Let me take a moment to describe to you how leadership positions are filled within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We believe in modern-day revelation. With this belief comes the belief that God calls people to positions where they are needed. He also calls them to positions where they will be able to learn something and grow. These callings or revelations often come through the leader of the congregation, or the Bishop.
For just under a year, I have been serving in what we call the primary. This is where the children under the age of 12 go to have a class with singing, then we break into smaller classes to have a lesson. I was with with kids who were 5 at the beginning of this year and will be 6 by the end of the year. That is my favorite age group. I just love all their personalities and how much willing they are to learn. I could not have been happier.
A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to meet with one of the men who asks people if they will accept callings. This isn't his only responsibility though, so I thought nothing of it. I went in and met with him and he asked me if I would be willing to accept a calling that would remove me from my position with my little 5 and 6 year-old buddies and put me with the 12 and 13 year-old girls.
Yeah, but that's not all.
This calling would require me to not only be with them on Sundays, but to also take one evening per week, every week, to spend time with these girls.
Hi, my name is Brigette and I student-teach Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 7:45 to at least 3:30. On Tuesdays I am in classes from 8:20-4:30. I have homework coming out of my ears, and I have a job. How could I responsibly add another commitment to that?
Well, I prayed about it and I really felt like I needed to accept the calling. I felt like God really needs me to be with those girls. Whether it is to help them with something I can offer, or to help me through something they can teach me, I have no idea, but I can officially say that I am terrified, but I know what I need to be doing. Starting in one week, I will be spending a significant amount of time with a bunch of 12 and 13 year-old girls I have never met before.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Making Time
Have you ever noticed that throughout your life there are some things that you are good at one year then terrible at the next? Well, when I was growing up, I was great at saying my prayers before I went to bed, but I never said them in the morning and I consistently struggled with daily scripture study.
A year ago, I had it all down. I never left my house without saying a prayer. I never went to bed without reading scriptures or some modern-day revelations, and I always said prayers before bed.
Now, I read my scriptures every day, but prayer is harder for me to feel motivated to do. I wonder if it is in part because I know that prayer should be a powerful thing, so I don't want to skim over it, but I am always under such a time crunch (yes, even when I'm going to bed) that I don't want to devote 15-30 minutes to anything that isn't on my to-do list for school. Yes, I realize how ridiculous that sounds. My Father in Heaven has given me everything, yet I can't give Him an honest quarter of an hour? I can't stand that I feel that way, but I do. I feel so rushed to get to my student teaching, then to work, then do homework, then clean my house, then finally collapse into my bed, and repeat it all the next day.
I think I'm going to make an official schedule of things I need to do before going to bed. I'll let you know how that works out, I guess.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Here We Go, Again
I have decided that, for my own sanity, I need to have a place to just write and vent and be me. This will be that place. Maybe. The plan is to write about once a week, but we will see how much time homework allows me to have for myself, especially since I also plan on using daily exercise as a way to release stress and have some "me time."
If you are a person who gets emails about what I blog, please let me know and I will see if I can find where to change that setting, but I haven't been here for several years so it might take some time and random clicking.
Also, I have apparently decided that I will be using APA formatting on the blog from here on out, which means I don't have to indent (if blogs are formatted the same way as discussion boards, that is; if they aren't, then I'm just not indenting for the sake of not indenting).
I now have to go get ready for school tomorrow. Here goes week six of student teaching.
If you are a person who gets emails about what I blog, please let me know and I will see if I can find where to change that setting, but I haven't been here for several years so it might take some time and random clicking.
Also, I have apparently decided that I will be using APA formatting on the blog from here on out, which means I don't have to indent (if blogs are formatted the same way as discussion boards, that is; if they aren't, then I'm just not indenting for the sake of not indenting).
I now have to go get ready for school tomorrow. Here goes week six of student teaching.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
this is my life
so, i'm speaking in church this sunday.
if you don't come, i'll make you cookies.
also, i was just informed by the piece of paper hanging on grandma and grandpa's fridge, that i'm having an open house on the 27th.
i don't know how i feel about this, for a number of reasons.
- i'm not a fan of large social gatherings in my honor.
- i'm not a fan of large social gatherings.
- it's my last sunday here, and i'd like to spend it with people i really like, doing whatever i darn well please--not being a good hostess.
- i was informed that this was all happening by a piece of paper that is hanging on the fridge, that turned out to be an email that my mom sent to everyone, so i'm literally the last one to know.
- i really should get over my hatred of lists with only four things, because i seem to make them more than any other length of list.
besides that...
i participated in my first ever tim tam slam tonight. it was fun. tim tams are delicious, but i'm not really a fan of things that i need to eat fast, so i'm not sure if i'd have my own tim tam slam. i think i'd still go to them, but it's nothing i'd ever initiate.
season five of the office is amazing.
boys are frustrating.
i helped vanessa paint her room. the primer has still not come off of me. favorite david said it's because a wizard sneezed in the primer, so now it's magical.
lissa has changed her favorite color to black, but i'm pretty sure that either cameron or i had dibs on that many years ago.
i have mosquito bites everywhere, and i got them all on one night, when i was talking to daniel, except for 2 of them. the funniest thing is that the 2 i didn't get while i was talking to him, have matches on him: i have one on my left knee, and so does he; i have one on my right hand, and he has one in almost the exact same spot. that's why we're best friends. : )
i'm leaving in two weeks.
crap.
totes crap.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
just wondering... (pg-13)
If we started calling someone who was being a poop face a “mute donkey” instead of a “dumb ass,” how would people react?
I predict anarchy.
I predict anarchy.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
welcome to my brain.
Lighting design in theatre is an amazing thing. The lights can convey as much information and add as much to a play as music can, if done correctly. Different lighting effects can be used to establish the setting, emotion and main points of a scene. They can add humor or point things out to the audience that the average person might not notice without the help of a lighting designer highlighting it.
One of a lighting designer’s jobs is to do just that: highlight. Light is something that people naturally look toward, so by lighting something insignificant, the lighting designer might be able to trick the audience into believing that it is something important (which, admittedly, would be really funny).
