Fruit Snacks for Your Brain

Grateful for those who Make a Difference

2010-10-11T22:07:00.006-06:00

There are certain people in our lives who played an important part in our lives. Sometimes they don't even know the impact that they had. For an overheated missionary in Mesa, Arizona, in 2009 -- James was that for me.

18 July 2009, James, Sis. Farnsworth and Sis. Tomoser

Although I was teaching him about the gospel of Jesus Christ, he taught me a lesson in faith. A lesson that continues today.

Last week James came up to Salt Lake City to attend General Conference. It was a privilege to witness him take in the joy, spirit and awe that comes with attending a session of conference.

2 October 2010, James and I

I became the pupil again as James updated me on his life and his actions of humble faith became clear, yet again. Since last Saturday I've been able to put my life in perspective again. It has made all the difference.

I'm grateful for those people who make a difference in our lives.

2 October 2010, Myself, James and Michelle after post-conference dinner

A Summertime Story

2010-07-29T17:08:00.007-06:00

This is the story of four friends, 120,021 balloons and 3,924 fellow Cougars who wanted to be in the Guiness Book of World Records for the world's largest water balloon fight.

Sarah, Michelle, Marie and Katelyn are so excited to get started
they can't keep from jumping for joy!

The four friends are divide into their teams.
Sarah is so excited in her protective eye wear on the orange and blue team.

Michelle decided it would be most effective if an assembly line was employed.
She would hold the balloons and feed them to Sarah.
Look how many water balloons she can hold.
She looks so happy.

Sarah and Michelle also ran into a friend they only knew from afar Cosmo!
The friends were excited to have their first picture with Cosmo.
Now Cosmo, Sarah and Michelle are real friends now.
With Cosmo on Sarah and Michelle's team, you know blue and orange were victorious.

Without cell phones, the four friends eventually reunited.
They were a little more wet and had an abnormal amount of little rubber pieces all over them, but they were happy.
Happy WORLD RECORD HOLDERS!

fin

The Battle between the Screen and Paper

2010-07-20T23:16:00.008-06:00

I've been working as a writer for the external relations department at the Marriott School for almost three months now and I LOVE IT!

As a writer it should come as no surprise that I also put on an editor hat frequently; scrupulously evaluating my own writing and that of my co-workers. A question that has plagued my mind over the last couple months is:

"Why does printing a story make it easier to find mistakes and generate ideas for improvement when it's in hand opposed to the screen?"

After writing an alumni highlight for the magazine about an alumnae working to make her city greener, I thought about what I could do to be a little more eco-friendly.

So I tried something different - I self-edited my completed first draft on my computer, instead of printing it. At first I was all aboard and felt pretty good about myself. With a half smile my thought bubble was something like this, "yeah, I just saved another sheet of paper."

But after a few "greener" self-edits, I realized the edits I got back from my peers had errors I would generally catch. Simple punctuation mistakes or repetition of words in a paragraph, to name a couple. I also recognized my complete inability to edit on my co-workers screen while helping her with a specific question. It was as if I couldn't even see the words - I just couldn't connect with her screen. So I went back to printing and things seemed to go back to normal.

Which leads me back to the question, what makes the same words and punctuation stand out more on a printed page? And why?

I'm not the only one who has asked the question. I found this e-mail discussion among professional writers about the topic. I related with many of the writers comments, but felt particularly aligned with Robert's:

"I still find the printed word of a different texture than the word on CRT (cathode ray tube). I find this neither good nor bad. While I cannot read large amounts of text on the screen, I can write them. And edit them. A different kind of fine tuning comes when I hold the words in my hand."

I believe my style can be labeled as a paper heavy hybrid. Here's the process:

I edit on screen while the story is in development, until the first draft is complete. The words hit ink for the first time and my green or blue pen comes out and I see the story with new eyes. After changes are made it's printed again and sent to begin the official editing process, with a peer edit. Penultimately a printed copy goes to one of two supervisors and after as many revisions as it takes, a (hopefully) final printed copy goes to the head of the department.

How do you edit what you write?

Do you find a difference in editing on screen versus on paper?

Do you find certain types of corrections through a particular method?

Recalling Rosenblatt

2010-07-06T17:17:00.005-06:00

At an Omaha Royals game from the press box courtesy of a client while working at Paul J. Strawhecker, Inc.

As the reign of Rosenblatt stadium comes to an end this summer, Hannah Karp from the Wall Street Journal submitted a query, through HARO, for their favorite Rosenblatt memories. I couldn't resist the opportunity as an Omaha native and College World Series fan to submit my favorite memory. Although it wasn't published I enjoyed writing something outside of work and about a happy memory with my dad.

Enjoy.

Just recently my dad revealed he took me to my first College World Series game because he felt sorry for me. It was the middle of my softball season and instead of a glove on the end of my left hand, I sported a blue cast all the way up my arm.

We were late for the game, and I can still recall the aluminum “ping” that cut through the air as we made our way to Rosenblatt’s entrance. It was Game 10 of the 1998 College World Series, USC vs. Mississippi State. Our seats were even with the bag on the first baseline about fifteen rows up, just barely in the shade.

Although I can’t remember details of the game I cannot forget the feeling in the stadium. I could easily say it was the thrill of America’s game in the heart of its country. But for an eleven-year-old tomboy, it was the most majestic and breathtaking way for my dad and I to share our love for baseball.

