P.S.

Honor's Choir 2010

Shout of Praise

What a week. It was magical. In the least of terms. I was super blessed to be able to go the VMEA's Honor's Choir, and boy am I glad I went. Not only was it so fun to be around some great people and meet some really awesome people, but the MUSIC. Oh my goodness. Even as I'm typing this, I can hear the dynamics and swells in each word. I've even been speaking in just vowels. Por ejemplo, last night I was trying to tell my mom I was going to hang out with Amy, and it came out "I an ouu itt AAy." Not so effective, I tell you. Our director, Dr. Keith Hampton = a genius. He was hilarious and such a good teacher, holy cow. Some things I learned from him:
1. the vOwel comes ON THE BEAT.
2. It's so much easier to create a fabulous sound when everyone is singing softly.
3. Amaaaan is so fun to say. (He's a gospel choir director, and you better believe he will make you "so colored yo mama won't recognize you")
4. Breathing is like hammering. basically.

It was such a fantastic experience. The music was fabulous. Can say that again? IT WAS FABULOUS. Now I don't know exactly how it sounded from the audience, but in my opinion, we rocked every song... with the exception of one ridiculously, insanely, stupidly hard song. it makes me stupid. (Lobet den Herrn by Bach...look it up. Warning: it may cause an immediate headache/ heart attack just by looking at it.) But I must say for a high school choir, we did our very best :) BUT otherwise, it was amazing to be creating such a spectacular sound. My favorite song was "Black Is The Color of My True Love's Hair". ok, and "He is Marvelous" ... and "Shout of Praise". annnnnd all of them. So basically, it was freaking awesome.

I was talking to Marie (my sister-in-law) about it today and she asked me if it was like EFY. At first I was confused. But then I felt really silly and near-sighted for not seeing the connection. Because we were all united in one belief, if you will, and were all excited and motivated in being there, yes it was similar to EFY. We all love music, were all motivated to sing this music and sing it better than we could possibly imagine. I feel like music and the gospel are two of the strongest bonds in the world. After you share something so personal, like your testimony of Jesus Christ, you feel a special connection with the people around you, which is why you always feel a special connection with the friends you make at EFY or youth conference, or the people in your ward. I think the same goes for music. After you've shared something that means so much to you, like your voice or your instrument, there's a special bond. It's like kindergarten all over again: it's the first day and you're terrified to make friends, but then some nice little girl shares her crayons with you and you are instantly best friends. It's not always that easy, but the bond is there.

D&C 25:12 For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

These Are The Days

I just have so much to be thankful for right now, even though I may not show it all the time. My grandpa is here and will be here for a few months, and I'm loving having him here. He is the sweetest old man you'll ever meet. The other night he prayed for the football players at Heritage during the Homecoming game. Needless to say, we lost (big surprise, right?), however, I do believe that that was the first time those football players have been prayed for. I thought it was quite funny.
I'm really enjoying my classes at school, which is a refreshing idea. I'm taking Psychology, and come to find out I really liked learning about the brain. Who knows why, but I just thought it was SO incredible the way each spec of a brain has some function or another and through the interacting neurons, that's how we move, communicate, sleep, cry, whatever. Anyway, I just really like that class right now. :)
I made Virginia State Honor's Choir, which was a HUGE surprise to me. But I'm really excited about that. I thought I had butchered my sightreading towards the end (which was 8 measures with a La-Re skip...I think.), but it turns out that I got 35/40! WOOT! I thought after the audition that I did the best that I possibly could have on my song, which I was thrilled about. And I got 77/80 and a 75/80 from the judges, so woohoo! The performance is in later November, the 18-20 I think? So all you family who are coming for thanksgiving I will see you right after!
Which brings me to my next grateful tid-bit. We are singing Christmas music in choir. Do you know what this means?!
1.Halloween (aka, the day before we can listen to CHRISTMAS TUNES!!!!)
2.CHOCOLATE DAY!!!!! (aka, the holiday which is neck and neck with Christmas.)
3.Thanksgiving!!(THE WHOLE FAMILY WILL BE HERE!!!!& I get a WHOLE WEEK off of school!)
4....byu/usu/suu college applications. ......
5.CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!
Ward Conference was today. Can I just say how much I love going to church and hearing from the Stake President and the Bishop?! I know that they are truly the Lord's servants to guide and direct us here in Leesburg, VA.
I'm pretty happy with how things are in my life right now! We were talking about Job today in Sunday School, and it reminded me that we don't only need the Lord when we are IN need, but when we are feeling the blessings of the Lord as well!
And I'm also really, really grateful for my awesome family and friends who are so amazing.

Let Us All Press On

...
I need to keep thinking that. You know that story of the two little girls clinging to a tall palm tree while the tsunami wave pummels over them? Yeah, that's how I'm starting to feel right now.
1. College Applications
- BYU won't let me start for another 2 weeks.
- There is so much to do, teacher recs, trascript forms...

2. SAT/ACT
-I'm taking them both. AGAIN. my third sat and 2nd act. I want to cry. They are the most painful things in the world. I would rather participate in IRON MAN than take them again.

3. Honor's Choir Audition
- It's this coming saturday. I'm not thrilled.
- I need to keep practicing, buttttt...

4. I have a cold.
- And it's just starting, so it'll be just awesome tomorrow, when I audition for all-county.

5. I have a ton of homework and not enough time
-pretty self explanatory.

6. I started my first job last Wednesday.
- And I'm freaking out.
- There is so much to know.
- And they expect me to know it all.
- Right now.

