Jennie Garth's Dancing With the Stars Blog (10/1)

October 1

Hi Everyone!

I’m going to be keeping a blog here on OKMagazine.com chronicling my experience on Dancing With the Stars. And what an experience it's been already!

I’ve been training so hard for weeks and weeks and had the dubious honor of going first last week! I was SO nervous, but the good thing about going first is that you get it over with! And I did and made it past the first week — thanks to you guys! Thank you to everyone who voted! I did not want to be the first to go!

Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate because I had to head right back into rehearsals to learn the next dance. After the results show, I got in my car and drove to the dance studio to get started on the Quick Step, which Derek Hough and I will perform tonight. Thank God Derek is patient with me — he's the best. Rehearsals are intense and extremely demanding on the body, but I really do have the greatest partner so we always manage to have a lot of fun too.

Now that the first dance is out of the way, I am pushing myself even harder to do well, which is a real challenge with three kids. I'm so exhausted by the end of the day, and my feet and body are still sore. But one of the reasons I did the show was because my girls loved watching it so much, and I am determined not to let them down!

It has become a family tradition for us to watch the show every year, so I really want to do well for them. It's what drives me. I have two girls in school and my youngest is just walking. After you have kids, your life is spent enjoying time with them and making their lives richer. The show is a part of that. My youngest daughter, Fiona, turned 1 yesterday, so that was one day I didn't have to think about dancing! We had a family party for her!

But now it’s Monday... I'm getting nervous already!

Well, it’s back to rehearsals now! I hope you’ll be following along with me on here and on the show. I really appreciate all of your support and I promise to do my best tonight!

- Jennie