All you can do is love them with all your heart, and hope that they love you back.

Sometimes you meet people and fall in love with them, but then they go away. Wizard of Oz at the Scera just ended and, as much as I wanted a break from sticking mic tape on people, I almost feel like weeping because this cast that I have fallen hopelessly in love with has dissipated and many I may literally never see again. Here's a little tribute to some of the people that made it all worth it.

Jessica Sundwall, Mark Gordan, Travis Hancock, Phillip Varney, Shoni Winkel, Lauren Anderson, Emily Hill, Rob Holcombe, Whitney Call, Melisa Daley, Acelynn Fulton, Suzannah Osmond, And most of all, the two little punks who made my life infinitely better every time I saw them, Austen Bigelow and Sarah Osmond.

I'll not be forgettin' you any time soon you lovely, lovely, people. Thank you so much for your perfect kindness and joy.

What's Better than One Cookie?

You know the age-old question, "What is better than one cookie?" And the answer is obviously "Two cookies" or some variation thereupon. So, I have another question. What is better than teching Wizard of Oz once? Well clearly the truth lies somewhere between the two. Meaning teching the Wizard of Oz play at two different locations with two different casts of two different levels of preparation is much better than ending on a sour lemon. <-- That sentence originally ended with "sour note" but then I realized something: notes cannot be sour. Actually I just realized another something. Notes probably can be sour in some way or another, but I don't believe that that was one of the occasions. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I really like the cast for Wizard of Oz at the Scera (Disclaimer: I also really really like the cast for Wizard of Oz at Timpview, but the Scera's production is just a little more well done. Like when paranoid people cook steak. Only in a good way.)   Especially Dorothy, who is Jessica, who is really pretty, who also apparently does not have a Facebook account, so now I have to ask her for her number, and then ask her on a date, because she's very nice and also always brings back her microphone right away, and it's never broken. And also Acelynn, who is very nice and talks to me when I'm bored backstage. I can ask her on a date too, after I get her number. How do you ask a girl for her number? Normally they just end up in my phone somehow.
Also I want my friends back from California. Why did you leave me?!?!?!
And my other friends who did not leave me, I love you. Thank you for not leaving me. How come we never hang out? Call me.
Also I need marimbas. Like, now. I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO PRACTICE SINCE GRADUATION!!!!!!!!!!

What Just Happened?

That's right, I calculated my hours of tech. Over my high school career, I teched about 1000 hours.

And now I just applied for a tech job at the Scera. What is wrong with me?

It's 11:27 and I've got a lot to do, so I'll make this blog post short just for you.

Two plates of brownies, Two liters of soda, a pizza, an answer to senior ball, music, friends, happiness, and getting paid to do it.

You wonder why I like my job?

Phone Pictures

 Sometimes I walk up to the temple at night. It's always pretty fantastic. 

 You know it's spring when there's green grass poking through the snow. 

 Shoes! 

 Bald Soprano. What a beautiful, beautiful play. I still quote it constantly. 

 Same color!

 A Nutella Oreo. It actually tasted pretty terrible. I wouldn't recommend it. Ever. It was like chocolate paste on cardboard. 

 Fish sticks and custard, on the other hand, really tasted pretty good. 

 My lovely little yarn snowman named Andrew. Too bad Kat ruthlessly unraveled him while he was still young. 

 Ummm...

 Gee, I wonder who wrote what.... Not. 

 I felt honored that there was a statue of me.

 A dragon for Kristen. 

 Despite the blurryness, I still think this picture is cute. Mostly because Kat's in it.

 I think these are my favorite people ever. 

 :)

 Boss it. 

 They're in a fight. 

 Sometimes I beat Joseph at checkers. Like always. 

 Bald Soprano Shoes!

 Flowers. I like flowers. Flowers are manly. I bet you could shoot roses out of a bow and arrow. 

 I love it when it rains ice. 

 This is that one time that I beat Riley at Blokus. 

 Run. Run for your life. 

 At Jacob Jespersen's Farewell. There were so many people there! I wish I knew half that many people! Jacob is a good guy. We'll all miss him, but he'll be a top-notch missionary. 

