Universal Studios!

I wasn't really sure if I was going to write about the family days in Universal at all, but Mom actually TOLD her readers to come over here and read more, so. I guess I'm postponing talking about my Disney training and first days in favor of The Other Park!

We spent two days there, the first staying mostly in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. That's the only reason anyone ever wants to go to Universal anymore, anyway. We looked around Hogsmeade for a bit, admiring the scenery and magic and everything. It looks beautiful and perfectly like Hogsmeade, but really eerie to have all the snow-capped roofs in such hot weather!

Almost right away, we got in line for the castle ride ("Harry Potter and the forbidden journey") and the line wasn't too excruciatingly long at all. Especially since in one waiting room, Ron made it snow. REAL ACTUAL SNOW!!!

The ride itself was, and is, amazing. Hermione transports you all out of the castle on these flying benches, and then through the magic of screens and turns and...I don't even know what it was besides magic, you end up flying all around the grounds. It's almost as realistic as Disney's "Soarin'", and we were worried about hitting the tree-tops. At one point when you enter the forbidden forest, there are TERRIFYING spiders that spit, a dragon that blows smoke....all sorts of frightening things like that. Probably one of the most amazing rides I've ever gone on, and definitely the best part of the park, as it is.

After that ride, we went to "Flight of the Hippogriff", which was laaame. But going to Ollivander's after that was just...I still can't believe my luck. As Mom said in her post, he chose me to get a wand! This is absolutely outrageous, because Ollivander is supposed to pick an 11-year-old. And I may act like one, but I certainly do not look like an 11-year-old. But hey, I won't complain! I tried the first one and broke a bunch of shelves (absolutely terrified me), the second one set off a thunderstorm in the ceiling of the shop, but the THIRD wand, a 15-inch reed wand with phoenix feather, chose me. There was wind rushing and everything. It was absolutely gorgeous, too.

I though about buying it, but decided that I'd rather go through the park without something to have to put in a locker. Which was a good choice! We really enjoyed just getting on rides whenever we wanted. And we did some other stuff, like looking at more shops, getting soaked at Sinbad's show, and going to some other rides that I don't remember, but eventually had to head to catch the shuttle back to the hotel.

The next day at Universal, we went around the whole park. WELL THAT'S A LIE, we went around the whole Islands of Adventure, so half the park. Dad got his fix of roller-coasters (as well as losing his hat on "Doctor Doom's Fall of Terror", because he didn't listen to the rules about hats!!), we three were all absolutely drenched from the Popeye ride and "Ripsaw Falls", rode my old favorite "Jurassic Park River Adventure", and did a few other things. I still looooove the drop in that River ride, by the way. Quality ride right there, even if it's a lot older than, say, the Castle ride.

While in Jurassic Park, we also went to the Nursery were they hatch baby dinos. We got to watch a little lady raptor hatch, and yet again, the worker there ignored the obviously younger children in lieu of letting ME name the baby raptor and keep her birth certificate!
I'm quite certain this had something to do with the fact that I was practically playing peek-a-boo with an animatronic raptor, but whatever.

We picked up a bunch of stuff at Hogsmeade before we left, including my wand and fizzing whizzbees! Which are chocolate and magically fizzle in your mouth. HIGHLY recommend them. :)

Anyway, I think that's a good enough summary. As of right now, I'm several days into my DCP, two days into training, but I can summarize these days later for a different post. I just wanted to get that out!

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

If you're reading this right now, most likely you're incredibly confused why I'd either be emailing you or why this blog is suddenly being updated after over a YEAR of inactivity. And hopefully, if you're reading this, you already know what's going on in my life that's exciting enough to start anew and promise myself to blog more.

I'm going to Disney World!! In five short days, I'll be starting in the Disney College Program in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. I couldn't be more excited to start, and topping things off we're spending a few days in Universal Studios! This is a life that promises many, many adventures!!

We're already in Orlando, and even just getting here was an adventure. Aided, of course, by my scatterbrained-self.
Wednesday morning, Mom and I had the plan to leave around 9:30 am for the airport. And we did get out of the house at 9:27, so we were feeling on top of the world! It's not until we're at McDonald's for breakfast and Mom asks if I'm nervous that I admit (a worry I still have a little) I'm concerned about my I-9 documents. These are part of the elaaaaaaborate online paperwork I had to do for Disney, and they're the only forms that are still marked "pending" on the internet, not "sent". I'm 98% sure that's because they need to see my Social Security and Driver's License in person, and told Mom as such. She asked if I had my social security card. And I said no.

WHICH OBVIOUSLY WOULD NOT DO!
So we rushed back home, and after making our stop at Walgreens and whatnot, were already far behind schedule. The social cards were in a place that was nearly impossible to get to, even with Dad on the phone, and things were looking bleak.

But there was hope on the horizon! Mark, my wonderful brother and our knight in shining armor, accepted Mom's offer to drive us to the airport and shave off all that parking/walking-from-parking-lot time.

We got to the airport and, in yet ANOTHER blessing, were able to get a porter. This gentleman lifted our many heavy bags (I am moving for eight months, as we told many of the people in the airport who like to joke about so few people having SO MUCH LUGGAGE). And as a trusted airport employee was even able to tag our bags without officially weighing them from whence he took them to the X-ray machine. Bless him!!!

