This Year is Gonna Be the One

I am, as you may have noticed, a fan of holidays. Especially the widely-celebrated ones...and what's more celebrated than the calendar's holiday based not on religion, country, or tradition, but the calendar itself?

This holiday that connects the world, at one-hour intervals, is the New Year. At the very smallest sense, the holiday is one of our most pointless. It's basically a global party because the Disney Princess calendar hanging in my bedroom ran out of Princesses, and I get to put up my Princess and the Frog one instead. Nothing happens in outer space, that glorious moment when your spot on the planet is as far from the Sun as possible as it's been billions of times before and at the place it was exactly one rotation ago.


When I was younger, that was my opinion of the New Year. Maybe not in quite so many words, but enough that I thought the parties, while a fun reason to stay up later than normal with the kids of my parents' friends, were kind of overrated. Ten years ago, I don't think I cared much about the New Millennium at all. But with each year, I get a little more sentimental. And this year is PROBABLY going to be the most sentimental year of all.


Do you remember that time in elementary school where someone's brother or sister was graduating high school, so you and your friends, or maybe even the teacher, helped figure out your year of graduation? I remember thinking 2010 must be the COOLEST year to graduate EVER, barring 2000 and 2020 alone. I still hold that opinion very strongly. My friend once told me that she got the chance to skip a grade, and the reason she didn't was because she wanted to be in the CLASS OF 2010. The Sen10rs. I don't know if I believe that was her only reason, but knowing her, it was definitely a deciding factor.


Now, after 18 years of life and quite a few years of waiting, the calendars all agree that that time has come. Nothing earth-shattering has happened yet, I don't feel any different than I did yesterday, but every calendar, clock, and TV episode summary I look at makes me shiver a little. That year has come. This is the year my life changes...forever. This is the first time I can say with certainty that there is no certainty, come roughly nine months from now. I don't know where I'll be, who I'll see every day, what I'll do to feed myself, or what kind of person I'm going to shape myself into.


It's scary, guys. But that's what this holiday is really, truly, for. It may just be an excuse for some to drink different drinks, wear much-too-small hats, watch Justin Bieber perv on Selena Gomez, pay more attention to a clock than anyone ever does at a good party, and time a much-anticipated kiss. Or, it may be an opportunity to reflect on what's happened in the past and get riled up for a wonderful year ahead.


Happy New Year!

This Year can be found by the A*Teens

May the Calender keep Bringing Happy Holidays

I'm not going to ignore the fact that I've ignored this blog for over a month. I mean, seriously! I knew I had to update, because it's snowing outside, and my poor banner girl was still in shorts! She now sports the first banner outfit that doesn't hang in my closet (unfortunately).

I honestly can't think up an excuse, so instead, I'm offering a promise- I'm going to improve. Woo vague promises!


Another thing; since it's the holiday season, I won't be putting up Monday Holiday Updates. Every ounce of my holiday excitement is focused on Christmastime right now, as it has been since November 14.


The reason I didn't get right back into blogging was that I had a busy life ahead of me from October 5th on, I guess. I will now attempt to summarize, difficult already considering it's me writing it, the following months. I had a Concert on the 8th, and then on the 9th, I was off for Colorado! (Except my flight, which ended up being business class, was rescheduled for the 10th. Boo.) I visited the Hess family for my birthday, and that was really just amazing to reconnect and see how they're doing. They happen to be fantastic, by the way.


On the 13th I turned 18, and celebrated with macaroni and cheese and dino nuggets. Yay adulthood!


On the 22nd, I went to Michigan State Penitentiary, a maximum security prison, for a sociology field trip. We talked to a murderer/bank-robber, some guards, and got lovely tours. The next day I went to Bulls game with my friends from the stake, which was quite thrilling!


On the 4th of November, we had YW in Excellence, and then that Friday I got icecream with my friend, Josh. In related news, icecream is now officially one word (not that blogger recognizes it). I'm getting rather attached to that fact.


