Melissa's Blog

Hot Dogs: Rhode Island Style

2011-06-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

YAHOOO!!! Doesn't this look fantastic?? Tried this recipe I found on rachel rays website and it was SO good! The mustard definitely made it taste tasty too!I'd write out the whole recipe on here for you but i'm too lazy and it won't let me copy and paste it. So if you want to learn how to make these hot dogs, which have a ground beef mixture on top of the hotdog, then go to her website and search Hot Weiner Rhode Island Style. WAY GOOD! And will make it again!

Balsamic Chicken

2011-06-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Today I was looking online for a recipe that included chicken and peppers and I found this balsamic chicken recipe! YUM-O!!! It looks pretty nasty in this picture but it was very flavorful! Wish everyone was here to be able to try some of it. Definitely one of my favorite things that I have made.

-4 chicken breast

-salt & pepper

-4 T olive oil

-4 cups sliced bell peppers

-1 med onion

-4 cloves of garlic

-1/4 cup fresh basil

-4 T balsamic vinegar

Cook chicken with salt & peppers and with 2 T olive oil. Set aside.

Add remaining olive oil to empy skillet and add peppers and onions until soft. Then add garlic and stir for 1 min.

Stir in basil and vinegar and return chicken to pepper mixture and simmer for a few minutes.

I added a little bit of chicken broth to have a nice sauce to it. We ate it over rice and it was just delicious!

Orange and Orange Smoothie!

2011-06-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

So according to my sister's blog, I will now name my smoothies after colors :) today I made an orange and carrot smoothie, something that i recently tried at jamba juice and i loved it so much i bought one the next day! today I tried to make one, and no, it definetely was not as good as jamba, but it was edible! the only thing that I didn't like about it was the texture from the carrots but that would be solved with a juicer which someday i will purchase but a blender will do for now. i was amazed at how well my blender actually blended up the carrots! I wouldn't say my smoothies are ever that great tasting, but I drink them because I know they are healthy! I just got a way good amount of vitamin A today!

1 cup orange juice
3-4 long carrots
3 pineapple rings
a small amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice
a spoonful of honey

next time i want to add a banana and possibly some mangos.

that's all for now!

sorry the pic is sidewayz....

NO i am NOT getting married...BUT.....

2011-05-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

I bought a wedding dress!

For only $75 from DI! And no it's not even for me (i bought it for a friend) but it was a way good deal. The actual price of the dress probably is $1200! DI doesn't really know what they are doing sometimes but we like it! Like my big cheesy smiles???

TEMPLE FOOD!

2011-05-25T19:54:00.001-07:00

So this morning I was able to volunteer in the Boise temple cafeteria! I made all sorts of salads, pies, and cakes and then brought home some recipes because they all just looked so good! I wanted to have mom and dad try some of the food that I saw made so tonight for dinner I made them this chicken dish. I don't know what the exact name for it is called but it has poppyseeds and ritz crackers on top and it wasn't too bad! The chef said that when ever she makes it it's gone so fast so it couldn't be too bad and it wasn't! (ha that was repetitive) I wish i would have been able to take a picture of it all nice and stuff on my plate but I didn't think about it until later...so here it is in a bowl over some rice :)
Also I made this really yummy smelling orange cake that I HAD to get the recipe for and make it! I think if i would have done anything different it would be to use my cake recipe that I used for my other cakes. Its a lot firmer and way more flavorful. oh and the frosting didn't have enough powdered sugar in it so it was really runny... but i just love orange desserts! Natalie came over to help eat some of it because there was so much! oh and you do NOT want to know how fattening this cake really is!And because it's Julie's birthday today I decided to decorate it for her! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE! Don't you just LOVE the decorations??? :D

whiteboard

2010-08-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

this is my whiteboard that is up in my apartment. my friend kelsie drew the stick figures and wrote "lets get physical, physical.." (for all you glee fans you should know where thats from! :)) and some of the other comments are what kris wrote. i just love it too much to erase it so i took a picture so it would last longer :) a lot of these are inside jokes but they still are funny.

Rapist in Lincoln Park

2010-08-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

you all HAVE to watch this. this is a news clip and the next video down is a song. look closely for MoTab!

iTunes Version - Bed Intruder Song

2010-08-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

extreme home makeover

2010-08-26T18:33:00.001-07:00

the other night while a group of us went running we went past the house that the show extreme home makeover was working on right here in poki! pretty sweet huh? i guess the mom has 9 kids and just got through breast cancer or something like that.

hot dogs anyone???

2010-08-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

today shannon and i went to walmart to buy some food for the opening social this friday. we just had to take a picture of our cart which was full of hot dog and hamburger buns. :D

kathy van zeeland

2010-08-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

i bought a purse that i've been wanting forever! i'm really picky with my purses and i found this online and i liked it. but i'm not quite sure how much i like it now that i see it in person. i mean i like it but is it too much for me? i'm usually a really plain person and this seems really high fashion.. which it is.. but do you think i could pull it off? oh and i cut off my head on that pic because i was making a dumb face :/ p.s. i got it for a really good deal :)

Decorating!