With the final out, I squirmed my way toward the USC dugout. I leaned over with my cast dangling in perfect view, with the hopes of receiving some Trojan sympathy in the form of an autograph. To my dad’s surprise my plan worked and the third baseman, Morgan Ensberg, came my way. He was quick, but sincere in his well wishes for my speedy return to the field. Then we began the trek to the car, whilst I examined my autographed ticket stub, grinning ear-to-ear.
And that’s when it happened – I fell in love with everything about Rosenblatt stadium and the College World Series.

The excitement cannot be contained while waiting to go into a CWS game in 2007.

2007 College World Series Game

Click here to read Hannah Karp's article, "The Last At-Bat at Rosenblatt."

Abstract

2010-05-22T14:39:00.009-06:00

Hello friends!

This term I'm taking Intro to Photography, from Paul Adams. Here are the photos I handed in for my abstract assignment:

What are your thoughts?

Not that it's important for it to be good art, but I'm curious...

Can you guess what it is?

2nd Edition of the ABCs of Tomoser's Current Life

2010-04-06T20:13:00.017-06:00

Arizona! - I had an absolute blast being back in the place I love, visiting the people I love with my Mom whom I also love.
Boxes - lots of them. I'm going through all of my pre and post mission stuff for what to take to Utah, toss and store. Who knew I could have so much random stuff?
Cake - I really want to make a cake today.
Devonshire - the apartment complex I will be living in for Spring and Summer in Provo.
Easter Pageant - Even though I served in the Mesa Arizona mission I was able to see the Mesa Easter Pageant for the first time when I visited. It was fun to see all the missionaries working at the pageant and the pageant itself was pretty great.
Films - I'm catching up on the movies I missed, some good (Avatar, Blindside, Julie and Julia) some not so much (Twilight, New Moon) It's crazy I'm averaging about one a day. Any suggestions?
Guacamole - I'm obsessed with making this avocado based dip. Unfortunately there is no one in my family to share this obsession with. :(
Horseback riding - While in Snowflake, Bro. Turley took me out around his ranch. So much fun, I never thought I'd go horseback riding before I went swimming, but I'm not complaining.
Itouch - do I wait until September and get a Macbook with free itouch? Do I just get the itouch? Do I get anything at all? idebate.
Journal - perhaps to compensate for my lack of post mission journaling, I've been typing up my mission journal.
K - 5 of them. I will be running in the Provo City 5K on May 1. I'm super excited and am training for a new PR. Wish me luck!
Lois and Clark - guilty, very guilty of watching some of the third season again.
Marriott School of Management External Relations Department - my new employer. I start in a couple weeks as a public relations writer.
Nicole LeGrow or Hermana LeGrow - my best Omaha friend came home from her mission today!
Omaha is and will forever be my "Homaha."
Phoenix - not only a place I love but also the name of my first pair of Asics running shoes. I LOVE THEM!
Qudditch - for whatever reason that is what first came to my mind when I was invited to play Bocce ball at the Lussiers in Mesa. I was mistaken. But do enjoy bocce ball a lot actually.
Racquetball - while "playing" with my youngest brother we didn't keep score, but he kept track of how many times I whiffed it...12. Oh well.
Sewing - my grandma who is a master of a seamstress taught me how to hem my own clothes. Very handy for a shorter person like myself.
Thai Curry Chicken - I made this sweet curry for my family for the first time. It was tasty!
Underutilized - this describes how I've spent my time since I've gotten home. It's tough going from really busy to nothing. But I'll be back to being employed and a student in a few weeks and embrace this last little "pause" between my mission and official post-mission life.
Vacation - 15 days of March was spent on two separate trips (Utah and Arizona). Both were fantastic and explains how March went so quickly.
Winner! I won in a Yo-yo contest at our Stake Activity "A 100 years in 100 minutes." What did I win? None other than a yo-yo.
eXchanges - while visiting Arizona, one of my old companions' greenie had to go to the hospital. So I was able to go on "exchanges" and be my old companion's "companion" again, in my third area. It was FANTASTIC!
Yogurt - I have a bowl of Dannon All-natural vanilla yogurt with fruit (strawberries or blueberries) and granola almost everyday. It's my ultimate healthy, "I feel good before, during and after I eat it" food.
Zoo - Phoenix Zoo...check! It's more like an experience being a part of an environment that has some animals in it rather than seeing tons of animals.

To fix my apronless dilema...

2010-03-22T14:20:00.004-06:00

...I want this one.

Living Carefree at Home

2010-03-20T15:12:00.004-06:00

For the last six weeks I've been home chillin' with my family. One of the benefits of current benefits of living at home:

Working out in my maroon argyle socks without a care in the world.

Heck yes.

One Reeeeturn-da, Let's Reeeeejoice-ah!

2010-03-03T16:25:00.016-07:00

Yes friends, I'm back!

I completed my full-time mission to the Arizona Mesa Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just over three weeks ago on 9 February 2010.

My mission has changed my life, I truly loved it. I loved learning and serving with the fantastic people of Arizona.

There's SOOOOOO much more I could say but I'll leave you with a couple of facts and quotes that capture some of the joy, humor and overall experience of being in Arizona.

"Mesa Arizona, where you don't need a mirror you just look at your companions forehead." -Me

Despite serving in Arizona I had quite a variety of weather conditions Both of my Arizona winters were in "the North" at an elevation between 5,000-6,000 feet. So I experienced snow,ice and even got a chance to go sledding as a Zone Activity! The coldest I recall in Snowflake was 12 degrees. I also got to spend my summer in Mesa where it was hot! The hottest I remember in Mesa was at 120 degrees.

100 degrees of fun in Arizona! LOVE IT!

