Day 3 (clearly, I'm slacking in daily commitments)

This just goes to show that I truly do fail at daily commitments. Prayer, scripture study, practicing, blogging.... it's all one in the same. I am a terrible person.

Not really. But I do suck at doing things every day.

So we'll just carry on, and see how many days it truly takes me to finish this 30 day challenge. This could be extremely entertaining. :)

[Insert a failed 25 minute search for the next question.]

Okay, new plan. hahahaha I can't find the one I was using. :( So instead, here is a short list of things that are not okay:

1. People picking me up. Don't do it.
2. The saxophone.
3. How dry my skin is across my knuckles.
4. Professors that don't show up for your final presentation of your final transcription. Especially when it's "Careless Whisper." Who doesn't love George Michael? Or at least his hair. See for yourself:



5. The level of pain that my back is constantly in.
6. Adorable boys that are younger than me that I could look at all day long. It makes me creepy and unstable. Borderline cradle robber.
7. Feet. Any age, size, color, condition, etc. Not. Okay.
8. I'm out of peeps. This is a disaster.

That's good for now.
I wonder what question 3 was.

Day 2 - Earth Day!

Good morning!

As I am NOT in form and analysis this morning........it's time for day 2 of my 30 day challenge!

Day 2: A picture of what you wore today

Rain boots

Free earth day shirt

Explanation: My weather app depicted today with lightening. This is a rare occurrence and the warning must be heeded. Result = rain boots. Yesterday, Blythe and I went to this earth day celebration up by the dorms and watched an hour of Planet Earth (WHICH IS INSANE), signed a petition to recycle at football games (they had some crazy statistic about how much waste is accumulated per season at the stadium), ate Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes, and got these free tshirts! They're pretty nifty, huh? Also, I'm trying to avoid doing laundry until right before I go home... haha

Anyway...Happy Earth Day! Go hug a tree, start a compost pile, plant a flower, throw away some hairspray, or buy me a hybrid car. :)

Day 1

Hello world,

I have decided to take on the 30 day challenge on facebook. However, I will attempt to keep things classy (as usual) and post this on my blog instead. Yes, you are meant to chuckle.

Day 1: Picture of yourself

There's really no story. Except that this is my post-haircut from Christmas break. And that is my Texas bathroom. I just don't take very many pictures of myself. 

As for my commentary of the day? Here's a thought: just because I am too physically and mentally exhausted to transport myself to a lavatory, does that make me lazy? I don't think so. I think it's sign that I am an overworked, stressed out, under-compensated college student. And a music student at that. If it was socially acceptable to live my life with a bed pan, I would. They could be popular. They could come in different colors, patterns, and materials. They could have seasonal decorations. Christmas lights and garland? Then no one would be forced to sit through an excruciatingly long class with an antsy bladder. We've all been there. And when our bodies are too exhausted to get up from our study sessions in the library...there will be no need. People pee in pools. And everyone is okay with that, because we've all been there, done that. Why should our lives on land be any different?

Points to ponder.

The audition of a lifetime!

For those of you that weren't aware, for the past 13 months, I have been gearing up for my audition for the Disney College Band. In short, it is an internship-like position, with a weekly stipend. Disney houses the band at the Resort, and they perform Tuesday-Saturday for roughly 8 hours a day. It's about an 11 week program over the summer, and I knew I would be competing for 1 of 2 spots in the band. That being said, I knew I was up for the challenge. I've never wanted anything so badly. (Except maybe to be in the BOA Honor Band for the Rose Parade in 2008/2009. But you get the idea.) 

Well, you guessed it. My audition was today! I arranged to have my sister and brother-in-law put me up for the weekend, and reserved the plane ticket. I flew into Burbank on Friday evening (with a brief layover in the beautiful Oakland! road trip now, please...) and have been hanging out with my adorable nephew all weekend. On to the actual audition!

We left not-so-bright and early this morning and journeyed to Anaheim. (Important note: I ingested 2 capsules of passionfruit under Blythe's prescription. Google it. It totally calms you down.) Finally, after some run-around to find the location of said audition, we ended up on "Cast Lane," waiting outside of some fancy, high security, yellow building that houses sacred secrets to the magic of Disney. Probably. But it did have 2 things I'd like to note for my own personal amusement:

1. Uptight old men, dressed as security guards. There's something non-threatening about official badges with Mickey Mouse ears on them, however. Not too intimidating. Try again, Disney.

