Torn

This is a super random post. But I was just chatting with a good friend of mine from high school about the awesome songs that totally defined that era for us. Whenever I hear any of the following, it takes me right back there to high school:

• any Third Eye Blind song
• Don't Speak - No Doubt
• Wannabe - Spice Girls
• One Headlight - Wallflowers
• Wonderwall - Oasis
• The Freshman - The Verve Pipe
• Slide - Goo Goo Dolls
• Angel - Sarah MacLachlan
• Save Tonight - Eagle Eye Cherry
• I Want it That Way - Backstreet Boys
• Torn - Natalie Imbrulia
  

There are so many more songs---these ones just came to mind. SO my friend sent me this link to a live Natalie Imbrulia performance of Torn--love this song. So if you like 90's music as much as I do, I think you're going to love it. At first you are going to think it is dumb, but then it's also kind of hilarious. Enjoy!

I hear the people sing!

So, MONTHS ago I DVR'd a Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert Special off PBS and I just barely got around to watching it. It is the full musical, and they are in full makeup and costumes, but they don't really act it out--they just stand at microphones and sing it.

I love Les Miz--It's the first real broadway musical production I really saw (other than all the local Idaho Falls productions of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Oklahoma, Kiss Me Kate and SO many others--haha!). But LM was the first real show I saw at the Capital Theatre in Salt Lake City.

I have so much to say:
First: In this version Marius is played by a Jonas Brother--I think it's Nick. A JONAS BROTHER??? He's actually not too bad. He just seems so young for the role.

I have seen LM so many times--Several times in Salt Lake and once in London.

Everytime I watch it I have a different favorite character--I guess it's the different phases of life, right? But when I was a little girl listening to the music before I had ever seen the play, my favorite character was Enjolras, the leader of the student revolutionaries, for some odd reason. Then over the last 6 or 7 times seeing the play, I always find a different character that I like the best: Eponine, Javert, Fantine, the Thenardier's. I can never really relate to Jean Valjean for some reason, but he is always one of my favorite characters (of course). I think it's because he is just so unwavering and completely full of love and charity. I don't know, I'd like to relate to him, but I just never do. Perhaps that should be a life goal.... So, upon my watching of this PBS special, I went back to childhood crush of Enjolras. I just love this guy--he is such an interesting character to me: he is so brave and unwavering in his beliefs. He never gives up on the cause of revolution--even after he realizes that his band of students has no backup and they will likely die. And ultimately, he does die for that cause. I admire his leadership and optimism. Plus he is always the dreamist guy in the cast! Jean Valjean may be uncommonly strong, but Enjolras is always the best man of the cast. And let's face it, Marius is just kind of a wimp!

I'm pretty sure that since I was about 7 years old listening I understood that marriage can be kind of a pain the neck, thanks to Madam Thenardier! I have always loved her little rant at the beginning of "Master of the House."

I think that prostitutes would have a better life if they were able to sing an upbeat, catchy song like "Lovely Ladies" during their shifts. Ha!

Javert's 2 soliloquy songs ("Stars" and "Javert's Suicide") are some of my favorite songs in the musical. I also love all the songs sung by the students in the bar or at the barricades.

Life lessons to glean from LM:
In general we all need to forgive others and give the benefit of the doubt more often.
BUT also be careful--there are creepy and manipulative people out there who WILL take advantage of you any way they can.
Stand up for what you believe in and protect what you love.
Passion makes life worth living.

I could literally keep going for pages and pages!

Anyway, i'm a nerd--I absolutely love this play. I can't WAIT for the day that they bring back a revival to Broadway. I will definitely be going to NYC to see it.

I kinda forgot how much I like...

David Cook--American Idol past winner.

I loved this video of him singing with the PS22 kids. Plus it doesn't hurt that this is an awesome song. I am obsessed with nearly every version I've heard of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" (except the Glee version--they butchered it). But enjoy this one:

in other random news...

I am super proud of my closet makeover/home improvement. I installed a second shelf in my closet and now everything has a place! So proud of myself!!!

BEFORE

AFTER!

A few buildings at work were demolished. It was pretty fun to watch, I must say. In this photo they are knocking down the 3rd floor where I used to work. Good riddance!

Went to Yellowstone with my family. We camped. I was sick the whole time. Yellowstone is the same as it was when I was a kid. The End.

(But niece #3 is adorable all bundled up waiting for Old Faithful, don't you think??)

My handsome brother graduated from High School!!! Class of 2011!
I am getting SO OLD!

Last...I have a new blog that makes me laugh. Remember this email that went around years ago--the cake from Walmart?

Well, there is an entire blog around cake mistakes. It's pretty funny....check out Cake Wrecks.
Here's a couple more cakes:

That's just gross.

That's it for the most random blog post ever.
Will someone please teach me how to do collages??? My blog is kind of ugly with a hundred photos all in a row. :)

This is how it should be done.

After the Christina Aguilera Superbowl National Anthem disaster this year, I was so disappointed. But at one of the NBA Finals game this week, I thought Kelly Clarkson nailed it! She did a great job! I love the National Anthem, and especially when a great singer is performing it!

Rock it out girl!

Loved this!!

Too Funny!! I'm so glad that Michael Bolton is in on the joke.

Will+Kate...2 More Days!

