Audrey and the Two Scaries.

I was little red riding hood for Halloween, Dani was a very scary Thriller-inspired zombie, Lene was the wicked witch from Norway, and Rachelle was... a vampire (to make fun of that one book series. You know the one I mean). Why is it that people feel the need to be scary on Halloween? I refuse to dress up as anything that makes me look ugly. My personal philosophy is that Halloween is no excuse to be purposefully unattractive. So... I could NOT figure out why these girls that are cute and I love SO much wanted to be scary for Halloween. It will always be a mystery.

On Halloween, we went to a stake party that was CRAZY, and then to a free haunted house that was NOT scary. Okay, maybe a little scary.

The end.

A return to normalcy (hopefully)

I am not a full-time weirdo, I promise. The weirdness is reserved for things like Harry Potter and Michael Jackson.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I want to talk about Homecoming.

SO.... I was very busy with school all week (and I mean VERY busy), so I didn't have time to enjoy homecoming festivities throughout the week. My enjoyment of this year's homecoming came on Saturday, the day of that horribly horrible horror of a game.

BUT, Rachelle and I went to the parade that morning, and it was a B.L.A.S.T. At BYU's homecoming parade they like to give everyone lots of candy, flyers, and best of all, blue chocolate chip pancakes. We, here at BYU, are very school spirity and Bluey. It's lovely.

Rachelle got very excited about the parade. When Cecil O. Samuelson (aka president, or headmaster, of BYU) rode by in a cool old car, Rachelle accidentally yelled "CECIL!!!" And he looked and waved. And she said, "I LOVE YOU!!!!" First of all, one is not supposed to call their superiors (aka headmasters) by their first name. It's like if Harry accidentally called Dumbledore, "Albus," or if I met the president and said, "Well, hey Barack!" It just doesn't work. Second, she told him she loved him, which is entirely inappropriate and probably frightened both he and his wife into hiding to avoid stalker girl who attended the parade in her gym clothes.
I love Rachelle and the fact that she attended the parade with me despite her need to sleep and do homework.

Also, there was an amazing Captain Jack Sparrow look-a-like on the Pirate Island Pizza float. I really this it was Johnny Depp. The look-a-like man is featured below:

AND, the George Q. Cannon opened the parade. Love that thing:

After the parade, I took a nap, went shopping with Audrey P. and her adorable little baby and bought SOME NEW JEANS!! Yay ME!!!

Then, we went to the game, and had a lovely time after we bought some Cougar Dogs and decided to stop caring about winning or losing or the reputation of our school. Fun was to be had all around, and it was a joyful experience. I think.

The End. Homecoming this year was good, could of been better (if we had won and I could have participated in some super awesome during-the-week activities), but it was good. :)

I'm a lover, not a fighter.

(Foreword: So... I wrote this the moment I got home from the movie. I saw it the first showing, the first night. I bought my tickets over a month ago, the moment they went on sale. And the following post was my reaction. Yes, I know it sounds crazy. And it has taken me 4 days to decide to post it because of that craziness. But, I think that you all will get a kick out of my eccentricities. Also, I wore a shirt that says, "lover not a fighter" and a black silky MJish jacket. All you Michael fans out there would recognize that in "The Girl is Mine," from the Thriller album, which is a duet with Paul McCartney, Michael says, "I think I told you, I'm a lover, not a fighter!" And that was sort of a theme of his life. So, I bought the shirt and wore it to his movie. The end. Love, Audrey)
I just got back from Michael Jackson's "This is it."

I am speechless.

I am not trying to be dramatic. I

am being totally serious. And you can laugh if you want. But really, it was...powerful.

In the words of Stephanie, my lovely sister and fellow MJ enthusiast, "Let's start a charity that raises money to make sure that everyone in the world can see that movie because it will make their lives so much better!!!!"

I replied, "SERIOUSLY!! That was the best thing I have EVER SEEN!"

And she said, "That was the best thing that has EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!"

