Hello, Hooray Let The Show Begin

Timber! FINALIZED

2011-06-10T01:13:00.001-07:00

We have our CDs printing and shipped, tshirts printed and shrink-a-dinks shrunk. Tour is just around the corner and I cannot wait,

take a listen!
http://timber1.bandcamp.com/

thank you for all your support. we send our unconditional love

I met dem. They were cool

2011-06-10T01:11:00.001-07:00

Local Natives | Who Knows Who Cares | A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Timber! is making a record

2011-04-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

My band Timber! needs your help to record, mix, and master our first album.
Check out the one-of-a-kind incentives for helping us fund our project!

Timber!

2011-03-31T01:36:00.000-07:00

The Head and the Heart

2011-03-06T01:25:00.000-08:00

Music video to Lost In My Mind.I don't know if I have some obsession with lamps or something but I love the scenery here. I want to go where this was filmed. It makes me hate winter less. I guess burning pianos could always keep you warm

The Head and The Heart - Music - More Music Videos

I just did a victory dance in the wilk

2011-02-01T11:04:00.001-08:00

http://soundcloud.com/subpop/fleet-foxes-helplessness-blues

Things that make me happy

2011-01-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

While "studying" in the library today (which I consider my second home), I came across this video for "Wore It Deep" by The Tree Ring. Apparently this was a private house show held in the attic. The only door fee was to bring your own lamp. Delightful!

Wore It Deep (The Tree Ring) from Destin Cretton on Vimeo.

Dear The Tree Ring. Next time you play a private house show may I score an invite? I can bring Dolores.

She & Him

2011-01-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

Why is Zooey Deschanel so adorable?

She & Him - Don't Look Back from Merge Records on Vimeo.

Elbowmania

2011-01-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

I've recently become an elbow patch enthusiast. The style is typically reserved for mens clothing but womens blazers, sweaters, and button ups have started to take on the trend (I only assume this because the sweater and button up I bought have been made for a little boy and a grown man). There's a western hint to it. I looked up the origin of suede elbow patches and couldn't find a logical reason for their existence. Maybe someone had pointy elbows that cut through suit jackets. Who knows.

Condoleezza Rice comes to BYU

2011-01-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

Today BYU had the pleasure to host Condoleezza Rice in the Marriot Center. Her hair was looking fabulous (as usual) but more importantly her words were inspiring and thoughtful. The crowd couldn't help from clapping every few sentences. Here are some of my favorite one liners:

"Today's headlines and history's judgments are not the same"

"Every dictator fears the moment their people no longer fear them"

"Education has the power to transform people and make you into something you could never have been"

"It doesn't matter where you came from. It matters where you're going"

"Integrate knowledge of what is with the knowledge of what might be"

"Find your passion while you're here"

"You might not be able to control your circumstances but you can control your response"

"Whenever I lack enthusiasm I think back to our founding fathers and how many times this country came close to failure, yet exists today"

She was a fabulous public speaker and overall a down to earth woman. If I met her, we would definitely be friends.

What I hope to find at DI tomorrow...

2011-01-12T23:24:00.001-08:00

Bedrich Smetana

2009-09-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

So long sweet summer!

2009-09-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day of summer! Tomorrow I enter school as a SENIOR!!!!!!!! 2010!! I'm pretty psyched and a bit nervous but no matter what I'm going to make this year awesome. I will look back on this summer as one of the best times of my life. From NC with the fam, girls camp, FIJI, Cruise to Mexico, Disney adventures in L.A., running camp in vermont, PHILADELPHIA with cousin Jessica, to US open......it was an adventure. Here are some pics to sum it all up:

Our Taj Mahal in NC

The group in front of the beautiful temple in Suva, Fiji

The cheery faces of the Fijian children that chased our bus everyday

Tiny hands

Sitting on our the newly constructed "john"

Rugby uniforms

My best buddies

Gorgeous landscape

Crystal clear water and white beaches

The woman to the right of me was my "nana"; meaning mother. She took care of me and I loved her so much.

Life long friends

MOTHAY FIJI. Goodbye FIJI

Cruise Luxury

Bon Voyage!

Cute Celeste

Cute, black-eyed Gigi

Classy Liz

Harness up!

WOAH NELLY

JUMP GIRL JUMP!

A Gigi foot in Cabo sand

The senior girls on top of Magnificiant View. A 6 mile run all uphill in the far corners of vermont

SCARSDALE XC

Mom and I fighting off Zurg and his evil forces in Disneyland

It was a good one.

Summer days drifting away...

2009-09-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

School starts in 6 days. It's amazing how this summer has moved so fast. From Girls Camp to North Carolina to Fiji to the Mexico Cruise to Running Camp in Vermont...it was an amazing summer.

This morning I cut up a watermelon and I found a charming surprise

A HEART!
I hope this is a good omen for a good year!
Have a lovely day =)

PROM

2009-06-05T13:49:00.001-07:00

looking schnazzy

Ridiculous Gotham Hall where Prom was hosted.

Mr. Foltman asked me to "show this to liz". So here you go!

The handsomest man in town

Our flowers

beautiful ladies. (notice the color coordination)

Heels

2009-05-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

I found some shoes (finally!) for prom which is a week from thursday! I really hope I don't twist an ankle...

