Trip To Utah

Mom and I spent last week in Utah. I had to go down for two wedding receptions and to take care of some other things. We had so much fun! I have been to four of my friends' weddings in the last month, haha. It's that time of year I guess. The first wedding reception was one of my really good family friend's, Natty. He and I met when we were 15, our families were on a tour group in Europe together. It was a total blast! Our families got along great and we became really good friends. I spent a lot of time at his house the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school. I spent pretty much the whole summer in Utah doing summer camps at BYU. I became really good friends with all of Natty's friends also. The next year I played club volleyball and my team traveled to Utah every other weekend for tournaments. After the tournament was over I'd go hang out with all of them for the rest of the weekend. I have many, many great memories with that group of friends. It was really fun to see all of them again at the wedding reception! I wish I had more pictures, but believe it or not I totally forgot the memory card for my camera in Boise, ugh! So all of the pictures I have were taken with my phone. The reception was held at Natty's house, which brought back so many memories. They have the most beautiful home I have ever seen.


This is what the refreshments were sitting on. It was totally cute to have small portions in individual small dishes sitting on these tall decorative shelves near the pool. It looked really classy. They also had a crepe bar on the other side, yum!







n+t = Natty + Tacia. Natty is a graphic designer and that is their "logo," totally cute. I love the flower design on the cake too! He probably did that.

My hair was totally flat and not very cute by the end of the night. It had been a really long day out and about! I didn't get to touch-up before the reception. Oh well.



The second wedding reception that I got to go to was for my old Kauai roommate and Del Sol girl, Sarah. It was so fun to get to go to her wedding! It was great having all 4 of us Kauai girls reunited again. Hailey has been living in Maui this whole year managing one of the Del Sol stores there. Katie and I see each other every now and then. For a while we were going to the Temple together once a week so we were keeping in touch pretty well. It was really great having all of us there together and get the chance to catch up. I don't have the pictures of all of us together, but I have some. Sarah's reception was absolutely beautiful. I was in a greenhouse with gorgeous flowers and plants throughout the whole room. There were fountains, stone paths, and gazebos. It was very romantic. When it came time for the bouquet toss all of us single ladies gathered together. Sarah tossed it up in the air and it came right to me, haha. So I caught the bouquet! I have no idea what that means ;) haha. It was a lot of fun though. There is a pic of that also.










The Del Sol Kauai girls! ...minus Sarah.


Sarah looking at the decorated car with a look of disgust, haha.


Sarah and Sam went to Park City on their honeymoon. We were joking about how I might run into them at the outlet mall that weekend. On Saturday I got my hair done in Salt Lake and my friend Casey (the girl who Stephen dated before his mission) came and picked me up from the salon. We went to Park City to go shopping at the outlet mall. Sure enough, I'm looking at dresses and all of the sudden I see Sarah walking towards me. We both started laughing and gave each other a hug. It was really funny that I saw them while they were on their honeymoon. I didn't talk to her very long and soon made my way to the other side of the store so they could continue enjoying each other. I felt bad like I was totally interrupting. But seriously, what are the odds we would be in the same store at the same time!? Note to self, go further away than Park City for my honeymoon, hehe.

After shopping Mom met up with Casey and I. Went went to a pizza place off of Main St. downtown in Park City. Park City is so fun! I love it. It just has a fun atmosphere and it always feels like you are on vacation when you go there. It's great! I wish I had more pics from the weekend. It really was a bummer that I left my memory card in my computer at home! Oh well, at least I have some pictures.

We saw a lot of Cheneys (my cousins) this weekend. Kerry and Leon were in town because they chaperoned a church youth activity. They went to the Manti pageant and to Salt Lake Temple Square to see on of the church movies. I think they had a really good time. Katie was at EFY all week, then they picked her up and all of them went to Jon and Gina's house. Mom and I went over to Jon and Gina's and got to see all five of their cute little blonde girls plus Kerry, Leon, and Katie. It was so much fun to catch up with all of them! We have had family reunions every year pretty much my whole life so I am really close with my cousins. I always enjoy it when I can go to West Jordan to see them because it really isn't too far from Provo.

