Adventure of a Lifetime!

So...WE DID IT! We made it through DCC tryouts, reached our goal of not chickening out, and had a once in a lifetime experience. It was NOTHING like we thought but SO glad we went through it!

We have so much we want to say about this experience but first let's give you a weekend re-cap in pictures:).




The line to get in @ 7:15am. Lot's of hopefuls...



What you see when you enter the stadium - very cool view!


We found it more interesting to take advantage of photo opportunities instead of hair and make-up like our 600 friends.


Raquel...


Jessica...


The stage where it all went down...slippery little beast!




View from out seats - a lot of hair is what we watched for HOURS!


Jay- The fitness instructor for the DCC.
1. He has never been seen in any other outfit, but I suppose why wear anything but a skin-tight shirt with army fatiques...EVERYDAY of your life.
2. He doesn't have a clue what fitness means, clearly he is there for the ratings.
3. We take it as a personal attack when bad fitness is spread world wide - OUCH DCC!



Rocky made it to Day 2 - WOO HOO!!




Too late to worry about the "cheat" days...


Strike a pose!


Some things money can't buy...crazy experience, unforgettable memories, BFF!

MORE to come my friends!!

Improvement?

Here's our latest round of kicks. Still not great, but what do you think? We still can't do the splits yet, but we're desperately trying to fake it.

Freestylin'

For the past 7 months we thought round one of auditions consisted of 15 seconds of freestyle dancing. Turns out, it's actually ONE FULL MINUTE! The longest, scariest minute of our lives! Seriously, no exaggeration.

This week in practice we are only concentrating on our flexibility and our freestyle. We had our AMAZING dance instructor Taryn Smith show us what it should like.



We've got 4 days to make this happen. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

7 Days...YOWZA!!!!

Below is Kitty Carter's advice for the 1st round of auditions...exactly ONE week/7 tiny days from now!!! Kitty is a former DCC and now is the most frightful, yet looked up to dance instructor involved with the organization. Her advice is something you DO NOT ignore, she knows what they are looking for. Kitty also has a reputation of being rather honest- No such thing as "sugar coating":).

Kitty Says...

Kitty: Dance and listen to music everywhere you go.

US: Not a problem:)

****

Kitty: Keep your iPod close and your competition closer..... LOL

US: IPod, check! Making friends with the most beautiful/talented women in America...eek!

****

Kitty: Dance in front of a mirror as much as possible, or in front of friends to get rid of that choke reflex.

US: Us stand in front of a mirror all day = Will Do!

****

Kitty: If you are not a great club style dancer then you need to use choreography from other classes.

US:We LOVE to dance at the club...However, I'm not sure that our "club style" of the robot, running man, and Beyonce pump is what they mean...

****

Kitty: If you are not a trained dancer or cheerleader then you should have been taking some kind of dance classes. This should help you come up with a minute or more of freestyle movement needed for first round.

US: Thank heaven for our little Taryn Smith...trying her best to make us shine!

****

Kitty: You need to Pop Everything and look Fabulous doing it.

US: Note to self: figure out what how to "pop" everything...

****

Kitty: Most importantly! Don't do something you can't do. Like kick or turn. That will usually hurt you more than help you, in most cases.

US: This statement will limit what we can bust out...quite a bit:)

****

Kitty: Good tricks to include would be back handsprings, aerials, tucks, turns, kicks and allusions. Avoid tricks that need more than a four foot square to accomplish. Floor work is good if it's exciting. Split circles, coffee grinders, back split rolls, and jetes to the floor are great ideas.

US: We shall pretend this statement doesn't apply to us but thought we would include it for humor purposes...

Haven't busted out a handspring or tuck in so long we're certain it would end in a face plant.

Allusion...umm, we will give the allusion of rockin' dancers??

What in the world is a split circle, split roll, jete, or a coffee grinder...REALLY?!?!

****

Kitty: You want to put your best foot forward at all times, even when you are sitting as a participant just watching. Believe me, someone is watching you. Show up game ready!

US: Game ready - you bet your bottom - here we come!! Coffee grinders and all:)!

