Fuschia Petunia

The greatest thing you'll ever learn...

2011-06-05T20:42:00.001-07:00

Okay I'm being a sappy romantic today. For Moulin Rouge fans who know the song Nature Boy with the phrase "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return." This is the original song. Nat does it best. I want to learn this on piano now.

Lip bite at 1:25... mmm sexy.

I want.

2011-05-27T09:39:00.001-07:00

A puggle. Cute and perfect size dog.

Things I want for my someday existant house.

2011-05-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

Super sweet space for my piano. Wood floors, big open windows, and a cool, modern atmosphere.

I want this kind of piano. SO perfectly perfect. Perfect touch, perfect sound.

I want lots, and LOTS of color on my walls.

Not to mention a wonderfully chic white sofa to go with my colorful walls.

Chic lighting to go with my chic sofa.

Or maybe just this amazingly awesome sofa would be enough.

It's a Pity

2011-05-15T00:18:00.001-07:00

I wish men still dressed like this.

So handsome.

Minimalism

2011-05-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

So I thought I'd share some of my favorite music. The last couple years I've been exposed to some really great composers. And others, lots of others, that I just don't care for. But one type of music I've always liked it Minimalism. This was a movement in Art Music in the 60s toward something simpler. The idea behind it is to take a simple idea or motive, and slightly tweak it bit by bit throughout the entire piece. Now some minimalistic music is quite monotonous, but some is just so gorgeous! Here's some of my favorites.

American composer Steve' Reich's Nagoya Marimbas (1994). I love Marimbas. They're so relaxing to listen to. This piece just changes ever so slightly bit by bit but it's so refreshing when those changes come. Beautiful.

American composer Phillip Glass's Symphony no. 3 (1995). This is Movement III. This is a particularly lovely arrangement for cello octet.

American composer John Adams's Shaker Loops (1978). This is the third movement, Hymning Slews. He said he wrote this piece to emulate the rippling of water.

French composer Yann Tiersen's Summer '78 (2003). Tiersen is best known for his soundtracks to Amelie and Goodbye Lenin. This is from Goodbye Lenin.

And my favorite! Arvo Pärt, an Estonian composer, best known for his sacred music. This piece is used in movies and is performed at ASU on a regular basis. The cellists love it I want to perform it so bad. It's particularly difficult for the cellist though. It's called Fratres (1977). Wait till the piano comes in. Gorgeousness!!

This wasn't in the plan.

2011-05-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

I love him so completely.

I don't mean to be a sob story but holy cow I had no idea this would be that hard. When he's with me it seems like I can find everything in the world to be annoyed about but then when he's away it feels like part of me is missing. And it's a big part of me. I don't know how women can do this. Why this was my lot in life I have no idea. And why I have to go through this I don't know! Why when I think I would make a great wife, and a great mother do I have to wait longer? I just don't know. What am I supposed to accomplish in these two years? Why do I have to do it alone? And I feel so incredibly alone.

I know it'll be possible. I know I can do it. I just. don't. want to. I just want Kyle by my side.

New Love

2011-04-25T23:20:00.000-07:00

In a Pickle

2011-04-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't used this blog in ages but I just keep having lines of thought that have no where to go. Perhaps I shall jot them down here.

I'm sending off my boyfriend of 10 months to a mission in the Dominican Republic in a week and a half. It's kind of unreal that I'm going to be single in 2 weeks.

I've talked to Kyle either in person or on the phone every day of my life for 11 months. And now my best friend will be unavailable. You can't date a missionary. And yet I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so proud of his decision to go, I know it's a hard sacrifice to make but it's one that will be worth it in the end. And I know in retrospect 2 years isn't all that long. As of right now though it looks quite beastly. Especially since I don't know where my life is going.

I'm going to be graduating with a Music Theory degree next semester. Why music theory? Well because I was interested in becoming a composer but I had a professor shoot me down from those hopes so I settled on Music Theory (so that I wouldn't have to take a language for the Music BA). This means that I will be virtually jobless when I graduate, yaaaay. Last November I started to consider a career path in being a Piano Teacher.

I teach now, I have about 15 students. In many aspects I really enjoy it. I'm my own boss, I make my own schedule, I work with kids who never judge me and believe what I say.. However I don't know how confident I am in my skills as a teacher. I'm a poor sight reader, and can sometimes not even pick my way through the pieces that I'm teaching. I have a poor music ideal so I don't know how the pieces should sound, and sometimes interpret pieces wrong.

Also. I don't want a career! I have never been a career centered woman. It's never been something I desired to have. And yet I find myself at a point in my life at a decision between furthering my education or establishing my career. Really, all I've ever wanted is to be a wife and a mother. I don't want either education or career.

My education has been great. I love learning all that I have. I've learned great things about music history, and music theory. I've learned important skills like how to play in a duet, and how to react musically to the other instrumentalist within a piece. I've learned how music is phrased, and how to travel through from one section to another. I hit this point this semester, in my senior year, when I realized that I got it. Everything my piano teachers have been trying to tell me makes sense. I understand what they were trying to teach now. Music is natural. Phrases in music are like sentences, and sighs, and each are one gesture and one movement. Learning to use your hands on the keyboard is like learning to walk. At some point you don't have to think about it and it feels natural and fluid. Emotional passion does not mean tension, tension begets poor musicality. Everything is and should feel natural and relaxed. My education has also taught me great things about composition, and how you should construct a piece. Things like how if you use a germ of an idea you have to use it from the beginning or it doesn't make sense. I've learned how to create even when I don't feel creative. This was a struggle for me. Everything has been great.

However, I am quite burnt out with school. Not burnt out in the sense that I have stopped working hard. I'm working hard, but my heart just isn't in it. This is why I'm having a hard time motivating myself to apply for graduate school. It's weird how being in an intense program like the one I've been in changes you. (I think only in the Music program have I ever heard anyone say that 7 classes is just right... I have to say I agree.) I feel like in a sense I've been put through a refiner's fire with school. There have been times when I've been so stressed I couldn't think straight and got anxiety and tension headaches. Because of having to go through that, I changed my study habits. I've become a hard working, self motivated, get homework done ahead of time and plan ahead kind of student. I find myself making daily and weekly goals with my workload. I know how to be busy at all waking hours of the day and still function as a normal human being. This is a huuuge change. Huge.

But I'm tired of always being busy. I'm tired of my schedule. I have no time to enjoy life, I feel like I've missed out on a lot. And have also let friendships go by the wayside. I regret that terribly. There's so many wonderful people I wish I could spend time with. I'm just at that point that I just want to enjoy things for a bit.

So I'm left at this point in my life where I'm kind of direction-less. I think the only goal I have for the next 2 years is to get out of credit card debt. Which isn't bad. I just need a little something more for the direction of my life.

Me Minus Forty

2009-10-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

So I started Dr. Fountis's diet September 5th. This is called a 'Protein sparing modified fast diet' All I eat is 8 oz of meat a day and 3 servings of certain kinds of vegetables. NOTHING outside of this. Nothing. Nothing with sugars (that includes fruit and even certain kinds of vegetables) and nothing with carbohydrates. Basically my body is tricked into thinking it's fasting so it takes what it needs from what it's already stored. In 7 and 1/2 weeks, I have lost....

40 lbs.

Yes. This is right. 40!!

So! Take a look!
Before:

After:

The diet really is easy. I'm not hungry. I don't know how it works but my body is continually burning fat and so I'm not hungry! I love it.

Now for those of you who say this is unhealthy, I'm taking 6 pills a day (ugh) and I get bloodwork and am monitored every 2 weeks. But it's been worth it. The weight is dropping faster than you can say fantastical.

Other news... my first semester at ASU has been heck. I've never had such a big work load! It's more than halfway through and I'm STILL trying to figure out how to handle it all! But I'm still managing to keep good grades so thats good at least.

Stay tuned for first recital!!

-Rachel the Awesomest

Wake up call

2009-08-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

I got home extremely late last night. After what seems like 2 minutes of being asleep, I wake up to my mom.

Mom: "Rachel! Rachel what are you doing you get up this instant! Rachel you need to get downstairs this instant! Rachel..."

Me: anwoi bejuvj aaoeinvg

Mom: "Rachel I mean it!..."

Me: awoinon asoawnpgn oerrnbn

(at this point I lose comprehension of what my mom is saying because I start to try and figure out what is going on.)

*my phone starts ringing*

"Rachel you need to get up right now. Don't you put your head back on your pillow! Don't you dare! Don't you curl up and go to sleep!"

*floats head precariously above pillow*

"Rachel get up! Don't you go back to sleep get up now!"

But mom! Give me 2 minutes to wake up. I need my pillow! My beautiful, ever trusting, ever comforting, cotton pillow

*She starts to leave while still scolding*

*Still floating my head precariously above pillow*

Just 2 minutes! Please!

*Leaves the room*

Ah. Pillow. How I missed you.

Oh. Missed 5 calls from my dad.

Oh crap. I gotta get up.

Which ensued a long 10 hour work day! Yay!

But... thanks mom. I owe you. :)

Things I like!

2009-03-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Kite flying with my sister Melanie:

Having a light saber fight with my friends Hilary, Janette and Becky:

Laying in the grass watching for shooting stars with my brother Brady and my friends Hilary and Will at the park.

Going to the dog park with Jennifer:

Nights hanging out with the family: (more here)

Making a fort with Katie:

Taking random pictures at Tempe Marketplace with Hilary:

Letters like this one: (click on it to read)

And emails like this one:

Subject: MCCD (Maricopa Community Colleges District)
Music Competition Results‏

From: Dr. Scinto

Congratulations to David, Rachel and Naomi!

Piano:
1st Place-Rachel Hale (Tie)- PVCC
1st Place-Kevin Villalta (Tie)- GCC
3rd Place-Naomi St. Armand- PVCC

Guitar:
1st Place-David Oxford- PVCC

All award-winning students will receive notification directly from Randy
Wright next week. 1st Place in each category will get to perform at the
Artists of Promise event on April 30th at the Herberger Theatre. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place competitors are prize winners, and will be presented with their award at the same event, along with Honorable Mention certificate awards.

What what! I Got skillz. Not only light saber fighting skills, fort building skillz, and kite flying skillz... but I suppose I can rip it up on the piano too!

Music Audition

2009-02-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

SO. My ASU music audition to get into the music composition program is a week from tomorrow, the 21st.

Today was my mock audition at PVCC. And I would have to say it went fairly well! It's nerve-wracking, especially in front of all my peers and especially when I'm such a lousy sight-reader. But I got through it, and I'm certain I'll do the same when the real thing comes around next week.

I have all four of my pieces memorized, cleaned up, all my scales and arpeggios learned. It's ridiculous to think it's only a week away because I've been working towards this for AGES. A couple years. At least. Every major song that was learned was for the audition, the way it was interpreted was with the ASU professors in mind, each of the songs that I wrote was for the Composition application.

It's scary to think that ITS HERE!

Pray that all goes well! If this doesn't work out it's another 9 months until the next audition date!

P.s. Because I need some praise :) I'm going to put up videos of my songs. Who knew I would ever get this far?!

Bach:
(the first one he plays, ends at 3:17)

Beethoven:

Rachmaninov:

Scriabin:

What's in a name?

2009-01-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Note: some of the names have been changed as to protect myself from identity stealing thieves. Except, of course, my name. That is real.

