The Epic NYC Post that sort of makes up for my lack of posting all summer.

Wow. I fail at blogging in the summer. At least I made one post. but now that the school year is back in swing hopefully I will resume my weekly posts. This one will be a run down on my incredibly awesome summer. I did write a post talking about half of my trip to California. Really though, I am in a New York mood. So I will probably post about that now. And if you're lucky I will finish CA next time.

New York was AMAZING! Seriously one of my favorite trips ever. Mostly because I have been obsessed with Broadway since I was little. So nine days in NYC with two of my best friends, who love Broadway almost as much as I do was a definite win. We all had the same agenda, which was to see as much New York as humanly possible. Yes, we succeeded. We were up late into the night exploring and then in the morning we woke early and hit the pavement. I am proud to say that we really did see almost everything. My feet thought they were going to die after the first few days, but it was so worth it. Discovering the concrete jungle!

 Yes we had to have breakfast at Tiffanys. We took the bagels we bought from the best bagel shop ever and had the classic experience. If you ever want to feel like a wealthy person then go explore Tiffany's in NY and pretend you can buy anything there.

 This is a top Trump Towers. I didn't see Donald, but if I had I would have told him 'You're Fired". He probably hears that a lot....but I wouldn't have cared.

 We found the Temple. Or at least I did. Kaylee and Susan had a bit more trouble locating it. We were standing right in front of it, and Kaylee pulls out the map to try and find it. The Temple is on the first two floors and the chapel part is on the third floor. After we had been to church we left and Susan mentioned that we should try and find the Temple since it supposedly was close. Don't worry, we showed her where it was.

 This was after they found it...

 Central Park

 Empire State Building Observation Deck. This day involved the most walking, so by this point (11:30pm) we really did think our feet were going to fall off. ps Kaylee is picking the binoculars nose.

 The main entrance.

 All lit up at night.

 The first night we were there we went to 'Once'. My first Broadway show on Broadway. It was wonderful. And I maybe cried. Go see it if you ever get a chance. It is completely different from your typical Broadway show. The actors all play the instruments as well as act and sing. Its so good!

The second show we saw was 'Newsies'. We went to the ticket lottery and they didn't draw our names. :( But it had a silver lining, since we were first in line for standing room tickets Kaylee actually ended up getting a lottery ticket someone didn't want. Then Susan and I both got the best standing tickets. And only $30, a steal of a deal! The show was phenomenal! I had a giddy grin on my face the whole time. Seriously, the dancing and singing and everything was so so so great. Funny story actually, after we had won the tickets we had time to go for dinner. We went to Ellen's Stardust Diner, this great place where the wait staff actually take turns singing the whole time you're eating. Being serenaded by Broadway tunes while stuffing my face turns out to be like one of my favorite things ever. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we didn't realize how little time we had to get to the theatre. When we did clue in it was 7:15 and the show started at 7:30, and we were over 10 city blocks away. We ruled out the subway and took off running full speed. Not an easy task running through Times Square with a billion people everywhere. Luckily Kaylee knew where we were going and we got to the theatre just in time. The door ushers cheered us on as we ran down the street and into the theatre. We were so sweaty and out of breath. We got to our spots and I looked over at a lady handing out programs and asked "How much longer until the show starts?"
She replied "Why? Do you have to go to the bathroom?"
Me "Yes..."
Her "Go now"
And I took off running the wrong way. She lovingly hollered at me that I was going the wrong way and I changed directions. I made it back just in time for the lights to come on and the show started. I love Newsies! I would like one please. So if anyone knows how I can get one, just let me know!

 Post show we went Newsie crazy!

 LOVE!!!

Tuesday of the week was a rainy day. So we hit up a bunch of museums. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was lovely. This picture here was supposed to be Kaylee and I pretending to be the statue closest to me. Kaylee had an epic fail in that goal, but I think I did rather well. My eyes match his almost perfectly!