Sorry, let’s refocus.
People look to light. When you’re in a house, and only one light is on, that is where you will probably go. We all mock the little bugs that all just go toward the light, even though their lives may be at stake, but, honestly, who hasn’t tried to “get a seven on the sun stare?” We are drawn toward light.
Let’s go metaphoric now.
Why do so many people wander in darkness, when light is what we so clearly desire? Some of them are in darkness because fate dealt them a lousy hand this time around, but some of them are there because they chose to be.
The way I see it, there is little we can do to actually help those who choose to be in darkness. When you’re in a dark room and someone turns on a light, you are probably not very happy with that person. If someone is in darkness in his or her life, and someone tries to force light onto them, there is going to be some bad stuff happening, maybe a shoe-throwing fight or something, I don’t know. Consider, however, just letting your light be it’s natural brightness. You aren’t forcing anyone to stare at it, but they will end up being drawn to it eventually. And if they lose you, they will remember that light, and how much easier it made their lives, and they will eventually seek to find their way out of the darkness. Forcing anything onto anyone will only result in calamity, but by merely being who you are—or better yet: who you hope to become—you will be infinitely helpful in their lives and you can know that you helped them find their own light.
Now, the people who are in darkness just because they know nothing else, that’s a whole different problem. Their eyes have gotten used to the darkness, because there is simply no light around them. They do not know what they’re missing, because they’ve never seen anything besides darkness. Again, we cannot just show up in their lives and force light on them. Their eyes that are so accustomed to the dark will not respond kindly to that. All we can do is hope that a little glimmer of the light that we have will be bright enough that when we pass by them from a distance, they will notice that something is different. We just have to hope that they recognize that they want to reach that light and happiness, and then do everything in their power to reach for it until someone who has it is able to help them establish their own light so that it will be able to grow and light their way and the paths of others’.
I don’t know where exactly this came from. My brain was just thinking about stage lighting and how cool it is that most people look exactly where they're supposed to be looking based on what part of the stage is the most lit. Then this happened. I don’t know if it is coherent, and I haven’t proofread it at all, but I think I need to go to bed, since Ryan is going to be awake soon and he’s going to pester me about being up too late.
Maybe I’ll edit it later. Maybe not. Probably not. We’ll see though. Goodnight!
One of a lighting designer’s jobs is to do just that: highlight. Light is something that people naturally look toward, so by lighting something insignificant, the lighting designer might be able to trick the audience into believing that it is something important (which, admittedly, would be really funny).
Sorry, let’s refocus.
People look to light. When you’re in a house, and only one light is on, that is where you will probably go. We all mock the little bugs that all just go toward the light, even though their lives may be at stake, but, honestly, who hasn’t tried to “get a seven on the sun stare?” We are drawn toward light.
Let’s go metaphoric now.
Why do so many people wander in darkness, when light is what we so clearly desire? Some of them are in darkness because fate dealt them a lousy hand this time around, but some of them are there because they chose to be.
The way I see it, there is little we can do to actually help those who choose to be in darkness. When you’re in a dark room and someone turns on a light, you are probably not very happy with that person. If someone is in darkness in his or her life, and someone tries to force light onto them, there is going to be some bad stuff happening, maybe a shoe-throwing fight or something, I don’t know. Consider, however, just letting your light be it’s natural brightness. You aren’t forcing anyone to stare at it, but they will end up being drawn to it eventually. And if they lose you, they will remember that light, and how much easier it made their lives, and they will eventually seek to find their way out of the darkness. Forcing anything onto anyone will only result in calamity, but by merely being who you are—or better yet: who you hope to become—you will be infinitely helpful in their lives and you can know that you helped them find their own light.
Now, the people who are in darkness just because they know nothing else, that’s a whole different problem. Their eyes have gotten used to the darkness, because there is simply no light around them. They do not know what they’re missing, because they’ve never seen anything besides darkness. Again, we cannot just show up in their lives and force light on them. Their eyes that are so accustomed to the dark will not respond kindly to that. All we can do is hope that a little glimmer of the light that we have will be bright enough that when we pass by them from a distance, they will notice that something is different. We just have to hope that they recognize that they want to reach that light and happiness, and then do everything in their power to reach for it until someone who has it is able to help them establish their own light so that it will be able to grow and light their way and the paths of others’.
I don’t know where exactly this came from. My brain was just thinking about stage lighting and how cool it is that most people look exactly where they're supposed to be looking based on what part of the stage is the most lit. Then this happened. I don’t know if it is coherent, and I haven’t proofread it at all, but I think I need to go to bed, since Ryan is going to be awake soon and he’s going to pester me about being up too late.
Maybe I’ll edit it later. Maybe not. Probably not. We’ll see though. Goodnight!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Help, Please?
I'm looking for a few ice-cream machines to use for a FHE activity. I'm not sure I'm going to do it, but I'm thinking about having the members of my ward who actually come to FHE break into a few groups and make whatever kinds of ice cream they want (that I have the stuff for), and they'll just be playing games and socializing while it's becoming ice cream, then while they're eating it.
The activity (if I do actually decide this is what I want to do) will be August 10th, so I'd probably want to gather the machines on Saturday the 8th, and I'd bring them back the following Tuesday or Wednesday.
Let me know what you think of the activity itself, and if you have a machine I can steal for a few days.
Please and Thank you!
The activity (if I do actually decide this is what I want to do) will be August 10th, so I'd probably want to gather the machines on Saturday the 8th, and I'd bring them back the following Tuesday or Wednesday.
Let me know what you think of the activity itself, and if you have a machine I can steal for a few days.
Please and Thank you!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wonder of Wonders!
I was “doot-de-doo”-ing a song from a musical last night, and nobody could figure out what it was. Darci, Brandon and Mom all started doot-de-doo-ing it too, and Mom even figured out that the last word in the phrases was “America,” but she couldn’t figure out the rest of the words, and still had no idea what song it was, let alone what musical it came from.
