shazzamber

Author: admin

  • TO DO Summer 2012

    1. Sunset +Teds
    2. Diamondhead
    3. Dole plantation
    4. Ala Moana + craziness
    5. Stairway
    6. Chinaman’s Hat
    7. Skydiving
    8. Shark’s Cove
    9. Aulani
    10. Waimea Falls
    12. Pounders
    13. Zoo

  • This is Amazing

  • The Cleanse

    I want to be healthy. I want to honor my temple and take care of it. I want to be able to run marathons all my life.

    But I want to eat what I want to eat!

    Unfortunately, what I want to eat doesn’t necessarily coincide with my previously stated desires. I mean, it does on some levels. For example, I love Mexican food. And everyone knows that Mexican food is extremely healthy. I also love pretty much all fruits except bananas and blueberries and papaya. Pretty much. And the list of healthy foods goes on. *Please note the healthy cheese in this picture.

    But then I also like other foods like ice cream and pie and pizza and pie and spam musubi and pie and nutella crepes and pie.

    So I find myself in a predicament. In my 20 years, I have learned that the aspect of my life of which I have the least self-control is my eating habits. Food– really good food, that is– is on my top 3 list of Greatest Things On This Earth. And if you have a polynesian bishop, who happens to make excellent food for his ward on a regular basis, sometimes you just have to support your bishop and your ward and consume the delectable spread of deliciousness. You know what I’m saying?

    What I’m trying to announce is that Madison and I are on a juice fast, and I am dying. That’s all. I’ve grown to love carrot juice. Coconut Water is pretty good, and V8 makes me sick.

    Check back with me in a week, and we’ll see if I’m still breathing.

  • Winter 2012 Quotes

    “I don’t know music.” -Lauryn
    “Wait, Mozart was Classical, right?” Lauryn

    “Did you know this was filmed in Hungaria?” -Madison

    “Amber, I just spilled chocolate on my skirt. I know that’s what you’d do if you were here.”-Sophie

    “Our ward is so handsome! I’m really glad I teach Sunday School so I can look out and say, “you’re hott. you’re hott. you’re hott.’ “
    -Lauryn

    “Is 1000 meters a mile?” -Madison

    “Sometimes I just want to make Heavenly Father a plate of cookies. …” -Janelle

    “That’s so Europe-esque.”-Madison

    “Les Miserables changed my life. Well,the music was absolutely fantastic.” “The musical that changed my life was Wicked.” “The musical that changed my life was Sweeny Todd.” -Suan, Amber, Dan

    “Have you ever just been sitting in your room, alone, not knowing what to do, and you just think, ‘I wonder how to blow up a dumpster.’ ?” -Shaun

    “I wish my life was in sepia, because I look beautiful in sepia.” -Sarah Tovey

    “Just go buy a smart phone.” “I’m too poor.” “Well, just have your parents buy you a smart phone!” “They’re too poor too. We’re all poor!” “Well, ask your grandma to buy you one. Oh wait, she’s dead.” “My grandma’s not dead!” -Amber and Madison

    “We all agree that music is among the most delightful and pleasant things, whether instrumental or accompanied by singing, so one might from that fact alone infer that the young should be taught it…” ~Aristotle

    “Listening to begining violin students is like getting a lobotomy.” -Katie K

    “Dell. It never says in the Humpty Dumpty rhyme that he was an egg.” “I know! For all we know, he could have been a violin!”

    “I’m just really hoping that no one else was thinking of asking me [to Winter Ball] because I would hate to have to tell him no. That would stink for the guy.” -Sarah C

    “Who should we invite?” “Do we have any other friends? [besides Amber and Madison]” “No, I don’t think so.” -Lauryn and Amber

    “I put Nathan in the friend zone right when I met him. But he took himself right out of it.” -Lauryn

    “I don’t see the potential for either of us to be heartbroken anytime in the near future.” “I just want to have this playlist to I can give it to other people.” “I wasn’t aware we knew any other people.” -Madison and Amber

    “Peanut butter and pie. That’s like you and Tessie in one human!” -Madison

    “Red hair can get you places. It was the bane of my life when I was a kid, but as I got older, I found that people really respect those of us with red hair. You’d be surprised.” -Dr. D

    “It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the cream of the crop.” “Um, those aren’t the words.” -Lauryn

    “Ian, don’t do anything you would do.” “Are you kidding? It’s Amber! She would kill me!” -Shaun and Ian

    “How old is your husband?” “27.” “How old are you?” “I’m 24.” “Oh, so it’s not that big of an age difference.” “3 years. But you can totally tell the difference. He’s so mature, and I’m just this insignificant little girl.” -Hilary and Amber

    “There’s going to be food there! Doesn’t that make you wish you could go?” “Well, I’m over food.” “WHAT? Food is what drives my life!” “I’m just done letting food drive me.” -A and Matthew

    “If I looked at buff as I am, I would be ripped.” -Dan

    “My uncle is the type that isn’t happy until someone’s crying. And he always tried to get kicked out of our family reunions.” -Clayton

    “You should crash Cassie’s bachelorette party and spike the punch with Kava.” -Dan

    “Oh man. I haven’t talked to [President Hinckley] in forever!” -Madison

    “Make sure I like this [on facebook].” -Lauryn

    “I don’t care if I bother people. I just care if they bother me. Which usually isn’t an issue because I just move as far away from them as possible.” -Madison

    “Go for it, Jonah!” “Um, she’s a black belt.” -A & J

    “OH! I was trying to figure out why LMN was familiar. It’s because it’s the alphabet!” -Madison

    “Peeps are just diabetes in bird form.”