With as many friends as I have married now, and more soon to be, It's hard not to think of the day when I'll get married. I often think what it would be like... will it have lace? Will it be an A-line, Ball-Gown, or Mermaid style? Will it have beading? White or cream? Diamonds or Pearls? ...This is all of course, in reference to the dress.

Ok ok, the husband/family/marriage thing is thought of too. But one thing that I am worried about, is my name. My name is Rachel Virginia Hale. And has been since infancy. It has, therefore, become a part of me, a part of my identity, it is me. Rachel Virginia Hale. Well, more like Rachel Hale.

I can't say I've ever particularly favored the name Virginia. Say it out loud. Virginia. What does it remind you of? To me, it's a certain woman of some years in our church. Lovely sister, but, the name is tainted with age. And the state, who can forget about the state? The Mother of Presidents, the Old Dominion, where the state bird is the Cardinal, and the state shell is an oyster. Not exactly something to be creating an identity by.

Rachel Hale is my identity. I fully consider myself a Hale. All farm owning, field plowing, cow raising components that come associated with the name Hale. I wear my Hale chin with pride and fully know that all the past Hale hicks' blood runs in my veins. My children will definitely have a high disadvantage when it comes to their odds at turning out normal. And that's okay with me. I knew it was coming. I am a Hale.

Now as for the Whipple and Stoval and Cleaver components of my family. I can't say I can relate to the names. I'm sure they come with their own claims to identity. But I never was a Whipple or a Stoval or a Cleaver. I am a Hale. Recently some of my Whipple cousins made an easy assumption of associating the Whipple boisterousness with me but unfortunately that just isn't one of the things that have been put into Rachel DNA makeup. But thank the heavens for their blood! My children will have a fighting chance!

But as for the middle name, no I cannot say I can relate to it. I mean, how often do we really get to know our middle name? It always comes up in paperwork: School applications, taxes, job applications. Though even then many times it's just a middle initial. These are hardly the kind of situations you want to create a good working relationship in.

Middle names many times come up in conversations with your school chums though. I once had a certain Sarah from marching band ask me my middle name. I told her. She said it out loud. "Rachel Virginia Hale. Sounds good, It flows nice. Your parents named you well." And for this I am grateful. It does sound very nicely together. Two syllables in the first name, one in the last, so therefore the lacking syllables had to be made up in the middle name. Practically rolls right off the tongue. Rachel Virginia Hale. Lovely.

But what happens when I get married?

Not only will I lose the Hale component of my identity, but will the middle name flow?

Now, I know what you're thinking: just hyphen it! --Hyphen it? Hyphen it? Not only will I be polluting the good name Hale, but a hyphenated woman is just not the kind of woman I want to be. Hyphenated women have always struck me as the kind of woman of self importance that were to too good to let go of their name. Get over it lady! Think of it. Who are they? The Mrs. Smith-Gladys from 2nd grade that none of the kids could pronounce so she became Mrs. SG. I do not want to be Mrs. 'Ess-Gee' That name practically screams non-flow. Not only that but you're practically cursing every person who ever attempts to say your full last name. Why would you want to punish people like that? That's just too much effort put into a name. No, I am just not a hyphenation kind of person. I will be changing the last name. However so regrettably.

Which leaves me with Virginia. What if I marry a three syllable? Rachel Virginia Washington. Rachel Virginia Fitzpatrick. Not good. Not good at all. I may be able to limit my dating to one and two syllable men. Although how good my my name will sound when we get married probably shouldn't be my priority requirement. "Hi I'm Ryan" Oh he's cute. "Ryan what?" "Young" Oh he's a keeper.

I may just have to live with what I get stuck with. I'm sure there will be a whole new history of my new name to discover. Maybe they were the shapers of this great nation, they were the politicians, or maybe they were on the Mayflower and helped discover and establish this Great Land. Maybe they fought in the Civil War and helped shape the ideals of that we now proudly wear. Maybe they helped tame and plow the Old West. Or maybe they helped define the American dream and created the Ford car or was the founder of Johnson and Johnson baby products helping all to have soft fluffy hair. Whatever the case may be, I'm sure I can pull something good out of it.

Yes, this can be done. I can shed the name Hale and I can live with it. It will be hard, this is true, but it can be done. After all, I am a Hale! I am a woman of strength! Of valor! Of commitment! We Hales do what needs to get done! And we stick to it!

Unless of course I marry a Googisberg. In that case all hope is lost to any sense of identity.

I know it's been a while...

2009-01-11T23:54:00.000-08:00

My school concert went FANTASTIC. Much better than I was expecting. We stayed together till the last page. Where it all fell apart. But the last note was together! lol. It was great. I was very pleased!

Christmas was fun with the family. It was nice to have Brady in town. It always is. :) My present to him was the directions in which to get the Kings Quest games working on his new mac. Oh man. I think I'll write a whole blog on those games. We spent many hours as wee tots on the Kings Quest games. It was like bringing back childhood. lol.

My week following Christmas was amazing. My friend's sister's boyfriend asked me to house-sit while he was in Mexico. Best week EVER. I think the earliest we went to bed all week was 6am. It was GREAT. Here's some pictures from that. We had a dance party, a slumber party, massive pillow-fights between upstairs and down, watched movies, ate tons of pizza, took rides on Shane's motorcycle, took turns driving Katie's hot mustang, not to mention deep conversations about space and time and the afterlife. We stuffed 4 people onto a bed... We bonded and had fun. Best moment: Shane thought he was being super sneaky by coming up the stairs without us knowing... but I had looked over the balcony and saw him start heading up. So i took my pillow, and crouched down at the top of the stairs. He didn't even see it coming! I was like a ninja in the night! ...He now accredits as the moment he lost his manhood. lol.

New years night I ended up going to my awesomest relatives AKA the Whipples house. They're probably the funnest family EVER. Following that we hung out at our friend Shane's house and danced. Toilet papered someones house, made food and got home around 7am.

The following friday was first a dance party at the ASU polytechnic campus, followed by ihop with about 15 of those people, followed by going out into the desert watching the meteor shower cuddling in bedrolls in the beds of trucks while some of the guys attempted to make a bonfire. Another late night of course. :)

This week I've gone back to work but I still have not been able to go to sleep earlier than 3. It's going to be terrible next week when I start school again... lol.

We've definitely had fun!

I have some ideas for some new blogs so I'll keep you updated. :)

-the beautiful Rachel Hale

Thoughts and Other Things

2008-11-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

The Twilight movie was terribly cheesy. The directing was bad, the editing was bad, the visual effects were bad, the casting of the entire Cullen family (minus Edward) was bad, the soundtrack was HORRIBLE. It totally failed for me. It had a good foundation (the plot/storyline) but that came from the story Stephenie Meyer wrote. Go see it though and form your own opinion. I've actually already seen it twice. It's still entertaining. And Robert Pattinson/Edward Cullen is still pretty good eye-candy...

After opening weekend alone, it's projected that they will make 3 or 4 times what their budget was for this movie, so hopefully the next movie will be better.

Other things going on: I'm accepted to ASU, now I have to audition into the music program, and that application should be done this week. My music composition application/portfolio will probably be in after I'm done with this semester of school so I have another piece to submit with that. So it's all coming along.

Please come to my performance on Dec 11th! We're performing the huge Bartok Sonata! (The one that is 50 pages long) And hopefully we can all get it together by then! I'm pretty much not sleeping these days. Lots and lots of work.... Here's the information:

Paradise Valley Community College
18401 N 32nd St.
Phoenix, AZ 85032
Thursday, December 11th
7:30pm
In CPA building (the tall funky looking one on the East of campus)
Admission is free

I would love to have as many people as possible there!
I'll probably also be performing my 6 page Bach piece. bleh.

Twenty Two!!

2008-10-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday! I am now officially twenty two. On Saturday, when it looked like no one had really planned anything for my birthday I just went ahead and invited everyone to go to dinner on my birthday. It was fun! Ten people came. Naomi from school (lovely girl, I'm so glad she came), Jennifer and her husband Billy, Meghan and her boyfriend Randy, Sarah, Katie G and her fiance Keinan, Brent, and Katie O. The waiter hated us, because more and more people kept showing up. It was difficult fitting us all on that table. Haha.

I got presents, and birthday cards, and a GIANT size birthday card from Katie G that was hilarious:

(while Star Wars theme plays)
And a picture of the temple from Meghan that she crafted together to hang on my wall when I move out. (which won't scan in well because it's behind glass) And bookshelves from Jennifer to use when I move out. Altogether great. I don't think ever in my life ALL of my closest friends have been together like that. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and no one else had one so I didn't get any pictures. But it was fun just the same. I love LOVE LOVE my friends.

Yesterday also happened to be my first day at my new job! I am the new piano teacher at Rancho Solano Private School.

Go me. I love it so far.

Twenty two years of greatness. Bring on the next year. :)

This is ridiculous

2008-10-12T01:16:00.001-07:00

Every time I go out and actually have fun, I regret it. Because there's SO many more productive things I could be doing. I have SO much homework all the time. And all I'm ever worried about is getting it all done, all day, every day.

Why the music program calls for this, I don't know. There's got to be a way to fit in school, work, fun, and homework. Apparently music students either don't have jobs, or don't have lives. I have both. (yes, apart from what some may believe, I do in fact, have a life)

I just had a fantastically fun and full day with my friends. And I regret it. I didn't practice. I didn't work on my song. I didn't clean. I didn't get a whole lot of things done that I really really really need to get done. And why is it not all done? Because I'm practicing all the time.

Sorry for my ranting. But this is stupid.

Panic(!) At The Disco

2008-10-02T23:46:00.001-07:00

I'm at a dilemma.

The summer after my senior year of High School is when I really started getting into music. The following October in the same year, is the first Panic! At the Disco concert I ever went to, the Nintendo Fusion Tour. (And coincidentally, my 2nd Fall Out Boy one).

That was Panic's first tour ever. They were the opening act, not very many people paid attention to them.

Their next tour, the Truckstops & Statelines Winter Tour, The Academy Is was headlining, and the line at Marquee went all the way under the bridge. But EVERYONE left before The Academy Is even came on. Panic was HUGE. Rumor has it that Panic's album sales surpassed Academy's during the tour (the order of line up on tours is usually based off of record sales)

Their next tour was their first headlining tour (North American Tour... so original). It was AMAZING. They had Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque come tour with them to perform. Basically, throughout their whole show, they had circus performers performing to the songs. It was so cool.

And the band liked it so much, they took them along on their next tour, the Nothing Rhymes With Circus tour, their first Arena tour. Basically, it was like watching a circus. With a band. It was Absolutely amazing.

So when their Pretty. Odd album came out, I was expecting their show, headlining the Honda Civic Tour, to be something even better.

But it was way disappointing. Apparently since their music was emulating the Beatles, they went way simple on their tour. Nothing but four guys dressed up on stage playing music.

At this point in my Panic relationship, I've gotten over the so-crazy-about-them-I-think-I'm-going-to-die stage. Their first album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out is definitely one of the very very few cd's I own that I love every song on there. (well, minus one song) It's such a great album top to bottom, and I've listened to it who knows how many times. And it was their first Album! Amazing. But while Pretty. Odd. is good, it's very good musically, and I do really enjoy listening to it... they lost their zing I think in this album. What makes Panic Panic is their upbeat tunes that are spilling with energy. And Pretty. Odd. just lost that.

So you can say my love is dwindling.