They kept working on this song, while I moved on to like three others. They worked tirelessly, and still couldn’t figure out what show it was. Now, all of them claim to be well-acquainted with theatre, and this is a really old, well-known show, so it was amusing me just to watch them squirm in their ignorance.
Then, something miraculous happened. Dad said, “Guys, isn’t it from West Side Story?”
OH MY GOODNESS!!
My father hates basically everything about musical theatre; he has absolutely NO interest in watching, listening to, or hearing about anything that even remotely relates to the stage. This made his correct diagnosis of the song that the rest of the family had been stuck on for so long all the sweeter.
Darci and Brandon, naturally, started making excuses to attempt to explain why they didn’t know it, but everything they said (things like “I’ve never seen that show,” and “I’ve only seen the movie”), I came back at with the same things. Except that I’ve never even seen the movie. I’ve tried watching it several times, but I never get very far before I leave the room. Also, Darci had just watched Web Site Story, so she really, really had no excuse.
Dad surprised everyone with his superior knowledge of theatre, and I completely stumped Mom, Darci and Brandon.
It was a wonderful day.
They kept working on this song, while I moved on to like three others. They worked tirelessly, and still couldn’t figure out what show it was. Now, all of them claim to be well-acquainted with theatre, and this is a really old, well-known show, so it was amusing me just to watch them squirm in their ignorance.
Then, something miraculous happened. Dad said, “Guys, isn’t it from West Side Story?”
OH MY GOODNESS!!
My father hates basically everything about musical theatre; he has absolutely NO interest in watching, listening to, or hearing about anything that even remotely relates to the stage. This made his correct diagnosis of the song that the rest of the family had been stuck on for so long all the sweeter.
Darci and Brandon, naturally, started making excuses to attempt to explain why they didn’t know it, but everything they said (things like “I’ve never seen that show,” and “I’ve only seen the movie”), I came back at with the same things. Except that I’ve never even seen the movie. I’ve tried watching it several times, but I never get very far before I leave the room. Also, Darci had just watched Web Site Story, so she really, really had no excuse.
Dad surprised everyone with his superior knowledge of theatre, and I completely stumped Mom, Darci and Brandon.
It was a wonderful day.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Not Okay
Maybe I am really, really prideful, but I think that I am a fairly forgiving person. I know that people are stupid, so I just take it as me getting points for being right when they do stupid things and prove me right then forgive them for being stupid. I don’t really react to, or care much about anything I hear on the news because I know that people are stupid, so I just hear it and say, “Yep, there goes another stupid one,” and move on with my life.
The other day, however, I was washing off my dinner dishes while Grandma was watching the news, and heard about the little girl who had been sexually assaulted by four boys. For some reason, it surprises me more when I hear about kids doing stupid things. I guess I have just decided that adults are stupider than kids, but whatever my reasoning was, I stopped my washing to listen.
I was shocked and upset about hearing that four boys ranging in age from nine to fourteen had lured a little girl into a shed with gum and then sexually assaulted her.
I had mixed feelings about the oldest boy being tried as an adult. Yes, he should have known better, but he’s still not an adult.
I then heard that the girl was in the care of CPS (or something like it), and was really confused. That poor little girl had been through more than I can imagine and she should be able to go home with her parents and be surrounded by familiar, happy things.
But then I heard why she wasn’t going home with Mom and Dad. They disowned her. They said that she brought shame to the family—that she had victimized herself and it was her fault.
Oh. My. Gosh.
I understand that the family is from a different culture, but that is stills so not ok with me, that I honestly am shaking thinking about it, and it’s been a whole 36 hours since I heard about it.
1. Who tells a girl who was raped that it was her fault? Seriously?!
2. How on earth can an eight year-old girl be held responsible for that?! Is she supposed to suspect that every time a boy (even one who is her age) offers her anything, she should think that he’s trying to sexually assault her? I don’t think I even knew what that was when I was eight, and if I did, I certainly didn’t think that some kids I knew from school would do that to me.
I think of all my kids. I know that they aren’t technically mine at all, but I picture my little Yareli, Alicia or Angela, and if I knew that their parents had shunned them for something like that, I would have a cow. (Obviously, since I’m kinda having a cow right now, and I don’t even know the girl.) I would go straight to the office and talk to my principal. I don’t think I’d leave until I knew that CPS was coming and getting my little girl so that she didn’t have to go home to parents who would say something like that to her.
And let’s not even start on how I’d feel if something like this happened to my sister. Oh dear.
I am sure that the parents aren’t trying to make this girl’s life even harder, but I just can’t see how they think they’re helping anyone, whether it’s the girl, or themselves.
I just had a thought. Everything I’ve read has talked about the dad, and how he has said that they didn’t want her back. I wonder how Mom feels—if she agrees with what he’s doing, or if it’s just that her culture forces her to follow her husband.
Aaaaaaannd now I’m going to go on a feminist rant, so I’ll stop now.
I guess this just goes to show you that even Brigette occasionally has opinions.
How odd.
The other day, however, I was washing off my dinner dishes while Grandma was watching the news, and heard about the little girl who had been sexually assaulted by four boys. For some reason, it surprises me more when I hear about kids doing stupid things. I guess I have just decided that adults are stupider than kids, but whatever my reasoning was, I stopped my washing to listen.
I was shocked and upset about hearing that four boys ranging in age from nine to fourteen had lured a little girl into a shed with gum and then sexually assaulted her.
I had mixed feelings about the oldest boy being tried as an adult. Yes, he should have known better, but he’s still not an adult.
I then heard that the girl was in the care of CPS (or something like it), and was really confused. That poor little girl had been through more than I can imagine and she should be able to go home with her parents and be surrounded by familiar, happy things.
But then I heard why she wasn’t going home with Mom and Dad. They disowned her. They said that she brought shame to the family—that she had victimized herself and it was her fault.
Oh. My. Gosh.
I understand that the family is from a different culture, but that is stills so not ok with me, that I honestly am shaking thinking about it, and it’s been a whole 36 hours since I heard about it.