Security was going well, there wasn't a long line or anything, until I get pulled aside by the TSA. Oooooof course. They rifled through my backpack, finally finding a metal pencil case that was sitting next to an i-clicker (which is pointless and I shouldn't own anymore in the first place). Metal next to a power source did not exactly make something that the X-Ray machine liked.

Eventually we got through and to our gate, where we didn't have any problems. Nor did we have any on the plane!
WELL except for Mom throwing the luggage at a lady on an oxygen tank, but we can skip that part.

Our flight had a long layover in Houston, so Mom and I stopped for dinner at a lovely place called Bubba's City Grill. This poor dear next to us was waiting for a friend (she was early, friend was late), so she eavesdropped for a bit until she just piped up to confess. Apparently, Mother and I are very endearing to listen to.

We three discussed Disney for awhile, then she and I talked for a bit about GCB, which is Kristen Chenoweth's new/old (as it's cancelled now) show on ABC. And really, Cheno ought to just stay away from ABC because this is now the second time she's been in a show with honestly good ratings and cute characters, colors, environment, songs, and storyline and been shafted. But that's not the point of this post!

Our flight from Houston to Orlando was nice, and Dad was waiting for us in the airport. Oh, how I have missed humidity!!! Florida, I'm already happy to call you home. On top of all that, it was raining when we got in (or, as one of the airline workers in our tram said, "Liquid Sunshine". I'm going to have to use that line!), and I've missed rain even more than humidity. Okay, a LOT more than I've missed humidity. Living in a desert is tough beans, y'all.

The people in Orlando have so far all been darlings, and we got to our hotel without much of a hitch. The taxi driver cleaned us out of cash for sure, but the hotel is cute. At least I think it is...it was kind of dark. And Mom and Dad got a greeeeeat deal on it, so that's awesome, too!

Basically, Florida has yet to do me wrong. It's only been 13 hours, so there's still plenty to go wrong, but even more to go right!

"Leaving On a Jet Plane" is a lovely song by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Gif (not mine) is from The Princess and the Frog.

If I Must Go, I'm Going Out in Style

I recently gained myself three new fish to make Fernando less lonely, so I thought I should take time to honor one of my favorite pets, now lost to our family.

At least four years ago, we bought Papaya from "Bird is the Word", a hand-raised bird store in Batavia, Illinois. She was just a bunch of pink skin with some bitty, yellow, baby feathers, and I loved her right away.

Papaya quickly became a real member of the family. She's the best bird I've ever encountered, let alone had as a pet. She lived a few months in my bedrooms until she was finally allowed to live in the kitchen, and that's how Papi really joined the family. By the end of her life, I think she was more Hendricks than bird. She'd always rather sit on us, try desperately to have conversations with us, eat the same food as us, play with whatever our hands were using, and explore the things we liked.

She also learned her limits. Well, to an extent. She liked to give me kisses, nibbling my cheek or lip, and she liked "knocking" my cheek, too. With Mom, who I still think she liked best, she would chew on her hair and, as much as Mom hated it, her skin, sometimes, too. She tried to avoid Dad for the most part, but occasionally would land directly on his face or his head. I still haven't figured out why she ever thought that was a good idea. And Sami and she loved to play. Sami got as close as sniffing her multiple times; quite brave for our little Courage the Cowardly Dog.

But when it came to the things our hands were occupied with, Papi had no limits. No keyboard would go unchecked, no magazine page unchewed. If we had crackers in our right hand, she'd eat them. If you got a new, sanitary one for your left, she'd eat that, too. Cheerios in our bowl would be devoured. Anything that wasn't meat or spicy was free game as far as Papaya considered, and that honestly probably attributed to her shorter-than-average lifespan. Especially cheesy products. Of course, she also loved more natural foods, like house-plants and flowers. I'm not sure if she'd rather have a Dorito or a Daisy, but the choice would inevitably be a tough one.

And Papaya made the best noises. Unlike our previous budgies, that let us know they existed by screaming almost constantly, Papaya would only chirp happy gibberish. She also had the remarkable ability to "purr", particularly when she found an inanimate object she loved. Her favorite toy, the decorative plate above her cage, my dangly necklace from Forever21; she had quite the array of favorite things. She'd nuzzle them, chew on them, or just play with them and always purr in delight.

Sometimes, we would swear we could hear actual words amid her babble, and she did completely pick up on her favorite expression, "Pretty Bird" (and its many variations, such as "pretty pretty pretty birdy"), and "Papaya". She was getting fantastically close to "Merry Christmas" as well.

I read once that birds, especially budgies, will copy the squawking and words that their mates say to try and solidify their union and make sure they can find each other. I'm certain Papaya tried desperately to say English words because nothing would make her happier than to solidify her union with our family.

But I can't possibly forget her love of showers. My biggest regret of our years together was never filming her showers- I have a recording on my phone of her eating a peanut-butter sandwich, but never the America's Funniest Home Video (or at least Cute Overload) worthy practice of her using the sink faucet to bathe. She'd sit in our cupped hands, turning her head as to douse her entire neck, lay down to wash her belly, stretch her wings to dampen her feathers, and prance through like a duck. We always knew when she wanted one, because as soon as the faucet went on, she'd start squawking and as soon as it shut off, she'd go silent.

