Backyard Shenanigans!

This summer I had a project that was supposed to take a month and which ended up taking two-and-a-half months.  This was only because when I wasn't sick or out of town, I had to be careful of what I did because I was going to physical therapy for my shoulder that was always in pain.  The project that I did was my backyard.  The photo below that looks somewhat like the desert we live in was what it looked like before, and the other pictures are what it looked like after I was finished.  Pulling the weeds, cutting the grass, putting in a fire pit, edging the yard with brick and river rock, putting up the lighting and the picnic table and the patio furniture, and tilling and preparing the lawn to grow grass was all worth it.  Our backyard looks fantastic and it is ready for parties!


Before:

After:

The Mesa Temple

In decorating my house over the last few months, I realized that I didn't have a picture of Christ or of the temple anywhere in my house, and I wanted to change that.  I went to Deseret Book and Seagull Book to try and find something, but everything that was framed was so expensive and anything that was not framed didn't really work with my house, so I decided to improvise. I started drawing this a few days ago and it will be a while before it's finished, but I wanted to share the beginnings of it, because it will look very different when it's done and painted.

  It's the Mesa temple and its reflection:

Winter Recital

I must say, this concert season has reeked havoc on my voice.  With two concerts, a recital, and countless performances at church, my voice has been through the ringer, with just barely being able to sing tonight due to lack of voice.  That being said, I thought this particular performance (barring the random break in the middle of the song) was not too bad.  I don't usually do much acting when it comes to my vocal pieces, but after this one I think I should do a lot more.  This is a link to my video of the song "Adelaide's Lament" from the musical "Guys and Dolls."  Enjoy!  Adelaide's Lament

Christmas Party Prep

This was definitely a huge undertaking.  My roommates and I (yes, the same roommates who all decided to have a Halloween party.  What can we say?  We're party people!)  decided that it would be fun to have a Christmas party for our families.  There was so much to do and I had so many ideas that we couldn't do them all.  We split tasks again because of all that we had to do and again, I was one of two in charge of decorations.  I decided that I wanted to do a frame wall for decor in the kitchen so I took to the thrift stores and bought a couple of cheap picture frames of different sizes and I spray painted them the colors I was looking for.  Then I took different types of fillers, like wall paper and block lettering and filled the frames on the wall and I think it turned out great!  I wanted everything to be classy, so I took to the color theme of red and gold (thanks to the dollar store), and the Christmas tree came out beautifully!  There may have had to be some pull-back via some close friends and one or two of my roommates because of all that I wanted to do, but we made it happen and, in the end, the party turned out fantastic!

Voices of Christmas

Last year and this year I got to perform in one of the best choirs I have ever been in.  It is purely a volunteer choir and we come together to sing during the holiday season for Voices of Christmas.  This choir has been around for twelve years and it has only gotten bigger.  These last two years we were able to make it to sing in the Mesa Arts Center which has been one of our goals for a very long time.  The object of the Voices of Christmas choir is for families who are not able to go see the fancy shows that cost a lot of money because finances are tight to be able to come and enjoy a free concert that celebrates the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I feel so privileged to sing in this choir, and I have been blessed to be able to share this experience with two of my siblings and several friends.

Below are some pictures from after our performance:

Halloween-Professor McGonagall

Usually I go all out for Halloween and it takes me months to make my costume.  This Halloween I decided to go super simple.  I am crazy about Harry Potter, and my favorite professor is Minerva McGonagall.  She has these gorgeous emerald green robes and always looks so sophisticated and classy.  Her robes were quite easy to make: I got the material from SAS Fabrics https://www.sasfabrics.com in Tempe for cheap.  The outside is velvet and the inner layer is a type of faux silk.  I measured myself from the bottom of my hairline down to my heels and added two inches for error.  At the store, I had them cut the material twice as long as my measurements, and then I just folded it in half, and had my sister lay on it while I cut around her to make the silhouette of the robes and making sure to leave extra room for the long, flowing sleeves.  Then I pinned it, flipped it inside out and sewed it up!  I took some of the extra velvet material and made a trim around the opening to make it look a little more realistic, and that's pretty much it.  Let me know what you think!

Halloween Party-Harry Potter Style!

This was my first Halloween with roommates, and one of them decided that we should throw a Halloween party!  We all thought it was a great idea, but we had a deadline of only a week to get everything together.  In working full-time jobs and going to school, that didn't leave much time to prep, so we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off for the last week in an effort to go all out for this party.  It was Harry Potter themed and I was one of two in charge of the decorations, with my personal favorites being the floating candles and the giant six-foot spider, as well as the Moaning Myrtle sound effects int he bathroom.  Needless to say, we just had fun!