A Hop, Skip, and Plane Ride Away

aka, my long awaited trip to Utah post...


So I went to Utah to visit my wonderful family out West. I got to see my cousins: Bennett, Riley-Ann, and Carson, as well as my fabulous Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Todd. I thought I loved them before I went out and I did, but I love them even more now. They are some of the best people I know and I'm grateful for the time I got to spend with them! I also got to spend time with my big brother and best friend, Ben Brown. I got to meet and make many new friends while I was there and I had so much pretending to be a college kid.

So ummm... I'm not really doing this chronological order. It's mostly going to be pictures, but I'll narrate and add some comments and memories (:


Cafe Rio with Ben and Care...

Carolyn came to pick me up and surprised me by bringing Ben! We went and got Cafe Rio because being on a plane for several hours makes you surprisingly hungry.

Side Note: About my Flight-
I left super early Thursday morning to make my flight in Dulles. I sat night to a young girl in the back of the plane who reminded me of Callie, she was super cute. I caught my connecting flight in Midway Chicago and headed to Salt Lake City! It was a great second flight. The thing about my flights that amazed me most was how many people will stop you in the airport and ask you if you play the ukulele you have. I wanted to say no every time, because I thought them asking was kinda ridiculous, but whatever..

Adventures on Temple Square!

We had so much time spending time together and getting to see all the sights. The sky was a little overcast, but the weather overall was great. I loved seeing the temple and visitor's center with my aunt!

General Conference With the Penningtons!

 

On Saturday, I watched the morning session with the family. Then I had a cookout and watched the next session with Ben and his friends.We had a great time with Ben and his roommates who came over between the Sunday sessions. These photos show what we accomplish that day other than spiritual enlightenment.
Left to Right: I painted Ben's nails, Josh gave/made me a flower, and I painted Carson's nails.

Fun at the Park

We had lots of fun playing at the park. We worked that jungle gym and rope tower! (;

BYU Athletics

 I got to go to a couple volleyball games (which were incredible!) and we got to go and see a baseball game. Riley is at the baseball game and Bennett is with Cosmo at the volleyball game.

Day out with my Aunt Carolyn!

Carolyn and I went up to Sundance Ski Resort to see the beautiful scenery. She said it wasn't as pretty as usually which was surprising to me because I thought it was beautiful. We went to happy sumo for lunch after. I loved getting to spend so much time with her over the two weeks I was with her! :D
Trip to Bridal Veil Falls-

I went with my cousins to the waterfall! They had a great time playing in the ice cold water, Carolyn and I had fun watching and occasionally dipping our toes in the water. The kids were so adorable and I enjoyed watching how adventurous they were! It was so adorable!

Hiking the Y!

Riley and Todd

We both made it up for our first time ever that day!

Dying Eggs and.... Planking?

 Random Snapshots and Fun Moments...

 so basically, I loveee my cousins. <3333

Spending Time with my brothaaaa! ...#swaggie.

After our cookout and before Conference.
photo credits to hotcheese

 oh, and we met and danced with Alex Boye. ...nbd. really though, we was so amazing. "moved or moving."

Saw this walking home with Ben. Talk about great marketing for a college campus?

Easter!

 After church, we started with a super fun egg hunt with Kylie's family. Everyone was very emotional about the eggs that they found. ...lol. or myabe it was because some eggs had money in them? (:

 Then we took awesome Easter sibling photos. I loveee these. Also, that's Josh's sister Jenna. I love her. (:

 

 Ben and I went to make and eat Easter dinner. We got to eat with Jason, a super cool Jamaican who is one of Todd's students. We had a yummy dinner with great, not to mention, funny conversation.

After dinner, we played some volleyball as a family. Then we died eggs. After that, we had a sing along. Then Ben and I went back to Wyview and watched Tarzan with some friends. We had ward prayer together and then played volleyball together. It was an Easter to remember for sure. Not to mention how fabulous our meetings were that day! Easter Sunday is just wonderful!

Livin' Like a College Kid

This is Josh Reese aka Platypus, aka Hot Cheese.
He is a pretty cool kid.
I enjoyed drinking milk and watching LOST with him.
Really though, i love this kid.

Josh and Jenna.
Sibling love.
(:

Scott- or Scottaye
This is Ben's other roomate!
He is such a sweet guy.
One day I schooled him in basketball,
but every other day he schooled me.

The mocs picture is of me waiting for Ben to get home... he was asleep in his apartment. Also, that day I learned that it is never a good idea to play several hours of basketball in your favorite socks... :(

 One day, I got to spend the night with Dallyn, Brenna, Tati, and Kasey. Dallyn and I pranked the boys. On the left is our spoils. (; Below is me saying goodbye to the girls my last day. They are all so sweet! <3

So things as I did as a college kid mostly included: watching youtube movies, listening to music, encouraging friends to skip class, eating food, playing basketball, attending a couple classes, and playing volleyball.
I am told that this is basically what it's like to be a college student. I can't wait!
Also, I went to an awesome capture the egg party and started watching LOST on Easter Eve. win.

