day of twelves

Since this is my only chance to do this in my lifetime, happy Day of Twelves!

On 12/12/12 at 12:12pm, here are 12 pictures that came up when I did a Google image search of 'twelve' and/or '12':

trick or treat

I know this may be a letdown to see that I've posted and then discover that it's just a YouTube video, but I just had to share this:



Aww what the heck, here's some pictures from the Halloween festivities I participated in:

Abbey and Madison at IHOP after our excursion through the haunted corn maze

Mitchell and Dan trying to pop straws

A week before Halloween LSU played Auburn and we beat the tar out of them. I had a few friends over (Abbey, Clay and Dan, who just graduated from Auburn - bless his heart) to watch the game and carve pumpkins

Fall colors outside of your friendly neighborhood Books-A-Million

Me as a cowgirl at our YSA Halloween dance (with some photobombers)

Dancing to "Cotton-Eye Joe"

I wouldn't let go of my gun because everyone wanted to play with it

I had a lot of energy for the first hour or so...

Cinderella and Annie Oakley

There's a new sheriff in town

And one last trick....

Loren's boyfriend Philip was Nacho Libre for Halloween...at least he doesn't have the body of Jack Black (he's on LSU's cross country team)

Hope y'all all had a great Halloween!

girlfranz

I had a great weekend with my 'girlfranz'. We had stake conference on Saturday evening and Sunday morning so for the first time in months I had a free Sunday afternoon! My friend Mayara (pronounced Majada), who joined the church a few weeks ago, and I were asked to perform a special musical number for the Saturday evening session (with me on the piano and her on the cello). A guy in our ward composed an arrangement of three hymns (86, 100, 220) that was absolutely beautiful but we didn't get the music until Thursday night so we were really nervous about playing. She is an incredible musician and picked up her part quickly but I had to simplify a few areas so that I could just get through the piece. The time finally came for us to play in front of the four hundred or so in attendance and I thought my heart would explode but we made it through. I hit a few wrong notes here and there but I just kept going and tried to finish strong. I felt kind of bad that I had messed up a little but when I sat down my friend Ginger was crying and she told me that it was beautiful and that she had felt the Spirit so strongly. After the session ended many people thanked and congratulated us on our performance and I was just happy that we were able to bring the Spirit into the meeting and that it touched so many. I have a video of us practicing but it's too big to post on here so if you want to hear it let me know and I can email it to you.

After conference Ginger and I went to Erica's and spent the rest of the evening looking through cooking magazines and painting our nails. Ginger stayed the night at my house and before conference yesterday morning she trimmed my hair and curled the ends as I brushed my teeth. We picked up this really sweet girl Angela who's planning on getting baptized in a few weeks and made it to the stake center just before conference started. Fortunately the elders had saved us some seats so we weren't too far back but we were still in the uncomfortable metal chairs. After conference it was great to see lots of old friends and acquaintances before heading out and taking Angela home. Gingy and I had lunch and then napped on the sofa/recliner for a while. I had invited Mayara, Erica, Nate and the elders to dinner so I got up and got the jambalaya cooking. I also cooked up Mom's string beans and Mayara made some garlic toast. It was all delicious! The cake turned out well, too. I made a double layer yellow cake and put some of Mom's raspberry fig jam between the layers and it was scrum-diddly-umptious! The elders and Nate had to get going so us girls were planning on going out to play in the rain but then it stopped. So we put on a movie and Ginger taught us how to curl our hair with my Chi flatiron. She did everyone's hair and we all looked like divas! It was fun to hang out with such good friends all weekend and I was sad to see them go. Erica stayed a little longer to help me clean up and we talked for a while. She and her hubby Adam are moving to Missouri in a few weeks and I will miss them so much! Here are some pictures of our evening:

The cake I made for Erica...it doesn't really make sense because she'll be the one in Missouri but I will be in MISERY!

Happy faces, sad hearts.

The best picture of us turned out blurry! Boo! Ginger, Mayara, Erica, and me after we got our hair did.

Silliness ensued amongst us curly-headed ladies.

I can't believe she's leaving me!! :(

Sadness.

So I guess I should've gotten a picture of the back so you could see more of the curls but I loved what Gingy did to my hair! My hair usually doesn't hold curls long because it's so straight but it's still curly this morning. No hairspray or product needed, just a super hot flatiron, which I already have. :D

april fools'

I didn't pull any of my usual pranks today but I thought this was pretty funny:

i love to see the temple

Our Family Home Evening committee leaders asked people to submit pictures of the Baton Rouge temple for a photo contest this month, and these are the four I entered. I love our little temple so much and hope to be sealed for time and all eternity to the man I love in this beautiful building (I WILL be married in the temple - no doubt about that - but it remains to be seen which one I will go to although as of now this one is my preference...it also remains to be seen which man I will marry as well...). They just added all of these beautiful flowers on the grounds in the past couple of weeks as the temple was closed for cleaning and I think the azaleas are a new addition. I love azaleas because they remind me of home and to see them in front of the temple (which is essentially the starting point of a home in our church) just makes me so happy. I look forward to watching General Conference this weekend at the stake center and spending the breaks between sessions outside in the shadow of the Lord's house. I'll leave you with a few more pictures that I took:




I love this tree by the stake center; it reminds of fractals and high school math.

happy pi day!