I SERIOUSLY thought about buying these little beauties from a UK store KK Outlet, but then they had this disclaimer on their site:
OVERSEAS ORDERS PLACED AFTER WEDNESDAY 20th APRIL WILL NOT BE DELIVERED BEFORE THE 29th APRIL AKA THE BIG DAY.

Hahahaha....I love the last few words: AKA THE BIG DAY.
These darling dessert plates would have made my Royal Wedding viewing party so fabulous.....

Will+Kate....3 more days!

And in honor of the Royal Wedding...

I've been thinking about the the summer I spent in London in 2002. It was such a good experience...one of the best I've ever had in my life! i LOVE London!!

The day we visited Windsor Castle was really fun. We were looking in all the rooms, and exploring the grounds outside too. While we were there, a cute, old man who was one of the tour guides started chatting with our group of giggly, American girls. He had our attention immediately when he started talking about Prince William. He showed us where William's room was, when the Royal Family stayed there. So once we were outside, of course, we all had to take pictures pointing to his room!

Pretty dumb....but we loved it!

9,986,000 Minutes

I still love The Office and I'm sad to Steve Carell leave the show. But I absolutely loved the staff's goodbye song to Michael this last week:



Hilarious!!

Pura Vida=the good life

I just got back from Costa Rica. It was another work trip--a great incentive trip that I helped plan and execute. I definitely have to go back there on vacation! It is beautiful!





Also, who knew I looked so great in a fedora?? Haha!

Overheard...

So I just absolutely love my nieces....they are so cute! But this week I overheard two really funny things that they said:

This girl on the left had the flu a couple of weeks ago that lasted 5-6 days. My sister said she hardly ate a thing during that time. She's already tall and skinny, but she totally lost weight. So on her first day back to school she said, "MOM! My jeans feel so much better!"

Yeah, wouldn't all of our jeans feel better if we lost a few ell-bees??

Then, this girl on the right....it's always a struggle to get her to eat her dinner. So there are always bribes and/or punishments if she doesn't at least have a couple of bites of the vegetables on her plate. The other night my sister said, "If I were you, I'd start eating my dinner," possibly implying there might be dessert. In her cute little voice can say, my 4-year-old niece replied, "Well, I'm not you."

They are too cute!!

I. Am. Obsessed.

Maybe it's because I always loved Princess Di so much...but I am so enthralled by Kate and William! Don't even judge. This is not usually me.....but it's The RING, her style, Westminster Abbey, the pomp, everything! I love it all. And, today, I discovered.....the Royal Wedding Website. You are welcome!

Voice Over!

So for one of my company's recent events, we created this video. They ended up using my voice--which was really fun for me. I'm so proud of this video, but not because of my voice. But because my friend Kyle wrote this. He's very talented. Check it out:

Songs I Love Right Now

None of these songs are brand new, but I keep putting my ipod on repeat of these 3 tunes:

"Gravity" by Sara Barailles
I just recently re-discovered this on my ipod and I love it all over again!

I've loved this song since the Addiction Dance on SYTYCD (If you have not seen this you have to check it out HERE).


This is the newest of the 3 songs. I have been listening to it for a couple of months, but I just saw the video for the first time and it's awesome. Sing it, Adele! She is amazing! Here is "Rolling in the Deep":




Normally I don't like Lady Antebellum live, but this version is good since Charles Kelly is the main singer on this song. It was from the 2010 CMA Awards.
"Hello World" by Lady A. Enjoy!

Catching Up

Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged. And although I can't believe six months has gone by so quickly, I feel like a lot has happened since then. Here are some highlights:

Together with these people (to the right: coworkers and friends) we put on several events, the biggest of which was a convention for over 5000 people in Salt Lake City Utah. It was one of my proudest professional accomplishments. The classic rock band STYX was our entertainment. It was so fun to meet them.

Thanks Clarrisa (I used some photos from your blog).

I got to check out my baby brother, in the biggest game of his high school career, and his team beat their rivals in the 2010 Emotion Bowl.

Orange goal posts for one more year--Congrats Tigers Class of 2011!

BTW, if anyone needs a good photographer in Idaho Falls, check out Freckleton Photography. They did a great job with Clark's senior photos.

Since Clark is definitely the favorite child, and it's his senior year, my family went a little out of control with Tiger pride this year. This was even our Christmas card photo....a little much?!!?? Maybe...but I just can't believe that my little brother is graduating soon!

How cute is my niece all decked out in Tiger gear after the game?

I also got to go to Copenhagen, Denmark for the first time to help with our European Convention.

I was part of the technical crew...it was so fun!!

We were eating danishes in Denmark...NERDS!
Thank you Jen for this photo.

I went to New York for work, and the assignment I had was such that I was able to bring my mom along with me. It was so fun to see NYC at Christmas time and it was really fun to share that with my mom!

Went to Costa Rica 5 days before Christmas for a 48-hour site inspection for work. It was beautiful, but now I have to go back there for fun! This visit was nearly all work, but I had about 1 hour of a beautiful sunset out on the beach.




January and February have been almost entirely work events, but I did have some down time in Orlando....and went to HOGWARTS!!

And YES, Butterbeer is AMAZING!

But the best thing that has happened is that I have a new niece! She was born at the end of January, and I am the proudest Aunt of these 3 girls!!