We had no school on the 10th and 11th, so I did some stuff with friends. Then, on the 14th, Mosaic choir had a performance at North Central College for a culture festival thingy, which was very interesting. It made me proud that we're so organized at WV.


Tuesday the 17th I went to Kelly High School in Chicago for the day on another Sociology field trip, shadowing a student named Anna. She was nice, but quite shy. The school (which is over 80% Latino and only 4% white, in comparison to WV's 51% white population) has a 57% or so graduation rate, and almost all the students come from low-income families. But it's a LOT like Waubonsie for the other manners, except that the students pay even less attention than normal. Anna came to my school and followed me around that Friday. She was bored, but I thought it was awesome- especially the tour!


The next week was Thanksgiving. Since we had no family coming in, we decided it would be wonderful to help the community (plus I needed hours for my sociology service final). Meson Sabika, a super fancy restaurant in Naperville, serves a free Thanksgiving dinner for families in financial need, so we served there! It was really a wonderful experience, but very tiring and very surreal to not have leftovers. We had to hurry and get pies from Dominick's to maintain holiday equilibrium. Black Friday, Dad and I went to Target at 5:30. And the $3 sandwich maker I wanted was gone ALREADY! Also, that Saturday I gave blood for the second time.

Last week I participated in an extra credit project for Sociology (what a fantastic class....I'm really going to miss it!) where we were challenged to eat for 7 days on $4.30 a day. I'm proud to say I accomplished that with over $12 to spare...there was ONE day I went over. And that one day was the one day I didn't get some sort of free meal...each of the other 6 days I was babysitting, went to a church activity with food, got seminary breakfast, or was fasting. Lesson learned- if you gotta be in poverty, be a Mormon. :P

Now it's Tuesday. There's lovely, lovely snow outside and freezing rain forecast for tonight. I'm warm in my home after just shoveling, and it really feels like Christmastime. No matter how busy I've been or am going to be for the next while, I'm happy.

Happy Holiday is a Christmas Traditional

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

Life is Still Worthwile, if You just Smile

So I like to ~try~ and have Monday Holiday Updates scheduled to post at 4 am, but I couldn't get today's out until just now. Still, this is a great week...so be prepared for MONDAY HOLIDAY UPDATES!

Today's holiday is one of the amazing ones. It's Smile Power Day! What an important holiday! Frankly, smiles have got to be the most powerful form of instant messaging around. Not only are they good for everyone around you, smiles (and laughter, which is basically a smile gone crazy) are also the most powerful life-lengthener and mood-raiser. So today, make sure you smile EXTRA wide, with EXTRA teeth, and to everyone you meet. Today, we celebrate the raw power of smiles!

You know I love holidays that sync up with the ones nearby, and tomorrow's example is possibly one of the best yet. It's Fresh Veggies Day, which is convenient as this is Fresh Veggies and Fruit month. So, today you oughta find some good fresh veggies, preferably in your garden or your local farmer's market. Bring them home, snack on them, and enjoy the delicious freshness!

I hope you save some of those fresh veggies from Tuesday, because Wednesday is, coincidentally, Eat Your Veggies Day. Hopefully, Tuesday was so amazing and you got so many veggies, you can't wait to have the still-fresh delicious bounties throughout Wednesday! And...if you figure one holiday is enough...this holiday sounds a lot more like a nagging mother. This a isn't "Celebrate they exist and buy some and throw a party" holiday. This is a "we don't want them to go rotten, they're good for you, and they're better than you think so shut up and EAT" holiday. Said with a smile, of course. ;)

Thursday is World Juggler's Day. If that sounds familiar to you, either you have a bizarre case of deja vu, actually keep up with these holidays every year around, or a very good memory. Juggler's are so awesome, they get TWO international holidays; this one, and the one in April. I always like to try and be ahead on the Awesome Train, but I can't always catch up. So perhaps, as this time around I only have one holiday choice, I'll focus on trying my hand to catch onto juggling. (hah! A pun!)