7 DAYS!!!!!!!!!

8 Days!!!

We know it's been a week since our last blog. Not cool, we know. But in our defense we've been crazy busy at work and in the midst of finals. Not that we actually study, but still :-)

We will be blogging every day between now and May 15th so don't give up on us yet. Not gonna lie that last blog had Debbie Downer written all over it. Just reading it again makes us want to barf. In all honesty we were just feeling sorry for ourselves and were making excuses. Thank you to all who made it a point to call us out on our "loser" attitudes. The quotes were also very inspiring! Our excitement is back and we can't wait for next Saturday! Regardless of the outcome, it will definitely be an awesome experience. We filled out the DCC tryout application today and were a little stumped by this question:

In one sentence, please define the "goal" you hope to achieve as a DCC
Not sure why "goal" is in quotes but here's how we answered it:

Raquel - As a DCC, I will strive to represent the image of excellence and class that is the Dallas Cowboys organization, and to be a positive role model and inspiration to the community.*

Jessica - As a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, I aspire to prove myself as a valued member of the organization, and to share my passion for life and fitness with the world.*

*Credit must be given to McCaffey for helping us articulate our goals.

What do y'all think? It's almost impossible to sum it all up in one sentence, but we're hoping it's the answer they're looking for.

We will be primping (laying out, nails, etc) over the weekend to prepare for tryouts so we'll keep you posted on our progress.

TGIF!!!

Friday FUNK

14 days to go...are you kidding me?!?! Tryouts are in two weeks and there's no turning back now.

As you can tell we haven't blogged in over a week because we have been fighting some internal struggles. And they are...

1. Our idolized view of the DCC is slowly diminishing. While we still think they are the MOST beautiful things to walk the planet, we used to consider them the "ultimate woman". We thought they were career driven, independent, fierce women who had it all. Recently we have discovered that most only work part-time and some are also students. This on top of the required DCC commitments is quite a load but not nearly as heavy as we thought. The one thing we had in common with the DCC was multi-tasking. Working full-time, attending school, and pursuing dreams on the side appeared doable from watching them but now it seems maybe not so much. We have also been following/stalking them on twitter and it has been an eye opening experience. They appear to have even more free time than we thought and come across as a little self involved. (We are aware this blog is self involved...pot: it's kettle, you're black)

2. Recently, we have been told that people are suprised we are trying out because "they didn't see us as those kinds of girls". Pardon?? What does that mean?? Well, a kind party informed us that it was because they can be perceived as a bit "slutty". YOWZA! ego = bruised.

3. We are still not in the splits and cannot dance like them - Enough said.

4. Will this ever be more than a bucket list item? As of now, no. Are we ok with this, we should be, but that's a BIG NO. Will our feelings change come May 15th...we shall see.

5. We're in a funk. It's not very becoming of us. Any motivational ideas, quotes, thoughts, get your butt in gear words...all welcome!


Dear procrastinator that lives within us...we are way past crunch time- LET'S GO! Stop struggling and JUST DANCE, it'll be ok...!

We're Having a Kickin' Thursday!!!

As promised, here is a video of us kicking. You may look at this and think our kicks are not so high, but we promise we are kicking with all our might! At any moment we could pull a hamstring and our dance dreams would be over. Side note: disregard the outfit, hair, makeup, paleness, no smiles, and splits at the end. Those are all a work in progress. Also, we never bare midriff but it's something we've got to get used to. Please feel free to enjoy a laugh on behalf of our skills/technique.

Game Day Madness

Check out this game day madness. We MUST be a part of it!



Coming this week - video of our current dance, kick, and split technique. Get excited!

How Bad Do You Want It?

How bad do we want it? Hard to tell. Yesterday was a pretty pivotal day, however it went unnoticed by us. Yesterday was April 15th. Most of you know that as tax day, but we know it as 1 month 'til tryouts. Are we in the splits? No. Are we rock star dancers? Nope. Are our kicks up to our nose? Not even close. All things considered we're doing pretty well. Bring on the tryouts! But seriously, there is no excuse for not finding a way to fit in our dancing, stretching, and kicking. It's time to bring back our reality check with a little poem we call How Bad Do You Want It? We stole it offline and adapted to fit us. Here it is:

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

When I think of quitting I will think of who will be standing next to me during tryouts. Will I be able to say I worked harder than her?

When I stand on stage will I be able to say that I pushed myself harder, that I kept going when I felt like stopping, and that I gave that extra effort when I felt like collapsing?

It’s that last burst of commitment that separates those who make the team and those who don’t.

I will train when others go out with their friends.
I will train when others are eating at their favorite restaurant.
I will train when others are taking an off day.
I will train when others are hanging out with their significant others.
I will train when others are sleeping.

Every moment is a chance to improve,
Every minute spent stretching and dancing,
Each set, each rep,
Every bite of food.

Each and everything I do has a purpose.
The food nourishes my body.
Dancing invigorates my spirit.
Stretching gets me one inch closer.

NEVER STOP. NEVER SAY WON’T.
Failure is not an option.

DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS!!!