    “You look like someone from a horror movie.” -Hilary to Amber C.

    “Can you give me an example of a low pitch in your daily life?” “Darth Vadar.” -Mariko and Eve (piano pedagogy; Eve is 9)

    “Lug, you taught me what a pet peeve is. You also taught me some swear words.” -A

    “You’re not all bananas. You’re all fruits. Some of you are peaches, some of you are plums. Some of you are mangoes. And some of you are nuts.” -DB

    “Chromatic trichord? That’s Satan’s theme!” -DB

    “It feels so good when it’s right.” “I feel like that’s a song.” “It is, but it’s probably not talking about a kazoo.”

    “The Second Viennese School loves the chromatic trichord.” “Did you go to that school?” -A and DB [the second viennese school is not a school. This was an extremely stupid question.]

    “Oh my goodness! That’s OMG, right?” -Dr. B.

    “You think Mozart makes babies smarter?” “That’s what my parents say.” “You throw this right back in their face: Zelda makes babies smarter.”

    “If you see a person with a nose ring, you know they’re evil.”

    “We are all walking-talking, ticking-tocking polyrythms.”

    “A 12-tone matrix is really child’s play.”

    “What do you call your mother-in law? Do you call her mom?” “No, I call her Louise.” “Oh, you’re one of those people?” “Her name is Mary. And sometimes I call her Gunther.” -A and DB

    “Guys in tuxes just make me shiver. It’s not possible to not look nice in a suite.” -Suzy

    “Do you have a question?” “No.” “Well, let me know if I can help, because I’d really like to help, as you’re doing your course evaluations.” “Now throw in a spiritual connection.” “You’re all going to Hell.” -BM

    “I don’t like Ms. When I teach, I’m gonna be Miss Blair.” “But when you get married, you’ll be Mrs. Blair. Actually, you’ll never be Mrs. Blair. You’ll have to be Mrs. Blair-Schlniklefritz. You can hyphenate that.” A and DB

    “I’ve never met a Matthew I didn’t like.” -Aria

    “You look nice, Brooke!” “I didn’t try.”

    “You have a very adorable sneeze.” “Does anyone have tissues?” “I have an umbrella.” -DB, Amber C., Hilary

    “As you can see, Milton Babbitt is quite old.” “He wasn’t always that way.” -DB and Aria

    “You don’t have an oven? So you can’t make enchiladas or anything like that!” -girl in ed class

    “You could do it like my wife and me and never date. We met at Institute.” -Dr. B.

    “Think about David slaying the Philistines. When you play Liszt, you have to take off your toupee.” -Bro. McCarrey

    “Don’t do anything rash like quite this class or punch your mother-in-law.” -DB

    “I’m down with cheese and crackers.” “Your feet are down with cheese and crackers.” -Aria and DB

    “Jonah. Oh ye of little Putlocker knowledge.” -Madison

    “Guys, my left hippocampus is just a trooper.” -Amber

    “If I had no morals, I would be a hippie.” -A

    “How does Jonah get so much sleep? I mean, he’s not a cat or a baby or an old person, so I don’t know how he does it!.” -M

    “This may sound odd, but I really like my teeth. Some of my worst nightmares have been about my teeth falling out!.” -M

  • FINALS

    Finals
    Facebook Fast
    Frenzy
    Frustration
    Food
    Fatigue

    Friday
    Finished
    Freedom

  • Easter

    Okay. It’s obvious that there is no tooth fairy or queen of England, but it’s even more obvious that there is no Easter bunny. Like really. Who came up with that?

    As much as bunnies and chicks and colored eggs and candy baskets are great (except Peeps, which are disgusting), the events that we honor this Easter day– the Atonement and the resurrection– are literally the most significant events that have ever occurred on the face of this planet, or any other planet, and it just hurts to see them disregarded, as things like poser marshmallows and oversized rabbits take the forefront.

    He lives! I know that He lives! This coming week, starting tomorrow, is finals week (Hooray! :/) and the only way I will have the strength to make it through another one of these weeks is through complete reliance on Him. Seriously. It’s always great to be in the testing center, and see a kid sit down and bow his head to pray before he starts his test. Without that, without a Savior who lived and died and knows exactly everything I feel and need, without being able to pray to Him, I would undoubtedly evaporate. I am so thankful to Him.

