March Madness

I know that title is horribly overused, but the end of March really was quite crazy.  Brigham was sick for days, Nathaniel had a concert, and we had two funerals within a week of each other.  Thankfully, Spring break helped us recover from all the madness.  So, here is our March.

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We have this tree in the backyard that's tall and skinny and kind of in the way.  It's useless as a shade tree because it's so narrow, but for two weeks of the year it has beautiful yellow blossoms.  Well, Jaaromy noticed that it had started leaning.  Rather than wait to see where and when it would fall, we decided to cut it down.

 It's not huge so it wasn't too difficult.

 As you can see, there aren't a lot of roots holding it in place.  We wiggled it around like a loose tooth until we could see where it was hanging on.

Turns out there was just one root holding it up.  Also, this picture is misleading.  It looks like a fairly thick root but right after this point along the root it got really thin, maybe an inch and a half to two inches.  So, I'm glad we cut it down before the wind knocked it down.

Here's a picture of it's blossoms, for old times sake.

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Brigham sure looks cool with his roll up sunglasses someone got from the eye doctor.

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I got tickets to Aida last Fall and we finally got to go.  This was our first live opera and it was super fun.

Our seats weren't too bad, either.

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So, we got an email saying that we might not have rehearsal because our conductor had to go out of town on short notice.  Well, a substitute was found, but once tempted with a night off, my basses had decided that staying home sounded nice.  Not me!

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Okay, I know this is weird but...

This is how I like to eat mini M&M's.  It usually doesn't end up this evenly split, that's why I had to take a picture.  It was so close to perfect!

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 My Grandma Harding passed away on the 15th.  She was 102 and one of my very favorite people.  I'm so excited for her to see her family.  She outlasted all her siblings by several years, it must have been a wonderful reunion.  The morning of her funeral was super snowy where we lived but was just a little rainy in Provo.  The service was beautiful.

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The same day as my grandma's funeral was the neighborhood caucus.  It was super fun.  I had to take the minutes of the meeting because our precinct chair and vice-chair had both unaffiliated themselves so it was left to the secretary to run the meeting.  She did a great job even though she was nervous.  It was fun to vote for the presidential candidate since we usually wait until the primary.  That's lame, doing it now feels like it might actually mean something.  Good times!

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Jaaromy's Grandma Hand died on the 22nd, the same day as my grandma's funeral.  She started going downhill at the same time my grandma did and I was worried they would go at the same time.  They were close but it was doable.  It was a beautiful service as well.  We are well acquainted with death, it seems.  We were able to visit before she died and I'm so glad we did.

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We almost didn't color eggs this year.  It had been such a busy couple of weeks that I was just exhausted and I didn't realize how close Easter had come and I wasn't prepared.  I decided to make a quick trip to the store for the rest of the Easter things I needed on Saturday night.  I'm glad I did, it worked out pretty well.

Just a boring regular egg dyeing kit.  Perfect for us.

This egg cracked in the boiling process and I was just going to save it for deviled eggs but I decided it looked like it was sticking out it's tongue so I had to make the most of it.

Jonathan made a Toon Link egg and was very proud of it.

It looks just like him!

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My parents invited us over for dinner Sunday night so we had our Easter lesson for FHE the next day.  That works out pretty well for us and we do it pretty much every year.

 We had our special Easter Egg Hunt inside because it was too wet outside.

Then we opened up each egg and read the scripture that went along with the item inside.  The last egg is empty and I love that.

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So that was March.  Very unexpectedly busy.  Nathaniel's concert was the same week as the funerals.  Also, the YM/YW activity for that week was an etiquette dinner that the boys had to wear their church clothes for.  Then we had the viewing for Grandma Hand on Friday and the funeral on Saturday.  So, Nathaniel had to wear nice clothes every day that week except for Thursday.  Brigham was sick almost that whole week.  Thankfully, he was better by the second funeral.  Grandpa Hand passed away yesterday so we will have another funeral coming up soon in April.  One of my nephews noticed that Grandma and Grandpa Zierse died in March too.  I guess that's the best time to go.

