Car burst into flames on I-15

Gabey and I were on our way to the airport, when we saw some black smoke ahead of us. There wasn't any traffic or cops, so we figured it must be a factory or something... turns out a VW bug had just burst into flames on the side of the road!! We passed by it quickly, and I was able to get a video. It goes by fast, so try to pause it and see the damage. It's crazy!!

The Theater Bug Bites Again!

I've been busy lately-- I've been very worked up about auditions for "Seussical: the Musical". I've been dying to play a lead role in this show since I first participated in it over two years ago.

At Rodgers Memorial Theatre in Centerville, UT, I had a blast playing a little yellow "Bird Girl #2". But I knew if I ever had the chance, I'd try again for a lead.

So, I've been practicing my heart out for two weeks. My poor roommates got so sick of my audition song! But it ended up going very well. I got called back!

Callbacks were on Thursday. I felt like it went really, really well, but I didn't want to get my hopes up! I've done that before and been very disappointed! But let's be honest, I knew I could do it this time, and I knew I'd done well, and I TOTALLY got my hopes up. I was sick to my stomach all day in anticipation! I literally had heartburn all day!

The funny part is that I couldn't even be home for when they posted the list online! I had my dear roommate Kendra call me at work. I heard the phone ring right at 6pm, and my heart practically leapt out of my chest. I was helping a customer at the time, so I had to put Kendra on hold. That felt like the longest transaction of my life! I finally bolted away from the registers and ran upstairs for some privacy-- I knew I'd be emotional either way it went. And then, she layed it on me...

I GOT MAYZIE LA BIRD!!!! I was shocked!! Mayzie?!? They think I'm mayzie-like?! Well... GREAT!!! :)

I've always pictured myself as more of a Gertrude McFuzz-- kinda nerdy and silly. But apparently they see sassy, flamboyant, and arrogant Mayzie potential in me! I'm not gonna complain-- I got a leading role! I'm excited to try something that's a little out of my comfort zone (insert all of your arrogant jokes here.. hahaha)!

So, yes folks. I'm on the stage once again. And I'm so freakin' excited.

YAY!!!!!

..............

Find out more about when/where here: www.alpinecommunitytheater.org

One of my favorite videos EVER

These next two posts are in the "laughing baby" chapter of my favorite funny videos of all time. There's nothing like the hearty laugh of a baby to put a smile on your face! I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Another favorite

How to Uninstall iShield Lite

I know this is kind of a random post, but I had to do it because I know there are TONS of people out there who have been trying to figure out how to do this, and have been stuck like me (I've been trying to delete this terrible program from my computer for almost a year now!). Your answer has finally come!

iShield Lite is a great idea, in theory-- it's an internet filter that prevents pornographic images from appearing on your computer. In reality, it's not worth the trouble. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. After the free trial expires, there is no way to uninstall. I was very careful when I chose it to make sure that wouldn't happen, and they were very deceiving and it said there was an uninstall function. Not true. There is a message that pops up EVERY SINGLE TIME you open any new window or tab that says:

"Your iShield Lite has expired. Please uninstall the product to avoid this message being prompted out frequently. Review help file to continue the service."

But there was no way to remove it! It's nowhere to be found under add/delete programs. It's not on any program or add-on list. But today, my friends, I found it!

I decided to try disabling all of the internet add-ons, and lo and behold, the pop-up disappeared! So I went through each add-on, one by one, and have finally found the culprit. What you'll need to do is go to the top of the internet window, underneath where you type in the webpage, and click on "Tools". There will be a drop-down menu. Go to "Manage Add-Ons", and slide over to "Enable or Disable Add-ons...". It will show a list of enabled add-ons. Just click on the one with the following information, and at the bottom left-hand corner of the page, choose "Disable".

Name: EventIntercept Class
Publisher: Guardware Ltd
Type: Browser Helper Object
File: ISIEEdit.dll

Make sure to hit the "OK" button so it will save your changes. Unfortunately, I still don't think you can delete it, but at least you can stop it from yelling at you every time you go online!

And for future reference, I find NetMop to be an excellent internet filter. It's worth the money (and it's not that much). You can check it out at www.netmop.com. No more free downloads, they're not worth the trouble!

Ironic

I find it ironic that this is what the dressing room curtain looks like at the TAILORING SHOP I went to a few weeks ago:


Correct me if I'm wrong, but they should have a few things lying around that could solve this problem...

