Facing Freaky Fears

The other day, I helped out my amazing dancer/photographer friend Jocelyn with one of her final projects for school. She is quite talented and has some really interesting concepts.

For this photo shoot, she wanted to find a abandoned building. So we headed on down to Thistle, UT, the town that was destroyed by flash-floods and mudslides....

I have grown up driving through that tiny stretch of road while going to my friend's cabin, and EVERY TIME we drove by those half-submerged houses or those graffiti-ed remains I got the creeeeeeeeeps.

So it was a big deal for me to face my fears and do that photo shoot (bare-footed or pointe-shoed). We took two rolls of film, but I've only actually seen two photos, both of which you see here.

This is a completely flattened house, still sitting on the hillside. Yes, I am positioned right in the middle. On the house. Barefoot. --->

<--- The other one is a run-down brick building, covered in graffiti and trash. Also, there was a smooshed car like right next to me. (uncomfortable squirm...)

Other dangerous activities that I probably shouldn't mention because my mother reads this blog include: climbing a wall and standing/balancing/arabesque-ing on top of it, traipsing around the building in flip-flops because Genius here didn't think through things all the way, delicately tip-toeing my way through glass, nails, and other mysterious objects to get to the desired photo spot, walking on a collapsed house (wood with slivers or nails sticking out, spiders crawling, not sure if it would hold my weight or not...). You get the idea.

Because of the adventures, Jocelyn got some really cool shots. Thanks for letting me help you out Joce! Even if it seems silly, I certainly feel braver and more adventurous because I faced my childhood creepers.

Choreo Graphy

I thought I would share with you my latest choreographic endeavor. This piece was for the Theatre Ballet Student Choreographic Projects we do at the end of the year. It's a great opportunity to have your own little workshop with talented dancers to experiment and grow as a choreographer.

I explain the concept of the piece in the intro, but basically it is about the dancers finding their individuality in dance and figuring out the way they love to move. They start as a machine, very rigid and mechanical. Then there are glitches, and pretty soon they explode into their own individual styles (all improv on their part).

Props to the dancers, most of which have only done ballet their whole lives. It was very different for them to move like that, but they grew a lot and I was proud of them (especially for the limited rehearsal time we had).

Enjoy "System Error" and feel free to leave suggestions or comments

(whether you're a dancer or not! Non-dancers have to be able to enjoy it too, you know)!

System Error

Reason #87...

...of why I'm marrying this boy named Peter. He works like a fiend to prepare for when he has to spend all his money on us... (sorry Pete) Yes, I work too, but Pete is (or will be) the breadwinner, so he's a hard worker.

He only has to do the gross hours one more week (4pm-2am) and then he starts his new job! With new, more regular hours! This means no more keeping him company at work because he can't have a social life. This also means severely reduced Sudoku and Jelly Belly time for me (which is probably a good thing... okay, a great thing.)

Here's to you, Pete, for working so hard. Thank you.

Kiss That Semester Goodbye

First, I would like to comment on the previous post. For those of you very much out of the loop, Peter is the man I am going to marry. Yep, MARRY. (in 50 days to be exact....but who's counting anyway?) He will be a great contributer to this blog by giving it some life (he is an English major, you know).

Well folks. the Winter 2011 semester came and went. I will miss:

my humanities lectures,

my lovely ballet buddies,

going to the dance training room.

I will not miss:

early mornings,

busy days,

writing a truckload of papers,

homework in general,

commuting to Provo once or twice or three times a day,

the list goes on...

Although my days won't be filled with busy schoolness, it will be a new kind of busy. A fun busy.

You see, Peter and I are planning out wedding (not my most favorite thing in the world...more on that later). And after the wedding, we will get to live in our own little space where our own ideas can take shape and we can build our new lives together. We're so excited about it that we're already making plans. We have chosen the paint colors, our furniture, what the layout of the place will look like, where we will put all our stuff, etc.

(this will be our new place come June. it was a drive-by picture, so it's not the best. but we are thrilled with our little burrow. it will be fun to make it our own.)

We bought a giant white board to put on our future wall. Then we went to Home Depot and got a bunch of tools and a magnetic piece of metal to glue to the back of it. It's pretty much the most fantastic thing ever. Can't wait to use it! We already bought markers and stuff for it...

The Day Soon Cometh

One day I will write on this blog. It will be so much more classy than Uncle Tom.

Peter

Life Lessons Learned Today

- Little miracles happen everyday. Big ones happen sometimes too. At exactly the right times. We just need to learn to recognize them.

- Sometimes you are appreciated for the hard work you do. Other times you are not. You should work hard anyway because it always does some good either for you, for others, or both.

- Life is too short to be sad or angry or jealous. But sometimes those things get the best of us. Thank goodness for people who are patient, who listen, who help. It's nice to be that person for someone else, especially when you've be helped or listened to lately.

- It's fun to be bold in your creativity. It is fulfilling to see a creative project fulfilled.

- Celebratory ice cream, hamburgers, brownies, etc are also fulfilling.

- Perseverance is the key to success. Even if you have to choose a different, unexpected path, you must endure well in order to achieve.

- There is much to be done after finals, including much more blogging. I have an exciting summer ahead of me!

(pretty spring blossoms from Mesa, AZ)

Why Today is Better Than Any Other Day Last Week:

Sleeping in. Then waking up to sunshine.

Making delectable rolls with my momma.

Eating fresh mangoes (thought of you, Miss Garcia) and blueberries for breakfast.

Listening to Conference.

Painting nails, curling hair.

Spending time with my man.

Cloudy, subdued weather for a relaxing afternoon.

Girl's night tonight.

Every little thing about today has been exactly what I needed.

In other news, I have recently become addicted to Jelly Bellies and Sudoku.