2. MY FAVORITE SOAP. Now, if your name is either Blythe or Alyse, you know how much I have been obsessing about my favorite kind of soap for the last couple of days. To make a long story short, the big yellow building had it. I knew it was meant to be when I discovered it. Disneyland is truly magical.

So anyway, I was waiting with a growing group of auditionees for further instruction. Around 8:45 am, "Marie" came to get us. I liked her shoes. Her voice, however, was kind of similar to Kristen Chenowith's voice. High pitched, questionably peppy, and eventually just flat out annoying. She was definitely cute though. After counting us and getting us access past the Mickey Mouse Club security guards, she took us past the gate, where we stood some more. It was the epitome of "hurry up and wait." This is where I struck up a conversation with the horn player next to me. Not worth explaining - just know that we ended up hanging around me for the remainder of the day. He was a less awkward version of Stephen - a Clarinet player at the U, from American Fork. 

Eventually, we were herded farther backstage (to where I went back when I did the Rose Parade and the band performed at Disneyland, actually) and a nice loud man (named, Hans) debriefed us on where individual auditions would take place, how to sign up for them, and everything else we needed to know. Luckily, saxophones and horns/mellophones were in one room and everything else in another. This meant that our line was SIGNIFICANTLY shorter. I signed up for my time after Stephen's twin, which was 10:15. At this point, I had a little over an hour until my audition. People in the back of the other line got times as late as 3:30 pm. (As other people arrived, the times were later and later. When I left, the latest I knew of was 5 pm. And it was a girl from BYU! Crazy.) 

I chilled out, met some people (not past first names and schools), and waited to warm up. I was one of 4 horn players (at the time, at least) and the ONLY one that also brought a mellophone. A lot of auditionees came in groups from their respective schools. It reminded me a lot of region band in high school - everyone together in their cliques, sizing each other up, and pretending to care about fine details of strangers' lives. When there was a little over half an hour to my audition time, I went around the corner to the open parking lot that was designated for our warm up area to warm up and run through my music. Afterwards, I made a quick trip to the bathroom and also filled up my water bottle. I meandered back to the warm up area and gathered my instruments to head inside.

Waiting by the room, I witnessed the Stephen look-alike go into and come out of his audition. He was at 10 am, right before me. I wished him luck, etc. When he came back out, rather quickly, he looked very unhappy and attributed it to the fact that Rick (who auditioned us) didn't ask him to sight read anything. He assumed that meant he wasn't worth his time, and was obviously disappointed. It was really sad to see him. I wished him luck and tried to reassure him as I went in for my audition. 

I went in to the sound room, and Rick had stepped out for whatever reason. As I situated myself, I felt confident and tried to focus on being excited. This was the moment I had been waiting over a year for! I just needed to have fun, and let my enthusiasm show. There was a small collection of Wenger chairs in front of the stand, and I pushed them out of the way. I was going to stand. Rick came back, and asked me for my name, hometown, and school. As I mentioned the University of Utah, he rather unenthusiastically said, "oh, [pause] so you know Brian Sproul?" and I enthusiastically answered, "yes! I work very closely with him! I'm actually flying from here to Las Vegas to meet him for a basketball tournament." His responses skipped a few beats. He slowly told me about their camaraderie back east, and, to my surprise, mentioned his divorce - OF ALL THINGS. What?! But I nodded and shared his sad sentiments. Rick couldn't remember his wife's name, and I prompted him, "Marty" as he asked who has custody of Jeff! ...what?! I said that he is usually with Brian, but Marty still lives in the area, teaching junior high band. Anyway, after this odd exchange, I introduced the Mozart I was playing. Went through it, played Rhapsody in Blue, and then he stood up and walked around the room a little bit. I think he was going to move on, but then motioned to my mellophone as an afterthought - "Oh, did you want to play anything on your mellophone?" I answered that I had prepared some Stars and Stripes Forever, and proceeded to play some. He ended up motioning to me before I was actually done - which was totally fine. I take it that he didn't need to hear much more. He sets this MASSIVE binder on my stand for sight reading. Literally MASSIVE. He opened to an Earth Wind and Fire medley. Thankfully, I didn't bomb it. The second one was a mysterious piece with a questionable title. Weird syncopation. Different key. Awkward. The last one started off pretty poorly and eventually came out to "When you wish upon a star." Unfortunately, I missed the F# from the key, and he said "oh no. Mickey's not happy..." and pointed to the key. Even though sight reading was overall a little squirrelly, I smiled through it and tried to be charming.