A Kid Again!

Remember when you were a kid, and it was so much fun to swing on the swings? One of my favorite things to do was "the spider", where two people would sit on the same swing and face each other, so as to provide optimal swinging power. Well, my best friend Esther and I tried this out. Let's just say that on the first try, our plans "fell through."

On try #2, we were a little more successful. It's not as easy as it seemed like it was when I was a kid. I guess it's a little harder when you're both five times the weight of people who normally do this kind of thing... :)

How fast can YOU type?

537 words

Speedtest

Pretty amazing, huh?

What can I say, I just practiced a lot.

And I had Wheaties this morning.

Ok, ok... so I messed with the html coding. :) But here is my honest-to-goodness score:

134 words

Speedtest

To be fair, I did take it many times to get this score. The first time I got 71 or something. Take it and let me know what you get!

WARNING: this test is very addicting. Have fun!

Seven Random/Weird Things Tag

Wow, this is the first time I'm doing a tag post where I've actually been tagged! Thanks Lisa!

The Rules:1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


SEVEN RANDOM/WEIRD THINGS ABOUT ME
--------------------------------

1. I'm pretty sure I'm hypoglycemic.

2. I'm kind of in love with yellow duckies... I take my rubber duckie wherever I go!

3. I just ate a whole box of See's chocolates. And by a whole box, I mean I took at least a bite out of every single piece. And yes, the caramel ones are completely gone.

4. I've got a lot of OCD tendencies. For example: I jump every time I'm in a bathroom. Sometimes multiple jumps. I just feel like I can't touch the floor sometimes. I can't really explain it.

5. I'm a Bed, Bath, and Beyond expert. Ask me anything about sheets, pillows, blankets, you name it. I know what's up.

6. I have a recurring nightmare that I'm in a show and I'm about to go on stage, but I'm never ready. I'm always missing a part of my costume, or I don't know any of my lines and I'm desperately seeking for a script to cram at the last second.

7. I think I might actually be in love with chocolate. I could have a chocolate moo'd (with a banana added) from Jamba Juice every single day of my life. There were times where I almost cried because I didn't live near a Jamba Juice. And don't even get me started about lava cake...


Yay, I did it! I didn't know I could come up with so many weird things so easily...

Guess who's next??

Juji
Dad
Moni
Cece
Emily
Dave (aka Daryl)
Mom (when you get your blog up!)

TAG! YOU'RE IT!
(no offense taken if you don't do it. But just do it anyway.) :)

Gatti Pazzi!

Translation: crazy cats!

I love this video. :)

(gasp)-- GABEY!

One great thing about being in Provo is that I get to be near my little (big) brother, Gabey! It's fun because people can tell right away that we're siblings.

Here we are at the Vocal Point concert:

(displaying my camera's carrying case, apparently...)

Just chillin' in Esther's car:

Isn't it funny how you can tell we're related by comparing our hands? We have the same little wrinkles on our knuckles, and the same wide fingernails (not that I have any). I guess it helps that I bite my fingernails so badly that it looks like I have man-hands. Mini man hands, mind you.

Yay for family!

An Abundance of Animal Videos (or an A.A.V., if you will)

I've been playing around with my cool new camera lately, and it has the ability to take short videos! It just so happens that the only thing interesting I've had to record is a couple of dogs and a bird... None of them are more than a few seconds, so why not check 'em out? You know you're curious. :)

The first is of an adorable little dog I met the other day. Her name is Mandy, and she has a cute little trick:




Next up, we have Rufus. He likes to stare at me and do nothing. So I recorded him, and he finally had something to say:




And lastly, for your viewing pleasure, I present to you a short video of my mom's bird, making a lot of noise. Very intriguing, I know. But pay attention, because Birdie's got a surprise for you:



Note: No animals were harmed in the making of these videos.

A Day at the Market

The other day I had a chance to visit the awesome Westside Market with my mom in downtown Cleveland. It reminded me of when I used to go as a child. There are rows and rows of people selling gorgeous produce, and then when you get into the main building, there are counters everywhere with a variety of goods-- fresh meat, fish, desserts, candy... just about everything you'd want to see at a market. I wish I had taken more pictures! But here's just a few.

A beautiful view of downtown:

I had to get one of these beautiful concoctions!

Oooooh!
Aaaahhh!

Proof of how we say it here in Cleveland:

And I just had to stop in the little corner store with imported goods to get my favorite childhood chocolate:


Mmmmm, so good!

