weeeeekend!

but first:

i hate when i check the weather on my phone (i have provo and TO saved as faves) and i get excited when i see a big ol' 82 degrees listed for the day, thinking, no way, it can't be that warm in provo, and then realizing that the last time i checked weather, i left it on Thousand Oaks, and then i get all sad, remembering that i'm in the frozen tundra once again, not the warm oasis i once was.

i'm REALLY excited for this weekend. like, REALLY.

basketball game right after work (i'm leaving early, ha)

then writing my talk (yay and boo)

GIRLS NIGHT. love.

soccer game tomorrow morning.

writing my talk more.

picking up tickets.

CINDERELLA with my best friends. (loooove the ballet)

church sunday/giving my talk

despite the fact that i have to miss lindsay's missionary farewell, i'm excited about speaking.

i haven't given a talk in this ward, not even when i lived here before, so it'll be a new experience.

and, i kind of like giving talks. i usually write pretty good ones (so i've been told) so i enjoy getting positive feedback from people :)

but really, can it be tonight already???

where did the weekend go?

okay, granted, my weekend TECHNICALLY ended yesterday since i did in fact have to go to work today, but because of the late great Martin Luther King, Jr, i got the rest of the day off, which meant that i continued my weekend, and now tomorrow is my new Monday. dislike.

but really. this weekend was great.

and really, all of the weekends (and weeks) thus far this 2011 have been pretty fantastic (and drama free [for the most part]! YAY!)

oh how i wish it was already the weekend.

why? well because weekends are awesome, one. and two, because this weekend consists of:

work (meh, bad and good)

soccer! intramurals! exercise!

stake dance!

(this last one i'm particularly excited for because well, my friends are awesome. and we are all fantabulous dancers. and basically, we are going to be the hit of the night!)

need proof?

witness this:

(and previous videos posted here and on facebook)

yeah, that's right. be jealous. because my friends are cooler (and more fun) than yours.

weekend fun

what was your weekend like? mine consisted of:

laser tag with 21 people and coming in...21st place. yeah. i'm that terrible.

(sore legs/thighs/knees ensued the next day)
experiencing pizzapiecafe for the first time.

watching three hours of 6th grade boys basketball for work.

(ick!)

making snickerdoodles.

playing just dance 2 for 5 straight hours, particularly this dance [below]. we played it three times in a row. and then ended up playing it probably 4 more times after that. we all have it memorized. (the song AND the dance). {the last time we played it, 4 had remotes, the rest of us just danced it. now that is dedication}

learn it. have your life changed.

PRETTYYYY sure these moves (and others that we learned) will be put to good use at the next dance party.

{stake dance on the 22nd everyone??}
stealing 2000+ songs from nate's ipod which then translated into 4+ hours of me editing playlists and deleting duplicates.
playing scum, and NOT being scum.
(assistant scum doesn't count)

{and for all of your information, i am in fact still sore from both lasaer tag and 5 hours of dancing. thighs, back, neck, shoulders, biceps (but really, only the right one)}

Disney IS the happiest place on earth

To all those people who knock my love for all things Disney (i.e. Jonas LA, suite life, Disney channel original movies, etc, etc) you would FAIL at Minnie's Moonlit Madness.
What is Minnie's Moonlit Madness?

Well, it began at a trivia game for Disney cast members. It has since grown to include all Disney employees and their friends/family who race against each other to answer/solve clues at Disneyland, while raising money for charity (entry fees go to MercyHouse).
I jumped at the chance to run around Disneyland for three hours answering questions all about Disney after hours. Totes fun, right? ABSOLUTELY. However, I didn't hardly get a chance to prep or cram my brain with useless disney info. i had to go on what i already knew.
Our team consisted of three Disney employees (and thus fanatics) and me. We were ready though. We had wikipedia printouts, clipboards, calculators, disney books, and our love for all things Disney.

We started out with the other 400 teams in Frontierland where we had to answer (and bubble) 50 questions about Disney (and its affiliates). Needless to say, out of the 50, there were probably only about 4 that we had to guess on. Favorite question? What is the name of the secret agent platypus on Phineas and Ferb? I had tears in my eyes i was so happy to see that/know the answer to it (not to mention i was laughing so hard because i KNEW that) whoever said watching those shows was DUMB, is SO WRONG.