I wonder what else April will bring.

Random Moments from February and March

As the title of this post suggests, here are some random moments from February and March. The beginning of the year is always filled with random moments, it seems.

We've been to the Jordan River temple many, many times, obviously, but we've never officially taken a picture for our temple passport.  We decided that a night shot would be fun.

We tried to get everyone in the shot at the same time but it didn't work out well so Jaaromy and I took turns being in the picture.  I think we need a selfie stick.

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I always see such cutie hairstyles for girls on Facebook.  Since I don't have any girls, I decided to try out some Valentine's Day braids on myself.

 It's not easy to braid my own hair, but I made it work.

I curled the ends too, since there was so much left.  Fun :)  It was a shame to take them out.  I didn't wear it outside the house, I'm not brave enough.  Although, I did run to my neighbor's house to borrow her keys to the church.  She's so lucky.

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Jonathan loves video games, but he loves to read about them even more.  He got a Kirby game for Christmas and then was super excited about a new Kirby game that was releasing.  Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.

Isn't it adorable?  I was worried that he was expecting us to buy it.  Turns out he was just excited about it in general.  He was looking forward to other people buying it and then recording their gameplay so he could watch on YouTube.  Whew!  But he did decide that he wanted to celebrate by having a dance party.

He pulled up some music from the game on my phone and we danced!

And partied!

So, hooray for the release of Kirby and the Rainbow Curse!

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Speaking of long hair...

I was getting really tired of mine.  I just don't have the patience for it like I used to.  It hasn't been this short since Cinco de Mayo 1993 when my friend Emily and I cut each other's hair.  I'm actually really happy with it.  If anyone is sad about it I just remind them that it will be long again before they know it.

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My brother, Jared, reminded me of the Lego American exhibit going on at Fashion Place Mall.  I thought it would be fun to see.  I was right.

They had smaller displays down one hallway that were fun to look at.  So many fun little scenes that are easy to miss but we saw quite a few.  Then we got to the big ones.  Here's the Lincoln Memorial.

Jonathan's favorite was the Statue of Liberty.

There were quite a few but we didn't get pictures of all of them.

The Capitol was, by far, the biggest.  So cool!  We had a lot of fun and I'm glad we went.

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There's really no story here...

...except that Jonathan makes me laugh.

Man in the Moon

As many of you may know, I'm a Glenn Beck fan.  I listen to his radio show every day and even subscribed to his television network where I watch his nightly tv show among others.  He has put on several large events over the past few years in different locations.  The first one was in Washington D.C., the next year he went to Israel, and last year he had an event in Dallas, TX.  I briefly considered going to a couple of them (yeah, Israel wasn't one of them) but it was just too much money and time.

Finally, he announced an event this summer here in Salt Lake City!  I was so excited that I would finally be able to go without worrying about time and money.  Luckily, some of my brothers are also fans and we were able to go together.  I originally bought two tickets with the hope that Jaaromy would come with me.  He politely declined.  My younger (and poorer - those tickets weren't cheap) brother was more than happy to take his ticket.

After waiting for, like, ever the day of the event finally arrived.  Coincidentally, it was during the first week of July which also happened to be the wettest July on record.  We were a little concerned that we would be rained out since the show was at the USANA amphitheater.  It had been raining all day and was still pretty wet, but it wasn't raining quite as much by the time we got there.

We brought blankets and tarps and Scott even brought some ponchos which I am super grateful for since I don't own one.  Also, I'm so glad Rachel was there, so I wasn't alone with all those boys.

My in-laws were there too with some extended family and they were nice enough to save us a spot on the lawn.

Once we got settled, we went over to the concession area.  We had heard that Chris was manning the beer tap, so of course we had to go and make fun of him.

Sure enough, there he was.  We tried to tease him but he had so many customers it was hard.  So we went to find Sara and Sadie.  They were all there to raise money for the high school dance team.  It was so fun to have so much family there, even if they all weren't there to see the show.

We still had the problem of the rain.  Glenn Beck even came out on stage to talk to the audience about whether or not the show would go on.  The show required some pretty expensive equipment and would need to be replaced if they were damaged by the rain.  So, a friend of his came out and said a prayer that the show would be able to continue.

