Documentary

This year in my English class we were doing personal narratives, but we were given several options of how to do them. I chose to make a documentary of my upcoming Christmas skating show. It was even better because I had to make a documentary for my film class, so I did two assignments at once! Anyway, here's the finished product:

                         

Hope you enjoyed it, and let's hope I don't bring snow down on us! :)

Update!

Okay, I know it has been forever since I posted anything so here is my big update for the summer.

First off, I just finished my sophomore year of high school! It is so crazy that I'm going to be a junior next year! With that comes the ACT and SAT, but I'm also officially an upperclassman, so I guess it's worth it! :) Next year I'm going to be taking a lot of fun classes besides your normal, physics, AP english, pre-calculus and US history. I'm taking Drama 3, Chauntairs (an auditioned choir class), French 4 and Chamber Orchestra (The highest orchestra that you have to audition for)! It's going to be a way fun year!

The choir is going to Washington D.C. to sing at the presidential inauguration in January, and I'm way excited for that! We'll get to tour a lot of D.C. and then get to sing at such a prestigious event! I have to raise $1,500, but I'm working on it. :)

A big change is happening with orchestra next year. I'm pretty sure that Wheeler is not coming back. I have no idea who our new teacher is going to be, and I'm a little nervous. As much as I hate to admit it, Wheeler wasn't always super bad. I have no love for her, per say, but I'm nervous we're going to get someone worse, or dun dun dun........... a BAND TEACHER! :) They understand the music just fine, but they don't understand our instruments, and I'm sure it's the same way with the band kids being directed by an orchestra conductor. It just doesn't work. But here's hoping we get someone awesome!

This is a video of part of our choir's Christmas concert. We played the Messiah, Hallelujah Chorus with full orchestra and the choir sang. It was absolutely amazing! I think they are going to make it a tradition every year. It was an absolutely amazing experience, and definitely my favorite piece that we have ever played.

At the end of the school year I auditioned for "Jane Eyre" with Music Theatre West and "Les Miserables" with Top of Utah Entertainment. I didn't make Jane Eyre, but I did get a part in Les Mis! Ironically, this is the same company I did it with last time, but they were called Cache Regional then. Needless to say, I have a much bigger part this time. :) I'm in the women's chorus, more specifically, a lovely lady! :) The part is way fun, and I'm loving it! The first time we sang through it was a little awkward, but once I got into the character and just having fun with it, it wasn't so bad. :) I'm also in all of the full chorus scenes like "One Day More" (probably my favorite scene) and I have a solo! It's in the beggars' song when you first meet the students. It's like a measure, but then I do a little trio for the next 3 or 4, so it's pretty awesome! I sing, "In the Lord's holy name," then trio, "in his name, in his name, in his name." I am way excited, but I get super nervous every time I sing it in practice. It doesn't help when you sit in the back, and they make you stand and everyone looks at you. :) It works though, and I'm glad I got one! The show is in September, and it already seems too close, but we start blocking next month, which should be way fun!

This summer I'm also trying cross-country again. I don't really like the way their doing it this year though. We just run out 15 ish minutes and then come back. We don't ever just finish the run, which is kind of nice right now, but I miss feeling the completeness of running 4 miles, even as slow as I am. I haven't gone for the last three practices, because 1- I skipped because I only had 4 hours of sleep, 2- I was sick that weekend and didn't want it to continue, and 3- I woke up to late. It starts at 6:30, so sometimes it's hard to get there. I'm kind of struggling because I don't think I want to do the season, with the show and skating I just have things that I would rather do, but I'm going to try to stick with the summer running, and I guess we'll see. :)