And I don't know why. I can't explain it. It was just IT. But so much more than that. I just don't even know what to say.

The odd thing about that little texting conversation is that I know we were both being serious. Stephanie may have exaggerated a little bit, but I know she meant it.

And the whole time, while I was freaking out inside and wanted to yell or scream or faint or something, I was thinking, "WHAT IF WE COULD HAVE SEEN THIS FOR REAL?!?!!?" What if it wasn't just a rehearsal? What if we could actually attend the show, LIVE? I can suddenly understand why and how the people who went to his concerts scream and cry and faint (there are several YouTube videos showing this) when he is performing. I could barely contain myself in a dark theater, watching footage of a mere rehearsal of the real thing. It was incredible. Somehow, Michael had this ability to draw emotion. He had nearly perfected it. I just don't understand. I am still reeling, and the movie ended about 40 minutes ago. And yes, I am already blogging about it. But that is because I don't know what else to do. I just want to tell the world. And I can't sleep. I'm too excited. And mystified.

And then it just makes me sad. He had so much more in him. The talent was not gone. He was not decrepit in the slightest. He actually seemed very much like a normal person-- or as normal as you can get when you're Michael Jackson. But what if the world could have seen those concerts? What if we could have heard more music? Even though I was sad before, his death wasn't something that affected me too much. I wrote about this in the "In Memoriam" post, but he had already seemed dead to me, so it didn't seem like that much of a loss. But after seeing this movie, I can see the loss. It's HUGE. And painful.

For real, the movie started with complete silence, a black screen, and scrolling white letters, introducing the movie. Steph and I clung to each other's arms, and were both kind of hyperventilating. I ALMOST burst. I was FREAKING OUT. Finally, right before the segment ended, Stephanie couldn't take it anymore, and a medium-sized scream burst out. And then I could let mine go.

And throughout the movie Steph kept saying things like,"What is happening? Is this real?" And "look at him. That's Michael Jackson." And when they were rehearsing for "They Don't Care About Us," we were both like, "He's just teaching those dancers the choreography! He just walks in, shakes his head, and shows them how to do it." And once, when it showed one of his particularly crazy outfits, she said, "whoever designed that had lots of good ideas." I agreed.

He was a master. A genius. All the people kept saying, "Michael just really knows his music." And he did. He told them exactly how he wanted everything played, really, exactly how he wanted it. And everyone just followed his cues the whole time. He practically conducted the show, while he was performing. He started and stopped everything. And he had a vision. He used emotions and feeling to know how to do a song. He would pause and everyone would be like, "What's going on?" And he would say, "I'm just sizzling," like that was a totally normal, everyday activity. And for him, it probably is.

Michael Jackson could move a crowd. And somehow, that ability extended through a theater screen in Provo, Utah, and hit me: right smack dab in the heart.

My Best Brother's Wedding

Warning: This is a long one, and there is no reason that you should have to read the whole thing,

I love Andrew and Mallory. I love them together, I love them separate. I am very happy about them being married. And I know that I have made a really big deal of it all, but I feel so much better about the whole idea of him being married that it's insane. I love it. The moment I saw them walk out of the temple together, I loved it. Maybe it's because I was no longer anxious-- there was nothing to be nervous about once they got married. It was already over. And done. And so perfect, I tell you.

So here is the timeline-- a listing of events, from beginning to end.

I drove home the Wednesday before the wedding- October 14- with Elise and Stephanie. After a good night's sleep, all the craziness began. I had a list of approximately a gajillion things to do that day, all in preparation for the wedding. We were all quite overwhelmed and to say the least--cranky. At least I was. I was stressed. Emotionally stressed.

The day before the wedding, Thursday, I got up around 8, showered, then left for Pebbles to work on the sign-in book. Later, Mom and everyone picked me up and we went to Wal-Mart for some necessaries. After running through Wal-Mart because we were low on time, we rushed to Corri Theobald's house to try on our dresses (that she made for us!) one last time and pick them up. On the way, the van started acting crazy. My mom pulled over, we prayed like crazy, and somehow got it going again. We got to Corri's, did our thing, then went back to the car... that wouldn't run. It was totally dead. SO, we called Dad for a ride and a tow truck to get the van. At this point, stress levels were high and we were all not so nice to each other.