"Seldom has anything of significance been accomplished without superior effort, notable sacrifice and planned determination." -My Dad

I loved my mission and will always recall it with love and happiness. I truly gained a stronger relationship with Jesus Christ and marveled as I saw the miracles and blessings poured upon all of Heavenly Father's children.

See you March 2010!

2008-09-03T10:52:00.003-06:00

As many of you know I have been called to serve a mission in the Arizona Mesa mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will be speaking English and my service begins on September 3, 2008 and will end sometime in March 2010.

While on my mission I will have very limited computer time reserved for e-mailing family. As a result this blog will become dormant for the next 18 months.

For those of you who will be starved for the written word of Tomoser be sure to mail me. My mother has made a mission Web site for me while I'm gone at Sister Sarah Tomoser's Missionary Web site.

If you would like to know more about the church and what I will be preaching to the people of Arizona, please visit mormon.org.

I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church and look forward to sharing my testimony of it with the people of Arizona.

I'm grateful to have had you as a part of my life thus far and hope to continue that friendship. I wish you the best in all of your future endeavors, whatever they may be and wherever they may take you.

Signing off until March 2010 this is Sister Sarah Tomoser with t-minus 2 hours and 5 minutes until I report to the MTC.

Cool Item: the Jimi Wallet

2008-08-19T12:39:00.004-06:00

Just found out about the Jimi Wallet. (Check out the demo) They are a very green, recycled wallet that looks really slim, trim and awesome. If I had a reason to buy a new wallet right now for me or someone else I'd certainly be tempted.

Olympic Memories of the Past and Current Frustrations

2008-08-18T21:31:00.005-06:00

The Olympics has entered my life again and I couldn't be happier to have this international event part of my last month before going on my mission.

I love the Olympics, always have. The first summer Olympics I remember was in 1992, I was 5. My brother Stephen was almost two and who also shared my love for the 'Lympics (Yee-mpics) as young Stephen called it. (We still call it the 'Ylmpics among my family, gotta love those familyisms.)

A cherished memory of mine is watching the women gymnastics in '92 with my then small family with overwhelming childhood enthusiasm. Before the final landing was "stuck"my brother Stephen and I began competing in our home-style 'Lympics. Walking along the edge of the coffee table for the balance beam, cartwheeling in the open area in the family room for the floor competition and somersaulting into the Lazyboy for the vault. All ending with a dismount with arms raised to the sky, with smiles on our faces.

Fast forward 16 years later and my love and enjoyment for watching the gymnastics competitions in the Olympics is still strong. Unfortunately that enjoyment is often also thwarted by spikes of extreme frustration with the judging system.

I feel just awful for our United States female gymnasts. My family and I have audibly expressed my frustration as Alicia Sacramone, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liuken have all experienced heartbreak due to undeniable judging errors.

The only girl from China who actually looks over 16, Cheng Fei, practically kneeled on her vault landing and gets the bronze. Where Alicia Sacramone stuck both of her landings and gets fourth place.

Shawn Johnson is slighted in the floor individual competition when, although small, visible errors are evident in Romania's Sandra Izbasa who took home the gold. Leaving Shawn Johnson, who lives just a couple hours away in Iowa left with a silver.

Finally the most recent demonstration of the U.S. getting slighted was tonight in the Uneven bars competition.

First let me go over the current way of judging. Recently the judging of gymnastics has been changed and the "Perfect 10" of old no longer exists. Before the routine begins the judges determine the degree of difficulty of their score. After the gymnast competes they are judged on their execution. The highest and lower scores are removed leaving the final score. Also there can not be a judge and a competitor from the same country. Leaving the judges to be from fairly weak gymnastic countries, such as South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand, et. al. to determine the scores.

Nastia Liuken did a fantastic job with only one minuscule error (her legs separated slightly). Whereas HE Kexin of China (who I swear must be 12) had in my and the opinons of the commentators more visible errors. Nevertheless Nastia Liuken and HE Kexin received TIE scores.

Heads began to turn trying to remember what is done in a tie with the new system. In addition to the standard of removing the highest and lowest scores (seen in red), the next lowest score is removed (seen in green). Leaving only the scores of 3 judges to determine the winner.

G		Kexin HE	7.70	9.30	9.10	9.10	8.90	9.00	8.90		16.725
S		LIUKIN Nastia	7.70	9.00	9.30	9.00	8.80	9.00	9.10		16.725

Not only did Kexin HE receive a higher score than she should have, because of this poor tie breaker system Nastia left with a silver when she fully deserved a gold.

Despite these frustrations, I still enjoy watching the gymnastics and hope the poor judging will cease with the beam competitions tomorrow.

What are some of your favorite Olympic memories from this Olympics or others? Frustrations? What remaining event are you looking forward to the most?

I Make Lists: NYC Restaurants

2008-07-15T12:30:00.010-06:00

Some of you may know, many of you do not know but I like to make lists. Some more odd than others. Of course I make To do lists but there are other odd ones, a couple being a list of all of the cars I've driven in my life and the airports I've been to. Most of the time I never share these lists, not to be secretive but I don't think anyone else would get any pleasure out of them. But I've decided to share one that is perhaps of greater interest to those who followed my NYC adventures and to anyone who may go there in the future.

I've bolded some of my favorites and ones I would say shouldn't be missed, if possible (sorry about the PRSA Silver Anvil Awards) and linked to previous posts if possible for more detail about my experience.

