Happy Birthday Harry

July 31, 1981 is Harry Potter's birthday. {I'm not exactly sure about the 1981...} I love you man. Read a wonderful question/answer series with JK Rowling-- but only if you've finished the series!

Ignorance is Bliss

Uh-Oh. I just learned a new word. And it reminds me a little of...me. I wish I never knew there was a term for people in love with their own blogs.

Narcissism: An excessive preoccupation with one’s own personal importance, or with achieving one’s own chosen goals rather than bonding with others, or with associating only with others whom one chooses. Sometimes psychologists associate narcissism with psychopathology and lack of conscience, but this need not be the case. But there may be lack of emotional empathy or bonding with others.

{...I also just learned there are some *inappropriate uses of the word. I am in no way affiliating myself with this interpretation}

{UPDATE: Hello! Narcissa Malfoy!}

To Thine Own Self Be True

Benevolent Creator

I took this personality test. It's so fun and well worth the time! All you people who are bored at work. Take it. It's way fun and seems accurate. Love it.

10 Things I Miss About High School

10. Being late every day {Although, that has transfered over to my profesional life now. Oops!}
09. Mr. Green
08. Making fun of people who might just deserve it.
07. Being able to see poeple I absolutely love without any effort.
06. Saying the Pledge of Alleigance every day.
05. The parking lot.
04. Backtalking to my most favorite, witty teachers.
03. Seminary.
02. Having senior-itis. And life-itis. Those last couple months were hard.
01. I absolutely can not believe it's over. I'm heartbroken.

Time is a fast old train.

I Love John Roberts

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts was in the hospital recently for a seizure, but was released today. He is probably one of the smartest men in the entire country. They don't know what's wrong with him because he had one like 10 years ago and then just this one. Read the full article here. Poor guy. Isn't he so great? He seems so selfless and...just. Get better soon Your Honor.

Milk's Gone Bad

I'm loving this weather. My elderly dog Alley, is not. She gets woefully nervous in any sort of incliment weather. We are coninuing to have bright, blustering hot mornings and afternoons settle in and then suddenly pitched a curve ball of thunder, lightning and the like! We are blessed.

Button Bobby

I love these old buttons of my moms and attached them to a bobby pin and haven't taken it out since. Not a terribly original idea, but still fun to do with a button you are particular to.

{I tried in vain to take a picture of these pins up close. Someone help me! They were all terribly blurry. I could not get a decent photo out of anything! Must I really need a telephoto lens to create beautiful photos up close? Any suggestions? Especially since I'm buying a camera...}

The Silver Lining

I love envelopes for obvious reasons. What a fun way to jazz them up offered by Martha.

Tools and Materials

Decorative paper

Ruler

Bone folder

Paper cutter

Scrap paper

Glue stick

Lining an Envelope How-To

1. To make an envelope liner, measure the width of your envelope, and subtract 1/4 inch. For the length, fold back the flap of the envelope, and measure from the bottom of envelope to tip of flap, just under the gummed strip. Using a paper cutter, cut a sheet of paper to these dimensions.
2. Slip the paper into the envelope, and fold the corners down just below the glue line, using a bone folder to create sharp creases. Remove the paper from the envelope, and cut off the corners along the folds.
3. Insert liner sheet into envelope, and fold down flap. Lift up the envelope flap, keeping the liner folded. Slip a piece of scrap paper under the liner flap to protect envelope from glue. Run the glue stick over the edges of the back of the liner.
4. Slip out scrap paper. Close down the outer flap over liner, and rub with fingertip to adhere glue to flap.

Tights

I'm so excited for these bright colored tights. Perfect for Provo weather.

California Girls

Kate & Charlene went to LA for the weekend. Wish it was me! These are my favorite beautiful photos from their trip.
They went to an Angels game. Look at all those missionaries! Cool.

Frugality is a Virtue

I've been spending a lot of my hard earned money on a plethora of various crafts, clothing and the like. Since I am still dependent on the parentals for all the living necessities, I have made a goal this week and am sending it out into cyberspace in hopes that you all can give me support. My goal: I am not going to spend ANY money this week. Good goal huh? Thanks for the help. :)

Seven

This is beautiful. Turn on iTunes or something to watch with it. Found it over at Danidraws.com

The Weight of the World Rests On Our Boy (no spoilers)

Accio Deathly Hallows. This will be the first song I learn. Shortly. This guys is so cool. I love this song.

F Stop Blues

I made a goal that I was going to teach myself guitar this summer. I got it out tonight. Way sweet. And way easy. I decided it would add to the effect to wear a bandana. I am looking so good.

Here's another page. Just experimenting. :)

Digital Scrapbooking

My mom and I went to a Digital Scrapbooking class this morning put on by Digital Scrapbook Memories. As much as I love crafting and creative activites, I've never been able to consistently scrapbook photos and such. I like cards and maybe a small album or two, but I probably have five scrapbook pages to document my entire 17 years of mortality. So I am very excited about digital scrapbooking. Although I'm not sure it will be as quick and easy as I though it would be, I feel a lot more...capable of accomplishing something in that forte. The possibilities are totally endless but I created something quite simple just to try it out.

