Ellen for Dance Marathon at FSU 2015

This is an open letter to my lady friend, Ellen DeGeneres!

Dear Ellen,

My name is Christina Givner and for the last two years I've been trying to get YOU to come to Dance Marathon at FSU! Dance Marathon at FSU is a wonderful organization where over 1800 college students stand for the Children's Miracle Network and the FSU Pediatric Outreach Program. Dance Marathons, however, happen all across the nation and not just at FSU. Thousands of college students dedicate 365 days each year to fundraise money for their local Children's Miracle Network Hospital. There are many stereotypes as to what college students are doing in their spare time, none of which reflect upon the fact that there are thousands upon thousands of college students standing for the kids and helping families they may never get the chance to know. Dance Marathon is more than an organization, it's a family that spreads across the nation and connects students with doctors, doctors with advisors, advisors with families, it is a never ending chain of love for miracles.

Ellen, I would do anything for you to join Dance Marathon at FSU, I mean look at what I've done so far:

I got Pie'd for the kids last year:

I took the cold water challenge to support another Dance Marathon:

I even orchestrated a choir of singers just for you:

I embraced my inner dork and supported another dance marathon with their #TeachMeHowToDM Dance Challenge:

Obviously Ellen, I'd do anything for you to join Dance Marathon. So I'm asking you to join the movement and help bring about awareness of the wonderful work that Dance Marathons are doing for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals! Join us for Dance Marathon at FSU's 20th year and help us bring one million reasons to dance. You love helping others, we love helping others, you love to dance, we LOVE to dance. Third time's the charm right? Won't you join us? Won't you help us make miracles for the kids?


Click on the link below to go to our video, in hopes to bring Ellen to Dance Marathon! Please help spread the word and make this dream come true! If there is one thing I have learned from Dance Marathon it's that the impossible is always possible!

http://bit.ly/EllenforDMFSU
(The internet doesn't like me and won't let me upload the video to the blog)
You can also follow us on twitter here: @EllenforDMFSU & @DM_FSU

XO - Christina

Shaking It Out

Imagine you're in your car, you've had a really stressful day, all you want to do is get home and relax, but alas, so does every other human being on the planet so of course you're stuck in traffic...when all of sudden your favorite song comes on. Do you:

A) Pump up the jams and sing it out in your car 

or

B) Just sit there...

Believe it or not, I personally believe whatever choice you make says a lot about you, neither in a bad way or a good way, it just defines how you are in that moment. Do you live each day so stressed out, that something, such as your favorite song, doesn't bring you the least bit of joy? Music is supposed to soothe the beast, so can't it soothe the stressful beast of life that sometimes affects us? Quite frankly, my form of a stage, is my car and I probably blast my radio a bit to loud...but it relieves a lot of tension and I find myself even laughing at myself in the car, because I am enjoying the moment. So let's say you are singing in your car, totally and completely jamming out to the latest One Direction or Taylor Swift song without any restrictions, basically you're going ham! What do you do, when the car next to you notices you? 

A) Do you stop and let the embarrassment sink in

or

B) Do you roll down the window and sing to them

Personally, I have been a mix of these two things, but I'm trying this new thing in my life, where I am proud of myself, no matter what. So as of lately, whenever I get caught singing in my car, I just roll down my window and sing to my fellow neighbors. Majority of the time you will make that person's day, they will be smiling and singing along with you and just like...BOOM, contagious, joyous laughter. You may have even made someone's day. I think it translates well into our life, we're gonna hit with rough times, but it doesn't have to bring us down and we don't have to loose our spirit from it. All you have to do is embrace the music, now not everyday is going to be easy. I'm sure there are days you won't even want to listen to music, but maybe those are the days you need it the most. And who knows? Maybe the next time you get embarrassingly caught singing in the car, you may actually genuinely make someone smile and have a better day. By making yourself feel better, you pass around an amazing happy energy...don't drop the ball. I challenge you to try it just once and see what happens! Just remember to keep your eyes on the road and your mouth wide open...singing to whatever station your heart dances to <3

XO - Christina