new years resolutions

well guys, its new years eve. im going to be working all day, then hanging out with friends all night so I thought that now would be a good time to blog about my plans and goals for the upcoming year. next semester should be great. Im taking a lot of fun classes for my major and I am going to be an assistant costume designer as well as taking to dance classes and singing lessons again. I want to continue to work hard on all of these things and I'll continue auditioning for shows.
Now that Im not in a sewing class anymore I dont want to just stop sewing, so I want to work on a few projects throughout the semester. Im also going to new york the week after school is out, so I may or may not do some shopping for that.
I want to excersise and eat better this semester, as well as over the summer.having two dance classes will definitely help with this too.
I am working a lot this summer, and I am going to try to get  a job next year at school because Im saving up to study abroad in London, and hopefully be able to travel to Paris for a week during that trip.
Thats about it as far as this next year for me. I just want to keep working hard both in school and out of school so that I will one day be able to do the things I want to do with my life.

I am going to be an assistant costume designer!

I had my first meeting as an assistant costume designer this morning, and it was so much fun! the lead costume designer showed us around the costume studio and told us about the show that we are doing, which is Shakespeare's Loves Labors Lost. they are going to set this show in the 40s so we looked at some pictures of clothing from the time period and began pulling costumes to look at.

It looks like next semester I will be spending around 6 hours in the costume shop every week working on stuff. (which also means it probably wont be a good idea to try to get a job there too next semester) and since this is set in the 40s and lots of the costume departments period dresses aren't in crazy good condition (and especially because the girls will be dancing in these dresses) a lot of the dresses for this show will have to be made, so the costume shop will make some of them, then the head costume designer, me, and the two other assistants will each make a dress as well, which is actually really cool! so when I go see the show, one of the characters will have a dress that I made!

here are some pictures of clothing from the 40s so you sort of know where we are going to be going with all of this.

I was going to put more pictures but it was taking too much effort to find good ones. anyway, I still dont know  a ton of the details on how being an assistant costume designer works, but Im excited for this experience and ill be sure to keep blogging about this adventure as it unfolds

what am I thankful for?

well, I know its been a while since I posted, and I know that thanksgiving was a little under a week ago, but I've been wanting to post this for a while, but I kept putting it off because I didn't want to forget anything or anyone, so here it goes!

1. I'm so thankful for my parents. they are pretty much the best and I do miss them a lot when I'm here at school. they have always been so supportive of me, and I miss having them around. It was so great being home and seeing them.
2. Im thankful that I was able to take two of my best friends to college with me. Alex and Seth mean so much to me, and I was never too scared to go to college because I knew that no matter what I would have them to share this whole crazy adventure with. I've been thinking lately how very lucky I am to have a twin brother. Alex is one of my best friends in the whole world, and I keep remembering how close this summer is getting, and that hes going to be leaving on his mission. I am so so excited for him, but its a little sad too
3. Im thankful for my amazing roommate Kelsey!!! shes so great, and we get along so well. I definitely missed her during thanksgiving break
4. Im thankful for Taylor 1200. these girls are pretty much the greatest in the world, and there are no people I would rather be living with. 
5. Im thankful for all of the friends I left back home. being able to see them this past week was so amazing, I dont think I realized just how much I missed them. hanging out with them just made me feel at home...I really cant wait for Christmas break.
6. im thankful for my extended family, i love living closer to some of my aunts and uncles here in utah, and I really miss the whole cook side of the family that I left in California.

so as far as an update on how I am goes, Im doing great. Im really happy and life is completely awesome. its far from perfect, and I still get stressed out about work and terrified of the future. but despite that I am at a great point in my life

loving college

hey!! so I know its been a while, but I guess Ive been busy. I love college, like I love it SO much. Somehow I was SO blessed and ended up with the greatest roommate, hall, and ward imaginable. coming back to my hall every day feels like coming home, and i feel like all the girls on my floor are my family here at BYU and I love them so much!

so there are a few exciting things that have been going on with me. the first is that I learned some really interesting information about the Disney College program which I really want to do at some point during my college career. for a whole semester you get to work in Disney World, live there, you get to hang out in the parks in your free time, and its a paid internship. depending on what I get assigned to do, it could be some really great work experience.

second, I'm going to be in a student film. a whole bunch of films students are making short movies as part of a class, and im going to be in a pretty funny one about a guy trying to get a date and getting rejected over and over. I'm just one of the girls who rejects him in the middle of the few minute film, which means ill probably be in 15 seconds of the finished product, but it was super fun to do, and we are going to film the whole thing over again for the final draft or something, not really sure why, but its going to be fun!

third, I just had an awesome day. I spent an hour and a half in the costume shop, helping out with the costumes for the musical coming up and I had a really awesome conversation with my theater teacher, Janet. shes a really cool person and we had a great conversation about theater, and what I want to do. She was so encouraging and kind, plus shes my faculty adviser so I'll be getting to know her better. It was just a really cool experience.

well, thats it for now, but Im loving college so much!

smell most definitely IS closely connected to memory

yes I know this is my second post today, but the topic is so different than what I just posted that I decided to give it its own post. So here is my story:
Kelsey (my amazingly awesome roommate who I love SO much) sprayed some hairspray a little bit ago, and the smell of the hairspray instantly made me think of sitting in the green room for Guys and Dolls my Junior year of high school. isn't that weird? just one scent totally transported me back to that show, not just visually, but I can clearly remember all of the emotions, and the whole vibe I associate with being backstage during that show. Doing that show really was an incredible experience, and it sort of makes sense that I associate the smell of that hairspray with that since not only did we use in on our hair in that show, but all of the female members of the cast used it multiple times a night so that we didn't get any snags in our nylons.

so now that I read all of that I realize that I sound like a total freak, but its true! that what happened to me. and it really made me miss Ben Holt theater. probably because in high school, theater was a safe place. It was a place where everyone knew and for the most part cared about each other, it was familiar. now that Im out of high school theater is scary and unknown, but Im so excited to be involved. The show Im doing sound for opened today, we performed it in one of the TMA classes and It went really well. Im excited to be involved in it for another week or so. lets just hope that my next experience in the theater world here at BYU comes soon!

did that really just happen?