{p.s. The whole thing is via Adobe Photoshop. I thought I would be able to pick it up after 4 years on yearbook staff. Not so much. It's kind of dificult. I did get a 30-day trial for free instead of the regular one which costs only $695 big ones. Yeah Right!}

Clue Cards

My Mom was cleaning out the game closet and saved these ancient Clue playing cards. They're almost vintage. I like them a lot. Any ideas what to do with them?

Movie Review: Two Thumbs Way Up!

No Reservations

SUCH a great movie! I thoroughly loved it. I laughed and cried. It's a total chick flick but with a sort of melancholy undertone. The actors were perfect as well. I love Catherine Zeta-Jones character. Very complex, I thought. Of course Abigail Bresnin is so adorable and Aaron Eckhart is charming. I went with some family that was in town for the evening. What a delight.

Tedesca Quartet

The Tedesca Quartet {the quartet I belong to} is giving a recital on August 25 at the Presbyterian church in Washington. Mark your calendars!

When it Rains it Pours

After a long, hot friday, the thunder roared suddenly and all the sudden: downpour! We certainly have waited long enough. I snapped some pictures to document this day.

One Man's Junk...

Here's what I found on my excursion to Deseret Industries today. I feel I was extremely successful. $1.00 a pop! I have no idea what I'm going to do with them besides add them to my collection. I just love old books. Hopefully someday I'll be able to make them into sketchbooks or journals. Jordan posted about bookbinding but I think they would be just as cute bound with a high quality spiral. My favorite is the bottom left, New Educational Music Course. Copyright Edition = 1906! Over 100 years old. The red letter New Testament is also a treat.

Occupational Postcards

This is exactly how I feel about my job. Ha.

Eat Your Chocolate!

I'm not really one of those CHOCOLATE! people. You know, those ladies that are like "I can't live without chocolate" "There's nothing chocolate can't fix" and all that stuff? I do like chocolate though. One of the patients here at the Doctor's office brought his in; Here's to all you chocolate crazies...

"Even small portions of chocolate might make a difference for cardiovascular health. Consuming large amounts of chocolate has been showsn to lower blood pressure. A study randomly assigned 44 adults who were considered mildly hypertensive but otherwise healthy to add about 0.2 ounces (30 calories) of dark chocolate to their normal daily diet. After about 4.5 months, the systolic pressure of people who had eaten dark chocolate had dropped about three points, along with a two-point drop in diastolic pressure, compared with their levels when the study began. Blood pressure was unchanged in the white-chocolate group."

Wisdom from Albert

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. "

- Albert Einstein

Thank You Malcom Jones

In the latest issue of Newsweek Malcom Jones gives an excellent book review to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows {which I finished last night!}. He pinpointed my every emotion:

"The series is not about whether Harry survives, but about how he faces life and death. More specifically, it is about growing up--about the pains of growing up...The sadness that many readers will experience--oh, all right, the tears they will shed {that was totally me last night bawling my eyes out!}---when they close the cover on this novel has nothing to do with the fate of the characters and everything to do with maturity. It is about, more than anything else, the end of childhood. The readers who have grown up with this series--who have read it, as it were, in real time as it unfolds--are themselves at that end. Saying goodbye to Harry is like saying goodbye to a piece of themselves. Rowling has honored their patience with a work as sincere and profound as anything they could as for, with the bonus that any time they want to relive childhood, they only have to pick up volume one and begin again. If that's not magic, what is?"

Thank You Malcom Jones. My thoughts exactly.

In Flanders Fields Where Poppies Blow

If I was getting married tomorrow, or any other time in the furture for that matter, I would have this as my bouquet. I fell in love with poppies reading In Flanders Fields studying WWI in AP European History. A great historical touch to a wedding, don't you think? :) I found this via Marth Stewart Weddings where Martha gives a lesson in Geometry. {see how geometric it is?}

Adorable House of the Week

Don't you just love those windows? I want to just walk all my paper dolls in there and play house! The window frames are not only clean cut, they are sweet. Somewhere in between a British Manor and a candy shoppe!

Fantasy

I had a silly fantasy today in K Mart that I unexpectedly have every once in a while. As I turn once more to make sure there's nothing I've missed in the Scotch tape aisle, I round the corner at the end of the row with my back to the main aisle. I look up, and run clumsily into a male. Our eyes meet and lock. Love at first sight. He kisses me in a style that Clark Gable would have admired. I thought it classic.

Great fantasy huh?

Movie Review: One Thumb Up

License to Wed

I saw it last night on one account of being in love with Jim from the office-- (who isn't?). It was pretty cute. Not a high quality film, but mildly entertaining. John Krasinski is pretty cute and hilarious as always. Mandy Moore is just...Mandy Moore. She's cute though--not completely intolerable. And Robin Williams is utterly creepy. I really have liked him until I saw Death to Smoochy on Comedy Central. He plays this kids-show host, Rainbow Randolph. If anyone has seen that disturbing movie, you'll know what I mean. There are multiple actors from the office in the film, so if you're a fan...why not see it? There is also a preview for an upcoming Steve Carrell movie. Looks funny.