So here I am. I've been to see Panic at every tour they've ever been on. And I'm not as much of a die hard fan as I used to. And they are coming into town next week. Do I go? Just to say I've been to every one? I know I'll enjoy myself. I love seeing my boys.

Or... do I just let this one go? Will I regret not going? Probably. Will I miss much? Probably not. Will I regret going? Maybe.

I don't know what to do. *sigh*

...Who wants to go with me?

The Blister

2008-09-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

So there's this part in the Bartok where I have to do a glissando (dragging your finger along the keys for an octave or more) with both hands and apparently I've been playing it wrong without even paying attention to what I'm doing. You're supposed to do it with your fingernail/thumbnail, as to not damage your hand, but I haven't.

So.

I got a blister. From practicing this section. Well, from practicing this section wrong. A small blister. This is the following texting conversation that resulted because of this.

Me: Holy crap, i have just given myself my first blister from playing the piano. This is a very proud moment.

Meghan: SERIOUSLY? take a picture!

(After thinking about this for a moment and getting really excited)
Me: The caption to the picture: "This blister, is in memory of all the hard work, strenuous hours, and practice put in to learn the ever nasty, the ever long, (and the ever stupid) bartok... and what did i do? Persist! Go on! Defeat! That is what this blister is, it is the thing in my soul which carries me on to strike down that bartok, for no song will stand in my way, no mortal pages filled of notes, for i am the song warrior, here to defeat everything in my path!"

Meghan: LOL! IM SAVING YOUR TEXT, SONG WARRIOR!

...Wanna see a picture?

Here it is:

Don't see it?

Wait a second...

There it is.

The lovely, the magnificent, the ever so fun... Jennifer Jones

2008-09-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

I have never been friends with anyone as long as I have with Jennifer. I met her about age 9. In church. We weren't fast friends right away, but by 7th grade though we were hanging out on a regular basis.

This picture was taken around the time we started hanging out in church:

That's me on the left, Jennifer on the right.

And look what else I found! This was also about the same time we started hanging out:
I don't remember us four ever hanging out together, who woulda thunkin? Jennifer's up front, I'm top right.

Let it be known, Jennifer is a funny girl. I don't know where she gets some of the stuff she says but man, she can make me laugh. She's such a hoot and is always willing to just have a good time. Some of my best memories are with her, crying from laughter.

Back in the day, we used to spend our time listening to Cranberries, No Doubt, Garbage and Moby and dancing to it all in her living room.

Watching Friends and eating a perfect slice of pepperoni pizza and a can of Pepsi.

Having slumber parties talking about all the funniest bodily functions we could think of and laughing so hard we would cry. And her mom waking up and getting after us.

We were on the phone ALL the time. We would talk about nothing and everything. Sometimes we would just get on the phone to be on the phone. I believe once we were both on the phone, and both of us started watching the same show, and we just sat there on the phone for 15 minutes not saying anything until the commercial came on. Haha. And then Jennifer holds the record for the longest phone call I've ever had in my life. One Saturday, I spent a whole 8 hours on the phone with her. Who the heck knows what we talked about.

We alsogot on The Loop. For those not in the know, the loop was the precursor to Myspace. It was myspace on the phone. And oh did we think it was cool. We would scour through lists of people's little sound bites. A lot of them went a little something like this: "Hey ladies, I'm Jose, hit me up." or "Haaay, I'm Jazelle, I'm beautiful and I wanna talk to you." Ours were way better. Hers were usually from some Johnny Depp movie, mine, from Princess Bride, or some super cool song. And we would have like 5 different accounts, just for the purpose of playing with people. It was fun.

Swimming in her pool. Oh the games we came up with. We played hide-and-go-seek in the pool. There was plenty of bushes and trees around the pool to hide behind. We also would collect rocks, throw them in the pool, and whoever could get the most rocks first won. She always beat me. We'd put the pool chairs in the deep end and stand on them. We'd shoot water at each other with the noodles. Synchronized swimming. We did a whole number of weird but very fun things swimming all summer long. Here's a picture of one such swim:

Oh the notes. We passed notes in seminary, in sunday school, in young womens, every opportunity possible. They were funny too. In 8th grade we got this insanely fantastic idea to each make our own notebook and write notes to each other and exchange them every so often. Oh they were funny because now not only were we writing words, we were incorporating pictures. She spent a lot of her time declaring that Johnny Depp was the greatest man known to the world, and I, Josh Hartnett, pasting lots and lots of pictures of our man, and bashing on each other's man. We only ever agreed on the guys in Linkin Park. And Matt LeBlanc.

This was the cover of mine:

We did all sorts of cool stuff in them.

Some examples of the feud:

I rummaged through my room and found a couple notes. Here's one I'm fairly sure was done in church. We basically went back and forth listing all the grossest stuff we could think of...

"burp! butt! booger! snot! toe! mucus! eye balls! nostril! wax! pimple! puss! black head! body hair, eye crust, armpit sweat, toe jam, toe crusties, clipped off fingernails, nose hairs, athletes foot, fungus, body sounds, body smells, plaque, lice, dandruff, greasy hair, sound of squishy, crusty hair, cottage cheese, cottage cheese on body, brady's belly, Rachel! Jennifer's voice, Jennifer's hair, Jennifer, Rachel's voice, your bathroom, my bathroom, airplane bathrooms, rachel's smell, Rachel's hair, Rachel's feet, Rachel's breath, Rachel, Geoffs hair, Geoff!! hair on the counter, dead-skin flakes, dead person, roadkill, bugs...."

It goes on. ...And I left out the worst stuff! ...In church!

Going to girls camp together.
That's me in the light blue and Jennifer in the orange. This is from a bishops night.

Jennifer and Nicole having a sword fight with fly swatters...

These 3 pics are all from the year I was a YCL and Jennifer was a 4th year. I'm in the yellow, Jen's in the black. This is yet again another Bishops night. And I think were playing the same game.

I cut off this last picture because my belly was sticking out, there's no way that's going on the internet. And Jennifer looks like she's waving a wand. She'd be proud of that. But check out Meghan in the red handkerchief:

Because of our birthdays, she ended up in the year below me so we were in different cabins. But we made the best of it and hung out when we could. One year we sent so many notes back and forth to each other through the mail we probably got about 10 or more a day. I rummaged through and found some I saved. They're very sophisticated and a good read, I must say:

Look at this awesome card she made me:

The feud even went on at camp apparently:

Mine weren't any better:

I don't know why I can't spell? That's probably why I never sent it.

And, it is my personal belief, that Jennifer would make a GREAT cartoonist. For example(click on it to make it bigger):

But I think she's channeled this creativity into something else, though. Over the years Jennifer has become quite a photographer. I especially think she has a knack for black and white photography. Roxanne has frequently been a subject of her photos. Here's some of my favorites:

We went to Youth camp and EFY together. I remember one particular night we were both laughing so hard due to Jennifer's flexibility, and awesome talent at putting her body in funny positions. I'm pretty sure I got a picture of it, but unfortunately I can't find my EFY pictures... But it was the best. :)

Beginning in 7th grade, I have seen Jennifer go through every color of the rainbow with her hair. Red, Brown, Black, Blonde, even one time an experiment went awry and her hair was 5th Element orange for a day. Poor girl.

I've also gone through the Jenna, Jennifer, Jonsie, JJsquared, and Jenn names. But I usually just stuck with Jennifer, no matter what her friends called her.

When I got my first phone, we soon discovered we both had Verizon! Meaning.... nonstop picture messages!! We would stay up late and send the funniest pictures of ourselves we could create. I remember laughing soooo hard at not only her funny faces but the ones I could come up with too. She'd kill me if I put up the really good ones of her, so I'm putting up my worst ugly pictures so you can get a really good idea of just how awesome they really are:

We liked this one because it looks like theres a laser coming out of my nose:

Not to mention the photoshoots on our phones:

Through the years we've gone to separate schools, had separate groups of friends, but we've always managed to remain friends. I think it was because even though we were always doing different things, we still hung out at church every sunday, and then in high school we ended up going to seminary together. Haha, and oh did we get a lot out of Seminary. We would spend a large portion of the time putting on make-up in the bathroom, and then spend the rest of the time quietly talking in the back, getting the scoop on whatever had happened since the last time we saw each other. Poor Brother Franklin. Okay it wasn't every day, but it seemed like it.

We've also found many many ways to entertain ourselves. For example, I remember one night Jennifer, Roxanne, and I discovered the capabilities of Garageband. We went through recording all the randomest things and altering how our voices sounded. We were laughing so hard. Our favorite was the one that made our voices sound like we had just sucked helium. I wish I could figure out how to put it on here becuase it's hilarious.

We've also done many many photoshoots, as you may have seen from all these pictures. Digital cameras make everything fun :) Here's some from a photoshoot from I think about two years ago.

Look! it's the two headed monster!

And here's photos from a photoshoot about a year and a half ago:

This one I love because of Jennifer's face:

This one I love because of my face:

This one I love because of Roxanne's face:

And here is a video of Jennifer as Melanie's arms. You might not think it's quite as funny as we did at the time, but it shows how goofy we are when we get together.

We first went to the singles ward together. Oh it was so much fun. We were grown up, had our own friends, came home when we wanted (much to our parents dismay), we had a lot of new freedom.

And we made many friends, and had so much fun. I remember some weeks we were going out 5 or 6 nights of the week. Going to the bonfires. And almost getting caught. Haha.

The Sobe bombs....

Driving home after hanging out at the Dawson's all night in the winter in my freezing mustang with no heater and holes in the top, and clearly seeing our breath. Staying at Garrett's house till 5am...

Here's to all the memories we've made, and many more to come.

Love you :)

Quirks

2008-09-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

My cousin Katie tagged me so....

I have to warn you, that after doing this, I have concluded that I am somewhat autistic or OCD ...or something.

6 quirks about me:

Numero uno: I don't like sleeping in the dark. It's not because I'm afraid, but because I like to be able to see my surroundings. If I chance to wake up the middle of the night, or when I'm falling asleep even, I like to be able to see the room. I do occasionally, when sleeping in the same room as other people, fall asleep in total darkness just fine. But I'm more comfortable with some kind of light on. Maybe it's because I always grew up with the hall light on and my door cracked. My sister is the same way, and she sleeps in the same room I used to be in, right next to the hall light. But whatever the reason, I still don't like it.

Two: When I tap my fingers, I like to make sure all my fingers are tapped evenly. When I'm doing some random rhythm with them, and I feel like some of the fingers are being left out, I tap them a few extra times, or change the rhythm to make sure it's all even. Piano playing does not apply.

Three: I like to walk on the cracks in the sidewalk. This isn't to say I step on every one, I would look ridiculous... but when I'm walking on a sidewalk, and my foot is close enough to step on it, I make sure it does. And not just anywhere on my foot, no, it has to be on the ball of my foot. So if you're ever walking along-side me on a sidewalk having a conversation, and you think my full attention is on you, you might be mistaken because there's probably a small portion of my brain devoted to the placement of my feet.

Four: I like to have things in line, and parallel. I don't do this one as often. But say when I'm taking notes (on a notebook) in class, or I'm sitting at the table at home and in front of me there is a book, paper, pen, you name it on the table, I line up the notebook, paper, pen etc. with the edge of the table. It just looks nice. And orderly. I did this a lot at my desk when I was working at this bank. All the sticky notes, calculator, mouse pad and everything was lined up with the edges of the desk. It just looks better to me.

