Saturday, July 26, 2008
ave maria part deux
Well, I'm playing the organ again tomorrow and in light of the fact that I've worked 55 hours this week, I haven't had much time to practice. So your prayers are once again needed. Your prayers are also needed so that I might survive these two days until I go to Pennsylvania. I am convinced that whoever first depicted hell as heat, fire, and brimstone did so only after experiencing a Utah summer. These past few days have been as hot as hell... whereas the high today at my grandparents farm: 74. Granted, with humidity that may feel like 85, but that certainly is not as hot as it is here. I'm sold on this whole striving for exaltation thing for many reasons-- one being the fact that if I do what is good and right, I will not have to experience the eternal heat which we all know accompanies hell.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Une marraine
While I will not become a mother anytime in the very near future, this past week I have taken a new title that is almost as good: Godmother-- to an 8 week old Golden Retriever puppy named Big Foot. Space bought him last week and I had the privilege of spending the first night with him, along with Stacie, on the trampoline at Stace's place because he whined so loudly in his box. It was during this night that I was dubbed his godmother. He is beyond adorable. I mean honestly, how can you not love that face?! I just hope I'll be able to adequately fulfill my godmother duties of doting and spoiling-- but this is my first go of it so I hope Big Foot will be able to forgive my inexperience.
*Credit for this photo given to Space.
*Credit for this photo given to Space.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Drama, drama, drama!
Right now I'm listening to my 15 year old sister try and convince my parents to let her get unlimited text messages when she gets her phone back, which is only after she pays off the $XXX text messaging bill she accrued in the past 2 months. She is using such arguments as: A) "But Mom! No one gets on instant messaging anymore because they're all texting each other!" B) "Some people are just weird to talk to on the phone!" and, my personal favorite, C) "Fine! I just won't have any friends!" Wow... please tell me I was not this dramatic at 15... and if I was, I deeply apologize to all who knew me.
Monday, July 14, 2008
...
Thanks to some pretty spontaneous decision-making on the part of my parents, and subsequently myself, I am lucky enough to get to go back to Pennsylvania to my grandparents' farm July 28th through August 3rd. Those of you who are well acquainted with me know that I absolutely love this place. There are not 50 acres on this great earth that mean more to me than this farm in Brookville, PA (pop. 4,200). The trees, the creek, the woods... this place is paradise. See for yourself:
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Let's take a walk...
Last night Sophie asked me if I liked high school. She is going to be a sophomore at Orem High next year and she is understandably nervous. I quickly replied, "yes" without much thought so as to quickly put her at ease, but upon further reflection, I thought about how much I really, thoroughly enjoyed high school. I tell myself that high school is like living in the dorms: something you loved but something you would never do again. And while this is true-- I would never go back to high school-- I had some pretty fantastic experiences between the ages of 15 and 17. So, in a blast from the not so distant past, here are just a few of my top memories of high school (in no particular order):
-Student Council. I was on Student Council my senior year and what a great experience that was. I'm a pretty shy person as it is, but I was even worse in high school. I was awkward with everyone but my close friends and almost went into panic attacks whenever I had to speak in front of people. But I'm convinced student council broke me out of my shell a little bit. I mean, when you have to put on assemblies in front of the entire student body, there's not a whole lot of room for shy-ness, now is there? But the people on student council are really what made it. Through all the hard work, the foosball tournaments, and stealing of bean bags, we were great friends.
Student Council
-AP US History. Okay, okay I'm a nerd, I get it. But I absolutely adored this class-- definitely my favorite throughout high school. (Confession: I even more than slightly enjoyed taking the actual AP test.) I took it as a little bitty squashmore, but to this day, I remember how much I loved the subject and the teacher, Mr. Miner. His passion for teaching was an absolute inspiration. If/when I ever am in charge of a classroom, I want to inspire kids like Mr. Miner inspired me.
-Sporting events While BYU football games are fun, I enjoyed going to high school football and basketball games a lot more, especially during my junior year, but also during my senior year on student council. Kaylynn and I were tight friends my junior year and we got DECKED OUT for sporting events. Layers and blue and gold clothes, face paint, the whole kit and kaboodle. We would stand up on the bleachers and start our own cheers, much to the dismay of the cheerleaders, and yell and scream until we went hoarse. I still remember a lot of the cheers from those games, complete with the cheerleading movements which I will kindly demonstrate if the price is right. :)
-Young womens leaders I am absolutely convinced that I had the best church leaders on the face of the earth. Not only through high school, but all the time I was in Young Women's, my leaders were more like friends to me than leaders. They were, and still are, people I look up to and so greatly admire. Whether they knew it at the time or not, they helped me through some rough patches, and to them I am very grateful.
