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.