Pageant of the Masters

Last night my family and I made our newly acquired yearly trip down to Laguna Beach for Pageant of the Masters. Many SoCal residents are not aware of the this gem of an event, even I wasn't until about 3 years ago, even though it is in it's 75th year now. Pageant of the Masters takes place in the Laguna Canyon at an open air theater where they show famous works of art, set to music and script. The catch is that the people in the paintings are real people, who must hold their pose for 2 minutes or more. Works of art are taken from it's original size of about poster size and then re-created on a large backdrop or canvas. Real people are dressed up, have hair and make-up applied and then become apart of the piece. It's quite interesting and awe inspiring.

Wicked & Cirque du Soleil

What a fabulous Saturday I had with my friend Brooke!!!! It started when we drove down to LA and I got a bit lost but still knew where I was going, or at least how to correct it. We wanted to grab a bite to eat before the show so we stopped at this hot dog stand called Scooby's on Hollywood Blvd, which was quite tasty. We then made our way to the grand Pantages Theater and with awe and excitement watched WICKED!!!

For those of you who don't know what this is, you are missing out. It is the story before and leading up to the movie The Wizard of Oz, the classic that everyone knows and has seen. It is the story of Elphaba, commonly known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and how she becomes viewed as wicked. It explains how she became green, how her and Glinda the Good Witch used to be good friends. There are some interesting love interests, the fight between good and bad and who gets to decided what is good or bad, and is filled with inspiring and delightful music the whole way through. If ever given the opportunity to witness this beauty of a show, take it!

We then made our way down to Inglewood for our next big show. We ate dinner at Denny's and had some extra time to kill so we decided to drive down to the beach. Oh how refreshing and pleasant the beach is. I just love being there and it renews me everytime.

Back at The Forum we parked the car and made our way to the Cirque du Soleil show, Corteo. Eagerly we entered the Big Top and were shown to our seats, well at least the seats we assumed were ours. The show started and we were loving it but then about 20 minutes into it, an usher came to our row and asked to see our our tickets. She motioned for us to get up and come to the aisle. So looking like fools we did, wondering the whole time what as going on. She said that we were in the wrong section and that the people whose seats we were in were really mad. Well sorry, but 1. the workers are the ones who put us there, and 2. if you show up 20 minutes late to a show you automatically forfeit your seats. Sorry buddy, your fault! It actually made us quite peeved that they would make us get up 20 minutes into the show looking like idiots, when it wasn't our fault. Anyways, the rest of the show was spectacular and mind blowing. We sat in amazement at what some people can do with their bodies and there were many times where we actually gasped with astonishment and excitement.

Lunch with the girls

Seeing that everyone was back in town again we decided to get together for lunch and share our adventures from the summer. We ate at Cheesecake Factory and then had the dessert back at my new apartment.

Divining Rods make a comeback

I spent 4 cold but fabulous months in Nauvoo, Illinois back in 2004 and learned some amazing things. One crazy but cool thing I learned was while we were on our Western field trip and were in Mt Pisgah, Iowa. You loosely hold two metal wands/sticks parallel in your hands and walk. The wands will cross each other when there is a water source, or will indicate where the earth has been disturbed for say an old building. You see this things in old movies or cartoons and think that its all crockery, but in fact they worked while we were there.

Brother Lambert getting a kick out of the divining rods

My good friend Kara amazed at the possibility

Now I write about this because yesterday as I was driving home from some errands and was waiting in the left turn lane I noticed a workman off to my left with these two rods in his hands. He then proceeded to venture into the street, when no cars were coming, and would spray paint on the asphalt at the location that his rods would magically cross. It instantly made me think of Mt Pisgah and astonished me that with all the sophistry of instruments and technology he could be using, instead he was using two humble metal rods.

My New Apartment

I'm moving! Well, technically I've moved, but all my stuff isn't in my new place yet. I painted my room yesterday and one wall of the living room today. I plan to move my stuff from my dad's warehouse to my new apartment as soon as my dad gets done with work.

Bottom apartment Hallway leading to roommate's room Roommate's bathroom

Living Room

My closet!!!! which i adore!!!!!!

My bathroom
Bad picture of my room (hard to get good angle)
Front door, closet and buffet, dining area
Kitchen
Floorplan

'

Camp

As mentioned earlier our girls camp went from 44 girls to 128 girls when our stake boundaries were changed. Now, this had its good and bad sides. Here's a run down of the good and the bad:

1. T-shirts we ordered were not ready to be picked up until the morning of camp. Bad.


2. T-shirt color was drab and somewhat depressing looking. Bad.


3. Most of our YCL 1 & 2's showed up on time and helped get everything ready for when the Level 1-4 campers showed up. Good.


4. My committee actually came up with and performed a skit, something I refused to do the 2 previous years. It was to the tune of "Lean like a cholo" for those of you who are interested. We even wore some flashy purple capes. Good.


5. Wednesday breakfast was 10 minutes late being ready, which cut into the Camp & Cabin Caper cleaning time. Bad.


6. My committee girls worked hard in the camp store while the younger girls went crazy with excitement. For most of the girls this was the first time they had a camp store while at camp. Good.


