CANADA IS GOLD!

Life is in full swing. I have a couple main things that seem to be taking most of my time. 

Here is the break down of my week. Out of 168 Hours in a week.

Work-40

My co-worker Carla that worked in the Baby room with me recently moved, so I now have a new room partner at work. I definitely miss working with Carla every day, but I`m enjoying working with Lauren as well.

Lunch breaks-5

mmmmm perogies and broccoli 

Choir-Usually 5. This week though its 13.

We have a HUGE concert coming up. Which everyone should attend!!! Seriously it is going to be amazing. All of it is African music. Coupled with a dance company, and lots of special guests from around the world. This concert almost always sells out, so if you want tickets let me know. There is going to be so much movement and wonderful music. For a while each time I came to choir I would see more new pieces that we were adding to the concert. Which can be a bit daunting when most of them are in various African languages. But I am listening to the examples all the time and I feel a lot more confident with all the music. Gradually they are all getting memorized and we are adding in lots of movement. It will not be boring at all! I can`t wait!!

Sleep-45 if I`m lucky

I really should get more...

Old Testament Class at the Institute of Religion-1.5

We are studying the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I find it absolutely fascinating!

Tap Dance Class-1.5

Watch out Sutton Foster. I`m getting good! haha...

Stake Primary Meetings-2, plus about 1.5 of stuff relating to that. I get to visit various Primaries, at least two weeks out of the month. For those that don`t know, this is the children`s organization at church. Since I moved to Edmonton I have been attending a Young Single Adult (YSA) congregation (also known as a ward) at church. Recently I got asked to be the secretary for Stake Primary, which oversees 12 different congregations. It is a blast. I am loving it so much. I just love watching the children as they gain simple testimonies of the Gospel. On the weeks that I don`t attend Primary I go still go to my YSA ward.

Add in travel time and other random stuff and errands, it doesn`t leave much down time. How you may ask, do I spend my down time. As of Friday, I have become Canada`s biggest fan watching the Olympics. 200 points goes to CBC and their incredible coverage. Originally I was going to get cable for the occasion. But ended up leaving it too late. Turns out I don`t need cable. Everything is online! I can watch full events live, or go back after they are done and see the entire event. They also have highlight videos and news stories as well. I have the app on my phone, and it has been constantly playing. I admit my favorite event is figure skating. I cant get enough. Seriously, the new event `Team Figure Skating` totally captivated me. If you don`t understand how it works, google it. With my favorites Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir leading them in Ice dancing. They won the Gold Medal last Winter Olympics in Vancouver and are going for it again. Except their closest competitors from our neighbors to the South have been undefeated this whole season. A story has been leaked that the Russian judges and the American judges struck a deal that the US would bump up the Russian scores in the team event if in return the Russians bumped up the scores for the US in Ice Dancing. If this is the case, I will be very angry. I admit that America does have very talented Ice Dancers, but Canada`s just have something extra. Anyways, needless to say I am so ready to talk all things Olympics. And before I move on, I want to say how impressed I was with the Opening Ceremonies. I wasn`t expecting much after seeing all the Sochi pictures of hotels and other random things that have been circling the internet. But seriously, Russia did not disappoint. So much that now I want to go to Sochi, despite the bathrooms having multiple toilets or pictures of Putin everywhere or the complimentary stray cats. Go Russia! After seeing the Opening Ceremonies I also feel that I should now read War and Peace, since I found out the main character`s name is Natasha. Yes, now I have to read it. As I type this I am watching curling. Canada vs. Germany. Canada is ahead by one. Sweep!

Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue, defending Olympic Gold Medalists

Figure Skating Team Canada. Right after they won the Silver Medal!

Opening Ceremonies in Sochi. I have those mittens.

GO CANADA GO!!!!!!!!

2013 review

I wrote this post quite a while ago but for some reason never ended up publishing it. So despite 2014 being over a month old already, here is my somewhat complete review of 2013. I was planning on doing more things, but now I am too lazy. Actually I am really impressed I am writing this now. January has been a crazy busy month for me, and February is looking like it will be the same. But all wonderful things, so I can't complain. I just don't end up blogging as much. haha

2013 proved to be an excellent year. So here is a review at a glance.