Hump Day

As we write this, we are on break in the middle of our 3 hour night class. Exactly one more month of grad school to go and we could not be happier to see it come to an end. We are on hour 17 of our day and it's starting to show in the form of dark circles under our eyes. Pretty sure the DCC don't sport racoon eyes so does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of dark circles?

Surprisingly, we have had another Ah-Ha moment today. We have decided we have become all work and no play. We have long hours and a grueling schedule, but we MUST find time for some fun in our lives. Project FUN FEST is heading our way (this doesn't involve being a sloth on the couch - our current mode of relaxation). Until then, stay fit, fabulous, and DCC for life!!!

P.S. We mistakenly wished you a happy hump day yesterday (another sign of exhaustion), but it's actually today so let's try again. Happy Hump Day!!!

Reality TV Star? Not So Much

Just want to set the record straight, this dream of ours has nothing to do with the reality series associated with "DCC: Making the Team". While we love to watch the show, we really have no desire to be on it. The idea of our novice skills being "highlighted" on national tv is quite frightening. Reality stardom is not in our future, but we're hoping the DCC will be!

Happy Hump Day!!!

The Outfits Have Arrived!!!

We finally received our packages with our tryout outfits this weekend. At first we weren't sure what it could be as it was about 1/2 the size of a shoe box, but then we realized it contained all of the material we will be wearing. In a word - YOWZA!!! Tiny does not begin to describe just how small our outfits really are. Somehow, our bikinis look more like cover-ups compared to what we will be wearing come May 15th. Now that we're over the initial shock, it's time to get into DCC shape. And just to clarify, DCC shape does not equal normal people shape. We will post pictures of our outfits soon. Stay tuned...

A Greater Understanding

When not deperately trying to become dancers, our lives normally revolve around fitness. In fact, we wake up well before the crack of dawn to lead a boot camp MWF from 5:30-6:30am. Training boot campers has always been a rewarding job, but recently it has had an even deeper impact on us. Now that we're in this DCC process, we've experienced first hand what it feels like to have your body fight you in terms of physical ability, motivation, and exhaustion. Starting a fitness program for most people is not easy. They have to make the commitment, find the time, and worst of all stick with it. We have always had some form of fitness in our life so it was hard for us to relate to others' fitness struggles until now. We are in a constant struggle with our goal of DCC. Making time to workout, stretch, dance, and kick on top of school and work is almost impossible (or so it seems). We appreciate the new perspective this dream has given us. It makes us better trainers, instructors, and people. This has been the first real challenge in our lives (all 24/26 years) and we have really grown from this experience. We HIGHLY suggest putting yourself in a position of challenge and/or uncomfortable circumstances. They will ROCK your world in a good way!

Late in Life Dancers

We've been practicing with our new dance instructor Taryn and this is what she taught us. Even though we don't look like the DCC yet, it was so fun!!! Please excuse the dark, mood lighting. We like to keep it dark so we don't actually see ourselves in the mirror :-) We were missing our poms, but you get the idea.

We're Getting Better Every Day!

After 2 hours of teaching group exercise classes (including DCC - Dance Cardio Crazy) we were good and warm so we thought we'd try our splits.

Breaking News!!!

In our morning DCC stalking ritual, we have discovered who is leaving the team and how many spots will be available for the 2010-2011 season. The magic number is.......................

7

That's right 7 spots only! While this does happen to be our lucky number, we are very aware that with close to 1,000 candidates our chances are slim. Somehow we will have to dazzle them with our shining personalities and hope for a little luck.

Here some pics of our favorite DCC who wore the boots we hope to fill:


Nicole Hamilton - The BEST DCC that ever lived


Malia Morales - The TOTAL Package (Smart, Driven, Oh and Beautiful)


Abigail Klein - Cutie Patootie/Barbie

Without Further Ado, Here Are Our "Splits"

The pictures below are from mid November (about a month into our stretching regimen). They are quite embarrassing, but we felt it was only fair to give everyone an accurate visual. Feel free to laugh with us! Also, please take note of our flesh colored tights. Do we look the part or what? :-)

JESSICA


RAQUEL


The best part of these pictures which cannot be seen, is that our arms were literally shaking from supporting our own weight. We also struggled to remove ourselves from this position and had to fall over to one side just to recover. Pathetic, we know. Unfortunately, not much progress has been made since these were taken. We will be posting more pictures later to show you how much (or should we say little) we've progressed so stay tuned...

Splits are the Pits!!!

Just finished stretching and with only 44 days to go we are still not in the splits. This can't be normal. We've tried all of the "tricks" to become flexible and still no success. We are discouraged but will continue trying in hopes that one day we will just fall into them. Is is possible that not everyone can get into the splits? Maybe our hips are glued into place? Here are some photos of what we want to achieve:


Seriously?!


