A Night of Recording

When I'm super stressed, there's one thing that I can always count on to calm me down.  And let me tell you, college is stressful.  So I sit down at the piano and just play away.  I had a monster homework assignment I had to get done today that's due tomorrow, and I'd been working on it for hours straight.  I was going crazy!  So I had to get out of the apartment.  I grabbed my piano books and headed over to the Snow building on campus.  There was one practice room left open, so I grabbed it.  I sat down at the piano and played away.  I'd been wanting to record my song I wrote, so brought my camera with me.  An hour later, I felt much better and had gotten the song and some others recorded.  So I guess now that I've told you about them, I have to show you.  So here they are!  Just click on the links and it'll take you to my youtube page.

This first one is "Unstoppable," the song I wrote a few weeks ago.  It's still not quite perfect, but it's getting there.  I wrote it for a couple of close friends in mind, but it goes for anybody.  We are unstoppable when the Lord is on our side.  Don't mind the mistake I made.  :)  Unstoppable

I'm really wanting to try out to be a Young Performing Missionary in Nauvoo for next summer.  Ever since we went there last summer, it's been on the top of my To Do list.  For part of my audition, I have to sing 2 minutes of an upbeat, Broadway song and 2 minutes of a hymn or ballad.  One of my favorite Broadway songs is Don't Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl.  So I'm using that one!  It's by all means not perfect yet, but it's getting better.  Thank goodness I don't actually have to play the piano for that part of the audition!  So good luck Mom!  Or whoever plays it for me.  :)  Don't Rain on my Parade

The other song I want to audition with is my favorite hymn ever, I Believe in Christ.  This is a beautiful arrangement in the EFY book from a couple of years ago.  I Believe in Christ

I'm so thankful for good music and for the talents which Heavenly Father has blessed me with!  I know I'm not the absolute greatest, but I don't really care.  It's just important that I can bring myself and others joy with the talents which I do have.  

What Has College Done to Me?!

I used to be a shy and quiet person.  Then all that changed.  College life began.  My roommates are all AMAZING!  I love all of them so super duper much!  We always have great times, and there's NEVER a dull moment in Apartment 301.  It's pretty epic!  Carlee and I have been in this scary movie watching mode, and Christy's been joining us lately, much to our great joy and pleasure.  Tonight, we were making plans to go get "The Roommate" from Red Box then go to Horkley's to get some really big, really cheap root beer.  I don't even remember how, but the topic of war paint came up in our conversation, and we decided to have some fun with makeup.  This is how we started. 

Then we really got crazy!  First of all with a dance party in our bathroom, dancing to Grease and Hairspray music. 

Then we pulled out all our makeup and put our hair up in fun ways.  We. Are. Gorgeous.

And yes, just in case you are wondering, we did go out like this.  And got lots of laughs and smiles all along the way.  So I ask again... what has college done to me?!  I have no idea, but it's fun!

We then proceeded to have the most epic of dance parties in our living room.  I'm not sure if this link will work, but we'll try it.  If not, go to my facebook and look at the "Barbie Girls" video I'm tagged in.  I think you'll quite enjoy.  But I hope you'll still talk to me afterwards.  Barbie Girls 

Oh, and keep in mind that this whole experience was BEFORE we got on a sugar high.  You don't want to see us on one. 

Happy Birthday Mommy!

It's Mom's birthday!  So I wanted to recognize her for the fantastic Mom she is!  She's the greatest Mom in the world!  She does everything for me, and I can't even say how grateful I am for her!  So here's some trips down memory lane.

Disneyland is our favorite place to go!  This is Mom and I right after Splash Mountain.  We got soaked!

 

 

 During the house remodel, Mom and I showed our buffness and ripped out the tile and wood from the front entrance.  Pretty fun, and we did a great job if I do say so myself!

Mom was the chaperone for my Royal Blue trip to Disneyland!  This is us on the plane!  I love going to with my best friend places!

 

Mom's also one of my biggest supporters in everything I do!  She encouraged and helped me through my district musicals.  This is Mom and her older daughter, ME!!!  As Aunt March in Little Women.

Mom hates camping.  But she's the Stake Young Women President, so she's had to go!  It was really fun seeing her camp!

And one of my favorite moments... FAMILY GAME TIME!!!  I think we grow closer as a family when we have fun together!  So family game nights are just the greatest!  Story behind this one is the game Curses!  It's basically the greatest game ever created!  Hilarious!  Especially when you start it on New Years Eve at 1:00 in the morning.  :)  This picture was taken at an awkward moment.  Mom had to demonstrate how to shave an invisible cat.  Guess who's the cat?  Yep!  That's me!

I love you bunches Mom!  You're the best!  Thanks for everything!

Chocolate Chips and Midterms

"My tummy's talkin'!"
"We could make a band with our weird noises."
*Uncontrollable laughter and spazzing out*
Studying in the closet.  It's like a box where you feel safe.
Twitching.

These are just a few of the things that have happened to me, Kira, and our roommate Kelsey in the past half hour.  Yes, it's midterms week.  Yes, we've had a lack of sleep.  Yes, it's late again.  And YES, we've eaten lots and lots and lots of chocolate chips.  These things combined make for a VERY entertaining life together.  And new quotes on the quote wall.  Can't wait for finals week!