Liz moves to SAN FRAN!

2009-05-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking about this song and how awesome San Francisco will be.
ENJOY!

WHICH ONE?

2009-05-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

Please help me decide. The blue is a little bit too small (there wasn't another size) and I'm worried about comfort and that the seam will rip when i start pulling out my sweet dance moves. This one is much more classic, and it will require no alterations (the blue one we will need to put in an insert because it is a little low). Opinions? I really wanted something of color, because of my colorful personality but I'm torn.

what?

2009-05-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

Again, I ask, WHAT?
bizzare, my friend sent it to me.

Urbandictionary is a wonderful place

2009-05-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Word of the day: Dr Google

A person medically qualified by Google's search engine to diagnose symptoms of sickness.
Mrs. Smith: My son has Dengue fever. I searched it on Google.

Dr. James: Really? That's what Google says? Send him to emergency immediately!

Dr. James: *note to self: Mrs. Smith's Son is fine. Mrs. Smith however has a case of Dr Google.

(http://www.urbandictionary.com/?page=2)

THE DRESS.

2009-05-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

So after a long search for the perfect prom dress, Betsey Johnson pulled through for me (again!)
I love the color, and the way that the sequins sparkle silver when the light hits them. I'm thinking of pairing it with some silver heals...

suggestions for accessories?

Just made it to my #2 thing I must do before I die

2009-03-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/world/europe/17swiss.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=in%20thin%20air%20of%20the%20alps&st=cse

I laughed out loud when dad showed me this fantastic article.

I beat you Liz

2009-01-26T18:50:00.001-08:00

Hello Baby Gigi!

2008-09-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

Can everyone give a big, hearty welcome to the newest addition to the Thomas family?
GIGI THOMAS. Born 6:17 this morning, weighing approximately 9lbs and doing great. She sleeps, eats, poops, sleeps, eats and poops... she's VERY talented! She has some cute cute balloon cheeks and and some chubby legs! We call her our little Eskimo:

She looks a lot like her mama:

Yay genetics! (Didn't pay attention in bio so don't ask me about DNA)

Lets give a round of applause to Celeste and Matt Thomas for making this beautiful baby possible!

The Stork Is Stuck In Traffic

2008-09-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

I am patiently (or not patiently) awaiting the arrival of my beautiful little niece. Her parents, Celeste and Matt Thomas, are currently living in Salt Lake City,Utah and my mom has flown out there for the occasion. Celeste's due date was Thursday so it won't be much longer...any minute now. I was so anxious to hear the news that I would call my mom right after school while changing for XC practice and respond to her "hello?" with a "DID SHE POP YET?!" So lets make like lemonade and get diluted!

Back to School

2008-09-06T10:40:00.001-07:00

This week I started school as a Junior and so far it's been far from perfect. I was switched out of my 512 physics to 513, meaning that I'll have to do actual work for the rest of the year, my English teacher, Mr. Evans didn't show up to school the first week because he is visiting Kenya for humanitarian work (I've been spared), my AT U.S. history class is impossible and everyday I come home with 5 new textbooks (we're supposed to receive over 12 textbooks by the end of this year), first day of Spanish class my teacher, Ms. Bray talked in Spanish at me for over 5 minutes mentioning Spencer's name while I just sat there and nodded and smiled, wondering what the heck she was saying and hoping she didn't ask me any questions, and this is all in only 1/2 a week! Geez. Well lets hope that things calm down a bit. Next week I have my first XC meet on our new home course at Suny Purchase! Wish me luck!

Of Montreal's NEW ALBUM Skeletal Lamping

2008-08-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

Of Montreal is coming out with their new album "Skeletal Lamping" October 7th! I'm seeing them in September so they won't be playing their new stuff but I'm ECSTATIC!

Here's some info on the new album

Here's their new single "Id Engager":

Old photos

2008-08-15T08:37:00.001-07:00

Going through some old family photos here at home. Here are some great ones I found:

Let's get a close up of that

Here's Christian on "Monkey Mountain"

Celeste, Dad, and Christian being silly (sorry about the cut-outs. Looks like someone got to these before I did!)

And this calls for another great close-up:

Facials!

My typical crazy mother:

The family photo

July 4th Boating

2008-07-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, to celebrate July 4th, My friends and I went up on the boat and had an awesome time. It turned out that almost all my friends that came were BLONDE! (Courtney is the only "honorary" blonde). Fun fun fun!

Viva la Coldplay

2008-06-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

Coldplay just came out with a new album, Viva la Vida. This morning, at 3:00 A.M. my friends and I drove into the city to see them play on the Today show. When we arrived, we saw the stage and flipped out, thinking we were the first ones there. It wasn't until we turned around that we realized that that was the BACK of the stage, and the line of people was already all around the block. It was a long wait but so worth it! There were some crazy fans there, including a girl who threw her bra on stage and people waving the British flag (he's British). It was awesome and FREE! But when I came home I was completely exhausted and I proceeded to take a 4 hour nap.

Here is their song "Viva la Vida"

Their song "Lost"

Sweet Sixteen!