We'll take just a pinch of her flexibility


This needs to be us at auditions


This WILL be us one day (hopefully sooner rather than later)

Dress (or lack therof) for Success

Just 46 days to go and we need to pick out an outfit that will WOW the judges! Here are our options:

Jessica




Raquel





We need a little help from our 3 followers. Which ones should we pick?

WE GOT THIS!!!

Not gonna lie, that last blog was uninspiring and out of character for our usually over excited selves. Feeling a new wave of inspiration from a dear friend and mentor. In his words, "people like us find ways to win, its just in us." Indeed it is!!! No more complainey Janies here! WE GOT THIS!!!

Mono?

We're tired folks. Real tired. In fact, we think we may have mono or maybe it's just exhaustion. Could go either way. But seriously, life is getting in the way of our dream. We spend all day "inspiring the world to fitness" and then have no energy left for ourselves. People think working in the fitness field means that we live in a constant state of tip top shape because we "work out all day". Quite the contrary. We still struggle to motivate ourselves even though we spend nearly all our time motivating others around us.

It's time to dig deep and it's going to be hard. We need some motivation. Guess the team photo will have to do.



We're hoping for an energizing weekend. DCC for life!!!

The Famous DCC Kickline

There are many things that set the DCC apart from other NFL cheerleading squads, but one of the biggest is their infamous kickline. Don't forget to notice the jump splits at the end too. Much harder than it looks!

The DCC Audition Process

To give you a little insight into this process we are about to embark on, we are not alone. There are close to 1,000 (yes, that's right) women who try out for just 36 spots on the team. Most of these 36 spots (roughly 20+) are filled by returning veteran Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. So that really leaves only a few coveted spots for rookie candidates like ourselves. Here's the breakdown of the audition process:

Day 1 - Preliminaries
All tryout candidates perform a 15 second "freestlye" dance in groups of 5. It goes a little something like this - they turn on the music and you dance. They judge to see if you look the part, dance the part, make the uniform look good, and overall showmanship. That's a rough 15 seconds!

The judges then deliberate and from the nearly 1,000 candidates they cut to around 100. Those 100 then advance to semi-finals.

Day 2 - Semi-finals
The 100 candidates from the day before learn a dance routine and the famous DCC kickline. They are taught it at 8am and are judged that afternoon. The girls again perform in groups of 5 and are judged on many of the same criteria as the first day.

The judges deliberate again and select half of the semi-final candidates. The lucky 50 will go on to compete in the final round of auditions and go head-to-head with veteran cheerleaders.

Day 3 - The Interview
All candidates in the final round must go through a panel interview. Again, this is a make or break round. This round requires you to have a knowledge of the Dallas Cowboys organization, poise and presence, and absolutely no skeletons in your closet. A written test is also given to the candidates which we hear is not easy and one must actually study for.

Day 4 - The Talent Presentation
All of the candidates in the final round (including veteran DCC) are required to perform a 90 second talent routine. This may include singing, dancing, dramatic interpretation, etc. This round is concluded by performing the semi-final routine and kickline once more.

The judges deliberate one final time and choose the best 45 women to enter into training camp.

ALL SUMMER LONG - Training Camp
If you've made it to training camp you are close, but still so far from actually making the team. For the non-returning cheerleaders, training camp is a 3 month audition process that you could be cut from at any point. Training camp consists of 5-6 days a week of 3 hour long practice sessions. The squad will be narrowed down to the top 36 cheerleaders before the first kickoff.

This process is a long one, but nobody becomes America's Sweetheart overnight!

Why DCC? Why Now?

Hello! I am the other half of this crazy duo on quest of a dream larger than life!

How Does One Decide They Must Become a DCC You Ask??

I had a start similar to Raquel that began my dream/obsession of becoming one of America's Sweethearts. I fell in love with the Dallas Cowboys team at a very young age because they were my Dad's team...needless to say, as a Daddy's girl, what he loved, I too loved. During the Superbowl (1993 against Buffalo...a win for Dallas), I caught a glimpse of the cheerleaders on TV and it was a done deal. I was asking my Dad and Uncle endless questions about them and boldly stated at the ripe age of 6 years old that one day that would be me. And the dream starts...

My dream of DCC was never one that had any real chance of coming true in my mind, but it didn't stop me from thinking of it often. In my college years I seriously considered trying out and even had the tryout dates and information looked up. After remembering that I was indeed not 5'8" with legs for days, I quickly talked my self out of it and put the dream back on the shelf, this time I thought forever...I was not getting any younger, I have never been a real dancer, and I needed to become a grown up with a real job.