1. Who tells a girl who was raped that it was her fault? Seriously?!
2. How on earth can an eight year-old girl be held responsible for that?! Is she supposed to suspect that every time a boy (even one who is her age) offers her anything, she should think that he’s trying to sexually assault her? I don’t think I even knew what that was when I was eight, and if I did, I certainly didn’t think that some kids I knew from school would do that to me.
I think of all my kids. I know that they aren’t technically mine at all, but I picture my little Yareli, Alicia or Angela, and if I knew that their parents had shunned them for something like that, I would have a cow. (Obviously, since I’m kinda having a cow right now, and I don’t even know the girl.) I would go straight to the office and talk to my principal. I don’t think I’d leave until I knew that CPS was coming and getting my little girl so that she didn’t have to go home to parents who would say something like that to her.
And let’s not even start on how I’d feel if something like this happened to my sister. Oh dear.
I am sure that the parents aren’t trying to make this girl’s life even harder, but I just can’t see how they think they’re helping anyone, whether it’s the girl, or themselves.
I just had a thought. Everything I’ve read has talked about the dad, and how he has said that they didn’t want her back. I wonder how Mom feels—if she agrees with what he’s doing, or if it’s just that her culture forces her to follow her husband.
Aaaaaaannd now I’m going to go on a feminist rant, so I’ll stop now.
I guess this just goes to show you that even Brigette occasionally has opinions.
How odd.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
it may be late, but here it is
I know it's kinda, super late, but I feel that the world should know what my family did for the fourth of July.
The plan, originally, was that Dad and Alex would do nothing, and Mom and Lissa would go down to Rockin' R and just watch the fireworks, but, having worked at Rockin' R for longer than the average bear, I know how annoying the people who do that are, so I convinced everyone that we should all go somewhere together.
Dad suggested going to the casino because apparently they always have a good fireworks show, so we started driving out there at like 8: 45ish.
When we got to the casino, there was tons of parking still available. Alex and Lissa saw this as a good thing: we would be able to be closer to the fireworks, but Mom, Dad and I all knew what this really meant: there weren't any fireworks to be seen here.
So we started driving west. A few minutes into this new drive, we started seeing fireworks afar off. I figured that they were the ones at Tempe Town Lake. Then, a little to the north of those, we saw more. Then there some almost directly north of where we were. I turned around and saw some to our southeast, which I assumed were in Queen Creek. Then there appeared yet another display, this one seeming very close, and directly south of us. This is the one Dad chose to stop and watch.
We drove for just a few more minutes and at about 9:10, found a street where other cars had just pulled to the side of the road and parked, and we decided that we would happily follow in their footsteps... or tire tracks, as the case may be. So we pulled over, and Dad, Alex and Mom pulled out some lawn chairs and sat in a little dirt area off the road, while Lissa and I sat on top of Dad's truck.
We were only there for a few minutes before the show ended, but the adventure getting there was probably more fun than we would have had if we had just been successful in our first attempt to find a show to watch.
After that ended, we got out of the neighborhood where we had parked, and realized that none of us really knew how many times the road we were on had turned, because we ended up going a completely different direction than any of us had anticipated, but it all worked out, and we got to sonic and got our food, then took me home. I don't know what the rest of the family did for the rest of the night, but I finished of my holiday by watching a movie with a friend.
It was a lovely day, with some accidental adventures, but, really, aren't those the best kind?
Totes.
oh, one more thing: go see Sweeney Todd at MCC.
Tickets are $12, or $8 for students.
The only shows left are July 16-18, at 7:30
The plan, originally, was that Dad and Alex would do nothing, and Mom and Lissa would go down to Rockin' R and just watch the fireworks, but, having worked at Rockin' R for longer than the average bear, I know how annoying the people who do that are, so I convinced everyone that we should all go somewhere together.
Dad suggested going to the casino because apparently they always have a good fireworks show, so we started driving out there at like 8: 45ish.
When we got to the casino, there was tons of parking still available. Alex and Lissa saw this as a good thing: we would be able to be closer to the fireworks, but Mom, Dad and I all knew what this really meant: there weren't any fireworks to be seen here.
So we started driving west. A few minutes into this new drive, we started seeing fireworks afar off. I figured that they were the ones at Tempe Town Lake. Then, a little to the north of those, we saw more. Then there some almost directly north of where we were. I turned around and saw some to our southeast, which I assumed were in Queen Creek. Then there appeared yet another display, this one seeming very close, and directly south of us. This is the one Dad chose to stop and watch.
We drove for just a few more minutes and at about 9:10, found a street where other cars had just pulled to the side of the road and parked, and we decided that we would happily follow in their footsteps... or tire tracks, as the case may be. So we pulled over, and Dad, Alex and Mom pulled out some lawn chairs and sat in a little dirt area off the road, while Lissa and I sat on top of Dad's truck.
We were only there for a few minutes before the show ended, but the adventure getting there was probably more fun than we would have had if we had just been successful in our first attempt to find a show to watch.
After that ended, we got out of the neighborhood where we had parked, and realized that none of us really knew how many times the road we were on had turned, because we ended up going a completely different direction than any of us had anticipated, but it all worked out, and we got to sonic and got our food, then took me home. I don't know what the rest of the family did for the rest of the night, but I finished of my holiday by watching a movie with a friend.
It was a lovely day, with some accidental adventures, but, really, aren't those the best kind?
Totes.
oh, one more thing: go see Sweeney Todd at MCC.
Tickets are $12, or $8 for students.