Not too long after the prayer we started to see some hope.  The sun was starting to come through the clouds and it looked beautiful.

We even got a double rainbow.  We all took it as a sign that the show should continue.

And what a show it was.  It started out with these two bi-planes flying over head.  That was pretty cool.  Then there was the flag raising to the song America the Beautiful sung slowly and simply by a female artist.  Glenn had brought in some acrobats from Cirque de Soliel to raise the flag.  They started on opposite sides of the stage hanging upside down dressed as soldiers.  They "walked" to the center to raise the flag so that when it "raised" it was coming down upside down.  It was very poignant and true.  I think that might have been the most powerful part of the show.  Following that was the story of the Man in the Moon. There was fun music and dancing.  The story was told about the history of mankind starting from the creation.  When we got to the part about WWII towards the end there were some loud fireworks to simulate the noise and confusion of war.  It was cool but also pretty intense.  Then when the show was all over there was a regular awesome fireworks show.

We all got home pretty late but it was a great experience and I'm glad that I could go with my brothers and sister-in-law.

New Moon Trailer

Sorry to post so soon again but the New Moon trailer is out and I can't resist sharing. I always thought the trailer for Twilight was kind of cheesy but I really enjoyed this one and now I'm super excited to see it when it comes out.

American Idol top 12 13

Well, it's time for another season of American Idol. I think it takes some time getting used to new contestants. At the beginning of every season I can't help but think that I don't love(or hate) these contestants like I did last year. Then I remember that I feel this way every year. As we get to know them better we start to love them and hope they do well. There are several contestants that I think do a great job and I'm sad that they don't get through even though I know others deserved it more. For the most part anyway, there are some I would have gladly traded. So I don't love any of them, but I'm sad when they don't make it... It's a very complicated emotion.

So it looks like we're down to the top 12 13 already and it feels like we're just getting started. Having 36 instead of 24 gave more people a chance, but then only taking 3 out of every show kind of cut it short. It's probably a good thing. Some contestants you know are just not going to make it so why postpone the inevitable. The wild card round is probably a good thing too, like Simon said, we wouldn't have had Jennifer Hudson without it. However, splitting the 36 into three groups means that we only hear each person once(or twice if they're in the wild card round) before they are in the top 12 13. In previous years we had more time to get to know them and pick our favorites. Then we'd feel it more when they succeeded or failed. I barely know this top 12 13. If I'm not the only one who feels this way the contestants might have to work a lot harder to show us who they are in less time than contestants in previous years. One thing that possibly could counter that problem is the way they did Hollywood Week. I LOVE that they extended Hollywood Week over several weeks. I love seeing what they do on group day. Some do really well, and it did give us more of an opportunity to get to know the contestants. However we do end up spending a lot of time on contestants that we'll never see again, and the good ones kind of get lost in the mix so it's hard to remember who we like. So I guess there are a lot of pros and cons to different formats. At the very least it shakes things up, and that's almost always good.

Speaking of shaking things up, we had a bit of a surprise tonight. It turns out our top 12 is a top 13. This seems a little weird to me for some reason. Anoop is great and all, but he didn't seem to come close to the others. Maybe I just didn't "get" his song, but it seemed kind of average to me, certainly not worth changing the show's format for. There was something they said in their comments that made me wonder if they wanted him there because it makes the show more diverse or something. I could be wrong, maybe he just really rocked the house live but it didn't come through to me. Honestly, it doesn't matter, we'll vote for who we vote for. Although if they didn't have the time to do the Wild Card round in it's own week, do they have time to eliminate 12 contestants in the same amount of time, or will they just kick two in the first week? These are questions that will most likely be answered next week. So, I'm getting excited for this season even if I don't feel like I really know any of them. That will come with time, and I'll fall in love with one or two of them during the show and then never listen to any of their music afterwords. That could just be me, though.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Hey everyone, Jaaromy and I are fans of Joss Whedon who was behind the movie Serenity and the TV shows Firefly(unfortunately, short-lived) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Well, he has a new project that's only on the internet called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Jaaormy and I saw it a few weeks ago and loved it. It's awesome. It has Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible and Nathan Fillion (from Serenity and Firefly) as his nemisis Captain Hammer. I had no idea Harris was so talented, he has a great voice. Fillion plays such a disgusting Captain Hammer that I'm not sure I can enjoy him in Serenity anymore. It's a musical and it's about 45 minutes long. The songs are awesome. So if you have some time, I hope you'll give it a try. There isn't anything objectionable, although there are some adult themes, just so you're aware.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