But I know that as long as I put the Lord first through all this, He will help me! I'm so grateful for this gospel and the comfort the knowledge that I am a daughter of God gives.

Pink Notes #3

Well, I'm feeling rather nostalgic today. But seriously, Pink notes #3 is about someone who I've know since, oh 1998 or thereabouts. Kasee Baldwin has been one of my best friends for a very long time. I remember spending lots of time with her and our sisters, at each others houses. We've made some great memories and movies :). But during church today, I was just reflecting on what a great person Kasee is. She is so beautiful and so mature. She has a great sense of humor and I love to be around her. Most of all, I love her insight to the gospel. Every time she shares her thoughts and ideas, I feel uplifted and more willing to share my ideas. She is always thinking of others, and you know she really cares. Kasee is so trustworthy and so dependable. I mean, who can think of a time when she has been late to Seminary?! She is such an example to me and I love her to pieces! I LOVE CHUCKLES!

Be My Thrill

It has begun.

Senior year.

It's already busy.

But also really awesome.

And I'm super excited for this year's TWELVE.
They are all super duper people.





I start my job this Wednesday, whaaaat? at Integrated Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine

That is all.

Walking in Sunlight

Eeps. I stink at this journaling thing. Well, this has been a CRAZY summer.

1st was girls camp, but that was already mentioned, so I'll move on!

2nd, Trek. meeeeeehhhhh. Longest 2 1/3 days of my life. Also some of the most rewarding. We were at the Marriott Ranch in Hume, VA. There were 16 families and 4 companies. I was apart of the Legone ? family and the ... I don't recall the company. Anywho, the first day was absolutely horrible. It was SO hot and humid (100 degrees + 100% humidity.) It felt like it was all uphill and really rocky when going down hill. I remember thinking, no joke, 4 minutes after we had started, "I want to go home. WHY DID I SAY YES TO THIS?! I HATE THIS!!!" It was pretty much like that. Except quite a bit more pessimistic, but I won't delve into that. My family was very nice and they were all really great people. I'm glad that I got to spend that time with them. We were rained out of the testimony meeting on Saturday morning, so we all got to go home a few hours early, but only after we trudged through delightful mud for a mile. (at least we only had one mile!!) And then Adam, my brother, picked me up. I was so thrilled to see him, I almost started crying... but then he would have held that over my head for the rest of my life, so I held it back :)
Some lessons I learned:
1. The harder you work, the greater the reward.
2. The Lord wants to help. He will help if you ask for it.
3. The pioneers were something else. Not human, if you ask me! :)

3rd, EFY!
MY LAST ONE. What?! NO! Sad:( It was such an amazing year. Seriously, the most spiritually uplifting one yet. I roomed with Carps and we had the best counselor and Session Director. I had some really remarkable experiences I will never forget. My testimony of the Atonement was drastically increased. Our session director had a way of explaining things in a new light. I came away from this experience knowing that I could be courageous in standing strong. I also came away from EFY with a love for the scriptures that I hadn't felt so strongly in a long while.
"Read the scriptures every day of your life."


4th CALI!
(Oh and I got my wisdom teeth removed the week before...woo) Great fun at Jess' wedding and I loved hanging out with my cool awesome cousins. I'll never let Justin choose the movie again... HA! :) and thennnnn - DISNEYLAND! The most magical place. It was so awesome. Alec came with, and it was a blast having so much of the family there. The kids LOVED it. It was so fun! We stayed at the Disneyland hotel, which in itself was amazing. The headboard lit up in the form of the castle and played "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes". yeah, that was pretty sweet.

5th UTAH!
Mom and I spent a lot of time in the car. Lots of good talk! I love my mommy. Well, we went to Cedar City again, and this year we went to every. single. show. So awesome. They were Great Expectations (The Musical!), 39 Steps, Pride and Prejudice, Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, and Much Ado About Nothing. I think my favorites were 39 Steps and Much Ado. But overall, I really liked all the shows! Macbeth- well, terrifying. While at SUU, what would we do but a) go shopping b) eat and c) Take a TOUR! EHHH, what??? College tours? Already? Well, to make it short, I loved SUU. It's a small school, like 8,000 students. Everyone was really friendly and very helpful. I even went to talk to a few professors. I talked to the psychology department chair and the music department chair, and I felt really optimistic afterward. Well, of course we didn't only visit SUU, but also BYU and USU. I loooved USU also. It's also a smaller school, not quite as small as SUU, but not as big as BYU. They also have the only music therapy program in Utah, which is the reason we went up there in the first place. BYU just seems the place, though. :)

BRIDGET ELLARIE WRIDE was born 08/09/10 at 1:16 pm and my goodness she was a beautiful little girl. She is just so sweet and so calm. She's just a perfect little baby:)


7th, CANCUN, MEXICO.
Say WHAAAAA? It rocked. Fo reals. I spent lots of time at the beach, in the water, relaxing, touring the ruins at Tulum,
snorkeling... LOVED IT, and oh, did I mention that I got to swim with dolphins?

HECK YES I DID.

I felt like my 8 year old self again obsessing over this beautiful animal. It was like nothing I've experienced before. I wish it hadn't been quite so touristic feeling, but I guess that's what you get. I got to do the foot push thing where you extend your legs behind you and then two dolphins come from behind and they push your feet and you just lift up out of the water, SO COOL. I was slightly terrified at first, but it was so fun. The whole experience made me remember why I had wanted to be a dolphin trainer my whole childhood, I mean, you get to hang out with these amazing animals all day! It was so amazing, and I love my parents for finally allowing me to do that!!



Anyways, it was an amazing summer and it was a great way to begin my senior year! Whaaaaa?