Earliest Memories

1. what’s your earliest memory? I remember standing in my crib crying at night. I expected my mom to come to help me, and she did, but she was wearing my dad's robe so I was confused. That's it.

2. who was your childhood friend? do you still see them? I think my first childhood friend, well aside from Carl who was my first friend, was Janae. I haven't talked to her in probably a decade.

3. what is your happiest memory? Oh, that is so hard to say. Hm. Maybe junior prom actually. It was the first time I felt like I acted like myself and was accepted for that. It was a really great night.

4. what is your saddest memory? Oh gosh. Um. Well, my earliest sad memory was when my grandpa died when I was 6. I was very very fond of him and was totally crushed. I cried harder than I ever had. And honestly, I am still sad to think I didn't get to grow up with my grandpa.

5. what was your worst punishment as a child? Oh, I was so well behaved that I never got punished. Just kidding. I did get grounded, and spanked a couple times.

6.what was your favourite toy as a child? My little pony! Her name was loveheart and she was turquoise and had pink hair and pink hearts on her flanks. She got lost when we moved here :(

7. what was your favourite book(s) as a child? Hm. I liked The Hungry Caterpillar, I Love You Forever, The books with the little mouse in them (who was my imaginary friend), and that's about all I remember.

8. what did you want to be when you grew up? A mom. Really. I think that was my only aspiration until I started playing the violin.

9. did you grow up with both parents? Sure did.

10. did you get along with your siblings? For the most part, Emilie and I did not get along well for quite some time though. I was very mean to her. And eventually she was mean back, and then we started ignoring each other, and now we are actually good sisters.

11. what was your favourite tv programme as a child? Probably Nature actually. Though I loved to watch whatever Carl watched, which I remember being Dark Wing Duck and Looney Tunes. And Pinkie and the Brain.

12. favourite holiday? Easter. Always was, always has been.

13. did you have any pets? Nope.

14. how did you have fun? Oh, playing cars with Carl, playing ponies with Jenae and Sarah, playing in big snow forts, going on nature walks, going to Cody Park and seeing the peacocks, cutting and gluing things, and just being at home with my family.

15. overall, was your childhood a happy one or a sad one? please explain….. It was happy. I loved my mom and dad and Carl, and Emilie too when she was born, though I didn't like her stealing the attention from me and I ignored her a lot I think. But by then I had friends I played with a lot anyway.

Summer!

Well I made it through the semester. It was kind of a scramble, but I did it. When school got out, I had fun in Ely visiting my grandma and my great aunt with my mom. We didn't really do anything real noteworthy, but it was a good time. Then we went to Las Vegas, and that was a lot of fun! We went down on Friday and went to the mall. We looked at dresses at Dillard's. One of the worker ladies was overly helpful so it took forever and we didn't buy the dress. Then we ate dinner at a great Mexican place, and then went to a Bridal store to try on more dresses. I found quite a few I liked and my mom bought me a pretty dark blue one. It will need alteration, but I am excited about it. Then we went back to the mall and to my favorite store where I spent quite a lot of money. After that we went home and started watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. But after an hour of not really understanding it and being weirded out and not seeing it picking up, we gave up and went to bed.

The next morning we got up pretty early. We went to the Bellagio to the atrium, which was very very fun. It was like being in a fairytale. I decided I could live there quite happily. Unfortunately, the batteries in my mom's camera died, so then we searched for batteries. We finally found them in a shop in Caesar's Palace that was called Essentials that carried mostly alcohol. Then we went to the forum shops. I had a blast at the Jimmy Choo store. Wow do they have nice stuff! I am surprised they actually let me touch things honestly. But the cheapest pair of shoes we found was $300 so we bought nothing. We went to other designer stores, including a couple jewelry stores for my mom. Then we went to my favorite store again and I spent more money (including an item that wasn't released yet in any other stores apparently). Then we went to the cheesecake factory. I had Jamacian black pepper shrimp. It was amazing! Wow. Then we went to Bath & Body works where I bought lip gloss and hand sanitizer.

We then left Caesar's Palace, went back to the Bellagio and to the Atrium so I could take pictures, and then saw the fountain show. I have pictures of all this but since I am fairly certain that everyone who reads this is on my facebook I don't see much point in posting them here. Anyway, then we went to yet another mall to look for clothes for my great aunt. Me and my mom tried on the red hat lady hats. Then we went home.

And this week I have just been being lazy. The end!