American Idol Finale

Okay, it's 2:19 am and I'm on the computer because I'm angry and I still need to cool off a bit. David Archuleta had this thing wrapped up ever since he sang Imagine several weeks ago. I was so shocked and now I'm depressed. I'm ready to accept any and all conspiracy theories.

Big Bang Theory

I've discovered this show on CBS called Big Bang Theory. Jaaromy and I have found it to be quite hilarious. It's very nerdy so we might be the only ones who enjoy it, but I thought it give it a shout-out anyway.

Now, as any real WoW-er knows, a weapon of that caliber would most definitely be bind-on-pick-up, but I won't hold it against them because it made me laugh so hard.

American Idol...again!

Sorry to post about American Idol again so soon but last night's elimination was a shocker for me. First of all I thought Syesha had the best song. She was in her grove and, like Simon said, she was sexy. She was having fun and so she was fun to watch and her performance was flawless. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a fan of Carly's for some reason, but she had a good night too. Even though I don't appreciate the treatment of the subject matter of her song, she was having fun and it was fun to watch. So when it was Syesha and Brooke I figured it would be Brooke, as sad as I would be about it. It seemed Brooke was just as shocked, if not more, than I was. I heard her apologizing to Syesha, even though it's obviously not her fault. Then when it was Carly and Jason I was shocked yet again to see that Jason was safe and Carly was in the bottom. Of those two, I'm glad it was Carly. She's gotten so much exposure on the show that I'm sure she'll do much better than she was before trying to make it on her own.
So what about Syesha? She's obviously very talented and her performance was top notch, why was she in the bottom two? Voters this year, more than other years I think, are picking their favorites and sticking with them no matter what. I think Simon had it right when he said that Brooke's mistake of starting and stopping made her human. People vote for the person just as much as the talent. David Cook has a large following, but I wouldn't be surprised if he left before Jason or Brooke just because he's too confident. We love it when contestants are humble, not so much when they're cocky. This is not to say that Syesha is cocky or isn't humble, but the other contestants seem to embody one or the other trait more openly. For one reason or another, it seems she hasn't built up a fan base like the others have.
As a side note, I wonder if Carly left because of song choice. Sure it was fun to watch, but is it possible that some Christians might have been offended? I was a little put off by it, and non-LDS Christians might be put off by it too. Most Latter-Day-Saints don't appreciate that kind of treatment of something so sacred and it's possible that more Latter-Day-Saints are watching this year because of Brooke and David Archuleta. Perhaps I'm over analyzing, but if anyone else wants to venture a guess I'd like to hear it.

