This past weekend my choir went on BYU-Idaho's sacred music tour. It was AMAZING!!! We sang in Twin Falls and met some awesome members, but the highlight of the weekend was definitely our performance at the Tabernacle on temple square. I have always dreamed of singing at the tabernacle (so much!), and it was everything I ever imagined. The spirit in that room is absolutely incredible, and the acoustics are every performer's dream! :) It was an amazing experience. I wish you all could have experienced it with me. But I'll be getting a DVD of the performance later in the semester if anyone wants to watch it.

Thumper and Satanic Shirts...

So I realized to day that many of you haven't met Thumper yet. He is one of my best friends in the entire world and has been serving me in stress reduction and anger management. I love him!!! Here he is...

Isn't he beautiful? I love him! :) Playing the guitar really is a big help in getting me through this semester. Especially with stuff like this:

This is what I lovingly refer to as "the wall of death." Yes, that is all Dr. Pepper, excluding of course the four cans of Red Bull perched on top. Three of my roommates have become flat out addicted to Dr. Pepper. Which is fine for them if they want to do it, but it's kind of a huge pain. One wrong move in the living room results in all 144 cans falling down! Then you have to rebuild it, and it takes forever... sigh. And now my yoga ball can't have nearly as much fun out there as it used to. Poor ball...

This is the other thing that's forcing me to overplay the guitar. A wretched fitted shirt. I love my sewing class- I really do, but I have learned that fashion design and tailoring are NOT the careers for me. It's not even really halfway done yet. I still have to build and attach the sleeves and hem the sides and finish the collar and sew in buttons and button holes and hem... It's great!

This is the lovely collar that is being so nice to me. I has literally taken me about 4 hours of pinning, sewing, unpicking, and re-sewing to get it to look this good. And it's still nowhere close to perfect. I think that shirt collars are a creation of the devil... :) Anyway, other than the evil shirt and the suicidal Dr. Pepper pyramid, life is pretty good right now! My classes are getting pretty intense now, but luckily it is mostly stuff I love! And this Friday marks the beginning of our choir tour called "God's Everlasting Love." It's a beautiful oratorio based off of poems that Elder Bednar wrote. So I have the premiere concert this Friday (which Elder Bednar is coming to!), then the following weekend we are performing in Twin Falls and Salt Lake City (in the tabernacle!!!), then we have the closing concert the next Friday. The preparation is really time consuming. I never realized how much work Women's Choir would be. In addition to class time this week, we have two additional 3 hour rehearsals. But the music is gorgeous and I love to sing, so naturally I love all the rehearsals.

Pics of Fall 2009

So here are some pictures of my amazing pictures of this semester. I stole them all off of facebook, so they aren't the best, but my camera is still out of service. Tiffany, this is for you! So you better help me out. :P

These pictures are the product of pure boredom. Charlotte (left), Marina, and I spent probably two hours trying to get jumping pictures. Most of them turned out like this one, but this is my favorite because we're all in different stages of a jump, but no one is actually off the ground. :)

This is our first successful shot. Unfortunately my face isn't very cute when I'm in the air. :)

That extra roomie is Heather. She got home like an hour into our jumping and decided to join in on the fun.

This is my least favorite, but my roomies think it's funny, so whatever. :)

This picture is taken at the Rexburg temple. It's one of the first weekends of the semester. Marina and I try to go together because we're room roommates and we both are class free on Fridays!

It's pretty!

This is a picture of me ironing my pillowcase for sewing class. I want to post pictures of my other sewing projects eventually.

This is our lovely front door. Marina, Charlotte, and I got bored with our apartment, so we decorated! It was actually the same night that we took the jumping pictures. Why were we so bored? I bet we had tons of homework to do.

Semester #3

I don't have any pictures or anything, but I just want everyone to know that I'm having a super fun semester! This semester, I volunteered to work for the new student orientation, Get Connected, and had TONS of fun- I made lots of new friends and had amazing spiritual experiences. It's changed my entire outlook on BYU-I and I'm actually enjoying it again! My roommates are awesome this semester. No personality clashing so far, and that's a record compared to my past apartments. This semester I'm taking awesome classes (except for science), my favorite of which is Women's Choir! I can't describe how amazing it feels to be in an auditioned choir again. We're singing in devotional on Sep. 29, which is always fun. I also get to go on choir tour to Twin Falls and Salt Lake, which I'm also super excited about. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures soon, but my camera is poop. :(

I'm BAAaaaaaack!

Hi peoples! :) I don't have anything exciting to say right now, except that once school starts up again next week I'll be blogging more, so you should start paying attention again! Oh yeah, and I'm auditioning for Women's Choir this semester, so I would LOVE it if you'd all pray for me to make it. Thanks, I love you all, and peace out!

I LOVE to see the temple!

The temple is a BEAUTIFUL gift. Living in the Mormon bubble of Iona, ID, I have very rarely been exposed to a lot of the stuff that I'm experiencing here. It is a rare occasion when I can get through an entire day without hearing the F-word or the Lord's name being taken in vain. My coworkers consistently come into work hung over, and some of them stoned. For a few of my coworkers, it is literally impossible for them to function without the influence of a cigarette. Growing up in Idaho, I was around fellow members almost all the time, and if they were participating in any of these activities, I never knew it. I think I had become a little desensitized to the spirit. Now I am in Orlando, Florida, where there are much fewer places for the Holy Ghost to dwell. But I didn't really notice all that much. That is, until I stepped into the Orlando Temple last night. The shift in the atmosphere was instant, and I immediately felt the weight of the world lift off my shoulders. I felt closer to God in those few hours than I have in a very long time, and it reminded me why I love this gospel so much. It was so refreshing to feel at peace. The air was clean, my thoughts were clean, and I was serving God. I cannot express in words how grateful I am for the Lord's house. It has served me as a very bright light in the midst of darkness, and I will never, EVER, forget the importance of temples again.

