Updates

I took a small break from blogging. There for awhile it seemed like I was posting every day, and yet I didn't think I was writing about anything all that cool and really felt like my writing was less than spectacular. But this is the only writing I do now out of college, and since I don't want what limited skills I do have to go out the window, I figure I should keep on plugging away at it. Hopefully I'll feel the creative juices flowing again and the words and sentences will sound better.

So while I'm waiting for the mojo to return, here's a slight update on what's been goin' on the past couple days.
--made potato salad and hamburgers on Saturday before heading out to catch some fireworks for Taylorsville Dayzz. Despite seeing fireworks a gazillion times, I never tire of them or stop being awed by them, regardless if it's a big production in New York or a little production in Moroni, Utah. Fireworks are awesome, period.
--officially had my records transferred to my new singles ward here in Salt Lake. Not too much to say about this except I miss my small, lovely ward in New York and the wonderful people there.
--still haven't found a job, but broke down, swallowed my pride, and applied at Convergys just so I can have some sort of money coming in while I look for something else
--celebrated with my cousin and sister that Kyle Korver didn't opt out of his contract with the Jazz.
--went swimming for most of the day and got an awesome tan in the process!
--watched the Bachelorette and was quite shocked when a rose was given to the conniving, lying, country singer there to just sell some records and not to the funny, entirely charming and adorable Michael (who is a break-dance instructor in Queens). This girl is making some bad choices.
--my toe has finally healed. No more bruising; it's finally back to looking normal.

If We Have Time We Can See the Sphinx

I have been enjoying the fruits of community theater labor lately. Last night my oh-so-fabulous cousin, Phaedra, took Em and I to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at South Jordan Middle School (a place that was so cool inside with an impressive wall display of art and documents from the Revolutionary War--I kinda wished I went to school there!) I'll admit that I've always been a little averse to Joseph... because I've always, rather foolishly, associated it with Donny Osmond. Thankfully Phaedra knows better.

The show was, for lack of a better word, amazing. It's non-stop music from beginning to end, because when the songs are that good and fun you don't have time to trifle with dialogue. Would you expect anything less from the man who also wrote the music for Phantom of the Opera? I don't need to explain the plot to you, as most of you are familiar with it (for those not, it's based on the Bible--Jacob had twelve sons, loved Joseph the most, his brothers were jealous, sold him into slavery, Joseph becomes Pharoah's right-hand man, the brothers come to him for help, all is good again). The plot is almost inconsequential, though, and is just a means to get us into the next music number. No complaints here though.

All the different musical genres in the show was amazing. The costumes were all amazing. The set was amazing. The actors were amazing singers. I give it a a very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Watching Paint Dry

My sister bought a condo in December, and one of the joys of owning the space you live in is being able to decorate and paint and do whatever you want with it. One of the other joys is having to redecorate what the former owners thought was a good idea. Yesterday and today (and probably tomorrow, too) Em combined both those joys of homeowning by tackling the three different-colored walls in her bedroom--two walls are dark blue, one is brown, and the other is a lighter blue. Why?--we have no idea.

This is the room after she painted the first blue wall red. It's amazing how well the paint matches her bedspread.


This morning we started painting the other three walls white. I did the heavy duty rolling while Em did the small-paintbrush trim. I'm pretty sure my job was easier.


The first coat was on, we needed some more paint and some food, so we headed out...covered in paint.



Armed with full stomachs and a fresh gallon of paint we completed the second coat, which went a lot faster than the first coat. It all turned out pretty good. Next job will be painting the living room. I'll let you know when that is so y'all can help!

(Yep, I got paint on the hat, too!)

Congratulations Cat!

My friend Cat passed her boards and is officially a nurse now! To celebrate she took us out to Leatherby's for ice cream and french fries. I guess it's like when you first kiss someone you take your girlfriends out for ice cream, or when you get engaged you take them out for steak (I actually never knew this, especially not the steak one; so sorry none of my friends got ice cream after I kissed Blake Novosel in the cooler at Wendy's!)

Way to go Cat!! I'm proud of you, and not just for finishing that banana sundae!