  • Rescue Mission

    I’m skiing down Wedding Ring at Sundance, onto the part that’s usually icy, beyond the bowl you can see from the lift. I’m cruising down, but I see a lone ski pole. Huh? I look another 100 yards down, and a man has crashed (he hit a rock; no shame there) and lost a pole. (Go figure.) So I yell down to him, “Do you want me to get this for you?” He nods, I grab it, ski down, hand it to him, and pass on.

    That was stupid. Is there any reason on this earth he might be hoping to just stay on that steep, icy hill, eyeing his pole, with no desire to do anything but stare at it? Or maybe hike back up to retrieve it? Nope. Of course he wanted me to perform the simple service of going like 1 second out of my way to pick up his pole!

    For some reason, I’ve remembered that ever since it happened, and I think it’s because I feel so dumb for asking a person if I could get him something he so obviously needed. Do you really have to ask permission to perform any slight act of service? I think not. In fact, offering service, without a solid promise or guarantee, might not even be whole-hearted. As Elder Rasband said in his Conference talk today, “Let me know if I can help” is no help at all.


    He used the example of coming upon a drowning person. Would we ask him if he wanted or needed to be rescued? Of course not. The same principle applies to every situation for every person experiencing any difficulty or trial. We don’t need to ask; we just need to do. My goal is to be more aware and service-oriented.

    And as long as we’re talking about Conference, it was awesome. Elder Rasband was my favorite talk (I’m always partial to any talk with any mention of my beloved Primary Children’s) and I also loved Pres. Eyring and Elder Anderson. Did you know that conference is translated into over 70 languages? I think that’s amazing. I love General Conference! Even if it means getting up at 6 am on Saturday and Sunday.

  • This is Real

    If you can’t tell what this is, I’ll tell you. It’s a missionary name tag that says:

    The Church of
    JESUS CHRIST
    of Latter-Day Saints
    Sister Blair
    Aukland, New Zealand Mission

    In print.

    That’s right.

    Please hearken back to my 10th year when I bore my testimony in Sacrament meeting, and announced to the ward that I knew that missionary work was important and that the missionaries were declaring the true gospel, and that I’d serve anywhere, but I was going to New Zealand.

    Well, there you go.
    Oh, I turn 21 in 10 months. Just thought I’d make that announcement.

  • Pi Day Again

    Remember that haiku I tried to write on Pi Day? Turns out I did it completely wrong. So, as pie is my favorite food, and an incorrect haiku is unacceptable, I’ve decided to write a second one. Please enjoy my Pi(e) haiku.

  • Kauai: Shaka Steel and Brass Ensemble Tour

    Last week, which just happened to precede several important tests, was a perfectly spectacular week. As I mentioned before, it was my best Thursday to Saturday so far (up to that point in my life. This week of course became my best week so far…). Why was it so amazing? you ask. Well, I went to the lovely neighbor island of Kauai! All I can say is we all gasped the moment we flew over the ocean and spotted the speck of the island, and only continued gasping (although breathing normally and taking in the crisp air) for the rest of the week. Gorgeous.

    Great parts:

    1. The members. Oh boy. They fed us so well! I tend to forget that as I eat at the caf everyday, but there’s a reason polynesians are so big. I honestly gained about 10 pounds, and I’m not making that up. There was some especially good butter mochi that I will never forget.

    2. The kids, of course! I think one of the very best parts of a tour is getting closer to everyone, and we really did. This is us:

    These are my fellow roomies:

    3. Our living conditions. The two beds I was blessed with rival my bed at home, which is making a very grand statement. This is a picture of the first bed Suzie and I slept on:

    The second one, that Erika and I had, was the memory kind that Brother and Sister Williams have, that sinks down and forms to your body when you first lay on it. Oh my word, it was amazing. One of the best Sunday naps I’ve ever had.

    4. The performances. We performed for the members at the church, and that was really fun. We also performed at a super nice community college, outside an outdoor hotel pool, and at a mall. Each went very well, and I think all the audiences loved them. Steel and brass bands are pretty unique, and very cool to watch/ listen to. What can we say. We’re awesome.

    5. The actual island.

    You have permission to be amazed. Oahu is lovely, Kauai is a different kind of lovely. I live in Paradise.



    6. The music. As I said, steel and brass are two awesome timbres, and playing the steel pans is one of the funnest things I’ve ever done. They sound so cool! I want to make a Jamaican club so we can perform on the steel pans at Culture Night.

    7. Just the experience. There was a time that we were eating yummy food under a pavilion out on some beautiful hike, and this other group of tourists came over. (They were a lot of old people.) We sort of told them who we were, and since we were a music group, then wanted us to sing. So Dr. K had us sing I Am a Child of God. Man, the Spirit was so strong! It was great. It was like we were all bearing our testimonies at once, in the way we all do it best. Music does that, you know?

    All in all, tour was fabulous. I’m hoping to be in steel band for as much of the rest of my time here as I can. I love being a music major.