2008-05-02T04:37:00.001-07:00

16 years ago, on this very day, at 2:15 in the afternoon, at White Plains Hospital, I was born; screaming of course. This morning I woke up to my favorite song ( I set it to do that the night before)and Becca wrote a sign on my door, wishing me a happy birthday and telling me to look for the "little cakes" around the house for a surprise. Becca had taken little cake post-it notes and had put them all over the house, each having special note on the back. I came downstairs and there were 16 balloons at the bottom of the stairs, streamers were up in the kitchen, and banner saying "Happy Day". Becca had also put 16 different candles around the kitchen. It was so adorable. Yesterday Tim brought me home pink/orange roses because him and Besty won't be here for my birthday today. Wow I feel so special! I guess 16 is a big deal and I'm excited to be able to finally sing that song "Sweet Sixteen" by Hilary Duff and really mean it! I love you all so much!!!

P.S. Before anyone asks, NO i do not have a date planned for Friday night!

The Stars of Track and Field

2008-05-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

A song about my life: Track and Field
I just spent the last two days at Leagues races and I'm exhausted. It's nice to see that Belle and Sebastian appreciate us trackies enough to write a song about us! Happy 1st of May everyone!

"The stars of track and field, you are
The stars of track and field, you are
The stars of track and field are beautiful people."

that's right

The Dress

2008-04-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Sahar and I

This weekend was my two friends Sophie and Christie's sweet 16! Ti was an awesome party. I got a Betsey Johnson dress for the occasion for only 60$!! I love a deal. I later found the same dress on the website selling for 360$. It makes me happy to think that I got it for so cheap when other people are going to pay full price for it. I wore it with some patterned black tights and some black round-toed pumps.

Philly is where it's at!

2008-03-27T18:36:00.001-07:00

So last weekend Mom and I drove up to Philadelphia to visit my cousin, Jessica. Jess has been trying to get us up there forever! Jess is there working at Jefferson Hospital as a Doctor. It was great because I had a 4 day weekend over Easter so we left Thursday night and took the 2 hour trip up to Philly. We saw some great art museums and I proceeded to attempt to sketch some of the paintings (which turned out to be completely disastrous; the woman I drew looks like a man) and we saw some great shopping and discovered delicious food. We also did this while humming the Rocky theme song all weekend. Thanks for having us Jessica!

City Hall with William Penn on top, overlooking all of Philadephia

Me holding up the domino

Love park. Usually, normal people take a picture in front of this with someone they love...well who says you can't love yourself?

Mom and I in front of the Rocky statue, situated near the steps under the Philadelphian Museum,the very steps that Rocky runs up and down to train to become an awesome boxer!

Jessica and I on top of the Rocky Steps. It's so funny to see all these tourists run up and down the steps and do the "rocky thing". And yes, I was one of those tourists.

The real rocky. This is how we train for track.

Jessica and I in front of the Philadelphia skyline.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

I love Easter. Today I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting and it was really nice. We also sang in the choir. I also love Easter because it involves PEEPS! I found a Peep pool of peep photos on flickr. Here are some of my favorites:

Derek James, Ian Axel, Kill the Alarm, and Pete Francis

2008-03-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend was really an insane one. I had friday off so mom and I went into the city for the day. We picked up my cousin Katie from her Mini UN trip. It just so happened she was staying the the same Hilton that George Bush was in for a meeting so they had it perimetered off for about 10 minutes. Katie and I went to buy some makeup with dad's discounted price and then we took a quick trip to urban outfitters. After dropping Katie off, Mom and I then traveled downtown to the fashion institute to go to the little museum there. Then I had a concert that my friends and I were going to later that night so I met up with everyone in grand central (I got lost in grand central trying to find the "big room"). We had a great dinner at a restaurant in Chelsea and then we got some frozen yogurt at Pinkberry. Our concert had 4 bands planned to play. Ian Axel, Derek James, Kill the Alarm and Pete Francis. I knew very few of the songs but it was my first concert and we had an awesome time!

Derek James

Having a delightful time in Pinkberry

2008-03-06T06:39:00.001-08:00

My newest obsession is the guitar. I've been playing for about 2 weeks and it's going great. At the moment I can play Hey oh by The Kooks, Because of You by Kelly Clarkson, and Anyone Else but You by Moldy Peaches( also in the movie Juno). I'm working on transferring to different chords faster so that the songs can run more smoothly. It's so much fun to have a new hobby! Rock on.

Macbeth on Broadway

2008-02-29T20:07:00.000-08:00

This year in Honors English we have just finished reading Shakespeare's Macbeth. It's a bloody tragedy telling the tale of one man's desire to be King and his ultimate downfall. The play was actually written for King James I who had recently inherited the throne of Scotland.
It was announced that Macbeth will be going on broadway, replacing Is He Dead? The lead role will be played by the well known Patrick Stewart. My english teacher is determined to take us to see it.
Here's a link if you want to check it out
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115402.html

Some believe that the play is such pure evil that there is a curse on it. It is true that there have been many freak accidents in many of the Macbeth productions. Hopefully this production will prove the curse wrong.

