Patriot's Day

I was going to just keep writing away with the marathon, but I know that some people get discouraged when my entries are so long, so the way to get around this is to just pretend it's a seperate blog... Well, really it is. My aunt, uncle and cousins had the sister missionaries over for dinner and a single mother and her son. It was a delicious dinner and a really fun evening (Remember that I had been sleeping all afternoon, and only woke up for dinner). Well, once the guests were gone and it was just the family sitting around in the kitchen I was pretending to kick my cousin Rylee in the face. Normally I would not be so mean, but lately this girl has got a bug in her and she always punches me and it hurts... Then, the real genious came out in me and I said to her, "I can kick as high as the fridge." So, I prepared myself, got in my stance and kicked my right leg up as high as I could. Sometimes I just amaze myself with power. I kicked so hard that while my right leg was in the air, my left leg lifted off the ground as well. Because I am so athletic, this would not normally have presented a problem for me. However, as my left foot came back down, I realized that I was wearing socks and the kitchen has hardwood floors, I knew I was in for! My left leg slipped out from under me and the rest of my body proceeded to be flung to the ground in disgrace. Yes, the whole family had turned just in time to see me flying through the air as a graceful bird and crashig to the ground. J'etais mort de rire! (I died laughing)! Before I was even totally on the ground my cousins and my aunt were laughing their faces off at me! It was the funniest thing that has happened to me in several weeks. My aunt thanked me for providing the entertainment for the evening and I proceeded back to my room to go to bed before I hurt myself anymore. My right butt cheek is still very tender...hahaha

MARATHON MONDAY

Here in Massachusetts, there is a holiday called Patriot's Day. Every year on Patriot's Day is the annual Boston marathon. A friend of mine from school asked me about a month ago to go with some students and volunteer at the marathon. Of course I said yes, cause I have marathon on my mind, so I knew it would be a great experience to get me motivated! So, my day started when I woke up at 2:36AM. That has got to be the earliest I have ever woken up for reals. Not only was it very early, but we were in the middle of our BIG Noreaster, which had stared sunday morning. It poured and it poured and it poured. Coming from the desert, I just keep thinking in my mind that in 15 minutes it will just stop and the sun will come out. Nope, it kept raining. So, at 3:00 in the morning, and in torrential rains, I drove into Worcester to meet up with my friends. There was so much rain on the highway, that I kept almost hydroplaining, and I frequently had to drive between lanes to avoid the natural divits. We met up with the rest of our group in Boston at our main school campus (which is much nicer and cooler than the Worcester campus). Our job really started once they shipped us to the starting line, which is 26.2 miles west of Boston (imagine that!). Torrential rains continue. I was fortunate to ride on a school bus next to a man from New Hampshire, who had moved his family to SLC to work for a little less than a year. So, we had a really good talk about the church and about our different situations. Him moving out there and me moving out here. It was really cool. Anyway, Sup, Jane, Susan and I were assigned to a bus together. Our objective was to collect the bags of the runners and transport them to the finish line. We put signs up in the windows indicating to the runners which window to drop their bag off at. All attempting to keep things organized. We put the windows down and just before the race, the runners throw their bags at us and run off to the finish line. It was super fun. We were assined numbers 11,000-11,500 and the only problem we had was that for some reason there was no buses with the numbers 10,000-10,999, so all of those runners took it out on us. By the way, torrential rains continued... The runners were freezing, so much so that they could barely close up their bags before giving them to us. I felt so bad for them. But, miraculously, just after the race began, the rain finally let up and it turned out to be a nice day. I hear the wind was still a little strong for the runners (40 mph). We escorted the bags to the finish line via a police escort and we made it just in time to see the first female runners come in!! It was so inspirational!! It got me so pumped up, I just wanted to go back to the starting line and run it myself. (I would probably die, but I really wanted to...). Anyway, it was so much fun and a great experience to wish the runners luck before the commenced their long journey to the line. It was only 3:00 in the afternoon when I got home, which meant I had already been awake for over 12 hours, and once I laid down, I was out...

"He Came for Me"

So, I know that I have been telling people this blog would be up a long time ago, I just haven't had the time to figure out how to blog with video. This is the song that I sang in sacrament for Easter sunday. Melba was nice enough to accompany me, Thanks Melba! I really love music! If I have one passion in life it is music and singing. I have always loved music. My mom and dad both sing very well and taught us how to sing and how to enjoy singing. When I was very young, my mom and her friend started a singing group for kids, "The Quarter Time Kids." Ever since then, I have been singing. Hopefully I will sing until the day I die. I don't think any thing would be harder for me to deal with than losing my physical ability to sing. It has been a huge help and success in my life. What would it be like to drive in my car and not sing at the top of my lungs? What would it be like to not be able to sing in a choir where you can just feel the power of the music? I just can't even imagine... The week leading up to the performance, I was wicked busy with school and super stressed out. So, instead of doing my homework, I would practice this song and it would make me feel more relaxed. Music is the best anecdote for almost any problem! I was really thankful for the opportunity to share what I love with others.

Ooops.... "He Came for Me"

I know that some people will appreciate this. Besides music, I like to laugh and have a good time! Have you ever been ready to say something and it is on the tip of your tongue, but it just doesn't come out like it should? Well, this is that situation, except I happened to be singing and not speaking. The line is "It'd been dark for many days, the storms had taken all we owned..." Well, I wanted to say 'days' but it just wouldn't come out. I had a split-second decision to make. 'hour' 'minute' 'seconds' 'weeks' 'months' and 'years' were all prepared to come out, but not 'days', it was being stubborn. So, logical as I am, I picked the next best thing (obviously years) and tried to keep singing as if nothing was different. It was only when I saw Melba's shoulders bouncing up and down that I could not control myself any longer and the laughter began. Times like these make life so much less complicated...