We had about an hour to drive to Target (to get a sweater for Elise to wear at the temple and luncheon), Roberts (to find letters for the front of the sign-in book), and Costco (to get the flowers for the luncheon). It was probably the shortest hour I have ever been awake for. We rushed around like crazy people (after getting the car that I had left at Pebbles and leaving dad with his car to figure out what was going on with the van), and somehow, some way, we made it back home only a little but late. It's amazing what can be done when pressed for time.

Andrew met us at home-- I finally got to see him--- and it was the day before the wedding!! He helped my dad get the tables for the luncheon while we started the clean-up and everything at the Stake Center (the luncheon was at the stake center on the corner of that one street and North Bluff-- you know, right by where you turn to go to my house). We had to iron all the table cloths, wash all the dishes (enough for 150 people!), set up tables, arrange flowers, make the place settings, etc. It took HOURS. I hung around until about 5:00pm, when I realized that I still needed to finish the sign-in book. Stress overwhelmed my again, and I ran out the door to Pebbles. I finished the book fairly quickly, picked up the dresses that were altered in the last few hours, and ran back to the Stake Center. We spent another hour or so to finish setting up, and finally got home around 8. But THEN, me, Elise, Stephanie, and Moriah, had to go back to Wal-Mart because we still needed to buy the presents we were supposed to give Andrew and Mallory at the luncheon. By the time we got home from that, it was about 10pm. We were all exhausted and wanted to go to bed soon, but then Andrew got there, and we had to celebrate Stephanie's birthday still. She opened her presents, and we all sat around and talked for a couple of hours. And we did our nails. That was important. Before we all went to bed, we coordinated when everyone was going to get up, where they were going to take a shower, where they were going to get ready, which curling irons they should use, etc.

Andrew stayed the night at our house. I thought that was appropriate--- it was sweet that the night before he got married, he stayed in his home with his family, even though he doesn't live there anymore. I loved having him in our home-- all of us together.

The next morning was actually NOT CRAZY. Surprising? YES. Very. My family members are a bunch of stress-balls, but somehow, we all got up early, got ready, and things went smoothly. My mother had even prepared a breakfast quiche and made cinnamon rolls the night before, and just stuck them in the oven that morning. We were all pleasantly surprised at my mother's initiative- that breakfast was usually reserved for one morning a year- Christmas. We all were like, "I didn't know that Andrew's wedding was Christmas! Andrew! You should get married more often!!" So, we all had breakfast, semi-together, and then had family prayer. It was perfectly lovely, and I was ready super early. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am NEVER early.

Andrew and Dad left for the temple earlier than everyone else, and then I drove up with my Mom, Moriah, and Grandma Colleen about 15 minutes later. Stephanie, Elise, and Celina met us there at around 10:30-- the sealing started at 10:40.

We sat around back, waiting very anxiously and watching all the kids (Dustin kept stamping on the bushes!), until FINALLY, everyone that was in the sealing gathered around and Andrew and Mallory came out to lots of cheering, excitement, and merriment.

After taking some pictures on the front steps of the temple, we rushed to the stake center to get everything set up for the luncheon. And it went just swimmingly. The food arrived on time, and we were ready to go when everyone started showing up. Well, everyone but Mallory and Andrew, that is. They were about 25 minutes late to their own luncheon. But it wasn't their fault, I swear. The photographer was still taking pictures of them at the temple.

We had Pasta Factory cater, and it was DELICIOUS. The best news is that we had LOADS of extra alfredo sauce, and I love that stuff. I still have a container of it in my fridge. :) And then for dessert, we had Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Andrew insisted on it. He said there was nothing else that he would want, and if he couldn't have ice cream cake, he didn't want desert at all. But he said it in a nice way, promise. He just really likes ice cream cake.