Fun at the Skate Park!

 It was crazy to watch these kids go over all sorts of lifts and ramps. Carolyn taught me all the skater lingo she's picked up overtime. Also, Riley-Ann the Hispster...

Sometimes I like to take pictures...

One day I'll go back...

The whole time I was in Utah I felt like this..

happy.

Then Ben and Matt drove me to the airport and I flew home...

A Hobbes Approach:

In life, I am generally a crazy goal setter. I set high goals and then do what it takes to reach them. You should see the list of goals I made for this year (18 Things to Do Before I turn 18)... but I'll post that after I finish them (: Anyways, I love trying and achieving, and I love to do things that seem impossible or just plain difficult.  Sometimes  I over step and set too many goals within a time frame, I could do them all seperately, but not together.

Then there's day's where I just take the Hobbe's Mentality.

Today felt like a Hobbe's sort of day:
My Goals include:
-finishing the first season of LOST (and i'm currently watching Season 2.. I'm such an overachiever...)
-helping Emily to curl her hair for prom
-spending time with the family
-going to a date with my Nancy Friend if she's available
-jamming it up at the mormon dance tonight.

EVALUATION: (i'll post these as they happen, so check back later, :D )
=So umm... shout out to Josh Reese('s Puffs) for getting me hooked on LOST. The first season was quite the journey and the second is looking insane as well. I'm wayyy excited. I like it a lot. The end. (: I started Season 1 that fateful night on Easter Eve after a crazy game of capture the egg. I watched with Josh and Jenna while we consumed milk, burritos, and pizza. We watched two episodes and when it was almost midnight, Josh walked me home. Best Easter Eve ever. lol. &nowtokeepwatching...
= I did Emily's hair for prom. We set up a hair curling station in out living room so I did her hair while we watched LOST. it was great. also, she felt right at home among our chaos because she has 6 kids in her family, a fact I always manage to forget. anyways, she is beautiful, and her hair looked great, and i hope she had fun tonight (:
=I went to the park with my siblings after I curled her hair. It was super fun! We went to Rosa Parks to play on the playground. While there I updated all the music on my iPod. It was just swell. Also, Bella is ridiculously adventuring and athletic. That child needs to slow it down a notch.
=after cleaning my room (bonus points for me!) i went on a date with nancy to go dress shopping! we picked out a few dresses. I bought two, which is two more than i had planned to buy, but I really like them! oh dear, if i go to prom one of them will be my prom dress, the other I wore to the dance tonight which brings me to...
=as far as mormon dances go, this one was pretty good. I really don't care for annandale dances. Its basically annandale with a couple of us woodbridge kids and no one else usually comes.... anyways, it had some great moments and I got to hang out with people I don't always get to see, so that was pretty exciting.
Also, it made me realize i really do love people, even if going to school makes me want to be antisocial. lol

anyways, it is currently bella's birthday, which means it is past time for me to go to bed. successful day!

just a spot of sunshine

I must say, I truly love my life and all the blessings and opportunities I have in my life. So many blessings and tender mercies have been popping up in my memories the past few days. It's given me the chance to be grateful and to learn a lot about myself.  So this post may seen jumbled or rambled, but that's how it all relates. Thoughts that have continuously been walking through my mind. So here it is:

 I am amazed at all the places I've been in my life and I haven't even left this country! This year alone I traveled to New York City for the first time. Not to mention my amazing trip to Utah, that ended just a week ago. How many people can say within the first 4 months of the year they've already traveled across the country twice? Then there's all the other experiences I've had just being here at home. There's the dance festival, all district choir, meeting the singing sergeants, playing church basketball, being elected executive board president for senior year, and most recently realizing that I am going to be a senior next year and then I'll be leaving! I am realizing that 2012 has been a great year so far, it started off great at a new years party with a multi-stake dance. I was surrounded by friends, we were all hugging and cheering and it felt incredible! The fun and crazy night that night measures up similarly to how wonderful and fulfilling this year has been. I'm wondering and hopeful at how it will continue on...

Another thing I've been thinking about is how great friends can be! While I was in Utah, I met a guy named Reagan. Reagan's family lives in German because they are in the Military. Every single time I saw him he made me think of one of my good friend named, Bowen Creer. I met Bowen at efy in 2009. That was the first time I met him and the last time I've seen him since then. All I know is that he's a great friend. He makes me happy every single time I talk to him. We don't get to talk much, and I'm not saying I have a crush on him or something, but he really does make me happy. The other day I told him about Reagan and he responded from  his mom's facebook. He didn't say anything too crazy, but the words he said kept me smiling all day. It really is just the little things in life that make all the difference. Overall, recently I have realized time and time again that no matter how alone I sometimes feel. I am loved.


