Fun Summer Stuff

Well, the last three weeks have actually been much more eventful and exciting than the whole of the summer so far! Three weeks ago, I went to my ward's FHE, and that's where all the fun began.

I went, expecting just a regular old family home evening. We went to the local distribution center thing or whatever it's called and put together literacy kits. Emilie and I worked with 2 silly boys (though Em thought one was cute) and one who was nice and friendly. After we finished, they didn't really speak to us anymore. So we left, but as we were doing so, another guy from the ward caught us and asked who we were and we had a little conversation. He had been conversing with the Sunday school president, who knows me, and who asked if I had a calling yet. I said no, and he smiled his little evil smile and said ok. And then we left.

The following Saturday, I got a phone call from the second counselor in my bishopric. I was not surprised. I had an interview on Tuesday and got called as a gospel doctrine teacher. Yay! I start next week, with a lesson on avoiding the deceptions of Satan and not falling into personal apostasy.

But the Monday before I had the interview, I went on a date in St. George with one of Carl's friends. It was a double with a girl who I knew when I was little. It was really fun. We made up fake names for ourselves, and then played mini golf. Turns out I am not very good at that (not like I didn't already know), but since my date cheated for me, oh, and Carl a couple times, I ended with a very decent score. It was fun. Then we played laser tag, which was way fun! I died a lot, but I did kill people a few times, and I didn't get lost, which is a plus. After that we went to Dairy Queen where me and my date got Arctic Freezes which were really quite good. We talked about some fun things and had a good time.

The next weekend, my family and I went to Orem to see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. First, we went to Mike and Amy's, some of Carl's friends, where I met Mike for the first time. He is very nice and hospitable. I also met their pug Lily, who was a little exuberant and got hair all over me, but fun and funny. We then left for the hotel to put some stuff away and then went to the temple.

First, you go into a tent and watch a video about temples, especially temples in Utah. Two of my relatives were mentioned, Archibald and Robert Gardener, and my mom was pretty excited. And I was a little excited too. There were girls in back of me that were apparently related too, but we didn't talk to them.

Then we went into the temple, which was beautiful of course. The hilight was the sealing room that we actually got to sit in, and heard a little message from a couple who lived close by. John tried to count how many times he could see himself in the opposing mirrors, and my mom cried at seeing our family in them. Here are the pictures we took outside the temple.





The next day, our family plus Mike, Amy and their baby Sophie, went on a little adventure. We went to Cabela's to see the fish, which was pretty fun. They were big and some had strange defects. There were lots of. . . whats the word. . . well, stuffed animals. Zebras, mountain goats, deer, birds, rodents, it was all there. It was fun. After that we went to Thanksgiving point. It was cold, windy, and rainy, but beautiful. I am glad we went. Michelle and I took tons of pictures there.


A Georgia O'Keefe like edit of one of the flowers we took a picture of.


Michelle was trying to take pictures of little Sophie but she just wanted to play with the camera. That is her little hand grabbing the lens.


A mystic dreamer that was in the scent garden, or whatever it was called.


Koi at the pond behind the rose garden. There were tons of them! And they were huge! And actually, very peaceful to watch. Until we fed them.



It was the first time I had seen real lily pads.




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This gorgous picture was taken by Michelle.

Emilie, Michelle and me in the rose garden. So pretty.


The swirly rose!

I really like this one, though I am not exactly sure why. Maybe it's the water? Or the color?

I just thought this would make a cool shot. It reminds me of Rivendell.

A cool view.








Sophie having fun with my hands.


The next noteworthy event happened this past Monday. Well, that's where it started. I went to FHE, and an old friend from high school was there. We hung out a log my senior year in high school, and he took me to prom. We talked a lot and it was just fun. I also threw rocks at one of my dumb old neighbor boys, which was also fun. Then Wednesday I went on a date. We went to dinner at Chili's, which is always fun since you can play tic tac toe with the coasters and the tiles on the table. We had great food. Then we went to a park and swung, or swinged, whichever, which I like to do. Then we went to Transformers, which was good, but I was disappointed at how many dirty little things it snuck in there. If it hadn't been for those things, I would have thought it an excellent movie. Anyway, it was still fun though.

Next thing happened yesterday. I had a recital for all my students. It was very fun and rewarding. They were all terriffied and all played very well. Photographs by R. Tyson Vance


Trio by Miranda, me, and Michelle. It is a very pretty song, and it went quite well for how little we had rehearsed.


Michelle played Meditation beautifully. And she looks lovely in my skirt :) She also has a gorgeous violin.


Cammie has only been playing for 6 months and is sounding very very good. She plays well in tune and tries her very best.




That would be me playing something. Mostly I like this picture because it shows just how powerful a pair of shoes can be. Yes!