After all the playing, he asked, "So how long is the flight out here?" Seemed like an unnecessary question to me. I'm sure he didn't really care. "I had a brief layover, but about 3 1/2 hours. Not too bad." He nodded, and then asked what I think was the perfect ending question - "and did you come with a group?" I answered with the negative, and was happy to report that it was just me. He nodded and possibly commended me for coming out by myself. I thanked him for his time and wished him a good day. 

And that was it. I was escorted out, and met back up with Dawn, John, and William. I feel really good about the whole situation. For everything I prepared, there's not a thing I would change. Sight reading really couldn't have gone any different. I wish I would have mentioned that I know Katy Stearns (whom he knows from 2009, and whom I know from high school) but I forgot. That's okay. I'm confident that I have a fair shot. And it was such a great feeling to be all alone, as silly as that sounds. Not knowing anyone there was such a strength to me. Just as Rick alluded to on my way out. There are so many coincidences and little tiny connections that I have noticed over the past year that make me feel like it's meant to be. Or if it's not quite meant to be, then it's at least now or never. 

I'll hear back in 2 weeks. 

Stay tuned. :)

Click here to find youtube videos about the audition process and to learn more about what the band actually does! 

Sleep patterns.

Here is my day in a nutshell:

6 am: Alarm goes off. Overall feeling = exhausted.

6:50 am: Emerge from bed. Overall feeling = exhausted and pissed to be awake.

7:30 am: First class of the day. Overall feeling = exhausted and apathetic.

11:35 am: Finally lunch time (if I'm lucky). Overall feeling = exhausted and stressed.

2 pm: Rehearsal. Literally falling asleep. Overall feeling = exhausted and senile.

4 pm: Done with rehearsals. Time to practice. Overall feeling = exhausted and unmotivated.

6 pm ish: Dinner/homework/sporting events and pep band. Overall feeling = exhausted.

11 pm: Get home. Overall feeling = awake and unproductive.

WHAT IS THIS?!

People, this is not okay. My generation suffers from a problem. Yes, every generation of college students before me has their midnight stories of fun and awesomeness. The problem with my generation is that instead of stories, we're ON FACEBOOK. Wasting precious time that should be spent earning our overpriced undergraduate degrees that serve merely as a stepping stone to any actual wage-earning degree. 

And here I sit. Blogging. I'm a walking example of this ridiculousness. I spend all day, every day, utterly spent, just wanting to come home and crawl in my bed. Now I've crawled in, and it's a joke. 

Absurd.

Speechless

Adele is flawless. Always has been. In celebration of her new album, here is a live version of my favorite song from 19. She is impeccable. I love you, Adele.

Stay tuned for my favorite song from 21.

Get her music. Now.

Whilst transcribing...

I decided that I needed a break from transcribing Eleanor Rigby. I was on "lonely people" overload. And what does Amberley do when she needs a break from music? Shops online. obvi.

So I went to www.thelimited.com and selected an adorable dress on sale that I had asked for for my birthday. (bonus: they don't have limiteds in Utah, therefore no one else will be sporting it. ha!) Anyway, I had a genius idea to google for a coupon code, and I came across the most amazing website ever! Retailmenot offered me a free shipping code, and a 20% off code. I tested both to see which would save me the most money, and ended up getting $10.21 off with the 20% off coupon. How fantastic is that? Of course these codes aren't advertised on the website, which makes it all the more exciting. The pressure to "buy now before the code expires on Monday!" (or whatever the websites catch you with) is completely gone. You can find coupons for everything from Domino's pizza to Victoria's Secret. It's genius. There are printable coupons, grocery coupons, and of course, coupon codes. And people comment on certain codes to say that they just used it, or that it didn't work - so some are more reliable coupons than others.

It's definitely a must try before any online purchase. :)

Enjoy!

Let's get real: Public Restroom Ground Rules

Here's what I'm thinking. Over the past couple of years, I have used public restrooms almost every day. As a functioning adult at a world class university, I have also noticed patterns of human behavior within these public restrooms. (as well as caught myself falling into some of the same patterns) Allow me to explain a few of these.