These pictures are dedicated to my cousin Sadie who living with her husband across the country in Jersey for a few years. Here are pictures of my Uncle Klyn (Sadie's dad) and the farm! Gooding, ID has such a beautiful landscape view from my cousin's house. It is fun to visit and enjoy the peace and quiet. On the drive to and from Utah we stopped and said hi to Aunt Kay Lynn and Uncle Klyn. It was really great to get to visit with them.



Klyn's really cool little truck. Its stearing wheel is on the wrong side and its a stick shift. He told me that I could try to drive it if I wanted, but I was tired from traveling all day. Now that I am thinking about it I wish I would have tried it. It would be so crazy to shift with your left hand!

So You Think You Can Dance--Last Week's Favorites

Ok, I know I am really lame writing all of my blogs about "So You Think You Can Dance" but I love that show! Does anyone else watch it? It's so great. I just love dancing. I watch them and wish I was as talented as they are. It's great. Here are my two favorites from last week's episode:

#1 Top Pick Katee and Joshua, Hip Hop

I absolutely loved this one because it really tells a story. I think dance has the ability to contain so much emotion and really connect with an audience. This piece really did it for me. I could feel the emotion from the very beginning. It was about more than just the really cool technical work, it was also about acting. The story is about a military couple, and the husband has just learned he's going to war.



#2 Top Pick Chelsea H. and Mark, Contemporary

I loved this one because it also tells a story. It is a little bit quirky though, which made it fun. Mia Michaels is a fabulous contemporary choreographer. Her story line in this piece was "Tim Burton's Wedding, when two different people find love" haha, it's different and cute.

Enough Said. . .

Last night I was watching So You Think You Can Dance, which is my favorite TV show in the summer. I'm sure you can tell because I have already made a previous post talking about it, haha. Last night the episode showed us the 200 and some odd individuals who made the first cut of auditions and had the opportunity to participate in an intense week of auditioning in Las Vegas for one of the Top 20 spots. The judges weren't messing around, they immediately began cutting tons of people left and right. They were on a mission, they were looking for the 10 best male and the 10 best female dancers. They knew exactly what they were looking for: performance, talent, technique, poise, personality, and especially coach-ability. The dancers were put under tremendous amounts of pressure. Not only were they being physically exhausted, but mentally too. As the group was narrowed down to fewer and fewer dancers, it was amazing how individuals true character and ability to be coachable really shined when they became tired and stressed out. There was one girl in particular that I am thinking of who made it through the entire week without being cut. When it came to auditioning the last piece of choreography she actually did well. The judges complimented her to reassure her and then told her that they noticed her getting overwhelmed while learning the routine. Rather than saying, "thank you, yes I was overwhelmed for a minute but I learned a great lesson," she began to rattle off a whole long story full of excuses. The judges were completely turned off and actually cut her because they didn't like her attitude not because of her dancing abilities. If she hadn't said too much, she would have had the opportunity to do her solo and be considered for one of the Top 20 spots. At the very end of the episode there was another situation where a girl said too much. She was asked if she didn't make the Top 20 if she would come back and try again next year. She said no and explained that the rejection was too hard on her emotionally. The judges, again, were turned off by the attitude of this girl. They didn't like that she would be willing to give up at age 19 when she has so much talent. After her comments the judges decided to recast the vote to see if she should make the Top 20. Despite her negative comments, she still made the Top 20. But she almost missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime because she said too much. I felt really bad for both of these girls who gave really bad impressions of themselves because they said too much. It made me think of how many times we say too much, and later find ourselves regretting it because of the consequences. Sometimes less is more, enough said. . .