 Walk Like and Egyptian

We went to try and win Wicked lottery tickets. After our Newsie experience I was feeling pretty good. Until we got to the theatre and saw how many people were also hoping to win the tickets. We did not win. So we were a little bummed, but had decided that we would see a show regardless. Not winning Wicked turned out to be a blessing that night because we ended up going to see Cinderella. I went in not knowing much about it since it wasn't the traditional Disney version. The actual theatre was beautiful with chandeliers and gave off a palace feel.

 The show itself was incredibly magical! I was in awe of everything that was happening right before my eyes. I absolutely loved everything about it. And it definitely became one of my most favorites. So funny and heart warming and delightful.

 The Prince and I. I was thrilled meeting him!

 This guy plays the Raccoon, and is the Prince's understudy. Also awesome.

Us with Cinderella, aka Laura Osnes. She is probably my new favorite actress. She has a video blog that goes behind the scenes of Cinderella which is hilarious. Watch it. You will love it.

We saved Top of the Rock for a beautiful morning so that we could see everything. It was totally worth it. Such a gorgeous view and fun time.

 Birds eye view of Central Park

 Light sensor room. I want one of these in my house one day.

 One of our nice pictures.

 Now bring on the mo-delling pictures.

 Top of the Rock...Stars

Even though we didn't win lottery tickets I was not about to leave New York with out seeing this show. Wicked pretty much changed my life.

 In the lobby

After it ended I almost cried, just because I was so sad it ended.

Us with Katie Rose Clarke the actress who plays Galinda!

 And Lindsay Mendez who plays Elphaba. Her voice is pretty killer. She also has a video blog on broadway.com which is also awesome. Wicked awesome.

 Oh Wicked. How I love you.

Playing at FAO Shwartz toy store.

 This picture was taken outside Rockefeller Center right before the security guard told us we weren't allowed to sit there. We had to stand and eat our bagels.

 I went to an exhibit called "The Art of the Brick" while Kaylee and Susan hit up the Body Worlds exhibit. Pretty much after this all I wanted to do was build lego. If only I had an endless supply. I feel like I could make some cool stuff too. Maybe not quite as cool as this guy though...

 At the end I got to write my name on a piece of lego, and when the exhibit is done the artist is going to take all these pieces and make a new sculpture. I will be immortalized.

 The first three shows I saw in NY

 Times Square!!!

For Susan and Kaylee this was a leisurely bike ride in Central Park. For me it was beautiful but also proved how out of shape I was while attempting to pedal up the hills.

 Papa Bike, Mama Bike, and Baby Bike

 Brooklyn Bridge, view from the cruise we took.

 Liberty. The Lady.

 Susan and Lib.

Thursday night we went to Matilda. Incredible. The kids in this play were amazing. I don't know how they dance and sing so well at such a young age. The little girl who played Matilda was way beyond her years and oh so cute!

 This sign says it all.

 Happy after Matilda.

Coney Island. The real deal.

 What up Coney Island?

 Kaylee was crazy excited to be at the beach. And she voiced her disappointment more than once at not having her swimsuit. In the end that didn't stop her. I'm pretty sure she danced like this the whole time we were at the beach.

 Its almost like they're high fiving!

 This summer I went in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Pretty sweet I'd say. This photograph was captured by the oh so talented Susan, documenting our frolicking in the water. Or actually just above, seeing how our feet aren't even touching the ground. Win.

 Walking the High Line. It was this old rail way above the ground that hadn't been used in decades. They wanted to tear it down but the public appealed and so they turned it into a beautiful garden path that you can walk.

 Complete with art and shrubbery. 

We saw Annie on Friday night, but for some reason I didn't take any pictures. Saturday afternoon we went to Lion King. I had seen it before in Edmonton on tour and it was just as incredible as I imagined it. Such beauty and creativity in everything about that show. This picture of Scar, Rafiki, and I isn't real....they are wax. But it was pretty cool since we had seen it that day and I had my Playbill with me. So it looks real. If I didn'y tell you, then you probably wouldn't have even thought twice about it.

The last show we saw was Phantom of the Opera. 25th Anniversary cast. Beautiful. Magnificent. Fell in love with the Phantom all over again.