Friday's holiday is one of those great ones. It's like Don't Do Dishes Day, International No Diet Day, and all the other holidays that tell you to kick back and just breathe. It's Splurge Day! A day to splurge on calories, splurge on love, splurge on money. And maybe you're sitting there with a grumpy-gills face, saying "Oh, you foolish teenager. You don't understand. This is a recession! We have no time for splurging!" GARBAGE. The recession is exactly why we should celebrate splurge day. Take a breath! Cool your jets and enjoy yourself...you can go back to being responsible tomorrow. You'll feel so much more refreshed after a delicious meal, a fun movie, and an evening with your family away from work.

Personally, I'd like to connect Splurge Day with Saturday's holiday, Sauntering Day. If you had a particularly successful Friday, you've got plenty of reason to saunter. Show off maybe not just the physical things you splurged for, but that added bit of happiness. Show the world that you are happy to be you, happy to be fabulous, and happy to saunter. It's not pride in the style of the Nephites- it's pride in the style of you. Besides, sauntering is really, really fun. It's like skipping, walking, smirking, and cat-walking all rolled into one package. A package that suits either gender and any age group just fine, by the way!

Sunday's holiday is one that I think you will agree perfectly suits a Sunday in June. It's Ice Cream Soda Day! And while my friends at Holiday Insights mentioned there are a lot of Ice Cream holidays in June as if it were a bad thing, the more the merrier, honestly! Now, my favorite kind of Ice Cream Soda (better known as floats) is the classic Root Beer + Vanilla float. But as we've seen from Wendy's and a million other examples, a delicious float can be formed from almost any combo of Ice Cream and Soda. Just...maybe don't try 7-Up and Moose Trax. eugh.

"Smile" can be found by Nat King Cole

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

Joyful and Triumphant

Yesterday marked the end of the 2008 WVHS Prism season. It was the eleventh prism I've attended, the third I've been a part of.

Prism concerts are something...out of this world. I love them so much and they're one of the reasons I'm not excited to have Christmas away from Napauroraville.

So what is Prism? You see, WVHS has one of the strongest music programs in the area. The pinnacle concert of the year brings together the band, orchestra, and choir students in a two-hour concert of streamed music fit for the Holiday season.

Of course, WVHS is a public high school with a music program run by conductors who live for all kinds of music and all kinds of beliefs. So it isn't 100% Christmas music...there's some classical, some Hanukkah, we were originally going to do a Kwanzaa song for Mosaic (trust me, the new one was much better), and there's some folk holiday songs from around the globe. Of course, these non-Christmas songs are never audience favorites, but I bloomin' love Prism so much, I don't really care.

I've been eager to be a part of Prism for years...since the first few concerts I saw, I think it's safe to say. Freshman year, the first thing I did when I tried on my robe for the first time was pumping it into the air for "Jingle Bells". Heh...at least I got to do it once. : I quit curricular choir after freshmen year, and since the freshmen don't preform at Prism, and only curricular kids get the robes, I never had my robe to fist-pump with. And I'm never going to stand in the front of the audience, holding the hands of Varsity kids. I will get that Santa hat, though.

See, for those still reading and confused, Prism is steeped in tradition. The concert itself has been a WVHS tradition for...geez, I don't know how many years. We put on four shows because it is so popular and so well-loved by the community. My personal highlight every year is the Finale, the Creme de la Creme, the pinnacle moment- the Christmas Festival.

This song brings together all the students in Prism and has been with the concert for years. Almost every year, the special effects team adds a little something more, so viewers old and new can feel that rush.

