Date Night: 17 Miracles

So we're officially an old married couple. For "date night" we caught a matinee of 17 Miracles to be followed by dinner at (of course) Wingers. 

17 Miracles tells the story of the Martin-Willies, mainly from the perspective of Levi Savage. I enjoyed this movie from a religious point of view, but it was lacking from a "Hollywood" point of view.  One of the 'miracles' I didn't find too miraculous (*spoiler* -- the one of the girls and the snakes) and another I didn't quite buy (*spoiler* -- the one where the pie or whatever appears).  However, I was touched by many of the others and by the hardships of many of the characters. I wish they had broadened the story more, into miracles of all the saints as opposed to multiple similar miracles of the Martin-Willies, and I felt that there was too much of a focus on the love story of Sarah Franks and George Padley for a movie based on miracles. Overall, however, I did enjoy this movie, and it nearly brought me to tears. I feel that it definitely fulfilled the purpose it set out to. 

Honeymoon

For our Honeymoon Cass and I spent half the week in Midway and half the week in St George. Aside from my car troubles, we had a great time!

BBQ on the Patio! (I take awkward photos)

Tandem Bike Ride!

Went to the St George temple

The Dinosaurs Museum had an origami exhibit: I made a swan!

My failed attempt at a crane

Cass with his successful crane!

We saw Grease at the Tuacahn our last night in St George; it was great!

Wedding: July 18, 2011

Cassidy and I were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on July 18th, 2011. We were very blessed to have many of our family members and close friend with us on this special day! Here are a few pictures!

Here we are exiting the temple! Cassidy took forever to change and I ended up being the one waiting for him! I was worried he was waiting somewhere else or that someone let him leave without me!

Pictures outside the temple with the fam!  (Flowers! Love them!)

Flirting for the camera! ;)

At the reception

My "Princess Chair" where I would escape to sit whenever I had the chance! 

Overall I had a great time! Everything went perfectly!

*Hopefully the professional pictures will be coming shortly!* 

Do Men Make Better Bosses?

I vote yes. In my personal (and possibly limited) experience, I have found I like and respect my male managers more than their female counterparts.

Women seem to take everything much more personal than it is meant. I have had women managers tell me I need to be nicer to male cooks -- who cared not because I was being rushed and efficient. Not rude. I have always felt that please and thank yous should not be given simply because someone is doing their job. Many women, however, appear to value manners and friendliness over execution of a job well done.

A somewhat interesting accompaniment to this is that my male managers have consistently been more aware of the busy-ness of the business and allow breaks or slow-downs after or In lack of a rush. My female managers care only that we "stay busy".

Conflict resolution, I have found, is also easier with the boys. They can be a outsider look and solve problems between two employees. The female has a favorite, or a side she favors. Even in problems with managers, i have been able to sit down with him, discuss, resolve, move on. The girls want to know irrelevant details. They want to talk about it days later. And you show up in a bad mood one day and they take it super personal. Dude, it's not you. Now get to work so I can.

I know I prefer male managers a million to one.

What do you think?

Art and Entertainment

In my dance studies, especially concerning my thesis and Isadora Duncan, there is always the discussion of dance's role in society. Is it art? Is it entertainment? Is it art inherently? Does it aspire to be art? What is dance? and what makes it art?

I really think that any blanket statements about anything are going to be intrinsically incorrect. And with dance, it gets rather sticky. If you ask a dancer, especially a professional dancer, it is art, if not Art! (The A makes a difference) It is dance by its intent, and it is art in its nature.  I personally, have a very different view. I believe it is dance in nature and art and/or entertainment by intent. Three-year-old's dancing does not constitute art, sometimes not even entertainment. Drill team and cheerleaders performing at halftime? It is entertainment -- their intent is to entertain the crowd while the players are otherwise occupied. Modern Dance, however, can often be found artistic, if so designed, but is it not also entertainment? Or can one not enjoy the piece, rendering it artistic without entertainment? And what of other dance? Could a kickline be artistic? Can there be artistry in the lines found in the bodies of the dancers? In the beauty of a well executed kick or leap?

But then we get into the quandary of not fulfilling your expectations or intent as a choreographer. The choreography could be artistic but executed so horribly that it is not artistic or entertaining, or entertaining in its lack of artistry! 