After we ate, my dad said a few words, and the show began! All the siblings of the newlyweds gave either Andrew or Mallory, or both, presents! We all talked a little bit and told funny memories, advice, or warnings about the craziness of the other person. I gave them a DVD of "Sandlot" and a Clue game. BECAUSE, I think that both of the presents are very representative of me and Andrew's relationship. We have always played catch and pickle, and street hockey, and basketball, and football (with my dad as all-time quarterback), and every other kind of neighborhood/family game there is. We were a team. That's what "Sandlot" was for. And the Clue game was because Andrew and I used to play it and Monopoly all the time, and he used to make up rules that made him win EVERY TIME. So fun, but so ridiculous. So, I warned Mallory about letting Andrew add his own rules. Seriously, is it really fair to be paid from the bank when you land on your own property? Not a good rule. And we always played Clue-- with only 2 people--- which doesn't really work--- and Andrew was always Mr. Green and I was always Mrs. White. And he always won.

Oh, and because it was Stephanie's birthday in addition to it being Andrew's wedding day, my mom had a cake made for Stephanie, and Andrew gave it to her at the luncheon. We all sang for her. :)

So anyway, the luncheon was lovely. And somehow my mom got all the young women from our ward to serve the dessert, fill water glasss, and do the dishes. They were a MAJOR blessing. I had thought that WE were going to have to do the dishes. But thank goodness we didn't have to, because we only had about an hour between the luncheon and the time that we needed to be at the reception for pictures. It was crazy busy....
SO.... skip to pictures and the reception. It was beautiful. I. loved. it. It was in the Morby's front yard. They had lots of tables set up, all with green tablecloths, and there were lights in the bushes and trees all around the yard. Not just Christmas lights, though, whole chandeliers. They were awesome. There were pictures of Andrew and Mallory all over the place looking amazing and...so... I don't really want to describe the whole thing. But it was great, promise. And so fun. And there were SO MANY PEOPLE! Tons and tons throughout the whole night. Like, they prepared food for 600 people, and they ran out. And I just walked around talking to people, eating delicious food, taking pictures in the photo booth (which was totally awesome), watching the slideshow and video of Andrew and Mallory, taking pictures, laughing at my mom and dad because they had to stand in line for so long, chasing little cousins around, limping through the grass with my painful heels, etc, etc, etc. It actually was a lot of fun, especially because I got to spend so much time with family AND because I was all dressed up like was part of the cast and on display a little bit. I love that.

After the reception, and Andrew and Mallory drove away, we helped clean up a little bit, then drove home. Me and the sisters watched "Labyrinth" a bit before we all fell asleep (I have rarely been so tired).

The next day was devoted to family (the extended kind that we hardly ever see) and opening presents. Both Andrew and Mallory forgot their birth certificates- a necessary when one is going on a cruise- so they came back to the Morby's house that afternoon, and we all watched/helped them open presents. I've never had the privilege of doing that before-- it was a lot of fun. I really can't wait to open my own wedding presents and tally up the earnings... Please ya'll, just give me cash. Thanks.

It was a lovely day, and a lovely weekend. I love weddings. And I love that Andrew and Mallory are married and that she is part of my family forever.

<3.

A Sneak Peek!

The healthiest place to be

health.usnews.com reports that the Provo-Orem, Utah area is ranked number 1 as most sober and most smoke free in the United States. It is ranked #2, after Boulder, Colorado, as "The most fit." More than 64% of citizens in the Provo and Orem exercise regularly.

I think I live in the healthiest place in the United States.

On the flip side, Washington, D.C. ranks #1 in "smartest state," and #2 in most literate. I'm pretty sure that's the place to be if you want to be smart.

Both of my favorite places (besides St. George, of course), BYU and Washington, are amazingly ranked as places in the United States to live. I think I have some sort of innate wisdom to love these places. Or maybe that's why I like them. Because they are the best.

