Ashley Brown and Roller Coasters

Just like the title states, I went on a road trip with my dad. We stopped in Chicago where we went to the Museum of Science and Industry and saw Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee in Mary Poppins. Chicago is such a beautiful city and it was great to finally visit there. It is really different from other large cities. It is very laid back and not HYPER-active. When the light turns to walk, people meandor out into the road compared to running or pushing their way through when there is a break between cars. Everything closed early too.
The Museum was pretty awesome as well. We went on a tour of the U-505. That was pretty sweet, but let me tell you, I definitely would not want to be a sailor after seeing that. Too tight of proximity and some people never even saw the sky or deck for months at a time. BLEH! We also went into a working coal mine. That was pretty awesome, until I learned that miners make 125,000 dollars a year. Yeah, and I have been studying and practicing my whole life for hopefully half of that. Hmph.
Then we went and saw Mary Poppins. I saw it in NY with Austyn, and I love Ashley Brown, so it was an excuse since it is on tour right now with the original cast. It is such a great show. As stated earlier, it is hard to descirbe shows, but it is pretty cool how the stage just unfolds before your eyes and especially to hear Ashley's voice was pretty much amazing. It is just a great show and a spectacular tour as well. I am just sad that they took out Temper, Temper and replaced it playing the game. I do like the fact that Mary is on stage during the song, but it just does not leave the same message. Yes, it was kinda dark and disturbing, but musically, it is just quite amazing--and the tearing of the nursery?? So cool. Everyone should see it!! We had pretty wicked awesome seats too. Dad enjoyed it, but I do not think he cried and especially not as hard as I did...especially since I have a special place for Ashley and Mary Poppins anyway. I still cannot believe the ab control Gavin Lee must have....the visual effects are the stunning part of this show I guess. I also love the fact that bird woman says "Feed the Birds". One of my favs, fo' sho'
The next day, we went to Cedar Point, which I have been wanting to go to since I was 10. So GREAT! It was even better because there were NO! lines. Every roller coaster was walk-on-able. I do not understand me and my luck...everytime I go to Disneyland or any theme park it is like that. Sixteen roller coasters in five hours. They are way intense too. It has been voted the best amusement park for 11 years and there is a reason. The roller coasters are extreme. 450 ft tall monsters and crazy angels and speeds of 90 mph and launches up to 120 mph...CRAZY. I loved it. It is also full of many famous picture spots.We then went to Kirtland, OH which was really cool too. It was nice to experience that small bit of church history and to apply all I learned in my classes to actual visuals.

Now I am here at the College Light Opera Company. Brigadoon opens on Tuesday. It is pretty awesome here. The singers, costumers and sceners are AMAZING. The orchestra is pretty nice too. The shows will overall be great, better than BYU for sure.

Krista via Kelly with Lava, Nickles and Rain on top

So, I went to the Kelly Clarkson concert with my sister Krista. I basically know by name what, four of her songs--Since You've Been Gone, My Life Would Suck Without You, Never Again and Behind These Hazel Eyes. I was expecting to sing along to these four songs and then enjoy a nice time.

OK, let me just say that it was not only FREAKING AWESOME, it was really inspirational. I knew all the songs she sang, and now I am a Kelly freak. I bought a shirt that says my life would suck without you, and wore it to my lesson. Claudine was like, "Is that a Kelly Clarkson shirt?" Um, how in the world did she know that. I bet that Evelynn listens to her (haha jk).

It was great to see Krista one last time before I left, and it was so great to go to a memorable thing with her.

The concert was inspirational because it inspired me to not give up on practicing my Hindemith. I basically was like, what is the big deal. My recital is going to suck and I might as well just let it because I will be in Boston for 2.5 months. Nevertheless, her dedication and wicked radness made me rethink it. Juries went well, but I couldn't focus so I had a few bleeps.

Moe, Chris and I went to the Nickel Arcade on State street and we had a blast. :) We wasted what 15 dollars in Nickels playing that game where you just stick in nickles and try to knock more nickles off. Haha, basically, it was one of the funnest things I have done. We got 600 tickets, so we each got an animal print slap braclet, a ring pop and a fake tattoo of an artistic bug. It was really great. :)

It has been raining almost every day in Provo the past week. Whenever it started to rain, we would hop in the PT Cruiser and go Storm Chasing up to Y Mountain. We, being inspired by Twister, would roll down the windows and let the wind and rain blow through the car. Then we would bust out with Paper Planes and Rhianna once we got to the top. Fun times.

On Saturday/Sunday we went to the Soda Springs. They were really interesting...not what we expected (which was a hot wonderful spring), and it was basically a drinkable stream that tasted like stream tonic water. The cool thing is that it was ALL NATURAL! Wicked sweet.

Then we went to the Lava Hot Springs and snuck into the Spa, I presume is what it was. Anyways, the water was so hot that I thought the rocks were going to seer into my skin. Luckily they didn't, but then people showed up...workers and we freaked. Just as we were leaving, these two women started running screaming COPS! and we were freaking out. The workers of the State Spa let us into the bathroom, and then they told us when the police were gone and we bolted to the car. Overall, three hours is a tad too far compared to the two it takes to get to Filmore. The Filmore are not as hot, but they have more than one pool, and they are free. Moral of the story, don't do anything illegal.