A year in review

2009 was a great year! Here is a recap of my favorite moments of 2009.

January

• Although I already was accepted to BYU-Idaho, I finally decided to go there for college.
• Many free periods in high school!
• NEW YEAR, New Semester!

February

• Valentines dance with Alyssa! Fun Fun!
• High School basketball games at the ECenter
• Hanging out with Logan, Laura and Alyssa

March

• MORE CRAZY BELNAP!
• Choir tour including Disneyland and seeing Phantom in Las Vegas!
• Ikea
• Found the world's greatest product - The Snuggie
• 9 to 5!!!!
• Choir NAME CARDS

April

• The woes of English 1010

May

• "That's Not My Name!"
• Graduation
• UP!
• END OF DEALING WITH CRAZY BELNAP!

June

• Last Night - After Graduation
  
• New Job - Fruit Stands
• 18th birthday fun!
• Registering for classes at BYU-Idaho
• New camera
• New Zealand Girls visit. Lots of adventures!
• Hiking

July

• Harry Potter Party
• Work, Work, Work
• Lagoon
• Best Youth Conference EVER!!!

August

• Get ready for school!
• Family Reunion

September

• Moved to Rexburg, Idaho!
• Get Connected
• Met AMAZING people!
• Fun with FHE sisters and room mates!
• Sand Dunes
  

October

• General Conference with Reece and Levi. Ride back to Rexburg with Laura, Sarah, Kelsey, and Reece.
  
• Owl City Boise Concert!
• Crazy Halloween!
• More New Friends!

November

• Looking forward to break
  
• Thanksgiving at home with Reece and the Rhondeaus. Fun Fun times!
• Cabin Adventures. Christmas music, sitting by the fire for 4 whole hours! Felt the Christmas spirit!

December

• Finals Stress
• Final Rexburg adventures
• Leaving Rexburg :(
• No School Until April!
• CHRISTMAS!!!
• Seeing Old Friends!

As you can see, I had a very productive year. I hope this year brings me many more adventures!

Simply Amazing!

Meet Susan Boyle, proof that anything is possible!

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent
by dwarthy

I love the judges expressions! I bet you weren't expecting that! Surely this is not the last we will hear from this woman! I hear that she is the favorite to win this season.

~UPDATE~

Watch how Susan reacts to her new found web fame:

TOUR '09, YES!!!

So I know that I haven't really written in weeks, I promised this to you day's ago, and to that I am deeply sorry. But for now, I have a lot to talk about. Concert choir tour was amazing! I had so much fun!
The bus ride was long, but fun. Not much to tell you there. Disneyland was by far the most fun. The rides, the magic, the memories... oh so many. For those of you Disneyland purists, yes I mean you E, you really need to check out California Adventures park. It has really changed for the better since it opened. There, they have Soarin' over California, by far my favorite ride. It gives you the sensiation that you are flying. Then there is Tower of Terror, a terrifying 13 story drop into The Twilight Zone. I forgot, you need to check out Toy Story Midway Mania. It is a game! Then there is Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth. Oh, how I love that park. It is truly clasic americana. All the rides are classic - all five mountains (Space Mountain is my favorite), Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Small World, Pirates and oh, so many more! I didn't perform there, just watched the ensamble perform. A whole day at Disneyland is tiring, and expensive, but it is magical!
Newport beach was fun. We walked along the beach looking at the beach houses, where we found turtles in someone's yard. I was exhausted and slept on the beach for about an hour. I saw it - The Crab Cooker. Anyone who watches the OC would know what it is. I wanted to go in, but I didn't.
Nick, one of my room mates and I bought 40 bagel bites and ate them all. Now that I look back on it, this disgusts me.
Sunday was a neat day. We performed at an Episcopal church. It was interesting to see how others worship, but it felt as if something was missing. Then we performed at a fireside where Peter Vidmar, a famous gymnist spoke to us. It was a good day.
I was excited for Monday. We were in Las Vegas. On the way the choir stopped at Upland High School, in California and listened to another choir accomplish an amazing feat, Tuvan Throat Singing. Then we were finally off to Vegas. We stayed in a dump - Americas Best Inn and Suites, seriously the cheapest place in vegas, $30 a night. At night there was a security gaurd walking around. It was in a creepy part of Vegas, just off the strip, across the street from the MGM Grand.
As I said before, PHANTOM was amazing. I have never seen the play before, but I loved it. I want to go back again to see it. The stage was specifically made for that one play! The chandalier was HUGE and it scared me when it fell (Spoiler Alert!).
The Venetian and Pillazo were cool. We had a nice, ahem, buffet. The food was ok, but the ambianse was supurb! The mall there was expensive. Name brand designers filled the stores. One book store Alyssa and I found had rare books, one such being $28,000!
The Venetian has a real canal much like Venice where you can have a Gondola ride. Entertainers fill the mall - Ents, magical walking trees, the woman of the fountain, with water coming from their heads and fingers and the best was the real statue, a man (or woman?) standing still, creeply winking at times at certain people.
At Madame Tusauds, a wax museum, I saw all my friends. I saw James Bond, Indiana Jones, a friendly preacher, Ryan Seacrest and a creepy looking Simon, Spider-Man, Abe Lincoln and Barack Obma! The figures were creeply like the real person. I swear I saw one move, or maybe that was my imagination.
Overall, Beln was ok. She was crazy at times, but isn't that normal? My favorite was when she came behind me and started to hum the PHANTOM theme song. As she walked away she told me that it would be scarier if a chain smoker did it. I don't think so!
Tour '09 was seriously the most fun I have had in a while. I am sad that my senior year is almost done, although I am ready to graduate and be done with the drama that is high shcool. Thanks to all the people that make this possible and thank you to my friends. I will never forget the fun of TOUR '09!