It begins with a swelling timpani, and immediately, audience members know magic is happening. The lighting moves from hyper-focus on the conductor to the stage, filled with talented musicians. In front of you, behind you, and all sides are choir students, robed in green (or donned in Black for the mosaic-only kids like myself). Dotted through the room, students sport Santa hats. These are the seniors...the ones most likely to cry. Unless you're Alaina Hendricks. Then you cry every year. ;)

The first song of the medley is "Joy to the World", and it sets the mood immediately. Smoothly, it moves into "Deck the Halls", and with a minor transition becomes "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen". The smooth song picks up pace into the high, exhilarating "Good King Wenceslas"...the bane of all freshmen, the only one whose words they don't know. Once that song ends, the transition slows for the moving and angelic "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". Then, the cellos solemnly set the stage, mirrored by the literal setting of the stage as the lights dim and the scrim lights up, Christmas lights putting on a faux starlit sky perfect for "Silent Night". The song of heavenly peace ends with the chipper and immediate switch to "Jingle Bells"...fit with snow, real fake snow falling from the catwalk onto the audience. After one verse, everyone takes it down an octave and fist-pumps that "Hey!" we've all been waiting for. Once that ends, the back curtain open wide, revealing a full hidden layer of brass, trumpets flared towards the audience with a beautiful winter scene behind them and a hanging wreath to top it off. The band and orchestra on the stage, combined with the additional brass with the power of a thousand angels pick it for the powerful and truly impressive "O Come All Ye Faithful", fit with impressive "accompaniment" that I can't help but conduct along to. It sweeps into the impressive chorus, powerful music ever-swelling and moving, far past when the choir quits. The cymbal crashes signifying the end are just as amazing as anything, especially as this year they were mirrored with flashes of colored lights. After that final note, the audience rushes in the applause they've been asked to withhold, offering a standing ovation to the thrilled performers. The applause is so much that we always offer an encore of that amazing "O Come All Ye Faithful"...this year, tripped up a bit (on purpose..."tripped up" is just as positive lingo as it is negative) with an extended drum roll between cymbal crashes.

You know Prism's over when the seniors toss their Santa hats into the air...their last Prisms and the end of something much bigger.

There's a reason WVHS passes out limited number of tickets to a concert that we offer four times.
There's a reason seniors cry when they preform their last performance.
There's a reason I cry (just a bit) of gratitude each time "O Come All Ye Faithful" begins.
There's a reason they preform the same finale every year to the same reaction every year.
There's a reason new audiences show up and gasp at the starlight...the snow...and the performances throughout the entire concert.
There's a reason I've wanted to be a part of this show more than any other thing in WVHS.

And until you see for yourself...you'll never know that reason.

Then again, people do walk out of the show muttering about how few Christmas songs there were, how long the rehearsals are, how off certain performances were, and how horrible the traffic to leave is. But for every Grinch has a heart that can grow four times, and I seriously believe that Prism helps tap at that Christmas spirit.

After all, what is Christmas about? Family? What better family to celebrate the gift of music with than the WVHS Music Department family, that gives its hours, nights, and weeks to the advancement of its students?

Giving? What better way to give than through the gift of music? To touch the lives and hearts of those around you and remind them of the power of a song? (There's also donations to be accepted out every door...;P)

Christ? As much as our school censors religion and asks for separation of Church and State...Prism does celebrate the Reason for the Season. What better way to celebrate Him than to sing Hallelujahs and Noels of His miraculous birth and mission...and to share that in the secular environment of schools?

Love? How can you better spread love than through song...both the teaching of and the sharing of? What better way to express your love than to support your students, friends, and children as they do what they love for whom they love? More teachers cried this audience than I've heard of in awhile. :)

Togetherness? The music students are infamous for our stereotypes...the dirty Band Geeks who hate the nerdy Orch Dorks and the elitist Choir Nerds who ignore them all...but for this one concert...for that one song...we all come together and push past all of that to spread that message and that joy of Christmas. What better purpose to come together than for this holiday season with more power than any other time of the year?

I LOVE PRISM. In case you can't tell. And I cherish the opportunity to sing with some of the most talented people I know for the best purpose imaginable...even if I can't wear that green robe I've dreamed about.

I believe in the power of Prism more than I believe in the goodness of Santa Claus.
And geez, you'll be hard-pressed to find a seventeen-year-old who loves Santa more than me.

"O Come All Ye Faithful" can be found anywhere this season...yes, including during Prism.