Where it began: At my parents home in the middle of nowhere, with my family. Nothing too crazy, we had just been playing games, eating, and listening to music.

Favorites

Food: Would definitely be perogies. I live close enough to work to come home for lunch every day. So each day I make perogies with broccoli and spinach. Topped with cheese and ranch dressing. There really is nothing better. I have a feeling this will continue for a very long time. Yum.

Movie: Two way tie between Catching Fire and Frozen. Both were completely different but amazing! Catching Fire was incredibly well adapted from the book to the screen. I saw it twice in a week, and could probably see it more than that if my wallet would allow it. Frozen is just all around great. It has wonderful music, which I attribute to all the Broadway voices they cast. That is a movie that I will own as soon as it comes out.

Concert to Participate in: The Stories concert in March with my choir, put on by the Kokopelli Choir Association. A lot of hard work went into preparing this concert and the result was nothing short of superb. From the music repertoire to the staging, the artistic staff to the performers, everything was on. It proved to be a favourite for not only me and other choristers, but also for every audience member I had watching that day.

Concert to Watch: Josh Groban at the Hollywood Bowl. I have been a fan of his since he first came out with his debut album. And so this was a dream come true watching him sing live. He certainly is wonderful!



Actors: Three new favourites I discovered this year. All Broadway. Laura Osnes, who was Cinderella. Every musical soundtrack that she is on has become part of my repeated playlist. Lindsey Mendez, who plays Elphaba in Wicked. She can certainly belt out any song. And then probably the most well known on my list is Sutton Foster. She started on Broadway but has since done lots of things on television as well. Sadly her show Bunheads was cancelled after one season (boo!) but she is coming out with another show in the near future. And she can tap dance like no one else. Over Christmas my sister and I started most conversations like such:
1-Would you like to listen to/watch __________?
2-Will there be Sutton Foster?
1-Yes.
2-Then YES!

     
Laura Osnes, Lindsey Mendez, Sutton Foster

Music: Almost every Broadway show ever recorded. I’ve already touched on these in past blogs. I can’t help myself, they are just so darn good! Bonnie and Clyde, Cinderella, Anything Goes, Matilda, Drowsy Chaperone, Little Women, Lion King, Wicked, Newsies, Oklahoma, South Pacific, Once, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical to name a few...

Trips

April: I went to Banff with my choir, Oran. It was only for a weekend, but it was so much fun. We got to do lots of performing and really had a blast. I got to know some of the lovely people in my choir a lot better too.



July: California road trip! Susan and I embarked on our journey on a Thursday night. Making a stop in Stirling to stay the night with my Lybbert grandparents. We awoke early Friday and drove down to Utah picking up two of my old mission companions, Riena and Kelsey (aka Kmo and Put). We drove through the Vegas strip at 4 am, which was pretty empty given the time. A nice way to see it actually. In California we had a wonderful time visiting old mission friends, going to the beach, sailing in the ocean, and exploring Hollywood. We even got to go to a Drum Corps show (epic and awesome!!) and see Josh Groban with the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. I was certainly sad to see this trip end. Everything went very smoothly and we had no car problems or anything like that. The perfect road trip.



August: My friends Kaylee and Susan said they were going to New York City and invited me to go with them. For some reason I didn’t decide to go immediately, but I came to my senses and we booked our flights. NY was one of my favourite trips ever. We were all on the same page; which was to see as many things as possible. And trust me, that is what we did. We were out late then up early in the morning to explore the things NYC has to offer. My first priority was Broadway of course. We saw eight shows, which many people think I must have broke the bank doing. In reality we got most of the tickets mega discounted because they were day of. We only payed full price for Wicked and Matilda. Which of course were worth it. Pretty much changed my life. Its hard to list my favourites here, because thats almost impossible. I think my top five would be Wicked, Cinderella, Matilda, Newsies, and Once. An unforgettable trip. And now I am even more obsessed with New York than I was before.




2013 Ended out East with the family. My favorite people in the world. I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Here's to an equally awesome year with 2014!