Sunday, March 22

Cuba Comes to Staham with Jose & Guateque



















































Oh heck have i got one hangover this morning..

Its those mojitos, they taste so good ! I was rather enjoying myself getting the mint stuck up that straw..lol
What can i say about last night except wow WHAT A NIGHT !!
It was the Dance Cuban salsa party

Jose and his band Guateque had everyone up on their feet..They were incredible, the music was pure cuban showing the real roots to cuban salsa, i swear i could still hear the beat in my my head when i was trying to sleep.
Everyone from the salsa community was there
Max and the guys from
Nad from
John from
and Sue from

We were treated to a performance of Jose dancing with Pat and Sharon from Dance Cuban
My god he is so good, the enjoyment spread as soon as you saw how happy this guy was when he danced, when you enjoy something that much it certainly shows, we all loved it.

There was a great bunch of people there, rueda on one floor regaetton on the other , The Staithe was packed with people all making the most of our taste of Cuba, it really was a very special night.
I had amazing dances with Barry, Ralph and my fella of course and came home very happily singing my head off !

This morning im on a high with a head that feels like a bongo but smiling away to myself..
I bet next time theres an event on as good as this, my fella will make sure im driving!

I cant have a holiday this year i know, but last night made me realise i dont need one when salsa is this good !

Cuba came to us last night..............................................

Thanks to Jose and Guateque ...

Sharon and Richard you did us all proud !

Jose & Sharon at Dance Cuban Salsa Party (video)

Heres Sharon from WWW.DANCECUBAN.NET dancing with Jose at the Dance Cuban salsa party.

Wednesday, March 18

Party Time


Its been a really good couple of days since the fire walk, im still on a high and am not taking my arm band off they gave me, its inspiring..lol

We went to the Keir Hardie afterwards, me smelling of bonfires instead of Eternity but we had such a good night and decided to make the most of it, so apologies to you fellas that i danced with, it didn't half make me feel positive i forgot about my nerves and just went for it ...lol

Monday was riding, i had to take Lauren first for her lesson then back for a quick cuppa and off again for mine, what a brilliant night, I got the naughty horse again 'Billy' but he didn't leave the tantrum til he got into the arena, he started as soon as i got on him, biting the poor girl who was adjusting my stirrups.. ears back all night, i had to keep him away from the other horses as he didn't like them either.. what a character ! hes like Paris Hilton and believes hes too good for the rest of us... I bet shes easier to ride than Billy too ! lol

I did keep my positive mind frame which seemed to work well, except its not so easy to canter when your horse stands facing the wall pretending hes not there, so i went for another approach and sung to him... I don't know anything else that makes people move as quick as my voice, within one verse and my lot are out of the house and gone, so i wanted to see if Billy agreed with them, he did ! so for next weeks lesson ill try singing some rock and hope it makes him move a bit faster ! im determined to get canter on him... I love the horse and find him strangely amusing as hes so obstinate... like most guys then ( i just said to myself)...lol

Tuesday night we went off salsaing to see Sharon and Richard in Acle which i thoroughly enjoyed, i thought at some point i may want to slow down with the dancing but it honestly gets worse the more you do the more you want to...
Tomorrow its Stalham and salsa again and my favorite night of the week, its like being on holiday up there you come home eat the fridge and finish the day on a high..Paul shares his dinner with me so i even get fed !

Friday im doing photos for dresses and working that night and then Saturday its the dance Cuban party !! oh my word am i looking forward to this one..
Jose and his band are hitting the Staithe in Stalham so its going to be a night of not only great dancing but brilliant live music, top that off with a few wonderful mojitos (steves driving i got the -its your turn to drink straw!) and you know its gonna be one of those nights thats totally unmissable..
I cant wait...

For details of times and tickets see Richards site in my favourites bar.. >>

Ive made some brilliant friends in the dance world and as its Richards Birthday tomorrow we can all celebrate together the Cuban way- Havana night to remember at our little Cuba in Stalham ..
Come and join us !!

Saturday, March 14

Brian Gunn Firewalk & Board Break Challenge

Last night was the night of the firewalk and board break challenge for Brian Gunn 'kids leukaemia fund'
To say i wasn't nervous would be lying, It was a mix of nerves , excitement and not knowing if i could really do this.. I wanted to as its been something Ive always wanted to try but when you are standing there in front of a cheering crowd the nerves do kick in...