PLACES I'VE EATEN IN NEW YORK

Restaurants

Harry’s Burrito (2)
Ollie’s (3 or 4)
Café Lalo
Carnegie Deli (4)
UN Cafeteria (3 or 4)
Dinosaur BBQ
The Little Place
Hot and Crusty
Francesco’s (2)
Junior’s
Italian Food Center (Little Italy)
Burrittoville (3)
Paula's Pizza (By Yankee Stadium) (2)
Galaxy Diner
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
Max Brenner
Dallas BBQ (2)
Applejack Diner
Famiglia’s (2)
Grey’s Papaya
Taste of Times Square
Mama Mexico
Sombrero
Carnegie Hall Catered Reception
PRSA Silver Anvil dinner
Tom’s Delicious Pizza
Stop 125
H&H Bagels
Zabar’s
Tasti-de-lite
City Pie
City 75
Coney Island Vendors (First Funnel Cake!)
Majestic Deli Café
1050 Bar and Restaurant
Chevy’s
Applebee’s in Times Square
Two Boots
Café Napoli (Little Italy)
Tom’s Restaurant
International House Cafeteria (?)
McDonald's (?)
O'Neal's Restaurant
The Shake Shack
Numerous Hot Dog, Shish Kabob Vendors

Other

Haagen-Dazs
Buttercup Bake Shop (2)
Europan (3)
Gelato Shop Ferrara’s? (Little Italy)
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
Caffe Palermo (Little Italy)
Pinkberry (3)
Coldstone
Serendipity
Starbucks
Magnolia Bakery
Numerous Pineapple, Italian Ice Vendors!

Almost every single place I ate was fantastic, the only one I would make a point to steer people away from and that was Stop 125.

Per the servers suggestion at Stop 125 I got a Jamaican Jerk Chicken. The Chicken was shredded with so much FAT, I couldn't tell what was fat and what was chicken! It was like a Russian Roulette with your taste buds and I quickly stopped playing the game. I just can't get my head around how the server would recommend that dish to me! I'll stop venting now.

What restaurants have you been to in New York on my list? What were your thoughts? Or any recommendations for the Mesa area, appropriate for a missionary?

O! What a Concert: Feist

2008-07-14T22:30:00.000-06:00

The newspaper is a wonderful thing.

Saturday morning I woke up and headed to the kitchen, poured myself a bowl of Honey Buzzers and searched for the newspaper. I realized that no one had gotten it from outside yet and delicately hopped across the recently wet pavement in my PJs. Delicately grabbed the partially drenched paper. Despite the drenched state of the day's headlines, I opened the paper and eyed the front page. In the left side column a select few words stood out: "Feist tonight...in Memorial Park."

Yes, it was Feist. Yes, it was free. I knew had an exciting Saturday evening planned.

My brother Stephen who had just gotten back from EFY came with me despite being quite exhausted from his week at EFY. I'm really glad he came because we had a lot of fun and although I would have gone by myself, but it was nice to have another fun concert we've attended as sibs under our belts.

The evening began with performance by "The Good Life" an Omaha band and Juana Molina from Argentina. Both were good, I was a bit more impressed with Molina though. Just as the sun fell behind the trees the main event began...

Feist was splendid! It was amazing to see her live. She is very good live, further proving she is a impressive vocal artist worthy of the previous Grammy nominations and Juno award she won.

Some of my favorite parts of the concert included when I left my exhausted brother in his lawn chair and went up to the front. By doing this I was able to better see the images projected on the screen. They had 1-2 girls who were manipulating the images projected on the screen, later revealed to be "shadow mistresses." (Just think of that listed on your passport, occupation: shadow mistress.) They had various cut-outs projecting birds or clouds, transparent colored fans and the coolest was when they had paint or pudding or some shape able semi-solid which one of the "shadow mistresses" manipulated to help tell the story of the song, "The Water."

Overall an overwhelming Tomoser thumbs-up. If you get a chance to see Feist I totally recommend doing so.

The ABC of Tomoser's Current Life

2008-07-10T23:17:00.012-06:00

I have been absent from blogging for (it's sad to say) almost a month. I feel so awful about it, I really do. I've moved back from New York back to Omaha and started working again less than 72 hours after stepping foot on Omaha soil. So I am bringing back the "ABCs Tomoser's Current Life" to bring you up to speed, in a cryptic yet hopefully creative way.

Arizona, of course
Blogs, despite the fact that I haven't updated mine lately I've learned a lot from PR bloggers
Compilation Surveys, I just finished entering over 200 surveys for work and am about to go nuts
Dresser drawers, I don't have any available due to redecorating. So I'm living out of a suitcase
E-mail, my work e-mail was programmed with my first and last name spelled wrong
Finding items for the mission, slowly but surely; long skirts are in short supply in summer :(
Going on the mission in 54 days
Hugs, my youngest brother Erik, hugs me at least of eight times a day (I'm going to miss those)
Interested in pursuing social media PR as my career path after graduation
Julio's, my restaurant from last summer is overstaffed and couldn't take me back this summer
Kissed at work, on the forehead, for my knowledge and efficiency
Linked In, another social media site I've joined (my profile)
Mamma Mia! movie soundtrack, from mom. Meryl Streep can sing, Pierce Brosnan, not so much.
New York Times, an article that I provided information to the reporter was published
Omaha, home sweet home
Paul J. Strawhecker, Inc. where I am interning again
Quick, this summer has flown by, the majority of the time
Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate a la Mousse au Chocolat, German chocolate treat for me
Shish kabobs, what we had for our BBQ on the 4th
Twitter, a social media outlet I'm now in love with (follow me at @stomoser)
Under the weather, I was sick for my first week back in Omaha
Wish I could spend more time with my friends outside of Omaha before I leave
X-rays, despite going to the dentist today I did not have an x-ray (no cavities, yea!)
Yankees, I had been a fan before, but after going to Yankee stadium I check the scores nightly
Zorinsky Lake, I biked around it for my bike's reunion after two months of being separated

(In same format) What are the initials of your name currently?
For Example: I'm SMT so,
Splinter, in my toe from walking the plank
Mayor, I was just appointed to be the Mayor of Mankato (it's the kitchen parts capital of the world)
Treetops, where I prefer to sleep

These were obviously made up, but I want to hear something true about what's current in your life using your initials.