The day I walked by her unusually quiet cage to say hello and saw her on her back, I felt my blood run chill. I ran into one of my parents' arms and began to sob...I don't even remember who it was holding me. Papaya's death was the most unexpected pet death I've ever had. She was literally chirping, flying, and singing to her last day, just as cheerfully as she had been two years before. She never showed a feather of aging.

Mom helped me make the best casket for her imaginable, and she was laid to rest with her favorite toy in her feet and her ball alongside. Her pine box was decoupaged with all her favorite foods, people-toys, and flowers. I'm positive that, had she been alive to see her finished box, she would have nuzzled and purred to it, or maybe even tried to eat the food pictures, as she's prone to do. The idea made her burial much happier. Such an amazing bird didn't deserve a shoe-box, she deserved her own idea of a heaven on Earth.

I still miss her. But mostly, I'm just glad I got to raise her. And she is going to frelling love all the things to chew in heaven.

"Going out in Style" can be found by Kellie Pickler

Mother Dear, I Love You So

Before I get into this- a minor apology for not giving you any Monday Holiday Updates. Today's National Caviar Day, in case you were wondering, by the way. And tomorrow is National Ice Cream Day, which may be the best "3rd Sunday in the Month" holiday ever created.

NOW to more important matters...The thing about making a birthday blog for my mom is that it's ridiculously more difficult than it should be. See, I am a fan of images. You might not be able to tell that from my ridiculous wordiness in every entry ever, but I am. And my mom doesn't love having her picture taken. In fact, in every year on our hard drive, this is the closest thing we have to a "happy Birthday, Mom!" image.



I suppose, in a way, the picture's very fitting. One of the things about Mom is that she enjoys her family almost more than she enjoys herself. I know she loves to garden, photograph, read, cruise, sew, sleep, and other activities. But Mom spends a lot of her time cooking, cleaning, keeping up her calling, and listening to me, Emily, Emily, and sometimes even Mark prattle on forever. We're really not that interesting of conversations, but she knows it makes us happy.

Yeah....My Mom is the cool mom in my group of friends. They tell and retell stories about things she's said or done, they let me go watch movies or whatever with her, and they envy her ability to not just be a cool mom, but an awesome friend. I've had more than one serious conversation with certain friends as they try to figure just what makes our relationship so close. I think it's just my mom is that awesome she can manage it...somehow.


I'm not precisely good at these "birthday blog" things, especially when there aren't a lot of photos to use (and absolutely none in existence Mom wouldn't delete that I could make smart remarks about). But some things you should know about my mom- she's funny, smart, patient, beautiful, wise, and likes breakfast for dinner and cottage cheese on her toast. She can't play Mario Kart, but could whoop your tail at Mario Party. She makes the best lava cakes in the world, sings her own additions to songs where the composer wouldn't dream of putting them, and is currently painting her closet off-white.

Mom has a lot of friends, a lot of talents, and a lot of virtues. She's made decisions in her life that place her near the top of my "hero" list every time a church activity necessitates me to create one. And when I have kids, they'll go to her house to make sugar cookies, drink chocolate milk with too much chocolate, see the most amazing Christmas decorations in the world, and call her Grandma Margaret.

"Mother Dear" can be found in Primaries everywhere

I Have an Excellent Father

Today is Father's Day, so I thought I'd put some time in to celebrate my Dad. Not how old he is, but much more how awesome he is.

Even as a little boy, my dad understood the importance of an education. See his smile there? That's a genuine "Today is my first day of school and I'm ready to go get some learnin'!" He's also clearly pleased that he understands style...Dad doesn't care it's August (or perhaps September; I'm not sure how they roll in Old-town Utah), he'd rather wear his black shirt and black jeans with pride. No sense matching his colorful older sisters; Dad is a TRENDSETTER. Forget the bright, brass colors of the 60s, 70s, and 80s- Dad has the vision to dress for the 90s, 2000s, and businessmen of all times.

What a good example! From my Dad, I know that education, and style, but mostly education, is something to be proud of and smile about.

But the thing that gets Dad smiling the most is his job title. No, not his job at Avaya, but his job as a Dad. Now, as sharp a dresser as I've already explained my father to be, he likes his jobs to be uniform-less. But even on the one day that as a father he needs to wear something less-than-stylish, he's happy to do it.

That's my sister he's holding, on her very first day of life. And he's awfully happy because, after four years of raising a boy, he finally gets a daughter. And obviously, daughters are ~the best~. Plus, I'm sure he had that smile imaging her future. That tiny little girl would grow up to sing and dance and make sure she's always pretty, and then she'd meet a great opera singing, law interpreting, religion abiding young man and marry him. Yeah- knowing he was holding that much potential and as a good father, he could make that happen; that would make him smile like that. Hospital gown or not.

This is a different kind of smile. Apparently, for my Dad's 41st birthday, I made him a "custom CD". The picture file is full of pictures of Dad opening this extensive list of songs on classy loose-leaf paper that are apparently on this CD that I apparently made for him. I don't remember this at all (shocker!), but I look very proud. And Dad gets to practice his "I have to smile because it's cute and my second daughter made it for me because she's too cheap to buy me something and in nine years no one will remember this anyway" smile. He has to deal with that kind of present from me a lot. That's the thing when you're Alaina. You like giving the inexpensive, "from the heart" gifts that always end up tacky and forgotten. But Dad's a businessman who understands pleasing people when they try, so he can still smile. And still manage to love me. That's a good Dad trait.

