Have a "Horrible" Halloween!

I know I've posted this once before on this blog, but I think it's fan-freaking-tastic and Halloween-y enough to repost:

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

You must invest approximately 42 minutes of your time to fully enjoy this. It is all worth it.


Happy Halloween!

First Snow

I muttered and complained all day.

Glared at the snow-happy physics TA.

Put my sith lord peacoat hood on.


But tonight, I'm warming to the idea.

Threw on my Old Navy pajamas with penguins on them.

Made candy cane hot cocoa.

Embraced the oncoming winter, if only for one very fleeting night.

what kind of blue are you?

I've been meaning to write this for some time now, but thank you to all of you who recommended jeans to me! In the past three weeks I have tried on H&M, Forever 21 (can't beat $13 skinny jeans), 7s, It! jeans, Vigoss, Express, True Religions, and...one other that I can't remember right now. The point is, I was willing to plunk down $120 for True Religions at Nordstrom Rack, but they didn't fit. How lame is that? I have a friend who works at Buckle who's going to set me up with a jean fitting, so hopefully I will be able to find some that fit like a glove (for lack of a more interesting cliché).

Also, I miss Rockband.

Dear Family,

Can I maybe borrow it and the Xbox for a week? Probably Jeff would kill me, but it would do wonders for my stress levels.

Love, Katie

love, save the empty

I'm sitting in my room listening to the rain fall. Today I was in the homecoming parade, handing out balloons marked with "50th Anniversary- Ballroom Dance Company Annual Concert April [whatever the date is that I can't think of right now, but you should all buy tickets from me and come when it rolls around]" to little kids. It was actually really fun. All of the other teams had to dance lindy, but we did not (and did not have to spend the time to learn the routine), as we have already sacrificed enough time to the ballroom gods lately.
This week was sort of weird for me. I got back from tour and jumped right back into school...except kept doing performances with Homecoming Spectacular all week too...so it was like tour...only at home... (odd thing number one) somehow I managed to get all the way caught up with my schoolwork by Tuesday night (odd thing number two). Granted, this took failing (ok, so I use that term loosely) a physics test (perfectly normal), but at least it's over. This white cat with one blue eye and one green eye has been wandering around my apartment complex (odd thing number three). I named it Francis in my head as it followed me back and forth between my apartment and the laundry room a couple days ago. Both of my classes were canceled on Thursday (odd thing number four). It was national chemistry week, and I ate liquid nitrogen ice cream every other day. I finished my physics homework that's due Monday on Friday (odd thing number five).

I feel a little...off kilter? maybe? I'm not sure what I'm "supposed" to be doing with myself now...I could leave on a mission next fall. I could do study abroad next fall. I could stay on the team and go to Thailand next summer. I could do more research and get a paper published. I could, I could, I could.

But what is it that I should?

Hmmm.

I should go study for American Christianity.

Happy weekend everyone. :)

currently listening to:

Originally, this was going to be a post about how much I like the lyrics of "If it Kills Me" by Jason Mraz. It morphed into a list of three artists I think you would all enjoy.

Recommendation One: Jason Mraz

Pretty sure you've all listened to him before.
Let me just say that "If it Kills Me" is an awesome, awesome song, both the Casa Nova version and the regular one.

Recommendation Two: Erin McCarley

She has this Ingrid Michaelson/Sara Bareilles vibe going on that I absolutely love.
Listen to "Pony (It's Ok)" or "Love, Save the Empty."

Recommendation Three: Renan Luce

Probably you won't appreciate him as much as I do, because he is French and I am automatically inclined to like all things French...but, he has this nice acoustic-y, sort of Sondre Lerche-esque sound with this gorgeous French voice. My favorite French artist thus far. (Let's see how many times I can get "French" into one description...that would be five)
Listen to "La Lettre" or "Mes Racines"

What are your current favorite artists/songs?

i can do hard things, i can do hard things, i can do hard things

This afternoon quickly spiraled into a I-need-a-cupcake-or-fudge and I-want-to-hurl-glass-beakers-at-the-concrete-walls-of-the-chemistry-building sort of day.

Me and physics have the rockiest relationship.

:(

time is all around

As of 5:10 this morning, I am back to reality.

Tour was so much fun this year. I knew what to expect and what not to expect (vacation-like experience, I don't think so), so it was a lot more enjoyable. We got to see some cool things like the beach (we didn't get to swim, but we did get to get our feet wet), the Reagan Presidential Library (which has his Air Force 1 plane in it, the entire, huge, actual plane. It was awesome.), the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica (shopped at H&M and got a delicious ham and cheese crepe), Downtown Disney, multiple temples, Hollywood, In-N-Out, and more. The thing that always strikes me when we tour is how generous people are. We stay with host families every night, and they are always so welcoming, so willing to do whatever to make us comfortable. You have the chance to see people from all walks of life and from all socioeconomic statuses, but everyone has the same high level of hospitality. It's awesome. It's also great to go to church in different cities and see that it's still the same, no matter where you go. The members believe the same things, give talks on the same subjects, testify of the same doctrine everywhere in the world. What a testimony of the truthfulness, stability, and unity of the church.

The forecast for this week is:
three tests
three extra homework assignments that should've already been done
two 5-11 pm rehearsals for Homecoming Spectacular
two performances for Homecoming Spectacular
one morning full of balloon handing out for the Homecoming Spectacular parade

May I be blessed with three extra hours in the day and twice as much brainpower for the next seven days...

crack the shutters

This website is really funny. I saw it on Amanda's facebook, and it made me laugh out loud in the dressing room earlier.