Word of Mouth Genius

2008-06-16T19:56:00.005-06:00

PR post: Todd Defren's blog "PR-Squared" is my favorite PR blog, possibly my favorite blog period. He has great insights for the future of PR, with an emphasis on social media.

I have to ask the same question Defren did, "Is BzzAgent Dave Balter a Genius?"

Balter has written "The Word of Mouth Manuel, Volume II."

The book is $45 and limited copies were printed.

My initial thoughts: "$45 bucks! And there's only a few printed, what's he trying to pull?"

BUT...

Balter asked 20 popular bloggers (Defren being one of them) to post about his book. On the 20 selected bloggers post there is a link to get the entire book for FREE!

My fully informed thoughts: Genius, pure genius.

My PR friends (or anyone else for that matter) go to Defen's blog, click on the link to download the book or just click here. I'd also recommend that you add Defren's blog to your RSS feed.

I've just skimmed the first few pages and I'm planning on reading it through.

I really have to hand it to Balter, he is promoting his book through the means he is discussing. Pretty smooth, pretty smooth.

I GOT MY MISSION CALL!

2008-06-10T22:27:00.003-06:00

I have been called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have been assigned to labor in the Arizona Mesa Mission. I report Wednesday, 3 September 2008, English speaking.

I'm in the 'Zona!

This is a super rough sketch of my mission boundries.
It has part of Phoenix, all of Scottsdale, Mesa (obviously).
It also has the Navajo reservations in the Eastern part of Arizona.
But no Tempe or Gilbert.

I'm really excited to preach the gospel to the people of the great state of Arizona. Although I had thought I would serve foreign, I know that this is the right mission for me, with people waiting to hear about the gospel from me.

For those of you wondering who guessed the closest, the winner is my cousin Katie who guessed New Mexico.

I have much more to blog about NYC wise but I've been really busy this last week with our big event on June 4th at Carnegie Hall for work and 4 of my extended family arrived on Thursday night. But I'll do my best to get blogging!

Eradicating Grammar Errors

2008-06-05T10:09:00.004-06:00

I thought I'd take a break from my NYC story telling and post this article one of my professors posted on his blog titled, "Typo Personalities: Armed with Sharpies, erasers and righteous indignation, two apostles of the apostrophe make it their crusade to rid the world of bad signs."

Read it, it's great. They are grammar heroes.

Maybe I am a Lucky Person

2008-06-01T15:39:00.002-06:00

In the public affairs office where I work there is senior missionary couple, the Howells. I think they are great. They have a son visiting in NYC, so after work on Wednesday the Howells said they were going to Wicked to try and win the lottery so Sam could go.

Background info: Wicked the musical has a lottery system for 26 seats for each show. You put your name and how many tickets you would like (max. 2) and put it in for the lottery before two hours before curtain. The tickets are for the front row, for $26.25 a ticket and must be paid in cash.

I said I wasn't doing anything right after work and would go to try and help increase the chances. We didn't win.

Thursday however luck hit me in the face. After submitting our names Rita (the other intern I work with), Sam, Elder and Sister Howell and a fellow BYU Comms Intern, Alina, and I were talking. We were engaged in conversation when I hear "Sarah To-moser." I was hardly paying attention, and didn't even realize they had started and I was the first name to be picked!!!

So Sam and I got to see Wicked from the front row! It was really amazing, I saw Wicked last summer in Chicago and was really pleased with it. I walked away thinking that was really good, but I didn't understand the HUGE amount of adoration people had given it. After this time I walked away perhaps more impressed because I was able to see everything up close. I was able to see the costumes and the intricate detail put into each piece. Plus, I was given the soundtrack for Christmas and have been able to know the songs. So it was really awesome to be able to hear the CD played out for me live, and so well done! I really am a fan, did I buy a shirt or any other memorabilia? No. Did I wish I did? No. But it is for sure an amazing show and would give an extremely high recommendation to anyone.

Chocolate...a food that always brings happiness

2008-05-31T14:57:00.008-06:00

It's been a chocolate filled week and I am more than okay with that. First Kaitlyn, Allison, her friend who I also knew from before Sam and I went to Max Brenner on Tuesday night for dinner and deserts. Max Brenner is known as "Chocolate by the Bald Man." Kaitlyn and I split a pulled pork crepe which was fantastic. I'm so glad she saw that on the menu. Then the four of us split three desserts all seen below.

(From left to right: Allison, me, Kaitlyn, Sam)

Yesterday after exploring the Metropolitan Art Museum Rebecca, Sharlene and I met up with Alina and Irasema at Serendipity. Where Rebecca and I split a "Can't Say No Sundae." It was extremely good and just the right size for splitting. I would have been sick if I ate it by myself. (Sorry this picture isn't that great, I forgot to adjust it from it's previous setting.)

Mhmmmmmmm...chocolate

Where in the World will Sarah serve her mission?

