Jazz Concert

I went to the Jazz concert this week and had such a great time. The vocal jazz groups were soooooooooo great! Their tones, rhythms, tempos, blend, resonance, and dynamics were sooo tight! They got into the music so much, the soloists were really fun to watch. The whole choir communicated really well with the soloists just through the looks on their faces and there body language. The soloists were very mature sounding and didn’t spread or push, their improv and scatting were fantastic. The soloists listened to the choir well while being accompanied; they all stayed together really well. As the soloists sang, the background had perfect dynamics, not too loud or too soft. All the soloists seemed very comfortable, and didn't really seem nervous, they were just there to perform and have a good time. Everyone swings with the music and looks so happy to be on stage performing for people. They were well prepared, experienced, and you could tell they worked rly hard and practiced hard! Ahhhhh sooo good!! You could see the soloists move with the music, they all have a lot of emotion and flowed with the rhythms. The background cords mixed with the soloists were so cool sounding, I love tri-tones! All the soloists had really nice ranges. I really loved the variety of songs, from upbeat, to smooth jazz, from romantic and eerie sounding, peaceful to delightful and happy. With so many differences, it keeps the audience attentive and on their toes. Jazz just brings me to my happy place; I don't know how many stations I have on my Pandora that are full of famous jazz singers, it’s my soul music!! I love to sing jazz, play it, listen to it, watch it…that's another thing I love about jazz, it's so fun to watch, and it’s almost as if everyone had their own character, they express so much, and it shows on their faces how much they love what they do!! I wish I could be a part of something as awesome as this! I'm definitely trying out for a vocal jazz group next year, no doubt!!

Kennewick Washington

So a couple weekends ago, we had a three day weekend, presidents day weekend. Sadly that was that last day off we have for the rest of the school year. :( Oh well I guess.

                Here’s where it all started. Monday February 15, 2012… Midterm’s week. Yuck!  And knowing me, I’m such a great procrastinator; I saved all three of my midterms till the very last minute. It was 8:00pm on Thursday night, 2 hours before the testing center closed, I was only a 1/3 of the way through my American Heritage Midterm, still had to get home and pack, and had to get up at 5:00am to enjoy a ten hour car ride to Washington, woo hoo! After I finished my test, I went to work out to blow off some steam because of the great score I got on my midterm. (#sarcasm) After walking home, I made some dinner, and sat on the couch, lamenting over how I’m going tell my parents about my test score. Anyways, then I realized that it was almost 11 o’clock and I should probably start packing for my wonderful weekend that I’ve been waiting for all week! Then my friend texted me and wanted to hang out, so being the procrastinator that I am, I invited them over and we hung out for a while. Long story short I ended up staying up all night and finished packing at 4:30am later that “night”.

                We were only on the road for eight hours actually, our drivers liked to speed. And we finally made it to Kennewick Washington! I still hadn’t slept because my friends/family and I were all too excited about our road trip, so none of us slept. By this time I had been up for more than 36 hours, awesome. We got home, unpacked, ate some food and just enjoyed each other’s company. I was living at my best friend Priscilla’s house, so I was with her family most of the time.  

Here is what our weekend festivities consisted of:

·         We went bowling

·         Saw a movie  at the movie theater

·         Had a Star Wars Movie marathon

·         Went 4-Wheeling

·         Went to a bon-fire down in the canyon

·         Had multiple dart gun wars in the basement

·         Ate lots of delicious Brazilian food – Priscilla’s family is from Brazil

·         I gave numerous piano performances for all my friends’ families

·         And met a lot of awesome people

I wish that weekend would have been longer, it was such an amazing weekend, I would relive it every day! I LOVE WASHINGTON!! :D

CTR! –Choose the Right

I have issues with talking to boys, mainly when I have to tell them that I don’t want to kiss, hold hands, or cuddle… I always get really uncomfortable.  I just have a hard time saying no, or telling them to “stop”. I just want to avoid all possible awkward situations, but I keep failing. So, I met this guy –who’s code name is Georg, as pronounced in the Sound of Music– in my new ward. We became good friends and nothing more…at least I didn’t want anything more because I was in no way attracted to him in a romantic way. But, I guess he thought differently. One night, I went over to his apartment with my best friend just to hang out like we usually do. We ended up deciding to watch The Walking Dead, which I had never seen before, so we started with the first episode. I was sitting on the couch between my best friend and Georg as the episodes rolled on late into the night. This show is kind of creepy so I was a tad bit scared. After gasping a couple times, and jumping at the sight of atrocious zombies, Georg makes a move and puts his arm around my shoulders. It was so sooooooo awkward, and I felt really uncomfortable. I knew this was going to happen, I just knew it. So there I was, sitting awkwardly, trying to figure out how to make him remove his hairy arm. AHH! I eventually gave in and just did nothing. Minutes later, he pulls me closer to his chest and tries to kiss me; I lean away, hoping he’d get the picture. How could he do this to me, he was one of my brand new friends.  There were so many other people in the living room sitting around watching the show, and occasionally us. UGH! “I hate my life” I kept thinking to myself, I just want to go home. As the night rolled on, he would still try and kiss me, I would once again, look away and ignore it. BUT THEN… it happened, he caught me by surprise. When he asked me a question, I turned to look at him as I responded, and then…. he stole a kiss from me! NOOOOO!! I wanted to cry. I wanted to go home, lie in bed and eat an entire gallon of Reese’s peanut butter cup ice cream! Why me I thought, why me? Why am I such a pansy, why can’t I just get some guts and tell him to stop!? The night ended and he walked me home, he stole another as we said goodbye. I closed the door behind me and ran to the bathroom. I felt so “dirty”, so I washed my face. Then I brushed me teeth and went to bed. That night, I prayed that I would have the strength to tell Georg what was on my mind and that I don’t want to be anything more than friends. A couple days later, Georg decided to randomly show up at my apartment. We sat on the couch and talked with one of my roommates. After she left, Georg moved in closer to me, as he put his arms around me to hold me close... I told myself, “Here it is Rachel; this is your chance, the Lord game you this opportunity to make things right before anything worse happened”. Immediately I said, “Don’t!” Georg was surprised and a bit taken back. After arguing about the situation for a bit, I straight up told him the truth and that I just wanted to be friends. He stormed out the door, with a distant, almost in-audible goodbye. Since that day, things have gone back to normal and we’re now friends like we used to be.   

I believe that my action of telling Georg the truth was very meaningful. It helped me over come my fear of creating awkward situations. I know have the confidence to tell a guy where our relationship may stand. I’m not afraid to speak my mind, in those specific situations where I may feel uncomfortable. I think that by accomplishing this comfort zone assignment, I have greatly aided myself for future decisions. Now that I have self-assurance and can trust myself to make the right decisions, I know that I will never get caught in an inappropriate situation. I know that I will be able to tell a guy if he is making me feel uncomfortable or if my future boyfriend starts to take things too far. I’m glad to have acquired this goal and am thankful for the Lord’s help in my life.

Spending Sunday's with the Family

My sisters' and I dressed up one Sunday and decided to take pictures. Every Sunday I go over to my sister's in-laws house in Orem for dinner, it's so much fun. There's always a bunch of people, friends, and family there. We eat great food, talk A LOT, and play lots of awesome games. I love spending time with family, especially on the Sabbath day.