so something sort of crazy happened today. I got out of class today with half an hour of free time before I had something to do. I decided to kill some time by walking around the bookstore. So I was there, minding my business when I saw someone that I recognized, but didn't think in a million years I would ever see. Standing there in the middle of the bookstore was one of the contenders from this current season of Project Runway! I know! totally random right?! his name is Josh....something, I dont remember his last name, and I knew he was LDS, but how RANDOM is that?!  Im a huge project runway fan so I decided I might as well say hi to him. I don't exactly remember how the conversation went because I was sort of freaking out inwardly, but I said something about recognizing him, but somehow left out the part about project runnway, so he spend the first half of our conversation wondering if he knew me from when he came to BYU. but after we established that I definitely had never met him before, we talked for a minute, and I walked out of the bookstore thinking about how crazy life is sometimes

College = awesome

So not a ton has happened lately, but I thought I would just say that Im still loving college. the girls on my hall are all so amazing, and provo 111th ward cant be beat! Ive met so many amazing people and done so many fun things. my classes are all going well. I had my first experience with the testing center, and It wasnt too bad at all. my sewing class is really really fun, probably one of my favorites, Im loving my dance class and my singing class, and my theater class is fun too!
this weekend I will get to see my parents and all of the youth from my ward back home, and I absolutely cant wait! for some reason this week has been amazing. there hasnt even been a specific reason. but it has just turned out great!

I haven't been this excited in a while

So I'm probably one of the happiest people on planet earth today, because this April, after after im done with school, I'm going to New York for a few days! its a trip that's part of the school of family life, so I heard about it in my sewing class. the trip is Saturday thru Thursday, there are about 25 people that go, and we spend a few days sight seeing, seeing shows, and learning about costume and clothing design and construction.
and the best part...my mom is coming too!! not only will we get to have this experience together where we get to learn about something that we both enjoy, but I get to spend time with my mom in my favorite place in the world, and maybe once we get there, she'll understand why I love it so much <3

finally some semi-good news

well, after a few auditons, I still haven't been cast in anything. But its alright, I'm still feeling optimistic. I'm hoping to get into an acting class next semester, and with my dance and singing class this semester Ill definitely be an all around better performer than I was before, even if its just a little bit. So I'm still keeping my eye out for auditions to go to. but time for my semi-good news! I didn't get cast in my last audition, but I'm going to end up learning how to do sound for it...which is actually super terrifying because I don't want to mess it all up, but it will be a good experience I hope. Its not my ideal job, but hey, Im involved in a show and that's really all I want at this point.

This is where I'm supposed to be

can I please just say one more time that I love it here at BYU... it is one of the most amazing places on earth, and there really is nothing like it anywhere else on the planet. I really cant explain it, but I'll try.

Where else in the world can you go to a dance class where you are expected to dress modestly, where you start class off with a prayer, and where your teacher sees dance as a form of worship?

Where else in the world does a science textbook mention God, and where your professor talks about the connection between religion and science and how they really do go hand in hand?

Where else can you go to a writing class, and read examples of writing written by prophets and use your religious beliefs as valid reasoning in a persuasive essay

where else do hundreds of college kids decide that a fun night is to go sing hymns in a tunnel, and listen to where people are being sent on missions?

the list goes on and on but I'll just stop here. I don't really think my writing is doing my thoughts justice, but every day I am just so amazed by this place. and of course to someone not familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this all might sound a little weird. and it IS weird, college isn't like this most places, but I love it here and I know that this is where I am supposed to be.

well, along with my first two college auditions came my first two college rejections. haha, I thought I might as well officially say somewhere that I for sure didn't get a part in either of those shows. I wasn't expecting much else, but it still wasn't the most fun experience of my life. but anyway, Im feeling alright, and ready to try again. thats pretty much all I can do in this situation is keep trying until it happens

First College Auditions Ever

well guys, I did it. I seriously almost chickened out and didn't go, but I ended up auditioning for two shows today. the first was some Halloween show put on by a theater club on campus. I had to memorize a dramatic monologue for this. The memorizing wasn't too hard, and neither was actually doing it, but I just got so nervous. I  totally started shaking haha, which now that I think about it is SO embarrassing. but hey, I did it at least! The second audition was for "the Christmas Miracle of Johnathan Toomy" which is going to be a musical based off a book with lots of original music. I guess people in the theater department have been working on this show for the  past two years, totally crazy. we did some "movement" auditions, which wasn't dancing...I'm not exactly sure what it was, but they had us walk around different ways and speeds and do weird poses and stuff, it will be interesting to see how that translates into the end product. we also did some singing auditions where they called us all in one by one. This was pretty terrifying we also had to sing folk music, so not exactly my comfort zone there. but i did it, my voice was pretty wavery but they were all really nice and said I did a good job. So, I didn't do super great today, but not horrible. like I'm not thinking I got a part, and wasn't expecting to, but I had fun and it was a great experience. So, I came home, drowned the little bit of sorrows I had in a Twix bar, and now I'm sharing my stressful day with you. But I am definitely feeling great and cant wait to audition for something else!

College!

So I did it! I survived my first few days of college, and so far I am absolutely loving it. there are awesome people everywhere, my classes are great and I'm just so excited about everything. so here is a final rundown of my classes:
Intro to Jazz: its an 8am class, but I think it will be worth it, we did a ton of stretching on wed, and all I've got to say about that is OUCH! I sure hope it works and I'm a little more flexible by the end of all of this. but I'm really really excited about it
Writing: I'm not exactly a big fan of writing, and as you can probably tell from reading my blog, I don't happen to be very good at it either, but my teacher for this is awesome. shes one of the girls from divine comedy and I got SO excited when I recognized her. she seems really nice, so I'm hoping the class will be good for me
Physical Science: the first three chapters of this haven't been to hard at all, most of it I already knew (thanks Mr Chan) and I just came home from my lab where I met the TA. she seems really nice and said this is a pretty easy class, so I'm not too stressed about this.
Theater Production 1: SOOOOO excited!!! the teacher is hilarious, it sounds like we are going to do some awesome things.
Book of Mormon:  there is going to be a lot of reading for this class, but im excited for it, I haven't been able to tell yet if it will be hard or not.
Sewing: haven't taken it yet, because the lab was canceled this week, but it should be good.
Singing: This one starts next week, but I am SO excited for it.

and thats about it. I've done quite a bit of homework and doing my best to keep on top of things

In other news, there are posters for auditions for stuff everywhere! I think I'm going to audition for 4 things in the next two weeks, so I guess we'll see how this goes. with the people I'll be up against I'm not expecting any call back at this point but I'm going to do my best and see what happens. It will be a good experience for me either way.

end of orientation

The best way to describe my first few days here at BYU would be totally crazy. I've actually learned a lot about myself and I am so excited about the future, as well as completely terrified. the two days after move in we pretty much just hung out with our orientation group all day, there were some really nice people but I didnt make any automatic friends. I got to learn a little more about my major and the possibilities surrounding that. this was a great experience but also completely scary. but after some more self reflection and time to process everything, im still happy with what Im doing and looking forward to it. My roomate and I met a lot of the girls on our floor, all of whom seem really nice. i cant wait to get to know them better. today I got to see two of my best friends from home who just got here, and i got to talk to a few who are still back in california

So I am feeling a little overwhelmed about my future and what not, but I am having an amazing time and am feeling very optimistic!