The only shows left are July 16-18, at 7:30
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
i dance ... and don't close the blinds...
two posts in one day? i know, i'm going nuts, but while i was writing the last one, i realized that i have been neglecting my responsibilities.
what responsibilities?
to share my opinion, of course!!
now, those of you who know me, know that i really don't have opinions on very many things. so, what am i going to talk to you about?
dance!!
i'm going to post my favorite performances from So You Think You Can Dance every week (just from the performance show, i'm not going to annoy you with the group dances or with people dancing for their lives, unless it's ridonkulously good.
here's my favorite from the first night of couples competition (20 dancers)
first of all: props to caitlin for that sick handstand at the beginning. second, this dance is incredibly intricate. every hand movement means something, and if you mess it up, it could possibly mean something very different. and just look at all the energy they had. i almost didn't pick this as my favorite (because there really basically was a 4-way tie), but i think that the amazing control they had while still having so much energy is enough to get them on top of my little list.
here are the other three that i really, really liked
olutely love this style. i love these choreographers. i wish that the hip hop routines i've done were anywhere near this cool. i love the emotion that they show. i don't think they performed quite as well as chelsie and mark did their lyrical hip hop last season, but when you consider that this was the very first routine of the very first show of the season, what they did was absolutely amazing.
the lifts make this one. yes, the dance quality itself is really, really good, but the lifts are absolutely amazing. the lines that they create are gorgeous.
for this one, there's some fast forwarding, but all the shorter videos didn't look very good. sorry.
this one is all about the chemistry. watching this, i would never suspect that she is married, or that these two hadn't met before just a few weeks ago (if it was even that long), and i would never,ever think that this was the first time they had danced together. it was super good.
this is going to be a fantastic season and i am so excited to keep watching.
what responsibilities?
to share my opinion, of course!!
now, those of you who know me, know that i really don't have opinions on very many things. so, what am i going to talk to you about?
dance!!
i'm going to post my favorite performances from So You Think You Can Dance every week (just from the performance show, i'm not going to annoy you with the group dances or with people dancing for their lives, unless it's ridonkulously good.
here's my favorite from the first night of couples competition (20 dancers)
first of all: props to caitlin for that sick handstand at the beginning. second, this dance is incredibly intricate. every hand movement means something, and if you mess it up, it could possibly mean something very different. and just look at all the energy they had. i almost didn't pick this as my favorite (because there really basically was a 4-way tie), but i think that the amazing control they had while still having so much energy is enough to get them on top of my little list.
here are the other three that i really, really liked
olutely love this style. i love these choreographers. i wish that the hip hop routines i've done were anywhere near this cool. i love the emotion that they show. i don't think they performed quite as well as chelsie and mark did their lyrical hip hop last season, but when you consider that this was the very first routine of the very first show of the season, what they did was absolutely amazing.
the lifts make this one. yes, the dance quality itself is really, really good, but the lifts are absolutely amazing. the lines that they create are gorgeous.
for this one, there's some fast forwarding, but all the shorter videos didn't look very good. sorry.
this one is all about the chemistry. watching this, i would never suspect that she is married, or that these two hadn't met before just a few weeks ago (if it was even that long), and i would never,ever think that this was the first time they had danced together. it was super good.
this is going to be a fantastic season and i am so excited to keep watching.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
I didn't Need the Pain
It was my freshman year at ASU. I was in my very first English class of many, many English classes in college. Unfortunately, it was ENG 101: dumb people English. So I found the one person in that class that I trusted to edit my papers, and everyone knew that Gabe and I would edit any of their papers, and that we would let them edit our stuff, but that there probably wasn't much that they were going to be able to fix. (Yes, that sounds really snobby, but I was forced into the realization that I am an elitist, so I am now forcing everyone else to realize it too.)
One day, I was listening to Gabe discuss with our teacher (who actually wasn't a moron, thank Buddah) the idea of the memory of pain. He argued that there is no such thing as a memory of pain, only pain itself. He claimed that by remembering pain, you recreate the pain. Logic follows that if you are recreating the pain, it is no longer a memory, but something that is actually happening to you.
Apparently this idea has really stuck with me over the years, becuase it was the first thing I thought of when a friend of mine suggested a related, but opposing idea: we don't remember the pain we felt, but we remember being in pain. To relate an example: someone doesn't remember what it felt like when she burned her hand on the top coils of a heated oven, but she remembers that it hurt a lot.
Now, I don't know that I agree 100% with either of these ideas, I'm just throwing them out there to anyone who wants to ponder something that is probably fairly pointless, but interesting nonetheless.
I think that I favor the first idea more than the second. As I think about my friend burning her hand, my own hand is starting to shake and I can imaging the pain she must have felt, and that wasn't even my memory. More personally, as I think about slicing my finger open with a gobo, I can feel exactly where the scar on my little pinki finger is, without needing to look at it or feel it with my other hand.
Maybe the second idea is more appliciable to emotional pain, since that is what this friend and I were actually talking about. I, however, can't think of an emotional pain strong enough to be worth remembering that didn't also have physical manifestations, so I can't test this theory.
I don't know. This is just me sharing random thoughts with the world.
And, because I'm in a huge dance mood, I will leave you with the video that introduced me to the song that inspired my title for this post, which also happens to be my favorite dance from SYTYCD last season. : )
Totes.
One day, I was listening to Gabe discuss with our teacher (who actually wasn't a moron, thank Buddah) the idea of the memory of pain. He argued that there is no such thing as a memory of pain, only pain itself. He claimed that by remembering pain, you recreate the pain. Logic follows that if you are recreating the pain, it is no longer a memory, but something that is actually happening to you.
Apparently this idea has really stuck with me over the years, becuase it was the first thing I thought of when a friend of mine suggested a related, but opposing idea: we don't remember the pain we felt, but we remember being in pain. To relate an example: someone doesn't remember what it felt like when she burned her hand on the top coils of a heated oven, but she remembers that it hurt a lot.
Now, I don't know that I agree 100% with either of these ideas, I'm just throwing them out there to anyone who wants to ponder something that is probably fairly pointless, but interesting nonetheless.
I think that I favor the first idea more than the second. As I think about my friend burning her hand, my own hand is starting to shake and I can imaging the pain she must have felt, and that wasn't even my memory. More personally, as I think about slicing my finger open with a gobo, I can feel exactly where the scar on my little pinki finger is, without needing to look at it or feel it with my other hand.
Maybe the second idea is more appliciable to emotional pain, since that is what this friend and I were actually talking about. I, however, can't think of an emotional pain strong enough to be worth remembering that didn't also have physical manifestations, so I can't test this theory.
