10. As much as working for Express Employment Professionals has been a blessing over the years, a bit of break has become extremely necessary in order to maintain my sanity.
9. I get to sleep in a place with real central air conditioning... ALL SUMMER LONG!
8. I can see all the DC sights - all of them! ...And all the parts of the Smithsonian that I'm interested in. There will ne'er be a boring lunch break!
7. Becki Byrd Wilson, my old (and maybe favorite) mission companion lives near Richmond. Thats only a couple hours away! This will be the first time I've got to see anyone from the mission since I've been home.
6. I'll find out if a career in Arts Management is really as cool as it sounds (and it sounds pretty dang cool!).
5. I get to meet Placido Domingo (I think)! The Three Tenors, the Metropolitan Opera -- Yes, that Placido Domingo! He is the General Director of the Washington National Opera and the namesake of the Intern/Apprentice Program.
4. Two road trips with mom. I've been on many a road trip with my mother, but never just the two of us. I'm anticipating some great bonding and great memories.
3. I get to work for a REAL OPERA! I'll be on the inside, in the nitty-gritty, behind the scenes, experiencing it all! Is it just me, or is that the coolest thing ever!?!
2. I get to spend a lot of real, quality bonding time with Nancy and her family. By the time the summer is over I will know the kids' routines, languages, quirks, etc. Actually, I'll probably know some of Nancy's and Richard's too! I am so excited to be able to really get to know the whole family. Plus, Naomi is actually old enough to remember it!
and the number 1 reason is... drum roll please....
1. What has become a quite complex and involved day dream (and don't think I came up with this all by myself): I go to my first day of my internship only to find out that one of the other interns is a member of the church too. And this other LDS intern just happens to be male, single, and have cute dimples. He has just graduated so he is fully able to move to Texas for me and he even knows how to two-step. One pleasant evening after work we go for a leisurely stroll around DC and have our first kiss on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (ok, that part I came up with myself). We then fall madly in love, get married, and immediately begin a life of opera-loving prosperity.
Yep. I'm a girl.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Would You Care to be an Ogre or a Smurf Today?
Sometimes I feel like my life isn't all that different from that of my nieces and nephews that my siblings blog about. Today my roommate, Heather, and I had our last Sunday dinner together before I leave for the summer - poppyseed chicken, corn, a failed attempt at fried green tomatoes (yuck!), and for dessert...
Vanilla ice cream with cinnamon and food color of choice. Mine was blue. Heather's was green (she ate all of hers before we thought to take a picture). We decided hers was ogre ice cream and mine was smurf ice cream. Then we discussed how cool this would be for a Family Home Evening treat. Thats when I realized that I'm not all that different from a four-year-old in many ways.
Vanilla ice cream with cinnamon and food color of choice. Mine was blue. Heather's was green (she ate all of hers before we thought to take a picture). We decided hers was ogre ice cream and mine was smurf ice cream. Then we discussed how cool this would be for a Family Home Evening treat. Thats when I realized that I'm not all that different from a four-year-old in many ways.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
the contract is out
Its official. At least two of my professors really are trying to kill me. I just can't come up with any other explanation for this madness. I am overwhelmed, stressed, and tired!
The bright side? In less than three weeks it will all be over. And, in exactly three weeks I will be in the middle of a fun-filled, memory-forming road trip with my mom, on my way to what I'm anticipating will be the coolest experience I've had since my mission. And, while the two professors in question have been haunting my dreams now for two semesters, I do not have to take any more classes from either of them!
So while I have oober amounts of work to do in the next few days and will probably be here at the library until at least 10:00 tonight, I just spent the last 45 minutes reading the blogs of just about everybody I know.
What can I say? You gotta have a break some time. Now back to Debussy.
The bright side? In less than three weeks it will all be over. And, in exactly three weeks I will be in the middle of a fun-filled, memory-forming road trip with my mom, on my way to what I'm anticipating will be the coolest experience I've had since my mission. And, while the two professors in question have been haunting my dreams now for two semesters, I do not have to take any more classes from either of them!
So while I have oober amounts of work to do in the next few days and will probably be here at the library until at least 10:00 tonight, I just spent the last 45 minutes reading the blogs of just about everybody I know.
What can I say? You gotta have a break some time. Now back to Debussy.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Pizza, Relief Society, and Ants on a Log
This week was one of the rare occasions when my roommate doesn't have to work on Friday. So, we decided to make it an official roommate hang-out day. This is what we did:
Lunch at DoubleDaves Pizza (famous for their pepperoni rolls). I had coupons for a free lunch buffet.