Five: When I eat a meal, I like to eat the best thing last. I think it's because I don't want to finish eating something I don't particularly like. I want to finish with a good taste/feeling in my mouth. For example, I don't like eating the crust. I do it anyway, because well, that's what you do. So when I eat a sandwich I eat all the crust and then the delectable crust free inside with all the flavors last. Same with cookies. I eat the dumb crusty outside first, then the soft gooey middle. This was also true with Halloween candy. I always ate the best things last. I'd eat all the candy I didn't like first (because, come on, you can't leave candy uneaten) and eat all the best stuff last.

Six: I can't stand it when teachers/professors erase the board to put something new on there, and leave little marks here and there. It drives me absolutely bonkers. Erase the whole thing! GAH!

So ya. Those are my quirks. Weird huh? Nobody really notices any of these things though. I never make a point of it, let it go when need be, and make sure it doesn't interfere with everyday life. But it sure is strange.

Pianist

2008-08-26T22:46:00.001-07:00

So school has started, and suddenly it puts things into a different perspective. My audition is next February. I have to finish learning 2 more songs, memorize them, polish all 4 songs, finish learning all my scales and arpeggios... it's do-able. Not really as bad as it sounds. But I'm terrified. It's only a semester away and on top of that I'm learning this ridiculously long Bartok sonata. And composing another song. I'm afraid.. not so much of failing, because I know I'm going to get the degree eventually. Even if they don't let me in the school this year, there's always next year. Yes, it's another year wasted, but it is going to happen.

No... I'm afraid of not being ready for the audition. I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to work for it hard enough, and not have it in me to see this out. The work I do this semester will be a lot like ASU, once I'm actually in the program. It's a hard major. Music students don't have lives. They practically live in the Music building at ASU. All their friends are musicians, they spend their free time debating over music theory, the mentality of composers, and practicing practicing practicing practicing and more practicing. Every semester I'll have to learn and play for the jury 3 approved and memorized pieces before I can sign up for the next semester's classes. As a composition major I have to write music, oversee practices, book recital halls, and advertise for performances. Not to mention playing accompaniment for other students.

When I first went to ASU as a freshmen, I was completely overwhelmed by the skill of these students. I had never taken lessons of any kind since I was 10, and I wanted to major in this? Which is why I took no classes toward any major the following year. Or took any lessons. I didn't think I could do it. But truth is, ever since I found out about the Music Theory and Composition Major in the beginning of my senior year in high school, I've wanted to do it. Real bad.

I'm just afraid that I won't be able to do what they do, and I'm actually just someone pretending to be good. Maybe I'm just Rachel.

I'm not going alone.

2008-08-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Is anyone willing to pay $250 to see Soweto Gospel Choir in December? No? Ok... *sigh* ...there's always next year.

My entire summer summed up in one big blog and 58 pictures

2008-08-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've gone kind of MIA in the blogging world lately. There's a few reasons for that. First, my computer was down and I was waiting until I have money to take it into Apple to get it checked out. And I barely ever use my family computer... what a bother. And secondly, because I'm going on all these darn vacations and spending all my money! Now that I'm home, I have money to... wait no, I don't have money, I just spent $300 of it on fixing my computer. I know, might as well rip my heart out. But it is fixed! (It's like having one of my limbs back, I swear. Living without it has been a horrid experience...) However, apart from the fact that I am currently broke, my vacations have definitely been fun! Here's some pictures of me adventures this summer.

First we went to Catalina Island with family and friends... I brought Meghan along with me. :)

It was a blast to take our own car. :) Taking the ferry over to the island was fun because if you stand in the right place, the wind will knock you over... We went kyaking Took a tour of the island on a boat in the fog. I kept waiting for the Black Pearl to come out of the fog, it was very creepy, and very cool. We did get to see flying fish though! It really does fly, just glides in the air for 40 ft then gets back in the water. It was so cool to see. Snorkeling... Then I did see a shark. (I was the only one to see it) It was big too, must have been about 4 feet long. This mostly what we saw though. And we went Parasailing. Then here's some other pictures from that vacation that I think are worth putting up here. ...forgive me in my inmodesty in all my sleevelessness. I was trying to get rid of my farmer's tan, but all I ended up accomplishing was one of the worst sunburns of my life. As you can see... Catalina was great. :)

Florida
A week after that, me and Melanie went to visit our cousins Ben and Sicili in Florida and their kids Ellana and Tyton. (Daaahrling little things. Mmhmm.)

MGM studios:

Bag on the front, child on top, and baby in the back. That's how us Hale's roll. Ha.

A home bought $10,000 fireworks display!

The fireworks crew: The Roberts. And a Hale. :)

Sedona
And then I took a weekend to go camping (which we didn't actually go camping) in Sedona. About 30 min out of town the 17 turned into a parking lot for 2 hours so by the time we got to Sedona, all the camping sights were full, so we got a cheap room for the night, and Meghan set up the tent in the hotel room. :) what a goof. It was a fun weekend though!

And I just got back from a family reunion in Idaho. Fun fun! Best picture of Brady ever: To see more pictures and hear more about the vacation, click here, I'm tired of doing it....

And while I was in Idaho, I bought and finished the new, Breaking Dawn. This is my review. I really really liked it, until the end. Because, at the end of Bella's section, I was totally caught off guard, and then at the end of Jacob's section I was completely caught off guard. Both turn of events just came way out of left field. Well, for me at least. I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack. A couple times I just had to put the book down because I was getting too worked up over it... But, I was disappointed in the ending. Not that the ending is a good one, and it's a happy ending and everything. I was just disappointed in the lack of action. Oh well. Edward Cullen is still the man of my dreams. *sigh* Too bad there are no real vampires who have the same suave-ness and cordiality from the turn of the century walking around these days. Aha, listen to me, I'm all but ready to marry the pages he's written on. Ah well.

Cd's I have listened to this summer include Menomena's Friend and Foe. I love it. My favorite part is how they use a Baritone Sax for the bass instead of a bass guitar. Makes for quite and awesome effect. Favorite track: Evil Bee.

Then Vampire Weekend's self titled album. Very good. Has a lovely spanish flavor to it. But also very much an indie sound.
Devotchka's How It Ends. Full fledged spanish music without the spanish language. And I'm not talking about that mariachi crap either. My favorite track is 'Enemy Guns.' It has very much an old western sound. Can't help but think of a cowboy riding across the desert when listening to that song. Ha.
The Ting Tings We Started Nothing. Splendid dance music. And then the soundtracks to both Atonement and Sweeney Todd.

(I got both movies edited. Don't recommend getting Sweeney Todd edited, its still super bloody, but Atonement is great!) I love 'Briony' from Atonement. It incorporates a typewriter into the main theme of the movie. Amazing stuff. And then the 8th track, 'The Half Killed' is the kind of song that gives me goosebumps. And then, Sweeney Todd... who knew Johnny Depp could sing? And well? My favorite track is 'My Friends.' The harmony between Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett is the best.

Then last week me and Katie O went to the Linkin Park concert over at Cricket Pavilion. I haven't liked Linkin Park since 8th grade with their Hybrid Theory album. But then they came out with Minutes to Midnight last year and after hearing everyone say how good it was I finally got around to getting it. Holy crap that is a good cd. And the concert was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Didn't think I'd like it nearly that much. They can definitely put on a show! Something else I seemed to be able to accomplish this summer... couple weeks ago, for the first time, I played all the way to the end of the 50 page first movement of the Bartok Sonata. It is really slow in parts, and only one hand in others, but I did do it. Go me. :)

Good graciousness, I did a lot this summer. Smashing.

Picture survey

2008-05-30T01:18:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd go with the fad so here it is:

Age on my next birthday:

Place I want to visit:
My favorite thing:
My favorite place:

My favorite food:

My favorite color:

Where I live:

Name of a past pet:

Nickname I have had:

College major:

First job:

Goal I have for next year:

Most Embarrassing Moments

2008-05-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

I really can't say I can pin-point one big embarrassing moment. I do, however, have many, many little ones. Mostly I just end up saying really dumb things. All the time. But I can think of some others.

Like one time at camp. When you lost something at camp, you had to come up in front of everyone, and do a dance, or sing a song, or do something embarrassing in front of everyone at dinner, in order to get your stuff back. Well I had left my sweater out on the field. So when the leaders held it up I got up and started walking towards the front. What I failed to realize though, was that I had managed to drop a sizable piece of lettuce, with plenty of dressing, onto my boob. And there it stuck. Until I got to the front and someone so kindly pointed it out to me. In front of everyone.

We got our new puppy Kipp the end of my 6th grade. For the first year of having him we had such an awful time getting him to pee outside. Well, a few may know how messy my room gets from time to time. Well, once in 7th grade, I showed up to school, and I kept smelling dog pee! And I could NOT find out where it was coming from. Well, come to find out, the dog had peed on my sweater. On the shoulder part of my sweater. Sadly, this happened more than once.

One time in 6th grade, I must have had a cold or something. It was in the middle of class, and I forget what we were doing, but everyone was talking and it was pretty noisy in there. Anyways, I sneezed and forgot to cover my mouth... and a HUGE loogy landed on the floor. And what do I do? Look around, make sure no one saw, and act like it didn't happen. About 5 minutes later one of the boys discovered it and pointed and yelled out "Ew look someone left a huge booger on the floor!" I just tried to look grossed out with everyone else. Haha.

Also, in 6th or 7th grade, I was over at Jennifer's house, and we were playing marbles. And I was having one of those incredible gassy days. I know you've all had them... Well anyways, Jennifer made me laugh at something, as she often does, and I laughed, and leaned in such a way that a little fart leaked out. Well this made Jennifer pretty much die of laughter. Whew it was embarrassing. She now accredits this moment to the very first time I "opened up" to her. Yes, I must say it was the beginning of a very open friendship. :)

One time in my Sophomore year in high school, I asked my friend Francisco when Cinco de Mayo was. He just started laughing at me. It took me a couple minutes to get it. For those of you that are as white as I am, Cinco de Mayo literally means, '5th of May'

You know that game, well I wouldn't really call it a game, but you grab your friends hands and you spin around as fast as you can. Just cause. Well I was doing this with my friend Alisa, the summer after my Junior yr of High School. And we were going pretty fast, and all of a sudden our hands slipped, and I went flying, and literally rolled backwards out of control. As in I did a backwards summersault. My feet went up over my head. I've never laughed so hard in my life.

Not long ago when I went paintballing with my friends Katie O and Katie G, I wore some old pants of mine so I wouldn't have to worry about the paint. We had a blast, and we were crawling around and not really accomplishing much, but it was still fun. After we were done, I was sitting on a table next to Katie G and we were waiting for Katie O. I look down, and suddenly realize that I have a huge tear in my pants about 4 inches long, alongside the bottom of the zipper. An easy window for some underwear exposure. I quickly crossed my legs and acted cool. But afterwards I showed it to Katie G. She just laughed.

Earlier this semester, when my school had a Beatles tribute concert, I got Katie G to go with me. Now in the concert hall there's two sections. The lower and the higher sections, separated by a walkway. We sat up in the higher section, in the front, which is only separated from the walkway by a short wall. Well when the concert was over, Katie decides to jump this wall in front of us (because neither of us felt like waiting for people to move) so I jumped too. Just as I finished saying, 'Watch I'm probably going to biff it' I landed, but I was off center so I start moving backwards as fast as I can as to keep myself from falling backwards, and after about 10 steps collided with a couple chairs. I looked SO ridiculous. Like a penguin waddling backwards as fast as it can. This happened in front of literally 100s of people. We both started cracking up.