We're in Lancaster, CA right now. It's finally sunny! It rained all yesterday and the day before (perhaps misted is a better word). We got to explore Downtown Disney yesterday, without actually entering the theme park. This was rather depressing and led to us deciding to do a weekend roadtrip to Disneyland next semester. Instead of riding rides, we ran around the little shops, settling on the Lego store to spend most of our time. Becky, Ryan, Jared, Daniel, and I built an Egyptian pyramid, and then an obelisk, and then a reflecting pool, and then a sphinx. It was awesome. That night we performed on an extremely small stage in a theater without air conditioning. We were swwweeeeeaaaatttttyyyy.
This morning we went to Santa Monica. Some people went to the pier. I did not because it's a one time only experience, and I believe I am at least twice past that quota. Instead, Toffer, Ian, and I headed to the 3rd Street Promenade for some rad shopping. I think I just might start a blog series about jean shopping, I have done it so much lately (and I'm pretty much desperate for some good fitting jeans. If you have any brand suggestions for girls whose jeans are always too tight in the hips and too loose in the waist, let me know).

Tonight we're performing in an awesome venue. Another performance in Oxnard tomorrow, a matinee in Long Beach on Saturday (my cousin Nick and grandma are coming! I'm really excited to see them!), and we are on our way back.

So I have two more days to prepare to take three tests when I get home.

Maybe I will drop out of college and become a stage crew member instead.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Our host family is awesome, and this is why:

"They're really fun, sweet kids...who just happen to be in gangs."
-our host mom, who has the biggest heart in the world

In Australian accent:

"Changing lanes is like an extreme sport here."

"I teach the Sunbeams and they get these crazy ideas. Awhile back they decided that Jesus's surname was Price. 'Jesus Price!' they'd say to me. I had to set them all straight before their parents found out and got me thrown out."

-lady from Tazmania who had dinner with us

It's that time of year again...

Greetings from Bakersfield, CA!

Tour has been a lot of fun so far. Everyone on team is really nice and pleasant to be around, so that is always a plus. I had forgotten how fulfilling it is to perform for people who don't have the opportunity to see our kind of show very often. I think I had forgotten how much I love being on the tour team.

I've been taking mental snapshots in my mind during rehearsals, getting ready, performing, etc, all of the little things that go into being a part of this. Setting up the light trees, taping down mats on the stage, unpacking thousands of dollars worth of costumes, slicking our hair, putting on shockingly red lipstick, waiting and watching from the wings in the dark, rushing to make quick changes, getting annoyed with the lights for not coming on fast enough in the latin medley, spraying costumes with alcohol to kill bacteria, finally finishing it all off with "Show Business", mingling with the audience and taking pictures with little kids, cooling down onstage, striking and back coiling cables (I am so proud of myself for being able to do that), repacking costumes, removing lipstick, this is all part of being on the team.
This is what we do, night after night after night. Sometimes we get bored with it all and resort to telling pirate jokes while laying on the floor in the middle of "Pirates" or yipping really obnoxiously during the mambo, or seeing just how far away from the standard pink and brown eye shadow we can stray (blue? how rebellious!), and sometimes we get tired and ornery, and it is not so fun.
And then we get to talk to the audience, and shake their hands, and see their gratitude for performing for them, and it is all worth it.

I would not trade this experience for anything in the world.

I was going to work on physics homework, but then realized I didn't understand resistivity and got stuck here instead.

Sugar free pudding has no point (if you're going to buy pudding, why bother trying for healthy?) and almost no taste. I wish I'd remembered this while grocery shopping on Friday.

A big thank you to everyone who came to our mocktail extravaganza for Laura's birthday on Saturday! If you weren't there, you missed some awesome drinks including: Upside Slammer with a Twist, Mocktinis, Strawberry Daiquiri, Peach Pina Colada, NCMO on the Beach, Au Pair, Everything but the Kitchen Sink, Twisted Brown Cow, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Pop-n-Rock, Screwdriver, Kamikaze, Death by Chocolate, Spicy Shirley Temple, and more...to the total of 21 completely unique mocktails. Yes, we are that cool.

If you're wondering what to make for dinner, why don't you check out our new dinner group blog for recipes? Let me say I am oh so very glad that our apartment decided to do this. Thanks to Avenues 123 guys for inviting us!

Conference was awesome. Can't wait for the November Ensign to come out so I can attack it with a highlighter. I'm feeling a tad guilty for falling asleep not once, not twice, but three times, once per session for every session except Saturday morning. Oops. That's what the mp3 files online are for...

Little Bec Bec is dancing this Thursday at the dance lab, and she looks AMAZING. Oh my greatness, I am so excited to watch her kill everyone in the silver latin competition. I shall be organizing a cheering section for her since I don't actually have to compete due to taking Gold Bar Latin this semester. Yay!

Happy Monday everyone. Hope you all have awesome weeks. :)

On the Polanski controversy and the far left in general...

"And that’s the main reason I am grateful for this controversy. It is a dye marker, “lighting up” a whole archipelago of morally wretched people. With their time, their money, and their craft, these very people routinely lecture America about what is right and wrong. It’s good to know that at the most fundamental level, they have no idea what they’re talking about."

Way to sum it up, Jonah Goldberg.

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