Last, my most definitely not least (in fact, this is probably first):
- Swimming and everything that came along with it: the hard practices, the waking up early, the meets, but especially the people. I met some pretty amazing people because of swimming... especially Space Cadet. She was a senior when I was a sophomore but we made some pretty great memories in the one year we spent together in high school. Memories like playing baseball in the locker room after practice with a wooden sword and a shower puff. Or sitting in the sauna for 45 minutes after practice, or seeing how many dips we could do at weight training, or driving around in the Simps and swerving at random people on bicycles (not my proudest moment, but pretty dang funny) or just sitting and laughing for hours on end. Thankfully, we're still good buddies and will be for a really long time if I have anything to say about it.
So there you have it. Sorry to take you all on a walk down memory lane, but sometimes it's just nice to sit and think about some great memories from the past.
-Student Council. I was on Student Council my senior year and what a great experience that was. I'm a pretty shy person as it is, but I was even worse in high school. I was awkward with everyone but my close friends and almost went into panic attacks whenever I had to speak in front of people. But I'm convinced student council broke me out of my shell a little bit. I mean, when you have to put on assemblies in front of the entire student body, there's not a whole lot of room for shy-ness, now is there? But the people on student council are really what made it. Through all the hard work, the foosball tournaments, and stealing of bean bags, we were great friends.
Student Council
-AP US History. Okay, okay I'm a nerd, I get it. But I absolutely adored this class-- definitely my favorite throughout high school. (Confession: I even more than slightly enjoyed taking the actual AP test.) I took it as a little bitty squashmore, but to this day, I remember how much I loved the subject and the teacher, Mr. Miner. His passion for teaching was an absolute inspiration. If/when I ever am in charge of a classroom, I want to inspire kids like Mr. Miner inspired me.
-Sporting events While BYU football games are fun, I enjoyed going to high school football and basketball games a lot more, especially during my junior year, but also during my senior year on student council. Kaylynn and I were tight friends my junior year and we got DECKED OUT for sporting events. Layers and blue and gold clothes, face paint, the whole kit and kaboodle. We would stand up on the bleachers and start our own cheers, much to the dismay of the cheerleaders, and yell and scream until we went hoarse. I still remember a lot of the cheers from those games, complete with the cheerleading movements which I will kindly demonstrate if the price is right. :)
-Young womens leaders I am absolutely convinced that I had the best church leaders on the face of the earth. Not only through high school, but all the time I was in Young Women's, my leaders were more like friends to me than leaders. They were, and still are, people I look up to and so greatly admire. Whether they knew it at the time or not, they helped me through some rough patches, and to them I am very grateful.
Last, my most definitely not least (in fact, this is probably first):
- Swimming and everything that came along with it: the hard practices, the waking up early, the meets, but especially the people. I met some pretty amazing people because of swimming... especially Space Cadet. She was a senior when I was a sophomore but we made some pretty great memories in the one year we spent together in high school. Memories like playing baseball in the locker room after practice with a wooden sword and a shower puff. Or sitting in the sauna for 45 minutes after practice, or seeing how many dips we could do at weight training, or driving around in the Simps and swerving at random people on bicycles (not my proudest moment, but pretty dang funny) or just sitting and laughing for hours on end. Thankfully, we're still good buddies and will be for a really long time if I have anything to say about it.
So there you have it. Sorry to take you all on a walk down memory lane, but sometimes it's just nice to sit and think about some great memories from the past.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Climbing
Thanks to my friend Johnny (the assistant coach of our rugby team), I've been getting into rock climbing this summer. Johnny is a great climber, even with his broken finger. Not only this, he has 1) the equipment that he kindly lets me borrow when we go and, more importantly 2) the patience and willingness to deal with an amateur climber (me). Johnny has taken me to American Fork Canyon and Rock Canyon to climb and it has been fantastic. Last night, Johnny, Ela, Ofa, Johnny's friend John, some other friends of Johnny, and I went up Rock Canyon in the evening and climbed until the sun went down. It was fan-freaking-tastic. I have a slight fear of heights, so sometimes I get nervous going up, but it is a great work-out and you feel so accomplished when you reach the top. Here are a couple pics:
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