Here is a link to the webites with all the stats.

That's all.

Sleepy McSleeperson Sleepovers.

This weekend.... I had two last chance ever sleepovers. I am so lucky!

I went home to St. George on Friday afternoon for several events of the weekend:

1) Mallory's family bridal shower. YIP! I loved her family. They are fantastic. And I really love her. It was kind of odd, though, being there. I've never been on the groom's side of things before. They made a movie of the groom answering questions, and whatta ya know, it was MY BROTHER. Odd. But they are adorable, and I'm fully excited for the wedding.

Yeah, sorry, Mom. Your eyes are closed. Eek.

2)Part of that excitement, however, it due to our awesome shiny green groomsmaid (cause that's what we are, I think) dresses. We went to the second fitting on Saturday morning, and I fell in love with the lovely thing. YAY.

3) We made a quilt. My mother likes to make her life WAY more stressful that it actually needs to be. I think I used to have that trait, but in recent years the habits of lazier, happier roommates have rubbed off on me, and I am much more relaxed about over-achieving. So my mom decided that while we were home, we would actually QUILT (not tie) a blanket for Andrew and Mallory. It was very nice thing to do, but not necessary. This would not have been that big of a deal had my mother already had the quilt on the frames and ready to go when we got there. She didn't. She had cut out the squares, only to find out that they needed to be re-cut. I did that while she sewed all them together and grandma ironed the strips, and THEN, we put it on the frames and quilted to our hearts' content (while we watched GC of course) We got about half of it quilted by the time conference got over, so my poor mother darling will have to finish it herself. :( Well, Sugar Doll can help her, I guess. But, it really was a blast. I love quilting with my sisters and mother and grandma. It's a bonding experience. And, by the way, the quilt is gorgeous. I'm secretly like VERY jealous that it's not for me. Mother, I want one.
4) General Conference. Love it. I especially love the idea of casually waking up on Sunday morning with no place to go, and only something to watch and enjoy. It's such a good break (especially when my Sundays have been JAM PACKED with relief society craziness).

5) Sleepover #1. Me and my darling siblings, Stephanie, Andrew, Elise, and Moriah, AND our kind of cousin Celina, had a sleepover in the family room on Friday night. We pulled all the mattresses off our beds and pushed them together in one giant bed, then told each other stories until we fell asleep. It was a last chance sleepover, because, well, Andrew is getting married VERY soon, and although I'm happy about it, I'm still very much freaking out about the whole idea/concept. Marriage is just so BINDING. :) I mean, once it's done, it's done. There's no going back.

6) Sleepover #2. On Saturday night, I had a sleepover with Moe and Jen, my favorite all-time and forever besties in the world. I mean, I have a lot of other besties, but they have been my besties the LONGEST, so that gives them more devotion and laugh points. They are very funny girls, and we had a fabulous time together. This was a very rare opportunity because they are both involved in that one binding marriage thing... And Jenny is going to have a baby, remember? SO, we were only able to have this fiesta because both of their charming and handsome husbands were out of town hunting or camping or something else that boys do. Lucky me, right? I know. We talked forever, went to Dairy Queen (our classic get-a-away. We love that place more than the average ice cream loving group of girls), played games, reminisced about secret high school memories, and giggled until the wee hours of the morning. This is a last chance sleepover because it will only get harder to do this kind of thing 53 days from today when Jenny has her baby.

This weekend I was really lucky to have been able to spend so much time with lots of people I love. It was amazing. And I'm not going to pretend that the warm weather didn't contribute greatly to my happiness.

Please do not note that I am only even wearing makeup in one of these four pictures. I guess it was a good weekend for not getting ready and looking gross too. Love that.

Also, real fast, I have a new initiative in my life. I need to become re-devoted to my schoolwork. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I used to be THE. MODEL. STUDENT. I did. Promise. And somehow, I've forgotten that drive. I've lost that motivation. So now, I am making a commitment to work harder and do better. THE END.