This kind of smile is completely different. This is how Dad practices his myspace self-portrait. It's a very difficult task, taking a good myspace self-portrait. An intense balance between tilting your head down to not get a nostril shot and keeping it up to not create an illusion of a million chins. It's extra hard when you're wearing a hat and trying to get a second person in the shot, and I think Dad did a pretty good job. Considering he doesn't practice.

But he's not just giving that weird half-smile because he's so focused on keeping his facial features in balance within an arms-length...do realize that my Dad is in a tiny airplane with his son and his own Dad, one so small that if they all laid head to toe, the three of them are probably larger than the craft itself. This is the son who he raised in his house for over 20 years, who he watched build empires on the computer and trebuchets in the garage for the purposes of destruction. This is the son who he watched throw his sister around the house, making odd monster noises and threatening to knock down their toys and fortresses. This is the son who put the puppy with breakable legs on the television just for a pun. He's the one who's in charge of keeping the plane in the air and getting them down safely. That's his smile as he faces what many would assume to be certain death, but he figures he can trust.

That's because my brother is a very good pilot. You see, he's also the kid who lived for two years as a missionary of the Lord in a third-world country, built temples out of blocks, met, fell in love with, and married (in that order) a beautiful sweet woman, attended and graduated high school and college, and proved a great example of his own. Surely because his father raised him that way.

Yeah, Father's Day is a pretty excellent holiday. It helps us remember that our dads aren't just there for kicks, to help balance out the family and do the grilling. They help raise us into the people we are, teaching us values from their own examples. It's because of my Dad that I'm the way I am, for better, for worse, but mostly for better. And I know my other two siblings; successful, happy, married (or almost), righteous, and with great smiles of the own; they'd say the same.

"The Best Day" can be found by Taylor Swift

So Classic and Classy, We're Not talking Lassie

I finally finished my family letter yesterday. Very late, mind you. But, after a lot of nagging from Dad I finally got around to it.

I really do like writing my family letter once I'm doing it. Gives me a chance to remember my past, and that part is getting easier with my life journal on the same computer I write the letter on. Thank heavens for blogs!

So I usually end up rereading the entirety of my last six months of entries, which makes the process even longer than it should be. Especially since I just write shoddy little rhymes that take no time to come up with, it should take no time at all.

So, I decided I'd put my letter up on my blog, even though I guess you guys can read it in the Hendricks Herald. Plus, I'm going to interlace a little comic I drew about the process, based mostly on the truth.

If you're like Uncle Jim and it never hit you that Sami doesn't actually write my letters, it's based completely on the truth.

With no further ado.... Sami!

---

This year I decided to be “fashionably late” and put reason behind the phrase.
“Fashionably” is my middle name, and tardiness is the newest craze.
I wasn’t going to write at all and join the WGA.
A dog as old and splendid as me shouldn’t be coerced to write without pay.
But apparently unions have ‘human rights’ that only apply to bipeds
And that last strike they had ended awhile ago, so we don’t want to cause more dread.

I thought I’d try the quitting game anyway; see how ‘Laina complained.
She said, “Aight, we won’t write one,” but Dad didn’t see the same.
Now, I may be the prettiest, smartest, and cutest member of the household
But when Dad says “WRITE”, this dog never needs to be twice-told.
She’s currently complaining about some “wisdom teeth” that make it “hard to write”,
But I get gross spray stuff on my teeth every day and I don’t (always) put up a fight.

This past half-year hasn’t even really been that great.
Alaina’s a junior now, so school has mostly filled her plate.
She really likes this “AP Art History” class she takes at school.
The stuff she tells us over…and over…about is pretty cool.
Her other classes are pretty fun, with Genetics, French, and other stuff.
She’s getting used to the homework load, so it isn’t always as rough.

Something interesting finally happened during school with a “Lock-Down”.
Some kid brought a fake gun to school, and WV really went to town.
The kids stayed cooped in a corner for five hours while the cops searched the school.
I hear they brought K-9 units in, which must have made it really cool.
They were all okay and nobody got hurt, but what a wasted day!
At least Alaina has another story she can now say.

She finished off her computer graphics class and is now in “Drawing One”.
Alaina thinks she’s all artsty and stuff, which I guess is pretty fun.
She really loves it and can’t wait for her artsy schedule next year.
It’s good it’s mostly art classes, because Seniors are lazy, I hear.
I wouldn’t know anything about that; nothing at all, of course.
Until Mommy starts buying ‘senior food’, I’m as young and hip as a horse.

Speaking of those giant, scary, horrible, and awfully smelly equines,
Alaina started this “volunteer” thing she’s at on Saturday morning-times.
She goes to “FTEA” where she works with horses for handicap kids.
It’s a good idea and I’m proud of my girl, but I think they’ve all flipped their lids.
Apparently nobody is sane enough to realize how big horses are.
Animals and pets are supposed to be little, not the size of a compact car!
They should take a note from my book- I fit in my mommy’s arms.
Those monsters are so ginormous, they have to live on farms.

