My expectations were pretty low for tonight’s hotel dinner. The menu read “stuffed peppers” which made me immediately think we’d be eating soggy peppers stuffed with sub-par rice.
I was right about the soggy peppers, but the stuffing was actually quite tasty!
I know it doesn’t look like much, but I promise it tasted better than it looks. The pepper was stuffed with ground beef and rice and topped with tomato sauce. I ate it up… except for he soggy pepper. (If you’re looking for a yummy stuffed pepper recipe, you may enjoy my version of chicken ‘n’ veggie stuffed peppers.)
The vegetables on my plate went untouched. The texture was off and they were basically flavorless. Pass.
Dinner also included perogis stuffed with potatoes and cheese and warm rolls.
I love perogis and also went back for more of those bad boys.
I ate one roll with dinner and grabbed another one to enjoy as we walked back to our room. I’m a sucker for warm, doughy bread.
The Cheerleader Who Never Was
After dinner Ryan said he wanted to get out of the hotel, so we drove about 15 minutes to a nearby park with a two-mile hiking trail and walked and talked.
There was a group of young cheerleaders practicing nearby and Ryan asked me whether or not I ever wanted to be a cheerleader.
I then told him the story of the one and only time I tried out for my high school’s cheerleading squad my freshman year. I remember being bored during the time we were supposed to be learning the routines and zoning out a bit and just following the steps of the girl in front of me.
Unfortunately during the tryouts themselves there was no girl in front of me to follow and I was completely lost. I freestyle danced as the other two girls trying out with me in my small group danced in unison.
And so ended my cheerleading “career.”
Ryan found this story quite hilarious and we started talking about all of the teams we wanted to be on but never quite made the cut. Ryan went to a small high school where there weren’t really tryouts for teams, so his stories were few and far between, but as we got to talking, I realized that nearly every sports team I tried out to be on, I didn’t make!
How depressing!
Basektball? No. Cheerleading? No.
Thank goodness for no-cut sports teams! 
Dessert
The other day Ryan went out to lunch with some of his coworkers and came home beaming, telling me he discovered a frozen yogurt shop in Ocala!
We swung by Mochi on the way home from the park.
Inside the place was a madhouse! The environment was almost stressful because there were so many people and crazy kids running around.
Plus, the flavors were not the best. They were nearly all fruity and I am a chocolate, peanut butter, white chocolate or mousse kind of girl.
There was one self-serve swirl of chocolate and dulce de leche flavors that were decent, so we filled up a cup to share.
I’m sure we’ll be back because neither of us can resist fro yo, but I sure hope our next experience is a bit better. I miss Orlando fro yo!!
It’s a little after 8:15 p.m. now and that means So You Think You Can Dance is on. Time for me to watch these dancers rub their flexibility and rhythm in my non-cheerleading face.
Question of the Evening
- Did you ever try out for something and not make the cut?
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This totally made me think of the “Sex And The City” episode when Miranda is crunching on Blair Underwood. Charlotte and Miranda go to the Knicks game to see Blair and Miranda gets jealous over the peppy cheerleaders. The best part was when Charlotte remembered doing “perkies.” Love that show!
hey, freestyling is the best! 😉 hehe. oh man, i always say that the reason i ran cross country was because i was seriously cut from every other sport. thankfully i feel in love with it, so my klutzyness worked in my favor. 😉
In my school it was a case of if you show up you can be on the team!
this is so funny, I was a competetive cheerleader from middle school to college and I’m telling you….you have to LOVE it to do it that long. We practiced every single week day and usually on the weekends too…but we won UCA Nationals so I guess it was worth it! But I’m glad i don’t have to go to practice everyday now. It’s nice to do my own thang!
I didn’t make the volleyball team I tried out for in high school, but I was a cheerleader! Fun times 😀
I love this story, I’m glad I’m not the only the who has a sad ending to her cheerleading story 🙁 I wanted to be one so bad like my older sister but didn’t quite have the dance moves or enough peppyness for it…
I think I just wanted to wear the cute lil cheerleading outfits more than anything else 😉
Perogies are my family’s favorite -my mom makes them homemade filled with sauerkraut or potato and cheese – SO good! The only time I didn’t make a sports team cut was in 6th grade volleyball – which was good because then I started Track instead and I was MUCH better at track! xoxo from Trinidad
oh those sound delicious!