Unstoppable

A couple of years ago, I had this idea pop into my head, and I haven't been able to get it out since.  I've put it off, thinking it's too hard and I wouldn't be able to do it.  That idea is a song.  It actually all started out when I was in the shower one day.  This line just kept repeating itself to me, and I have no idea where it came from.  "I am unstoppable when the Lord is on my side."  And I had a tune come to me as well.  But that's all that ever came.  I never tried to continue it, thinking, "I don't even know the first thing about song writing!  How in the world would I be able to do this?"  But for two years, this one line has been repeating itself over and over in my head.  Since then, I've taken only one basic music theory class.  This past Saturday, I was REALLY bored.  I have a program on my computer that lets me put in notes and it'll play it back to me.  So I sat down and started fiddling around with it.  I got the lyrics written in under an hour.  Then the tune gradually started coming.  I've got the tune completed, and am now working on the accompaniment part, which is a lot slower coming.  But it IS coming!   I only have the first page completed.  And so far, it's into six pages.  But I know that I'm not doing this on my own.  I truly believe that this idea has come from the Lord through inspiration.  And the words were definitely inspired!  There's no way I could have written them all in under an hour by myself!  So I'm getting this task completed.  I feel like I was called to do it.  Just as the lyrics go, "I am unstoppable when the Lord is on my side.  I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."  So here goes nothing!  Here's the lyrics.  Any ideas?

Unstoppable:

This task is hard

Which He has sent me here to do

With all the trouble around me

How am I supposed to do His will?

I try to be strong

I try to be brave

But life pulls me down

How can I press on?

But I know

I am unstoppable when the Lord is on my side

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me

If I have faith and turn to Him

He will guide me in my path

At times I’m scared

And I don’t know what to do

But we all have trials

We’re not in this alone

I am weak

I am a sinner

And life pulls me down

I start to lose my way.

And then I remember

I am unstoppable when the Lord is on my side

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me

If I have faith and turn to Him

He will guide me in my path

Life is never perfect

We are hurt by the ones we love the most

The pathway seems dark and dreary

At times you might think,

“I can’t go on.

I can’t believe anymore.”

And life pulls you down

And you start to lose your way.

But please remember

You are unstoppable when the Lord is on your side

You can do all things through Christ which strengthens you

If you have faith and turn to Him

He will guide you in your path

There is a plan

Set for each and every one of us

There will be bumps along the way

But there must be opposition in all things

Let’s try to be strong

Let’s try to be brave

Life will pull us down

But we can press on!

Because

We are unstoppable when the Lord is on our side

We can do all things through Christ which strengthens us

If we have faith and turn to Him

He will guide us on our paths.

We are unstoppable!

No Longer Vitimin D Deficient

I'm going to soak up the sun
I've got my 45 on
So I can rock on!

I've soaked up the sun so much today!  And I should have had my 45 SPF sunscreen on today...but you know, it just felt good.  And... I'm definitely rocking on.  :)

OK.  So I'm corny.  But who cares?!  It sunny!  For once in my life it seems.  It's been such a dreary and cold winter and spring.  So I'm pretty much the happiest person in the world right now.  I am no longer Vitamin D deficient!

I went outside for two of my classes today... the only two I had today actually.  Then I took 5 quizzes in the testing center and literally had the hallelujah chorus sung to me when I passed them all... no really, I literally did.  :)  Then I sat outside with my sister until she went to class, attempted to do homework, and 2 hours later, went to my next class.  So basically, I'm fried and loving it!  Gotta love aloe vera though!

A Book Written for Me

I just LOVE going to school at BYU-Idaho!  I think it's the greatest place in the world!  There's such a great spirit on campus, and everybody loves everybody.  I especially love that I get to go to a religion class each semester.  Since I'm still only a freshman, I'm taking the Book of Mormon class, and I absolutely LOVE it!  I've been in the class for less than 3 weeks, and I've learned so much more about it!  I can't count how many times I've read it before, but this semester's different.  We read a talk by President Benson that really opened my eyes.  He said that even though it was written over a thousand years ago, everything in it was written for our day.  The people the stories are about never read these things.  I've always read it before only seeing cool stories.  But now, I think, "How does this relate to the world today?  What is this trying to teach me?"  I can actually see how it applies directly into my life.  It's a book written for me!  I especially love the stories in Alma.  Before, they were just cool war stories and cool conversion stories.  Now, they're an amazing testimony of how the Lord lives!  I can't wait for my daily scripture study.  I take notes and pay a lot better attention to what I'm reading, instead of just skimming a couple verses every night.  I'm reading many chapters a night and really getting into it!  My testimony is so much stronger now!  It's amazing what less than 3 weeks can do to my life.  It truly is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ."  I feel happier, even though I've always been a pretty happy person.  I'm feeling more alive, and every day more and more grateful of what the Lord has done for my life.  I'm so thankful that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!  This gospel has done so much for me and has given me so much peace and comfort in my life.  I can't imagine a life without it.  It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me!  I can't wait to read about it more!  I can't wait to continue developing my testimony of my Savior.  I JUST LOVE THIS GOSPEL!!!