We started the night 2 hours earlier than the spectators were asked to come, and were taken to a room in the forum where we all spent 2 hours being educated in the art of belief and self confidence, even then i could feel the nerves setting in..
My fella had asked me NOT to do the board break, he was only thinking about me, i broke my arm a couple of months back and its only just getting back to normal, so smacking an inch think bit of ply isn't really what it needed, so id promised him i would explain about my bones and avoid that one....lol Little did i know..
Part of the talk was about when your mind thinks of something, its because it wants to do it, we have the capabilities to do it, its usually because we worry we don't try, that i can speak from experience and understand fully....
The question was if your house was on fire and you knew there was a tenner on the table would you go in to get the tenner? no of course not..
Now ask the same question and instead of the tenner your son/daughter/husband/sister was in there...... would you then ? yes, whatever the risk you would do as you love and care about them ...
So if you have a dream or a wish theres no reason that you cant do something, its simply a matter of believing you can do it and not thinking anything else..

We spent time asking ourselves questions that i already knew the answers to, i have those feelings that i want to do more, its just sometimes i hold myself back with feelings that i cant..
Last night was the start of me digging that bit deeper now, when i know what i want to do i have to put my mind to it and simply go for it.......
Brian Gunn was at the seminar and was supporting us all throughout the talk , which meant alot as we were all there to raise money for his fund and help these poor kids and parents that leukaemia touches into their lives, we never know if its one of our family one day that this money will help.
After the lecture was over we were all so hyped up and positive, so much of what Tosin said is exactly what my fellas been saying from day one, he believes your mind controls everything so to hear someone else with that positive mind frame just set in stone what i already knew and hoped was right, we all get bad days and indeed bad luck, but its how we choose to deal with it that can make all the difference..

When we had finished the www.Tosinfirewalker.com motivation talk we were all asked to choose a board, i picked up mine and nervously thought of Steve, he was outside waiting and i wished he could have been in that room he would have known then i had no choice in this, i had to write on that board the one thing i wanted to take home from the firewalk, so i wrote down confidence... that's where i wanted to grow, that if i knew i could do something i would be confident enough to do it and not think of the million reasons why i shouldn't... I put it down to knock backs last year and the past shouldn't affect what could come tomorrow its a negative thing and one i want to get shot of..

Out we all marched into the night air you could smell the fire, we had lit that fire before we went in for the talk so it was burning brightly, the energy that talk gave us must have showed as we all marched out with huge smiles chanting away with our boards in hand.. which was the one part of the night that worried me.. I wanted to break that board and break that barrier i had with those words scribbled in Marker pen across it..

It came to my turn to do the board break and all i could think of was Steve's words, your arms not strong so i think i already knew it wasn't going to happen before the guy held it up..
I DID hit that board as hard as i could but it didn't break, so i went again and again, each time feeling more defeated, Tosin knew as he stopped me and told me to stand there for a couple of mins and compose, he was so kind bless and whispered it was because i didn't believe my arm was capable... he was right..



I stood there watching the others break their boards each time telling myself i really want to do this so when the next slot came i went back up, this time using my left arm .. im right handed usually but what Louise and Tosin said made sense , i saw my arm as not capable and didn't believe i could do it.. that's why i couldn't..
He counted me back in but this time i was determined , it wasn't like the first attempt i knew the board was beating me and had to break it.........



I have never felt that happy since bringing home the kids from the special care unit, i hurled myself at Tosin and gave him a huge hug, i didn't even feel the hit so i must have got it right ! that board came home with me and will be hung up somewhere now, so if i get back that feeling of doubt in myself i will just think back to last night and snap out of it..

Next came the part of the night we were all there to do, the firewalk !

My god was i excited..lol

Id already done one thing i didn't think was possible so this to me was the icing on the cake, to be able to say Ive walked across burning hot coals and didn't feel a thing is incredible..

I didn't look down instead chanted convincing myself it was 'cold moss' with every step and it wasn't til id done it i realised my feet never got hot ! my head and neck was but my feet were black from the coals but stone cold....lol

Im not going to analyse why or how, I'm just gonna take this feeling with me and remember how i felt when i accomplished this..



I didn't come home with burnt feet instead i came home with such a great feeling and belief in why i did the walk and what i gained from it..

Together with your sponsorship and support Ive managed to raise £307.00 for Brian Gunn's kids charity which together with the other walkers will add up to a great amount, and i walked away also so much richer, but in confidence and self belief for completing my challenge

Thank you all so much for backing me on this and helping to make that difference.

www.Tosinfirewalker.com

xxx

Joanne doing Firewalk at Forum Norwich 13th March 2009

I did it... no blisters or burnt feet..
What a wonderful experience

Friday, March 6

FIRE WALK - Can You Help and Sponsor Me




The Firewalks here -


Next Friday (the 13th) I will be risking my salsa feet and hot steppin it along at the Forum with Gunny and a bunch of great people....
Thanks to some of my friends at salsa last night we have already managed £100.00 worth of sponsors which i must 'Thank you all so much for '... You guys are lovely..