2010-08-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

All my roommates moved out and the apartment was completely bare. I decided that I couldn't handle that and just wait for my roommates to come in and put up what they have to decorate the apartment ( who knows what some girls are going to put up) and Iw anted to make it all nice and homey so i went out and got some really good deals at DI and tjmax, ross, etc. I cannot get enough of DI! every day there is something different in the furniture section! here are some pictures of what I have put up so far. the transformation was amazing but too bad i don't have a "before" picture. Look at how adorable this lamp is! isn't that bird so cute? this is actually the last item i have added to the room and when i saw it i just had to get it because it fit so perfectly. i got that table at DI too! i love it! oh and i loved that bunch of weeds/sticks/flowers to put in the corner. now all i need is a pot.

i bought this clock at westwood discount for about $12 and got the candle holders at ross. i love these stores cause everything is so cheap! of course i couldn't have done my shopping without going to the DI first. this picture of the salt lake temple with the frame was only i think $4! what a steal right?? i'm going for the whole dark wood look and it was perfect. i love that picture of Christ. i got that at DI for only $2 including a frame. that would have been so expensive at the distribution center or deseret book. those pillows fit perfectly with the coach in the upcoming picture. oh and that rocking chair is sweet. my neighbors had it in their apartment and didn't want it anymore. so i brought it to mine. i'm thinking it defintely needs some type of cover for the cusions. and that little table...my new roommate chelsey made that a few years back. how awesome is that? oh and i'm looking for some brown sheets or something to put over that couch. its not necessary but it would look nicer.

okay, so this is my absolute favorite corner of the room. i LOVE the curtains i found. only $8 for both panels! we used to have really crappy blinds with that window and they didn't work at all and then i saw these curtains for dirt cheap at ross and couldn't resist! so i took down the blinds and stashed them in the side closet and put them up!. and the lamp even ties into it because they both have the same leaves. LOVE LOVE LOVE my front room! what do you all think?? i cannot wait to have my own home and decorate!

toss the feathers and shania twain!

2010-04-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

the other day was the ward talent/variety show. the theme for the night was "dress up like a celebrity" so my roommate shayne wore this custome and was shania twain and played a piano piece. i clogged to "Toss the Feathers"! its been almost a year since I've performed and I forgot how much i love it! i'm getting out of shape but i made it through the whole dance. dad was so awesome and edited this song so it would be shorter so i could do a solo routine. thanks dad! youre the bomb!

update

2010-04-30T14:00:00.001-07:00

i really should be studying for my finals right now but i can only do so much studying in one day! i bought some dark chocolate because years ago dad gave me some to study with. supposedly it helps you study or something. so i used that as a good excuse to buy some! i love dark chocolate :) can you guess what i'm studying??
this morning we had an IRC (Institute Representative Council) breakfast at 6:30am. it was SO delicious. I ate about 10+ pieces of bacon ( i lost count) i haven't been fed that well for quite a while. and the hashbrowns were amazing.

i am so thankful to be a part of the institute committee! its really been a blessing because i've been able to get to know so many awesome people here and make friends really quickly. it feels like i've been here at ISU a lot longer than just one semester.

oh so no real update on the "nose hairs" guy. ha oh well. we still talk but we kind of have to because we are both on IRC. i'm really excited for next year because i got called to be the vice president over the food and because it's such a crazy load Shannon Webb also got called as the vice president over food. i'm really excited to work with her. and we are going to be roommates this summer so we'll have plenty of time to brainstorm for the upcoming activities this next year.

tonight we have the closing institute social which i'm pretty excited about. A comedy group from BYU-I will be there and then we are going to have root beer floats and a dance.

so it is highly likely that i will be getting straight A's this semester! I'm mostly worried about my biology class though. I've gotten two A's and one C+ on tests, but 100%s on all the quizzes. but its my biology lab grade that may bring it down. for some reason i just can't get good grades on the reports. its so frustrating because i've taken quantitative analysis for chemistry and would get better grades on those reports than what i'm getting now in biology 101.... pray for me that i will do well on my final!

yesterday, mom and dad stopped in pocatello on their way to utah to see where i live. we met at the institute building and they were able to meet two of the institute faculty. dad and i also shot some hoopes in the gym but dads skills just aren't what they used to be. haha mom and i laughed really hard because he didn't want to leave until he made one. i'm not actually sure if he ever did make a shot...then we went to Five Guys Burgers and Fries. they have awesome burgers BUT the BACKYARD is WAY better. i am craving their food right now. oh and it was awkward beacuse the manager who interviewed me when i turned in my application was there. i didn't say anything to him though and i'm glad that i didn't get a job there.

here's a picture of mom with her ketchup! it was so funny because every time dad would want some ketchup it would be gone so he had to go back twice to get more because mom ate it all. she LOVES ketchup!

adventures

2010-04-30T13:52:00.001-07:00

cool shot of ben and nathan

look how much redder my hair looks in the sun!

probably one of the best shots of lindsey and i

we just LOVE jumping. it took about ten shots to get this picture. we never could jump all at the same time.

my friends from rexburg came to visit me a few weekends ago. we went on a picnic with sphaghetti and french bread haha and then attempted to fly a kite with hardly any wind. before ben and nathan came to pocatello, lindsey and i found a place to take a walk, so thats what we decided to do after we flew the kite. it was quite the adventure! here are some pictures! oh and after we got back to my apartment i accidently locked both of my keys in my bedroom so we spent the next three hours trying to card my door and do whatever we could to unlock it. finally my roommates fiance carded it! i was SO thankful that he got it open! unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of us trying to get it open. we have a funny video though, but i think lindsey wouldn'tbe too happy if i put it up :)

It's been WAY too loong

2010-02-23T13:01:00.000-08:00

Wow, so i'm finally getting around to updating my blog. Julie sent me a text the other day saying how it's been over a year since i've updated, so I guess that means i'm right on track considering I only update about once a year! haha.