When I was in 9th grade (junior high) I was in an audition choir. At the end of the year I, along with many other girls, performed a solo for our high school choir teacher, Mr. Tortorica. We were given scores on our solos and they also counted as our audition for varsity choir our sophomore year. Very few were given an 'A' rating on their solos, and even less made it into the varsity choir as a sophomore. I was nervous to perform in front of Mr. Tortorica. After my performance when I went to receive my critique from him he told me that I did very very well. I said, "thank you! I was really nervous because I've had a cold so I was worried I wouldn't be able to sing." He set me straight so fast! He told me that all I needed to say was "thank you" and that no one likes working with anyone that makes excuses. I apologized. A few days later I found out that I did receive and 'A' rating on my solo, but I did NOT make the varsity choir. I had said too much. It was one of my many lessons learned on saying too much. I actually spoke to Mr. Tortorica about it and because I did he allowed me to be in the A Capella varsity choir (the only sophomore in the choir) which I was extremely grateful for, but I would still have to wait until the next year to re-audition for our women's varsity choir. I said too much, and there were consequences! Has something like this happened to you before?

It is not just in auditions that we miss out on opportunities if we accidentally say too much. I think this happens to us a lot, especially in arguments. Why is is that people always want to be the one that gets the last word? Only to find that their last word caused some serious heart ache. How often when we are tired and under serious stress do we say something that we didn't really mean in the first place? Think about how frustrated it makes you when you let someone else tell their side of the story without interruption and then the second you start telling yours they interrupt you! They said too much! Or how about when someone gives you a compliment and instead of simply saying, "thank you," you disregard the compliment? I think everyone makes these mistakes. I think it is one of those life lessons that you you learn over and over again.

However, even though everyone makes these mistakes you still feel bad for them when they do. I am going to try to be more aware of when I am saying too much. I recommend everyone else do the same. Sometimes it is best just to say "ok" or "thank you" . . . enough said.

A Day Downtown With Mom

Today was a great day. Mom and I went out! We dropped by Dad's office to say hello and invite him to lunch, but he wasn't able to make it out with us. Mom and I went to PF Changs for lunch. It was fabulous as always, especially the lunch menu prices! We got the chicken lettuce wraps (if you have not ever had them, then you need to!). We also got the almond and cashew chicken dish which is my favorite. It was nice to go out together and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and good conversation. After lunch we walked across the street to Magie Moo's Ice Cream Shop. Mom got chocolate ice cream with chocolate, of course. I am a vanilla girl myself. But I held back on the ice cream. Don't worry I made up for it later with a Cap'n Crunch milkshake from Carls Jr. haha. After dessert Mom and I got back in the car. We were downtown--I love downtown Boise by the way--so we were close to South Jr. High. That was my Junior High. They are building a new one right next to the old one right now and then they are going to tear down the old one. Mom and I critiqued the new building and had no problem finding all of the things that we DON'T like about it, of course haha. I am going to miss my old building. I have a lot of good memories there. Anyone that knows my mom will not be surprised when I tell you that after we drove past that school we had to drive past all of the other new ones being built on our way home. I love my Mom. I'm glad I get to be home to drive around and check out the Boise scene with her. Today was a great day.

A New Find in Indie Music, Check It Out

So I subscribed to a new podcast on iTunes called "IndieFeed" and it has a new full song everyday by an indie artist. I use to be really into music and always learning about the new up and coming artists, but I have not taken the time to do that in years. This podcast, however, has allowed me to hear about artists that I have never heard of before and it is so fun for me. My favorite one so far is Kaki King from New York. I am as excited about discovering her as I was when I first heard Imogen Heap. She is amazing on the guitar and the music is relaxing. Yet some of it has a good enough beat I could work out to it. I checked out her myspace page and found that she has a ton of full songs on there. Check them out and tell me what you think! Or if you already know her, tell me about it! I am so behind on the music scene, especially the indie scene.

**Disclaimer: I like the song, I have mixed feelings about the music video.

So You Think You Can Dance

I love to dance. I always have, probably always will. Therefore I love watching people who are amazing dancers. I wish I could dance like them. There is this show on TV during the summer. It's called "So You Think You Can Dance" and it is a competition like American Idol.

I absolutely love this show! You see some pretty incredible dancing on it. The audition of Robert Muraine was particularly amazing. You should check it out.

Lacey and Kameron choreographed by Mia Michaels 2007.