 My greatest chalking endeavor. I think it's pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

 This is Rebecca. She gave me a private concert, because I could not attend her senior recital. How is she so perfect? The world may never know, but will always be happy because of her. 

 Yes, I made this for Riley's birthday. Brownie chess cake = awesome. 

 That was a good ballroom concert. I liked it. 

 Our shoes are on a date. 

So are we. 

 I found Pinocchio. 

 Once upon a time I started walking, and I just kept walking until I found a little trail, and off that trail I found a path, with lead to a smaller deer trail, which I followed until I found deer, and then I climbed some stuff, and then it was getting dark so I scrambled back down the mountain. It was a good day. 

 Bushes with flowers growing out of the top are cooler than a polar bear on a windy day. 

 It's hard to see it in the picture, but the chalk board has an arrow pointing to Ree, and a label that says "Ree Lu." It's cool. 

 Fancy Hair. 

 Joseph in the ceiling? 

 We're cute in our dance co shirts. 

 So what's new?

 I love this Maren!

 It's not that way it's over here! 

 Oh, small children. 

Yes, I got a picture with Rick Riordan. Yes, I am the only one who got a picture with Rick Riordan. Yes, sometimes it is beneficial to be on tech. 

A Bit of Life

Today Dance Co gave the tech crew lots of chocolate. They're great. I'm glad I get to tech their concerts, because they always make thank you cards and give us food and candy and stuff. Five Million points to Timpview Dance Company.

Today I accomplished one of my goals. Sit in every single one of the 1460 chairs in the auditorium. It's much harder than it looks, too.

I also applied for academic letters today. I just really hope I get my Art one.

Today I ate a meal consisting of only Bread, Fruit, and Cheese, in honor of Robin Hood. Mostly just because I wanted Bread, Fruit, and Cheese though.

I am becoming less ill. Yay!

If Ever There Was a Time for Tears

That was very likely the last time that I will ever perform on the Timpview Stage. I'm leaving. Graduating. Hundreds of my brothers and sisters will I never see again. This was so beautiful, too. Everything was so perfect, and so happy, and so sad. I am of course looking forward to meeting new people and everything, and I know that I really will see these people again someday, but it's very emotional for me nonetheless. I just wish I could do something more for each of these people. Something that they will never forget, and will change their beautiful unique lives for the better forever. I wish that I could really show everyone how much I love them, but no matter what I do is not enough.

I can't give them a real gift by just setting up lights for their shows. It's not even enough to pour my soul into the music we play, so that our musical gift is the best it can possibly be. But what can I do? I'm so very small. Just a tiny dot in a world that billions and billions of people have lived and will live on. Most of them I will never be able to see, or help, but I want to! What can I do? I want to know.

Sometimes I think that what I've done is special, or that I do a lot for other people, but I don't. I feel terrible when I look back at how many people I could've helped, but I was too caught up in my tiny little world of my own to notice. I was too selfish, or too "busy" to help one of my eternal siblings in a time of need. And here I am again, being "tired" when there's so much work to be done--that needs to be done and needs me to do it.

My thought train sort of ran away from me there. Basically, I will very much miss the Timpview Band when I have to leave, and all of the people in it. And all of the other people that I've ever met. I even miss the people who I haven't met yet and it's driving me insane! I know that there are so many people out there who I know and love, but I don't know how I'm going to find them!

I'm so very excited to serve a mission. I want to find my brothers and sisters, and make sure that we can get back to the celestial kingdom together. 

A Good Day

Wake up at 6 to work all day? Usually, that wouldn't sound so fun, but in this case, I didn't really have to work so much as babysit the auditorium, which included having a music party, playing the piano, and chilling with friends, and getting paid to do it. Yes, I'd say state drama was a wonderful success. Not to mention the fact that our 1 act play got first place, straight superiors, and Parker and Miriam won the respective best actor and best actress awards, and they certainly deserved them! I also awarded myself the laziest techie award.