Beauty- Again

The concept of beauty is something I muse about quite a lot actually. Especially in the springtime with the flowers blooming and everything coming back to life. It is a word with so much depth and diversity that even I cannot comprehend it. I have found so many things in the world that I think are beautiful. Here are a few of them, some more serious and or/deep than others. Also check out the first track (well, other tracks too, but this one was picked especially for the occasion) on my playlist for a sample of beauty.








Oops, how did that get there?



*Gasp* I am so embarassed! (This picture is representative of a larger group, by the way.)





Yet of all these things, there is one thing that surpasses them all. It could be the very definition of beauty perhaps. That is the love of my Savior, Jesus Christ. There is certainly nothing more beautiful than that. Trust me, I have looked. I am so fascinated by the concept that sometimes I get distracted from that which is truly beautiful, but I am always somehow reminded of what I know is truly beautiful, and the only thing that can truly bring me happiness. I am so glad to have this knowledge and for all the people and good music, etc., who remind me of it. Though it is always by choice that I am reminded. But I do know that it is only through Him that I will ever be truly happy and have hope of experiencing more beauty than I can now know. And I know He lives. For me. And he knows me and loves me better and more than anyone else, and he has the power and ability to help me learn and grow and become perfected.



On that note, and even though it's a bit late, have a happy Easter!

Mostly pictures

This week was interesting starting rehearsals for the school's production of the Wizard of Oz. The music is very hard and we all kind of struggle with it. But the actors sound great and I think we will pull it off and put on a good show. While we were bored, some of the orchestra improvised some rock/rappish tunes. I think at one point one of the actors was doing some kind of break dance at one point even. And the conductor grabbed my violin and played an Indian tune. It came from my phone, so excuse the poor quality.


Everybody should go! Enjoy these pictures.



Surprise! I cut my hair off! It was very fun. And I think I should mention that it was in no way inspired by Alice off of the Twilight movie. Though I quite like her.


We did not break in, the theater was wide open. Just for the record. Not that it would have stopped us. . .





Just a bunch of empty seats.

Spring Break!

It has been a while since I last posted, but just like last time, not much has happened since then really. But I did have some fun over spring break.

On the first Saturday of spring break, me and my friends Samantha and Aubrey went to St. George. We had fun exploring (well, Samantha was exploring, Aubrey and I were just along for the ride!) St. George and playing games and just talking at Sam's aunt and uncle's house. It was very fun to meet Emily and her adorable little boy! On Sunday we played a violin duet at Sam's great grandpa's ward. It went very well and everyone told us how much they appreciated it. It is so nice to play outside a scholastic setting for people who enjoy the music with no expectations and biases and all those other words that escape me right now.

After playing, we went to Sam's grandpa's birthday party at her great grandparents' house. It was very fun! Sam apologized for her crazy family a few times (though they are much less crazy than mine), but I actually love meeting people's crazy families! It's very fun to me for some reason. On Monday, me and Samantha watched an old orchestra/choir video from HS and played dress up in some old, and at times rather frightening, clothes in her basement.

Later in the week, whatever day it was, I went to St. George with JJ to get some aquarium supplies. It was fun since I enjoy the pet store so much. But on the way home my car broke down (after I went on for several minutes about how much I loved my car, Sadie). After trying to get it to work, failing, having someone stop and help push us off the freeway exit, trying more and failing, JJ called for a tow truck. And I called Sam and she so kindly came to rescue us! When she got there, we still waited 20-30 more minutes for the truck before it got there and we could leave. I felt bad, but I am glad she was willing to pick me up!

That night we had a barbecue, played some games that I was really terrible at, and watched The Goonies. Good times.

On Saturday, I went with my family minus my dad to Red Cliffs hiking. It was quite fun.John is king of the rock!

You can see John and Michelle and Carl and Jesse on the other side of the little stream.

On Sunday, John and I were looking up some things online about his turtles in my room and he went to look at them and came back in my room and sat on my bed. Then he proceeded to tell me how he thought Carl the turtle was dead and starting bawling. It was very sad. So I went to check on the turtle and sure enough, he was dead. I cried because he was so sad. So my mom and I took care of the turtle and changed the water. Then this last Friday John and I and JJ went to St. George and bought a new turtle and 18 feeder fish (which were gone in 24 hours) and a pleco for my aquarium. Here is my nerdy little video of my fish for your enjoyment. It features the snail the needs to find a new new home, Pablo the celestial eyed goldfish, Sir Ulrich the plecostamus, Gus and Gilbert the guppies, Merri and Pippin the black moors, Sargent Pepper and Arcangelo the calico fantails (which have gotten quite big now), and at the end I tried to show Ziggy, who is probably the cutest of the bunch, but it didn't turn out very well.




Well, that's it for today! Have a grand week.

