"You really shouldn't have worn that shirt"

A couple weeks ago, our choir performed at the Mormon Temple. They have the whole grounds covered in a beautiful light display and we were asked to perform. I realized as I was getting ready for choir, that no matter what, you will not look cute for a choir concert. I had to wear a white button up shirt, black pants, black socks, and black shoes. The old people were very adamant that if you wore a skirt it had to be floor length and no skin should show! This is serious stuff people, don't mess with the blue hairs and their dress codes. Unfortunately I threw a wrench into their pre-conceived notions of dress and it did not escape their attention. See, I decided to follow the rule with the white buttoned up shirt. It had a collar, but I guess it wasn't enough of a collar and the addition of a white tie on the front did not please them. As I went to sign out the red scarf I had to wear, the lady said to me
-" See, you shouldn't have worn that shirt" as she pointed at my little white tie at the collar.
-"Oh, well don't worry the scarf will cover it up! (big smile).
-"Don't wear that next time ".

I decided to brush it off and skipped up to my spot by some other old ladies. They were discussing how we were to wear the silk scarf and I asked how I should put it on. They looked at me and one lady responded. "Oh, well you really shouldn't have worn that shirt". Ha! I about lost it. I couldn't decide if it was annoying that they were picking me apart when clearly everyone else wasn't exactly uniform or if it was strictly comical. I tried to not let them get the best of me and put on my happy face as we were about to sing Christmas music. Just when we were about to file out the door and to the stage I hear a buzz and someone taps me. The ladies around me are all frantically looking at as if I've committed some hideous crime. I hear " take the label off!" Apparently my black binder had a label on the binding. My bad! You should have seen their faces as I went to take it off. It peeled off quickly in one simple pull, no biggie, but they sure didn't think so. Bahahaha I think I rocked their little choir world in one single night. Needless to say, I didn't feel like attending the rest of our concerts and going through their inspections.
The actual singing part went well though! We were on a stage facing the temple with a long pool between us. People were sitting along the water and the lights created a beautiful effect. We sang the Hallelujah Chorus and it was really good. It was the first time I've performed anything since graduation so it was good to be on stage. I'm not sure I'll keep with the choir anymore, but it was fun do it for a bit.

What are you really good at?

After ballet class the other day, I stopped in the costume shop because the strap on my shoe had come undone. The costume lady told me there was pink thread in the sewing machine and asked if I could sew. I wearily sat down at the machine and managed to fix my strap. I don't know what it is about sewing that scares me to death, but it does. I always get so stressed out and frustrated with myself about it. I mentioned to her that I wished I was good at sewing like my mom and great grandmother. Her response was actually a question and it really caught me off guard. "What are you really good at?" It was such a simple question as if everyone has something they are really good at. I thought for a long time and couldn't come up with an answer. I could only think "I'm mediocre at a lot of things". I used to think dance was my one thing, but that was compared to my high school classmates who could care less about taking dance. Dance was obviously not going to be my answer as I had just fumbled through a ballet class pathetically.
The question brought me back to my earlier ponderings / freak out when I watched Michael Phelps at the Olympics. Watching him be so successful actually sent me into a panic. He was made for swimming. That was his purpose in life. What is mine? What was I made to do? What's my one thing I'm really good at? I'm still trying to decipher the answer. Hopefully I'll find it one day. But now I'm going to throw it back out to you all. What are you really good at?

Small Town Girl

Growing up in the middle of a cornfield has many advantages, however, the arts scene and cultural events is not one of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for my upbringing and can now see the blessings of a small town, but I've always wanted to be able to experience more. Phoenix isn't a huge arts city, but for me it's quite a big change from good old P'ville. This past week I went to the Symphony, to see the Broadway "Spring Awakening" and of course worked at the opening of the Nutcracker. 3 different arts events in one week! Needless to say it was a very good week and I feel very cultured if at least for a little bit.
As we were sitting in the second row at the Broadway play I mentioned to the other girls I was with how drastically different this week was to my time back home. I explained that it was quite a drive even to a Walmart which of course brought a response of dropped jaws. (get's em' everytime!) Megan's next response was "How'd you get so stylish?". I think it's funny that people are surprised I grew up on a farm. My boss at work thinks it's the funniest thing to know someone who lived on a farm and she even introduced me at a cocktail party with that opening. I guess out here it's a novelty haha.