Diplo- Florida

2008-02-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

So Becca and I found this CD in the beetle last year that someone must have left behind. There was no drawing on the CD but written in very small lettering along the rim it said "Diplo Florida". Becca and I listened to it and thought it was hilarious. It instantly became one of our favorites. Liz or Celeste- does this sound familiar? Becca- good memories. Enjoy!

Why didn't I think of that?

2008-02-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

Here are some interesting, cool uses of things that can be used for something else:

"Hello my name is" stickers for addressing envelopes

Coat rack as a necklace holder

Popcorn as a box-stuffer (this one amuses me)

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/package/0,21861,1619485-1642766,00.html

Cinderella Ballet

2008-02-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

When I was visiting last week in Utah, Celeste and I saw the Ballet West production of Cinderella. It was very well done and the music and dancing was excellent. I loved the two ugly step sisters, played by men. Very entertaining and a great show overall.

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

Have a Delightful Valentines Day!

If you don't have a Valentine, there are many eligible singles:

The Guy from Numa Numa Video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o

Robert Pattinson:

He played Cedric in Harry Potter and is going to be playing the role of Edward Cullen in the movie version of one of my favorite series, Twilight

Smee:
No words.
http://hs.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2209698925

Kirby Heyborne:

Not only does he know Dutch in The Best Two Years
but he has been in practically every cheesy church movie you can think of.

Chace Crawford:

What can I say, He's gorgeous!
Also he plays Nate in the show Gossip Girl
(Unfortunately he might be taken...dang it Kate Hudson!)

A Fine Time in Chinatown!

2008-02-11T11:53:00.001-08:00

This weekend my cousin Jessica Salt who is a doctor living in Philly came up for a visit. On Saturday night we went to Chinatown with the Granges and Angolias. The Angolias grew up in my Mom's ward in Cali and loved Mema and Papa David. They even named several of their kids after my mom's siblings! The Granges live in our ward and the mom, Angela is the daughter of the Angolias. Small world right? The Granges have 2 little kids Madison and Jackson, and baby girl expected to be arriving soon! It's Chinese New Year this week so there were people shooting streamers and we also bought some little firecracker paper balls that make a loud "snap" sound. We ate dinner at the Ricks family traditional Hop Key. For dessert we went right down the street to Little Italy (it's amazing how fast we can travel the world) where we stopped at a bakery and enjoyed some delicious Italian pastries. I enjoyed a chocolate cannoli. It was a eventful night.

Some Delicious cannolis

When we returned home, Jessica and I proceeded to watch So I Married an Axe Murderer with Mike Meyers (the voice of Shrek). It left me humming "There she goes..." for the remainder of my weekend.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-01-29T16:22:00.000-08:00

Today my mom turns 40! Well not really but she sure does look and act it! This morning I totally forgot to wish her a happy birthday while I was running through the house gathering my things and piling into the car for early morning chorus but I realized it during first period so luckily I had 2nd free and I called her up. So lets give three cheers to the woman who doesn't need caffeine to be overly energetic, is so enthusiastic that if we were on the verge of a worldwide meltdown she would exclaim "well at least it's warmer!", and is the loveliest most wonderful woman I know. Hey, without her I wouldn't even be here! Love you mommy and happy birthday to you!

WANTED: COLORED TIGHTS

2008-01-24T17:06:00.001-08:00

Goodbye dreary black and white outfits.. hello COLOR!

Requiem

2008-01-24T16:23:00.000-08:00

This week on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. day, my chamber choir from school had the opportunity to sing in Carnegie hall with a choir made up of people from all around the world, of all ages. I would say there were about 250 people in the choir. Our chamber choir meets every Tuesday morning and there are no classes in the actual school day so the people who are in it are very devoted to singing and want to be there. It was an amazing experience. We had rehearsals all weekend in the city (one of them was 4 hours long!). It was so cool that we had all come from different places but we were all joined together by one piece of music, and one concert. The piece that we sang was Requiem by Karl Jenkins which included some Latin and also some Japanese Haiku. People came from Hawaii and Britain and all over the U.S. The conductor was a professional who had conducted many different choirs, one of the them The Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Motab). The music is lovely and we performed with an entire orchestra. One thing that made it even more amazing was that this would probably be a once in a lifetime thing. How often will I get to perform at Carnegie hall? maybe never again. I'm so glad that I was able have this fantastic experience!

Santa's coming to town! (Even though Mom's leaving to see our newly arrived christmas present)

2007-12-08T20:35:00.001-08:00

Here he comes!
On December 5th, weighing about 6.6 lbs, the newest addition to our family was born. Little baby stanley is as cute as can be and doing very well, as his is mommy, liz. My mom left this morning at 4:30 to see the beautiful baby boy.

Apart from that great news, as my mom left the house to go to the airport she told me 2 things to do:
1. Don't forget to take your vitamins everyday
2. Make sure to put up the Christmas decorations
Well I did in fact take my vitamins in the morning and then I proceeded to put up all of the Christmas decorations around our house. So check and check.
Here are some pictures:

Wedding and Halloween!