Alaina and her friends right now are really into Superman.
This is finally something teenagery that I can understand.
He lives a double-life and is more awesome than you first think,
He has super-strength, can really fly, and gets around in just a blink.
Plus he’s pretty, charming, and humble with a heart of gold.
The Man of Steel is basically a human-Sami…or so I’ve been told.
She and her friends come home each Friday and watch Smallville on TV
Even though they all know the show is as horrible as it can be.
But afterwards, they finish off with some vintage “Lois and Clark”.
A lady in the ward let her borrow the series, which really makes me bark!

Since I’m talking about big guys who are cooler than you’d anticipate,
I should tell you about my other girl’s guy, James the Noble and Great.
He’s REALLY BIG and I’m not just saying that because I’m only eight pounds.
He also likes opera and law and Emily, so he’s awesome all around.
James is really funny, and I think he fits in quite well.
We’re all a little crazy here, if you couldn’t tell.
Emily is marrying him this summer, which makes this the second year in a row. **
Now with only bachelorettes Alaina and me, we’ve got one wedding to go!
(Hopefully, that won’t be any time in the near future.
I’ve met Alaina’s guy friends and their too scary for me, for sure.)

Now, it wouldn’t be fair to my littlest girl to not mention all of her woes.
She’s a junior, which means college stress is beginning to show.
Alaina’s looking at too many schools, and always gets scared what to do.
I think she’ll be fine, since she’s already taken not one ACT, but two!
The first one she got a 31, which is good or something, I hear.
The other one we don’t know about, but she hopes the score is near.
Don’t ask her which school she’s picking because nobody knows and everyone asks.
But once she’s out of my house, I won’t have to do anymore writing tasks!

And in case you were curious about that fish I mentioned six months ago,
Fernando’s still alive and happy, watching his bubbles blow.
I talk to him sometimes to see if he ever gets lonely;
All the fish friends we bring him keep dying, so he’s the one and only.
But Fernando gets what I’ve understood for the past thirteen years-
When you’re the smallest, smartest, and cutest, you’ve got no reason for fears.

I guess that applies to everyone…me, the bird, the teenager.
We may seem like we’ve got so many difficulties, chaffing under our fur.
But we’ve got friends and family to help us along the way.
And with some peppers, steak, and French fries, every bad morning becomes a great day.

Before I finish this letter off, Alaina’s blog deserves a plug.
She writes about her life on there, and there’s a picture of my lovely mug.
Although she doesn’t keep up religiously, she’s starting to be quite faithful.
If you know my girl, you know she loves to talk, so there’s really quite an eyeful.
That’s http://www.missalainius.blogspot.com/ if you weren’t aware.
But now you are! So go read up on my girly on the internet!
And when you visit, bring me cookies- bribing the WGA isn’t illegal yet.


Love from Sami, with help from Alaina

---

My sincerest apologies to Dad for both drawing him so horribly (with these silly comics I tend to just go with my roughest, very first sketch) and for being the horrible teenager I illustrated myself to be in real life, too.

**Mom pointed out this sounds an awful lot like I don't know my own brother's wedding date. Don't worry. I do. SAMI just forgot....mmmhmm.

"Perfect Isn't Easy" can be found in Disney's Oliver and Company

He's got High, Apple Pie in the Sky, Hopes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!

My fantastic father is turning half-a-century old today, and he's lived to see over a fifth of the years of history of the United States of America. I thought I'd help him out to remember some of the things from his first few years of existance-

Dwight Eisenhower was president of the newly Fourty-Nine United States of America when my Dad was born. There were still segregation laws, no televised presidential debates, we still liked Cuba, and residents of Washington D.C. couldn't vote for president. Stamps cost $.04, a gallon of gas was a quarter with a loaf of bread just a nickel less, and movie tickets were $1.

Audrey Hepburn was alive at the same time as Dad, and she released her favorite film of her entire career, The Nun's Story. So was Elvis, Carl Jung, and Eleanor Roosevelt. So was Frank Lloyd Webber...but only for one day. He's been dead fifty years tomorrow.

Before Dad was born, nothing had ever crashed into or landed on the moon. Since he's been alive, fourty-six* things have crashed, twenty-one* things have landed, and a few have returned to Earth. There were no women priests, no pantyhose, no Wal-Marts, James Bond had no movies, no colour in newspapers, and Barbie was brand new- not to mention single.

Dad is older than the Guggenheim, the St. Lawrence Seaway , Six Flags, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catch-22, The Twilight Zone, The Incredible Hulk, and Spiderman.

It's true...the world has been vastly improved in this last half-century. But not only in convenience, entertainment, and politics. For the last fifty years, Robert Hendricks has been around to be a friend, a senior principle consultant, a teacher, a missionary, a bishop, a brother, a husband, a son, a father, and an example.

And that may be one of the best improvents yet.

"High Hopes" was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the 1959 film "A Hole in the Head"

**specifically, the source lists debris left on moon. These numbers may be inaccurate as they do not account for any instances where all traces have been removed.

So This is Love

Valentine's Day is my third favorite holiday...after Christmas at number one (OF COURSE) and Thanksgiving at a slight number two.

Not because of the chocolates or the decorations or the TV specials, but because of what is stands for. Love.