But really...who reads this? Probably just my parents and siblings, and whatever I write on here is pretty much everything they already know about because I call them almost every day.

So, i guess i'll update you all with my life. I transferred to Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho! That has been one of the best decisions I have made in a long time! I love it here and I feel like I am actually ready for college, to learn, and get a degree. I can really focus here and the classes and schedule is so much more relaxed than BYU-I. I love BYU-I though. It was just way to much of a social atmosphere for me. ha that's what happens when you've been there for nine semesters and you end up knowing almost everyone on campus!

Well, two of my best friends got married this last year. Stefanie and Jamie! I was bridesmaids for both of them. They were beautiful brides! Jamie married Jarom Schmidt and Stefanie married Ryan Nelson. For some reason I can't find any pictures of Stefanie's wedding. My computer really likes to delete song from my itunes and my pictures....

um thats all for now! maybe i'll continue updating tomorrow

The Frozen Five

2009-02-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

hey! heres some pics of my band-The Frozen Five
I wasn't able to upload the videos....
jake-lead singer and 7 string guitar
matt-base guitar
stuart-guitar
bryce-keyboard
mel-drums!!
and byron came with me to give me a few tips!

2009-02-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

hey!

so right now i am in percussion ensemble and listening to a awesome piece called ogoun badagris or something like that. there are five guys in playing, and each part is a multiple percussion setup.

today i hung out with this guy name byron who is actually playing right now. we went to his apartment and jammed on his drum set for a while. it was so much fun! even though i really was suppose to be in my math class...i couldn't pass this uP! and i learned a lot of cool new things that i will be able to play in my bands rehearsal tonight. he may even be coming to my rehearsal tonight and help me out and teach me more of what i could play when. i'm excited!

anyways! i gotta go!

i'll add some pictures soon!

2009-02-08T16:13:00.000-08:00

Hey!

So last night I went on a group date with Brett to his house in Rigby. Here are some pictures of us boxing on the Wii! It was overall a really fun night!

2009-01-30T15:18:00.001-08:00

Hey! So I don't have any exciting pictures to put up here yet...how sad is that? wait! thats a lie! i just remembered i do have a picture. here is the time that jenni and i met chris veazey and we tried to climb a haystack. haha ya those are a lot bigger when you are right next to them and they are not easy to climb!

oh and here is a funny picture of jenni and i wearing our emo outfits from pacsun! i honestly thought that zebra jacket was pretty cool!

so today i orded my online scrapbook and for some reason it didn't recognize my address here in rexburg so i sent it home. parents please forward it to me when you get it. i can't wait to see what it looks like! if it turns out well then i'll continue doing my scrapbooking that way.

well i have a lot of homework to do this weekend! and i have a date tonight! the fifth but kind of sixth one this semester. woot woot!

love ya!

Back in Rexburg!

2009-01-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

Alright! I'm back in Rexburg and starting a new semester! But before I go into that I wanted to put some pics from Christmas break.

Some of my friends and I love going to this restaurant called Confuscious. It's chinese food and it is SO good! Afterwards we drove around by Hillside Jr. High and looked at the houses over there and the Christmas lights. It was so much fun. I love being able to come home and still have good friends from high school to hang out with. Yes, dad. we still hang out :)

look! no Jesus!

thats one big peppermint!

So yesterday was the first day of school! I think i'm really going to like this semester. I'm taking Chemistry 105, Math 111 Trig, Ed 200, Percussion Methods, Conducting, and Percussion Ensemble. I'm really only worried for my Ed class. There's just a lot of work, but i know i have time for it so hopefully i can commit myself to it. Chemistry is basically going to just be a review of a lot of what i learned last semester. I wish i just took this class last semester. I didn't even need the chem class that i took last semester but i didn't know that until it was too late.

I love having my own room! And only two roommates! Here are a few pictures of my room, one for each corner.

ha notice how my computer is at this blog page

well that's all for now. i'm hoping to take a picture soon of my roommates and I.

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-23T16:20:00.001-08:00

So for Christmas this year my family decided to meet in St. George with Emily and her family and stay with at her husbands family's house all week! I'm just going to say that this house is amazing. It's so big that Julie and I couldn't remember where the front door was the first night we got there. The drive here from Boise was pretty intense. We all woke up at about 5am last Sunday and were out of the house by 6am. The roads weren't too bad until we got near Sweetzer Summit, and that's where we saw a car rolled over off the road. Luckily we left early Sunday morning because the roads just got worse and worse. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to make it to Utah at all. We ended up driving for a total of 12 hours! I was driving my car from 6am to 3pm, but considering I accidently overdosed on my migraine medicine, I was so exhausted and I almost fell asleep at the wheel. So Jenni Johnson, (she came and stayed at my house for a week in Boise because her family moved to utah, so we were dropping her off) turned on some ABBA which definety helped me stay awake! I accidently overdosed because I asked Jenni for some pain reliever at about 8am and it was in my purse but she just saw my migraine perscription medicine bottle and grabbed two of those. So it was basically my fault for not even checking what I was putting in my mouth! I had already taken one pill that morning around 6am. My parents called our Bishop, who is a doctor, and he said to not fall asleep and also to go check my blood pressure, (because it is a blood pressure medicine, and for some reason it prevents my migraines from coming! :)) The last three hours to St. George were the longest. But we finally made it!

