Spring Break Madness

Hello again! Long-time-no-blog! I am sorry it has been such a while. The play is finished!!!!!!! Huzzah!!!!!! I had such a good time working with all of my friends, and the support was WONDERFUL! I have never received so many "good jobs" in my life!!!! Anyway, thanks to all of you that came, and sorry for those of you that couldn't. I still love you all. Anyway, last week was Spring Break, and I had the most AMAZING time of my life!!!!! I went with my dear friend Becca Smith on a CRUISE!!!!!!!! It was SO FUN!!!!!!! We drove down to San Diego, California, spent a night at her uncle's house, and then embarked the next day. The ship was HUGE! I kind of got sea sick, but it was beautiful, and the food was FANTASTIC!!!! I do so enjoy food... especially food that's already payed for. Anyway, we spent the next day in Catalina Island (rented a golf cart, spent some time at the beach, did some kayaking), and then sailed down to Ensanada Mexico the day after that (BOY did we have some adventures in Mexico... I sprained my wrist on an ATV, and we lost one of our friends up in the mountains... the shopping was great though). Our final day on the ship was spent sleeping, and tanning out on the deck. It was EVER so relaxing. When the ship got back to California, we went to Sea World and then to Knottsburry Farm the day after that. It was a BLAST!!!! It is, however, good to be home (I am quite prone to homesickness). Thanks to the Smith family for the wonderful trip (I hope that I didn't cause too much trouble)! I hope you guys all enjoyed your Spring Break! Love you all!

Draper Temple Dedication

Hello everyone,
I am quite sorry for the neglect that I have had towards this lovely blog. I have had absolutely NO TIME!!!!!!! (to tarry here...) what with all these silly rehearsals (which are quite fun, but ridiculously long), AP stuff, and a HUGE load of homework!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways... I went to the Draper Temple dedication today, and I must say that it was a wonderful experience! Apart from this silly alto that was flat and VERY loud the whole time :) ... it was really neat. I am so grateful for temples and for the blessings that we can receive in them. I know the church is true, and I would just like to say... HOSANNA HOSANNA HOSANNA!!!!! TO GOD AND THE LAMB!!!!!! AMEN AMEN AND AMEN!!!!!!!!!!

Alice in Wonderland

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I am very excited. We had auditions for our annual school musical the other day (Alice and Wonderland), and I was cast as Alice! I just thought I would like to let you all know, and I'll make sure that I keep you posted on how rehearsals are going, and when the performance is going to be. Hope to see you all there when the time comes! I love you all!!!!

Honor Choir/BYU MUN

Wow, I am EXHAUSTED!!!! I just had two of the most entertaining days of my life! First, in December I auditioned for the Junior High State Honor Choir, and made it. They choose eight students from each school to participate, and I was one of the lucky ones (singing the part of second alto). Our director (Kelly Duhan) was AMAZING, and his funny, Jack Black sense of humor was one of the things that made the experience worthwhile. He really helped us all to feel like each and every one of us was needed, and that the choir wouldn't be the same without us. We had two days of rehearsals (one of which we got to miss school for), and both of them were rigorous, and extremely tiring. But, dispite the excercise required, it was a lot of fun. In the end, the results were amazing! We, being obnoxious and rebellious jr. high students, were able to come together and put on the performance of a life time. By the time the concert was done, I don't think there was a dry eye in the auditorium (I don't know, maybe it was just me crying...), and I'll never forget the sounds of 300 little voices filling the hall to make one BIG sound.

Now, on to the other big event. The same day as my honor choir concert, I was able to attend BYU MUN (Model United Nations). This was a super cool experience that I will never forget. I have to admit that when I pulled up at BYU, I was feeling QUITE freaked out. I had been forced (I repeat FORCED, by my meanie AP geography teacher) to join the bilingual committee (the Organization of American States), and I had to speak a lot of Spanish. I do have to admit that I am really glad he forced me into it. It was a great learning experience, and it turned out that even though I left in the middle of committee (I had to go up to Syracuse for my concert), I was awarded outstanding delegate out of all the kids in my committee. I was SO excited, but I definitely couldn't have done it without my amazing partners Meredith and Janet. Thanks guys!

