An Afternoon Stroll [in Washington, DC]

        

I felt much less remorse about selling my car when I saw this...

Random

Please excuse the random nature of this post. I need to "blog dump" all of my old pictures and posts that I never got around to before I start with DC posts.

1. Festival of Colors.

I went to Festival of Colors at the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork this year. I had never been and I felt kind of lame that I would travel the world to go to cultural events but I never made time to go to the ones a 20-minute drive away. So I decided to go. My sister Losaunne said she was going to be there too, so we could hang out.

The parking in Spanish Fork was out of control. Unfortunately, I didn't really know where I was going and was just following the line of cars or else I would have known where to park. As it was, I parked at a place I thought must be close.

It was close, if you think that 4 miles of walking is close. I don't mind walking. I really don't. But when you have to listen to the same people's conversation as you are tripping through mud and walking around the parked cars lining the road while traffic crawls in the opposite direction, it gets a little old. Especially if your sister who is at the Festival doesn't answer her phone (left it in the car so it wouldn't get colored), so you don't even know if she is still there. (btw, does anyone else hate listening to strangers' conversations while they are walking behind you for an extended period of time, or is that just me?)

Turns out she wasn't. By the time I got to the Festival, she had left. I just walked in, snapped a few pictures, and took the long trek back to my car. Lame, I know, but at least now I've been, right?

I just wonder how they get all the color off of the temple. Maybe they leave it in and let the elements take care of it?

In any case, welcome spring!


2. Happy Birthday.

My birthday this year was kind of crazy. I have trained myself not to expect much from birthdays because my expectations are always too high and thus never met. This birthday was no different. My coworker told me happy birthday, and of course I got 100+ facebook happy birthdays from people who otherwise would have had no idea that this day was the happy celebration of my birth (I love facebook for that). I had a rehearsal that night until 11 in Salt Lake, and when I got home I was ready to crash. I was surprised and delighted to see that my roommate had left me a rose and some chocolate on the table with a happy birthday card. This was one of the best birthday gifts I have ever received because it was unexpected--and given without expectation of reciprocity! It reminded me of Elder Eyring's BYU devotional on "Gifts of Love."

(Don't worry, Mom and Dad. The camera I got for my birthday/Christmas/graduation ranks up there with the best birthday gifts ever given. The picture of the cupcakes, given to me the next day by my mother, was taken with said camera.)


3. Roommate Photo Shoot.
A couple of months ago I looked outside my window. The sun made the lighting on our balcony a soft golden glow. I knew that pictures needed to be taken that very moment to capture the magnificent lighting. I solicited my roommate and neighbors.

Isn't the lighting just beautiful?


4. My Cute Nephew.
I have three cute nephews, actually. But I did a photo shoot of this one (actually several). Isn't he adorable? (Still waiting for the day when I can do a photo shoot of my first niece. Still waiting for her to be born, actually. I just missed her birth, and now I am in Washington, DC and she will be born in Utah. Lame.)

5. Udall Photo Shoot

I feel like I do a lot of photo shoots. One of my dearest friends, Shayla, and her family are back in Provo while her husband attends law school. Her kids are so cute (and funny) that I would practically pay her to babysit them! Although a photo shoot with kids is never a completely enjoyable experience for all parties involved, I love taking pictures of them. 

Max was ready to be done almost before we started. This is him, 8 minutes in, with his desperate "cheeeeese!" face.

Like I said, photo shoots are rarely fun for everyone involved...

6. Easter Egg Hunt.

And to finish off the batch, here are some pictures of two of my nephews gathering eggs on Easter.

Women's Chorus

Now that I am "kind of" graduated (pictures to come), I have started thinking about the things that I will definitely miss more than a little at the BYU. Women's Chorus hovers right at the top of that list.

I have been in Women's Chorus now for many years (I became a member the year after Sister Applonie, the director, became director) and I haven't gone a F/W semester at the Provo campus without being a part of this excellent choir. Back in 2006, I was even the Publicity Chair. It was a thrill (and completely exhausting!).

This girl, Megan, told me that she joined Women's Chorus because of me (we went to Jerusalem together).

Women's Chorus is a huge, huge time commitment. One hour of class M-F, added to several dress rehearsals and concerts a month, singing at devotional, and extra practice times all add up to being way more work than just a one-credit-hour class. However, even in my busiest semesters (19/20 credits and 2 jobs), I still did Women's Chorus because somehow, singing with 180 girls under one of the best directors I have ever known (Sister Applonie) makes me feel more human (and with 20 credits and 2 jobs, I need all the help I can get to be human!).

Several times a year Women's Chorus plans service projects and outreaches to the community. One year we painted a home for Habitat for Humanity.

As you can tell, I was thrilled (mostly because I had a chance to wear one of the ugliest shirts I have ever owned--leftovers from the Jerusalem Center in the 90's that I got for free!).

Clearly, Women's Chorus was a thrill. I mean, just look at that face. We were rehearsing for a concert that started in about 20 minutes and I just wanted the whole world to know, "There's a mess of moonlight, won't you share it with me?"

If I had to go back and do my undergraduate experience again, there are a lot of things I would do differently. However, one thing that would stay constant would be my involvement in Women's Chorus. I would gladly do all those years again, despite my busyness.

It was that awesome.

Favorite memories of Women's Chorus:

*One year we took Women's Chorus pictures on the back steps of the Maeser building. It was an incredibly hot day in April and, at 3:00 in the afternoon, the sun was baking those steps like cookies in a 350 degree oven. Unfortunately, we were on those steps wearing black dresses. Girls kept passing out, and someone would drag them over to the shade and fan them as the photographer kept taking pictures. I think somewhere between 5 and 10 girls passed out that day...

*We got to sing in April Conference in the Conference Center in 2006. It was awesome. I will never be the same after sitting in the choir seats at General Conference. I think President Uchtdorf even drove past us in one of those little golf carts the General Authorities use to get around after the session was over and we were in the tunnel.

*My folder partners have just been awesome. Really. Somehow I always got put with someone that laughed at my jokes and even had some of their own, which made class time a lot more pleasant (since I had to sit next to them every day for 8 months!).

*When President Hinckley dedicated the JFSB in 2006, guess who sang at the dedication? The combined choirs, including Women's Chorus.

*Recording sessions are long and sometimes miserable. Once we were recording on stage in the DeJong and right as we finished one of the songs, a girl in the front row passed out. She fell forward and cut her chin and they were afraid to move her, so someone held her head in their lap and waited for the BYU medical people to come while we kept recording. As we finished the next song, this guy came in and ran up to the stage. "That's my wife!" he said. I don't know why it was so funny, but the situation was just one of those crazy ones that you laugh about afterward.

*Sister Applonie was the best director (and mentor and friend) that I could ever have hoped for. Especially since I saw her every day for many years, I had a lot of time to learn things like balance, efficiency, and how to have high expectations without overwhelming yourself from her. If the conductor had been someone else, I might not have stuck with it for so many years. But seriously, she was all I could ever ask for in a conductor.

As you can tell, it has been quite a ride! Plus, we have our own chocolate. How much cooler can you get?