The Best Weekend In a Long Time

Well, this was quite the week! I was pretty busy with getting ready for my recital. On Thursday, I went to school, cleaned the house, made cookies, played at a string quartet for Michael Leavitt's homecoming party, went to a dress rehearsal, and then made the drink for the post-recital reception. It was nuts! Then on Friday, I recruited a friend who went to the store for me, and then we cleaned a little more and cooked a lot more. Then Megan and her friend came and I was so excited! Then we cooked more! Then we ate dinner and then I got dressed for my recital, which was stressful, especially since the dress didn't hold up especially well at the dry cleaner. But it seemed to work fine for the recital. And then I went to the recital hall and brought all the food in with lots of help from my friends and Michelle, and then I warmed up. The recital itself went quite well. My Bach was basically average, my Beethoven started out rought but got better and better as I went along, and my Suk was pretty good. After it was over, it was fun to get flowers from my family as well as some from my studio class, which was a big surprise! I was very excited to get them. Afterwards, I had fun talking to the people who had come to support me. It was amazing to see everyone there. Then I ate some refreshments, took some pictures, cleaned up and left.Chelsea and I posing with our flowers.

After that, me and Megan and Jesse and JJ stole the big Homer doll from an neighbor's house from last year which used to be one of our favorite pasttimes. Then we went to campus and took pictures with him. It was very funny!

Homer riding Old Sorrell.

On Saturday, we were all pretty tired from finishing out fun late and then talking until morning. And then Megan got up early and everybody gradually woke up after her. We then made and ate pancakes for breakfast, then they played a little rock band. Then we went to Wal-Mart to buy things for the dinner John was making for us. Then we went Park Discovery and played, which was pretty fun.

Then we got some ice cream, watched a movie at John's place, at the great stew he made, and then decided to make some dry ice bombs. They didn't explode as well as we had hoped, but it was still pretty fun. Then we went to one of John's friend's houses and played some more rock band, and then because we were so tired, we just went to bed. Jesse and Megan left this morning and I am kind of sad they are gone, but I am very glad they came to visit. It had more fun than I had in a long time.


So, last weekend I came home from watching movies with my friend Samantha to find two dead fish, Mardi and Niccolo. So Monday I went to St. George and bought two new ones, and my brother bought me a snail later. So here are some pictures of my new fish.

Here you can see Frodo the snail, and a little of Sargent Pepper, Merri and Pablo.

Napoleon, Sgt. Pepper, Pablo, Pippin, Arcangelo.

Merri and Pippin, my two new adorable black moors.

Just an update.

Well, it's been a while! A lot has happened since a last blogged, though nothing life changing or even particularly interesting. But I will share it all anyway.

First of all, I got rid of the ick from my fish tank! I am glad it's gone, but it ended up taking four fish with it. Henri, Jascha, Fritz and Antonio. I especially miss Jascha, as does everyone else who knew him. But on the happy side, I have three new fish. Sargent Pepper the very lovely calico fantail, Mardi the telescope-eyed goldfish that looks like he has a mask on, and Napoleon orange and white goldfish. Mardi is constantly moving his mouth and often nips at the tails of the other fish. It's pretty funny sometimes.

Other than that, school has been. . . rough. I didn't feel well for about a week and a half and missed a lot of class. I think it's just because I was so stressed out, so I am hoping that now that my recital preview is over, I will be able to keep up better. So I have lots of catching up to do, but I think I can do it! I also had 7 days of opera rehearsal and performance. It was extremely time consuming! But it had its good moments, like eating chocolate and laughing with my stand partner and other people in the group. And there were the parts of the show that I could actually see and hear and they were hilarious! My favorite lines were probably "That must be a fiery passion" and "how dare you mess with my family affairs!" But that would probably not make sense unless you saw the opera (Mozart's The Magic Flute).

Oh, yes, I passed my recital preview so my junior recital is officially on! So if anybody wants to go, that is February 20 at 7:30 in the Thorley Recital Hall. I would love to see you there!

On that note, my friend Tyson took some nice pictures for my recital posters. Maybe you will see them around.

I have also taken up painting. I am not very good at it, but it is very fun! to see an explanation of my paintings, refer to my December 10 blog, a few end of semester thoughts. I have made 2 paintings so far. They aren't really of anything, just paintings. I will post a picture of the first one.

Me and Michelle have have some fun adventures! Check out her latest blog (http://monkeypoomichelle.blogspot.com/2009/02/hilarious-story.html) for one of them. We really have a blast together!

So yeah, that's about it. Oh, and I am considereing going to NAU in flagstaff to get a masters' degree in suzuki pedagogy. But I am not sure yet.



Have fun!