I MADE IT!

wow...my first day @ BYU...well, sort of. it was move in day so i guess that counts. i woke up and was pretty much terrified, and felt like i was going to puke. i checked in in the morning, found my room, and spent most of the rest of  the day moving in and getting books and stuff. i finally met my roomate and she seems super sweet. i managed to fit all of my stuff in my room, and everyone seems really nice so i guess today was a good day. tonight they had a carnival for all of the freshmen staying in helamen which was fun, but one of the most awkward experiences of my life. its like they stick a few hundred kids together who have never met and see what happens. there was a whole lot of "whats your name?" "whats your major" "where are you from?" i met more people than i will ever end up remembering, but it ended up being a fun evening. and now, @ the end of this fun filled insane day, its time for me to go to sleep. good night world!

"and even though Ill never know whats up ahead, im never letting go!"

well this is it....ive said goodbye to my friends and family, cried a lot, and had a pretty good day. and 2morrow is one of the days i have been dreaming about for just about my entire life... Alex and I are going to drive to drive off and go to BYU. it honestly felt like this day would never come.
this situation is a little terrifying...im about to go to a place where I dont know very many people, take difficult classes and do things i have never done before. but the scariest part is just the change. because I know that nothing is ever going to be the same again, especially my relationships with people
but with all that said im just so excited to go. this is where I get to meet new people, have awesome experiences, and for me, most importantly, I get to have experiences that help me decide what I am passionate about and will ultimately change the course of my life. I mean who knows what will happen, I could continue with this theater route that I'm on, which in itself will have many choices and opportunities, but for all I know I could change my mind down the road and go the complete opposite direction...but whatever happens it will be my decision, which is just so exciting to think about! but no matter what happens to me or where i go in my life, lodi/stockton will always be home. I love it here, yeah its a little boring here, its not some huge exciting city, but so many of the people I love are here, Im going to miss it
well thats enough for tonight. its time to go to sleep for the last time in a while in my own room...tomorrow is going to be the start of an amazing adventure

one more week!

So I leave for BYU in a week and I couldn't be more excited. I'm excited to meet people,start my classes and to just go live my life and figure out what I am going to do. but before I leave I have an interesting week ahead of me in which I will be packing and spending my last few days with my friends. This is going to be tough because honestly, until just know when I turned my phone off, got off of facebook and just focused, I havent had a lot of time recently to be excited, happy or even scared about leaving. All of my focus has been on my last week here and spending time with everyone and figuring out how Im going to fit all of my shoes in the car when we leave and saying good bye to everyone and making everyone else happy. now these are all important things to think about but it was all so stressful too. but know Im feeling better. I know that this week will still be tough and stressful, but I have to remember that I am in an amazing point in my life. I am about to embark on the craziest ride ever. This is the time in my life when I get to take the classes I want, figure out what I love, go places and grow up a lot. I've never been a great writer so I really don't have any words to describe how im feeling right now. I guess I feel optimistic, happy, and so excited.

oh and I have a quote to share with you all, from Nikki Bohne who graduated from BYU and went on to play  Elle Woods in the traveling tour of Legally Blonde. She is the one who emailed me a few months ago when I emailed her some questions. She also happens to be one of my heros.

“Go for it 100 percent and never look back,You can’t have any doubts and you have to believe in yourself.”


so thats my cheesy but oh-so optimist quote for today. haha I LOVE IT!

music of the night

sooo ive been putting off blogging for some reason, so here I am again! about a week ago I went to las vegas for the first time with my grandparents, brother and cousins and we had a great time. lots of shopping and shows and walking. the most awesome thing we did was see phantom of the opera which was SO amazing! the cast was awesome and the set was the coolest thing ive ever seen!!!!
 *warning...the rest of this post is me freaking out about the set*

so we walked into the theater and there is part of a chandelier hanging super low like right over our seats, the walls are covered with gray curtains, and the stage has lots of gray curtains, and has part of a chandelier also, thats covered with a sheet. the show starts, and the opening scene is after the actual plot of phantom happens, when the opera house is closed down. so they talk and auction off some things then they uncover the piece of the chandelier thats on the stage and some guy says how it is connected to the myth of the phantom of the opera and all o the sudden the orchestra starts playing so loud you can feel it vibrating in your chest and all the pieces of the chandelier start rising up and sort of fly around the room and into place in the ceiling wich was so  crazy by itself but then all of the curtains on the walls fly up and there is a fake audience from the time period of the show and all of the sudden the show goes back in time to tell the story of the phantom of the opera. so that was totally crazy but it all got even better! later in the show when the phantom is messing with everyone he drops out of the bottom of the chandelier like right over my head and is talking and singing and stuff, and there are flair guns and fireworks and fog! and eventually the chandelier falls like right on top of us. well obviously not RIGHT on top of us, it probably stopped like 10 ft above the ground but it blacked out and was so realistic it was totally awesome, a few people around me seriously screamed.
okay im done with that haha mostly i wanted to make this post so that I had all the cool things about phantom written somewhere so i wouldn't forget. but it was definitely the coolest set ive ever seen!

All things Bright and Beautiful

so yesterday after a day in san Francisco, I went to an Owl City concert, and I've just got to say that I love Owl City SOO much. Before Owl City came out was a band called Unwed Sailor, and they were good, but didnt have a singer, it was all m usic which got a little boring after a while. next was Mat Kearney who was awesome. I recognized a few of his songs, and he was totally hilarious.