I have the two cutest nephews! Lincoln is only a few weeks old and he is just so cute to hold, especially when he's sleeping. he has so much hair too! Easton is so fun to play with! i can't tell you how many times I've picked him up to look at the christmas decorations because they include a train, which he loves, and Santa Claus, and reindeer. He is obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine too! We could do the same things over and over again every day and he still thinks its so exciting! And he's at the cutest stage where he repeats everything that you say. He accidently tripped and i said, "oopsie daisies" and now he will always say, 'oopsie doosies' I also taught he to say 'gansta' and Julie taught him so say what pirates say 'Arrrr mateys'

Erica, Julie, and I drove around St. George today. There are so many amazing houses that are worth more than a million dollars! The house we are staying in is easily over two million dollars... wow! The layout and the way this place is decorated is definetly how i would love to have my home be someday in the future. ha... ha...

Last night we all sat down and played rock band. It was a blast. i went all the way up to expert level on the drums for some of the songs. But really it's just a fast rock beat and actually pretty different than playing real drums. the singing probably was my favorite thing to do. Especially while singin Eye of the Tiger. lol

so basically my sister julie is amazing and will be famous someday. i just finished reading her first book titled, "Blue." I'm not going to give away anything about it but i will just tell you that i am NOT a reader and i could not stop reading it! I made her read to me the beginning of the second book because the first book just leaves you hanging and wanting to know more! it would be such a good series and a great movie! she definetly needs to get it published.

well thats all for now. i think i'm going to go play rock band with my sis!
this has been the best week ever!

here are some pics! sorry they are so small

finally!

2008-11-12T16:44:00.001-08:00

alright! here are the pics of my car! you like??

Way FUN Night!!!

2008-10-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

my friend michon came over and we got ready for a school dance! the theme was dancing through the ages. so we dressed up in......well of course... CLOGGING COSTUMES! one of my roommates friends did my hair and we got all dolled up went to the dance! may i add that almost every other girl was in a formal gown! lol! and we both didn't have dates so we were dancing like crazy and i really got out of my comfort zone and it a BLAST! michon then got asked to dance and so i went to the side of the dance floor because i felt dumb standing all by myself and i saw alan working at the sound system place so i went over to him. i didn't realize how much went into the sound thing. you have to pay close attention to who is playing when and making sure their microphone is good or whatever. he kind of showed me how it worked. long story short, we ended up dancing two songs in a row and he is a pretty good dancer! he asked me where i got my vest, and i said that it was a clogging costume. he said, then you must know my roommate, i asked, 'whos that?' and he said, 'ryan dutson' yup sure enoguh i know him. i clogged with him on the team last year. so ya we talked a lot while dancing and it was so much fun!

the funnest part of the night was just dressing up with my friend and just being crazy! here are a few pictures of michon and i before and after the dance. gotta love those clogging costumes!

101 Things About ME!

2008-09-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

Alright, so all my sisters were doing this so I thought I'd take the time to do it myself! Here I go!

1. I love spiderman fruit snacks and fruit jammers

2. My favorite color is green

3. I hate the feeling of lotion on the crease of skin where the inside of my elbow is

4. I used take on average about 3 Ibuprofen a day

5. I am the lightest sleeper and I wake up to everything! It's so annoying

6. I would love to be the drummer for any type of band someday

7. My passion is the marimba. I have to play it at least once a day to keep me sane!

8. I've been in college for two years now, and I am starting my third year of college and I still am not sure what I want to major in.

9. As of right now I am planning to be a chemistry education major with a minor in music or music education, but I am not declaring it for a while because I know that as soon as I declare it, I will want to change it.

10. I am very indecisive about everything... okay well mostly about boys and my major. ha.

11. I've really only had one boyfriend

12. I've kissed three boys... and honestly i'm not a fan of kissing...

13. I can't stand painting my fingernails and I hate it when my nails are long

14. My roommate, Molly, and I decided to go run a mile last night at 11 o'clock

15. I can be very shy at times but I also can be very outgoing and sometimes I do like to have a lot of attention

16. I learn instruments easily, ha except for cello. sorry erica.

17. I am not competitive when it comes to boys.

18. I got asked out five times this week but only went on three dates

19. I had a really good 21st birthday!!!

20. I think I am very picky when it comes to boys and dating. Guess I haven't found the right guy yet...

21. I enjoy studying chemistry.

22. If there were two things I could do all day for school it would be studying chemistry and practicing the drums or marimba

23. I am 5'8.5"

24. My feet are size 10

25. The only face wash that works for me is ProActive

26. I like to run and I want to start running every day again!

27. Right now I am in the worst shape that I have ever been in my entire life

28. I look terrible with short hair

29. I've realized that if I don't wear my retainer at night and if I have bad posture throughout the day then I have a greater change of getting a migrain. Cause and effect? or correlation??

30. I used to be able to bend my pointer fingers all the way back to the back of my hand.

31. The number 8 is my favorite number

32. My favorite dinner is sloppy joes and my mom's recipe only! No one else knows the secret ingredient for making them so DELIOUS!

33. I have been to 18 of the 50 states

34. I eat soy yogurt and drink soy milk yummmm

35. oh ya and i'm lactose intolerant

36. I own 7 pairs of jeans and my favorite are Guess jeans

37. I don't look good in glasses

38. One of my new favorite movies is Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

39. i love pictures!

40. i have sensitive ears

41. my favorite animal is a horse

42. i can't wait to have a family and be a mom :)

43. i love bacon, bbq sauce and coleslaw on my hotdogs. if you haven't tired it I RECOMMEND IT!

44. i'm really excited for julie to come home! she better come visit me asap!