People around me have probably heard me complain about the fact that, this year, Valentine's Day was on a Saturday. I have to complain because, being the single lady I am, I don't usually have a Valentine to lavish me with all the cutesy stuff other people get on Valentine's. But when I can go to school on Valentine's Day, I get to watch the girls carrying around teddy bears half their own size with bouquets of flowers, and the occasional couple, suddenly thrown back into the innocent blushing-and-crushing state their relationships all started with. It's adorable. :)
Not to mention the amazing treat of having Cloud Nine, our school's boy a Capella group, interrupt the class to preform a second-hand serenade for some girl, purchased by her boyfriend.

Luckily, Cloud Nine still went around on Thursday, and I got to see a few couples and a few gifts on Friday. We even got candy in seminary that I was able to share a bit throughout the day.. but I was still disappointed I'd miss Valentine's Day.

Saturday I wasn't going to be anywhere near couples, actually. I had NATS competition in Chicago, which could have lasted anywhere from 6 minutes to 11 hours. See, the competition is huge and awfully competitive. Soloists like myself prepare three songs, months in advance. We have the choice to meet with our accompanist before the performance. This year, for the first time, I decided to actually use that chance and we had a time set for 9 am with her.

We arrived at Northeast, the college hosting CCNATS about 8:30 to allow for warm-up and sign-in and whatnot. After my rehearsal, we just sat around. I did my nails, Dad watched LOST, and I sang mentally...a lot. My trulife performance was at 11:21, so around 10:45, we headed back to the hallway the performances were in (it was awfully small this year! Usually, CCNATS is on multiple floors or even multiple campus buildings) to warm up again.

The judges give you six minutes to preform. Soloist pick the first song of the repertoire to sing, and the judges then pick the next. Usually, that's all you have time for. My first song, "Du Bist Die Ruh" was my favorite of the three and I feel it shows off my voice best. The other two to pick from included "The Bird" and "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind". "The Bird" is difficult, apparently, but I just thought it was boring. "Blow, Blow," however, is supposed to be easier. It's a Baroque piece, so my voice teacher put ornamentation into the second verse. It was a lovely, fun song, and I get to do some awesome things with my voice singing it. However, because it's boring and easy without ornamentation and there's no rule saying soloists must use ornamentation, the judges picked "The Bird".

After I finished, feeling pretty pleased but definitely not that I did well enough to advance, Dad and I went into Chicago. We got pizza at Gino's East, which was delicious but very time-consuming, and then stopped off at the Apple store and the Disney store. Success eluded us at both places...apparently, you need to get an appointment for customer service with Apple. I enjoyed my walk around the Disney store just fine, but didn't buy anything. Didn't expect to, actually. :P

We were actually late getting back to NATS for results, which was okay because I didn't advance anyway. For those curious, if you're in the top three in your division (split by age) you advance into the next round. The top performers chosen in that round win money and preform at a concert that night.

Later that night there was a multi-stake Dance for Valentine's Day....but I was absolutely bushed! Completely incapable of the energy needed for dances...so to the dismay of my friends, I opted to stay home and rest.

In honor of Valentine's Day, amidst all the hustle of getting Mom ready to fly off to Utah, we watched one of my (since no one else wanted to pick) very favorite romantic movies..."You've Got Mail!". For those of you who haven't seen this movie, you really should. It's silly, but so very sweet, and has a great sense of soul-mate-ness. It also happens to be the first chick-flick I ever saw, seeing as it's rated PG. So maybe I'm biased, but every time I watch it, I get swept off my feet right along with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.

So, my Valentine's Day wasn't what I expected, or necessarily wanted. I didn't get to see my school mates giggly over each other, I didn't get a fish tank full of pink socks and a DVD I really should be too old for, and I had to spend the majority of it at a competition that, although I promise I really did enjoy, made me tired of singing (blasphemy!) by today. But it seemed perfect in every way that evening.

I love this holiday because it stands for love...the love that holds together high-school sweethearts with little gifts, but also the love that holds together a family for eternity. Yesterday, I got to see my mother's face light up like a young lady in love when she read a card from my father. I got to watch my father pick out that card, the perfect display of flowers, and frosted animal cookies with a determination and giddy excitement that he only gets when he's hoping to surprise the woman who knows him best.

I got to sit on the bed with my parents as we watched a movie about my favorite (in case you haven't noticed) emotion and, even though it wasn't a very productive hour and a half, I could just feel so safe and loved. I got to text my sister in French, who was willing to try her hand at texting in French because she loves me and probably knew it would make me grin like it did. I got to feel so loved and so spoiled.

I have friends who call February 14th "Singles Awareness Day", but I think they're all not just scrooges...but blind. Valentine's Day is about love...not necessarily relationships. I may not have one valentine, a box of chocolates, or a bouquet of roses, but I get to feel just as loved as anyone else...and probably more than some. Sure, it helps that I see other couples walking around and think "oh, how cute!" as opposed to "why not me?", but I really believe that the holiday of love is meant for everyone...taken or not.

"So This is Love" can be found in Cinderella

One of them Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Days

"It happened on one of them Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Days. Now that's the kind of day where you can't open your mouth without a song jumpin' right out of it!"

This actually isn't a post about my wonderful feeling, or my wonderful day. But rather my wonderful friends...I guess you could say that, at least.

In case you've never realized this about my draw to Disney, I'm not interested by just the fuzzy animals, or simply the animation, or even the vast array of characters. One of the reasons Disney has and always will capture my heart is its music...now, that is just ONE of the reasons, and the other three I mentioned alone could probably span multiple posts. But this one takes the cake for today.

