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. 

Spring green and bobcats

I am loving this weather!! Spring just smells so good! And everything is that really pretty light green, with all the new leaves growing in. The sun is staying out longer and later which gives me so much energy. I went running three times this week before work and I had no problem waking up early. On Thursday while I was running I discovered a beautiful ravine and creek right by my place. It was pretty exciting. I ran down the big hill and saw a beautiful creek, there was a bridge and even river fog because of the early time in the day. The path led up and out of the ravine so I figured I go up and then turn around to head back to my house. I got to the top of the hill and was very winded. While I was catching my breath I saw something run into the long grass. I didn't think it was a dog bit couldn't see it very well. The animal came out of the grass and we stared at each other for a while and then it hit my winded self. It was a bobcat. No joke. A bobcat, right in the middle of the city. Crazy. I took a couple slow steps back, turned around, and ran. Luckily it was down hill so I could actually run. I was wearing neon green and the whole time I was running I was thinking about how I looked unappetizing in this color. Apparently I did cause I was safe and sound at home in no time. And I don't think I'll be running there by myself early in the morning just in case. Though I feel like bike rides would be kosher. I did go back on bike Saturday evening for some more exploration. I discovered a family of beavers, Canada geese, and a pond. All so close to my house. I had no idea. Pretty much the best thing ever. This summer is going to be awesome!

On Friday I got to go meet Pearl's brand new baby girl Cassandra. She is such a cute little baby! I loved holding her, she just slept the whole time. Beautiful! I'm excited to spend more time with her. Plus a visit with Pearl was also lovely! Afterwards I had a fun movie night with Christine and Nathalie. We made delicious skor cake and watched Easy A. It takes place in Ojai, a small city quite close to Ventura. So of course I was excited about that, having been there while serving in Ventura.

Saturday morning I got up early and caught the first session at the Temple. It was wonderful. Always so happy and peaceful. After the Temple I headed over to Val's house to chill with her and Macy. I saw Chris a bit too. It was nice being able to visit and eat food. My favorite things to do! Macy is such a cute kid, and she makes me laugh.

That evening I got to help out serving at a Stake dinner. I had fun getting to know some of the other ladies on the committee, and even though I was the youngest one by far I had a good time. And got to eat a lot of yummy food!

Sunday after my sacrament meeting I headed to Whitecourt for my grandpas birthday. We had a good time. After dinner I went out to their ark (yes my grandparents have a 2 level wooden ark in their yard, story next time) and I read whilst basking in the sunshine. After a while I ended up falling asleep on the ark. It was glorious. We played games and visited and ate. The recipe for a perfect day. Happy me. I stayed there that night since its the long weekend. Happy Victoria day to all! Much love!

Weddings, Waterton, and my Wonderful Mother

What a great week!! I had a short work week, which ended on Wednesday. I then drove down to Southern Alberta with my brother Dawson. We got to the Mountain View Inn around 10:30 and were greeted by lots of family members that were also there for the wedding. What followed was lots of fun family time. Its just so nice to be around them, especially when you don't see the family that often.

Thursday was the wedding in Cardston. It was beautiful! I am so happy for my cousin Tvae and her new husband Andrew. The weather was absolutely goregous and everything really seemed to be perfect. We had a delicious lunch at the Cobblestone Manor, a restaurant one of my best friend's (Ashley's) grandparents used to own. So I had many memories of going there after school and playing with her. Being in Cardston made me totally relive many parts of my childhood. Lots of fond memories. That evening was the calling reception. They had delicious chicken croissants, and I ate about a billion of them. Probably my new favorite food. Yum!

This is Tvae and I at the reception. She is such a gorgeous bride!!

Here are some cousin pictures outside the Temple, after the wedding. Siahna and I

 Nicole, me, and Shannon. :)

I snuck away a little bit early with my cousin Siahna to go see the Cardston Girls Choir concert. My alma mater choir. They sang beautifully and it really was nice to see Mrs. Dittmann again after many years. It was a lucky thing that the concert happened to be while I was in Cardston.