Last pic in Times Square. Sunday before we left to the airport.

 Next are a bunch of random pictures that I just don't feel like dragging into order.

 NY Pizza!!

 The NYC Public Library. I want one!

 On the Library steps

 Biking

 Beach

 Peace out NY! I can guarantee it will not be my last time there. I had such an awesome trip and an awesome time with these lovely ladies. We had a blast. And now I need to end this. If anyone actually made it this far, I am impressed. Turns out this is my longest blog yet. Maybe this makes up for all those summer weeks that I skipped.

Summer is in full swing!

Yes it has been a long time since I actually wrote on here. And that makes it a lot more work to update on everything that has gone down since my last post in June. So I have decided to just post a bunch of pictures of my super crazy busy awesome summer so far. :)

First up was the end of choir for the season. I had my last rehearsal with Shumayela before they headed to Newfoundland and I went to California. I had a blast working with these people this year!

I drove to California with my friend Susan. In Utah we picked up two of my old mission companions Riena and Kelsey. It only took about 28 hours of total driving time. We left Thursday after my work and drove down to Stirling to stay with my Grandparents. After a short little visit and sleep we woke early Friday morning and drove to Utah. A nice visit with some more mission people, including dinner with the Curtis', a missionary couple that served while we were in Ventura. Awesome people! By 11:30pm we were almost ready to hit the road again and head to CA. Riena took the first driving shift while I had a nap. After 2 and a bit hours I took over. A highlight of the drive was going through Vegas at 4:30 am, right down the Strip. It was not crowded or anything so we could leisurely look at the sites from the car. We got into Ventura at about 9:30 am Saturday morning. I was totally exhausted. So after a quick nap we did what anyone would do and headed to the beach. Magic. I love oceans!

Before the day was over I drove to Walnut, CA about two hours away to see a drum corps show. It had been years. But so so wonderful!!! I was in heaven. All the performing corps were amazing! Seriously the talent in these groups really astounds me. And makes me miss my time spending all summer working harder than i ever have, perfecting 11 minutes. My favorite of the night was Carolina Crown. They seriously kicked butt! And it was cool because I actually knew someone performing with them, Aubrey, who marched Cascades with me in 2007. Probably the last time I will ever see someone I personally marched with perform at a DCI show. Here is a shot of the encore. Pacific Crest and Carolina Crown. Power!!

Sunday brought lots of visits with friends from the mission. It was so good to see lots of people again. Ventura is top notch. A highlight was dinner with these wonderful people. My mission president, President Castro and his awesome family. I can't believe its been two years since they started!

Canada Day Monday was spent at the beach. Tide pools in the morning and then swimming in the evening. A bunch of families from Ventura 4th ward came out, so we had an awesome time visiting with everyone. Also had a blast playing in the waves. I get insanely happy whenever I am swimming in the ocean. Its the best. Here is Tressa enjoying some beach time!!

Riena and I with some of the awesome Ginn girls. This family rocks!!

Tuesday we headed to Los Angeles. We hit up Hollywood Blvd and had fun looking at all the stars and also the hand prints in front of the Chinese theater.

Walt Disney

 Group shot with our new $5 sunglasses!

 Since it was Twilight I was trying to be a vampire. But seeing how it was a very sunny day and I wasn't sparkling, its obvious I was an imposer...

Waiting in line for ice cream at Diddy Rieses. So yummy! Tressa is way cool!

A couple weeks ago I saw that Josh Groban was performing at the Hollywood Bowl while we were there. Of course we had to get tickets. I was psyched. And these two here enjoyed their first big concert at the Bowl. The guy behind looks a little unsure though...

Susan and Riena. Riena thinks she is going to marry Josh, but he was obviously in love with me.

Complete with firework show afterwards! Best concert ever!!!!

Alright I am going to stop here for the night. More of my trip and summer to come next time!

Happy.

Choir is done for the year. Crazy. This year has gone by so quickly. We had our last concert today and it was wonderful.

I had a very busy weekend, but so much fun. No downtime at all. Lots of visits with friends and other fun things. Got to spend some time with Amelia my sister in law. They just moved to Edmonton, so its nice to have family around.