2007-11-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

My brother Christian and his new wife Lauren were married in the Manhattan temple last thursday(a little more than 2 weeks ago). We had a lovely time at the open house the night before, and at the reception the following night. Christian and Lauren are SUCH a cute couple... they were made for each other. After the reception, by brother Spencer, my cousin Eliot, and Becca and Jared and I decorated the honeymoon getaway car with toilet paper that we "borrowed" from the yacht club. The newlyweds weren't impressed. After they unwrapped their car, and with a honk of the horn , the couple rode off into the night... a trail of toilet paper flowing behind them. Good times.
Okay that was last LAST week. THIS week was Halloween! Well all I can say is that all the scarsdale parents are haters. When I went to go trick-or-treating they would answer the door and say "ohh hi... um wait you're still trick-or-treating?". After many similar encounters I didn't feel like getting anymore glares from parents. So I came home with about 10 pieces of candy...very disappointing. That day I also went trick-or-treating during cross country practice with the team(its a tradition) and it was really fun! Every time we rang the doorbell, a parent would answer and be very surprised that we were so early! It was about 4:00 in the afternoon. We told them that we were dressed up as "runners".
One thing that I always look forward to on Halloween is the Bondine's house. They have the most AMAZING set up that you will EVER find! It's like a haunted house/ scream fest. They have their family members dress up and be the actors and then they have a ton of crazy flashing lights. It's pretty freaky but really fun. Me, Tali and Sophie as "The Powerpuff Girls"

Yesterday was my last meet of cross country! It was sectionals and our whole team made a personal record! Our boys team came so close to winning and making it to states but they lost to Ardsley (grr). 2 of our boys qualified to go to states(they go every year). It's been a really fun season and I'm kind of sad to see it end. We have a maroon and white dinner on Wednesday and a surprise birthday party/ wedding shower for clark and coach romer on Monday!

It's getting kind of chilly here... and this morning I had Christmas carols stuck in my head. Is winter really here already?

A short visit out west

2007-10-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend Tim and I arrived in Utah to attend my grandma (Mema) 's funeral. She was 85 and a really great woman. Some of my fondest memories are of Becca and I spending time with her, at her house in Cove point. We played dress-up with her wigs, pearls, and fur scarfs, she read us the classic "Little Brown Bear" stories that I will forever cherish, and I always looked forward to her Barlow Babbler that came in the mail monthly. Although I will be separated from her a a bit, I know that she is so happy with Papa David right now, and that they will be looking after us until we meet again.
The funeral was held last Friday at her chapel. I must say that I don't think that I've ever cried so much in my life. The funeral was beautiful and full of pink flowers (her favorite color). All of her grandkids (except 2) were able to come to the service which probably made Mema feel extremely special, which she is. She has affected each of our lives personally and we are all witnesses of her magnificent legacy. The service included our family and the Salts singing and all the grandchildren sang "Families can be together forever" which resulted in me bawling within the first 3 words. After the service we all proceeded to drive up to her graveside, right alongside Papa David's. And then it was done. Mema's body may be gone but her spirit is still here with us.
For the rest of the weekend I got to see Liz's new home, which is under construction, I saw a session of conference live, went to Nordstrom Rack and got a cute pair of Lucky skinny jeans for 25$, went to Lauren's bridal shower, rubbed and kissed Liz's belly and felt a KICK!, and I just spent time with my family, which was the best of all. Christian's wedding is in about 3 weeks which means that fam will be out here shortly. GET EXCITED EVERYONE!

Utah: The NEW Ricks colony

2007-08-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

This week has been pretty weird ever since Spencer and Becca left. We dropped them off at the airport on Saturday and I was really sad to see them go. Liz and Jared's friends Patrick and Lindsay also held a farewell party for them that day, since they're migrating to Utah, like the rest of the family. Since Betsy is still in Utah it's just me at home, which makes it even more strange. I will be expecting many phone calls after 7:00 from the siblings!
Miss you guys!

"When I was in the 6th grade I was a finalist in our school spelling bee. I misspelled, in front of the entire school, the word "failure"."

2007-08-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

- Dwight Schrute

So this summer Spencer, Becca and I have all become hooked onto the show, The Office. It's clever, pitiful, and downright HILARIOUS. My favorite character is Dwight who is a nerdy weirdo whose passions include Battlestar Galactica, Paintballing, Michael Scott, Martial arts, Angela, and being assistant TO the regional manager. We have only gotten through season one and two so far but we hope to see season three this week. Have a superb week!

Ohh and one last thing...

"I enjoy having breakfast in bed. I like waking up to the smell of bacon, sue me. And since I don't have a butler, I have to do it myself. So, most nights before I go to bed, I will lay six strips of bacon out on my George Foreman grill. Then I go to sleep. When I wake up, I plug in the grill. I go back to sleep again. Then I wake up to the smell of crackling bacon. It is delicious, it's good for me, it's the perfect way to start the day. " - Michael Scott