45. i love my hair color and i am never going to die it. well...unless i go gray a lot sooner than i want to

46. it's been my goal for the past two years to be able to do the splits and i'm so close!

47. I really hope i graduate college...

48. roller skating is really scary. nothing like roller blading

49. i eat raw oats almost every morning

50. i used to think scrambled eggs were my favorite, but now i'm thinking that fried with the yoke a little runny is really good, especially on a piece of toast with peanut butter and jam

51. i wish i was really good at swing dancing

52. i hiked mt timp once

53. i've been parasailing

54. i've been to three rascall flatts concert, one n'sync concert, and one lonestar concert

55. i am currently wondering why mom and dad don't have a blog...??? they should do this too

56. i love sleeping

57. my favorite candy bar is twix or kitkat

58. i don't wash my hair every day

59. i wish rexburg had a bus system

60. i've heard a lot about how hard the chemistry classes are here so that really scares me to be a chemistry major. but i just am trying to have a positive attitude and think, 'well if my teachers were able to learn it then so can i'

61. i don't think rap is music...rapcrap

62. i have an interesting sense of humor and a lot of people don't understand it sometimes. but i appreciate those who do :)

63. my eyebrows are too far apart and i think it's because of the first time that i had my eyebrows plucked, but i don't want to regrow them out again. so they're probably going to be this way forever

64. i've had 10 moles removed

65. i hate having flabby arms so i try to lift weights a lot

66. i burned myself this morning while picking up my hair straightener and it hurt really bad

67. my favorite frosting is rainbow chip. i eat small spoonfuls everyday :) oh and they don't sell it in rexburg so i'm going to have to buy some more when i go back to boise

68. i hate eyes. looking at them doesn't bother me, but the fact that we can only see a small portion of our eyeball grosses me out.

69. i wish i was better at sports, especially basketball

70. i need 8 plus hours of sleep at night in order to get through the whole day without feeling exhausted

71. i am starting a collection of those willowtree little statue things that they sell at deseret book. i have three so far: Friendship, Free Spirit, & Thank You.

72. i love pepper on almost everything i eat!

73. i would someday like to finish some of the compositions i have made for marimba and other percussion instruments. and having them published would be really awesome!

74. i brush my teeth a lot

75. Where the Red Fern Grows is still one of my favorite books

76. i wonder what i would be doing right now if i didn't get involved in the percussion program here at BYUI

77. GAP chapstick is the best and the only thing that works for my lips

78. i'm a pretty fast typer

79. i'm in a public speaking class and i really like it! i'm doing an informative speech on the marimba!

80. i love byui

81. i don't like to use the word 'hot' to describe how somebody looks

82. i had 13 cavaties with my baby teeth

83. i'm going to take a nap now 3:07pm

84. 6:30pm....haha alrighty! where was i ?? wow i just had a great nap! :)

85. my calling in my ward is the relief society pianist

86. i slept through the relief society training meeting...

87. i was born in 1987, so that would make me 21!

88. i have to clean my ears with q-tips every day

89. i yawn all the time...

90. i wonder what my roommates are doing right now

91. i love angel food cake

92. i think my hair is getting too long and i need to cut it

93. i hope to someday own my very own Marimba One marimba...sigh... i'd love that

94. i love jason mraz

95. i am working on my very first booksmart scrapbook! i hope it turns out cute. hey! that's what i do with my money that the parentals gave me for my birthday!

96. i've had the same phone for three years now. i wonder how long it will last

97. i'm kinda a germ freak

98. i'm in a New Testament class and i'm reading out of the New Testament for Latter-Day Families and it makes so much more sense now! i recommend reading out of that book

99. i am not looking forward to winter in rexburg

100. it's only ok for daddy to call me missy and i don't like it when people i dont really like call me mel. especially when i never told them that i like it when people call me that.

101. wow! last one! i love my family! and i can't wait to go to utah for christmas and see my new nephew and all be together for the first time in over a year.

2008-09-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

roommates and pictures

2008-09-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

alrighty so i already wrote a way long email to tell everyone what is going on in my life but i wanted to post pictures on here so those of you who don't have facebook (parents) can look at them! after church today we decided that we should go up to the temple and take 'family' pictures. we all lucked out this semester and got really awesome roommates. oh and do you like my photo editing?? if you don't have picasa i totally recommend getting it. and its free!

..ok so i have tried to upload the photos but they are taking forever! dang it. they are so cute. the internet is so slow here and i have to go in the lounge to get it because we haven't been able to get any in our apartment....

It's been way too long!

2008-09-03T08:11:00.001-07:00

ha so much for saying that i will have more time to update my blog while i am here.... i guess i just haven't been making time to do this. i'm been keeping myself busy with so many other things that i am hoping that someday they will have been worth it. i'm been practicing marimba, clarinet, snare rudiments, flute, these piano profiecency (sp?) so i don't have to take the class and hopefully i will pass the test to test out of it, my ear training... i am so nervous for this class. and it's the only one i'm nervous for. i just hope i get better at it. and then i've started reading the book that i'm going to do my book report on this semester. i have to do one each semester for my percussion lessons. i choose "Percussion Instruments and Their History" by James Blades. It's really interesting but there is so much information that he provides. I just like to know the basics but he throws so much in there it's hard to remember everything!