Mat Kearney

 Then it was time for Owl City. Adam Young was so sweet and funny and awkward. you could tell he was having a great time and his joy was seriously infectious. the whole show was just fun.the lights were crazy and awesome, he sounded great and of course the songs! oh wow the songs! I love all of owl citys songs so it was totally crazy hearing them live. He sang most of my favorites and...yeah, I really dont have much more to say except that it was freaking amazing.

dear readers
sooooo as you can see if you are reading this I redesigned my blog because thats what I do when I'm bored. I was getting tired of having it so dark and wanted something a little more optimistic. I tried a few things out eventually found this picture which I absolutely love because I couldn't decide if I wanted a sky or a road as the background for my blog and this has both! so this is what I ended up with, and im pretty happy about it. who knows how long it will stay, but it should be for a while and you probably dont really care that much haha. anyway, I guess thats it. I just wanted to comment on the aesthetically pleasing page that you are now looking at...unless you are reading this at some point in the future after I have redesigned my blog again.
love,
ashley

Family Week

every summer my Dad's dad and his wife Sandy take the whole family on a vacation. this vacation usually includes TONS of people because not only do we have the Cook side of the family, but all of Sandy's kids too, which means lots of people, lots of kids, lots of food and lots of craziness.
This year we went to the beach and stayed in 2 beach houses. we had a great time except that 9 of the 31 people there got the flu. which meant that the rest of us were all freaking out about getting sick the whole time, but we managed to have fun none the less. we hung out at the beach, went to Monterrey and Santa Cruz, watched movies, ate a ton, and washed our hands about 50 million times a day.

the week I "Did The Hussle!", said goodbye, and had a "Practically Perfect" evening

Hello readers! I cant believe I havn't posted anything for a little while. Its been a pretty insane week or two, so there are going to be three parts to the following blog post.

1: Tri Stake Dance Festival
 The youth is the Lodi, Stockton, and Mantecca stakes have been practicing for this dance festival almost all school year and on June 11th in Stockton Arena it finally came together and ended up being one of the best days ever. we did a tech through, a dress rehearsal, then practiced a few of the numbers again. there were about 600 kids performing which was totally insane! the show consisted of almost 100% dancing, I was in about 6 dances I think with costume changes between all of them. it was a day full of running, dancing, flipping, costume changes, laughs and makeup. and I will never forget it. before I went on for my first dance I had that familiar puking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had every night before Aida, because of all of the stress of waiting. but as soon as we ran on to the arena floor i felt fine and had an awesome time. after it was all over I was actually pretty sad, and SORE! but it was a great day

2: saying goodbye (for now)
two good friends of mine left for the BYU summer term so like all good byes its sad. summer term is five weeks long, and two weeks after it ends, the fall semester starts! so I guess it wont be too long before I see them, but sad none the less, because SO MUCH can happen in two months, but either way Im excited for them, excited for the rest of my summer, and excited to go to BYU in the fall

3. Mary Poppins in Sac

 My brother and I and two of our friends went to go see the Mary Poppins traveling tour in sacramento, and it ended up being an amazing show, the set was crazy amazing, the actors were amazing of course, and they had some great special effect type things, like people flying, walking up walls, and Mary Poppins bag! oh wow it was awesome. Ive had the music stuck in my head ever since I saw it and I am considering buying the album. oh! and I got a Mary Poppins tee shirt because I guess I'm officially collecting Broadway show tee shirts now! So theater + music + a few best friends + almost gettting lost in Sac = a "practically perfect" night!

and I just remembered a 4th very important thing that happened this week...I picked all of my classes for fall semester!! so unless I end up switching classes somewhere along the line, heres what I'm taking

• Writing (not too exciting, but I have to take it)
• Book of Mormon (should be good :)
• Physical Science (science is gross but its required)
• sewing (hopefully wont stress me out)
• Intro to Music (totally excited for this one)
• singing (singing lessons = a very excited ashley!)

so yes, I think that should be everything, this week my family is going to the beach so ill be posting pictures of that.

Adventures in art class

Now that high school is over, one of the things that I will miss a lot is art class, I took art my sophomore year and my senior year and absolutely loved it. So I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of some of the projects I have done. most of these were from this year, but a couple are from a few years ago

oh, and yesterday I rearanged my room to make room for me to paint. so im pretty excited and at some point this summer Ill post some more pictures paintings/drawings/whatever else I do this summer!

my graduation speech

I thought it might be a good idea to post the speech I gave at my graduation, so here you go!

Class of 2011 we made it! After 4 years of feeling like this day would never come, here we are, about to graduate. It’s actually pretty hard to figure out what to say during a graduation speech. I think this is because it’s hard to put into words what you’re feeling when you realize that this is the last time that we as a class will be together with each other and our teachers.  As a class we have grown up together. Some of us have know each other since sixth grade. Or even since elementary school in some cases. The majority of us came to Ben Holt in 6^th grade from two separate schools. Over the years we have gotten to know each other very well. Many people have left our numbers, and a few have joined us on the way. And now this is it. These are the students who never left and stayed here until the end. And I’m so glad I did.

In my opinion Ben Holt is a special place. Yes its small, but that is one of the many things I love about it. When I think about the other seniors who are up here with me, I can’t help thinking about the class spirit that we have. Some of the best experiences we have had at Ben Holt have been when we were all unified for a common purpose. Weather this was making tee shirts, planning dances, recycling, pulling pranks, playing football, or dancing during a spirit week skit; we did these things together, and have grown closer because of it. But having a graduating class where every single person knows everyone else isn’t the only thing that makes Ben Holt special. At Ben Holt we have a faculty who knows each of us personally. The class of 2011 has been blessed to be taught by some of the best, funniest, and most caring teachers on the planet. Our teachers know our strengths, weakness, dreams, and want to help us reach our full potential. On behalf of my fellow seniors I want to thank all of the teachers and staff of Ben Holt for supporting us, believing in us and inspiring us. We couldn’t have done it without you

And now after all of these years of being together, here we are. The class of 2011 is about to graduate from high school. I’ve always been excited to move on from high school, but in these last couple of days, the idea of graduating has started to get a little scary. Ben Holt is a place where we all are comfortable, in many ways its like a family, and tonight we are leaving this comfort zone, and are about to set off on a completely new adventure in college. It may be tough sometimes, but I know that we are all ready to take whatever challenges life decides to throw at us in the next few years.