Skating has been going well. I'm going to have an artistic and freestyle program for my next competition, which I hope with be the Oktoberfest (which is actually in September, go figure!). I'm way excited though. The difference between the two, is that artistic is more about being pretty and looking good, whereas the freestyle is more about the skills. I just had a freestyle last time, and it was fun but my music was horrible! Well, I guess it wasn't all that bad, and I actually do like the last half, but the beginning sounds like a clown at a circus. I get to pick my own music now. I was pretty insistent about it. I didn't want to get landed with something like that again. There's really no feeling to the music, so I think that was part of the reason I did so badly at my last competition, the Winter Games at Murray in February this year. I got last place of about 5 or 6 girls, and I watched it later and can totally tell why. I was way nervous and I did a horrible job. I fumbled on a landing and had absolutely no power to my skating. I still got a ribbon though, they had them for everyone there, so now I have to compete again to redeem myself. :) I'm thinking of using the song at the end of August Rush for my freestyle. 


Since it's summer I have been biking to the rink, and I biked home for the first time on Tuesday. I am still a little sore, and I was dying yesterday! It's pretty much a slow continuous hill all the way home, so it took me a while, and I was very tired, but I didn't walk at all, except for the crosswalk! :) I was very proud of myself. :) That day, instead of running I let biking to the rink, doing off-ice, skating for 45 min, and biking home count for my workout. :) It was almost an hour of biking, plus the other stuff. I was absolutely dead by the time I got home! :)


Well I think that's about it for now. I love all you guys, and hopefully I can stay more on top of the blog this summer. :) Happy reading! :)

Masquerade!!!

This Saturday I was able to go to my friend, Natalie's, sweet 16 party (November 5th). She threw a "Phantom of the Opera" Masquerade Ball! The invitations were awesome. If you haven't seen the movie, you might not get it.

This is the envelope:


And here's the invitation:

It was so fun to put together my costume and the whole idea was just awesome. My costume consisted of Rachel's prom dress (thanks Rach!), a mask we found at the hospital gift shop (who knew!), gloves from my Cinderella costume (they still fit!), a fan Terrah gave me (I still use it!), some earrings I got from Kelly, and my really cute shoes!



Mom did my hair. We were going to try to do a bun style, but it didn't end up working, and I think the way we did it was cuter anyway! :)


At the party, they did a pretty awesome decorating job. There were black plastic roses everywhere and candles everywhere. In the middle of the room they had hung a chandelier with real candles in it, and they had a fog machine at the beginning. The fog was that thick, sweet smelling stuff, so they didn't leave it on the whole time. There were red, white, and black balloons all over the floor, and the same colors of steamers on the walls.They had a "professional" DJ (he wasn't very good), and that was fun. Surprisingly they played a lot of pop music, and only like three or four "Phantom" songs! That was kind of sad, but it was still really fun.

Natalie's parents had a nice red chair with some black roses up on the stage for pictures. Everyone got an individual picture, and then we did any individual pictures we wanted. I did one with Kelly, and Kate and I did one because we were the only ones with fans. All of the guys did one too. It was pretty sweet. They all glared at the camera. It was fun.

In the realm of games, we did a mask contest and musical chairs. Zoe and Lighty won the mask contest. Lighty's covered her mouth and half of her face and was really cool, and Zoe's was white with red lace around the edges, and she made it! Not everyone did musical chairs. There were way too many people for everyone to do it. We popped the red and white balloons, and there were pieces of paper inside them. If there was a number or a letter on it, you played. It was pretty creative, but I had nothing to pop my balloon with. I tried biting it, but that didn't work. Finally Mitchell got a toothpick from one of the sandwiches and poked it for me. I didn't win, but it was more fun to watch anyway. :)

On one occasion of "Phantom" music, they did a "Phantom Dance". All of the guys (who were all dressed as Phantoms) danced with Natalie. It was really fun to watch. After she did presents she gave all the guys who danced with her Martinellis in these really cool champagne glasses.