I am just happy.

And now I am going to bed. This full happy weekend requires a good nights sleep.

My Choir History

These last few weeks have been jam packed full of choir awesomeness. And really it has caused me to reflect on how much choir has blessed my life. It really has played a big role in shaping who I am today. Since my last post we have had two big concerts. The first was our Colours of Spring concert. It included quite the variety of pieces and was an incredibly fun concert. Here is a link to Oran's performance of RAH, probably the funniest piece I've ever sung. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFHmdJK7LuM You won't regret watching that one, trust me. This week also saw the last of Kikimasu's performances for the year. They sang beautifully. We had a pizza and awards party on Wednesday and it made me realize how much I have loved getting to work with these little musical kiddos. They are so sweet!

This week we had a concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and it was amazing!! This meant rehearsals pretty much every night, which made for a very busy week. But it was all worth it. I was reminded by how much I love the symphony, they performed beautifully. I am so lucky to get the chance to sing with them.

All of this has caused me to reflect on my life in choir, or choir in my life. I have sung in a choir every year since I was seven years old. That's 20 years. Crazy. So I have decided to post some pictures of me in choir through out the years. Unfortunately my last few years are much better documented in the cyber world, so the early years don't have much and the quality is lame. In fact, since I'm not at home I don't have any pictures of me in Elementary school. Nevertheless, here it goes.

1993-1995 Cardston Elementary Junior Choir

This is where it all began. I don't remember why but for some reason I figured I needed to audition for this. Which was pretty uncharacteristic of me since I was quite shy on my own. And deciding to audition was something I did completely by myself. In fact, I was nervous to tell my Mom when I made it in, because it cost $15. And I didn't have $15. Obviously she didn't mind covering me. I loved singing in choir right from the beginning. There was most certainly a divine hand guiding me towards it. We had bright red gowns which we wore over white tights (for girls) and dress pants (for boys). I found a picture of the choir, much more recently, but the uniforms haven't changed. So just picture my crazy little face in one of those gems.

1995-1996 Cardston Elementary Senior Choir

Much the same as Junior Choir, it was for Grades 5-6. We traveled to Camrose from Cardston (a big trip for a 10 year old) to compete in Provincials. And we won, best Children's choir in the Province that year. Woot woot!! The uniforms were exactly the same as Jr. choir, except blue instead of red. Once again, I am not in this photo.

 1997-2002 Cardston Girls Choir

This was such a big chunk of my growing up. My first year we went on a huge tour to Europe. I was 12 and the youngest member on the tour. I'm surprised they took me, but so glad they did. It was incredible!! I love touring with a choir because you are given so many opportunities you wouldn't get if traveling on your own. I stayed with people living there, sang in beautiful cathedrals, saw amazing sites, all so far from home. This is the choir outside the Cantebury Cathedral, if I remember correctly. You can't tell, but our uniform consisted of a lovely green and blue plaid kilt, blue sweater vest over a white blouse, complete with cross ties and penny loafers. This was the same through out my time in Girls choir. I am second from the left on the front row. For some reason my feet were crossed...

This is outside the Charles Dickens Centre. You cant see in this picture, but I am rocking the socks and sandals like a true Canadian. My choir director Mrs. Dittmann is on the right end. She taught me so much and I still adore her. I am second from the left. So young, and in Europe.

I didn't call my Mom the entire trip cause I didn't know how to work international phones, and I was too shy to ask. Poor woman. I didn't realize how crazy that was for my Mom until I got back and was a bit older. I did miss my family very much, but was well cared for on the tour. This picture earned us a full page in the town newspaper, and they interviewed me. I was pretty much a celebrity. 

We also went on a tour to Eastern Canada and some of the Eastern States in 2000. This is me in the Sacred Grove in New York state.

 Atlantic Ocean.

 Canada Day on Parliament Hill. Some of my best friends growing up! Ashley, Heather, Amy, and I.