Its for such a great cause 'Kids Leukemia' so im putting in all the info which will tell you what its all about, it will also take you to my online sponsor form...
Can anyone help and sponsor me ? it does'nt have to be much, every penny counts ..

I'll be capturing the walk on video so will post to show you all how it went...

To sponsor me online click here

Please support me and Brian Gunn and this great cause

If you can all give a little - I promise ill give my all ............

Heres all the walk info......... is here

To Listen to the podcast click here

Friday 13th March will certainly be lucky for Gunny as his charity is set to raise lots of
money through the acts of firewalking and board breaking!
This will be an exciting and amazing event where participants will be invited to test
their limits and be taught how to put mind over matter to achieve the seemingly impossible.
Anyone taking part will be taken through a full and comprehensive motivational session beforehand to prepare them for the activities. Once ready, they will first attempt
to break a board with their bare hands then fearlessly walk across 20ft of burning hot
coals in barefoot ......................................


Lol............... Wish me Luck Guys !!

Tuesday, March 3

Men and Boobs













God its been ages since i blogged, whats going on here...lol

No seriously ive either been out dancing, riding or been doing photos so by the time i get round to finishing every night i either hit the peanut butter on a high or the bed in a heap........ Ive got my fire walk next weekend (Friday 13th) and ive got to write 3 blogs and get my online sponsor forms done, so Ive been trying to get everything photoed and try to get myself in front today... i know that word will always manage to dodge me, but that's the fun of my life, I'm always chasing my bum and could never say I'm bored ! knackered, mad, fun, even weird yes but never bored !
Monday was riding again, this week i was given 'Ice' hes a very large white horse who when you sit on him, my legs wont go around his belly without me pulling rather strange faces, imagine doing the splits whilst trying to bounce on a trampoline and put some style into it and that's pretty much me riding him, we were told to go round in fast trot and stand up constantly in my stirrups, what a giggle, i felt id been 10 rounds with KING DONG and i haven't spelt that wrong either -oooooooh aahhhhhhhhhhh

I got off him and had to stand quietly for 15 Min's til i felt my legs straighten so i wouldn't walk like John Wayne across that car park with everyone watching, i do love a giggle but not with me and bandy legs as the core of the stable joke....

He was really good for me, i got him into canter and couldn't believe i managed it (even if it was just once), but Kevin waved his whip at the horse in front of mine who was being naughty, sending mine hurling off ...... I stayed in the saddle though but most people in there had their hands over their eyes when i looked...lol

Its not so scary sitting on the horse, than to watch I'm sure, i really enjoyed his moment of madness as that's the fastest Ive ever been on a horse especially him, so i know now that hes pulling a' I'll walk as slow as i can when she rides me job', kevin said i haveto show them whos boss so ill make sure i sort that out next week.. it proves my seating's better now anyway!!

I am making provisions and wearing my back protector at all times now in this lesson so I'm not all blonde... Ive got used to wearing it now and its straightened my back so Ive got better posture, so its good enough reason for me...........

Tonight my fella is off salsa'ing the night away with Richard and Sharon and our friends in Acle but I'm having to stay at home :(
I woke up with boobs that feel like melons and severe backache and as much as i love salsa i know i need a hot bath and early night tonight, so Mr Travolta's got his Cuban heels on and is going to fill me in tomorrow on what Ive missed, although i will miss my friends of course.....

Why is it when a woman is going through mother natures monthly " you are a woman so here you go" challenge - when your boobs swell to sizes that resemble melons and are that painful you feel like an elephant bouncing on your chest for every step or movement, does the guy go and put his foot right it in.. size 9s to be precise !

This morning he comes out with it - "God they're huge today!" and " Never mind if they are sore girl, they're bloody great to look at !!" If ever theres a time i wanted to thump him it was then - luckily for him he picked a day I'm not so capable! lol

Men - A word of wisdom here - sometimes you know honesty is not the best policy !! (take hint) we know you have 'A good cure for everything' OR 'if you let me massage them im sure they will feel good' Good for you perhaps ! God certainly broke the mould for you lot didn't he ................lol

Have a great night everyone and if you bump into Mr Travolta - Yes you have my permission ...hehe
Its listing a few more samples for me in the site tonight then bath and bed ..
Tomorrow when my legs arms and everything else aren't so sore ill be able to do all the things i couldn't do tonight - including practise my salsa and make sure I'm 1st there on Thursday !!
See you guys soon xxx