So I just wanted to say thank you Ben Holt. Thank you for providing us with an education that will enable us to succeed in college and go on to do whatever we want to do in life. Thank you to our parents, if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be here. Thank you to our teachers and the other staff members for caring about us. You are a huge part of what makes Ben Holt such an amazing place and we will miss you so much. And lastly, I’d like to thank my fellow seniors. We have had some crazy times over the years at this school, and I loved all of it. Each of you made being a member of the class of 2011 a wonderful experience and one that I know none of us will ever forget.

wow...its finally over

well everyone, Ive graduated, and its definitely been an emotional week. tuesday was the only day we had to go to school, it went by pretty fast and we finally got all of our last school related things done with. that night we went to the school late and did our last senior prank which included a 7 food giraffe statue, 15 alarm clocks, 2 miles of plastic wrap and lots of burnt uniforms and school work. All of the seniors had a great time helping out with this, and at about 1:00 am when we finished, we got on a bus and headed for Disney Land! our day at Disney Land was seriously one of the best days ever, I mean how many times do you get to go to the happiest place on earth with your friends and teachers?! I spent most of the day with some of my best friends and our two teacher chaperones hitting as many rides as possible in our 15 hours or so at Disney land and California Adventures.  we had an awesome day in which we got to be with sopharry on her first trip to disney land, we broke Sill's Indiana Jones curse and I finally got over my fear of upside down roller coasters! by the end of the day we were all so tired im impressed we got back to the bus. half of us could barely walk, Zareen was being hilarious with all of her complaints and comments and I was laughing uncontrollably about everything. once we got the bus we all pretty much crashed until we got back to Stockton and at that point most of the seniors just went home and slept for the rest of the day.
Then finally, Friday was here, the day that we had all been waiting for for SO long. we had a senior breakfast/awards ceremony in the morning at moo moos of all places, then had graduation rehearsal. when we walked into the empty Scottish Right temple I think everyone had a moment of realization that it was finally happening, and in a few hours that room would be filled with our loved ones to see us graduate from high school. once rehearsal was over the long awaited yearbooks had finally found their way into stockton, and into our possession. a few of the seniors drove back to the school as fast as we could were we got a few lower class men and quite a few of the faculty sign our yearbook. this is where the tears really started for me. after signing the year books of so many people I would miss I was a little emotional, and it just took me reading one note in my own yearbook (it happened to be from Mr Sills) to make me start bawling. Needless to say I decided it would be better to stop reading my yearbook until I was home. After we left the school I had a few hours to get ready for graduation before heading back to the scottish right temple. we signed more year books and waited for the ceremony to start. I fortunate enough to give a speech at my graduation and was so thankful for that opportunity. I started crying again as soon as I sat down and didn't stop for quite a while. the ceremony seemed pretty quick. before I knew it I had walked up to get my diploma, the ceremony ended and I had a few more minuets to say goodbye to my classmates before they disappeared into the crowd of people.

And now Im not exactly sure how to feel. I mean obviously I'm excited to move on with my life and see what happens, but I loved high school. Ben Holt was like an amazingly crazy, supportive,awesome family. Now I understand why so many alumni come and visit all the time. so its definitely sad to know that I wont go to high school and see all of those people every day of my life anymore. No more jacob and enrique making me laugh in art, no more of mr Sills sassy comments or Ms Powells hilarious accents. no more of the senior class super team that is Ashley and erin, and no more shows with Ms Kindred and the rest of the drama people I love so much, and of course a million other people and things that I will miss about high school.... but this is it! graduating high school and going off to college was one of the reasons I made this blog in the first place! so that I could record this journey as my life changes in so many ways. So yes its sad to leave high school, but I know I'll come back and visit, thats what happens when a child leaves a family. But in the mean time I am unbelievably excited to spend my last summer before college with my friends and tackle my next big adventure!

Cant Believe I Did That!

 

so yesterday I cut all of my hair off. I've been growing it out for a while but I decided that I was done with the whole long hair thing for now, and that I should change it up and get a bob! so here are the before and after photos. It looks a little different now that I styled it rather than the way its styled when you get it cut. I went through a few loving it/hating it phases but Im actually pretty happy with the way it turned out. HUGE change, but I like it.

its been a while

so I havn't posted anything for a while! mostly because I havn't really had much to say. but now that I think about it I guess I do have a few things to update you on. first would be that last week was spirit week at my school (and Ben Holt takes spirit week VERY seriously) we dress up crazy, dance, have class competitions, and in the end the seniors won most of the dress up days, class competitions as well as the poster and skit. got to say it was a crazy fun week. Spirit week has always been my favorite week of the school year and it is something I am really going to miss about Ben Holt
In other news, I am officially done with seminary forever! this is a little sad because I have always loved seminary, my teacher was amazing and it was a great way to start my day. I wont, however, miss getting up at 5:00 am every day.
I finished sewing a dress the other day. sometime soon i will have to write a post with all of my recent sewing endeavors so stay tuned for that.
I also watched a lot of things online this week including (because of my love of Jane Austin, and because my English teacher said they were good) Persuasion and Emma. I loved the story line in persuasion. Emma was cute too but not my favorite. I also watched an illegal version of Les Mis that someone filmed when they went to see the show on Broadway in 2002. I had heard a few of the songs but didn't really know the story line and I've gotta say it was pretty amazing although it was super sad too. pretty much everything to do with the character Eponine was soooooo sad!! but I loved it anyway
well, I guess thats it for now! I have two more weeks of school, which is totally CRAZY!

SOOOO tired

so its 5:21 in the morning and I finished getting dressed and stuff for school like 5 min ago. why did it take me less than 15 min to get ready u ask? because its getting close to the end of the year, I'm tired, and I'm sort of not caring how I look when I go to school any more. Just got to say that the end of my senior year of high school, mixed with the last few weeks of seminary ever is KILLING me. I've loved seminary, it really has been great all through high school and an amazing way to start every day but it is something I am definitely NOT going to miss too much. I have two more weeks of it and then I NEVER have to get up at 5:00 in the morning on a regular basis EVER again. then after that I have two more weeks of school and I graduate...Its pretty crazy to think about actually. a little exciting, a little scary, and wow, I sort of just cant believe it!!

I love lists!

well as promised somewhere in the middle of "101 things that make me happy", I have decided to make a list of songs I love. But Ive decided to start not with just all of my favorite songs in general (although this list may convert to that in the future) at this point I am going to make it a list of songs that make me happy. these are the songs that I want to blast in the car with the windows down, that make me want to get up and dance and that make me feel like running down a beautiful grassy, sunny hill wearing something yellow, or fly in a bright blue sky with puffy white clouds. (that is seriously what I picture when I try to turn the feeling of happiness into an image...lol, yes, now you know the inner workings of Ashley's brain) so yeah, thats what this list is going to be for now.

I also decided to start a bucket list. I was totally thinking about doing this the other day, then visited ryans blog and saw that he did this and was like YES so awesome, now I HAVE to do this! so we'll see how that goes. although I am a little afraid to start a bucket list because if my life goes in a totally different direction from where I want it to go now, having all of my dreams and aspirations written on one list might make me feel totally disappointed with myself later...so who knows, I'll start it now and maybe end up deleting it later, or maybe it will be good motivation!