2008-05-31T14:42:00.004-06:00

As mentioned in at least one earlier post I want to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I submitted my papers on May 24th and was informed yesterday (30 May) by my BYU Bishop that according to things online, my call had been issued. So I'm just waiting for the US Postal Service to do it's stuff and expecting it to arrive Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. I'm really excited and can't wait to find out where I go!

This is the picture I submitted for my Mission Papers

A Memorial Day on/near the Water

2008-05-27T21:13:00.023-06:00

On a Ship...

After sleeping in until about 10 a.m. Rebecca and I set off to have one of my favorite days in New York. We went to Fleet Week at Pier 88 where we went aboard the U.S.S. Kearsarge. It was huge! I was also glad I was able to do something actually pertaining to Memorial day. Plus it was a great experience to be on an aircraft carrier, which is what my Grandpa Westphal was on when he was in the Navy in WWII.

On a Boat...

After getting a burger at Galaxy Diner, Rebecca and I strolled through Central Park until we rowed our rowboat on the Lake in Central Park. It was way fun and it was such a beautiful day to do it.

On a Bridge...

Then Rebecca and I took the subway down and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was really enjoyable. At the other end we endured the line and some more of our friends met up with us and we got the famous Grimaldi's Pizza. Let me say this, it's not just famous because it's under the Brooklyn bridge, it is DANG good pizza. We then got ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, also famous for a reason. It's so creamy! Really is a great thing to do if you get a chance.

Our night concluded by walking back across the bridge to return to our home of Manhattan island. The coolest part of our walk back is currently the Brooklyn Bridge is celebrating it's 125th Anniversary, as part of the celebration at night different color lights are projected onto the bridge. It was awesome! And photography is a growing hobby of mine now, I took TONS of pictures and have picked out the best.

America's Favorite Past-time

2008-05-25T01:24:00.001-06:00

That's right baseball, better yet, Yankee baseball. I had the lucky opportunity to go to TWO Yankee games this week.

Wednesday- Orioles vs. Yankees

If you would have asked me Wednesday morning what I was doing that night I would have said "I'm going to Amateur Night at the Apollo." Although I still want to do this I was given an offer I couldn't refuse. While at work a friend e-mailed me asking if I wanted to go to a Yankees game tonight for free. I said, YES. A girl in my Relief Society presidency had four tickets to the game from work, and she thought they were for next week but she actually couldn't use them tonight. So Allison, Kaitlyn, Jared and I went to the game. It was a bit colder, about 60 degrees. Thankfully I checked the weather and knowing my tendency to be cold I layered up.

Coming into the game the Yankees had lost there last 4, with the previous night's score against the Orioles being 12-2, Orioles. So with that in mind I was so pleased to have the Yankees win 8-0! A-Rod hit two home runs, but was robbed of one of them because of some net thing. I was also pleased to see Joba Chamberlain, a Nebraska alumni pitch. He did a great job! I ended up buying one of my first souvenirs in the form of a Joba Yankees shirt.

Saturday- Mariners vs. Yankees

I almost didn't go to this game, not because I didn't want to. I had been going in and out of waves of feeling sick starting Thursday afternoon. I felt fine during the day at work but Friday night, let's just say it was bad. So I told Eric in the morning that I had been sick last night and to see if we could try to sell the tickets to someone else. After keeping some cereal down and actually feeling better after eating and having no success in selling the tickets, Eric and I went to the game. Thankfully, I was completely fine at the game and for the rest of the day.

The Yankees had a great game. The offense was fantastic, Giambi and Abrera each had a home run helping add to the total of 16 hits. Joba also made another appearance he is making his transition from closer to starter. He pitched for two scoreless innings (6th and 7th). All this helped form the 12-6 win against the Mariners. It was also a beautiful day, in the low 70s, partly cloudy skies. You couldn't ask for better baseball weather.

Sometimes I forget about how much I enjoy sports until I attend or play them after a long respite. In some ways I feel myself going back to my elementary school days where I was glued to Sportcenter. Now I find myself checking the Yankee's stats and rankings. I really believe sports can be a great thing, in moderation, of course.

Now, just because I can hardly go an entry where I don't talk about food...

I must tell you where to get the best slice of New York style pizza that I've had thus far. It's about a block or two away from the stadium on 161st St. right before Walton Ave. It's the one on the side of the street farther from the stadium (I specify because there is a pizza place on the exact opposite side of the street). It is so good and only $2.50 a slice. I ate it before the game on Wednesday and had to come back again and Eric and I ate there after the game on Saturday.

"New York is Very Culturally Competitive"

2008-05-24T18:05:00.008-06:00

This week I went to two performance and almost went to a third, but I'll explain that in my next post. One being the Juilliard Senior Dance Showcase on Monday and the other being Mary Poppins on Broadway on Friday.

Juilliard Senior Dance Showcase

Eight of us from the Comms intern group waited outside for standby tickets for about an hour. Thankfully we got into the show and had some good times while waiting. One of my favorites being Sharlene, wearing my skirt (I brought jeans to change into) as gloves/shawl I'm not quite sure.

The show was good, it was modern dance. Some of it was weird, but some of it was just amazingly beautiful. There was this one that was hilarious called "Girl with a Microphone." It didn't have as much dancing in it as the others but it was more like a mini-show and was very funny. I'm also in love with a black man from Brooklyn named Nigel. He had one of the most graceful, powerful dances I've ever seen.