One time I tried out for the basketball team and got cut! In my 11th grade state of mind, I was devastated. I got over it though and now I look at it as a blessing in disguise.
LOL..I like the freestyling part. I tried out for the pom pon squad and freestyled it as well. I did make cheerleading in middle school, though, instead. Didn’t make it in high school or A Cappela choir. 🙁
I never tried out for cheerleading but was told I should because for some reason I had really good height on those jump thingys, but standing and chanting in a skirt really wasn’t my deal in high school. I played soccer instead, although looking back the skirt and the pom poms could have been fun 🙂
I didn’t make the field hockey team my freshman year of high school and was heartbroken. Looking back on it though, I think it worked out for the best, as I joined the cross country team instead (it was much easier to make). 15 years later, I’m still running 🙂
I never tried out for cheerleading….but I played field hockey and lacrosse and danced all through HS!!
I love soft, doughy rolls too 🙂
Unfortunately, I tried out for my 7th grade basketball team and DID make the cut. My school district was tiny, so no one was ever cut from team. Worst experience of my life!! I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m terrible uncoordinated and can not catch a ball to save my life. It was the longest few months EVER!! I was so relieved when that season came to an end and I never stepped foot on a basketball court again! I stuck to the pool after that. I was at least a half-way decent swimmer 🙂
after not making the junior high volleyball team, i switched to cross country and track and never looked back! the only think i had to be upset about there was when i didn’t run varsity! no cut sports rock!
The only team I ever tried out for was high school cheer, which I made but that was probably because I’d been cheering 7 years before that. I love that you freestyled during tryouts. You’re awesome!
I tried out for cheer once, too…I was a swimmer and soccer player and never felt “girly” and was having a tough time with confidence.
I practiced and practiced (I even learned “these nine motions aren’t as easy as they seem!” but in the end, since I had no gymnastics experience, it was a waste of time. 🙁
It was a disappointment, but in the end…I’m really, really glad I didn’t make the team.
I was a cheerleader in 7th & 8th grade. (My boyfriend always tells me that this “doesn’t count”) We had “try-outs” but they weren’t very strict because I was not very good and I made varsity… although our team did go on to win first in 6 of the 7 competitions we competed in those years! I could tumble though so maybe that gave me a leg up?
Dumb question – is your fro yo cup a small, and half full? b/c my place fills that shizz UP! Your portions always look tiny.
I’m not sure how ur fo yo places work, but ours is self serve and everyone gets XL cups.
Oh thank god! i thought i was grossly over eating frozen yogurt (probably am) LOL
Oh man, I definitely wanted to be a cheerleader in high school. I was peppy and smily and could dance, but I could NOT do a toe touch which was a requirement to make the team Freshman year. When I got the call that I didn’t make it I was devastated but it was one of those “unanswered prayers” because I’m actually able to track all of the things that happened in my life to make it go the way I did all because I didn’t get one thing that I wanted…
No froyo compares to Menchie’s 😉
I feel your pain! I was a cheerleader for half the year in 8th grade, where everyone made it, no tryouts. ;). I only cheered during football season, but quit during basketball for some reason. I just remember I was your typical 11ish or 12ish year old sized kid, but the uniform fitting ladies somehow gave me women’s xl practice cheer shorts that fell down if I tried to wear them and they refused to admit they made a mistake and wouldn’t let me get new ones! Traumatizing! lol
Anything you had to try out for that I tried (basketball and volleyball…think that’s it? maybe track too) I never made. Ohhh well.
Breakdancing.
There was a cute guy in my Hip Hop dance class who taught it and talked me into taking his class… he even put a beanie on my head (not cute). I ended up throwing out my back LOLOLOL
Volleyball.
I wanted to make the cut SO badly! In middle school we had a VERY good volleyball program and lots of my friends were on club teams but I never quite had what it took for that sport!
I also tried out for dance team and did not make it the first year and was SO SAD because I had been in dance classes forever! I didn’t give up and re-tried out the next year and blew it away!
The high school memories…:-)
Pierogi! They are the best food ever, for sure! Have you ever had homemade pierogi? Also, you should really try them with sour cream. That’s how the Polish people eat them. 🙂
I tried out for my university dance team after my freshman year of college, and didn’t make the first cut. I had done ballet, jazz and modern dance all the way through junior high and high school, so I thought I had a good shot. However, turns out my hip-hop dance skills are non-existent, and that was an important part of the dance team thing. No big deal. 🙂
Dance team. I suck! LOL