Eating Healthy

So I have recently decided that I wanted to eat healthier foods. before this decision my diet consisted of cereal for breakfast, a granola bar/trail mix/chips/other type of snack food for lunch, plus any junk food I may or may not decide to buy from the senior den that day (its dangerous having candy bars in a class you sit in for 2 hours available for a dollar) some more snacking when I got home, then whatever we were making for dinner. I mean I eat pretty healthy. I don't drink soda, not 2 much junk food thats SUPER bad for me but I wasn't necessarily eating super healthy either. now I'm not planning on turning into a crazy person who just eats organic vegetables and wheat grass and I don't know what else. but I am going to try to cut unnecessary preservatives, colorings and other chemicals out of my diet. basically I'm going to try to eat less processed foods, because if you think about it too hard, its actually pretty gross. so yes, my new resolution is to eat less prepackaged, processed type food, and replace it with fruits, veggies, or stuff I make myself...we'll see how long this lasts. wish me luck!

update on my happy list and the blog

9 followers woohoo!! thats practically double digits! but anyway hello there readers! I just wanted to say don't be afraid to comment on stuff. I know that when I read blogs I feel weird commenting on stuff, but dont! comment away. I have also just reached 100 things on my happy list which you will find in my list of pages on the right hand side of the blog. It was surprisingly easy to think up 100 things, so I'm just gonna keep going and see how far I get!

Jane Eyre!

I have become slightly obsessed with Jane Eyre. It all started when Ms. Powell my English teacher showed part of the 2006 movie version. I eventually ended up watching that whole BBC miniseries version as well as a BBC mini series from the 80s and began reading the book. Its just so good!! I love the story and I love Mr. Rochester! So because we were both freaking out about it so much, my friend Erin and I decided to take a trip to Sacramento to see another Jane Eyre movie that just came out. It didn't play in very many theaters so Sacramento was the closest we could find. The trip there and back was pretty fun, full of music, laughter, and fast talking about Jane Eyre (by the way, if I am totally comfortable belting out songs from musicals in the car with you, its a sign that we are good friends). The movie itself however, wasn't too great. there were some good parts, but i thought they took out too much of the good stuff and put in too much pointless junk. the movie started in the middle then flash-backed to the beginning, and at the end Erin and I just looked at each other like "really? that was IT?". But it was okay because it was a fun trip and that night I came home and finished reading the book...okay so I skimmed the beginning about her childhood, and totally skipped the part between when she left Mr. Rochester and when she came back to him, but no one really cares about those parts anyway ;)

My Wicked Day

Today was pretty much the greatest day ever! Alex and I drove down to Fresno to see Wicked! On the drive down we listened to the Wicked soundtrack on repeat while I totally freaked out:

yes I am aware that this is a very unattractive picture of me, but it does illustrate just how excited I was feeling and how much I was bugging Alex the whole ride to Fresno. And yes, every once in a while it would hit me and I would get all excited again and scream for real.

so we got to the theater in Fresno and parked, but we were still like 45 min early so we walked around the theater a little bit, found the stage door, and I freaked out about seeing some guys that I though were probably cast members. After a little of that we went in to the theater, did a little shopping, took our seats and waited for the show to start. As soon as the lights went down and the ensemble started singing No One Mourns the Wicked, I freaked a little and punched and elbowed Alex a few times. The cast did an amazing job, this stage was a lot smaller than the theater in San Fran, so a few things about the set were different. But it was all done amazingly. the woman playing Elphaba was actually the standby which I thought was awesome. Everything about the show was just indescribable and I've got to admit my eyes started watering during the majority of the songs.

Ok, so I know that I'm totally geeking out here, but I seriously do love this show. I love the characters, the songs, the plot, how it twisted a story you thought you knew, I love the themes and the whole message, the sets and costumes, and really everything about it. so yeah...thats why Im so hyped up about it.

After the show Alex and I went to the stage door to see all of the actors and stuff. There were surprisingly very  few people there, and I was totally scared to talk to any of them and ask me to sign my playbill. But I did end up meeting the actresses who played Elphaba and Glinda! First Natalie Daradich came out (top pic) who played Glinda. She was so sweet and just as bubbly and sparkly in person as she was on stage. We had to wait for a while for Christine Dwyre who played Elphaba to be "degreenified" but she was super sweet as well and on the inside, I totally freaked when I saw her. All I could think was, wow! this is an amazing performer who gets to be Elphaba! I was trying to think of something more profound to say there, but its true. I absolutely adore the character of Elphaba and so I freaked being able to meet someone who is able to embody her on stage. oh, and she also still had a little bit of green makeup on her face, and here finger nails were painted green, like every elphaba actress has to do...and I just thought that was crazy awesome for some reason.

after taking this picture, Alex and I walked back to our car and it seriously took me a few minuets to compose myself, I was just so ecstatic, and I had a stupid grin on my face that wouldn't leave for a few hours because I was so hyped up.

Holy SHIZ (no I wasn't clever enough to make that up myself)

WICKED is in Fresno this week (hence the shiz pun) and I was sad because I didn't even know it was coming until last weekend, and this week was crazy and I thought that there was no way that I would be able to go. And by the time that my mom felt bad about not taking me, the shows were already sold out. But then a family friend told us that they have two extra tickets, so tomorrow, Alex and I are driving to Fresno to see Wicked at 2:00... AAAAHHHH!!

My Happy List

So I just got the idea to post a list of things that make me happy, things I'm thankful for, that sort of thing. but then I got an even better idea, to make a stand alone page with a running list of things that make me happy that I can keep adding to, changing, and coming back to. Some of the things I list will just seem small, and some might seem weird, but they will all be things that bring me joy, happiness, and make me happy to be alive!

aksjghsalkdjghlk!!!!! (thats pretty much how I feel right now)

so the craziest thing just happened to me. A week or so ago when I was freaking out about majoring in theater, I came across a blog called Unnaturally Green, by a woman who was the Elphaba standby in the San Francisco production of Wicked. I loved reading this blog because it had a whole bunch of cool behind the scenes type stuff. But about halfway through reading this blog something very unsettling occurred to me: Broadway shows are every night of the week except for Monday. This means that if I ever did end up with any type of job for which I would need to be there during the actual show, I would be required to work on Sunday.
This was a little unsettling for me because as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we are taught to keep the sabbath day holy which usually includes not working on Sunday. Needless to say I was pretty upset when I started thinking about this whole situation. Even on the off chance that I WAS good enough, would I EVER be able to get a job on Broadway? I started searching the internet for answers when I came across a Deseret News article about LDS performers on traveling Broadway shows. One of the actresses mentioned was Nikki Bohne, who has the lead role in the traveling tour of Legally Blonde. I went to her website, found her email and decided to ask her my questions, not really thinking I would ever actually hear back from her.
I had actually pretty much forgotten that I had ever sent her an email until this morning, when I got a reply! here is part of what she shared with me:

"Cutting right to the chase. You will have to work on Sunday. There are
enough actresses out there for the job, that at first you won't be
able to say no. Some people who have established themselves in the
business with a certain job may be able to contract Sunday's off, but
I would say that is the exception, not the rule. The advice I would
give would be to decide within yourself what is most important to you
and your specific relationship with heavenly father. Everyone has a
different outlook on the gospel and so it's important to create your
own personal "code of honor." In my personal opinion, the good that I
do outweighs working on the Sabbath. I work really hard to attend
church each week, so I normally do not miss th sacrament, but it is
hard. It is a personal decision you have to make and in this business
it is tough to find the motivation for the small things. But it's
possible! Maintaining a regular plan of scripture reading and prayer
is essential. I listen to conference talks while traveling and study
the Book of Mormon with my family.


But what it comes down to is your own personal decision. Being an
active member of the church in this field is hard...really hard...but
definitely possible! Most importantly, enter your career knowing who
you are and what you stand for. If you are wavering at all, the world
will get to you. But the lord really is on our side and I feel his
spirit every day, even in the show. Wait, especially in the show ;)
performing is such a spiritual experience for me and singing my shoe
every night brings me closer to my father in heaven.

If you are dead set on Sundays, there is hope. After months of
switching shifts to attend church and showing up in a dress with my
food for the whole day in a bag, Disney finally gave me Sundays off!
It took a lot of work and I wouldn't count on that being a regular
occurrence."


this is just a little of what she emailed me, and I honestly just couldn't believe she emailed me back. What she said really made me feel better because at least at this point, I don't have to give up on this dream. I dont know what the future holds, but as of now, this may still be a possibility for me if I work hard

...Well That Was Dissapointing

With most of the anxiety of choosing a major out of the way for me (for now anyway), my biggest fear about college is having to live with a stranger. I only know one girl who is going to be a freshman at BYU in the fall, so I'm just rooming with whoever chooses the same room I do. Or at least that was the original plan, but all of that changed yesterday when I was on the facebook page for incoming BYU freshmen.
As I was scanning the page I saw a post from a girl asking if anyone needed a roommate. I looked at her profile and she seemed like not just a normal human being, but actually really nice (at this point all I was hoping for was that I wouldn't have to room with someone weird/mean/psycho) so I sent her a message and we spent two days messaging back and forth getting to know each other a little. I was actually feeling pretty good, because she seemed really nice.
And now the tragic end to this story comes along....to make a long story short she ended up sending me a message that she had a friend who wasn't going to go to BYU but just decided to go to BYU and wanted to room with her so that is what she is going to do.


...so now I'm back to square one. I'm a little disappointed because she seems really nice and now I have to be all scared and worried about who my roommate is going to be again. But I'm alright. Im hoping there is going to be some reason for me rooming with whoever I end up with. who knows, maybe I'll end up rooming with someone who will introduce me to my future husband or something someday.haha... but whatever happens, it will sure be interesting.

Dont really know how to say all of this....

Its been a confusing couple of weeks because I have been trying to figure out what to do with my life and what to major in. If I am going to be 100% honest with my one viewer and the whole rest of the internet, then I'll just say it... I love acting and if I could have any job in the whole world then I would get a part on Broadway (no Hollywood for me). Now if  I'm going to be 100% honest with myself as well as my one viewer and the rest of the internet, I know that there is a tiny chance that this will ever actually happen. There are so many talented people in this world that love theater too.
To be honest its really hard to come to grips with the fact that what you want to do isn't exactly practical. And then the even tougher decisions start...Do I still go for it knowing that it may never happen? that would be a hard road to choose. Or do I just forget it and go with something more practical? this may be easier, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself. So here is the plan:
I am going to go to BYU as a theater major. This major isn't really acting too much, it seems to be more about theater production. I will be able to learn about things like lighting, costumes, and sets. These are skills that are a little bit more marketable and are things that I am still really interested in. As part of this major you get to choose your elective type casses from a whole array of theater classes, so according to my BYU  counselor, I should still be able to take acting classes and improve those skills
so I'm feeling pretty good about that plan because I can still have the opportunity to become a better actor and singer, but I have the back up skills to get other jobs in the theater business...other jobs that I really wouldn't mind having at all.


So there it is, all my worries and confusion about the rest of my life. For all I know I may get to college and decide this is not what I want to do at all, or maybe I'll want it even more than I do know. But no matter what happens, I'm feeling pretty good about my decision and excited to see where it takes me

Ashley The Pizza Girl

yes its true...I am officially working at Papa Murphys... YAY (that was in a sarcastic tone by the way). My Dad decided that it would be a good idea for Alex and I to work there once a week so we are ready when we work there during the summer. It actually really wasn't that bad...almost kind of fun except that it was work, and that it was 4 hours of work. I worked from 4:30 - 8:30 and now I am home about ready to crash. so yeah, I guess thats about it. But since this is my first job ever, and since I'm starting to work there on a regular basis now, I thought it would be good to document this historic moment in the life of Ashley.

1207 Taylor Hall ( I got the bed by the window!)

Yes! starting August 24 at 12:00 am, this will be my dorm room at BYU! Needless to say I am pretty freaking excited about this. I immediately started making lists in my head of all of the things I would need to pack, and all of the things I would probably forget. So yes, dorm life should be fun, except that I don't have a roommate and at any moment some girl from anywhere in the world might choose the same room as me! I don't know about you but I find that pretty scary. but anyway, thats about it for now...I'll talk more about majors and classes and the rest of my life in the near future because I am talking to a counselor today and hopefully that will help me straighten everything out.

update on this blog

whats up non existent viewers!?! at this point I still haven't told anyone about my blog really, My mom reads it occasionally, but viewers or not I decided that if I actually write down my goals for this blog, then who knows? I might actually do what I say I'm going to do. For one I'm going to stop waiting for exciting things to happen to post, I mean, I'm not going to post about boring things (hopefully) but I want to post more often. second, I want to make this a little more entertaining to read...I'm not exactly sure how I am going to do this, but Ive been reading a blog thats just fun to read because the person writing it is funny and just writes about things in a super interesting way...so we"ll see how that goes. Thirdly, before I go off to college I want to actually have some followers so it looks like I am going to have to tell people about my blog sometime soon here!

well, thats it for now! need to go to seminary (which would explain why I am blogging at like 5:00 in the morning)

Wicked

so I don't know exactly what this post is about, but lately I have become completely obsessed with the musical Wicked. I  mean I always loved it, but after months of listening to music from Aida nonstop, I finally started listening to Wicked again, and Ive pretty much been looking up youtube videos and behind the scenes stuff nonstop now. I'm not exactly sure why I love it so much, but for one the sets and costumes and everything are just amazing but other than that the storyline is awesome and it has a really beautiful message about friendship, and acceptance and being yourself. the songs are so great, they just blow my mind... I don't know, I just think it is amazing and that everyone should go and see it. oh, and Elphaba is like the coolest character ever! I swear, one day, and I don't know how I'm going to make this happen, but BYU is going to do Wicked and I want to be Elphaba. I mean, I know thats probably never going to happen, but how awesome would that be!?