On Friday I spent the day with some of my family going into Waterton National Park. It was an amazing day! No wind at all, which if you know Southern Alberta is quite rare. The mountains were stunning, and I just loved being there. Here are some shots from the day.
Chief Mountain at sunset. The view from the Inn we were staying in.

 I had just fed this chipmunk and was trying to take a selfie picture of the two of us, but failed. At least my shadow made it in!

 Deer drinking from the glacier lake. We saw tons of deer and lots of bighorn sheep this trip. I didn't get a picture of the sheep though.

 The deer didn't stick around for the picture with me. Darn.

 Posing at the Prince of Wales Hotel. Probably the best view in the world. Ignore my face in this particular picture. Not sure what I was doing....

 This is better. Note the pink pants!!!!!

Good times in Waterton. I also got sunburned, yes my freckles have come out in full force and I am also pinker than my pants now. That evening I got to spend some time with one of my dear friends Ashley Ruttan who recently moved back to Cardston for her husband's job. They have an incredibly cute one year old named Kye, who was fun to watch and play with. It was nice being able to reminisce with Ashley, all the crazy things that we did growing up. She was actually my first friend after I had moved to Cardston when I was 6. We were friends all growing up, in the same ward, in choir and plays together, and then we were even roommates here in Edmonton. What a blast!!

I stayed with my grandparents in Stirling Friday night, then on Saturday I went into Lethbridge to spend some time with another dear friend Kaci and her two little rugrats. We had a fun time at the park and Kaci and I just talked the whole time. I went back to Stirling for dinner with my grandparents and my Aunt Coralee's family. We had a nice time, I ate a ton of tacos, and we played Phase 10. I was soooo close to winning, but Skylar took it in the end. I stayed at Kaci's house that night and we were up far too late playing games and talking. Good times.

Dawson and I went to sacrament meeting with my grandma and grandpa and then hit the road. It was a hot day, and his car didn't have air conditioning, but we somehow managed. We had a nice long phone chat with the Mom, and it was delightful. Nice to catch up. And plus I do have the most awesome mother in the world, so considering it was Mother's Day it was nice to think about all the wonderful ways I have been blessed by her. Thanks Mom!! I love you!


Mom and I when we were filming the Joseph movie. :)

What a good way to end the week. I most certainly have been blessed!

Summer is Here!!!

Summer is here!! I feel like Spring was skipped over and we jumped straight from Winter to Summer. Seriously, where else is it snowing one day and then 28 degrees celsius (82 F for the Americans). I welcomed it with open arms. Arms that did not have to be covered in a coat or even a sweater. Woohoo!!! It was a lovely week indeed. A happy week. On Saturday was a concert with Shumayela and Kikimasu, both of the children's choirs I volunteer with. It was Star Wars themed and the only way to describe the concert would be EPIC. The kids all sounded so great, they performed well, and the show was a hit. So many funny moments in the concert as well. I just loved it!!! It was so much fun to be a part of. I really am lucky to work with such a great group of kids. And also two incredible conductors, Kim Denis and Carmen So. Seriously I am learning so much from them!

Here is a link to the final number of the concert, Firework, man these kids know how to perform. Haha it makes me laugh every time!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOjGnMMLEec So epic!

Today we after church I had a Cinco de Mayo feast with Kaylee and Susan and their household. It was delicious! We sat outside and just soaked up the warm weather. I couldn't get enough (food and sun). It was followed by a broadcast by Elder William Walker, a church leader. It was so positive and made me want to be a better person. Loved it. Afterwards I went for a walk on the trolley train tracks, one of my favorite spots. Just enjoying the beautiful weather and the beautiful day. :)