24

I can’t believe I’m a year older. Twenty-four seemed pretty scary to me at first, but I’m warming up to the idea. I safely made it through 23 without continuing the trend of my mother and grandmother who had their daughters at that age. (So glad to escape that tradition haha.) I had a great birthday thanks to my friends and family. Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes, cards, and an adorable cupcake flower arrangement my way! (Ally, that was so perfect that I still can’t get over it!). I even had a call from my brother, Keith, which was quite surprising and highly entertaining ☺ . One of the best presents ever was that Chevie arrived in PHX. It was so good to have her back in the valley of the sun if even for a short time. We only had a weekend but we managed to cram our favorite things in. Here’s a breakdown of my birthday weekend.


Thursday:
Chevie & I celebrated with Champaign and Happy Meals ☺. After staying up talking, giggling and dancing around the kitchen we reluctantly turned in for bed because I had to work the next day.





Friday:
Jordan and Chevie met me for lunch at Sacks. When I got off work, Chevie and I went shopping and then to dinner with Jordan. We decided to make a quick stop at the Coach House to admire the lights and have a drink. When we arrived we noticed lots of Ohio State fans and the idea of leaving soon was out the window. It was so nice to hear everyone doing the O-H cheer or randomly busting out into “We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan…”. It definitely felt like home!...I don’t think the Michigan fan enjoyed that as much haha.


Saturday:
We watched the Buckeye win (yay!), did a little more shopping, and then hurried to go to my birthday party. Everyone dressed up in their little black dresses and I wore my new blue cocktail dress. We ate at Grazie Pizzeria, which was super cute. It was so nice to have everyone out together. I realized I have more friends than I thought because we took up a whole long table. Not to bad considering I joke about only having 2 friends. After dinner we walked over to (non other than) the Coach House where we met up with a few more Fiesta Bowlers. We eventually left the Coach to head to the Sand Bar so we could do some dancing. Although the dj apparently had a liking for older songs that weren't even good in their day, we made the best of it. I think I must have belted out every song on the way home because my voice was scratchy for a few days. From the way 24 started out, I’d say this is going to be a very good year! Thanks to everyone who helped make it great!

Revelations While Cleaning My Room

1) I own way more t-shirts than one human possibly needs. I try to get rid of some t-shirts to no avail. Each t-shirt I have is attached to some memory whether it be from a college event, high school team, or freebie. It just seems like I’d be throwing away a memory.
2) I have the most amazing friends…no I didn’t find friends hidden in my room…but I did find all the cards from all the special people in my life. Tears were shed. Thank you friends.
3) I’m indecisive (ok not a new finding!). I can’t even decide which drawer in my dresser to designate for each type of clothing. I need help.
4) I want my own house fast so I don’t have to keep putting a giant puzzle together every time I get something new or want to put something in my room. I thought when I graduated college I wouldn’t have to live out of one room anymore. So for my birthday if anyone is wondering what to get me, I’d like my own place, please.
5) When I clean my room I always end up at Target. It never fails, really. I usually think of some item that would make my room much more organized and head out to fulfill my quest of obtaining said item. Unfortunately, I tend to add a couple additional non organizational items in my cart…oops.

Halloween

Three Blind Mice...

Three Blind Mice...

See How They Run...err bump into things

Our Halloween costumes were so much fun! We stayed in character all night. We even kept our glasses on inside the bar and used our stick to feel our way down the packed sidewalks of Mill. There were a lot of good creative costumes out there, but ours was definitely at the top.

Tigerland

After being stuck in the city for 8 months, I was finally able to take a mini vacation. It was only for a weekend, but it was one heck of a first southern experience. I have only been to the Carolinas and Florida (which may be further south but it doesn’t count in this sense), but never to the deep south.

Veronica took me back to Baton Rouge for the LSU vs. Georgia game. Our friend Dave flew in from Chicago to join in the fun and we invaded Veronica's twin brother’s apt. We got to hang out with some friends, have a few drinks, and watch football. There were a lot of laughs, impromptu dance moves from Dave, tons of walking / standing during the game, and not a lot of sleep.

Everyone I know in Louisiana. Cheers to being in the South!

Together again!

We could have totally made their Golden Girl Squad.

Needless to say it was exhausting since we arrived at midnight Friday and left by 4:00pm Sunday. I had such a good time and wish we could have stayed a little longer. There was so much more I wanted to do and see. I’m not done with the South and think a trip to New Orleans is next on the agenda ☺


Disclaimer: Although I enjoyed my time in Tigerland and even wore the color purple, I am and will always be a Buckeye's fan!