So yes there's just a few of them. And suddenly, reading over this, these things don't seem all that bad. I guess they always seem worse when it's happening to you. The best thing, though, is that they're over!

TWILIGHT TRAILER!!!

2008-05-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how incredibly excited I am for this. This is ridiculous. It seems like such a dumb idea for a story, but holy cow can Stephenie Meyer write. Anyone who hasn't read the books, you are MISSING OUT. Watch the trailer. That is all.

Jury Exam

2008-05-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow is my Jury Exam. Which means I have to play my memorized pieces for 3 of my teachers. It's going to be a grand old time!

The songs I learned this semester:
Rachmaninoff Etude-Tableaux Op. 33 No. 2 in C Major
(This woman looks so goofy when she's playing... musicians. They're weird.) She plays 2 songs, the first one is the one I learned. I tell you, this song has stretched out my left hand beyond what it was meant to do! It gave me cramps in my left hand when I was first learning it... Plus there's a buttload of arm crossing and what not. But I love this song. It's beautiful.

And Beethoven Sonata Op.10 No.1 1st Movement
I realize the audio is off on this video.. but I really like the way she plays it. This song is pretty straight-forward. And I actually find it pretty boring. But it fulfills one of the requirements for the ASU audition...

Anywhoo.. wish me luck!

UPDATE: I did actually really well! Made some minor mistakes but altogether it was really good. My teachers gave me two A's and a B+. Not bad!

I LOVE MY MEGHAN!

2008-04-20T01:20:00.000-07:00

So this may be a week late, but! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGHAN PENNELL!!!
I LOVE YOU TO DEATH!!! Beautiful Meghan turned the big two zero last Friday.

I don't know where our friendship began, but I've known Meghan since I was 9 years old. We've been to all the same achievement days activities, same Young Womens activities, same girls camp... And somewhere in all that, our friendship blossomed like a beautiful fresh May rose.

I love Meghan. I remember when I first met her, I didn't know someone could be so completely uplifting all the time. But it's true! Meghan has always been a ray of sunshine on everyone's life. Everyone who meets her LOVES her immediately. It's impossible not to.

I love how I can tell her anything, and she always has lovely comforting words to say to me, she's always excited for me, she's always understanding and such a wonderful friend, and I know she would do anything for me. She's the greatest. I love her.

I would do anything for Meghan, as I've told her before, and I would. No matter what time of day, how much it would inconvenience me, I would do it, because she's worth it!

Meghan is possibly one of the bestest people on earth to be a friend of. I love her and I hope we remain friends for a very, VERY long time. :)

Whoa

2008-04-05T00:18:00.000-07:00

Within a period of about 24 hours, Dr. Reid has decided that the 90 page Bartok won't be performed until December, Dr. Scinto has decided that I won't have to perform the piece that I'm writing until next semester, Professor Krstic has given me an easier piano piece to perform in May, and even though I keep sleeping in through Dr. Kreigel's class, he's cutting me some slack! Everything is falling into place! On top of that, I think I have figured out what new job I'm going to get. I'm going to teach piano lessons. Getting paid $15 for 30 min lessons is perfect. I can work 8 hours a week and get paid more than the 18 hours I'm working now.

It's through things like this that I know that prayers are answered. I am so so grateful.

Some of my favorite things... are unavailable.

2008-03-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

Ok so I really have no time to watch t.v. There's always something more important to do. But I still have my favorite shows!

Ok so I love The Office.

Who couldn't love Dwight K. Shrute?

Or Jim and Pam?

It's one of my favorite shows ever. But apparently NBC has decided it's too good to sell it on iTunes and in order for me to watch it, I either have to stream it on their website, or download it (for free) to a Microsoft computer. Only problems: I have a Mac, And 2: my computer is old. It isn't fast enough to keep up with streaming. It's constantly pausing. I don't have time for this! I want to watch my show!

One of my other favorite shows is Malcolm in the Middle.

Funniest show ever. However, you cannot buy anything but the first season. I want the rest so bad! I would buy it in a heartbeat!

Something else entirely unrelated to tv but I think is quite annoying: there are so many songs I want to learn how to play, but no one ever sells their sheet music! And it's way too time consuming to figure out how to play it on my own...

I don't know, but I think I'm cheated on all this. Don't they realize they could make more money if they just sold these things? I mean it doesn't make any sense.

This semester

2008-03-26T00:14:00.000-07:00

I thought that now that I'm not taking any academic classes and taking music classes only, that this semester would be a little easier. Well I was wrong. This has been the most trying semester ever. First I had to do the Maricopa college competition with the pieces I learned last semester. Then I've been put on the task of learning the 1st piano part of Bartok's Sonata for two pianos and percussion. The first movement alone is 50 pages long. I'm on page 22. And we're supposed to perform it May 1st. On top of that I have to finish learning and memorize the other two songs for my jury exam at the end of the semester. I want to quit piano. If this is what a music major is like I don't know if I can do it. I need sleep.

Here's a video of first half of the first movement of the Bartok. It's 8 min long...

I spy with my little eye... something green?

2008-03-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

Is this... Ireland? Wait... *gasp!!* it's Arizona!

Ok that was cheesy. But! with all the rain and nice weather we've had this winter, the desert is green! So a couple weeks ago after school I went for a drive to take pictures of it all. It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Green grass, can you believe it, green grass is growing everywhere. Along with these gorgeous wildflowers. I love it.

Just Beat It

2008-02-28T23:51:00.000-08:00

I'm entirely, one hundred percent convinced that Patrick Martin Stump has the best voice ever known to man.

Click here to have a listen.

p.s. I'm so unhealthily overjoyed about this song, it's ridiculous.

piano

2008-02-26T22:27:00.000-08:00

My school had a convocation on Friday. For all the music students. We have a new piano player this semester and he played Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp minor. And he put so much passion into that piece it gave me goosebumps. It seriously affected me for another couple hours. He played it so so so beautifully. Here's the best rendition I can find on youtube, but it still doesn't compare to what I saw live, everyone should really see something like this in person. But this is the video I connect with the most. I love how he's wearing a jersey. Musicians are always wearing tuxes and black dresses, I say revolt! This is going to be me... well, my style anyways.

And then the one of the other piano students, Naomi, played this beautiful Chopin piece - Etude Op. 10 No. 12 "Revolutionary". I can't believe she has the stamina and discipline to learn something like that. That is one of the most difficult pieces to learn on the piano, because of what the left hand has to do. I also found the best rendition I could find on youtube but again, it still doesn't compare. Check out the left hand!

Leaves me feeling so inadequate. Argh!

Everyone needs to watch this.

2008-02-21T22:05:00.001-08:00

My favorite part is the old lady going "Ya yaa"

Randomness

2008-02-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

Ok so I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and jot down some random fact about my lovely self. Enjoy!

I want to know how to dance. I mean, get lessons from a professional, kind of dance. I don't think it matters what kind. I like more some than others, like, salsa, or swing, or even break dancing (don't laugh)... But I'd like to know how.

I love school

I hate homework

I hate it when people don't keep their commitments, and don't do what they say.

I learn just about everything really fast.

I hate disappointing anyone. Because of this, I've turned into somewhat of a people pleaser. I often spend a lot of my time hanging out with someone that invited me somewhere when I'd rather be doing something else.

I seriously would LOVE to play violin. It's on my list of things to do before I die.

I want to sky dive too.

I want to be in a band, and tour the world. Oddly enough I don't even want to play piano in it. I'd rather play bass.

I have been to every Panic! At the Disco tour ever.

I don't like to go to Best Buy because every time I do, I get sucked into the cd section and walk out with an armload of cd's.

I love the smell of books and libraries.

I always have to have 2 pieces of gum at a time. Never just one.

I don't like sleeping in the dark.

I have to sleep with a blanket over one part of me. Even if it's sweltering hot, I still have to make it cold enough for a blanket.

I find sleep a nuisance. I could get so much more done without it! But it's oh so comforting to lay in a soft bed at the end of the day...

I love driving fast.

I hate shopping. It takes too long, it's hard to find what you want, it's tiring.

I hate clothes shopping especially.

Which is probably why I love shopping online. I can find exactly what I want when I want, and by the time it actually comes in the mail, I've probably forgotten what I bought and it's like opening a present every time!

I LOVE Amazon.com

I spent my whole life never paying the least attention to commercial music. My senior year in high school, I was so oblivious to the world, I didn't even know who green day was, or coldplay was. It was bad. I discovered Fall Out Boy that summer, and it sucked me into the world of music. I now have something over 20GB of music, and go to at least one concert every couple of months.

I would love to write movies. I come up with plots all the time for movies. Really good ones.

When I started getting piano lessons over 2 years ago, my piano teacher taught me the correct way to play. As a result, I have had to keep my nails super super short. Since then, I can't stand having any kind of nail. It drives me nuts.

I am one of the few girls I know that does nothing to my toe nails. They forever remain plain.

I sometimes imagine myself as a fashion diva of punk or funky clothes and hairstyles. I don't know if it will ever happen.

There are moments in my life when I find myself completely uninhibited and the life of the party. I wish I could be that person all the time.

These are the moments of my life that I feel like I can achieve anything.

I was always the quiet kid in school.

Since then, I've been constantly trying to shed that. It is a constant struggle for me.

I LOVE songs that have the perfect beat and just make me want to dance.

I can't wait to be a mom.

I can't wait to have a husband.

I have never been in love.

I love thunderstorms. Especially when they make the electricity go out. In the middle of the night. And I love finding broken trees in the morning. It's so cool!

I LOVE Arizona. I used to hate it. I used to hate the desert and the brownness and heat. But I've slowly come to love and appreciate it. I love the desert. It's beautiful. And I love our rocky mountains. And as long as my car has air conditioning, I love the sunshine, and warmth, and beautiful sunny days. Arizona is beautiful.

I love animals. I always have. I actually thought about going into the animal care field.

I HATE cheesy movies. If a movie has any touch of cheesiness it's ruined for me. I want quality!

My favorite movie of all time is Hook with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. It has to be the best movie ever made.

I love songs that bring back memories.

I love really good memories.

It pains me to think that some of those happy memories are over. Like my summer in Hawaii. I didn't realize how much I missed it until one time in my Art class 8 months later, we started going over Polynesian art and it reminded me SO MUCH of Hawaii and I wanted to go back SO BAD! I bawled like a baby all the way home.

I have a soft spot for songs with piano in them. Any songs whatsoever. If there is a piano used, I automatically am more open to liking it.

My idea of a good time is dressing up and going to a Cirque de Sole, or going to Orpheum Theatre downtown, or spending it going to all the art shows in downtown Scottsdale, or going to a Musical, or going to a museum of any kind.

I love the fancy city life. I would LOVE to live in Manhattan and wear designer clothes, and go to Broadway shows, and play classical concerts at the Carnegie Hall.

I don't like being touched. I'm painfully aware every time someone touches me.

My room has a balcony open to the roof. Sometimes I'll go to the highest part of my roof and just contemplate life.

I love the stars. I love Astronomy. I would love to go into that field too.

I love math. And I'm very good at it. But I took Calculus in high school and have never had to take it since.

I have never failed a class. As much as I don't like working for it, I cannot stand getting bad grades. It makes me completely stressed out and depressed when I do.

I love to design and decorate my room. I have tons of ideas of how my future house is going to be. It's going to be hot stuff.