My friend Christine lent me her "Classic Disney Volume 1 and 2" CD's, and they were beautiful companions to my homework and my favorite songs are going to feel right at home amidst my already purchased Disney songs. Although MOST of the songs I adore on those CD's are already part of my array of music, there are some songs, like "Candle on the Water", "Best of Friends", and "Dance of the Reed Flutes" to name a few that are not only some of my favorite songs, but also impossible to find on iTunes. And, no offence, Pete's Dragon, I don't want a CD of background music or 50's Disney Music.

That's right...I dare to admit that I'm not a fan of the earliest of the Disney songs. For pure purposes of listening to them, the live-action musical songs tend to have voices and sound-quality that only work with the matching screen visuals. I watched most of Summer Magic whilst babysitting, and I really did enjoy it. Burl Ives was a big treat. However, listening to "Ugly Bug Ball" when you're trying to find the quantity of square root of x-1 multiplied by the quantity of the square root of x+1 to equal 2 times the square root of x-3 isn't exactly pleasurable. Probably an easy question, but it certainly isn't under the circumstances. Speaking of that, (not math, the music) "Let's Get Together" is an adorable song...but the singers...are more adorable on screen. D:

I can't feel too guilty, though, because I grew up with songs like "I'll make a Man out of You" (oh, how ironic..."Ugly Bug Ball" just turned on) and "Be Prepared", so songs with dialouge or dance breaks, scratchy music, or random choirs don't thrill me as much as they could.

I also have to mention that I heard pretty much ALL these songs before in Emily's car, on the way up from Logan with them. It's absolutely wonderful to have a sister who finds similar thrill in Disney (and their music), and also absolutely wonderful to have a sister-in-law who can get my brother to sit and watch and ENJOY these movies. I think my favorite part of watching Jungle Book at your house was knowing you guys loved it, too. And Mark, your comment about the animation being beautiful before the movie started solidified my week as a good one.

Now, even with these CD's I still don't have many of the songs I would love, but since everyone I know only has the first two volumes (apparently 3-5 are hiding from society in shame) I'm probably going to have to scrape through iTunes for some odd songs. And, I'm going to have to go and find the Hercules soundtrack and the Oliver and Company soundtrack...because those two are completely filled with 90's-licous songs I just love. C: Since I'm on the topic, it's worth noting that Oliver and Company was one of the most "artistically" inspirational movies of my childhood and one of the reasons I prefer cartoon dogs over any other cartoon animal. Plus its music is addictive, FUN, upbeat, and just plain good. And Hercules isn't the coolest cast of characters, plots, dialouge, or animation, but the music is simply FUN, and the artistic design of modernized Greek pottery designs was simply inspired brilliance. Delicious. Or, you know, someone could get them for my birthday. :D Please note the working hyperlinks. ;)

As much as I enjoy these CD's, I don't think I'll be looking for 3-5 anytime soon. I found the list of songs online and those that I don't already have that are even remotely interesting number three or four on each CD. Volume 3 seems pretty interesting, and I might actually enjoy the majority of them. But none of them are songs on my MUST HAVE list, except for "Little April Shower", which has been hanging out on the "meh...only if I find it and happen to have a spare buck some bored Saturday" side of the spectrum for years, it seems. A summary of 4 seems to be as many of the 60's and 50's live-action/themepark themesongs as they could pack in, with a few really random songs from things like A Goofy Movie to trip you up from catching a theme. And then 5...poor, rejected Volume 5 seems to hold all the songs at the bottom of the barrel. Yes, many are from my beloved generation, but even these seem out of the mix....seriously.

---

Now, on a very unrelated note...Happy Birthday, Emily!!

I have something in the works for you that, apparently, I thought I could finish by today.

Heh.

Heheh.

Expect it by the month's end. ;) And with it, a proper Birthday greeting. I'm sorry for waking you and then ending up to never call you, I feel like I should finish your 'gift' first or something.

Day Three

...That is, Day Three of having Celia, our french foreign exchange student, living with us. And so far, it's been a great three days!

Saturday morning we went to go pick her up from the family that had got her at the airport. Immediately after lunch (at Portillo's...how else would we introduce anyone to Chicagoland?) we went to Driver's Edge in Villa Park, a four-hour class on defensive driving and better understanding your car. Kathy was there too, so we had fun.

Part of the class included making an emergency lane change, the first time infamous for my managing to take out almost every cone there. I got better my second time, but never quite managed to get it exactly right. In this excersize, the instructor (by the way, all the instructors are professional racecar drivers, so they know how to have nerves of steel, even when telling teenagers to drive eratically) tells us that we're driving on the highway and that the truck in front of us drops a box of puppies, which we have to avoid because "everyone loves puppies". Kathy, unfortunately, killed the puppies on her first run. But Celia eventually learned the word "Puppy" from this experiance, so it was all good. After a few more hours of different lectures and a skid practice, we headed home.

Celia told us that the lectures were a lot of words and tired her out (I don't blame her...I didn't understand them half the time!), so I have no idea how long and confusing church the next day must have been!