Natalie's cake was awesome. They had done the frosting to look like a suit with a bow tie, and there were several roses on it. Like in "Phantom", on one of the roses her parents had a ring that was part of her birthday present from them. It was really cool. Not to mention it tasted pretty good too! :)

Half-way through the dance we found out that the guys were all hiding on the roof! Who came up with that! I thought the reason they weren't there was because of some phantomy stuff, but they were all hiding up there. Davis told us, and we went up to get them. Don't worry, it was a flat roof with a classroom opening onto it, and then a ladder leading up further. It was interesting. When we came back in Matt opened the door for us. The lights were off, and he had his white phantom mask on. It was pretty creepy! It scared me for a second! :)

I went in on a present with Kelly and Mitchell. Natalie is crazy about David Archuletta, so we got her a signed copy of the CD to his concert he did with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir last Christmas. She went nuts! It was awesome. I will admit it was my idea! :) After she came and gave me a hug. She had found out that it was my idea and she thanked me. I was glad that it was such a hit, and that no one else got her that! :)

One of the guys got her a rose with a black ribbon, like in the movie. He kept saying how bad he felt that he couldn't get her a better present, but I thought that was one of the coolest ones! I think my favorite thing she got though, was a jewelry thing. It looked kind of like a mini coat rack for necklaces, and it had a small mask on it. It was really cute!

The party was technically supposed to go until 10:00, but the DJ had to leave early, and it kind of just ended around 8:30. The saddest part was that people were still showing up! Timo got there just as we finished with the presents at about 8:15 ish. Kelly and I left at 9:00 ish, so I don't know who else showed up.

The funniest moment of the night though, had to be when Kelly's Dad came to pick us up. He thought we were at the school, but we were actually at the church across the street! He went over into the English Building parking lot, but when he came back he didn't see us and started driving the other direction! We started chasing him down the street, but we couldn't get his attention, and he didn't have his phone. He eventually came back and found us, but it was pretty funny! He felt so bad!

All in all, it was a way fun party! There were a ton of people there, and they went all out to make it really fun. I don't think my party will be that crazy and big, but who knows! :)

SRI

We took the SRI test (reading) last week in English. It gives you a lexile score that is 4 numbers. The first two are the grade, and I think the second two are the months into that grade. The test didn't take very long, and I got a 1506!!!! I was so excited! Books like the Scarlett Letter were on my suggested reading list!

I know that was pretty random for a post, but sometimes the small happy moments in life are what make it great!

Graduation 2011!

On Thursday, the 26th of May, I had the opportunity to play at my high school's graduation. As I was getting ready to go to the spectrum that night, I realized something rather important. I had left my violin at the school. We'd had a morning practice at the spectrum, and had then been bused back to the school. I had put my violin in my locker, and then forgotten it with yearbook signing. Luckily one of my Young Women leaders works for the school (she's a librarian). She got me into the school, and the orchestra room was miraculously unlocked.

I was supposed to be at the spectrum at 7:00. We pulled into the parking lot at 7:17. I ran into the entrance and had to run around groups of graduates. I almost got lost a few times, but I finally got my instrument out, and in my seat just after the orchestra was half way through our first song. But we played it again when the graduates actually came in, so I didn't miss much.

Our first song was the hardest. Mostly because I'd only played it like 3 times previously, but whatever. Then... blah, blah, blah, graduation-ness. Then, we played our song with the choir, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." There was a part where the guys sang an a cappella verse, and it was gorgeous. I actually heard that arrangement performed somewhere else, more professional, but I don't remember where now. :) Our last song was the graduation march, and I'll admit, it was really fun to play. It seems boring, and everyone knows it, but it feels special, and so celebratory, that it was great to play. I don't know if I'll actually want to play my senior year though. I kind of want the normal graduation experience. I guess I'll decide then. :)

After the graduation, I ended up gathering up all the music. Wheeler volunteered me for the job. Yay. So after that, we had to look for Kelton's folder, because he couldn't find his speech he'd given, and that was a mess, but we did find it somewhere. :) He was basically like our varsity bassist. He is really good, and he conducted us on one of our songs! It was pretty cool. I could see him doing that for a career for sure!