After the trivia was over, we opened up our first clue which we then had to solve, get the answer and race back to CLUE CENTRAL to turn it in and get in our next clue. As we were leaving, confetti was falling out of the sky. Everyone reached down to pick some up, thinking it was part of the clue, but a good majority decided that it was useless confetti and DROPPED it (mistake). I had seen the clue, knew that it was a code we had to break and proceeded to hold onto my "useless" confetti. As soon as we left, I had already broken the code. We needed to use the words written on the different colored slips of paper to solve the puzzle. "wander to alice in wonderland". that is where we got our first answer: Red herring. Boy, my team was impressed. and glad they brought me along. Don't ask me how i knew that answer. Or why I knew we needed the confetti. Blame it on my background in poli sci, and the fact that I took a course on intelligence and code breaking/cryptology (yes, my degree has FINALLY done me some good).
we raced towards the hub to turn it in and get our next clue, where the voluntEARS there were impressed with how quickly we broke the code. The rest of the clues went about that same way. A few easy ones, playing games, and some other more difficult ones (logic games, anyone? that one took us a good while to solve, good thing Michelle and I both have practice with that). The best one came around clue 3, when I opened it up to see just words, in no order, names of characters. I instantly saw the code and began to decipher it (again, dont ask me how I saw it. perhaps i have the gift of tongues? code tongues? haha) this clue led us to pizza planet. Boom. After that, I wasn't much help (HA), the knowledge of Disney movies came into play after that and I wasn't as well versed as I had thought. Except for when it came to Disney shows. Boy Meets World? Suite Life? Sabrina the Teenage Witch? Know when they all came around, mostly because I watched them. (and still do).
an hour and a half later, we were finished. Team 2 to finish. Booyah! So much fun, and I am so excited for next year! Now to play the waiting game, to find out how well we did!

Spring

I was told I was due for a new blog post. Not like anyone really reads this thing anyway. It's mostly my thoughts, which tend to be random and aren't really that interesting. But oh well.

Spring has sprung in Provo...FINALLY. It's still warming up, but the weather is at least bearable. The rain last week wasn't so fun, but I enjoyed the 80+ degrees that Mother Nature graced us with during finals week (a fabulous week, if I must say). I took advantage of that by longboarding, staying out late, laying in the hammocks and hanging out with friends. Once the rains came though and school started again, I buckled down and got to work. Kinda. With only a credit and a half for Spring term, I'm not super busy. I've only really been bogged down with finishing the ward directory (which is finally done!)

This past weekend was spent outside of Provo and in Vegas/St. George. An very fun and much needed break from the bubble and its responsibilities. Paige, Stacie and I headed out Thursday for St. George where we stayed in a hotel, laid out by the pool, watched tv and explored the town. Friday we headed into Vegas where we visited with my family, shopped and walked the strip. Saturday was an all day adventure at Lake Mead with Steve, Gary, Jameson, Morgan and Abby. 10+ hours in the sun tanning, eating, sleeping, tubing and wakeboarding. SO MUCH FUN. I've definitely got my base tan for the summer :) And I finally stood up on the wakeboard! One of my goals in life and it was accomplished. That night we went back to the strip only to leave again an hour later because we were so exhausted. Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting with Steve and his family and then headed back to Provo and reality. It really was a great weekend though, despite some of the arguments and drama. I love the vegas, but I love being home in Provo too.

Summer is just barely starting and I already know it's going to be a good one. :)

Culture

Mark and I went and saw Parsons Dance Company perform last night at the De Jong Concert Hall. Let me just say, it was fantastic. They're a modern/contemporary/jazz company from New York who use acrobatics, strobe lights and eccentric music to portray the choreography of artistic director, David Parsons. I went as a requirement for modern dance, and had an extra ticket, so I invited Mark along with, as a bit of culture, so he could see what I do, and why I do it. I wasn't sure how he would react to it, but it turned out well, as he said while walking out "that was so fun! They were so cool and fun to watch!" So, success. I have cultured someone to the art of expression through dance. He didn't see the differences between pieces as well as I did, but that's alright...I'm a bit more trained than he is. Still glad that he enjoyed it.

The first half of their show was more modern, with less technique. The hand dance (exactly as it sounds) was entertaining and funny. I love those dances. The second half became more contemporary/jazz. One piece was a solo using a strobe, making the audience believe that the soloist was flying through the air. It was fantastic and beautiful and I was in awe of how strong and determined the dancer was--it took a lot of endurance. The second half was definitely my favorite, as it delved more into my type of dance. During it, I even turned to Mark and said, I wanna go dance! He just laughed at me. And mom, you would appreciate this...the last piece was danced to a series of Earth, Wind and Fire songs. That was a toe-tapper for sure :)

It helped that we had great seats...third row! Mark was impressed :) It was a fun night though, and gave me some ideas for choreography that I need in order to finalize my solo for jazz. yikes!