Trying on a new outfit!

Figured out how to make my blog look nice.  What do you think?  Maybe I'll try another one!

Key-ute

I stole this picture form my SIL's post. This is my cute niece.  And my cute sister in law took this cute picture.

Well, i' got betta...

I do feel a little better than I did last night. And everyone at work today was really nice and complimentary. They reassured me that I don't look like a boy.

I got a haircut!

And I look like a boy.

I have had this haircut before, but the guy who was cutting my hair, went waaay too short.

Seriously, I look like a dude.

The things I do for a free haircut.

I learned my lesson...I'm going to grow my hair out and never cut it again!

I'm it!

I was tagged by the lovely Alicia, to post 7 random things about myself.
Ya know tag's are great way to talk about yourself without feeling guilty for talking about yourself. I mean I was TAGGED! I have to respond, right?

So, let's focus here. On me... :)

1. After a long day of rehearsal, I kind of feel proud of my bruises, floor burns, split toes and swollen feet. I guess, I feel like their signs of all my hard work. Oh yeah. I'm soo tough!

2. I want to certify in and teach Yoga.

3. If I'm ever nervous about an important phone call I have to make, I usually will pace, while on the phone, until I'm really dizzy and have to sit down.

4. I want to learn Spanish, French, German and Yiddish. Especially Yiddish!

5. Am I there yet? ok. Well...I can cluck like chicken!

6. I'm a little self-conscious when it comes to cooking. (well, if it's not from a box)

7. I love coloring! I have 3 coloring books (2 Disney princess books and one pirate) and 96 box of crayons.

Went for a walk today. I started on 200th and walked up to Inwood Hill Park.  It situated near the Hudson River (west) and is between 200th and 218th streets.  It was such a pretty walk.  It didn't look like the above posted picture, but the green trees are showing signs of changing.

For those of you who have been to Manhattan to visit and have seen Central Park, know how beautiful city parks can be.

Inwood Hill is especially nice.  Not because it has manicured gardens and glorious fountains.  On the contrary, Inwood Hill is very overgrown and a little more wild.  It's also smaller so not all of Manhattan is cramped inside the park.  AND you get the added view of the Hudson River.  It's really pretty.

I don't know, maybe I was just so enchanted by my walk today.  Plus, I took a walk just a little before Sunset, my favorite time of day.

Teen Appreciation

Today I went to the Stake Annual Youth Fundraiser at the stake building on E 87th St

The fundraiser was an all day event. It started out with a Tag Sale from all the donated items from all the wards. Then there was a dinner and a roadshow, put on by the youth. I, however, was only able to attend the dinner and roadshow.
The dinner was huge! They had so much food! Especially desserts. (me: "uh oh")

Then they presented a show based on the journal writings of all the pioneers who trekked to Utah. It was all highly entertaining and well organized (the youth in this stake have AMAZING leaders. Truly. They are incredible people).

I am so grateful for the youth in our stake. I am grateful to be, in small way, a part of their life as they grow up in the church. Now, I'm only their Sunday School teacher, and I have them for about 1hour every Sunday, so realize I'm not as involved as their Young Men/Young Women leaders are, but I just feel so excited to be able to teach/discuss with them the gospel, for that short time each week.

I love seeing how they react when responsibility is given them. How, despite the world's view or their friend's point of view of what's cool, they STILL participate happily in YM/YW.

I see how well they respond when their treated like an adult. When their given trust and responsibility.

Whether they realize it or not, they are great leaders and missionaries.

I am learning a lot from their examples.

Good stuff...

I've been watching Lord of the Rings, lately.  

I come home from long hours of rehearsal and the first thing I do when I get home is put on Lord of the Rings while I cool down,  stretch and make dinner (last two are not done simultaneously)

As I've watched all 3 discs, I find myself so energized by the themes in the story.  I realize I'm not the first to recognize these themes, but for whatever reason, right now, I am finding myself thinking more about how these themes relate to me/us and the world today.

I guess I'll just list the themes I've found.

Themes:

By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

Be prepared physically and spiritually.

We are all Kings and Queens and are destined for greatness!

We have the ability, despite the crumbling world around us, to have hope and to press forward and choose righteousness.

Having good friends and influences in our lives can carry us through in times of trial and weariness.

We are Children of God. And in order to win the war against evil we must be of one heart, mind and purpose.

Courage is key.

And the are many more.

It might seem kind of nerdy for me to stop and ponder on these things. And the movie itself is pretty gruesome at times. But I think the themes are there, nonetheless.

I just realized, in the time I'm watching LotR I could be doing more productive things.  Although, to be fair...I am Blogging while I watch LotR.  That counts right?

Bum-Buda Buuum!

This is my 100th post! Wow. I feel so accomplished! I should celebrate with a pat on the back...pat pat...ah, that was nice.

Privy to information

That is such a cute word, Privy. It makes me giggle a little. After saying it, I want to put on a white wig and 16th Century costume and talk in British accents saying, "what is to be done of this Darcy fellow!"

This last week, I attended Enrichment. The theme for the night was families. They gave us the choice of 4 classes, which we could attend 2 of them. One was on FHE, Scrapbooking, Family History and Blogging. I took the latter two. Attending the Family History class, I realized how clueless I've been to the wonderfully simplistic NEW and IMPROVED version of searching for family names. I also realized I need to do more research on my own family history.

Next I attended the blogging class. It was lead by some pretty radical sisters in the ward. I'm a fan of their blogs. In the class they gave a little handout, pointing out reasons for starting a blog, blog etiquette, and pluses and minuses of going private.
It made me stop and ponder my own reason for starting a blog. It was to t connect with ALL my family back in Arizona, Utah and California and to friends spread all over the world.

So then I wondered, am I doing what I initially set out to do? Or am I becoming self-absorbed and blog only to gratify the narcissism within me.

I might have to answer yes to both of those. I'm enjoying my life right now and feel very grateful for the adventures and opportunities I've been given. And feel anxious (sometimes so anxious, that I feel like a little kid) to share.

But I also like to blog to hear the comments and thoughts of loved ones. So maybe narcissism is an extreme word to use here.

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yes. Well, even if I am narcissistic, just know that I love reading your blogs and I love reading your uplifting comments.

In fact, just yesterday I was going through my blogs and found an entry where I was quite sad and depressed about recent events. But everyone was so encouraging and helpful. I read it NOW sometimes to give me courage to face struggles.

Oh! I also am debating whether or not I should go private. OR i could try being anonymous in my blog, come up with alternate names and places. I could be Betty. Or Vudeja!

I've been couped up all day in my apartment with no one to talk to, so I think this is why I am getting so lenghty and random in my entry. Much apologies.

Please accept this funny video of a strange cat, as means to express my sincerest apology. (you can always depend on weird animal tricks to make you smile)

Why I love it so much

I can't figure out how to post videos.  So I'll just have you click on this, to see why dancing is just so awesome!  This is a company I just recently heard of,  called DV8 Physical Theatre, their based in the UK and their work is so interesting to watch.  I especially want to learn this. And this guy, David Toole is amazing!  

Oh wait.  If that wasn't enough this duet is neat to watch.  

You might think I'm crazy to get to obsessed with it.  But it is just so darn cool!

Sorry I'm so lame when it comes to figuring out theses technical things....

And please feel free to give me your honest opinion about each one (if you get that far) you don't have to like ANY of them, but tell me what you think.