I don't know. This is just me sharing random thoughts with the world.
And, because I'm in a huge dance mood, I will leave you with the video that introduced me to the song that inspired my title for this post, which also happens to be my favorite dance from SYTYCD last season. : )
Totes.
Monday, June 8, 2009
like a hand-print on my heart...
Here's the thoughtful post I've been promising you. I posted it on facebook a few days ago, so sorry if you've already read it, but I can only have so many thoughts in one week... : )
Warning: this is a little sappy... but it's late, and I've been thinking about this for a long time. Also, I'm in a "Pam at the end of season 3" mode right now, where I basically just tell everyone what I'm thinking, and how I feel about them... so, yeah. You've officially been warned.
I've been facebook stalking people a lot lately, with all teh extra time I have, it just comes naturally. As I was staling a girl I went to high school with, I saw that basically all of her friends are friends we had in high school.
Later I was stalking a girl I went to junior high with. Now, she went to a different high school than I did, so she has a lot of friends who I don't know, but I can identify almost everyone in the vast majority of her pictures as the girls she hung out with when we were in orchestra together in junior high.
After considering the amazing relationships that these girls must have with these other people who they've known and been friends with for so long, I got a little bit sad.
Yes, I have facebook friends from high school; I even have a few from junior high. However, do I ever talk to them? I have one friend who I know I could talk to whenever I want, whose house I will always be welcome to come to and just hang out, even if said friend is not home, who I have known for as long as I can remember—literally: her mom babysat my sister and me when my mom couldn't get home from work in time to pick us up from the bus stop.
I have another friend whom I love to pieces who has been my best friend since seventh grade. We became best friends because we were the fat Mormon girls in the click that we were in, and ever since then we've basically shared a brain. I consider her to be my family more than anyone else I've ever known (who wasn't actually family, and even more than some who are family).
Then I have another friend who I met in high school who I share more interests with than anyone (except the aforementioned 7th grade best-friend). She keeps me updated on everything that happens in the theatre world, and lets me live vicariously through her as she performs in show after show. I enjoy few things more than getting to work backstage on a show that she's in the cast of, and I love our weekly trips to get dessert and just be happy, intelligent, theatre-nerd friends.
And that's about it. Those are my three friends who I have known the longest. I wonder how different my life would be if I had kept the same friends my entire life. How different of a person would I be? I can't speak for these girls who have had the same friends since junior high, or even high school, but I'm pretty positive that, for me, that would not have been a good thing.
My entire life I've kind of thrown pity parties for myself about how people always leave me. In elementary school I had a different "best friend" every year. In junior high my little click of best friends got torn apart first by one of the people being a stupidface, then by going to different high schools. Then my senior year my best friend moved a billion miles away and just a few months after that I lost another incredibly close friend to an even farther away destination. Then my sister left for her mission and never really came back to be my sister; she just got married right away. And I could keep going and get much more detailed, but I’m not going to.
I know that I would not be the same person that I am today if I hadn't had so many wonderful and different friends throughout my life. I won't lie: I still have an incredibly hard time saying goodbye to people, but I know that the things I have learned about people, the church, and life in general, I would not have been able to learn had I always been surrounded by the same friends.
I am thankful that I have the relationships that I have with my friends. I am also thankful for the relationships I’ve had and lost, because I am so much stronger because of them.
Warning: this is a little sappy... but it's late, and I've been thinking about this for a long time. Also, I'm in a "Pam at the end of season 3" mode right now, where I basically just tell everyone what I'm thinking, and how I feel about them... so, yeah. You've officially been warned.
I've been facebook stalking people a lot lately, with all teh extra time I have, it just comes naturally. As I was staling a girl I went to high school with, I saw that basically all of her friends are friends we had in high school.
Later I was stalking a girl I went to junior high with. Now, she went to a different high school than I did, so she has a lot of friends who I don't know, but I can identify almost everyone in the vast majority of her pictures as the girls she hung out with when we were in orchestra together in junior high.
After considering the amazing relationships that these girls must have with these other people who they've known and been friends with for so long, I got a little bit sad.
Yes, I have facebook friends from high school; I even have a few from junior high. However, do I ever talk to them? I have one friend who I know I could talk to whenever I want, whose house I will always be welcome to come to and just hang out, even if said friend is not home, who I have known for as long as I can remember—literally: her mom babysat my sister and me when my mom couldn't get home from work in time to pick us up from the bus stop.
I have another friend whom I love to pieces who has been my best friend since seventh grade. We became best friends because we were the fat Mormon girls in the click that we were in, and ever since then we've basically shared a brain. I consider her to be my family more than anyone else I've ever known (who wasn't actually family, and even more than some who are family).
Then I have another friend who I met in high school who I share more interests with than anyone (except the aforementioned 7th grade best-friend). She keeps me updated on everything that happens in the theatre world, and lets me live vicariously through her as she performs in show after show. I enjoy few things more than getting to work backstage on a show that she's in the cast of, and I love our weekly trips to get dessert and just be happy, intelligent, theatre-nerd friends.
And that's about it. Those are my three friends who I have known the longest. I wonder how different my life would be if I had kept the same friends my entire life. How different of a person would I be? I can't speak for these girls who have had the same friends since junior high, or even high school, but I'm pretty positive that, for me, that would not have been a good thing.
My entire life I've kind of thrown pity parties for myself about how people always leave me. In elementary school I had a different "best friend" every year. In junior high my little click of best friends got torn apart first by one of the people being a stupidface, then by going to different high schools. Then my senior year my best friend moved a billion miles away and just a few months after that I lost another incredibly close friend to an even farther away destination. Then my sister left for her mission and never really came back to be my sister; she just got married right away. And I could keep going and get much more detailed, but I’m not going to.
I know that I would not be the same person that I am today if I hadn't had so many wonderful and different friends throughout my life. I won't lie: I still have an incredibly hard time saying goodbye to people, but I know that the things I have learned about people, the church, and life in general, I would not have been able to learn had I always been surrounded by the same friends.