A Perfect Weekend

This weekend was perfect. I could just leave it at that because perfect is probably the only way I could really sum it up. I went to the Rocky Mountain Music Festival in Banff with my choir, and what a trip it was. I left work an hour early on Friday and caught the choir bus. I was running late and definitely sweating, fearing I would miss the bus. Luckily (for me) the bus was late and so I got there right before it did. We were off, and made it just in time to catch rush hour traffic coming out of downtown. We got to the south side pick up spot and left Edmonton over an hour later than expected. The ride was lovely and I had lots of fun conversations getting to know people on the bus better. We drove into Banff just in time to make our 10:00 pm rehearsal. Kokopelli (the choir I used to be in, but am too old for now) is a big deal at this festival. Seriously, people recognize you on the street and ask for pictures and stuff. Anyways, Kokopelli always has multiple showcase concerts, and its pretty much tradition to rehearse late late into the night on the eve of the showcase concerts. Oran (the young adult choir I'm in now) was lucky to come to Banff this year and share a couple numbers with Koko in their showcases. So our rehearsal with Kokopelli began at 10, and it went until about 11:30 for Oran. We were lucky to leave once our numbers were done. And Koko of course stayed much longer I'm sure.

We headed back to the hotel. I roomed with three lovely ladies; Elise, Nathalie, and Sandra. We had a blast! And the room was awesome. Needless to say I slept quite well. We awoke to a full day of choir awesomeness ahead. But it started with the delicious continental breakfast. I stuffed my face. It was wonderful. Then up the mountain we went to watch choirs perform. Let me tell you, I was in heaven! Choirs from around the country brought their best and performed wonderful inspiring music. Emotion completely conveyed through their music, I learned so much and loved every minute of it. There is no doubt that I am a choir person through and through. One particular performance that I especially loved was Corazon from Nelson, BC. They were incredible. Every single song they sang completely enthralled me. Absolutely amazing. I wish everyone could have an opportunity to watch them. Words really cannot express the joy it was to watch their performance.

I could have sat and watched all day but sadly they stopped for lunch and then individual choir clinics. So we went out for a delicious lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Many funny moments ensued, thanks to a waiter who was perhaps a little bit too eager.

Back at the hotel there was time for a quick dip in the ultra nice hot tub at the hotel. Its like a cave, and even opens up outside. I didn't want to get my hair wet before our concert that night, mostly cause I'm lazy (or time efficient) and didn't want to redo it. So I wore a shower cap. I'm so glad they put those in hotel rooms. It totally worked too! Hair was saved.

We drove up to Rolston Hall for the three consecutive showcase concerts. I love performing! These were such fun concerts to do. There were a couple moments where I totally forgot I was in Oran and not Kokopelli. It was very gracious of Kokopelli to share their showcase concerts. I had many incredibly happy moments through all three shows. I think my favorite number was Heartlines, it's just so much fun! And of course the audiences were all just wonderful. Its nice knowing they love choir just as much as you do. Post concert our choirs had the African dance party outside as the audience left. And I definitely dance partied until I went to bed. You can't beat a post concert high!

Sunday morning we had our group pictures, which guest starred a unicorn. Very entertaining. Then we had our choir's individual festival performance. It was amazing!!! Honestly I am always amazed at how lucky I am to be part of such an amazing choir with so many incredibly talented musicians. We ended on a comical note and received two standing ovations during our set. It felt good.

We had a break before our clinic so I walked down to the town. It was a nice time to reflect on the weekend and my life in choir, which started when I was 7 years old. Being in the mountains was a perfect setting, it was so beautiful. It is such a testimony to me of how much God loves us, creating such a beautiful world for us to live in. I am pretty lucky living so close to these mountains. Can I just say Canada is amazing! Once down the mountain I spent some more time with friends. Good times. Our clinic was awesome. And I was sad when it ended because I knew this weekend was so close being done. I didn't want to go home. I wanted the weekend to keep going and maybe repeat at least once.

I went with Nathalie in her car back, she also drove Emily, Zach, and Javier. We had a good time. And even got some Peter's drive-in in Calgary.

And now I'm back in Edmonton. Missing the festival in Banff. But really happy it happened. A perfect weekend.