This is quite possibly the nerdiest/coolest thing ever!

l'hotel shuler

So my life is kind of blah right now (hence the lack of blog posts as of late). Boys, being a grownup and the economy have really been getting on my nerves recently so I decided to take a little break from everything and head over to Heaven on Earth, also known as Liberty County, Florida. Since I have a cap on my hours at my job and I worked two weeks' worth of hours in one week, I basically had a week off to take this little jaunt. Fortunately there was room for me at Hotel Shuler, which had accommodations suited just for my needs - isolation from the world, a lovely guest bedroom with no street lamps to shine through my windows at night, a wonderful in-house chef, many opportunities to exercise, and plenty of entertainment, mostly in the form of adorable children as well as great movies. It was so refreshing to leave behind all of my worries and ignore most texts and phone calls and have some good clean fun. Here are my favorite pictures I snapped of the four cutest kiddos east of the Mississippi:




Okay seriously how could anyone feel down with a face like that around? Lukey is sooooo cute and he knows it! I got some other great pictures but for now I'm going to post some videos that made this trip so memorable.

This first one is for Lydia and all others who love horses such as myself:

Then there's the Lukey Shuffle - pretty much the cutest thing ever! I cannot get over this baby's cuteness!

I don't remember when, but one time when I was visiting I had the soundtrack of Oliver! stuck in my head and apparently I sang it aloud. Well Juliette remembered this and kept me laughing with her renditions (as did Jonathan, with his 6-year-old humor versions).

Primary songs from Miss Priss Juliette, while we all enjoyed some ice cream (especially Matthew, who by the looks of it didn't want to waste a drop). I got another video of Jules singing but it's taking forever to load so I'll try to post it later.

Well that's all for now, as it is approaching my new bedtime (thank you acclimation to Eastern Time Zone!). I will try to post some more pictures in the coming days.

the art of a preview

Sometimes when I used to get bored at my old job I would watch previews of upcoming movies. Most of them looked like garbage and I would quickly move on to the next but every now and again I'd find a good one that got me excited about what would soon be hitting theaters. I haven't had much time to keep up with this hobby lately but this weekend a screen shot of Brad Pitt with a nice haircut caught my eye so I decided to check out what this latest preview had to offer. I've since watched it at least five times (and it really doesn't have too much to do with the fact that Brad Pitt is in it). Check it out here:



True beauty caught on film and depictions of real-life joys of the smallest degree - breathtaking shots and scenes of chasing bubbles, running in the road, playing in the tub, building forts from bed covers, enjoying the rain, and being tickled - coupled with the sounds of a lovely piece by Czech composer Biedrich Smetana ("The Moldau"). There are also the uncomfortable scenes of a seemingly aggressive father but to be honest if it were all rainbows and butterflies it wouldn't seem so real. A beautiful two minutes and eleven seconds that stirs many emotions inside me and evokes countless memories. There are some great lines as well - "Someday we'll fall down, and weep, and we'll understand it all - all of things" and "Unless you love, your life will flash by." Now of course I know that this movie may just turn out to be trash, but the preview - oh the preview! After doing a bit of research I discovered that the same people who made this also made the trailer for 'Where the Wild Things Are', another one of the best previews I've seen. And yet, I didn't enjoy the movie so much. So I guess that it shows that trailers can be beautiful in their own right, regardless of how the movie turns out. If there were a category in the Oscars for best preview, this one would take the cake. Simply spectacular.

national geographic photo contest

These pictures just blow my mind! Check out the winners and finalists at 2010 National Geographic Photo Contest - Galleries - National Geographic Magazine.

on this day

In honor of Inception coming out on DVD today I'd like to share with you my favorite version of the preview, which has brought me many laughs over the past few months.

Other important things about today:

The 69th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and I haven't heard a thing about it on the news, which makes me sad. I wonder how long it will take people to forget about September 11th.

Elizabeth Edwards passed away today after a six-year fight with cancer. This makes me sad and happy at the same time. Although I never supported John Edwards it was exciting to see the Edwards family when they stopped in Natchitoches one August afternoon in 2004. John Edwards is someone whom I esteem about as much as the dirt on the bottom of my shoes but Elizabeth was a classy lady and kept her head held high. It's sad that her children are still so young but I'm sure she's happy to see her teenage son on the other side. These are some pictures I took of the pictures I took when the Edwards stopped by:With his $400 hairdo and wicked smile. Vomit.A classy lady and her double-chinned bodyguard.