2003-2008 Edmonton Institute of Religion Choir

No pictures here. But I had a lot of fun singing with other Young Single Adults from my church. It was a non-auditioned group, and we only did two big performances a year. We did get to tour down to Calgary once, which was fun. This gave me the chance to continue singing, but it had a lot less time and commitments.

2007-2009 University of Alberta Mixed Chorus

I was in many music classes at the U of A with my minor, and the head of the department was Dr. de Frece. Having many classes with him he suggested that I join the chorus as he was the conductor. I figured I had better listen to him and audition shortly after. I joined with my friend and old roommate Sarah. We sang amazing music and I met a lot of wonderful people. I have two favorite moments from my time in Mixed chorus. The first being Choir of Choirs. All the choirs at the U of A came together for a concert along with the Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the Universities 100th Birthday. And they paid for all of us to go to Calgary overnight and perform the concert there as well. Magical!

The second favorite of mine was performing with a small group of Mixed Chorus as back up for three cast members of the Broadway show "The Lion King". They were doing a sneak peak and asked us. I was in heaven! Getting to meet them and sing with them was incredible! Here is me with Nala and Simba.

 This is Rafiki in full make up, not in costume though. She was super cool!

Yes. We had black stretchy velvet long sleeved floor length dresses. Hot. I named mine Agatha.

 At the Winspear after a concert. Good view of the hall. Guys didn't have to wear the lovely dresses. Liz(on the right) became one of my dear friends, thanks to UAMC.

2008-2010 Kokopelli Youth Choir

So many amazing opportunities and incredible moments. On a 'mini life crisis' I decided to audition and got in. I had no idea how it would change my life. It has definitely been the biggest time commitment out of all my choirs. But also with Kokopelli I have had more performances a year than any other of my choirs. Kokopelli is a very innovative choir, so I had a lot of variety in the pieces we did. A lot more movement as well.  Here are some photographic highlights. I definitely have more pictures of Koko so prepare to be bombarded since I had a hard time narrowing down the highlights. So many good times.

 Singing "Mita Kai". A Finnish piece originally by Rajaton. Its about the old woman in the village trying to get the younger ones to marry. In this picture that is exactly what we are trying to get Lauren to do. :)

 Me with Rochelle and Lisa at a Wintersong concert

 Ukutula. Stories concert 2009

We even did a concert from a roof top. It was a little bit sketch getting up there.....hence the victory pose of mine. In our African tunics.

On tour to Saskatchewan, here with Kaitlyn.

At the Olympic torch ceremony, one of the biggest crowds I've sung for. Over 10,000 people estimated were there braving the cold.

Singing with Oran at the Winspear.

In 2010 we got invited to go the a festival in Dresden, Germany. It was so amazing. We got to sing in some incredible places. This here is us singing in a Volkswagen factory. It had glass walls so you could see the cars being made, and it doubled as a concert hall. Cool eh? 

Us at the Frauenkirche in Dresden. Beautiful. I even sang a solo here with the choir. We surrounded the audience and the effect was absolutely breath taking! Talk about a life experience!

Group picture in Deustchland

 At the Brandenburg Gate

 One of my last concerts as a Kokopelli

Probably my favorite picture from Kokopelli. Having a blast singing African music at our 24 hour Sing-along fundraiser for choirs in Africa.

2012-now Oran

Part of the Kokopelli Choir Organization, so I still get to sing with many of my friends from Koko. Oran is a young adult choir, we perform at many of the same concerts as Kokopelli. Such talent in this group this year. I have had a blast with all the music we have done. And I look forward to much more!

One of the first concerts of the year. In my new uniform with old Koko pals.

 We got to go to Banff to the music festival there and had a blast! So much fun with these lovely ladies. :)

And there is my own personal history of choir involvement. I am so grateful for every one of the choirs I have sung with, because it really has shaped me into the person I am now and made me so much better as an individual. Choir has given me amazing moments that I will never forget. At times when I've been sad due to something happening in life, choir has lifted me up and reminded me there is always hope. Heavenly Father has certainly blessed me through choir.

In Dumbledore's fine words "Music, a magic beyond all we do here". Indeed that is true.