My friends who've taken French I had the time of their lives running up to Celia and saying whatever French expression they remembered. Although it amused both her and me to hear nothing but "What time is it?" "What's your name?" "How are you?" and "What's the Weather?" from them, I have to admit, I hadn't even used that much French since she'd come. Sister Mitchell really enjoyed talking fluent French with Celia before we left, though. Which made me feel a lot more inadequate than Jenessa and Kaydee had. ;)

After church we had a picnic for the ECI families at Herrick Lake. It was a lot of fun- Mom and Dad got to hang out with the Fishers, who they used to know from another ward, and I got to meet Celia's sister Margault, and Margault's boyfriend, Bruno. We also met some other very nice families, comparing notes about students, and I used a bit more of my French, talking about soccer and explaining what a raffle was. The raffle, by the way, got Mom her very own Macy's gift card. She was going to give it to me, thinking it was a Pizza Hut gift card, but quickly reclaimed it as her own when she realized its true nature.

When we got home from the picnic, we looked at pictures from the cruise, videos from the cruise, (as well as the Nairs' and Browns' Variety Show preformance from EFY) and then ended up watching a very stupid ABC teen movie. I would have changed the channel because it was so stupid, but Celia AND my Dad came bounding in to watch it, so...we all endured it together.

Meet My Family

I know you're probably thinking I'd give you an EFY post right now, but that's going to take awhile.


Instead, I figured I'd show you all the letter I wrote to Celia, my foreign exchange student, yesterday afternoon. It always amuses me to hear other people describe me or my family, so I thought you all might enjoy it too.

To let you know, I put in the same pictures I sent Celia, but these are uncropped, and Sami lacks a photo. I figure y'all know what she looks like and I didn't want to have to write two entries just to suit Blogger's photolimits.

Without further ado- the Hendricks Family!
----



Okay, so here’s my family-

This is my mom and dad. My dad, Robert Hendricks, is bishop for our ward, which is pretty much being a priest over a congregation for our church. Therefore, he’s very, very busy. When I get to see my dad, he’s a lot of fun. Very nice and always able to make you laugh, even if it isn’t on purpose. If he had free time, he would spend it golfing. He also loves to try and spend time with us, usually playing dominoes, Nintendo, or some other kind of game. My dad’s a great singer, too.

My mom, Susan Hendricks, already gave you her blog. My mom is a seminary teacher during the school year, which means she has to get up really early to teach a bunch of teenagers religion every morning before school. This year, I’m lucky enough to be in her class. My mom doesn’t have a job, but she’s always busy. In the summer, she’s usually working on seminary preparations, doing favors, cleaning, or other things. She’s very kind and also very fun and super easy to get along with.

This is my brother, Mark Hendricks, and his wife, Emily Hendricks. I would be absolutely shocked if you met them while you’re here, but they’re part of the family, too. Mark and Em live in Logan, Utah where Mark attends college. He’s working his way up to being a pilot…it’s a very expensive job. Emily works as a medical assistant and they both have a job as “house parents” for some men, which is pretty complicated to explain. Emily used to live on a farm, so she’s pretty rough, but in a fun, charming, Disney Princess sort of way. Mark is kind of weird, but he’s my brother so I have to say that. He’s very talented and sweet. Mark and Em have been married for a little over a year.

This is my sister, Emily Hendricks. No, I’m not talking about Mark’s wife…I really have both a sister and sister-in-law named Emily Hendricks. This Emily also lives in Utah, but in Provo, where she attends a different college majoring as a Vocal Performance Major. As you can probably imagine, that means she sings simply amazingly. She’s really fun, but you probably won’t meet her either. She does call home more often than Mark and Em though. Emily is an absolute sweet heart, and I’d be very flattered if someone said I remind them of her.


Then there’s me…I don’t really know how to describe myself. I’m a junior next year in school, and I spend a lot of time drawing, writing, or going out with friends. It would probably have been more beneficial to introduce you to my friends than my siblings, but oh well. Um…I’m pretty nice, I guess. And funny…like my dad, not always on purpose, but my friends tell me I’m funny a lot, so yay. If I had a steadier job (I babysit mostly…very unstable money, but very good money!) I’d like shopping more than I do, but it’s something I really enjoy to do with my friends. We also like to go to the pool (when its not too miserably hot) and movies…we’ll do anything if we can talk whilst doing it! (By the way, I’m preparing for a musical in this picture)


I decided I’ll tell you about our pets, since they’re part of our family too. This is Sami, our little old lady dog. She’s eleven years old and starting to show her age, but for the most part she’s as crazy and energetic (and skittish) as she ever was. Sami’s breed is called “Papillion”, but I don’t know what you would call that in France. Here, we don’t have any issues with getting her confused with butterflies. Basically, she looks like a Chihuahua with long hair. She’s very friendly once she knows you, but at first she just begs for attention and then proceeds to run away from anyone who dares touch her.

This is my sweet bird, Papaya. She’s a budgie, but we just call her a parakeet. She’s got quite a personality and loves attention. She’s very smart and knows how to say “Pretty Bird” and “Papaya”. It’s always amusing when she says what sounds like “Papaya is a Pretty Bird” or “You’re a pretty bird” or even a “pretty, pretty, pretty bird”. She also loves to take showers and baths in our sink and try and steal our food if she’s out when we’re eating.

That’s basically my family. I’m so excited for you to come and meet all of us, and I’m absolutely ecstatic to meet you!
It was surprisingly hard to find pictures for you…most of my best individual pictures are on my phone, including of the pets. Not sure how that happened…you’d think a camera would take better pictures than a phone.