Music in the Park

Brigham Young Historic Park in downtown Salt Lake puts on free concerts during the summer. When the weather's nice like it has been all week, there's nothing better than going to a park, sitting on a blanket, and listening to some music. Tonight the music was Show tunes, and even though I'm by no means a musical or Broadway buff, I enjoyed just being there with my sister and Cat.



Some classic tunes were sang, such as "One Day More," from Les Miserables and "Defying Gravity," from Wicked. Those were pretty much the only two I knew. It was such a beautiful night, and being there reminded me of going to Central Park and listening to the New York Philharmonic last summer. If you check it out, I'm wearing the same shirt. Oh New York, how I miss you.

I'm in Love With a Girl Named Fred

Friday night Emily, my cousin Phaedra, and I made the trek out to Draper to experience the Draper Historical Theater's production of "Once Upon A Mattress". I was not at all familiar with the title, but soon learned from the program that it's the story of the Princess and the Pea. Set to music. With some comedy mixed in. What could be better for a night out?

Community theater is quite the experience. As long as you don't go in expecting Broadway-style theater, you'll enjoy yourself. And I certainly did. First of all, there was live accompaniment with a piano player and a flute player. Very cool. I'm always very impressed by music and those who can create it.

The story centers around Prince Dauntless and his quest to find a real Princess, who will be deemed such by his overly-talkative mother, Queen Aggravain (don't the names just put a smile to your face?). Twelve almost-princesses have already been sent away, and the entire Kingdom is anxious for a bride because no one else can marry until the Prince does. The couple most in need of a quick wedding are Sir Harry, the star Knight of the kingdom, and his lady-in-waiting love, Lady Larken, because she's pregnant and well, they're not married.

Wackiness ensues when Sir Harry comes back with Winnifred, a Princess from the swamplands. She swam the moat to get to the castle! Of course the Queen is not thrilled about this, or Fred's seemingly un-Princess-like ways. But Dauntless is smitten and wants Fred to be his wife, and thankfully the feeling is mutual. And now comes the Queen's conniving to make sure Fred won't pass the Princess test.

We of course all now what happens next, but it was fun getting there during the play. There were musical numbers, none better than the rousing, "I'm in Love With a Girl Named Fred." The real title is, "Song of Love," but mine is much more fitting; it involves that great line plus body/hand letter spelling and Fred showing off how cool she is by lifting weights and manhandling the jester. "Song of Love," doesn't quite convey the awesomeness and silliness of the song.

And nothing was as unintentionally funny as when some popcorn that had been used as a prop fell all over the stage as scenes were being changed. It wasn't cleaned up before the next scene, which involved dancing! It got trampled on, and when the lights went down for intermission, the director remarked that now would be time for snacks and for him to clean up his popcorn. It was hilarious, and could quite possibly be the reason why community theater is so fun--no pretentious airs.

Father's Day

Today my sister and I made the trek up to Brigham City to celebrate Father's Day with my dad. It just so happens that his birthday is tomorrow, June 22, so it was two celebrations in one. My dad isn't one for a lot of hype and hoopla on his birthday or holidays. Factor in the fact that he is the hardest person to buy a gift for, and you'll see why it's usually a pretty low-key affair. If it were up to me, I'd celebrate everyone's birthday for at least a week, but, well, some people just couldn't care less.

My brother was also there with his three kids, Ivy, Elliett, and Moses. Pretty cute little kids if you ask me. Here they are with Grandpa.

After dinner we went for a ride behind the mountains and checked out the poppies, the lake, some ponies, and fed the cows.


As previously mentioned, my dad is notoriously hard to buy for. After a lot of asking what he wanted/needed for Father's Day/his Birthday, he finally said he could use some pants and a shirt. This is pretty much what we buy him every year. But I like to find things that mean more and are special. I of course bought him a shirt, but I also gave him a picture frame filled with pictures of him and us kids when we were young. There was one of our trip to Yellowstone and we're standing at the Continental Divide. There was one of me when I was just born and Dad on the couch with Em and Jared holding me. There was one of us playing a game of Risk. It was nice to go through the pictures and remember my childhood. It may not have been perfect, and at times was difficult, but despite that I truly had a very good childhood. And that's what the pictures were to represent--that even though there were bad times, there were good times, too. And the only thing worth remembering is the good times. Love you, Dad.