All growing up I danced because it was fun. I enjoyed it and it gave me a work out. And I enjoyed performing. I definitely considered myself a dancer, and in a broader sense, an entertainer. Then I got to college and apparently everything I ever attributed to dance was wrong. I'm not a dancer [said with disdain]; I'm an Artiste!  But I just don't buy it. Dance isn't about art for me (I acknowledge that it can be and is for others).  Dance is for fun!! 

I just wish that the Artistes could see it from my point of view, too. Why can't my dance be entertainment because I want it to be? Because, honestly, what they consider to be Art can often be found a bore!

It's Not a Race

As a result of It's Not a Contest, I've been thinking about how it's not a race, either.  I see these little girls getting married solely because their friends are, not because they are ready to be married themselves. I just want to grab them and tell them that it's okay to be single!! It's not a race to the alter, to have children, whatever. Slow down. Take your time. When it's right, it's right. No need to stress out. I mean, look at me. I could have played the game, pursued some nice guy I didn't love but would make an okay husband, and married him.

But I didn't. And not to put myself on a pedestal, but it worked out rather well for me. And I now understand that it's because life is not a contest! It's like on Secret Life. These teenagers are all racing to be grown ups and missing out on the fun of being a teenager!

And whereas it's not a race or a contest, no matter what side of the spectrum you're on, it's important to remember that you do things on your own time. And your time works for you; you shouldn't shove it onto someone else or think that they are trying to be like you. I know this pair of sisters (and this is honestly truly not about me and my sister!) where the younger accused the older of copying her and her husband. She 'copied' by moving to Utah. By having children. By having a house. Which is a natural progression. So this paragraph was a little tangential, but my point is this: Your life is your life. Don't force your life on anyone else, or their standards onto you. It's not a contest; it's not a race. It's life and things will happen when they're supposed to.

My Guilty Pleasures!

ABC Family is probably my favorite guilty pleasure! I don't have cable, so it's not the old shows that I watch. It's the trashy teenager drama shows! What worries me is that they're on ABC Family and there is no way I would ever want to watch these shows with my family. And I really don't think teenagers should watch these shows. . . but I secretly love them. And now I love them online, so I guess it's not so secret!

Secret Life of the American Teenager
            &
Switched at Birth
  
are my two favorite. I guess it's because I think I'm so  much younger than I actually am, so I relate to these teenagers. And it doesn't hurt that the actors are actually, you know,  my age :) 

But can I just tell you part of why I love Switched at Birth real quick? I think it is so awesome that family members actually look like family members! The girls look like the mothers who birthed them! And it really is such an interesting commentary on nature vs nurture, from an unintentional, unintellectual teenage perspective. Okay, Okay, that's just an excuse. 

I really just love the drama!! 

Running Towards Death!

Wedding Countdown: 11 days!

The Checklist is almost completed. Saturday Mom and I took a vanful to Cedar and Cass gave me my keys. I also totally unpacked and organized the kitchen. Monday, Distribution Center Shopping. I picked up my dress and met with the stake pres. on Tuesday.  Today, I got my nails done. Bridals and Endowments on Saturday. All the announcements are sent. [more or less. I think I only messed up a few :)]

Somehow I managed to read, too. (but only Matthew books) 
-The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan -- good book, not my favorite of his, but a nice sequel to The Red Pyramid. I'm not as into the Egyptian stuff and at times the story is disconnected, but I will surely read the next in the series.
&
ALL of The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins -- which I totally loved (hence the super fast reading of the 5 books). They were written for children, which aided the fast read, and are totally at a children's level (which is why I made Jenn get them for Matthew for Christmas) and I'm not sure why I didn't read them earlier. Probably school! :P
The books are about Gregor, from the Overland, and his travels into the Underland, where humans live among various creatures of unusual size. Gregor is presumed to be the warrior in prophecies left by  Underland's founder and it is seen as his duty to fulfill them.  I really enjoyed the serious, the thought and plot were original.  Nerdy me really enjoyed the use of language and the differences in syntax between the Overlanders and the Underlanders. As well as the linguistic styles of the speaking animals. And character development was great -- even in the animals, of which there were many! I really grew attached to all of the characters by the end of book five. They were all fairly realistic.
However, I didn't love the ending, but I can see what Collins was doing, as well as why.  I just would have ended the series differently. But my ending would have been fantastical whereas hers was realistic.  Even though it was a fantasy series. Regardless, I totally recommend this. Go. Read. Enjoy.

The good news is, I don't really have that much to stress about! And please forgive my scattered crazy post! Eventually I will be normal! Or back to my normal. . .