I am thankful that I have the relationships that I have with my friends. I am also thankful for the relationships I’ve had and lost, because I am so much stronger because of them.
Totes.
HAIR!!
First of all, I don’t know what happened to my picture; it disappeared without my permission. It can also be said that it went AWOL.
That was me showing how smart and well-rounded I am: I even know military lingo… jk. : )
So, the Tony Awards were tonight. They were probably the best Tonys I’ve ever watched, and I’m very opinionated about theatre stuff, AND I’ve watched more than your average 22 year-old, so that's saying something. Also, I’m glad West Side Story didn’t win best revival of a musical, but that Karen Olivo won for best featured actress in a musical. She’s amazing. I’m very upset that Sutton Foster didn’t sing when the cast of Shrek performed, because I love her. I wished that the clips of the plays that they showed had been longer, and I saw snippets of some plays and some musicals that I would like to see.
I’ve decided that there’s something truly magical about theatre, even when it’s on tv, and it’s just a song or two. I have NEVER watched an awards show where the audience is just so happy and truly entertained as they are every year at the Tonys. Yeah, there are really good musicians at the other ceremonies, but there’s not the whole package of singing, lights, sets, costumes and a story that comes with the song, and that’s just one song. Imagine an entire musical that has somewhere between 10 and 20 songs. And I don’t mean to take away from plays at all either. It’s true, I have a very heavy bias for musicals, but plays are also amazing. There’s just something about amazingly talented actors combing their talents with the lighting designers, sound designers, set designers, costume designers, lyricists, composers, writers, choreographers, directors and musicians that is breathtaking.
I often wonder if “normal” people know just how much goes in to producing a play or musical.
You should look into it. I’m fairly involved in the world of theatre, and I am still frequently shocked at how much goes on that I completely miss.
Also, I just looked up the touring cast of Legally Blonde; there are TONS of amazing names in that cast. If you get a chance, you should see it and get the following autographs for me:
That was me showing how smart and well-rounded I am: I even know military lingo… jk. : )
So, the Tony Awards were tonight. They were probably the best Tonys I’ve ever watched, and I’m very opinionated about theatre stuff, AND I’ve watched more than your average 22 year-old, so that's saying something. Also, I’m glad West Side Story didn’t win best revival of a musical, but that Karen Olivo won for best featured actress in a musical. She’s amazing. I’m very upset that Sutton Foster didn’t sing when the cast of Shrek performed, because I love her. I wished that the clips of the plays that they showed had been longer, and I saw snippets of some plays and some musicals that I would like to see.
I’ve decided that there’s something truly magical about theatre, even when it’s on tv, and it’s just a song or two. I have NEVER watched an awards show where the audience is just so happy and truly entertained as they are every year at the Tonys. Yeah, there are really good musicians at the other ceremonies, but there’s not the whole package of singing, lights, sets, costumes and a story that comes with the song, and that’s just one song. Imagine an entire musical that has somewhere between 10 and 20 songs. And I don’t mean to take away from plays at all either. It’s true, I have a very heavy bias for musicals, but plays are also amazing. There’s just something about amazingly talented actors combing their talents with the lighting designers, sound designers, set designers, costume designers, lyricists, composers, writers, choreographers, directors and musicians that is breathtaking.
I often wonder if “normal” people know just how much goes in to producing a play or musical.
You should look into it. I’m fairly involved in the world of theatre, and I am still frequently shocked at how much goes on that I completely miss.
Also, I just looked up the touring cast of Legally Blonde; there are TONS of amazing names in that cast. If you get a chance, you should see it and get the following autographs for me:
- Christian Borle
- Nicolette Hart
- Manuel Herrera
- Kate Rockwell
- Dani Spieler
- and Ashley says that Courtney Wolfson is in it too, and I thought I remembered her being in it, but she wasn't on the list on the site, so, if she's in it, get her autograph for me too.
k thanks!
PS. This was intended to be an insightful blog with just a little one-paragraph update bout how happy I was with the Tonys... This is what happens when Brigette starts talking about theatre. Sorry, I'll post a thoughtful blog later. : )
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Coincidence? I think not.
Let me tell you about what happened to me last week.
I would consider it a tender mercy; you can think whatever you want.
Last Tuesday I went to wal-mart to print pictures of my kids to give them on the last day of school, and to buy a box for Jenn's present, blush, and deodorant.
When I got home, I realized that the crazy check-out lady had put my four measly little items in 2 bags, but I only had one of them.
Which two items were missing?
Blush.
Deodorant.
I wasn't too concerned about the blush, I had only bought it because the pink I have right now is broken and basically completely gone, so I had bought a new one. The deodorant, however, was a problem. Now, the stick I had wasn't completely gone, but it was down to the plastic part on the bottom that looks like the bottom of an ice cream cone.
It was fairly late at night, and the insane amount of creepers that frequent wal-mart at night made me decide that I'd just use what little deodorant I had left, and buy a new stick on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning came, and I used my bottom-of-the-ice-cream-cone deodorant, just hoping that I wouldn't smell like a boy by the end of the day (which was a pretty big hope considering I had to work at the school, with three different recess duties, and go to the ranch where everything is hot and gross).
I got to work, feeling more self-conscious than necessary, since it was only 9:00 AM and so not disgustingly hot yet. Then I went to the talent show and all the kids were amazing or adorable. Then we went to recess. Oh. No. Here it came. I was going to sweat and start to stink.
But wait.
It still wasn't hot. My next recess duty came: still not hot. Surely this wouldn't last. My final recess duty of the day was from 11:05 to 11:20. I would definitely get gross then.
The weather was still really, really nice.
The day progressed and, although I did sweat a little bit while carrying things that were larger than I am all around the bar (including down the stairs--awkward), I didn't really smell very much.
I am thankful that Heavenly Father decided to let the weather be unusually cool for May 20th in Mesa on the day that I had very little deodorant available to me, despite my best efforts.
P.S. I bought deodorant after leaving the ranch. I now have two sticks at my house and one at Mom and Dad's house.