Mary Poppins

I've really wanted to see Mary Poppins but every time I've gone to the box office they were not doing student rush tickets and I cannot afford it unless there is. At the end of the work day on Friday I got a text from a girl in my ward "Do you want to come to Mary Poppins tonight for $30?" I replied that I was interested but found out that someone had claimed it before me. Rita (a new intern for LDS Public Affairs) and I were going to see if we could get rush for Hairspray when my friend texted to say we could try to get our own rush tickets for tonight. So we decided to give it a try and we got them! Plus we sat next to our friends.

I had really high expectations for Mary Poppins. I'd read reviews stating it was the best of the Disney's on Broadway. Well my high expectations were met! It started a little slow, but I quickly fell in love with it. By the end of the show I felt like a little kid again, seeing the film performed live just for me.

I was first impressed with the amazing set and props! They had a lot of set changes and they were all done so timely and efficiently. They did so many changes while two floor to ceiling pieces crossed stage when the two intersected a huge piece of scenery would APPEAR! I was just amazed, with that and the house. And the magic of Mary Poppins, I couldn't figure out how they did a lot of it. It was fantastic.

Next the song and dance numbers impressed me; the new songs were fantastic and the arrangements of the old were all awesome. I just bought the new rendition of "Step In Time" on iTunes and I also liked the new songs "Practically Perfect" and "Anything Can Happen."

I also really liked how they developed the characters of Mr. and Mrs. Banks. It really added to the story. It gave additional layers of depth as to why Mary Poppins is needed to help bring this family together.

It's so good, I really loved it. I was so mad I had to leave for about 5 minutes of the second act to "be sick." It brought me joy to see so many happy kids and adults at curtain. I really appreciate having something on Broadway an entire family could enjoy.

It's so hard to compare Disney to Shakespeare and throw in Abba when trying to pick my favorite show thus far, but if it can be done and I had to, I think this is my favorite.

A Food Weekend

2008-05-24T17:11:00.007-06:00

So as you've noticed I haven't blogged this last week so I'm going to catch up. This post is about last weekend 16-18.

Friday it rained again. Thus far it has rained every single Friday night. Rebecca and I decided to go to the Columbus Circle mall and go to Junior's.

Junior's is also known for it's cheesecake, but we got dinner as well. Junior's also serves pickles before your dinner arrives, plus beets and coleslaw. I actually liked this coleslaw! But the pickles were far inferior to Carnegie Deli's. For my meal, I had the "Something Different," consisting of beef brisket between two potato pancakes served with au jus and a side of applesauce. (I didn't take this picture and this one has syrup instead of au jus, you get to choose, but thanks mom for finding it!) It was very good, very big I took it home and had a friend put it in her fridge. Then there was cheesecake. Rebecca and I both ordered the Chocolate Mousse, their best kind. The chocolate mousse portion was quite amazing, it just melted into you mouth. The original cheesecake portion was good but I believe Carnegie Deli wins for having the best original cheesecake recipe.

So my personal comparison of Carnegie Deli and Junior's:
-Pickles and other complimentary food: Although you only get pickles at Carnegie Deli they are a knock out of the park. So good! The first and only pickle that has gotten this none-pickle-eater to wish for and think about pickles.
-For a full meal: I prefer Junior's they had a lot of choices and I really enjoyed my "Something Different."
-Cheesecake vs. Cheesecake: Carnegie Deli wins. Junior's is good don't get me wrong, it's just Carnegie Deli wins. Period.
-Ambiance and "feel:" Although I like Junior's roominess (not found in NY often), Carnegie Deli is special. It has the pictures of famous people signed lining their walls and the giant pickle at the entrance.
-Price: At Carnegie Deli I got one of the cheapest sandwiches at $15.95 at Junior's I got an average priced meal at $14.95. At Carnegie Deli the cheesecake was $9.25 (or 9.75, I can't remember which) at Junior's it was $6.25.
-Service: Carnegie Deli wins. They were so fast, but not pushy. He also read our minds, we were thinking of splitting the fresh strawberry cheesecake. He came by and we said "we'd like to split..." "fresh strawberry cheesecake?" he said. It was amazing.
-Misc.: Carnegie Deli only takes cash.

Both are really great, when my two separate sets of visitors come, I plan on suggesting Carnegie Deli for a slice of cheesecake.

LITTLE ITALY

Our Comms Interns group went to the Museum of Natural History, which was fun. Afterwards a group of 10 of us went down to Little Italy. Little Italy basically consists of Italian restaurants, gelato shops and souvenir shops. As touristy as it is I got something from all three. We split up into two groups to eat. We ate at a place I believe called "The Grand Italian Food Center" I'm not quite sure, it was one of the most affordable restaurants there. Although the service was slow, (they have a major hierarchy problem) the food was amazing! I got the chicken parmigiana and it blew my mind. It was the best I'd ever had.

Rebecca and I got some gelato. I love gelato, they have a gelato shop on Center street in Provo called Maestro's and I would frequent it as oft as possible. This was on par with Maestro's if not better, I got pistachio very tasty.

It was getting kind of cold and threatened to rain so Rebecca and I kept popping into the souvenir shops more to try and stay warm while the group that went to the other restaurant got gelato. But while in one of them they had really cute hats. I'd always admired these kind of hats and had thought about buying one, as long as I got confirmation that I could pull it off. I put on the first one I saw and asked Rebecca if I could pull it off, she said I could and I began to peruse for one in a preferred style. I then tried on this brown, black, navy, beige and white plaid/striped one (as seen to the right). I go to the mirror and this woman in the store says "You must get that hat. That other hat was good you were matching with your outfit, but this hat is SO YOU!" Rebecca says that's actually about what I was going to say. I thought it was hilarious that this random woman says "it's SO YOU!" Needless to say, I bought the hat. It was a really fun, food focused weekend.