Heidi and Travis 2006

The End of May

I absolutely love May! It is my favorite month out of the whole year. Not because it starts out with May Day, but probably because it is my birthday month! haha, so I am a little bit biased. When I look back on all of the May months of my past I have very fond memories. Growing up my Mom always had really fun birthday parties for me. I think every year of my life until my senior year of high school I had a birthday party. When I was little it was always fun to have the neighborhood kids and my cousins come over to swim and play games. Spring is such a fun time to have parties. My best friend in elementary school, Bekah Campbell, had her birthday on May 15th. We use to have to coordinate every year who got to have their birthday party on what weekend because often we wanted the same weekend. It always worked out though, and of course it was more fun because it meant we had birthday parties two weekends in a row!

As I got into junior high I started having a "beach party" theme for my birthday every year. We would open the pool in our back yard and put up tiki torches. Then we would get a ton of leis from a party store and I got to greet everyone that came with a lei and a kiss on the cheek. It was such a fun tradition! There use to be between 30-40 people that came and all of us would have a blast. Everyone would have competitions to see who could do the best trick off of the diving board. We played other silly pool games that were always really fun like colors and marco polo. We even set up the volleyball net and get some good games going. My group of close guys friends had a band so they usually played a few covered songs for us too. It was just a really great way to end the year, get everyone together and ready for summer break!

I have also been very blessed to have some very unique and exciting experiences on my birthdays. For my 19th birthday I was in Paris, France and I got to go up the Tour de Eiffel at night while the lights were all lit and sparkling. That was so cool. I was backpacking Europe with my cousin Brandon and his two friends. Brandon's birthday is the day before mine, so we got to celebrate two birthdays in a row. I bought his dinner on his birthday, then the next night he got mine haha.





On my 20th birthday I was living in Hawaii on the North Shore of Oahu going to BYU-Hawaii. I don't think anything is better than enjoying the island life on your birthday. The day of my birthday we just hung out at the beach. But later my friends ended up throwing me a party. They got me a cake, and we had a BBQ. It was so much fun!





For my 21st birthday I was back in France. This time I was in Lyon with the BYU Business Study Abroad program. It was our first day in Europe. I went to dinner with some girls in my program. While we were eating dinner I was looking around the restaurant at the interior design and taking it all in when I met eyes with two men sitting at a table across the room. I smiled then turned away. I made sure not to look that direction the rest of our dinner, because its always awkward when two people accidentally catch eyes at the same time. So while I was avoiding looking over there, one of the French men had purchased a long stem beautiful red rose. While all of us girls were chatting he came over to our table and singled me out. He said, "this is for you beautiful girl," in his French accent and then kissed me on each cheek. I turned bright red and just said thank you. I couldn't believe that out of five girls I was picked out and given a rose by a handsome French man on my birthday, haha. After we paid the tab I went over to their table to thank him again. They invited us to sit with them and they would buy us cokes (because we do not drink alcohol). We sad for just a few minutes and while we were talking I learned that it was his birthday! When I told him it was my birthday also he didn't believe me, "fate" he called it. It was a funny experience and definitely made my night. I enjoyed having a great story to tell and a beautiful rose to smell for my 21st birthday.




On my 22nd birthday I was actually in Boise. But the next day I moved back to Hawaii, this time the island of Kauai, for a summer internship. So I got to enjoy the island life again. It was fabulous!



This year I celebrated my birthday quietly at home. But it was so great. Kory sent me the most beautiful bouquet of Hawaiian flowers and a cube picture frame with super cute pictures of us. It was the most thoughtful and wonderful gift ever! He really made it a special day for me.




Oh the month of May has so many wonderful memories. I love May because the weather is great, and the flowers smell good and are beautiful. I love May because it means that summer is here, or almost here! I love May because I get to look back at the year I have had and remember my great experiences. I think this last year of my life has been one of the best. I have learned so much, and have really grown a ton as an individual. I have met some amazing people who have been the best additions to my life! I love where I am, and especially where I am going. I cannot wait to have another amazing year.