Wish Me Luck!

Well, after months of commuting up to SLC all the time for rehearsals, the concerts are finally here. I'm so happy to be a part of this for the 2nd year as a dancer. It's very rewarding. Not to mention very cool to see all the secret places in the building that you thought were just myths.

Also, for those who are interested, last year's concert will be airing on Dec 16th, 24th, and 25th on PBS. The DVD just came out a couple weeks ago, so naturally we bought it and it's very good. Love both Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Herriman (aka "Rory's grandpa"). Also very relieved to see that I wasn't making any weird faces when the camera was on me. For those who don't know, the yearly christmas concerts are not released for tv airtime or onto DVD until the following christmas. That way they're not driving themselves nuts trying to edit everything in like 1 week. Plus the DVD contains a lot of "behind the scenes" film and other bonuses which take time to put together. My guess is that it doesn't take them the full year to get it done, but just that it doesn't make sense to release it in mid-summer or something. It's all very confusing, especially when you're trying to explain to someone that wants to watch it that they're going to have to wait a whole year.

Oh Dear. . .

Where I've Been

I've been in San diego.

And it was awesome.

And yes, that is a real plumeria in my hair.

Rodeo

So last week I went on a date to the Heber rodeo. Although I knew I probably wouldn't be as excited and intrigued by it as most of the people around here are, I expected to at least have a passive interest in the tricks and skills that would take place.

Well, that didn't happen. About 20 minutes into it I apparantly became a PETA activist when I started crying because the way they were treating the animals was making me sick to my stomach. Needless to say, we left and just walked around the booths outside the arena for a while.

Now, the rodeo around here is HUGE. It seems like everyone goes, and everyone loves it. So please do not think that I am condemning anyone who likes the rodeo, because I was as surprised as anyone when I realized how much I did NOT like it, and why.

August 4th

Early this morning, as I began to write the date on the first patient chart of the day, I hesitated momentarily as I realized what the date was. Today is a date that used to mean accomplishment of what was, and promise of things yet to come. Today's date is a reminder of happier times when I would not trade a second of any day for anything else in the world. It means love so fierce that I thought my heart would literally explode with it. Now it is only. . .what was.

I Heart My Puppy

Funny (and real!) Test Answers

If you google something like "funny exam answers" or "funny test answers" you will find loads of hilarious real life answers teachers have gotten back from students. These are a couple of my favorites.

The Haircut

As a free plug. . .my sister Kavita owns a salon in Provo called The Hidden Clipper. I wouldn't trust my hair to anyone else. The following haircut is courtesy of her.

Before
















The cut














It was a little emotional













After

Consolation sundae

Explanation

Anyone reading this in Google Reader, stop! Stop now! Because you are going to have to go to my actual blog to view this amazing video I posted at the top of my blog. I was trying to get it up before Christmas, but alas, my lack of technical skills would not allow it. This is my sis, the singer. She has always been a naturally good singer but lately she has started taking voice lessons and really increasing her vocal range. . .as evidenced in this video.

So please watch. She is amazing. (More amazing than this video shows, because for some reason the sound quality on this is horrible. Watch this, but then imagine it 50 times better, because that is how good she is in real life)

And please watch all the way through. The best part is the extremely high Mariah Carey note she hits near the end.

Did You Catch Us Yet?

. . . or are we changing states too fast for you?

Historic Philadelphia

Warning: Captions are extraordinarily short because I'm tired of blogging so much.

We ended the trip by visiting downtown Philadelphia! Here's what Ayisha would look like if she were money.

Me and Constance, the Constitution cow.

Being in the same room as the Liberty Bell was almost a spiritual experience. I had goosebumps the whole time we were near it. Ayisha and I both drool over history involving the founding of America, which is why we decided that would be a perfect way to end our trip.

Standing outside the National Constitution Center.

Benjamin Franklin's grave.

A strange apparition we saw outside the cemetery gate.

Mimicking this statue which is dedicated to the signers of the Declaration.

Ayisha looking philosophical.

Independence Hall. If you've seen National Treasure. . .this is where they look out from the tower where the Liberty Bell used to hang, and then climbed down and removed the brick to find the special glasses.

The room were the Constitution and Declaration were signed. That main chair in the back is the actual chair that George Washington sat in when he presided over the conference, his famous "rising sun" chair.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

This is how I looked the whole time we were back east - stressed and anxiously clutching the steering wheel! Eastern drivers are crazy!

Back to the Babies. . .

We had thought about going to the Statue of Liberty this day, but woke up to a chilly wind. So we abandoned our other plans and went back to visit our friends!


I just want to point out that in this picture I'm wearing a really cute scarf/glove set that Mike's mom got me for Christmas last year. But I couldn't find the matching hat when I was packing! I was so mad.







I wish this picture had turned out better. Ayisha spent most of the day holding little miss smiley-pants. . .






. . .and I rebonded with The Little One by watching funny music videos she likes on youtube. I love that she still does the 2-finger slurp.







And nothing's better to end a chilly day than warm lava cake! Yum!

N.Y.C.

Yesterday we went to NYC. We had to wake up at 5am to catch the Greyhound into the city. Fortunately, we got on the bus without any hiccups.

Then we had to navigate the tricky subway system. For 2 girls who had never travelled on the subway on our own before, I'd have to say we did really well! This is me proudly standing by our destination after our successful trip.

Our main goal was to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We were so happy as we walked up and saw the beautiful building!

After which we were immediately disappointed by this sign:

Apparantly the Met is closed on Mondays. Who knew?? (Also, pardon the goofy red earmuff- there was a chilly wind and it was hurting my ears!)

This is another model-esque picture of Ayisha that I took in Central Park. Isn't she beautiful!

We could have easily spent all day in Central Park! There were so many little hidden treasures that we had a fun time discovering - like this beautiful fountain with lotus flowers and lilypads in it.

We even indulged a little and went to the Central Park Zoo.

My favorite part of zoos is always the sea lions. They're just so cute!

The sleeping polar bears were pretty adorable too. Who knew you could find a polar bear in the middle of Central Park?

Eventually we decided to leave Central Park in search of food. We went to Ellen's Stardust Diner, where I had been last time I went to NYC. All the waiters are out of work actors and they take turns singing and entertaining. Dinner AND a show! This was our waiter, Jonathon. Isn't he a hunk?? He also had the best singing voice by far.

Ayisha had the good fortune to have him cuddle up next to her during a song. I only wish I had snapped the picture with his eyes open. . .

Next we went further into Times Square to walk off our delicious meals, and walked into the Hershey store, where we found a little bit of heaven. . .

I couldn't resist a mouthful of this special mixture.

Doesn't this look like the best corner of Times Square??

Lady Liberty?? So that's why she's green. . .

The MnM shop is right across from the Hershey shop. Ayisha was a little freaked out by their "promotional character of the day" (Big Blue in the background). Apparantly so are a lot of kids - I saw a toddler cry when he tried to say hi to her.

The MnM shop had all kind of fun mixes!

We had a machine scan us to tell us what color MnM we are. Ayisha is Orange.

This is the results of mine. If it's true, then I do a LOT of good in this world. :)

In the Toys 'R' Us store they had an indoor ferris wheel! Ironically we ended up on the MnM car.

There were all kinds of fun things in the giant multi-level store - like this image of Superman saving the Daily Planet from a runaway semi.

Finally, after a long day of walking, we headed back to the Subway and home (to the hotel) to bed.