I have really good fashion sense. No joke. Roxanne and Melanie and even my Mom all ask me for fashion advise. For both clothing outfits and just decorating around the house.

There was a point in my life when I actually wanted to pierce my tongue. But thankfully that passed.

I hate cooking, and I don't really care for eating either. But I do like food.

I love Mexican, Seafood, and Arizona Fair food. And of course chocolate.

Everyone NEEDS to get what is called the Brownie Obsession at T.G.I. Friday's. It's the BEST desert EVER. Your taste buds will thank you.

I can only focus on one thing at a time. I cannot multitask at all. It drives me nuts to have two people talking to me at the same time. My brain can't handle it.

My room is always a mess. It's my worry free space.

I worry about a lot of things. Almost everything.

I burned roughly 400 calories yesterday just practicing the piano.

Unlike a lot of people, I really enjoy spending time by myself.

I always have to be doing something with my hands. Pick at my nails, tap something, play with my phone, SOMETHING. It gets bad in church.

I love feeling the texture of sand and beads and rice and anything thats small in large quantity.

This past year is the first time ever I feel like I truly have my own group of friends. I've always had friends. But not my group of friends. It's been a whole new experience for me. I love them all too. :)

I love to travel. I take every opportunity I can. And I have a long list of places I want to go. With Israel at the top.

I want my life to be grand, and full, and I want to do everything and experience everything and see everything. It pains me to even consider that it might not happen.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

I decided two weeks ago that I didn't want to be alone on Valentine's Day. And if no one is going to make it happen for me then I'm going to make it happen for myself! So I invited everyone I knew to go to dinner on Valentine's Day, because, come on, no one should be alone on Valentine's, it just helps define just how single you really are.

We went to Garcia's (yes I stole the idea from a certain someone), and 13 people ended up coming! It was fun!

I bought myself a Valentine's gift too. :) It's THE biggest reeses I think I've ever laid eyes on. It was amazing...

...look it's from my secret admirer! what a nice surprise! :)

I think I just might make this into a Valentine's Day tradition. It was fun!

Read!

2008-02-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

I love reading. Love love love it. I don't know where it came from because all my other siblings hate it. But I LOVE it.

When I was little, my mom always took me on the city bus (because my dad had our only car), in the hot summer sun, on the stinky bus, to the public library. We would come home with arm-loads of books. I would always do that summer reading program too at the library. I always loved getting the cool prizes. And they probably weren't even that cool. I bet they gave us library pencils and bookmarks. I always got the big old ribbon at the end though.

I read SO much in middle school. My mom thought I'd turn out like Suzanne and have everything read already by the time I was in college! But my appetite for reading somewhat died out when high school came around.

And I don't know, I still have enjoyed reading but I've just fallen out of it. It's hard sometimes when life is so busy.

Well last semester I read the Book of Mormon all the way through for the first time. And then I got this hunger for some more reading! Not long after that, a couple months ago I was at Deseret, and I saw a book that one of my seminary teachers had mentioned in my Sophomore year in high school. It's called History of Joseph Smith by His Mother Lucy Mack Smith.

And I remember I had always wanted to read it. Brother Franklin had always told the most interesting stories from it. So I bought it. And I loved it, I recommend it to everyone! Learned things I never knew...

THEN, all of my friends have been RAVING about these Twilight books (by Stephenie Meyer) lately.

And while I was in Mexico this Christmas, one of the girls had the first book Twilight there and so I read it. And LOVED it. So I went to a Bookstar and bought them all.

Since then, I have found my library card (a miracle in and of itself) and have read ALL my favorite books from middle school, and started to buy some new ones. I have discovered something. I love Teen Fiction/Fantasy. It's an easy read, and the subjects and settings are always ones I enjoy. I don't know, maybe because I don't feel like a grown up yet, or maybe because for some reason I was deprived as a teenager and I'm trying to live it out through my books. Or maybe it's because I can't get through a depressive, melodramatic, broken family book. I don't like books that focus on human psychology or are just a focus on human life. Reading is something I do to escape life, I don't want to read more about it! And I've always loved fantasy. Everyone who's anyone knows I used to draw unicorns 24/7 when I was a child. :)

But those aren't my only favorite. I love page turners as well. A good Michael Crichton or John Grisham novel will do the trick.

I love exciting books that have you surprised at every corner. That you can't wait to find out what happens next, or how it turns out. Ones where you cannot possibly see any way for the situation to resolve itself in the end. And yet it always does. I think that's what compels me to finish books, too, is the desire to find out what happens, no matter how bad the book.

Something else I have discovered... I seem to enjoy collecting series of books. I have 6 different series (counting the one I just bought). Well, theres this series called Sweep that aren't my favorite, I just want to find out what happens, but there's 14 books! And I only have 5. And it's not like the library has them all, they just have the first one. So I think once I have them all and find out what happens I'll sell them all. Or save them for another 6 years until I completely forget the story and have to read it again to find out what happens...

This is a map of my series of books:

Apparently I have a weakness...

I completely cannot comprehend how you cannot enjoy reading though. For me, it's an escape from everyday life. It's a chance to get sucked into a world unlike your own, better than your own, more magical than your own.

Not that I'm completely happy with what I have... but sometimes, don't you just wish you could put spells on people? Or save your world from destruction? Or fall in love with a prince?

It's only in a good book you can find that.

places i've been in 2007

2008-01-31T23:14:00.000-08:00

I was tagged. Okay so all the places I've stayed overnight in 2007 include the following:

1. Phoenix, AZ (duh)
2. Colonia Juarez, Mexico
3. Chihuahua City, Mexico
4. Heber, AZ
5. Tyhee, ID
6. Somewhere in the woods in Idaho.
7. West Yellowstone, MT
8. Beaver, UT
9. Thousand Oaks, CA

And in 2008 sofar I've added a couple already...
7. Cedar City, UT
8. Farmington, UT

Yup I'm such a traveler. Yes indeed. :)

Kipp

2008-01-28T23:42:00.000-08:00

I'll miss him.

Christmas in Mexico

2007-12-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a long one folks. So get a cup of hot chocolate and clear 30 min, at least, to read through this one. And those of you that read through the whole thing, thanks!

Some of you may know, I missed Christmas with my family to go to Mexico.

I want to tell you about my experience.

Sorry about the lack of photos. I forgot my camera so as soon as I get pictures from everyone else I'll share.

The Whetten's have got to be the greatest family living in Colonia Juarez, one of the Mormon colonies in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Ed and Gayle Whetten adopted a handicapped child, Tim. They lived in Mexico at the time. They soon found out that they weren't going to get much help for their child in Mexico. So they started to do it themselves. Tim has since passed away, but they have created a school for handicapped children. They also run monthly medical clinics in the same building. They have a room for dentistry, audiology, eyesight and eyeglasses, they even have an operation room. They have a whole warehouse full of all sorts of crutches, wheelchairs, and everything you'd ever need for any handicap. All these clinics are free to the people that need them. All the doctors and dentists and such are not paid. They donate their time and supplies to come to Mexico and give these services for free to these people.

12 years ago there was a family that contacted Ed and Gayle about doing an eagle project at Christmas time. The Whettons, because of their school and clinic are able to house 80 people. They have bunk houses, heaters, blankets sheets enough for everyone. Gayle gladly irons, cleans, even helps to feed everyone.

So the family came down with a truck full of supplies, food, clothes and toys to donate to whoever needs it.

They've been doing it every Christmas since.

This is how our trip went... :)

So I was sitting in institute in I think it was October, and this kid gets up and makes an announcement about this charity thing in Mexico during Christmas. He was asking for donations but also mentioned that he would be driving down alone and anyone else could come too. At the time, me and my friend Meghan had been contemplating going out of the country to serve. We talked about exotic places like Israel, India, places in South America, even the Caribbean. Well, when I heard about this I figured it was the perfect opportunity!

So we followed Cole in our car to Mexico. Not really sure what to expect. The drive down there was pretty uneventful. Me and Meghan were ecstatic of course. Road trips are always awesome. :) Something that is worth mentioning however... Cole insisted we stop in Tucson at his friends house to sleep a few hours. ...Awkwardest night of my life. We barely met Cole. We didn't know who's apartment we were in. I tell you we put so much trust in Cole. For all I know he was leading us to a hotel! (haha... inside joke.)

We met the Borup's (who have been doing this for 11 years now) and the Ferrin's (who have been doing this for 9 years now) at the border in Demming, New Mexico. They both live in Utah. There was 9 families that came altogether. Most from Utah. One from Payson, AZ. And the three of us singles from Phx. Cory Borup helped us get us and our cars across the border without any problems.

Mexico roads are crazy! Only 2 way roads, NO shoulder. And Jim Ferrin was driving in front. We were going 80 miles an hour, passing people in the opposing lane. Crazy crazy. And then! It was incredible windy on the drive there. There was TONS of tumble weeds hitting our cars! It was like playing asteroids. We were dodging the oncoming trucks, the tumble weeds coming from the side. Okay maybe not exactly like that, but it was SO much fun. :)

The first night we got there I think there was a total of 4 or 5 families. We were some of the first. Got there about 1 or 2 in the afternoon on the Friday before Christmas. We settled in, and started meeting these people. Played on the Whetten's zip line, and spinning teeter totter. :) That afternoon me and Meghan visited the temple there in Colonia Juarez. A small, but beautiful temple on the hill.

That first night, we unloaded the truck into the warehouse down the street. It had 100 lbs bags of beans, flour, potatoes, sugar, cornmeal, oranges, had boxes of water, candy, and a multitude of other things. It was fun getting assembly lines together to pass it to the crates. The flour was funnest of all! It was getting EVERYONE all white. :) At one point, one of the girls my age, McKenzie, was up on the truck passing out the flour to take into the warehouse and decided to throw the bag she had to Jake who was like 20 ft away. Instead, it hit tall Brother Patterson on the head, made his hat fall off, and drop to the ground. It was hilarious.

The next day, Saturday, we separated all the food into individual family's boxes. More families had come by that time. I figure we had about 60+ people there by that time. It worked like clockwork. Everyone separated into separate assembly lines to do everything. Make the boxes, tape the boxes, stack the boxes. Or pour the beans, bag the beans, tie the bag, dispense the beans. It seriously was like machines. It got done SO fast and it was FUN!

That took all day. We did stop at a place for tacos in Casas Grandes for lunch. Good stuff. :) We got to meet Pepe, a wonderfully fun mentally handicapped man. The Whetten's care for him and his brother, who is also mentally handicapped.

The Borups and Ferrins invited us singles to go with them to Chihuahua City on Sunday and Monday. Both the families had a trailer full of the boxes of dispensers of food, along with blankets, clothes, hygiene kits, toys and candy they had gathered themselves to pass out. We took Cole's car. And brought Mandy Whetten, who is our age, along with us. It was fun to spend the 3 hour drive with them. :)

On Sunday, we went to THE poorest neighborhoods I've ever seen. These people were living in these tin huts slapped together. No heaters. Barely enough blankets. Some had holes covered with mere tar paper. It gets down to the 20's at night! I don't think I could imagine that people could live like this... It's incredible. Astounding. Heart-braking.

And there was house after house after house. Dogs everywhere. No yards. No fences. No grass. Just dirt. Everywhere.

Some of the other neighborhoods were block homes. Some were renting their homes. I couldn't believe they couldn't even afford to buy these. And sometimes out of no where we would see a fenced in home with a yard in the middle of all this.