Top 8 American Idol

It's been a good season. There really is a lot of talent this year. Now that Amanda Overmeyer is gone I can see any of them doing really well.
I really enjoyed last nights show. The first to perform was Michael Johns. I've never been a huge fan because he always sounds like he's yelling, but I have to admit he does the rock ballads pretty well and I agree with the judges that he's at his best doing bluesy-rock.
Next was Syesha Mercado. I think she does really well. The judges gave her a hard time last week and this week for choosing songs that were too big. I thought both were very good. Fantasia's "I believe" is such a production number that to hear Syesha sing it in a more simple way was very satisfying. She was definitely up to the task.
David Cook is Jaaromy's kind of singer. I absolutely LOVED it when he sang Lionel Richie's "Hello", and when I finally figured out what song he was singing last week(Billy Jean) I loved how different it was. This week was a little weird, but I like the weird rock vibe he puts out. I think I do agree with the judges when they say he seems a little smug.
Carly Smithson sounds good but for some reason I don't like her. I don't know why. I read on Hatrack.com that she acts like she's the one to beat and I suppose it's possible that her attitude has effected my opinion. I don't know, for whatever reason I just won't be super excited if she wins. I agree with the judges that her song last night sounded to angry for a show that was supposed to be inspirational. I hope(although I don't know why) that she goes because of it.
I like Jason Castro, I love that simple vocal with guitar sound he does so well. His "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was awesome. It's great music you can just listen to and be happy. I doubt he'll win the whole thing, but it's fun having him on.
Kristy Lee Cook has been second-to-last almost every single week. I don't think she should go yet, but I can see where her weaknesses have almost gotten her booted off. She sang Martina McBride's "Anyway" which I LOVE and makes me think I could actually like country music. She was a little flat during one of the verses but over all I think she did wonderfully. I think her version would be just as enjoyable(assuming she fixes her pitch problems) as Martina's.
David Archuleta, is there a cuter boy with a better singing voice? His humility just makes him more endearing. Last night wasn't my favorite of his("Imagine" was. That could have been sung in the finals it was so good) but he sure has a feel for the right ornamentation. It's amazing a voice like that could come from one so young.
I love Brooke White. She, like David, has a refreshing humility that has saved her in her not-so-great performances. I'm worried she'll go tonight because, while she sang well, it wasn't very memorable. Plus, everyone just did really well.
Very exciting!

American Idol

So I just started watching American Idol this week. I usually skip the auditions because they're painful and as far as the producers of the show are concerned, the more painful the better. So now that the auditions are over the REAL show can begin. I had heard that they're trying to do more back-story on the contestants and it's already begun. There were several contestants that they showcased that were immediately cut. I feel bad but it makes me laugh when these kids, who are barely 20, complain that their life is over. "This was my one big chance and now it's gone!" Ah, kids.
Anyway, a couple of people stood out to me. Brooke White was the first person to sing during Hollywood week. They showed a clip of her original audition and she mentioned that she had never seen an "R" rated movie and doesn't drink or smoke so I immediately thought she was LDS. Now she's in the top 24 so I'm sure we'll find out. Also, David Archuleta is from Salt Lake. Hooray! He's a very cute boy and he sings great for someone his age, or even someone older for that matter.
Another cute boy, Kyle Ensley, unfortunately was the last to be cut. He did really well with a Josh Groban song but it still wasn't enough. I just know we're going to have some guy that stinks in the finals and we'll all wish we had Kyle back.
Okay, now I have to talk about Josiah. He is actually the reason I'm posting this since it's really too early to be talking about the show just yet. The first time I heard him he had a nice sound. It was a little different. The back-story they were giving us was of a homeless kid who lives out of his car and is trying to make it in the music business because it's all he has. Well, his last audition was absolutely horrible. He never quite got it together with the band and so he sang A cappella. Big mistake. He sounds good with a band because his voice gives the song a certain flavor. Take the band away and you realize that he can't actually sing. His vibrato is too fast which means he's not singing correctly and is hurting his voice. So after that and all the crying he did about how this is all he's got and he doesn't know what he's going to do after this started to bother me. And here's why: based on his personality, his confidence and his emotional softness, I could tell that he was raised in a good home. The way he talks about how he's had a hard life didn't fly with me. I just got the impression that everything hard in his life had happened because he chose to have it that way. I figured that I could be wrong, but that's the impression I got. Before I posted this I thought I should check to make sure there wasn't something in his back story that I had missed as to why his life was so hard. Guess what I found! He dropped out of high-school, said his mom wasn't too happy about it and he's been living in his car. He also said that he doesn't think his family knows he's living out of his car. He hasn't told them because he knows they'd be upset and want him to come home. I was exactly right! So I'm glad he didn't make the final 24 because he needs something to make him go back home. All this crap about how he's homeless. He has a home, he just chose to leave because his family doesn't "get" him. It's time to be a man, Josiah. Go home, finish school, and for heaven's sake, toughen up a little!