Seriously?!

Can we just be done with the snow . . . PLEASE? I mean come on, it's April 13th. Easter has come and gone and yet it looks like Christmas-time outside. Today I ask myself the question that keeps coming up over and over: Why do I live here? The past few days were so nice and then out of the blue, here comes the snow again. Mother Nature is apparently not done torturing us yet. It's hard to believe that just yesterday I was outside playing softball in the backyard with Amber, Colter, and our puppy Sydney. It was practically perfect. And now, 24 hours later, we could go sledding in the backyard. Ridiculous. I fought the temptation to stay inside all day in my pajamas and read books and drink hot chocolate, and am now doing my best to be as productive as an unemployed person can be. . . the mere fact that I am blogging right now tells you that I am doing a great job. :) For those of you who are not in Rexburg right now, consider yourselves lucky.

General Conference Weekend

Hallelujah! After over two weeks, I finally have something to blog about! This past Easter weekend, my family and I went down to Utah to attend General Conference, in which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather from all over the world to hear messages delivered by the president of the Church and other leaders and general authorities. Although I had attended conference in Salt Lake several times before, it was a first for my mom and brother. What a neat experience! The messages given were inspirational, and the music provided by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was beautiful. Saturday evening after conference, we wandered around Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City and enjoyed seeing the temple and exploring the visitor's centers.

We also visited The Living Planet aquarium where we got to touch sea stars and manta rays. Perhaps my favorite were the "four-eyed fish." They don't really have four eyes, but their pupils are divided in half so that the upper half is designed to see above the water, and the lower half is designed to see under water. They usually swim on the surface of the water and are able to detect food or predators either above or below the water at the same time. When they do dive down into the water, the upper halves of their eyes become out of focus. Cool huh?!

I am one of those people who usually reads everything at aquariums or museums, but I refrained this time because I had to keep up with my little brother. Not to mention that Colter is an expert in aquatic life, so when you're with him you don't have to read the signs because he will tell you anything you need to know. Seriously.

Music and Lyrics

While in Utah this past weekend, I also got to spend some time with my good friend David Dzado. I even got to attend a show of his Friday night down in Provo. Despite a setback or two including a broken string, he did a great job and I was so glad I got to see him perform! He also used one of our extra tickets and came to General Conference with us the following morning, and joined us for delicious Chinese food afterward.
I will get to see David again at the end of this month because he is finally coming up to Rexburg! I am so excited to see him again. I just hope that all this snow we've been getting lately will be gone by then.

(For any of my readers out there who are interested in hearing David's music, you can become a fan of him on Facebook.)

Spring, Spring, Spring

Happy first day of spring! I celebrated by . . .

letting our dog take me for a walk,

going to the nature park,

and wearing my sunglasses.

More sunny days to come! Cheers.

Mmmmm, I feel lucky today

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A day when everyone should wear green: my favorite color, and the only color that makes you smile when you say it. :)

Stars in my eyes

Since it's been a whole twelve days since I've last posted a blog, I'm sure you've all been dying to know what I've been up to lately (at least I like to flatter myself and think that). So here you go . . .
First of all, I must preface my happenings by telling you that my sister, Amber, got her tonsils out last week. This event has highly influenced my recent activities as you will soon read . . .
My poor sister for the past ten days has been in pain, weak, and on powerful medications that make her . . . drowsy, out of it, itchy, etc. She has hardly been able to eat, drink, or sleep. Since (as I am constantly reminded) I have all this time on my hands, I have been trying to be a good sister/nurse and take care of her. I fetch water, heat up rice bags, and make milkshakes. I'll have you know that I have also become an expert maker of Cream of Wheat.
But I believe my greatest form of service has been my role as the provider of movies, dozens of movies. I think I've been to the public library eight out of the past ten days, and each time I come and go I carry a big stack of movies with me. Sometimes I can barely carry them all out of the place. A librarian was once kind enough to give me some plastic bags for all the movies after watching me struggle and juggle and even drop a few on the floor. I can't tell you how many times I have carefully browsed through the library's collection of movies. Give me the name of a movie, any movie, and I'll tell you whether or not the library has it.
Now, I have been trying not to let my pride get in the way, but sometimes I'll admit that I feel foolish going to the library to check out so many movies. I mean, a library is for books and smart people right? I become acutely aware of people's stares and imagine judgemental thoughts that may be running through their minds. I try to conceal my stack of movies, but really, how well can you actually hide eight video cassettes? Sometimes I'll put a book on top of the movies just for good measure. I hope they haven't noticed that the same girl has been coming in day after day and checking out more movies than anyone should watch over the course of a year, let alone the course of a day or two. Just to prove that I am not an illiterate couch potato, I have compiled a list of all the books I have read since I graduated almost three months ago:

• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
• The End of the Beginning by Avi
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
• Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
• The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
• Madam Curie by Eve Curie*
• I'll Be Seeing You by Jerry Borrowman*
• The Book of Mormon*
  *I have not yet completed these books

Now that I have proven my point, I feel comfortable continuing, and hopefully explaining the title of my post . . .
I have actually been enjoying watching some of the aforementioned movies with Amber during her recovery, and have particularly enjoyed the older movies of which the library has many to choose from. Here is a sampling of what we have been watching:

• An Affair to Remember - quickly becoming my second favorite movie of all time behind It's a Wonderful Life. I love this movie!
• A Touch of Mink - can you ever have too much Cary Grant?
• Bringing up Baby
• The Shop Around the Corner - love Jimmy Stewart!
• Magic Town
• South Pacific - so classic

Why can't movies be the same as they were back then? There is no cursing, no violence, no drugs, and no sex. It's so refreshing and wholesome. I would recommend these movies to anyone!
It's true, while I should be out in the real world conversing with real people, I have been spending my time crushing on fictional characters who are probably all dead by now. But it's just like the line from Sleepless in Seattle: "You don't want to be in love, you want to be in love in a movie."

Happy 200th Birthday Chopin!

There is speculation as to exactly when Chopin's birthday is. Some say it is February 22, and some say that it is today, March 1st. For all intents and purposes of this blog, I have decided to celebrate it today.

Born in Poland in 1810, Frederic Chopin rose to become one of the greatest and most well-known composers of all time. For quite a few years now, he has been my absolute favorite. I am partial to the music of the Romantic period, and his beautiful and wistful Nocturnes are to me the epitome of Romantic music. A large bust of Chopin sits atop of my piano and I like to think of him watching me as I play. Sometimes I imagine him looking down and cringing at my lack of proficiency.

Almost six years ago, I played 90 seconds of this Nocturne in Eb Major Op. 9 No. 2 by Chopin in my high school's Junior Miss program. I won the talent award as well as the title of 2nd Runner-up. I went on to learn the rest of the piece and perform it for my senior piano recital. To this day, it's still one of my favorites to play.

It is my dream to someday be able to play this famous piece by Chopin, Fantasie Imrpomptu in C minor Op. 66. I love love love this piece! We'll see if I ever reach that level. (So far I can only play the middle section.)

Happy Birthday to a musical master and genius!
I think I'll go play something on the piano now . . .