My final thought which is much less profound, (although that one wasn't incredibly profound in and of itself) is that  really loveee LOST. I was thinking today about how the Hunger Games lost so much because you only see the action not the emotional thought process that goes behind every choice. I love how LOST gives the back stories of the characters, so even though you don't know exactly why they do what they do, you understand where they are coming from even when you don't have the full story.


So I have a few posts that I really want to make. including: one about Utah, one about youtube vidioes, and one about boys, but I think I shall do them another night.

Also, sidenote. Its now 12:21 and that means BEN IS IN VIRGINA! :DDD I am so happy. He'll be home soon. I need to go and make him some food to eat when he gets home!
bytheway, I am a great chef and the food I made earlier was incredible. I don't even feel like I'm bragging, just being honest. lol

Love you all... whoever reads this... (:

What sweeter music can we bring, than a carol for to sing?

Over the past few days, after a conversation about our love of music in Troubadours and hearing some fabulous musicians today, my heart is filled with gratitude for music.

As I've considered the wonders of music I've had several thoughts, the most depressing of all of them being, "wow, i suck at singing. I may as well quit." But I know I never will, not because I'm hopeful that someday I'll be better than everyone, but because I don't sing to be the best, I sing because I loveee music. I love connecting with a piece of music. I am sooo grateful to be a part of the Hylton Choir Program where I am exposed to a plethora of great music and technique. So even though I'm not that great, I'll keep singing because I love to do it. I love the meaning and emotion and inner workings of every piece. I don't know that anyone who reads this will have heard the piece "O Sacrum Convivum," but i think it's one of my favorites. The first time I herad it I fell in love with the sounds and what I heard, then King Tut cut thepiece open and showed us soo many different things about it. He said, "When you all heard this song you liked it, and I'm going to show you why." The untrained ear can hear great music, but the untrained ear will not expect the magnitude and depth of that greatness untell it is trained.

Anyways, if you're wondering what brough about this mighty post other than a conversation in Troubs.. today I had the oppurtuinity to hear the Singing Seargants preform during concert choir. They were fabulous of course, so on point and connected with each other and the music. I felt the spirit sooo many times as they were singing. Music is so powerful. Then in troubs we gave them a version of the Kyrie they had never learned. They had about one person per voice part and an extra baritone who they had conduct. Then they sightread it perfectly without having anytime to look at it. I doubt that I'll ever be that good but it inspired me to do better. Then when we sang for them, idk what happened, I know that I'm not the best singer in the world, but every word and not I sang was spot on. I wish I had these days all the time. I wish I could sing as good as I did today everyday of my life.

There are days when I can't sing at all. I remember we were having practice auditions in Troubadours once and I literally couldnt sing Mi to Re. I kept singing Mi to Do, and everytime I thought I sang it wrong I'd stop and those were the times I did it right. I couldn't hear myself, I had no vocal control. It was all I could stand not to start bawling in frustration in front of my choir, made up of the finest musicians in our school. There are just somedays when I can't sing and I don't know why. Then there are days like today when I can do no wrong. I don't get it, but I do know one thing for certain... nothing will stop me from singing.

Here are some of the songs I've sung this semester that I think you'll enjoy! Check them out! :DCome Away Sweet Love, O Sacrum Convivium, and Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron- Troubadours- Festival Preformances. I know these are long and we have done better. But it is some amazing music.

Magnificat in D arr: Brewer. This isn't the best choir or quality video, but it's the best I could find.

Amor Vittorioso- Gastoldi. love this one so much.

Danny Boy- Arr: Flummerfelt. I love the back story to this song. So sad, but so profound.

The Clothes of Heaven by Valverde.

Let Everything that Hath Breathe- Ames. I was in this choir, but i was really ill for the performance, so i am in the audience of this video trying not to throw up because I wanted to be there. Also, I know one of the soloists. Love her.

How sweet the Moonlight Sleeps- premire preformance by Hylton Concert Choir. I sight read this song a couple hours before we sang it. like a boss.

Sleep by Whitacre. Sang this at all district.

Remember this is just some of the music I sang this year. Actually, its really only the second semester music, but I love it all and I don't want this post to be too long, so maybe I'll do the rest another day. :D

The truth is...

I've been acting kinda lame lately.

Ironically, this realization came from my joining Pottermore. I was taking my sorting quiz and it asked what I pride myself in having. I put optimism. I realized that lately this hasn't been my strong suit. I've been pretty whiny lately which is generally something I pride myself on not being. I've realized once again:

this is my life, and I'm going to make everything I can of it, regardless of what is thrown at me.

Sometimes I forget that, but i'm going to work on starting to remember today and everyday.. i feel embarrassed and silly. I'm starting again today.

Anyways, today has been pretty swell. Between Pottermore and LOST i'm fairly content.

Also, i made another pizza just as a treat for the kids who aren't at the activity day Art Show.

Life is good, and I know it. I just need to remember.