Now for the PICTURES...

Small World

Toy Story Midway Mania

~Tower Of Terror~

Recognize This?

Turtles...

Beach

The Creepy Winking Statue

The Ents...

The Water Women

James and I

It's me and Harrison!

Neil Armstrong

Singing for Simon and Ryan. I look weird.

The canal and a gondola at the Venetian.

TOUR!!!!!

It's late. Tour was fun! Phantom was amazing... Pics and stories to come ASAP!

Home At Last!

Just after a very long ride!

*Stories to come soon!*

PHANTOM

Today's the day I have been waiting for!

SINGING ANGELS

Today is our big performance. Wish us luck. We don't know the music well enough.

DISNEYLAND!!!

HOORAY! I am here!

On the road again...

So by now I have left for California for Choir Tour (Yes, this was automatically posted, written yesterday). I really can't wait for all the new adventures I will have. As I remember from last year, the bus ride was long, but fun. See you soon!

Places I love...

I really LOVE IKEA. It is the best store in the whole wide world...That and the Apple Store...And Best Buy. I can't wait to go back with Laura, Alyssa and Logan. Fun times, Fun times.

What to post about?

Sorry I missed yesterday, I had nothing to write. It feels as if the well has run dry for now, at least for big posts. First of all, Laura, I am so excited for Saturday. I think that we are going to have a lot of fun! Second of all, I love my friends! This year I have become friends/become better friends with some of the most amazing people in the world! And to my long-time friends, thanks for always being there for me! Last, but certainly not least, my LOST and The Office friends, Alex and Olivia, I couldn't do without our weekly get-togethers. Wednesday and Thursday nights literally get me through school, and surviving through the end of my senior year. What will we do next year when we will be away? I suppose I will be here in the spring, but we will still be missing you, Olivia. We can always wait until the DVD...

I love you all, and hope you are all doing well!

*Thanks EMILY for finding my blog and being my friend in CHEMISTRY!*

CALIFORNIA

Every time I hear Phantom Planet sing "CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME," I can't help but get excited for choir tour. Seriously, I am psyched! I can't wait to make new memories and get to know my friends better. I can't wait to go to Disneyland, my favorite thing to do in California. I had such a good time on tour last year, here are some memorable things of tour 2008:

• On the way there, we stopped in Cedar City. The McDonalds was seriously amazing. They had plasma tvs in the bathrooms!
• The bus ride was fun, but long. It was a relief to get off and sleep in the hotel.
• Getting up the morning we were going to Disneyland was fun. The excitement was killing me. (On a related note, one spring break in California, I woke my cousin up in the middle of the night, sleep talking, asking him if we were going to Disneyland the next day. We in fact were!)
• Disneyland is really the happiest place on earth. As we were in line for Space Mountain, Haval ran into a pole. That was the funniest moment there.
  
• Wanting to get out of California Adventure...One friend wanted to stay there the entire day.
• Grace loosing her phone. That is a story for a different day. Let me tell you, it was traumatic.
• Getting soaked on Splash Mountain!
• Fantasy Land! Where dreams truly come true!
• By the end of the day, I was ready to leave. It was one of the longest days of my life.
  
• Wicked, the musical. AMAZING!
• St. Edmunds. The chapel was beautiful and it was interesting to see how others worship on Sunday.
  
• Belnap...She fell down the stairs on the bus as it was stopping. What more can I say? There is a lot.
  
• Someone bringing Bagels into the Sunday night performance to keep to his eating schedule.
• The beach and Balboa Bars!
  
• Las Vegas was scary. We stayed in a creepy hotel. It was fun because my roomates and I ordered pizza!
• The roller coaster at the NEW YORK, NEW YORK!
• Coming home was sad, but I was ready to come home. It was snowing!
  

Name Cards

Recently in Concert Choir, we got new seats. Each seat had a name card, telling all the men where to sit. At the end of the period, after my sectionals in another room and the girls sitting where the men sit, singing with Belnap, I found my name card doodled upon by Laura. The next choir day, I found a new name card and by the end of the period, it was also doodled upon. Thanks Laura!

The first one:



The second, and more random one:

Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss.
Have a merry birthday goose!
Celebrate with me today,
And make today a happy day!

Happy 105th birthday! You are my hero.