On Leaving Home

How I'm feeling today: "To tell the truth, {Frodo} was very reluctant to start, now that it had come to the point. Bag End seemed a more desirable residence than it had for years, and he wanted to savour as much as he could of his last summer in the Shire. When autumn came, he knew that part at least of his heart would think more kindly of journeying, as it always did at that season."

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 64

Simple Spotlight

"Blessed are the flexible; for they shall not be bent out of shape." One of my oldest and dearest friends had this sermon-on-the-mount-like saying carved into the wall of her kitchen. It's always stuck with me. This is my talented and most famous {and most flexible} sister, Melissa. She has been in the Salt Lake City based modern dance company, Ririe-Woodbury for the past five years. She has toured all over the world and met all sorts of famous, historical dancers. She is moving on from the company to go to medical school, but her years there as the star were spectacular. Isn't she beautiful?

Advice for amy

I've been procrastinating posting about this for no reasonable reason. Nevertheless, I need help finding a digital camera! I'm trying to make some....investments {a word I---and I think many others--- use to justify spending a large amount if not all of my paycheck} and have been researching digital cameras. Consumer Reports did an entire issue about them that only confused me further. Now, I want something small, but inthe long run, will I really want something with better quality photos? I am also looking for something on the frugal side, but I do keep reminding myself that it is indeed an invetment. If all the willing souls out there would comment and tell me what kind of digital camera they have, and what they do and don't like about it. Once I've purchased one I can take the best pictures of all of you all day long! Thank you! :)

p.s.

If you're wondering where I've been the last 48 hours...I'll give you one guess. The Deathly Hallows has consumed me. I'm only about half way through because I've been busy with work and whatnot, but I am trying to balance my spare time equally!

Suddenly Seymour

We just returned from seeing Tuacahn's Summer Institute production of Little Shop of Horrors. It was excellent! Much better than those done by professionals in the outdoor amphitheater, the institute gathers all the best musical theater talent from the state {including the State Music Sterling Scholar playing Audrey..who knew?} to put on the show.
Glenn, one of my oldest and dearest friends is starring as Seymour. He has got to be one of the most talented singers and dancers I have ever seen. He's also brilliant and hilarious. Glenn, whatever you decide to do, you'll go far!

ATTENTION MUGGLES

IT CAME! The packaging was so cute. "ATTENTION MUGGLES- DO NOT DELIVER OR OPEN BEFORE JULY 21" We went to the festivities at midnight last night. It was so awesome. Everyone in their giant glasses and Megan wore the Pine View graduation gown. She looked just like Harry. The whole event seems to be overtaking the town...and my entire universe. Harry Potter is seriously the best thing that ever happened in my lifetime. I am in the worst state of panic. My hands are trembling even as I type. That's the ironic thing about it too...it's like, I have the book but no matter how excited or devoted I am...it will still take me the same amount of time to read it. Ah!

Don't Worry 'Bout A Thing!

We arrived and there was a huge blow-up house thing. Megan and Abby decided to race! I'm not sure if it was ever determined who actually won, but it was fun watching them. Sam just walked all around the Sunbowl. It was cute. {p.s. Abby There are some cute ones of Sam and the funhouse etc., E-mail?}
After it started we decided to go down close and we only got closer the rest of the night!
As you can see, we got very close. They were so cute and fun. We basically had a one on one concert. Not really, but we were so close and we kept doing crazy things to get their attention and they would wave and laugh at us. It was so fun. I love them. The band was all emo-punk rockers. It was awesome. The only let down was that the real blondie wasn't there. It was their youngest sister and she didn't really know the words or sing or anything! Ha! I thought they should have invited me or Megan up there. Our favorite songs they sung included but are not limited to: I Wish I were the Rain, Good Together, Don't Worry 'Bout A Thing, Come Home Soon and In Terms of Love.

Simply Beautiful

We have a beautiful blooming fig tree in our front yard landscape. Not only are the branches and leaves gorgeous, but it bringeth forth delicious fruit! Three years ago the fig supply at our house was getting out of hand. I convinced Mom and Dad to enter our giant figs into the fruit contest at the Washington County Fair. We won like 10 bucks! Figs are truly beautiful though. My mom makes the best fig jam. Even if you don't like figs, you'll like fig jam. I remember the first time I ever remember going to my grandma's house in South Carolina where she welcomed me into her backyard with a fig. A delicious memory. If you live in a newly- or needed-lanscaped home, I would conscientiously recommend planting a fig tree. Even if you don't like figs, you'll love how it looks.

One Month

My 18th birthday is in exactly one month from today. I have been dreading the big one eight for the past 11 months. But my drivers license probation has enlightened me. Just because I've reached adulthood doesn't mean I receive any rights or privileges I didn't have before. I will still be on probation. I can still rest east in the arms of juvenile deliquency. 21. Now there's a scary age.