Christmas Coolness (Late Coolness, but Coolness all the Same...)

Sorry this is really late! It is true, however, that I just created this blog, and my lateness is therefore justified. So, this Christmas was pretty sweet. We had the opportunity to have a family get together up in Ogden, where we just kind of messed around, and then lit candles (yes REAL candles) on the Christmas tree! We then went on to tell Christmas stories, sing Christmas carols, and take turns blowing out the candles on the tree. It was a really fun experience, and I hope that we can turn it into some sort of a tradition. Speaking of traditions, we did start some new, very exciting ones this year, my favorite being eating at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas Eve! FA RA RA RA RA!!!!!

So, on to Christmas day. Isaac naturally woke up at 3 in the morning, thinking he could get away with 6 hours of sleep. He ended up playing with his Indiana Jones legos until the rest of us got up at 7, and turned out to be somewhat of a grouch the rest of the week (we'll blame sleep deprivation for that). Like I mentioned before, we all (except for Isaac) got up at 7, opened our presents (my favorite being a pink electric guitar that I named Penelope), and had some REALLY yummy cinnamon rolls. We also played Rock Band, and some of the other games (both Wii and board) that we got as presents. Afterwards we went over to the Lamb's for their annual Omelette Fest!! It was very tasty. I so enjoy omelettes. They are tres yum. Anyway, we kind of just hung out for the day, constantly goofing off, and just enjoying ourselves. I love Christmas, I love what it stands for, and I love all of you!!! Merry (late) Christmas!!!!

Illustrating a Book

Guess what!? I'm sure you already know from the title, but I thought I'd make you guess anyway... I'm illustrating a BOOK!!! It's not getting published, and it's only for family purposes, but hey, I still get payed, and recognized on the cover, so what's wrong with that? Anyway, here's how I found this guy (the one that I'm illustrating for, if you didn't guess that already). One day, I get home from school, and my mom tells me that there's a guy from Salem, UT. who wants to come and talk to me about illustrating a book for him. Personally, I thought she was joking. I'm only 14. Why the heck would someone want me to illustrate a book for them? I don't think you'll be able to guess why, so I'll just tell you this time. Mrs. Hunter, my art teacher, recommended me to him. That's right, she recommended ME!!! How insane is that!? Out of all her students, past and present, she recommends this nerdy little 9th grader, who's not all that good anyway, and who has NEVER had experience with this kind of thing!!! What an insane woman. I still love her, but in my book, she's definitely crazy :) So anyway, that night, I met with Max Walters. I was extremely nervous, and was really afraid of embarrassing myself. I didn't though, so it's okay. When he got to my house, we sat down, and he told me a little bit about himself, and the book he wrote. It's called "The Castle House", and it's a collection of stories from when he lived in this magnificent house in Rexburg, Idaho. You would not believe some of the silly things he's done! Anyway, he told me how much he'd be willing to pay me, had me show him some of the previous stuff I'd done, and asked me if I thought I could do it. I wasn't sure. It's kinda intimidating when you are being asked to do something you've never done before. I didn't think I had the amount of creativity needed to illustrate a freakin' book. So I, being a little insane myself, decided to tell him, "Sure. I think I can do it." What a good decision that turned out to be. In order to determine whether or not Max thought I was good enough, he had me do a few sample pics over the next few days. The results were happily to his satisfaction, and well, the rest is history. I am currently doing one-two pictures for Max a day, and he is impatiently waiting for me to finish his precious drawings (sorry Max! I'm hurrying!!). It's been an AMAZING experience, and I've learned a LOT!! So, here's a bit of advice for y'all. If any of you ever have the opportunity to do something that will help you grow, TAKE IT!!! It will help you to discover your likes, and dislikes, and you will get experience you never dreamed of having. Never turn someone down because you are scared, or because you've never done anything like it before. You will make friends (yes Max, you are my friend), and even if you don't enjoy yourself while doing it, there's one thing I can guarantee you; You will always be blessed for listening to the spirit, and doing the best that you can! I love you all!

Wow, this is a long blog... AH WELL!!!