Cleaning out the basement

2007-05-20T17:20:00.001-07:00

So this week Celeste has been here, helping out with organizing our poor house that is stuffed with junk. everyday I would come home from track and see tons and tons of garbage bags stacked outside our driveway. My mom said that the neighbors would think that we were moving! So yesterday we came across my "boxes" in which mom has been collecting all my artwork, projects, report cards, recital programs, notes, and locks of hair since I was born. And my mom is somewhat of a pack rat so I had to go through about 7 boxes of stuff. Of course a lot of the things were were really nice and memorable. I liked the pictures that I would draw when I was about 3, and for clarification, mom would write a little description of what it was and the date. In one picture, I drew mom smiling and the caption read: "Mommy" by Katrina Ricks- Katrina gave this to me proudly because she said it was the best smile she had ever drawn. Just some cute stuff like that. So I narrowed it down to only 2 boxes. Celeste leaves tomorrow and its going to be not so fun around here without her. It's been lovely having her here! I think I've done more shopping this week with her than I've done in an ENTIRE month! I also got my first pedicure at the place in the galleria, AND we set the record of being the last customers in H&M twice. Wow- what a week. Spending time with Celsete always turns into a good time- even if it means going through boxes stuffed with junk. THANKS FOR A GOOD TIME CELESTE! Love you

The RUBIK'S CUBE

2007-04-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

Recently on our track team, we've had this weird obsession with the rubiks cube. At every meet, at every practice, there is at LEAST one person struggling with the cube. Once at a meet there was even a rubiks cube "battle" between us and another team, that consisted of 2 people trying the solve the cube the fastest. Spencer even has one and can solve it every time. I've attempted to solve it, but it always ends up more mixed than how it started! Some guys on the team were trying to teach me this skill, but it really made no sense. Apparently you have to try to solve the X's and then the corners and it's all surrounding one axle...no clue what they're taking about. I also saw the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness on the plane back from Mexico and in it, Will Smith is able to solve the rubiks cube. Well there's no hope for me, but who knows, maybe you'll figure it out.

Mexican flyers

2007-04-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to some Mexican musicians who swing around a big pole upside down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nskF4wW4-g8

Mexico and Guatemala!

2007-04-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

I'm back!
So now you get to here about my trip to Mexico and Guatemala.
We got to Mexico city in the afternoon last Saturday where we took a taxi to the hotel Maria Cristina (celeste and liz may remember that that was the same hotel that they stayed in.) It's a very pretty hotel and in a pretty, quite area of Mexico city. Picture below:
So on the first day we just unpacked and explored the city. Since we arrived on a weekend it was very quiet and almost deserted in the area around the hotel. This week was also Holy week so many people who work in the business area were on vacation. So then we went to the Museum of Anthropologie that is known for having the largest collection of Olmec, Mayan and Aztec artifacts. They even had some temples outside. People come from all over the world to see this museum.
And there was a suspicious gum tree? I'm pretty sure they didn't have gum in ancient times...
The next day(Sunday) was general conference so we had to find out where the chapel was. We took a taxi to the temple and it just so happened that in the visitors center they were showing general conference in English! It was right next to the MTC also so most of the other people watching were missionary couples.
After that we went down to the main plaza where there is a government palace and cathedral. There were also some Mayan ruins. The cathedral was actually built on top of some ruins by the spaniards when the conquered Mexico City. The museum next to the ruins was free on Sundays so we went there also.

In the square there was some traditional dancing and a guy who would "cure" people by giving them potions and smoking them with basil. There was a flag ceremony where the army comes out in the morning and puts up the flag and in the evening takes the flag down. They surround the square and everyone gets behind the perimeter (we practically got surrounded by the army until we realized we were supposed to stand BEHIND them...such clueless tourists.)

The next day we had a tour group take us to the famous Cathedral that has the robe of lady Guadelupe. The Story goes like this: The Lady Guadelupe (Virgin Mary) appeared to a native and told him to tell the Spanish pope what he had seen. The pope didn't believe that a person of such low class could receive a revelation so he sent him away. 3 times the Lady Guadelupe appeared to him and 3 times the pope sent him away. On the 3rd time, the pope said that the native needed proof. So on the 4th time the Lady Guadelupe told the native a place where he should pick these certain flowers that do not grow in Mexico. When the native appeared to the pope and dorpped the flowers on the floor, the image of the Lady Guadelupe appeared on his sack or robe that was tied around his neck to carry the flowers in. Since then many people in Latin America worship the Lady Guadelupe and pray to her.

Next day we went to the outskirts of town to Tenochtitlan, where there were 2 major Olmec temples, the temple of the Sun and the temple of the Moon. This place was a huge civilization. I climbed both temples (very steep). We had 10 mins until we had to be back at the bus and dad was DETERMINED to go to the Jaguar temple (which was a mile to walk each way.) So when we finally got there (20 mins later) we were really dehydrated and it turns out the temple was closed anyway. Just our luck. So we had to walk all the way back to the bus and we ended up being 30 mins late. But that life I guess. The temples were awesome and it turns out that since this city was built in a lake, they needed some sort of drain system throughout the town. They had tunnels that we underground! It was really cool.
After we stopped at a restaurant with some Mexican dancers. I spotted an extra costume and decided that it was too good of an opportunity to pass up: Wouldn't I make a fabulous Mexican Dancer?