today is my last day of work! yay! i work 12:30-5pm. I really hope it goes by fast. it's really hard to go to work during my last week. i just want to be done!
i've been packing all my stuff up and getting ready to go to rexburg! last night brett johnson picked up about five boxes of stuff to take in his truck. random that he would even offer. maybe he's making it up to me because pushed me out of my innertube a few weeks ago while we were floating the river for a FHE activity. i secretly hate him for that. everyone was laughing at me while i was struggling to get back up on my tube when it was going down the river. one other guy was trying to help me get on while he was trying to stay on his tube. brett, who was on a raft with three other people, including the branch president, bro. hathaway, just sat there and laughed at me. and i my board shorts were falling down and i was praying that my bottoms to my swim suit were staying up! i was so embarassed but pretended like i thought iwas funny....

but i can't wait to be in rexburg! either though this semester will be hard mostly beacuse i have 7:45 class EVERY DAY and i've been trying to wake up early this week but i am SOOOO tired. the earliest i've woken up was today at 9am... i better get it together so i don't miss my first day of class! i decided not to work this semester. i don't know what i was thinking trying to go to class from 7:45-3 mon and wed and 7:45-5:30 on tues, thurs, and fridays. plus homework and practicing and hopefully working out and having a social life so i can try to date and then have a part time job! i would probably go INSANE! i'm really excited though because i am moving into a new apartment complex with my friend molly and we really hope we are in a different ward! we have been in the same ward for three semesters now and are definetly ready for a change. i'm excited to meet new people!

yay! the parents got a new computer! i love it! it's so fun to watch youtube videos at their actual speed and not have to wait a half hour for them to buffer! plus i realy like xp.

well i need to get ready for the day! love you all!

can you believe i updated my blog?!?

back in boise!

2008-07-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

Now that school is out and I really don't have too many responsibilities here at home, I think I'll have more time to update my blog!
I am finally done with the most boring class, Music tech!!! And I am so glad I passed with an A. It was a good idea to take that class in the summer when I had more time to do the pointless assignments than during the fall, when i know that would have been the class that stressed me out the most. I also had my jury on wednesday and i earned an A-. Which I am really happy about. I messed up on drum set on the part that I thought i was going to do well on and did better on the things that i wasn't so confident about. probably because i was thinking more about it. im glad its over with though.
Dad came and picked me up Thursday night, after I spent three hours cleaning the kitchen and my room for white glove, and we started heading towards home. Three hours for white glove is actually really good timing! Then again, dad did help me out a little bit with the kitchen when he got to my apartment. Thanks dad! So I am finally home and will be here for 7 weeks! Yesterday, Stefanie Johnson, her dad, and I drove down to Boise State to meet Dr. Baldwin. He's the percussion instructor there and is letting me rent a marimba until i go back to school! so now there is this 4 1/3 octave marimba (about the length of the long couch) in our living room and i can play it basically whenever i want. too bad my hands are hurting lately.... yesterday i was so excited to play the marimba, i didn't really warm up which was a bad idea. i need to learn to stretch and relax when i play or else i'm going to have a lot of problems...
it has been a lot of fun being home already! i love the people here in boise! and i'm excited to actually start running and working out again... possibly even clog a little bit! i feel like i have no time while i'm in school, let alone energy, to even do a few crunches... and now that i can wear capris and shorts, because i can't on campus at byu-i, i need to fit into them! ah! i can still get them on but they are a little tighter than last summer...dang it.
tomorrow i start working at the gap again! i'm so lucky to have a job i can come back to even for a few weeks and make some money for school. i'm really not that good of a sales person and trying to tell customers why this is the best product and bla bla bla....but i am pretty good at selling those gap cards! my managers like me more because of that so come in and pretend like you don't know me and sign up for one! great benefits! ha :)

swim suit and computer!

2008-07-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

Alrighty! I FINALLY found a swim suit that looks good on me AND fits!! Isn't it SO cute?? I love it! It's a tankini and look how LONG it is. there's no way my tummy will show! I just wanted you all to see it now!

I can't be on here for long because of my dumb computer charger... i'm sick of this computer and really its not my fault that it doesn't work because my roommate tripped over it a few semesters ago and broke it. Starting this fall, everyone has to have a computer at BYU-I so maybe i'll just buy a Mac. And never let anyone use it and i'll keep it in my room when ever i'm not using it.

Well! today was long and stressful. i hate technology right now.

tomorrow i have my jury on drum set. i'll just have to do the best i can. i know he wouldn't fail me but i could get a B on drum set...grr.. wish me luck!

2008-07-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

So last night the scariest thing happened to me. i was in the living room just chatting with people on facebook and watching a movie with my roommate, casey, at one in the morning, when someone knocked on our window. so i get up and quickly open the blinds and say, 'what?!" and suddenly there was this really scary looking maniquin doll head thing that hair schools use that had black hair and a white face and it was hanging from a stick! i screamed and ran and basically hurdled over the couch! it was so scary! i had to have my roommate close the blinds for me. it was funny though. casey said that they did that to her last semester during finals week. i really wish i would have gotten that on tape though. i freaked out! ha. i wonder who did it.

one more week to go and then i come home!!! i miss being home. i'm kind of getting sick of rexburg sometimes... oh and i don't think i want to be a music ed major anymore because i really don't want to be a band director. i want to be a percussion instructor and teach privately and perform. NOT do all the things that come with being a band director. you hardly ever have time to play your own instrument. i just don't want to do all of that. and that would be hard to do when i hopefully have a family someday. and i REALLY do not want to do student teaching. so this way if i go into pedagogy or performance i wouldn't have to do that! but now i would have to think of a minor.... i really don't know what i would minor in. and then i have to decide if i'm staying here or go to boise state. i think i could get a way bigger scholarship going to boise state. i should talk to bro taylor about it though and see if i can get a bigger scholarship. i feel like with all the work that i am doing i deserve a lot more money than what just pays for lessons each semester. so if anyone has any ideas of what to minor in let me know! but i'm not doing chemistry or something like that because i just don't think i could handle all the work and i really don't think i'm going to use my minor anyways.