Four Things

So, I've seen this on a few other blogs, and I thought I'd participate! Feel free to do it yourself, and add more lists if you'd like.

Four jobs I've had:
1. Bed, Bath, & Beyond
2. BYU testing center
3. MTC custodian
4. Wendy's

Four places I lived:
1. New York City, NY
2. Charlottesville, VA
3. Westlake, OH
4. Provo, UT

Four movies I've watched over and over:
1. Moulin Rouge
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Dumb and Dumber
4. Zorro: The Blade

Four shows I watch:
1. Project Runway
2. Top Chef
3. The Office
4. America's Next Top Model (tyra banks=annoying!)

Four places I've been:
1. Milan, Italy
2. Pajaro Dunes, California
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Ogallala, Nebraska

Four people who e-mail me regularly:
1. Dave
2. Dad
3. Mom
4. Dr. Phil

Four favorite things to eat:
1. Lava cake
2. Spaghetti
3. Chips and salsa
4. Gelato (gianduja! mmmm...)

Four places I'd rather be:
1. sleeping
2. on stage (thanks for that one, lauren!)
3. somewhere I can eat lava cake
4. having a good laugh with Daryl

Four words I think are funny:
1. lozenges
2. jostle
3. Punxsutawney
4. ptarmigan

Kids today...

It's been almost five years since I've been in high school, but I can still smell the cigarette smoke from the bathrooms. And the occasional marijuana smoke (I can't believe I actually know what that smells like. Gross.).

But, even with all of my tattling through my high school years, no one has ever been busted for drugs at Westlake High school... until now!

The other day, two 17-year-old teens were arrested for use and possesion of heroin. HEROIN. Biology class not exciting enough for you kids anymore? Sheesh...

To read more, check it out here: http://www.waks.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122520&article=3246527

Hardy-Har-Har

The other day, I heard a joke on Leno and I'm still laughing about it. I thought that made it worthy to share here on my little blogerooski:

Recent scientific studies show that there has been a worldwide decrease in the number of frogs. There has, however, been a significant increase in the number of princes...

Ralphie!

When I visited Cleveland for Christmas, I was able to spend time at my sister Monica's house. Of course this meant hanging out with her adorably energetic dog, Ralph. Here's a picture of Ralph being "calm", and then another after all of his calmness wore him out.

Love you, Ralphie!

Let it snow!

Ok, people. I wanna know why everyone in Charlottesville is afraid of snow. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. I know real snow. For example, I remember many times where we had more than three feet of snow fall in one night. We're talkin' real snow storms.

As I grew up, there were many times where the snow was so bad they had to cancel school. But it was hard to get-- I remember waking up early before school to turn on the news and see if our school was listed on the bottom of the screen. I was frustrated many times, and I would put on my boots and begrudgingly trod to school.

Now let's talk about Charlottesville. It's like the city's never seen snow. Everybody freaks out. The weather report will call for a CHANCE of snow, and people are barging through the doors at my work to buy shovels, salt, and even sleds! In the three years I've been here, I've seen a total of three and a half inches of snow fall, and three of those were today. Before today, it's never even stuck to the ground. I do have to cut everyone some slack-- it really did snow last night. But I can't believe that three inches means a state of emergency here! Schools are cancelled, businesses are closed, and no one's on the roads. I had to go in to work today (my day off) because so many people called out because of the weather!

I think the snow is pretty. And I do agree, we should all drive more carefully just to be safe. Even a little bit of snow can be dangerous. But to swear off leaving the house? That's a bit overboard.

Drive safely everyone. It's a jungle out there.

Little Night Music Pictures!

Finally! The show is over and now I actually have time to breathe (and eat, and shower...). After striking the set (I spent a good hour with a power drill--it was great!), we all received a CD of pictures from the show, so I thought I'd share them here. Thanks to all my friends who were able to come, it made it so much fun for me. And thanks to all those who couldn't make it but supported me in so many other ways. I had an absolute blast!

Enjoy the pictures!

Anne and Petra, the maid

Now/Later/Soon

A night at the theatre

Oh so sad. I find out my husband is cheating on me.

A weekend in the country!

How exciting!

Arriving at the mansion...

Plotting revenge
Dinner

Silly, Henrik! What are you doing?!

Madame Armfeldt and her granddaughter

That's just a taste of this incredible show. So much fun!