7. Dessert was not served directly after dinner like asked for and promised. Bad.


8. The program for when the Stake Presidency was in attendance was AMAZING!!!! Good.


9. 5 of the girls in our cabin pulled 2 mattresses off the bunks late in the night and slept on them on the floor only after toilet papering themselves so as to make a fort. Unsure.


10. Thursday breakfast, some funky biscuits with gravy, was 15 minutes late. Bad.


11. I literally caught a girl as she fell from a rope 10 feet up and over a huge boulder. Good.


12. The painting service project Level 3 campers were to perform ended with them putting hand prints on rocks, hand prints of paint. Definitely a bad thing.


13. Dessert was not served directly after dinner Thursday night, even though requested and promised. Bad & frustrating.


14. Bishops Night activities were fun and entertaining. Good.


15. All of the 9 Bishops were there except for the one from my ward. We heard that a counselor would be filling his spot, but he never showed. Bad and sad for the girls in my ward.


16. The girls in my cabin pushed 2 bunk beds together, with 6 girls sleeping on the bottom and 3 sharing the top. Unsure.


17. Someone stole the big heavy bell that weighs about 30 pounds and is at the top of a 6 foot pole. Bad and not funny, cuz we use it to keep everyone on schedule.


18. While at the lake a girl got whiplash as she was catapulted off a floating trampoline. She was put on a stretcher, taken to the hospital and had x-rays taken. Bad.


19. The chance to wear shorts and flip flops while at the lake and park. Always a good thing. I hate to wear pants and shoes and must make a sacrifice every time I go to camp.


20. The fun slide show made from pictures taken during camp. Extremely good.


21. The Parable of the Ten Virgins that we had the girls personally take part in as a surprise. Good and Bad. Good that they got to experience it and to use the oil lamps they had made earlier, but bad that only about 10 out of 128 girls were prepared for when the Bridegroom came.


22. Testimony meeting at the Fire Ring. Spiritually good beyond compare.


23. The girls in our cabin pushed 3 bunk beds together and squeezed 9 girls onto the bottom and 4 on the top. Unsure, and not sure how well they slept.


24. Many wards and cabins wanting to leave early without helping to do the final capers and camp sweep. Bad and rude.


25. Did I mention that practically every meal was at least 10-20 minutes late, thus messing up our entire schedule everyday. I don't mind having to wait for good food, but this wasn't worth the wait. Bad and hungry.

Camp Makye

Well, I survived a week of girls camp and am finally home. I will post more after I have rested, am refreshed and have been able to process all that happened.

Week in Nature

Starting tomorrow I will have the distinct pleasure of sleeping on a hard bunkbed, getting up early to ensure a warm shower, having to wear full pants and full coverage shoes, getting dust up the nose which makes your buggers turn brown, trying to get 16 & 17 year old girls to go to bed at a decent time and many other wonderful things that come along with girls camp. Really, I'm excited, but will not be able to post for the rest of the week. Until then, may the spirit of Camp MaKye be with you all.

Paper Brides

So this morning I attended a bridal shower for a friend I know from BYU who lives in Glendora. We had a fabulous brunch, opened some boring gifts full of dish towels and measuring cups and also a few scandalous and fun gifts, and played those silly bridal shower games. You know, the ones where you have to design a bridal gown out of toilet paper. New, not used, mind you. This is the lovely bride-to-be in our very own creation.

Just an information note: when Mr. Right does come and sweep me off my feet and I decide to settle down, I believe that bridal shower gifts should be for the bride, not the house. Kitchenware and bath towels should be saved for the reception. Whereas fun, flirty and frilly items are best to receive at said bridal shower.

Meetings, meetings, meetings

I wish I could write that I've been busy with exciting adventures for the past couple of days, but that is not the case. I have been busy with a ton of meetings for girls camp, which is coming dangerously soon. Other than meetings, I have been going to the gym everyday, which I am quite proud of. Not only am I going to the gym but I feel as though I am getting in some very effective workouts. So I guess this post would be considered the non-adventure aspect of my title. My adventures come in spurts. Better every once in awhile than never at all, right?

Dodger Game

So Thursday night I had the opportunity to go to a Dodger game. My good friend Cindy is an avid Dodger fan and goes to about 2 games a week. When I got to Dodger Stadium I found out that they were playing the Giants and that Barry Bonds was playing. He is 1 home run shy of matching the home run record of Hank Aaron. I also found out that he was born in Riverside, California, my hometown. With the score 3-0 in favor of the Giants for most of the evening, the Dodgers did have ample opportunity to catch up when they had bases loaded a total of 3 different times. They were never able to capitalize and lost the game 2-4.

Busy But Bored

We left Idaho Sunday after a family dinner and made it down to American Fork to visit my other grandma, before stopping in Fillmore for the night. Since getting home Monday night I have been attempting to attack the ever growing pile of mail that has accumulated over the past month, and am having some success in cleaning and organizing my room. Nothing much exciting happening compared to what I was doing in Costa Rica or Idaho, just trying to get things ready for Girls Camp, which is in 1 1/2 weeks.