After state, I went to Kat's house for a few minutes just to chill, and then I went to the Woodruff's house where I beat Aaron Davis at chess, even with the handicap of me starting missing my castles and my knights. And then we had a wonderful party at Pizza Pie Cafe, which is always great. Always. Finally, we went to Steph Tidwell's house and just chilled for another 45 minutes or so. It was a good day. A good good day.

The Bald Soprano

Lauren, Chase, Miriam, Parker, Aubrey, and Matthew all did a wonderfully fantastic job at performing the play for Region One Act. They got first place and straight superiors from all 3 judges, making us eligible for state! The Bald Soprano is a very interesting and exciting play, and you should go read the script because the entire thing makes about as much sense as one of my own thought processes. With lines randomly thrown in such as "Let's go and slap Ulysses!" the whole thing turns out to be rather entertaining. Everybody should come watch the play at state during spring break. It'll be fantastic.

One Act Shenanigans

Yesterday I got to do some more tech stuff for the one act play, and I am very excited for it. It's a very strange play, and the script makes absolutely no sense, and it's fantastic!!! All the actors are absolutely glorious. I'll talk much more about it later.

Okay, No More Urgh.

The play is over. Completely. Except for the hour or two it will take to rectify all of the tech mess that I dumped onto the PSS cart because I did not want to deal with it. I will now be able to sleep, and I won't have the two-and-a-half hours during the play in which I must keep coming up with depressing things to contemplate. I may also be the only person in history to have utterly convinced myself that the bendy light on the light board was a soup faucet. Maybe Brower will stop telling me that I should've tried out for the play, now that it's over.
One day, I will get money for what I've done, and then I can buy a celebratory milkshake.

I am definitely happy right now.

But before I put "A Winter's Tale" to rest in my mind forever, I would like to make note of a couple things.

Lauren + Miriam + Kat = Very beautiful in their dresses.

Riley + Jake = Not okay looking in their dresses.

Debussy is my friend now.

Parker Christensen is very good at explaining how Riley gets eaten by a bear.

Playing Pirates of the Carribean music before the show on closing night is exciting.

This is one play that I did not memorize while teching it.

I made many of my own happy additions to the script. I think it's much more interesting my way.

For all of you who think I played computer games during the whole play every day just because I had my laptop back there, you're wrong. I only did that a tiny bit. I wrote my Journalism article. And I played Chess like once.

It's not actually that scary to sit on a swivel chair on an eight foot hollow box after you get used to it.

It's really fun to talk about the future as if it's already happened. Such as, "By the time I go to bed, I will have finished this blog post." Admit it, that's much more exciting than "I will finish this blog post before I go to bed."

Kat's parents are fantastic. They bought me a Jamba Juice before the show twice. You really cannot get nicer than that.

It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Shakespeare dudes! You'all the best!

John Oldroyd just loves happy days. For him, today was a happy day. It started out with a churchball game, in which his team obviously dominated, due to their incredible skill level, and was quickly followed up by a fantastic breakfast at the Summers twins' abode. After that, the entire team went and played more basketball, since the first game was too easy.
Following those shenanigans (that's a fun word) John headed off to Timpview where he sat watching strange children from a little high school up north put on a production in his auditorium. After that, he had to fix the stage to back how it was supposed to be, and even got to drop the keys off the catwalk in the process. (Yes, he did do it on purpose, and yes, he got permission.)
After work, Johann hat zu Shelby's haus gefahrt und hangt mit Karli und Shelby aus. It was very nice. They made milkshakes.

Another Slew of Phone Pictures

This is my feet. 

This is what happens when you get bored whilst doing tech.

This picture is kind of hard to see, but it's a police car parked halfway on the grass and halfway on the sidewalk by a fire hydrant in front of a red curb.

Our Millie Monitor.

Now that's a gingerbread house.

This is Kat, Kate, Riley, and myself on a shark.

No comment.

I went to Disneyland with my family, and took pictures of the pictures.

We met Jae Cho in our Grandparents' ward on Christmas.

This is what happens when I play tic tac toe with Ree Lu on Stefan's desk.

This is a game of chess with Henry Davis that we never finished. I took a picture so that we could finish it later. Sadly, we probably never will.