I got a little emotional during the final home basketball game Saturday.
This video for the seniors gave me chills.
There's a lot of love in my heart for this team, espeically these guys who I've been cheering on for years. "Shimmer for Jimmer"? Yeah, we created that when we (and Jimmer) were freshmen. "Woosh Cecil" after freethrows? We were the pioneers. Now everyone does it and he gives us a thumbs up each time and its sweet.
It's hard to pick a favorite moment from this game, let alone this season. But on of the most epic things was getting all 5000+ students in the student section to dance, flash-mob style during a timeout. We practiced, we stretched, we were pumped. It was awesome! A standing ovation from the entire crowd, even President Samuelson and Elder Nelson? even better.
Watch this one to get the epic magnitude:
and this for the detail:
it was a rough week for Cougar fans, but today made it all better!
my thoughts on the matter: 1. has there ever been more acurately placed epic music in a movie trailer? 2. there goes my childhood 3. "I have something worth living for"=kind of lame, but whatever Harry, we all know it's all about love 4. Ron 5. so soo excited 6. I have the urge to re-read all Harrys Potter right now 7. I'm thinking I'll be Bathilda Bagshot for the midnight showing. or Pansy Parkinson 8. this will be...wait for it...legendary.
Reasons this is awesome: 1. watch Oprah. she has no idea what is going on 2. I so want to be a part of this 3. Fegie and Will.I.Am. that's all Happy Friday!
today I am grateful for rainy day runs, public libraries, great roommates, the Barlow family, new wards, karate kicks, testimony meeting, sample picture frame families, and new callings.
speaking of new callings, I am on the friendship committee. Somehow it morphed into the Cookie Monster for friendship, then "F is for friendship" and now we have been talking in cookie monster voices all day. quite delightful. so, on this unseasonably cold Sunday, I am grateful for this as well:
1. congregate in Barlow lobby at 6:40am for bagels. 2. board bus. Professor immediately puts in dvd of "Gettysburg". 3. try to sleep. 4. groggily wake up from half sleep with Stonewall Jackson fighting a battle re-enactment way to loud on the tv right above your head 5. get to Gettysburg.6. go through museum, movie and cyclorama. (tidbit--cycloramas are cool, but not as cool as the name implies. nothing cycled, except us.) 7. get on bus with Jeff the tour guide, learn everything about Gettysburg while traveling around the field. 8. get off bus. sit on cannon. take picture.9. Climb tallest look-out on battlefield (not authentic). All 121 steps, but it felt much taller. Soak in great view.9. go to General Pickett's Buffet, a total tourist trap for student groups. my thoughts...Pickett's Charge was a huge military failure, why would the buffet be any different? 10. Repeat steps 2-4 en route to Harper's Ferry 11. Wander Harper's Ferry, feel jipped lots of things are closed or lame. Walk across the train bridge for a fabulous view of the rivers. Skip a rock in the river and feel wonderful. 12. participate in/view Barlow American Gladiators/Curb Chicken tournament while waiting for the bus. Realize how awful your balance is.13. Get back on bus and marvel at the West Virginia/Maryland/DC countryside on the way back.
All in all, good day. I learned a lot, had lots of fun, and loved the chance to get out of the city and into nature.(this is looking at the site of Pickett's Charge. Can you imagine 13,000 people marching at you in a line 1 mile long? crazy. I still can't wrap my head around that style of battle.) And the whole day, I was totally quoting this scene in my head...love it.
Saturday: Up way too early, but morning was beautiful. We metro-ed to nearly the end of the line, then took a bus, then walked to a food warehouse. We scooped pinto beans into 1 pound sacks, and were so crazy efficient they had to tell us to slow down. service = fun. so does waiting forever for the bus. After a beautiful nap in the park, it was a sunset walk around the monuments, including the Washington, which I touched for the first time this trip.
Sunday: Stake Conference, broadcast from SLC. Our stake center is right next to the temple, so we ran over for a quick picture before the kind souls in our ward gave us rides back to the metro station, so 7th grade.
We quickly changed and ate, then headed down Penn Ave, past the anti-war protest at the White House and into the immigration rally on the Mall. I read later they think 200,000 people were there. It was crazy, and a herd of white kids in pastels def stood out. si se puede!Then came the main event, the health care protest. We pushed our way to the middle, then got ourselves on Fox News. yeah, we're hardcore. There were some crazies around us, but we totally got caught up in the chanting and emotion. At one point, a bunch of congresspeople came out on a balcony of the Capitol and waved at us, very much like that scene in Newsies when they look out the window at the singing people. we left when people starting reciting scripture and praying together--that was a little weird. I have my thoughts on healthcare, and I've heard a lot recently about stuff that happened at that protest, but I never saw anything like what they're saying happened. All I saw was a bunch of passionate people with a cause. Here's a taste of what it was like:
Sunday, March 7, 2010
happy sabbath!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
I know it's incredibly cliche, but I love the Olympics. so much. Every two years, I am reminded of their glory, splendor and stories. Visa says it so well: "Go World". The Olympics really do bring people together.
The last time Bob Costas graced my television screen, Whitney was getting married and everyone was in town. Who can forget that Sunday night, piled in my family room, watching Michael Phelps and the relay? amazing.
Now, every night the Olympics crew meets in the basement of the Barlow. We critique and talk and laugh and gasp and celebrate the triumphs of Team USA and athletes around the world. Because people can do amazing things, and the Olympics celebrates that.
I have a paper due this week about the Founding Fathers' ideas of government. I keep trying to do research, then I come back to this. I would consider it an educational activity.
maybe it was because I was sitting in a desk all day, but I thought this was incredibly funny. Last year, newsweek.com took President Obama's inauguration and other events and turned into a spoof of some MTV reality show. the guy who does Barack's voiceover is spot on.
there's a whole series that you better believe I'll be watching over the next few weeks!
also, I saw the secret service tonight. outside a swanky restaurant in georgetown. way to go, barack. I know where my next dining experience will be.
We took an intern trek around Capitol Hill yesterday on the way to an interview. I loved the architecture and found about 37 houses I would move into tomorrow. Once cute house with an orange door had boxes and boxes of free books outside for the taking, with paper sacks hanging on the fence to carry them. so quaint.
My internship sent me to deliver books to congresspeople on the Hill today, but I finished early and went next door to the National Botanical Gardens. It is the most magical place, and my new favorite place in DC. Here's a view of the Capitol from the jungle room.
A trip for cupcakes turned into an exploration of the Georgetown campus, when we learned that its really hard to fake going to that school. Hogwarts. seriously. Here's the charms classroom we happened upon... bonus points if you can name the spell I'm doing.
Oh...but the best thing happened as I left the National Gardens and walked down the Mall at sunset. There were cops everywhere, so naturally I stopped and checked it out. A police officer on a bike told me it was a motorcade and someone "that I would want to see". Hello, Barack! Sure enough, the motorcade drove past and I saw the silhouette of the president himself.
welcome to my new favorite thing for the next few months...
BYU Basketball!
The home opener was last night, and it felt so good to be back in the MC with the team. welcome back, Jimmer, Jackson and Charles. I'm excited to spend the next few months with you.
and we won. it felt great. loved that coach rose was back after a hard summer, loved that michael loyd jr is playing this year, but didn't love the new beyonce intro song. really?