so life in rexburg has been pretty good! not much to say about it really.... um... ya go nothing really.

oh i had a migraine today for the first time in months! it was so weird. i think it has to do with how i'm sleeping. the past couple of monrnings i've been waking up and i'm just so sore. wow i do not miss those headaches. it hurt so bad. i don't know how i handled having at least two a day for the past six years. i'm so thankful for blood pressure medicine that prevents them! yay!

love you all!

you are the cheese to my macaroni :)

2008-07-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

too bad i'm lactose intolerant. i really didn't know what to title today's blog and thats the only thing that came to my mind.

i know i already talked about the parade but i wanted to put up some pictures of it. they aren't the best quality because stef took them from her phone but they are better than nothing!

i love the tenors! even though they weigh about 50lbs!

tomorrow we were supposed to have white glove checks at 10am but because a lot of girls will be out of town now we don't have to clean until we check out!!! now i have a stress free weekend and all that i really have to do is perform in the Savior of the World tonight and tomorrow night. i have been practicing SO much lately!!!Four hours on wednesday and four hours yesterday. Yesterday i practiced drumset for two hours and then marimba for two hours. i've been working on this piece called, "Dream of the Cherry Blossoms" which when i looked at it last friday, it was by far the hardest piece i have ever played before. but i've practiced a lot this week and now i can play the entire thing! oh! and on wednesday i had my first experience playing with a jazz combo. i was really nervous because i didn't really know what to play but they just said to keep time so i did. i played some jazz, samba and bossa nova. i am going to audition for jazz combos in the fall. i'm really excited about it because drumming is what will get me the most gigs and money... when i get good enough that is. :)
So i tried uploading a song on here but i don't think i can do that. so here is a video "Dream of the Cherry Blossoms." I love this song. It is so fun to play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJM9r3LJohA

Here's another peice that i played called "Two Mexican Dances for Marimba" but i just played the second movement. I couldn't find a good youtube video of Katamiya but if any of you want to you can look it up. the internet here is really slow so i wasn't able to watch all of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu2gqu9XY6E

sorry it's not the best quality.

Last night I spent three hours cleaning and packing my room! Parentals::: my friend marcie is letting me keep a lot of my stuff at her duplex for the break. its funny because you don't realize how much stuff you have until you actually pack it all up.

I've been going to a physical therapist lately for my hands and they seem to be getting better! i can practice for longer too. plus i have these awesome braces that i put on and they are so cute....ha not. i'm thinking of taking a picture and posting it on here but i really don't want to get up to get my camera. but the braces are better than the tape i had wrapped around my wrists. i got a lot of weird looks on campus. they probably thought i cut my wrists or something.

well i've wasted a lot of time today. i feel like practicing. thats the only thing i really seem to want to do.

Special day!

2008-07-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

So today my friend Marcie got married! Stefanie, Jenni, and I waited at the temple for her and her husband, Jaren, to come out for about two hours. So we took some pics and I wanted to put them on here to show you. Also, here's some of the wedding and guess what?!?!? I caught the bouquet!!! You know what that means...... :)

enjoy the pics!

Good date!

2008-07-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

so i just got back from my date with jaimon and it went really well! it was really easy to talk to him and we have a lot in common. and here's a plus, we were also able to laugh and flirt :) we got there really early and had a blanket so we played phase ten and listened to music from my ipod. then we tried making a cabin out of the pretzel sticks that we had and we failed miserably. ha. then the fireworks started and we had an amazing view! we were able to lie down on the blanket and look up at the sky and watch them. and we listened to some music on my ipod at the same time. when we got back to rexburg he walked me to my door and asked if i wanted to do something on sunday. so we're going to play games or do something. and then he gave me a hug, which was cool because he actually initiated it. a lot of the guys i have dated have not initiated the hug. so that was impressive. instead of going through the front door, he got a running start and went through the window that is in our hall. it was really funny because he didn't realize that there was about a foot drop to the ground and he not so gracefully fell through. ha. we were able to laugh about it though. anyways. it was a pretty good first date. and of what i know of him, i do like him.

i hope everyone had a really good 4th of july!!!

tomorrow my roommate, marcie, is getting married!!! so i'm going up to the temple to see her when she and her husband come out.

have a good night!
love you!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-06-16T20:41:00.001-07:00

so yesterday I began to write a blog but then my computer shut off and i haven't had time to continue writing. and i don't have much time right now because i have a date with this guy name jaimen who is from boise and we are going to idaho falls to watch the fireworks! he's pretty cool. we met in the drumline. he's a snare player. ha...me and drummers... we marched in the parade today and it was really fun but also VERY hot! i was sweating like a pig and i am so sore right now because tenors are the heaviest drums and they weigh about 50 pounds! but i loved it!

well i gotta get ready! have a good day! love you all!

long day...