Next day was going to be our last day in Mexico so first thing we stopped by a huge Mercado. Becca and I got shirts and some key chains for friends and Dad got a backpack. It's funny because the brand of the backpack was "American tourism". I'm surprised he didn't get mugged...
Next we went to a place way outside Mexico city called the floating gardens where there are canals and you take boat rides on them. There are actually also vendors on boats that sell blankets, food, pictures etc.. There was even a band with sombreros that serenaded us! The restaurant that we ate at was a big mistake because it resulted in Becca getting food poisoning for the next few hours. The problem was that we had a plane to Guatemala that night and Becca was throwing up a ton. Fortunately she was feeling a little better by the time we got on the flight.

For the Night we stayed in a small hotel right in the middle of Guatemala city (very dangerous.) The hotel was small and cozy, a bit like staying in a person's house. But the area surrounding was really sketchy. Like the worst place in the Bronx. Dad and I went to the bank in the morning and it was pretty scary. Good thing we were only staying there 1 night.

Then got a taxi to take us to the Guatemala city temple and then onto Antigua. Antigua used to be Guatemala's capital and is still to this day very popular. There are TONS of tourists there and its only about a 10 by 10 block town. The streets are all cobblestone and it's basically right in between 3 volcanoes. The perfect place for a town right? There are lots of Europeans there, especially during la Semana Santa or Holy week. Antigua is known to have the BEST processions and it is THE place to be during this week. The only hotel dad could find was outside Antigua in a town called la Ciudad Vieja. The problem was that the night before there had been some hard rains and since the ciudad was right at the base of a volcano, there were massive amounts of mud. So we drove back and forth and couldn't seem to find the hotel. We called them and no one was answering. We finally found it right where the mud slide hit the hardest and we decided that they must have evacuated. So we were without a hotel and most likely all the ones in Antigua would be full (you usually need to reserve a hotel for this week in Antigua at least a year in advance.) We were so lucky when we found a room for the night at the first hotel that we asked. This hotel was SO NICE. We got a suite with 3 QUEEN BEDS (so I didn't need to share with beccca.... nice.)
It was about 4 blocks from the plaza mayor and it had a pool and restaurant. So the first day we just explored for a bit.

The next day was sort of a we'll see what happens day. We wanted to climb the volcano but it had been sort of rainy the last few days. We decided to go on the sunset hike anyway. So we left at 2 for the volcano. It took an hour to get to the volcano and by the time we got there it was pouring. Little boys were going around selling what we thought we plastic ponchos. Turned out it was just a plastic sheet. So we poked holes in them, stuck our heads through and were good to go. The hike took about an hour and a half until we reached the crater. Now I was expecting to see a huge thing, but you couldn't see ANYTHING. The fog was so thick. We climbed around some jagged rocks and that's when things started heating up. You could actually see the lava between the cracks and if you slipped, you were a goner. And also because of the rain, tons of smoke was coming from the rocks making a mist. It was really sweet. At times I couldn't see in front of me and would have to wait until it cleared for a second to make my next step. That was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I even collected some volcanic rock!

We were totally SOAKED after. Not to mention, freezing. But it was totally worth it.

The day after we explored some more of Antigua and got ready for the processionals. All over the cobblestone streets people made colored sand designs made with stencils that the parade would just march through. They had to redo these designs once, sometimes twice a day. Sometimes they put vegetables and bread in the designs also. This Friday was crazy. It was about 90 degrees and there were tons of people there. Good Friday is really important in Antigua. As becca said "It was like Disneyland!" We saw lots of floats and the incense from the candles provided clouds of smoke that you could smell all over town. We also did TONS of shopping=)

Then we came home, where it was snowing...

We're going to Mexico!

2007-03-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

MEXICO! That's right. Me, Becca and my Dad are taking a "father-daughter" trip down to Mexico and Guatemala this Spring Break. I've never been outside the country (excluding Canada which I visited for 2 hours). So today I had to go get my passport. We drove up to Connecticut where they are able to get it to you the next day. There were tons of people there which made it very interesting. You meet the most random people in a passport office. People who argue with the security guards about how knitting needles are not considered weapons and then there's always those certain few who try to get a passport without being a U.S. citizen etc...
I always remember that story that Mom tells all the time about how when she went with Celeste to get her passport and the birth certificate was a little worn on some parts so they had to get another copy from the hospital. On the ride home Celeste claimed that it was the parent's fault for fawning over her birth certificate too much. Of course.
I'll put up some pictures of Mexico when I get back! (supposedly we're going to be able to look inside a volcano; lava and all!)

Have a wonderful vacation!
ADIOS!

SPRING TRACK...in the snow?

2007-03-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today spring track started(though it's not really looking like spring.) I don't even remember the last time I ran so we'll see what happens. This season, the team has just about tripled, maybe quadrupled than last season. Lots of people drop out though when they see what you have to run everyday. Last night we had Liz and Jared over for dinner. We also had my cousin Kellin over and it was really fun. We watched High School Musical and Becca is going to be playing the part of Gabriella in her senior class play! GO WILD CATS!!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins!

2007-02-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

For all of you who do not know this, I have an obsession with muffins. So yesterday I decided that instead of wasting my time on the computer, I would try to make my favorite cookies, chocolate chip pumpkin cookies into muffins. I found this recipe online. ENJOY!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.

Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Friday Nights with the Stanleys

2007-02-13T04:36:00.000-08:00

Well we had a very interesting night on Friday when Mom, Me and Becca went to dinner at Liz and Jared's apartment in Hoboken. We had a delicious dinner that Liz made and a very nice key lime pie soup! We also made some gocco valentines with Liz's machine. Jared entertained us with Mom's running route and a video on para gliding (though he wasn't able to convince Mom to try it). The Missionaries also came but little did they know that they were in for a really wacky night. Liz decided that she wanted to get her old couches out of the apartment(since there were a larger # of guys around). Well we first tried fitting both down the stairs, the first one got through and the second didn't. So then Jared got out a hammer and started to break it down, a little like a madman. Us girls didn't want to risk getting any splinters in our eyes so we kept our distance. Jared and everyone else came to the conclusion that this stubborn couch was never going to get through the staircase so we went for the last resort; Chuck it out the window. So while Becca, me, Liz and Lindsey were on patrol outside on the sidewalk for unsuspecting pedestrians, the boys hoisted up the couch and pushed it out. If it weren't for that tree in the way, it would have hit a car.

Thanks for the fun night Stanleys!
Love you guys!

I was hoping for a snowday =(

2007-02-02T04:32:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday everyone at school was talking about how we were supposed to get 2 inches of snow this morning! So I was really excited, thinking there would be no seminary, school, or track! So I went to bed. In the morning, however, there was no snow on the ground, I had seminary, I still have to go to school, and I still have to go to track. Some snow day. Have a good FULL DAY of no snow!

Bangs!Bangs!Bangs!

2007-01-31T18:42:00.000-08:00

Extra extra read all about it I GOT A HAIRCUT!
So I get my hair cut by Jen Isom who's in our ward and she does an excellent job. At first I thought I was just goin going to get the usual; angled and trimmed, but this time i decided to go for something a bit different. So I got side bangs! So far I've really liked them and would recommend them for everyone who feels like a change(I feel like I'm being a crtic for a book).

Anyway, Have a good one!

Who on earth would do winter track?

2007-01-29T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well sometimes I wonder why the heck instead of going home everyday after school, I put on as many layers as possible and run in the snow, sleet, rain and anything else. I've been on the track team for the whole winter season and so far I've loved it. It's hard, cold, and time-consuming but I've met a lot of new people who are really awesome. My coach is Mr. List and the long distance coach is Mr. Clark (I'm in sprinting). Well one of the reason's that I joined was because I heard a rumor that if you join the track team, Mr. Clark(who is my bio teacher) will give you a better grade. And I could use all the help I can get! Well I'll see for myself if this rumor is true or not tomorrow when we get our REPORT CARDS! Anyway I really do like track, even if it's hard and it's practically my ONLY social life right now(haha). GO TRACKIES!

MY BROTHER'S ENGAGED!

2007-01-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

Well I'm sure most of you have heard the new(from liz's blog or from my mom's phone calls.) But MY blog of it will include cuter pictures. Well anway, so my brother has "got himself hitched" as liz puts it. He's is engaged to be married to Natalie White who is from Utah. There are some wedding dates planned for March but we will see what happens. Natalie came to visit us in NY over Christams break and we had a lot of fun. CONGRATS YOU GUYS!

Happy halloween!

2006-11-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

Okay so on the friday before halloween there was a stake dance in Manhattan! I was the cheetah girls with Becca, Natalie, Hailey and Allie. We had an awesome, candy-filled night.
On the monday before halloween, the young single adults came over for pumpkin carving. We carved 3 pumpkins! I designed the darth vader one and dad carved it. It was a lot of fun!
Have an awesome halloween!

Plastic is fantastic

2006-10-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

Ok so I know the title is really cheesy but it's all I've got. I've seen some people wearing these plastic headbands and I think they're really cute ( they come in tons of colors.) Accessories can really bring some nice touches to an outfit. I also like these wings earrings in gold (they also come in silver). I found these both at Urban outfitters which has a lot of really cool stuff.

I don't have school this monday because it's Yon Kipper. I have absolutly no idea what the holiday is about and the sad thing is that most of my Jewish friends also don't know what the heck it's about. But I get no school and that's good enough for me!

We're tight, like spandex

2006-09-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

So the new "thing" this year at school are spandex tights/leggings. They can be black or have a cool design on them or whatever. Wear them under a skirt, shorts, or just wear them with a top (believe it or not). Top it off with a trendy top, some ballet flats and a long necklace and you're good to go!

My teachers!

2006-09-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ok here are my teachers:

World History: Ms. Wright
Math: Mrs. Beals
Spanish: Senora Hochberg
Science: Mr. Clark
English: Mrs. Liptak
Homeroom: Madame Bell
Choir: Mr. Cuk
Phys Ed: Carney

My favorite teachers so far are Ms. Wright and Liptak
they're the 2 civ ed teachers

Blogging is cool

2006-09-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

I decided to join the bandwagon that becca and liz have already hopped on and create a blog. I hope people look at it from time to time.
Seminary started this morning and it was ok. I can't say that I actually LIKE waking up at 5:40 in the morning but I'll say that I will easily be able to fall alseep in class because even if I do, I still get 100% on attendance. Haha jk.
Another early morning tomorrow awaits me!
Tata for now