A one-hour time out from roommate hang-out day for me to have a Relief Society Presidency Meeting. This was my first meeting with my newly sustained counselors. They are amazing and I am so excited to see what they will bring to our sisters. Also, these are the daring two who will run things while I am gone all summer, but don't get released.
A very leisurely trip to the grocery store for supplies. Our Bishop is the manager so half the ward works there. A routine trip to H-E-B has become quite the social experience.
Heather made strawberry freezer jam. I watched.
A couple other girls from the ward came over and we watched the new movie "Becoming Jane" while snacking on ants-on-a-log, chips n salsa, fresh cantaloupe, pretzels, and popcorn.
After the movie we spent a couple hours girl talking. It was so much fun! I love being able to go a whole day without worrying about homework!
Lunch at DoubleDaves Pizza (famous for their pepperoni rolls). I had coupons for a free lunch buffet.
A one-hour time out from roommate hang-out day for me to have a Relief Society Presidency Meeting. This was my first meeting with my newly sustained counselors. They are amazing and I am so excited to see what they will bring to our sisters. Also, these are the daring two who will run things while I am gone all summer, but don't get released.
A very leisurely trip to the grocery store for supplies. Our Bishop is the manager so half the ward works there. A routine trip to H-E-B has become quite the social experience.
Heather made strawberry freezer jam. I watched.
A couple other girls from the ward came over and we watched the new movie "Becoming Jane" while snacking on ants-on-a-log, chips n salsa, fresh cantaloupe, pretzels, and popcorn.
After the movie we spent a couple hours girl talking. It was so much fun! I love being able to go a whole day without worrying about homework!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Silver Taps
Last night was one of those special times when I truly feel proud to be an Aggie. My roommate, Heather, and I attended (both of us for the first time) one Texas A&M's most solemn and honored traditions, Silver Taps.
Silver Taps was first held in 1898 for former Texas Governor and Texas A&M President, Lawrence Sullivan Ross. Since then it has been held for any A&M student who passes away while enrolled. It is always on the first Tuesday of the month when someone has passed away the month before (fortunately not every month).
Around 10:15 pm all lights on campus are extinguished. As hymns ring out from the bell tower, hundreds of students silently gather in Academic Plaza - an outdoor quad-like area in the center of campus, in front of the Academic Building. The Academic Building is built on the site of the A&M's oldest building that burned down in the 1920's and houses the Department of Performance Studies (and consequently all of my classes). Members of the A&M Corp of Cadets arrive with the rest of the students dressed in their formal uniforms and stand at attention throughout the ceremony.
Around 10:30 a faint sound begins to gradually emerge from the silence - the sound of cleats on concrete. It is the firing squadron slowly making their way towards the plaza in formation. After what seems like ten minutes, they finally arrive in the plaza and perform a 21-gun salute. After the shots fire, the sweet melody of Silver Taps is heard from the dome of the Academic Building. It is played three times, facing north, west, and south. It does not play to the east because the sun will never rise on that Aggie again. After the third Silver Taps is finished everyone silently leaves the plaza and returns to their homes to the even chimes of the bell tower.
There is an oft-repeated saying about Texas A&M: "From the outside looking in you can't understand it; From the inside looking out you can't explain it." Perhaps its true. I'm proud to be an Aggie.
Silver Taps was first held in 1898 for former Texas Governor and Texas A&M President, Lawrence Sullivan Ross. Since then it has been held for any A&M student who passes away while enrolled. It is always on the first Tuesday of the month when someone has passed away the month before (fortunately not every month).
Around 10:15 pm all lights on campus are extinguished. As hymns ring out from the bell tower, hundreds of students silently gather in Academic Plaza - an outdoor quad-like area in the center of campus, in front of the Academic Building. The Academic Building is built on the site of the A&M's oldest building that burned down in the 1920's and houses the Department of Performance Studies (and consequently all of my classes). Members of the A&M Corp of Cadets arrive with the rest of the students dressed in their formal uniforms and stand at attention throughout the ceremony.
Around 10:30 a faint sound begins to gradually emerge from the silence - the sound of cleats on concrete. It is the firing squadron slowly making their way towards the plaza in formation. After what seems like ten minutes, they finally arrive in the plaza and perform a 21-gun salute. After the shots fire, the sweet melody of Silver Taps is heard from the dome of the Academic Building. It is played three times, facing north, west, and south. It does not play to the east because the sun will never rise on that Aggie again. After the third Silver Taps is finished everyone silently leaves the plaza and returns to their homes to the even chimes of the bell tower.
There is an oft-repeated saying about Texas A&M: "From the outside looking in you can't understand it; From the inside looking out you can't explain it." Perhaps its true. I'm proud to be an Aggie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)