1. The wait-it-out: You enter the restroom, and there is already someone using the facilities. You pick a stall, and go about your business - but you can't help but notice the dead silence that has engulfed the restroom. I call this the wait-it-out. Especially in a workplace or school, the person obviously does not want to take the chance of finishing their business and running into you at the sinks...in case you are indeed acquaintances, or worse yet, colleagues. This would be obviously embarrassing (or so they assume) so the best solution is to pretend that they're not there.

2. The embarrassing-noises cover: This situation is much like the first one, however the sound ceases only until you flush. The ruckus of flushing is a perfect cover for any embarrassed restroom patron that needs to make any kind of attention-getting noise. (Think: sanitary products, flatulence, or even the ever-embarrassing second or third flush to prevent a plumbing disaster.)

3. The toilet-paper crisis: It happens to the best of us. We carefully select a stall to use, not realizing it is out of toilet paper. The gutsy ones will ask someone next to them for toilet paper. The rest of us wait it out, until the commotion has died down or until we have finished panicking, and consider (as I assume) retrieving some from the next stall over. Many times have I used a public restroom and figured that the patron in stall B is in crisis.

4. The oh-no-I-clogged-it panic: Have you ever flushed, only to realize that it's just not your day? Maybe this has happened right after your movie at the Mexaplex got out, the symphony is at intermission, or your flight just landed - either way, the restroom is packed. You can't just slink out of the restroom unnoticed. There is a solid, never-ending line of women waiting for YOUR stall. Obviously, the only thing you can do is wait until the restroom has cleared out a little. Showing your face is out of the question.

These circumstances given, I pose the question: why? Why do we do this? As the infamous childhood book instructs, "everybody poops." How, after all these years of evolution and intellectual exploration, are we still embarrassed of our bodily functions?

So. Funny.

Just something I noticed. :)

My life is dismal. Here is the result.

Wedding plans.

This is happening.

I'll have you all know that I am not one of those girls that have dreamed about their planned wedding since they were 5. I was too busy just hoping for a boyfriend. This whole wedding craze is an extremely recent thing. The moral is...this is the first dress that I've fallen in love with. And it took forEVER to find this one that I was remotely excited about.

It wouldn't let me transfer a picture: http://www.latterdaybride.com/romana-details.php

Also, did you know that J crew has wedding dresses? What a FIND!
http://www.jcrew.com/wedding/Wedding_Bride.jsp

AND the limited! I'm in love with these two:

http://www.thelimited.com/category/apparel/weddings-events/wedding-dresses

As far as bridesmaids go, here's what I'm thinking: I don't know how many I'll have, but they will have the option of pencil or A-line skirt. Probably black or grey herringbone. They'll have matching blouses and cardigans, with cute heels or flats. Functional, classy, and comfortable.

Skirts: courtsey of The Limited.

 

Blouses: each gets a different color of a generic blouse like these, from The Limited and J Crew.

Sweaters: cardigans, in the appropriate color or colors (shown, from Gap and J Crew).

I couldn't find any inspiring patterns, but the blouse would hopefully be some kind of stripe or cute pattern. Wedding colors? I'm thinking pink, yellow, and black. :) 

Shoes? Payless or Target black pumps would do the trick. But what if they had TOMS instead?! Genius, I know. 

Needless to say, it's going to be awesome, classy, low key, comfortable, and relatively inexpensive. and if the bridesmaids conveniently turn out to look like me...well, so be it. :) I think it'll be a lovely mix of timeless style (pencil skirts and pearls) with fun and silly touches (toms and...I don't know? personality?)

You are cordially invited. :)

I'm a ski bum. and you should be too.

I finally feel like I live here! and this is how! Skiing at Brighton is probably the greatest deal in Utah. There are student tickets you can purchase at the union - $55 for all day, $27 for night. On top of those sweet discounts, there are weekly night skiing deals that even top those. Check it out!

Every Tuesday cause it's Truth about Tobacco night. If you go to fighttheugly.com you can print off a coupon good for $17 night skiing.

Every Wednesday is Arctic Circle night. If you buy a value meal at Arctic Circle you will receive a 2 for 1 coupon for night skiing.

Every Friday is X96 night. If you have a X96 Workers Union card, and you present it at the ticket booth you will receive 2 for 1 night skiing.

These pictures are from last Friday, but we've already taken advantage of night skiing too! :)

On the way up the mountain.

Ski lift fun.

Do it!

Brighton Ski Resort Website