In more cheerful news I helped Sister Woods decorate the mission home for Christmas today and I am hoping to finish Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) tonight. Wingardium Leviosa!

these are a few of my favorite things

Although this is one of the ugliest cars I have ever seen, I could listen to this commercial all day for two reasons: Wagner and Robert Downey, Jr.



Yes m'am.

handy

So you know how I became a fan of tap dancing this summer? Well yesterday my friend Ben showed me this video that takes tap dancing to a whole new level and puts that ole cup game everyone learned at summer camp to shame. Enjoy!

categories

On Saturday evening I went to a pool party for my friend Curtis. It was his birthday yesterday and I hadn't been swimming all summer so I suggested we plan a gathering at his apartment's pool but then our friend Scott offered his parents' - even better! It felt so good to dive into the water in my new swimsuit that I got last week for 80 percent off its original price and swim around like a fishy. Only seven of us actually got into the pool, so we felt it was our duty to have cannonball contests and get the wieners wet who didn't want to dip. After swimming around and goofing off I suggested that we play 'Categories', which I loved playing when I was a kid at the Storrs' pool. Some of them had never played before (gasp!) so I had to explain the rules. The person who's it picks a category, such as 'colors', and then plugs their ears while everyone else picks a color for themselves as well as a 'family' color. Once that's decided the 'it' person sits on the diving board with their back to the pool and calls out colors. When your color is called you have to swim to the other side of the pool without them hearing you and diving in to tag you. If he or she calls the family color then everyone has to go. If the person who's 'it' turns around after calling a color and no one is going, then they have to scoot up on the diving board, further from the water as a penalty. Anyways so everyone agreed to play and we nominated an 'it' to pick a category. As a kid with all of my Storrs pals we chose categories such as Disney movies, cereals, farm animals, colors, junk foods, etc. I must say that it is much more entertaining when playing with peers in their early to mid-twenties. Here are a few of the categories we used:

• 'Lost' characters
• Pizza toppings
• 'Lord of the Rings' characters
• Latter-day prophets
• Gale Beggy quotes
• Types of cancer

Some of the suggested categories that we did not use (all offered by the one and only Ben P):

• Goldmine era diseases
• Black US presidents
• People in this pool
• Wheelchair bound astrophysicists

This may be an "I guess you had to be there" story, but I can't help but laugh now, thinking about his suggestions and the manner in which he offered them so I just wanted to remember that moment by immortalizing it in a blog post. I <3 my nerdy witty guy friends!

DO try this at home, fellas

So the past couple of days I have been reading a book called The Nazi Officer's Wife, the true story of an Austrian Jewish woman who forged some papers and assimilated into German culture to survive the Holocaust. It was an okay book, not really inspirational but intriguing nonetheless. Anyways this lady was courted by and eventually married a member of the Nazi party, who wasn't all bad. She recalled this occurrence from the beginning of their courtship:

"Is that why you got a job that keeps you out of the war?" I asked. "Because you joined the party?"
"Ah, no, no - it's because I am blind in one eye. I had a motorbike accident and cracked my skull and severed the optic nerve. Look closely, you'll see." He leaned across the table to show me his blind eye. I leaned across the table to look. He leaned closer. I looked harder. He kissed me.
It was a shock, how much I enjoyed that experience. I was surprised at myself, and I must have blushed. Werner laughed at my embarrassment. "My, you're a sweet girl," he said.

Okay so I'm going to forget for just a moment the fact that he was a Nazi and just think of him as a guy on a date and say that that is the cutest thing ever! He really was blind in one eye but I'm just going to put this out there: future husband, wherever you are, feel free to try this trick with some suave for the first kiss instead of awkwardly going in for the kill. I'm just saying.

youtube goodness

Here are some videos that make me feel better about myself because it's nice to know that even professional musicians mess up every once in awhile. Each one is known as a 'fail'.









Now if you think that last one was some poor middle school band, you're wrong. I found out that it was a group of British students called Portsmouth Sinfonia, who gathered together to play music in the 1970s. Anyone could join, but you had to either be a non-musician or play an instrument completely unfamiliar to you. Now does that sound like fun or what?? If you've got about 10-15 minutes to waste and you'd like to listen to some more of their ear-piercing tunes, check out these links (some are better, I mean worse, than others):

William Tell Overture -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs7QdpF0DE8

Also Sprach Zarathustra (in full) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpJ6anurfuw

The Hallelujah Chorus -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVUakcyLnsw

The Nutcracker Suite March -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEaWyOmcPlg

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtVDazgT3ko

In the Hall of the Mountain King -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wiRivDMIYM

Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVq7xPi98fY

[Bob] Only Knows by the Beach Boys -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahgpX6wx8lg

mini-vacay

Courtesy of Becky and Joseph and CW Roberts, this where I'll be for the next few days:
Here's another hint:

real men tap dance

So I've never been a big fan of the whole art of 'dancing'. I preferred cleats to ballet slippers as well as hand-me-down Ninja Turtle shirts over leotards every day of the week. As I grew older, the word 'dance' conveyed images of my high school's skanky dance line or gatherings of Mormon adolescents awkwardly doing the deacon two-step. And then there are the movies today that revolve around dancing and scandalamity, crap like Step Up 3D (which I have not seen, but I sure am tired of the ads for it online. This was the least offensive poster I could find) and Center Stage (I did like this movie when I first saw it but the dancing...not so much). So you can see why I've never been a fan of this expressive art form. But somebody has helped me to see the light, and his name is President Val Dean Riggs. He is my stake president/Institute teacher/adoptive uncle and we are real tight. So tight that we give each other movie recommendations, and let each other borrow our favorites from the silver screen. A few months ago I let him borrow one that is close to my heart, Iron Man, and he and Sister Riggs loved it. So when he found out that I had never seen Singin' in the Rain, he lent me his copy immediately. I must admit that it sat on my bookshelf for two and a half months, and I kind of forgot about it until a few weeks ago at Institute he told me that he had had a hunkering to watch it but realized that he had loaned it out to me. I promised to watch it within the next week and then return it to him, but I didn't really have the time so I figured I'd just give it back without watching it. Fortuitously I had a free afternoon last week and it just so happened to be pouring down buckets outside. I considered snuggling up with a book but decided I might as well watch the movie then and there and get it over with, as if it were some homework assignment I'd been given. Well let me tell you I was mesmerized from the beginning! I really hadn't known what to expect, except for maybe some singing...in the rain, but surprisingly there's only one scene where someone actually sings in the rain. And that someone is the one and only Gene Kelly. Such a classy fella; he's my new favorite movie star (actually he's probably tied with Paul Newman). And the way he dances is just wonderful. He's so athletic in his movements yet just plain goofy and I love it! The way he expresses that carefree giddiness of the beginnings of love just makes me smile.



There were so many other songs in this movie that I loved as well, especially the peppy ones. Donald O'Connor, the supporting actor, is also an excellent dancer and entertainer and I loved his performances, too - ESPECIALLY when he and Mr. Kelly did a little number together that I have watched multiple times every day since I've seen the movie. Youtube won't let me embed it so here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKlub5vB9z8
So anyways the long and the short of it is that this movie has made me appreciate dance more and start to actually kind of enjoy watching it, as long as it's stuff like this. I've come to realize that dance is like any other form of art, and just because some paintings or songs are trashy doesn't mean they all are. Man they just don't make 'em like they used to. Please let me know if you have any recommendations for any other great dancing movies!

rock chalk parrots!

Once the reunion ended most of us headed west to Kansas to hang out at Nathan and Erin's for a few days. When we went to campus Juliette saw some Jayhawks and said, "It's a parrot!" I concur. Anyways it was fun to spend some time in lovely Lawrence.
Little Lukey.
Bubbles and Lizzy took turns pushing each other in the stroller.
Who knew there were so many kinds of roaches?! The only kind I like is the dead kind.
Me and my namesake.
The smiling T-Rex!
In the cool black light room. "The duel must end!"
Me and a polar bear! I don't think I was supposed to touch him, thinking back on it. Oops...
Don't mess with us!
The classy-lookin' Museum of Natural History.
Erin taught me how to play the harp. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be (not that it was easy, but it wasn't like trying to play the bagpipes or something), I guess since I play the pianer. Anyways I really enjoyed playing and wish someone around here in BR had one that I could practice on.
I guess you could call me a harpy now.
On second thought, please don't.Anyways here is my debut - playing a piece called 'Sebastian' from the movie 'Brideshead Revisited'- accentuated by Becky's commentary on Nathan's book. :D

Who could resist a chocolatey Mimi face?!Partners in crime - Lydia and Matthews.
Cutie-pie Lizzy before her birthday party.
At the pool partay.
Lizzy and her cute cake!
After Lizzy opened her presents at home, we busted out her new 3D sidewalk chalk to give it a try. I tried to get some pictures of her with our artwork, and this is what I got:
Explorer Lizzy.
Space cadet Lizzy.
Grumpy face Lizzy.
Squishy-face Lizzy.
Goofball Lizzy.
Ethan and his crossbow thingy.
Lydia let me braid her hair!
So Mimi and I became best buds on this trip. Our conversations consisted of her either saying, "Hey Sarah" over and over and sticking her tongue out...

...or an insult fest in which we would say, "You're da baby!" to each other back and forth. I guess we were both right.

So that's all I've got on the reunion - I hope you're satisfied. :D