Lazy Days

Sometimes you just need to have a lazy day. This day should include sleeping in, eating sugary cereal for breakfast, watching old tv shows from your childhood, and wearing your pjs until the middle of the day. Other possible things to do on this day could be reading a book that you've wanted to dig into for a while, watching a movie you wouldn't normally watch but which you happened to get from your Netflix queue the other day and you've finally had the time to watch, waiting until afternoon to take a shower and get dressed (but only getting dressed in some really comfortable clothes), playing a couple rounds of Mahjong Titans that your nephew, who came to visit you awhile back, is really into and you actually took the time to try it out, and texting your best friend "Happy Bastille Day" because even though you are not French, nor do you speak a lick of French, you know it would hopefully make her chuckle inside.
These lazy days are crucial to your mental health, especially when your coming off a high-energy filled stretch of long work days that have left you half-exhausted. The trick however, is not to have too many of these lazy days or else you become, in fact, lazy. Space them out strategically so that they become what they truly should be-days of recuperation whereby you can awaken the next day and set about on your quest to conquer whatever you set your mind to.
So thank you 14 July for being my lazy day. It's almost 3:00 in the afternoon. I've pretty much done nothing all day and it's felt great. Tomorrow I promise to get back to real life--searching for a job, doing RS stuff, and tackling anything else that comes up. But for today, I'm just going to kick back, relax, and enjoy whatever comes my way!

The hills are alive with the sound of....shaving?

We opened the 2010 season of Utah Festival Opera this past thursday. The starting line-up went as follows: The Barber of Seville, Guys and Dolls, The Sound of Music, and La Traviata. As far as I know, everything went pretty smooth. It feels so great to have the shows up and running. It's been really great not to have to work 12-14 hours a day for the past couple of days. Life will be even better once we get George M! up and running.
This past Wednesday, I took in the season opening hit performance of The 4 Pianists. Four of our rehearsal pianists put on a concert and it was so amazing! I hope this year was the kick-off of an annual event for them.
I'm also looking forward to a night of Lerner and Loewe classics, Carnivale Operafesta, and Musica Magnifica. 
It's highlights and exciting events like these that make working for the opera worth it. Though it's stressful and tiring at times, once we get up and running, it's so fun to be able to soak in all the culture I can for a month. I've been at the opera for 10 years and I don't regret a minute of it!
Toi, toi, toi 2010 artists, technicians, and staff!!!

America: Why I love her

The 4th of July Weekend is one that I've missed for a long time. I've usually been working, working, working to get shows up and running. Until last night, I hadn't seen the firewarks in at least 5 years. The birthday of this wonderful nation goes all but unnoticed in the UFO world, which is really too bad. This year however, things worked out wonderfully and my dress reharsals fell at the perfect time, allowing me to get in some holiday celebrations and see the fireworks. It's been wonderful.
I love this country we call America. It's creation was divinely inspired  and "with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence" the problems she faces can be overcome. I've had the opportunity to stand in some pretty special places in the history of this nation and it's only served to strengthen my love for the United States. We have a special country here and I hope I never take that for granted. So America, I wish you a happy birthday and pledge to you my life, my fortune, and my sacred honer with the resolve to proudly stand up next to anyone and defend you because there ain't no doubt I love this land. God Bless the USA!

I also love this:



And this:

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave
 
And this:
 

The life of a costumer...in a nutshell

Wednesday 23 June: Unload 12 boxes of Barber costumes from Malabar and prepare for fittings
Thursday, Friday, Saturday 24-26 June: Fit the cast of Barber in aforementioned costumes, put together dressing lists for Barber, revise Guys and Dolls and Traviata dressing lists
Sunday 27 June: "Day off" aka usual busy Sunday including teaching Sunday School and other responsibilities
Monday 28 June: Go to work early to finish Barber things, watch first dress rehearsal, switch focus to Sound of Music for Wednesday's dress, put together Sound of Music dressing lists
Tuesday 29 June: Work for 12+ hours getting Sound of Music ready for first dress rehearsal
Wednesday 30 June: Sound of Music dress rehearsal...
And for the next week or so I'll switch between Barber and Sound making sure everything gets taken care of for the openings next week. It's a crazy life but I enjoy it...most of the time. ;o)

9.June.2010

On Wednesday 9 June 2010 I went through the temple to receive my endowment. It was an incredible journey of waiting and tremendous blessings that culminated in a wonderful experience. I was so blessed to get to share the day with so many people who mean so much to me, including each of my brothers and sisters-in-law. It was simply wonderful!

The Tryons taught my temple prep class.
 

Pres. Nettie

  Bishop Davis and his wife, Shelley

  Karolyn and Monica

    M*A*M

My family

    

Mom and Dad

It was a little windy when we got out of the temple but the rain was kind enough to hold off until later that night.

And we had the most delicious strawberry shortcake afterwards but I didn't get a picture. What was I thinking? ;o)

Happy Flag Day!

It's flag day! (tomorrow) This means that 7 years ago, I was on my way to Washington D.C. to compete in the National History Fair. It was an amazing experience to be in the nation's capital. While we were there, we visited the American History Museum (Smithsonian) and got to see the original Star-Spangled Banner. It was huge!!! Six months later, I was back in D.C. with the Close-up program. One of our stops in the area was Ft. McHenry where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner. We watched a short video and at the end, the curtain to our right opened and a wall-sized flag was revealed. We then took the opportunity to sing the National Anthem. It was so cool!!!

With those few reminiscences in mind, I hope you'll think about what the flag means to you and what it stands as a symbol of.

And in case you were wondering about the history of flag day, check this out:

http://www.usflag.org/history/flagday.html 

Family

It's been a whirlwind past couple of weeks, but I've loved every minute. Jared and the rest of his family have been here since the 28th of May and it has been so fun seeing them again, especially Ashley and Landon. They are getting so big and so smart. I'm grateful that we were able to get some great family togetherness, including family pictures, in while they were here because heaven only knows when that will happen again. Isn't family wonderful???