STUPIDITY!!!

'High School Musical 4' Set to Debut in 2010!

East meets West in a classic love triangle set against the cross-town school rivalry between the East High Wildcats and West High Knights, in High School Musical 4, the fourth story in the celebrated franchise that became a cultural sensation, fueled unprecedented digital music downloads and underscored the strength of Disney Channel and Radio Disney's connection to kids, tweens and families.

High School Musical 4 brings the franchise back to television in a music and dance-filled Disney Channel Original Movie that will introduce a new cast of characters. It is scheduled to begin production later this year for premiere on Disney Channel in 2010.

"The High School Musical trilogy introduced a new generation to the celebrated genre of movie musicals," Gary Marsh, president, Entertainment, Disney Channels Worldwide, says. "In crafting this next iteration, we've challenged the entire creative team to raise the bar again — and create something truly worthy of this extraordinary global phenomenon."

The screenwriter of High School Musical 4 is Peter Barsocchini who wrote each of the three movies in the franchise. Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush return as the executive producers.

The above article was posted on The Hub, a College Program website, so this is an official, and factual, article. It looks like we have the next generation of "The Land Before Time" on our hands. Why does Disney have to ruin a good thing by milking it? Cinderella 2 and 3, Pocahontas 2, Little Mermaid 2 and 3, Brother Bear 2, Fox and the Hound 2, Lady and the Tramp 2, etc. Where has all the creative thinking gone? Think of something new people! Imagination is dying, and that makes me sad. >:(

Happy Day!

Today was awesome, as far as meeting characters go. The pictures speak for themselves. Oh yeah, and Steve? Can you do anything about the redness of the Incredibles picture? :)

Just wait... tomorrow I plan on getting Woody and Buzz Lightyear, and maybe even some playhouse Disney characters... :)

My New Love!!!

Ok, I have officially found my new coping mechanism. It's called Mickey's Retreat, and it's AMAZING. It's for Disney World cast members and their families. It is definitely the most beautiful place I've seen in Florida. There's a beach with a moderately sized, gorgeous lake, two spacious, clean swimming pools, a playground, and tons of awesome sports equipment.  It's gorgeous, relaxing, and the best part? I can rent a canoe for $2. Jealous, anyone?

Some Recent Pics and STDs

Yeah, so I don't really have anything to write about. Basically I go to work, come home, sleep, wake up, and go to work again. Oh yeah, and on my two days off I go to Walmart and the parks. Basically I'm in one giant Disney prison... :) Oh yeah, except for my little trip to Celebration ER. My blood test came back negative- no STD's so far. If you don't know what happened yet, I got stuck with a mystery insulin needle at work. I had to get my blood drawn, but, of course, the Cast Health Services clinic was closed. So I was driven by my male manager (awkward) to the emergency room, where I had spent the next five hours waiting, talking to an "exposure hotline" about how I should avoid sexual activity and donating blood for six months, waiting some more, and getting jabbed mercilessly for 20 minutes by two incompetent nurses whose phlebotomy skills were SERIOUSLY lacking, waiting yet again, and finally getting to go home at the beautiful hour of 3 AM. Fun day! Since that wonderful experience, I have gotten three shots, and will get at least two more. I have gotten tested for HIV and Hepatitis B, both of which came back negative. But I have to get three more tests within the next six months, and they all have to be negative before I can donate blood again. It also means that I can't get married to anyone until... August. Darn it. Anyway, that's all the exciting stuff that's going on! Here are some of my latest Disney pictures.

Ooh pretty! The castle changes colors at night- green, blue, purple, orange, and pink. It's pretty.

This is one of the murals inside of Cinderella's castle. They're so pretty! You can't see very well in this pic, but they're made out of teeny tiles. 

This is how the characters dress in Animal Kingdom. It's totally my favorite park!

Today, I...

-Got to take the sacrament for the first time since I've been here.

-Got to work only to find out that I was surplus.

-Pan and broomed all over the park for two hours.

-Met a little boy who didn't like the Magic Kingdom. (what?!)

-Got asked 3 times where the nearest smoking area was.

-Was sent home from work six hours and fifteen minutes early.

-Saw Cinderella and Jasmine walking around backstage in their old-fashioned princess underwear.

-And, saw Goofy's head- no body, just the head... :(

Oh yeah, Toon Town!

Donald's

Mickey's

Minnie's

Minnie's Gazebo

I really liked this picture because it's a mouse pioneer family! So cute! It made me think of mommy.

Costumes and Characters...

Today I went to the Magic Kingdom for the first time!!! Most of my pictures are from the parade, and the rest are from Toon Town! More will come I'm sure, but this is what I've got for now. Tiff, I want you to know that through the whole parade all I could think about was how much I wished that your girls could have seen it. They would have LOVED it. But before you see those pictures, I'm sure you all are wondering what I look like in my glamorous costume...

Ta Da!!! Aren't I so cute!!!! Blah- Now let's get to the good stuff!!!

Here's Grumpy moping at the piano...

Bernard and Miss Bianca- I love the Rescuers!!!

I think this is the mean fox from Pinnochio, but I haven't seen that show since I was REALLY little...

And here's the annoying little puppet himself!!!

Awww! Eeyore is cute!

I didn't get a great shot of Aladdin, but he wasn't the greatest Aladdin anyway.

Yes! The Villians' float... this was by far my favorite!

Ursela has a BIG head in real life!

There's my Beast!!!

And of course, Mickey was the grand finale!