these photographs, but I figured that these pictures also showcase what it's like not to see the sun. Having multiple days like this (and potentially weeks) sure makes you grateful for every time you see the sun. But with all the snow on the ground, I think Old Main looks pretty cool.