Aida closing weekend

closing weekend of Aida went even better than opening weekend. It was so much fun I don't even know how to describe it. I did really well both nights and totally belted my songs, closing night was probably my best night out of all of them. I'm actually really really sad that it is all over. doing this show has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have learned so much and grown so much through this whole experience and i am so thankful to the entire cast and everyone who has helped and supported me

I GOT IN TO BYU!

wow I cant believe I almost forgot to write a post about this! last week I got some amazing news that I was accepted to Brigham Young University, where I have always wanted to go. Its been a long wait and now I'm super excited to go to college and figure out what I am going to do with my life. After looking at all of the theater classes that BYU offers I think I might just declare myself as a theater major instead of taking some theater classes before declaring my major, which was my previous plan. who knows how my plans, interests and dreams will change during college, but I'm sure I will have a lot of fun along the way! stay tuned to find out!

Aida Opening Weekend

Overall, opening weekend for Aida went great, of course there were a few little issues, but overall it was an amazing experience. Opening night was probably one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. I was actually pretty calm all day. I didnt really start freaking out until a little before we all had to go backstage when the doors opened. Erin belted out a song with me to calm my nerves which helped for a little. but standing backstage in the dark for half an hour just waiting for the show to start is horrible. I though I was going to puke, which thankfully I didn't do. there was a brief moment of tears but Erin and Brandon didn't let that last long. Thankfully Brandon was backstage the whole whole time, which was especially helpful right before the show started. its nice to have one of your biggest supporters with you to give you a hug, tell you how great you are going to do, and not let you stress too much.

Being on stage during the show was amazing. it was so much fun and I surprised myself that I was able to sing in front of people, like really belt stuff out instead of freezing up. and of course being backstage with everyone was amazing and as fun as ever. When the show was finally over and I walked out to bow...I cant even describe the feeling. I really just felt joy...and like all of my work had finally paid off.

the second night went pretty well for the most part. most of the audience members were people that I knew, so although I wasn't quite as scared before the show started, I was a lot more nervous while on stage. But it went well except for some sound issues that totally messed me up when I sang Easy as Life, so I ended up having to make up the whole end of the song because the music wasn't right when I started the last verse. lets just say that was a scary experience. as soon as the lights blacked out I ran off stage and almost started crying. Good thing I had Brandon back there. he gave me a hug, made me look him in the eyes and said that it was totally fine, that I covered it up well and not to worry about it. The rest of the show went fine, but that mess up still bothered me for a couple days until I finally just let it go.

overall, opening weekend was a complete success. everyone who saw the show had great things to say to me, most of my family and friends were there to support me, and I really ended up facing my fears and did something that I never though i would do in a million years

Aida Rehearsals

My last post about Aida was about the auditions so I thought I might as well post something about rehearsing and the actual process of putting a show together. Its been a lot of work. I stay at school until between 6:00 and 7:00 most nights. I had to memorize my lines and songs before we even started blocking, and we've been doing a bunch of singing, dancing and acting over the last few weeks.
The first two weeks of rehearsal were dance rehearsal. there are only 3 big dance numbers in the show so we worked on those a lot, pretty much to the point that everyone is sick of those songs.
The next few weeks of rehearsal were on act one, we blocked the scenes, practiced them a lot and figured out what would work and what we were supposed to be doing. we just ran through all of act 1 and I've gotta say I'm so excited! its going to be awesome.
we have also worked on the set for quite a few Saturdays and its turning out great. most everything is built and its definitely one of the coolest sets we've done. and we got lights!!! our director Ms. Kindred and Brandon stayed at the school until 2:00 in the morning putting them up, but we tried them out today and there are crazy!
so now we have 3 weeks until opening night. this week we are blocking the 2nd act. next week is going to be mainly singing and fight rehearsals, with a run through at the end of the week, and then next week we are teching the show, running through it, and we open on Friday!!

so I guess you could say that I'm really really nervous. but at the same time I'm having the time of my life rehearsing for this show. its definitely tiring and frustrating at times. but I never expected to have so much fun and love it so much. so although part of me is dreading opening night, the other part of me is so excited because I know its going to be so much fun.

winter formal 2011

Finding a dress for a formal dance is always a challenge, and quite an adventure, though not always a fun one. going to a normal store is pointless because the dresses there just don't have quite enough fabric, looking for modest dresses at a Mormon dress shop would work, but think that they are pretty much all ugly, so that usually leaves the job to my moms awesome sewing skills and my imagination. For this year's winter formal, my dress ideas changed many many times until something was finally decided on. Everyone, including me ended up really liking my dress. my mom did an awesome job, I had some great ideas, and I look pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

Happy New Year!

Well, its finally 2011, which means I have a ton of HUGE changes coming up. college acceptances are coming, as well as graduation, and leaving for college. Its all pretty crazy to think about, and I'm actually trying not to think about it too hard, but its really exciting when you think about it. Its going to be a huge turning point in my life, and although that is pretty scary I am get so excited when I think about all of the experiences and possibilities that I have coming up. So although I really have no idea where this year will take me, here are a few of my predictions/ an outline of things I know will happen this year:

• January and February are going to be crazy because we have rehearsals for Aida. I am so looking forward to these next two months because although I know they will be hard, I know they will be so rewarding and fun.
• I am going to find out weather Ive been accepted to BYU. I have already been accepted to SVU which i guess is my second choice, but I just cant wait to get my letter from BYU.
• GRADUATION! oh wow. some days I cant wait to just graduate and get out of here, but some days I dont want high school to end.
• summer will be lots of working and spending time with friends
• then off to college in either utah, idaho or virginia!

wow! talk about scary...but right now Im just excited that I have my final semester of high school to enjoy!