It was a really cool feeling to be involved in graduation, even though I was only a freshman. I felt that special coolness you feel whenever you do your thing, whatever it is. And running through the graduates was a little less embarrassing with my violin and concert attire. :) It was a great experience, and I look forward to the day when I will graduate. A full grown GRIZZLY!!!!!

Stop the Main Distraction

On Friday we had a huge assembly out on the football field. I knew it was about not texting while driving, or something, but beyond that, I didn't really know much. We went outside and got all sat down. There was some music playing over the speakers, and out on the football field right next to the track there was some stuff covered by a big white sheet like thing. We couldn't really tell what it was.

They uncovered two cars (one red and one gray) that had been crashed together head on. They were really beat up. The red car's front windshield was really cracked and falling in. There were two kids in each of the cars. There was another car (on the track) with its emergency flashers on. Then we heard a 911 call over the speakers about a crash at Logan High School.

Then (and throughout the whole thing) we could hear the police radios going back and forth through the speakers. Two police cars pulled onto the track, and went over to the crashed cars to see if everyone was okay, and what had happened. The passenger door on the red car was crushed shut, so one police officer got in the backseat to try to asses the damage better.

Then a firetruck and an ambulance pulled into the parking lot and onto the track. Two firemen ran over and pried the red car's passenger door open. It took a while, and the door was just trashed. They started pulling people out of the cars. Some people from the ambulance ran over with two hard plastic stretchers and a rolling stretcher.

The driver of the red car was a guy from my grade (Jaden Connor). His face had some blood on it, but he seemed okay. They walked him away a little ways and had him do the drunk driving test. He tried to walk straight, but he kept wobbling and fell over once. It had been a D.U.I. The officers handcuffed Jaden behind his back, and led him off to the side. They talked to him over by one of the police cars.

They pulled the driver of the gray car out and put him on one of the stretchers. His shirt was covered in "blood" and he was hyperventilating. He was going into shock by the look of it. They strapped him onto the stretcher and started hooking him up with I.V.'s and bandaging. His shirt got in the way, so they cut it off. It was covered in blood, and the paramedic just tossed it behind him. They rolled the other stretcher in front of him, so we couldn't see him for a bit. After a little while, they lifted him on to the rolling stretcher. His head was in a big helmet type thing. He'd suffered head trauma, and probably brain damage. He was still breathing heavily and shaking. They rolled him off to the ambulance right past Jaden.

Once the driver of the gray car had been moved, and taken care of, they pulled the passenger of the gray car out in a sheet and laid him out on the ground where his friend had been. He just laid there, unmoving. They covered him with another sheet. He was dead.

The girl who had been in the car with Jaden (Jane Anderson, also in my grade) was unconscious. The paramedics had her got her onto one of the stretchers too. She had been strapped in and had I.V.'s all over her. Her face looked pretty beat up. The paramedics brought the rolling stretcher back out (or maybe just another one) and put Jane on it. But they didn't roll her away right off. They stood there talking for a while, like they weren't sure what to do. Then we turned and saw a helicopter coming toward us. It circled around the field, and then landed right in the middle of it. They took Jane off the rolling stretcher, and over to the helicopter. They strapped her in, and the helicopter took off.

Once Jane was gone, the police officers walked Jaden past the scene, and loaded him into one of the police cars. They got in and drove off around the track.

They went over to the dead boy, and put him on the rolling stretcher. They rolled him away. All of the police, paramedics, and others out on the field dispersed.

After the helicopter came back, we had some speakers. The mayor, the police chief, the helicopter pilot, and our S.B.O. President, Cole Broadbent, all spoke to us about distracted driving, wearing your seat belt, and DUI. One of the officers who spoke told us that one part was left out. He said that the worst part is when an officer has to go tell the family of the person who died that their family member has passed.

After the speakers they let us go look at the cars and the helicopter. The cars looked even worse than I'd thought. The headlights of the red car were busted, and the door they'd had to pry open was way bashed up. There was about a foot between the inside side of the door, and the outside side. There was this big gap in the middle.