2008-06-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

so last night was okay. we made popcorn which turned out really good. we put a surgary/maple syrup/butter mixture on it that was yummy. we ended up watching part of terminal but couldn't finish it because of curfew. the fort was alright. but i don't think any fort will ever beat the ones that we used to make in the game room when we were kids. those were awesome! as far as liking this guy... im not too into him... when he dropped me off last night i gave him a hug but it wasn't because i wanted to hug him. my roommate was in the lounge so he stopped by to say hi to her and told her that i'm awesome. so i think he likes me more than i like him. oops...why does this always happen?? i'm never going to get married! ha

today i work from 11-3 and then 5 to close which wil be about midnight.... long day! but it will be worth it. i went from only working two hours this week to about twenty! i'm looking forward to pay day. :)

today is so sunny! this is the best weather we've had for weeks!

i don't remember if i wrote about this on here yet but i emailed marimba one, an marimba company, asking about the pricing of their marimbas. Ron Samuels, i'm pretty sure he's the president of the company because his name is on the marimba we have here at school, emailed me back with the price of the marimba i want. $12,100. Bro Taylor said that is pretty good. i'm a third of the way there! Ron Samuels emailed me again asking if I had any questions. I want to email him back but I don't plan on getting a marimba for quite a while because I can't afford it. Maybe i'll ask him about their payment plans.

well i think i'll take a nap before i go back to work another six hours. good thing i like working there. i eat way to much custard though... its so good. the flavor of the day today is blackberry cheesecake yum! and the best hot dog there is the southern belle. i eat it almost every time i work. i'm getting fat....

emily i don't know if you got my email about wanting to visit you in california! i saw the video on your blog with easton and he's gotten so tall! i can't believe it! i'm missing out... :(

i love you all!

2008-06-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today was a really good day! I had a lesson with Bro. Taylor on timpani technique because I've been a slacker when it comes to me practicing timpani. I just want to practice set and marimba. And I told him that I'm not motivated to play timpani and he said, 'well i guess i need to push you harder' i'm so glad he said that because thats exactly what i need! i think he's finally realizing how i learn things! i need to be pushed and given a lot of things to work on at once. not just one thing. so we had a 45 min lesson and i practiced from 12 to 5. but during those five hours i also practiced marimba, set and tenors. at 5pm bro taylor came back to see me and i showed him what i worked on timpani. and he was happy with what he saw! so thats good. now instead of just working with the right hand i can practice the left hand too. yayayayayay!

so tonight i have a date with spencer. its not really a date but we're making cake and popcorn and then making a fort and watching a movie! creative huh? i'm really excited about it. oh ya for those of you who havne't heard about spencer he is my home teacher. and guess where he is from....Boise! funny huh? i like him but i'm not sure how much i'm attracted to him. but i'll see how things go. it told my roommate that he gets impressed with me every day. cute huh? anyways. i'll let oyu know how tonight goes. i'm really hoping that only family members are reading this...

wow i am so tired right now from practicing. i think i'll take a nap....

back pains??

2008-06-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

One more thing I forgot to mention in my last post. This past week I have been getting really sharp pains in my lower back. It happens at the most random times. A few times it's happened when I stand up. It hurts really bad. I feel like the girl in the movie Charly when she starts getting pains but I know its not that. I'm going to give it about another week but if it keeps happening I may want to go to a doctor and get it checked out.

Good night

Fine, I'll blog... :)

2008-06-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm really going to try to keep up with this blogging thing. I just need to get myself to do it. I think i have a hard time writing down things like I would in a journal but knowing that other people will be reading it when I post it.

So, where should I start? I really hope that the only people that are reading this will be my family. Am I right emily???

Today, I had my drum set lesson with Jay Lawrence, who I just found out today, won first place at a drum festival in Las Vegas or something like that. He's really good! And I'm sure he's getting to be well known in the drummer world. And who took lessons from him??? ME! He'll probably be here in the fall too to teach. As long as he's teaching, I will be taking lessons from him. I've learned so much more this summer than I did in two semesters with other teachers. And... he's says I have talent. lol. It's good to get a compliment from him. :)

I performed my first two solos on a marimba at a recital today!!! And my home teacher, spencer, who is from boise, came... :) I feel pretty good about my performance, it being my first time and all. I had practiced in that room to get a feel for how the sound would be but I didn't' think about the lights that would be shining on me. They were so bright! And it hurt to look at the marimba. So that made things more difficult. I couldn't stop thinking about, 'gosh i hate those lights right now' when I was performing. So i wasn't totally focused on the music and that caused me to miss notes. That is definetly something performance majors would have to take into account when they are on tour. Everything, the lights and sound, are different. But it was a really good experience for me. I want to perform as much as I can and get better at it. Now i am exhausted though. I focused so much and put everything I had into my performance and now I can actually relax. I wanted to go to bed early tonight but that probalby won't happen. I spend too much time talking to friends over the internet... :)

I signed up for classes in the fall the other day. so much for never having 7:45am classes every day.... all of the method classes are at that time.... these next two years are going to be crazy for me if I want to do my student teaching in the fall of 2010. hopefully i can get big scholarships each year because i probably won't have a lot of time to make money during the school year. music majors here go non stop everyday. they seriously need to have dorms on the roof on the snow building. i would so live there.

So i was thinking about it and I want to go see the Judd's sometime during my seven week break before fall semester starts again. When I watched the video of easton that emily put up i couldn't believe how much he has grown! i'm missing out! I want to see him so much and i don't want to wait until christmas. i'll have to see how much it would all cost because i have no money right now.
well thats all for now! i hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope i'm doing this blog thing right.
love you all!

My First Blog!!!

2008-06-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

So my wonderful sister, Emily, made me this blog! I am so excited and it is SO cute! Good job, em!