I got to see inside some of these houses. Dirt floors. Small stove, if a stove at all. Beds filling every spot possible. Dark. Smelly.

Children grow up in this!

We passed some stuff out Sunday night. At least until it got dark, then passed out the rest on Monday.

As soon as we started passing out stuff people started gathering around the trailers. Cole started passing our everything he could. All the kids gathered around him, he was like Santa Clause! At one point, he was getting warm, and took off his sweater and gave it to someone. Then it started getting cold and he missed his sweater. But at least now he can say he gave them the clothes off his back!

Mandy and Jim both spoke Spanish. So they translated for the people at each trailer. Some kids were, instead of asking for the toys or candy we had, were asking for coats, or blankets. Or a coat for their little sister. Or baby brother. It was sad to hear.

The children LOVED the toys though. And the candy. At one point, this little girl, had to be about 2 or 3, had quite a dirty face, had dried snot all over the place but still adorable just the same :) came up to me to get me to open a candy that someone from our group had given her. I opened it, and handed it to her. And then she just stood there looking up to me with her lips puckered. She wanted to kiss me on the cheek! It was the most adorable thing I've ever seen!

At another point, a woman probably at least 60 looked up at me, I was standing in the trailer, she took my hand warmly in both of hers and just smiled at me, with her gapped, imperfect smile. She didn't have anything to say, just smiled.

We met a family that made a living from cock-fights (yes it's illegal in Mexico too). The father had his finger completely sliced open from the birds. But they had two month old twins! They were the most DARLING little girls (at least i believe they were girls) I've ever seen. And they were happy. Living in this tiny, block home. No heater, no floor. Just the essentials. And happy.

At one point, this completely drunk man came up, after receiving food and such, with a little guitar with only one string on it, kneeled on one knee, and belted out a song in Spanish to show his gratitude. It was hilarious! :)

We passed Book of Mormons's out also as we were impressed to do. Shared the gospel with a few people. One woman, Cory was impressed to leave a Book of Mormon, and come to find out she had already read some of it... hopefully we planted another seed.

Also, as we were slowly driving around to the different areas, me, Meghan, Cole, Mandy, and Jessica stayed in the trailer, and then we started coming up with games. We decided we were going to stay standing up while we were moving. Couldn't touch the side or you were out. Then we passed a ball around while we were standing. Couldn't drop the ball or you were out. It was fun. We lost 3 balls that way. :)

I did get to see an entire pig, completely gutted and cut apart lying on someone's table. Astonishing. And it made me kind of queasy. I mean it's head was still there. Hooves too. But It wasn't all in one piece, I'll tell you that much! That was the same family that had two handicapped children. It was wonderful to get to help them!

We met a lady who was limping around and she told us that she had been fixing the wiring to her house (yes, some of these tin houses had some kind of electricity) and a cement block landed on her foot and broke her foot. And there was nothing she could do about it but wait for it to heal. She was very grateful for the food.

I have to say my favorite was passing out to the children. I would be putting necklaces on these little girls and they loved it so much! Or passing out stuffed animals to the younger kids. Or putting beanies on these little boys. Or giving the boys these hotwheels cars. It was DEFINITELY Christmas to them.

Many of the children were trying to get as much as they could from us of course. But there was the few, that when we tried to give them more, they would say things like, 'but i already have this.' How amazing.

And of course the children LOVED to get their pictures taken. They always wanted to see the pictures after.

There was an old man, probably in his 60's, that was so grateful for what we gave him, he just hung out with us for the longest time. He started teasing Sister Borup. (with the aid of Mandy's translations of course) And she teased him right back.

We came across young mothers, or pregnant mothers just wanting clothes for their babies.

It was hard to say we didn't have anything but blankets for their babies.

But these people were happy. They smiled at us, they thanked us, they were warm people.

Monday afternoon, after giving out all our dispensas, we all drove back to the Whetten's in Colonia Juarez. Christmas Eve was awesome to get to spend with everyone. We had a Christmas program where songs were sung, a skit was performed, I played piano for everyone, which they were all astounded by my skill. :) It was fun.

Everyone that came was SO welcoming. We made so many friends. The night we spent in Chihuahua City in the hotel with Mandy, the three of us stayed up talking and laughing for 3 hours. We met Nate, and Mark, and Travis, and Sarah, and Jessica, and McKenzie, and Valerie, and Taryn, and Carly, and Madison and a multitude of other people. There were a ton of kids our age. That last night we were there, on Christmas eve, all the teenagers crammed into a suburban, and drove up the hill nearby. We laid out some blankets and went star gazing, saw 3 shooting stars, and laughed and simultaneously froze ourselves away...

It was an amazing experience.

I knew I was blessed before but this was the icing on the cake. I now know that I am truly blessed. I am blessed to have the family I have. I am blessed to be born into the gospel. I am blessed to be born in the United States. I don't care what anyone says, the United States of America is a free country. It is a blessed country. I am truly blessed to have the mere conveniences that I have! I have a warm bed, to myself every night. ...I have a full stomach every day. We have a heater. We have A/C! I'm able to work and earn my own money. I can afford and have the opportunity to go to school and earn a degree. I own my own piano. I own my own car. I have a computer even. I can afford to go down the street and buy ice cream for myself. How many people can't. Countless people don't have ANY of these things.

Count your blessings. Truly count your blessings.

We sped all the way home on Christmas to meet our families, getting there around 1 in the afternoon.

Definitely puts a perspective on things. I didn't care if I got any presents at all. I just wanted to be there with my amazing, blessed family.

the grades are in!

2007-12-16T22:39:00.000-08:00

Well, after a very hard semester for me, I pulled off good grades!

First off, I had a 7:30am class. Now I am NOT a morning person. It wouldn't be so bad if I just had to show up for tests every now and then, but for a class that attendance is required, and especially a class like Communications that I don't like in any way whatsoever... it was hard. It was really hard. I was allowed 2 absences. I was absent 5 times. The teacher was a little short with me after that last one but I stuck in there and did my absolute BEST in the final project and pulled off a B!

Then ENGLISH. Okay, when I went to ASU, I tested into ENG 105. This means instead of having to take 2 semesters of English (101 and 102), I only had to take one. It was awesome. But when I decided to go to PVCC and get an AA, I needed 2 semesters of English. Retarded. So I had to write another 10 page research paper. Ugh. I am NOT a writer. I ended up getting an A on my first essay, F on my second, and D on my final paper. THEN I find out that if I get a 77.9 on my final I'll get a 70.0% in English EXACTLY. I need a C for it to count. And the final exam was BRUTAL. There was stuff on there that she mentioned in class months ago and didn't bother to mention was going to be on it. And it was WAY more than multiple choice. It was tough tough tough. I was definitely praying for that one! And I ended up getting an 81! So I never have to take English ever again! woot!

All of my grades are as follows:

Aural Perception: B
Music Theory I: A
Piano: A
Piano Ensemble: A
Communications: B
English: C

And I pulled off my AA with a 3.5 GPA. How do you like them apples? :)

Bug me

2007-12-08T21:23:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted a VW Bug. A red, convertible bug.

It's so adorable! Can't you just picture my hot self cruisin around in this hot car?

However there are some minor setbacks to having/buying this car.
1. No A/C. As I live in Arizona, this is a must.
2. I really like to be able to give my friends rides. I don't think they would like to be stuffed in the back of this.
3. Buying one this nice, costs upwards of about $7000.

My first car was a mustang convertible.
I always imagined fixing it up so it would be a hot convertible to hang out in with my friends. But truth was, my car only dreamed of looking this good:

Pluses:
1. It only cost $1500
2. It's hot stuff
3. It only broke down once
4. A speaker was working
5. It had a radio
6. It had a cd player
7. Guys were constantly complimenting on me having a 5.0 V8.
8. The A/C worked
9. I could fit 3 friends in it.

Minuses:
1. It didn't run when I bought it.
2. It was a piece of crap. Dents, scratches, holes... everywhere. Had to practically shove the top down.
3. It broke down once, causing me to miss a quiz and therefor get a B in the class.
4. Only one speaker worked.
5. It was constantly overheating.
6. The A/C was cool, not cold.
7. When it overheated, the A/C stopped working.
8. The back seat was a squeeze.

It was still awesome, though. I still loved it.

But sadly, last spring it retired. It retired right into a little red car. And damaged itself. And damaged my heart... *tear*

So now I drive this sweet little number:

It's a 2001 Chevy Cavalier bought for a steal of $2300. It's pluses far out weigh the minuses. And with the installation of a new radio, thanks to my good friend Gerrit, it's going to be bomb.

My all time dream car is a new Mustang GT convertibles. This one:

But as it is entirely unobtainable to me, I try and keep my mind off of it. But you better believe the day I turn 25 I'm going to be renting that thing, yes indeedy.

And yes, I like convertibles. I always envision me and my friends in the car with the top down, cruisin, laughing, music blaring, hair in the wind... hey it could happen.

So with the first car I got the convertible aspect down. And with the second I got the non-ghetto-ness taken care of. I'm getting there. Maybe when I'm rich I'll get my bug. I use it just for cruzin around with my homey G's. Well... maybe just homey G.

random

2007-12-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

Ok no one tagged me but I still want to do it.

So... 6 random things about me:

numero uno. I know the ENTIRE soundtrack to Prince of Egypt... Every. Word. Even the Hebrew stuff. I'm not even kidding you. I love love love it.

two. Me and Melanie have taken up the habit of blasting Shiny Toy Guns or something to that effect in the kitchen and dancing our little hearts out, whether the curtains are open or not. Let it be known that Melanie is the master of coming up with the SICKEST dance moves. Yes indeed.

three. What was once NSYNC to some is now Fall Out Boy to me. I follow their moves, I know their birthdays, I have their autographs, I have a picture with them, I have every magazine they've ever been on the cover of, I have every vinyl, I have every cd of theirs unopened... I have found Pete Wentz's myspace, livejournal, and blogspot. I seriously would marry Patrick Stump hands down no questions asked. I love Fall Out Boy. The music, the lyrics, Patrick's voice, the concerts, EVERYTHING. I would follow them to the ends of the earth *sigh* ...sadly I am also 21.

four. One time I backed my mom's minivan into my dad's truck. It was straight on, and the collision was LOUD. It left no marks so I told no one.

five. I broke my mom's mickey mouse earrings from when she was a kid. I borrowed them ONCE when I was like 12 and she told me to be really careful with them but I think cause they were so old they both broke. I was afraid to tell her. They're still sitting in my old jewelry box.

six. i fall asleep in my clothes ALL the stinken time. Usually doing either homework, or something to procrastinate homework. So I'll often wake up around 3 or 4 am to find my pillow is a bunch of papers. And the light on. And my arm asleep. And my computer on. You think I would learn from it but no... it happens night after night.

So there ya go.

As for life...
Looks like most of my grades will be decent. I still have finals next week but most of them are pretty easy. I'm holding out for my English class though. I don't know if I'm going to pass it. If not, then no Associates this semester. And if that's the case, I'll take an online English class next semester. It's ridiculous having to go to class just to work on my paper. I can do that at home.

I made the sickest video for my final project in my Communications class. Everyone thought it was bomb. Unfortunately it's over a gig in size so I don't think I can upload it anywhere to share it. :( If anyone has any ideas let me know.

PS. Sorry mom. Love ya ;)

ZZZZzzzzzZZzzzZZZZZzzz

2007-11-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

The first draft of my 10 page paper is due today.