It was such a powerful, eye opening, awesome, horrifying, and morbidly fascinating experience all at once. These things are real, and this helped us to see that. The heat and the bit of sunburn I got was so worth watching this play out. I wouldn't have missed it.

After when we were looking at the cars, they were handing out stickers for the program that deals with this stuff:

Along the sides it says:
Taking your eyes off the road
Using your cell phone
Improper Lookout
Following too close

They also handed out No Texting & Driving Pledges. Here's mine:

And the Back:


This experience really made these things go past the movies. You see it happen then, but actually watching this process go on really makes a difference. You could tell that everyone knew what they were doing. The kids were acting, but all of the officers, life flighters, and paramedics were just doing their jobs. This all felt real, even though I knew it wasn't.

I love all of you guys. Be careful when you drive. I know that you already are, but I couldn't stand to lose one of you. I love you all soooo much. Drive safe!

Recap!

So, I need to fill y'all in. As of today I only have 15 more school days this year, and the days have been just flying by!

This Thursday night was my orchestra "Prison" Concert :) It's really called the Prism Concert, but they used to make us stay for the whole entire thing! It's a huge concert with all the orchestras, and last year, I'd say we were there until at least 11:30. This year they were nice and split it into two concerts. We were in the first one (thankfully!) and it was great. We played, "North Star to Freedom" a dedication to the slaves who ran away from their owners and followed the North Star to Freedom. :) We also played "Andante Festivo". It's a gorgeous, powerful piece. Our orchestra's last number was the first movement of the St. Paul Suite - "Jig". It's a very fun, fast pace, fiddle-esque tune. It's very fun to play.

We went to orchestra region last week and played the same pieces, except that we played the first movement of "The Organ Concerto" by Bach, instead of North Star. We got all -1's, which is actually pretty good. If you get ones you go to state. One of the coaches said he thought the St. Paul Suite was good enough to go to state on! Wheeler says that she thinks we'll get to state next year. Our Chamber Orchestra (the cream of the crop basically) did make it to state, and they deserved it. They played beautifully.

I'm almost done with End of Levels Testing. I've taken the English and Biology tests, and my Geometry test is on Monday. Yesterday I found out that I got a 54/56 on the Biology test! I was so excited because Biology is kind of difficult. Sadly, my math teacher has decided to actually count the test on our grade, which makes me very nervous, but I guess I'll just have to see how I do.

Lately I've been reading the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series, and they are so good! I'm on the third one, but the library keeps being closed for testing. It's bugging me like crazy! At the end of each book they have the first chapter of the next book, so I'm just going to have to read that and then wait. Hopefully they'll be open on Monday.

This past week in English we've been having a write-athon. On different days we would go to different places to work on different parts of writing. On Friday we went to the trophy cases and wrote about winning our dream trophy. Mine was the Olympic gold medal in figure skating. It was pretty cool. On Tuesday we went to the Auditorium. We had to put ourselves into a story in the theatre. It was fun. Since Thursday was Cinco De Mayo, Bates had us listen to this way annoying Spanish music, and describe the details of it that made us hate it, or love it. I had a lot of things to hate about it! :) I was gone on Wednesday on a field trip, but I guess they did something like, how your body is a symphony. Something like that. But by far my favorite day was Monday. He had us write a bunch of scary words on the board. Then he showed us an add for a creepy movie. Then he took us down to this basement in the old cheerleader room. It was so creepy! I was totally freaked out. It was so dark down there, and he only had 3 candles for us to write by, so my handwriting was barely readable. Every now and then the heater would kick on, and scare me really bad. He just had us write about what ever came to mind. I ended up coming up with the idea that the school had been taken over by terrorists, and they had us trapped down there. I got myself pretty creeped out, but it was AWESOME! Now that I look back on it anyway. :)

The weather has been so nice this week! There's some new baby ducklings in the canal by the school, and they are soooooo cute!

Well, I think that's about it. Sorry this post is so long! I didn't realize that I've had so much stuff going on. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed living it!