So cute!



She always plays well, and is fun.



Another great young violinist.


Ah, he is SO cute! And played really well, even though the poor little guy was terriffied!


She is such a perfectionist. She messed up and was very upset. But nobody played perfectly. Hopefully she will learn to not be too hard on herself.


Playing the Bach Double Conerto with a lady who has stuck with me for a long time.


John, who figured he needed to entertain everybody at the expense of acting properly as he was instructed, and even getting through his whole song withoug being "funny". Oh well, he will learn.

The whole crew! Aren't they just so cute? Yes, yes they are.

Past, Present, and Future

5 Years Ago. . .

Did you have a job? Yes, I was suffering at Convergy's. Though that's not entirely true. I had some good friends and we had a lot of fun. It was kind of sad when I left in September, but not too sad, ha ha!

Where did you live? Here still. In this very room in which I am sitting.

What was your favorite TV show? Let's see. . . didn't want TV then either.

Who was your best friend? Probably my mom. Maybe Aubrey Lamb, actually. I am not sure.

What was your favorite band? Switchfoot. That was easy.

Had you been in an accident? Yep. And it shouldn't have been my fault, but the law said it was. Oh well, I am over it (but the Bronco isn't).

How old were you? Sweet 16.

Where did you hang out? At home, at work, and sometimes at Aubrey's house.

Did you have a boyfriend? No, but I think it was the time that I had a crush on, oh wait, I think I actually didn't have any crushes at that point. Really.

What was your favorite store? Um, probably Maurices.

Were you happy? Not really. I didn't have any real close friends, although my family was always there for me. But just before I turned 17 I found a great group of friends that I had a blast with! So that certainly helped a lot. But I don't think I really knew myself.

5 Months Ago

Where did you live? Right here, in this very room.

Where did you hang out? Right here, in this very room, ha ha. And the music building, mostly.

Who did you have a crush on? Nobody.

Who was your best friend? My mom, Michelle, Jason, JJ, and that's really pretty much it.

Had you been in an accident? No.

What was your favorite TV show? Didn't watch any. Though if I did it would probably be America's Next Top Model or something like that.

How old were you? 20

What was your favorite band? I could never choose. It may have been the twilight soundtrack phase though.

What was your favorite possession? Probably my violin, though I was growing terribly fond of my fish.

Did you have a job? Yep. Teaching violin.

What was your favorite store? The pet store! And Victoria's Secret.

Were you happy? Meh. I was tired of school, tired of not feeling well, tired of my social life, tired of the same old everything. Just tired. Did I mention that I was tired?

Now!

Do you know anyone who has ever left their home state? Oh yes. Lots of people I went to HS with have gotten out of Utah. Ok, not lots, but a handful at least. One of my good friends is from Connecticut.

Do you have a job? Same job I have had for almost 5 years now.

Do you know how to drive a car? I sure hope so! I do on almost a daily basis! Although I don't really like driving any car other than Sadie.

Where do you live? In the same exact room as I had answered previously, though 2 years ago that would not have been true. I lived at the Hamlet! And in 2 months I will be living at the. . . house that needs a name!

Are you single? Yep. It has been one year since I met the last person I dated. Time goes by so fast!

What is your favorite store? Maurices. And beauty.com

Are you happy? Yes. I have a great family that I love, plus friends outside of my family to hang out and have fun with, and I have a lot of things coming up for me in the near future, which is both terrifying and exciting? Grad school? Maybe prince charming? Or maybe (a very unlikely maybe) a mission? Or sticking around for a while and teaching and saving up some dollars? I just don't know, which means life is definitely not boring!

My Uneventful Summer and Vampires

Well since I was retarded and posted these in backwards order, I shall blog in backwards order. On Friday my friend Tyson visited and took pictures of my fish. These are my favorite shots.








On Thursday, Michelle and Emilie and I went on campus and took pictures. We had a very good time, which I think you will be able to tell from the pictures.
So, I think Twilight vampires are awesome. They are sexy and have superpowers, what more could you want? No, I don't want Edward Cullen, his hair is out of control and he has huge eyebrows. And if I were to choose a fictional character to have a crush on, I would much rather have Mr. Darcy. Anyway, here is out Twilight shot, edited to make the background darker and us lighter.
And us as regular, boring mortals. Sigh.




I have the greatest face in that one.

Whose feet are whose? I dare you to guess.


In other news, Emilie and I found a cute house to live in. It's a little pricier than what we were hoping for, but at this point we were just lucky to have found it. It's a basement apartment and the people who live upstairs and very nice. They have triplet 2 year olds! Insane. But I think it will be great. Other than that, I really have nothing to report.

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.