All I want to do it sleep sleep sleeeep.

YAY! ONLY 3 WEEKS LEFT OF SCHOOL!!

OH NO!! ONLY 3 WEEKS LEFT OF SCHOOL!!

Our Weekend

2007-11-13T21:16:00.001-08:00

So the president of the KREW called me earlier this week to see if the we (we being the KREW) could get together on Monday (since we all had it off) to do something cool. But then Meghan invited us to go to her cabin in Heber for Veterans Day. And alas, the president could not go. Sorry Katie! I missed you every single minute. :(

Anyways, first off, when we got not 10 minutes past Payson, there was a road block due to a fatal accident (poor blokes.) We were told the wait would be something like an hour and a half. So we did this:

We are so grown up. :)

But then Meghan's dad called us telling us another way we could take so we did. Had to take a dirt road for forever, but it was fun! It was like an adventure... in the jungle. With, of course, dramatic lighting due to all the dust and lights from the other cars. Very spooky. Very cool.

So we went quading and canoing. To go canoing we had to strap the canoe on the top of the ranger and drove it the 20 plus minutes to black canyon lake. The lake is small, but big enough to go canoing. (Please don't tell me how to spell canoing. canooing? canoodling? ...I know I probably have it wrong and am too lazy, and my computer's running too slow today for me to look it up) We had a hard time getting it in the lake. Well no, we had a hard time getting it into the lake with us in it. As soon as we got in it it stuck in the mud. So after we got that tackled, it was a matter of keeping it upright. It's harder than it looks! But the three of us managed to go canoodling along. Not great mind you, If you had video-taped the whole escapade and put in on fast forward, I'm sure you would have seen something resembling a synchronized swim team (minus the synchronized and symmetric aspects) zig-zagging all across the lake to get to the other side. But we came, we canoed, and conquered that lake. And took some souvenirs from the opposite side:

One for each of us. :)

I'm so proud of my team. I'm a good Vice President. (I really don't do a single thing Vice-Presidentish) And not to mention Captain of the canoe. (We had absolutely no direction) And I'm a great paddler Meghan! I just had the defunctional paddle!

And then when we got back to the side of the lake where the ranger was, and after Gerrit and Meghan got out of the canoe Meghan thought it would be funny to push me into the water by myself when I was still standing. And I almost lost the paddle in the process! That would have been scary. Anyways, we had fun.

Pictures:

Um, Katie... there's something I need to tell you. You know, about our marriage and all... you see, there's someone else:

Then I got to visit my grandparents, who are awesome by the way. Made us take all the junk food in the world when we left. :)

Ode to My Friends

2007-11-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

I call this video: "They really do this in real life."

And then this is called: "Her REAL calling in life."

More most certainly to follow once I get decent pictures of certain individuals. ;)

EDIT: to see some other videos, (one starring myself) go to Jennifer's blog! and... my mother's blog :)

My 21st Birthday!

2007-10-28T03:22:00.000-07:00

It was quite an AWESOME day. First off, we went 4 wheeling this morning. I went with Meghan Sarah and Gerrit. SO much fun. I've never been quading before but I'm amazed at how similar it is to snow mobiling. So of course toward the end of our adventure I was making some pretty sweet jumps. We were ALL soooo dusty and dirty when we left though. I had dirt in my teeth, in my eyes, all over my clothes, it was awesome.

I stopped by Jennifer's house to get my present. She got me transformers! That movie is pretty much the best ever. I'm so excited to watch it! And Jennifer, lets go rollerblading this week! I really want to!

THEN, me Katie Gerrit and Meghan all decide we want to go to Matt's halloween party. Ok, so, my costume is the best ever, I don't care what anyone says. I am grapes.

Katie went as a lion, Meghan as a cowgirl, and Gerrit as a rockstar. Unfortunately I lent out my camera this weekend so I'm going to have to post up pictures later.

Katie and Gerrit got me some super sweet halloween chocolate cupcakes and beer (ROOTbeer) because I'm 21 and all. ;) and Matt had everyone at the party sing me happy birthday. :)

After the party we had everyone try on the grapes. It was too funny! Pictures most certainly to follow. then we sat on our porch swing and debated whether a certain star was a star or a planet or a space station. and we made a wish on a plane. And then Katie decided she wanted to jump on our trampoline. Then we climbed in our treehouse, and ya.

Today was awesome. I am so blessed to have the friends I do. Being 21 is definitely better than being 20. By far. Psshht!

I love my life! :)

2007-10-27T00:48:00.000-07:00

My friends are amazing. My ward is amazing. My life, (you know apart from school and work) is amazing.

Ms. Katie, I don't think I've ever met anyone quite as amazing as you. I was telling my mom about the KREW. We were laughing so hard. I love people that can make me laugh. That's why i surround myself with those people. I'm glad you're one of them.

Things we have done in the last month: dressed up as a grapes and a lion for Halloween, drive out to power road, get lost finding the dance, but kept going! LOL. Raced in our costumes. Whoa that was intense. Kudos to Meghan for beating us! Had a pumpkin seed fight in which I got your CHEEK, NOT your eye. But you got me in the eye, dang it. Made my eye water. Had a date on my roof while Gerrit played nice background music on the guitar. It was so romantic. Talked about the guys while they weren't present. haha. Made business cards for the KREW. Thanks for making life fun. :)

It's times like these you just gotta enjoy the present because you never know how long they're going to last. Everyone wants them to last forever. But you can't count on life to give that to you. So you just gotta enjoy it. :)

I am 21 today. Katie and Meghan both told me happy birthday like RIGHT at midnight. They're both so awesome. I am so blessed to have friends like them.

Life is so great. :)

my piano lesson today

2007-10-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

If there was no homework involved in school, I would get straight A's. I love going to school. I love learning. I hate taking the stress and worry of schoolwork into the comfort of my home.

I always go into my piano lesson unprepared and not warmed up enough. As a result she always tells me to change how I'm interpreting a song. At one point she says to do it rubato, then I don't practice it enough so the next time i play it she doesn't like how it sounds so she changes it and tells me to stick to the tempo, but I don't practice that enough and tells me to be more connected and lagato but i don't practice that enough so she comes up with a new way to interpret the many parts to this piece that it makes it impossible for me to perfect it!

Sometimes I wonder if I can get through a day. Like today. I've been up since 1am. I had 2 1/2 hours of sleep. So this morning I was saying to myself, 'here it goes' and I go into the day not knowing if I'm going to survive but having faith enough in my skills of pulling stuff out of my butt last minute to go into the day knowing that I will finish it. At one point the day will be over. Somehow, I always get through those days. Today I wrote and performed a 10 minute speech (and got a B), wrote a 3 page paper, found 3 more sources for my paper, all on top of going to 3 classes and an hour piano lesson.

Somehow I faked my way through the lesson this morning not letting her know that i haven't practiced a wink since last week. What am I doing? I spent $640 dollars for this semester of lessons. Those are expensive!

The entire time she was telling me to fix this and fix that. I know I have to fix it. She's told me this before. I just haven't practiced. I was playing these songs for her that i supposedly practiced, the entire time my fingers making mistakes I used to not make, me itching for the song to be over already so I can hide my shame, itching for the lesson to be over so I don't have to endure her disappointment any more. And on top of all that, as I was playing Mozart's Fantasia, an incredibly depressive piece, something bit me on my neck, giving me the sharpest pinch of an itch to add to all my discomfort.

It's really really really REALLY REALLY hard to fit in 2 hours of practicing everyday. Especially when I hate it so much.

It's funny that even though I have come to hate these pieces that I'm playing, and come to hate practicing. I still absolutely love playing the piano. Maybe I was just born with this. I don't know a time when I ever didn't love it.

You know what stinks? When my teacher asks me to feel a piece of music I have never felt anything for. Who is touched by Bach? Not me. It's boring. Ineffective. Simple. Too... sweet. It's like drinking something you expected to be water but finding out it's coolaid. Unpleasant.

I really wish I did homework and studying more effectively. My worries would be lightened SO much. Especially when I tend to worry about everything in my life. I'm a worrier. That's what I do. Maybe that's why I can't handle the stress of homework. I worry about everything so much I can't handle any more stress.

One time, last semester, I had one of these days. And I was literally forced to be actively doing homework or be in class for 20 hours. Not only did I have homework to turn into my classes but I also had a paper that was due by midnight. By the end of that 20 hours, my head was pounding, I was dizzy, I was grumpy, I was confounded, literally, i was like... bewildered almost.

Stress affects me physically. I honestly cannnot handle it. I don't know how those people do it that are busy all the time and give no time to themselves. If I don't have time with myself throughout the day, I go crazy.

Across the Universe

2007-10-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

I am a Beatles fan. I have been ever since my sophomore year in high school when my history teacher Mr. Sloekers took it upon himself to educate his students about the greatest and most influential band ever. The Beatles really were amazing. They were the first band to do everything with their music. They defined what rock is.

So I go to see this movie Across the Universe, right? It has Beatles music in it and it's about the 60's, what else can you ask for? The 60's was the beginning of all rock. So many amazing artists came from that era. Beatles, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Doors, The Velvet Underground, The Mamas and the Papas, all the Motown artists... the list goes on. I wish I could have experienced it.

The movie was AMAZING. It told a story of a couple in New York City in the 1960's and their experience through the 60's revolution, Vietnam War, and the Psychedelic era. And it told it through Beatles songs. And yes, they were all Beatles songs. I love it because they even had a Janis Joplin character in the movie and she even performed Beatles songs, only, Janis Joplin style. It was so great.

Someone once tried to explain the 60's sound to me once. They played Enrique Inglesias' Hero for me. A modern song. A modern romantic song, about love. It's good, and I like that song. It has all the latest modern technology packed into it. And Mr. Inglesias is singing I will be your hero very nicely. Sounds nice. Then they played Otis Redding's Try a Little Tenderness. You just can't put into the words the power of the raw human voice. It's a rather simple song, musically. But Otis Redding seems to be able to accomplish with his voice ten times over what all the producers are trying to create these days artificially.... feeling.

That's what music is all about. Creating something that can affect people. It can be for good or bad, make you want to act, or it can just make you want to move. Music has the ability to reach to our deepest part of feeling... it can change you. That's why I love it so much. And that's what I want to create music for. To influence. For good. For all the good in the world. For what's left of the good in the world. Not to just shake that laffy taffy.

So anyways, even if you don't know much about the Beatles, go see the movie. It was the beginning of so much in music today.

(There is nudity in the movie, unfortunately. Sorry about that.)

Here's the trailer:

Driving By

2007-10-11T01:42:00.000-07:00

So I was coming home from church the other day, it was evening, I think I was coming home from FHE, as I was turning past Jack in the Box, I saw a woman dragging a shopping cart toward a little nook between a tree and a couple walls. She was obviously homeless, all of her possessions were in that cart, she was disheveled, unwashed... The thought occured to me to stop and give her money. I didn't have any on me. Plus it would be awkward if someone just stopped as they were driving by to give money to a woman who was some 20 or so feet away from the road. A couple days later I drove by again and the same woman was there in her little cove. I remembered my thought about giving her money, but kept going. The next time I drove by the tree she had taken shelter by had been cut down. Apparently someone didn't like her hanging out there. And the shopping cart was empty. And she was no where to be seen. Maybe I should have done something when the opportunity was there. Next time I won't hesitate to act.