So, off to San Marcos Texas for a great job and opportunity that allowed me to work close to my hometown, and with a fellow Aggie whom I had heard great things about. (Weirdly enough, we had met previously in our undergraduate days at A&M but wouldn't realize it for several months into our relationship:))

First day on the job, as Raquel told you, I heard her talking to me but couldn't listen as I was mesmerized by the team photo of the 2008-2009 DCC squad photo on her computer...could it be...someone else with this dream...I dared to ask. As I had hoped, Raquel spit out the words I had been saying to myself since I was 6 years old. Off the shelf the dream came...you only live once I thought, why wouldn't we tryout, even if we fail, at least we tried!

Trying Out is Harder Than it Sounds...

So, we both knew with a partner it would be easier to tryout...the buddy system almost never fails...unless the two people in the buddy system are practically the same person... Raquel and I are very intense people with a need to succeed, and not only succeed, but be THE BEST. As tryouts for the 2009 squad approached, we weren't getting ready for tryouts but instead had created a new fitness format (appropriately named DCC) and started from the ground up, our new fitness company, FitTx Fitness, to "channel" our DCC dream into something we would certainly be successful at. While they have both been very successful and we are extremely proud of the results, at the end of the day, it has all been a cop-out. We are terrified to fail, it's not a characteristic we are proud of, but in a recent Ah-Ha moment we have found it is true.


You only Live Once...Did You Give It Your All?

Here we sit, 54 days out from one of the biggest days of our lives. We've never wanted something more, yet we haven't given it our true "all". Like Raquel said...we aren't in the splits...we look darn awkward when we attempt to dance...our kicks are no where near our nose...but in 54 days ready or not we will be in tiny little outfits, giving it our best shot.

I am still terrified to fail, and let's face it, probably will, but I am so excited to finally be doing it. Even if they laugh at me and put me on the loser reel, when I am 60 years old I will be able to say I tried instead of, wish I would have...

So far this process has brought me a life long friend and so much laughter, I wonder why I don't have a six pack yet. I have been "put in my place" and humbled more than you could know and even if it results in failure I am coming out a better person.


Well I believe that should catch you up on where we stand.

Stay tuned...the next 54 days are gonna be a good time...

55 days, 1328 hours, or 79,734 minutes to go...but who's counting?

In just 55 days from now (May 15, 2010), Jessica and I will know whether our dreams of becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader are over or just beginning. I can only imagine the wave of emotions we will soon experience on this day, but I'm getting way ahead of myself. Let me start with how this dream started...

For myself, I can distinctly remember watching the Dallas Cowboys games on TV with my Dad at an early age. In fact, he actually took me to watch their training camp at St. Edward's University in downtown Austin. I was super excited to stand out in the 100 degree heat to catch a glimpse of "Troy Boy" (as my dad referred to him) and my favorite Emmitt Smith! But it wasn't until I actually went to a game my Junior year in high school that THE Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders caught my eye. I'm not sure if it was the uniform, the glittering of the poms, or just the poise and beauty they displayed on and off the field, but from that point on I knew I wanted to be one of them. You would think with this epiphany I would have immediately immersed myself in dance classes and begun preparing to become a DCC, but here I sit 10 years later at the age of 26 with no "real" formal dance training and still unable to do their infamous jump splits (or even just the splits for that matter). In all fairness, this dream of mine was actually tucked away for about 9 years until I met my partner in crime Ms. Jessica Kruckemeyer (I'll have her post her background story soon).

Jessica came to work with me in the summer of 2008. As she was filling out new hire paperwork on her first day of work she noticed my desktop wallpaper was of course, a team photo of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. She asked me about it and I shyly admitted that one of my life-long dreams was to become a DCC. I was a little embarrassed, but unbeknownst to me this was a secret dream of hers as well!

Again, you would think "Wow, 2 crazy girls with the same dream! Now they can prepare together!". But no, a year passed by and there was still no real thought to actually trying out. It wasn't until this past October that we decided we would try out this May. At that time, we had a good 7 months to start stretching, dancing, growing our hair out :-), and becoming all that is THE DCC. Plenty of time, right?

So flash forward to today. Jessica and I have been working with a dance instructor on and off for a couple of months, but definitely not as much as we should have been. Neither one of us is in the splits yet, but our hair has grown longer. Needless to say, we've got our work cut out for us in the next 55 days. I am not being pessimistic, just realistic. This blog is our way of holding ourselves accountable. We have fabulous ideas, but struggle with the execution. It's GO time and we're determined to give it all we've got in the next 55 days.