I would consider it a tender mercy; you can think whatever you want.
Last Tuesday I went to wal-mart to print pictures of my kids to give them on the last day of school, and to buy a box for Jenn's present, blush, and deodorant.
When I got home, I realized that the crazy check-out lady had put my four measly little items in 2 bags, but I only had one of them.
Which two items were missing?
Blush.
Deodorant.
I wasn't too concerned about the blush, I had only bought it because the pink I have right now is broken and basically completely gone, so I had bought a new one. The deodorant, however, was a problem. Now, the stick I had wasn't completely gone, but it was down to the plastic part on the bottom that looks like the bottom of an ice cream cone.
It was fairly late at night, and the insane amount of creepers that frequent wal-mart at night made me decide that I'd just use what little deodorant I had left, and buy a new stick on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning came, and I used my bottom-of-the-ice-cream-cone deodorant, just hoping that I wouldn't smell like a boy by the end of the day (which was a pretty big hope considering I had to work at the school, with three different recess duties, and go to the ranch where everything is hot and gross).
I got to work, feeling more self-conscious than necessary, since it was only 9:00 AM and so not disgustingly hot yet. Then I went to the talent show and all the kids were amazing or adorable. Then we went to recess. Oh. No. Here it came. I was going to sweat and start to stink.
But wait.
It still wasn't hot. My next recess duty came: still not hot. Surely this wouldn't last. My final recess duty of the day was from 11:05 to 11:20. I would definitely get gross then.
The weather was still really, really nice.
The day progressed and, although I did sweat a little bit while carrying things that were larger than I am all around the bar (including down the stairs--awkward), I didn't really smell very much.
I am thankful that Heavenly Father decided to let the weather be unusually cool for May 20th in Mesa on the day that I had very little deodorant available to me, despite my best efforts.
P.S. I bought deodorant after leaving the ranch. I now have two sticks at my house and one at Mom and Dad's house.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
SHORT POST!!
- My kids randomly burst into song today. It was glorious.
- I finally got to clean my bathroom today. I haven't been able to run water in the downstairs bathroom since spring break, so when Dad told me it was fixed, I took that as a birthday present and today I cleaned it. I love cleaning my bathroom.
- Darci got her appendix yoinked tonight. She’s fine, and the doctors said the uterus wasn’t affected by anything, so there’s no reason to worry. They’re keeping her until tomorrow and they’ll do an ultrasound then, after her body has calmed down, just to make sure nothing’s wrong.
That's actually a lot more info than I intended to post. I was just going to say, "Darci got her appendix yoinked tonight," and that was going to be the entirety of the post, but I anticipated negative/stressed out reactions to that, so I went a different route.
I hope you enjoyed this super short edition of Brigette's Blog.
No, It Is Too Long, Let Me Sum Up... It's Still Too Long
I've already posted on both of the other blogs I can post on, so I decided that it was about time to post on mine, right?
This month has been and will be very interesting. Let me give you a run-down (warning: my run-downs are very long):
This month has been and will be very interesting. Let me give you a run-down (warning: my run-downs are very long):
- Mommy's birthday, which translates to "make the house look pretty" day. New paint, boxes moved out of sight, triangle thing in the front yard fixed-up, etc..
- I saw Little Shop of Horrors at Desert Vista High School beacuse my friend Meredith was in it, and Sean came with me. The play was good, but the highlight of the evening was that I finally felt like Sean was treating me like a friend again instead of an ex-girlfriend. It was really, really nice.
- Cameron got set apart as a missionary (I set up a blog if you'd like to visit it).
- I helped teach the Youth Council from a stake that isn't mine how to swing dance.
- Cameron left on his mission. : )
- Cameron left on his mission. :' (
- Lowell cancelled my dance lesson and made me go dancing, where I got to meet some of his friends.
- I went to Broadway Bound, and DIDN'T hear a billion Jason Robert Brown songs... well, I guess there were a few, but not as many as usual. It seemed like there were fewer songs that I'd heard 4,684,416,418 times, which was good.
- I went dancing and actually had a boy with me who could dance, so there wasn't any annoying waiting around thinking, "I hope someone asks me to dance," I just got to dance all night.
- I got an AWESOME cake from Ashleyface for my birthday.
- My kids all made me cards for my birthday.
- My mommy got me the coolest toothbrush ever for my birthday.
- Dan sang my voicemail a song from HSM for my birthday.
- Ryan has decided that he owes me ice cream since he was a failure as a home teacher and didn't know when my birthday was until after it had passed. I'll take theice cream, but I refuse to agree that he was a failure.
- I went to a party and pretended to play in the pool and be social.
- We had a nutritionist come to FHE tonight. I wasn't expecting to enjoy myself, but I really did.
- Mark and I started watching season 2 of The Office, so that he can catch up.
- Season finale/ 100th episode of The Office this Thursday, the 14th.
- Kindergarten is going on a field trip on Wednesday to the Phoenix Children's Museum.
- Kinder pizza party Thursday if we all behave while we're on the field trip.
- Subsitute on Friday, hopefully Ashlee will be my sub... we'll see.
- The last day of school is May 21.
- Tenth Kingdom movie day!!! May 22.
- Go up north somewhere to teach the rest of the youth from that other stake how to swing dance for their youth conference. I think I'm leaving Thursday the 28th and coming back Saturday the 30th.
- I'm on charge of the activity for FHE next Monday. I'm thinking paper airplane contest. If anyone has suggestions for different competitions we could have (longest distance, longest flight-time, prettiest, etc.) let me know.
Also, last night I set some goals for myself for this week:
- Read the Book of Mormon every night.
- Write in my journal every night.
- Be in bed by 12 every night except Fridays, and I'm allowed wiggle room on whatever night I have my lesson with Lowell. (Obviously I have already messed this one up, since it's way past 12, but whatever, there's always tomorrow.)
That's it for now. I'll post something more thoughtful in a couple days. I've had lots of thoughtful thoughts, I just forget them every time I open blogger. Oh, well.
Totes bye!
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