Rachel Ray Owes Me...Big Time

2008-05-16T22:47:00.003-06:00

So Thursday afternoon the Shumways and I were walking to Grand Central Station on our way back from the UN along 43rd Street. As I'm walking a step behind the Shumways, I see some glass falling right in front of us. I quickly said "Look out!" The Shumways and those who were walking the other direction as well stopped as glass came crashing down only a few feet in front of us.

We crossed the street to look at what had happened and just in case anymore glass was going to fall. It was evident that the glass came from a broken window pane on the 3rd floor.

What building housed this faulty, falling glass?

The Rachel Ray Show studio

I'm just glad I saw it, said something and that no one got hurt.

Some New York Firsts

2008-05-14T21:14:00.005-06:00

First:

...Trip to H&M: I had heard of the wonderfulness of H&M many times before from my roommate Sarah. It would normally go like this (especially freshmen year):

me: That's a cute top, where did you get that?
Sarah: H&M

two weeks later

me: Oooh, I like that outfit, especially your (insert clothing item here) where did you get that?
Sarah: H&M

repeat occasionally for two and half years

So Thursday new friend Rebecca and I went there and I bought a new blazer/jacket (I've now come to the conclusion that I am addicted to blazer/jackets; I have 6 here and more at home). My newest one is hunter green, that fits fantastically. As seen below:

Since the picture is so conveniently here, this is a perfect moment for another first...

...Shakespeare play on Broadway

I almost didn't go, not because I didn't want to, I had trouble sleeping the night before and could get to sleep until around 4 a.m. We had intended to leave at about 9 a.m. to try and get matinee tickets. I told Brian there's no way I could be awake for the show even if we did get the student rush tickets. He said he would go by himself and let me sleep and if he got the tickets then I would have an additional 3-4 hours to sleep. Brian's a good guy. Thankfully that's exactly what happened.

The show was amazing! This was the first time I'd seen Shakespeare performed by someone other than a student, whether it be college or high school. So with it being on Broadway it had professional actors and a HUGE budget.

But the most anticipated aspect of seeing MacBeth was to see Patrick Stewart play MacBeth. Yes, Captain Picard, Professor X. My favorite bald actor, (I think I can say that safely), Patrick Stewart. And did he deliver! He did an amazing job. He was very expressive in a very appropriate Shakespeare way. The rest of the cast also did a great job. The set, props, costumes, images projected on the set's walls, etc. were all top shelf.

It's limited-time show and will only be on Broadway for another two weeks (the 24th). I was so glad I saw it. As a side note I think my accolades for it at work has persuaded my boss Ahmad Corbitt to see it, I know he's interested at least.

Speaking of work, this leads me to another first...

...United Nations Meeting

Wednesday and Friday I attended a combined 3 meetings at the UN. With official badge clipped on (with the best ID picture I've had in ages) I am able to walk almost wherever I want. The Shumways, who are on assignment from Salt Lake basically to attend the UN and establish relationships with Ambassadors, showed me around the UN including the General Assembly, the Security Council, ECOSOC and the other meeting places for the remaining organs of the UN. Unfortunately, none of those councils were in session. But there's still time. Though to my and perhaps your surprise one of the best parts about going to the UN is eating at the UN Cafeteria. I would suggest you go but you can't go unless you have a badge. The cafeteria has a good variety of food choices (I chose chicken quesadilla on Wednesday and pulled pork on Friday) at a very reasonable price, but the best part is the East side of the cafeteria has floor to ceiling windows that look out on the East river. It's such a good combination.

Another good combination is pineapple and Canadian bacon which happens to be what I had on my first...

...New York slice

After Rebecca and I went to H&M and some other things we along with an intern from BYU-Idaho went to the "Hot and Crusty." What a great place, it wasn't fancy or anything but it had a good variety for pizza, lots of options for sandwiches, panini's or wraps, and tons of dessert options. And it wasn't crazy expensive! I was really pleased with my first New York Slice. It's quite good, although I'd say I'm more of a thick crust girl, I see some very good aspects of the thinner NY style; I'm a fan. Secondly, I was pleased to experience such a slice at a good price. My slice was $2.75! That's awesome, you can practically buy it with your change.

Which leads me to my final and perhaps most unique NYC first, my first...

...picky beggar?

Right outside of my subway stop on 125th and Broadway is a McDonald's. It's been convenient and cheap (gotta love the dollar menu) to have so close to home. So after leaving with my dinner tonight I came face to face with a beggar. Normally I do not give to beggars, but to the charities that help the homeless, but for whatever reason I decided I would give this man whatever change I had. I pull out my only change, a quarter, and extend it to the man. He says "I can't do anything with that," and turns away. I although somewhat confused as to what had just happened, put my quarter back and began walking. I still can't quite get my head around it.

"It Would Be a Shame to Miss New York in the Spring"

2008-05-06T18:22:00.009-06:00

Tom Hanks in "You've Got Mail" knew what he was talking about.

Today was a gorgeous day. After work I decided I would take advantage of the beautiful weather, good lighting and my birthday present (a new camera, thanks Mom and Dad) and take some pictures at Central Park and Verdi Square.

Here's the proof that New York in the Spring is the best:

Mmmm's: The MoMA and Mamma Mia

2008-05-04T19:57:00.015-06:00

Friday night, the BYU Comms intern met at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). On Fridays from 4-8 p.m. admission is free. What an amazing museum, I got there at 6 p.m. and I barely covered 1/6th of the place. I'm going back for sure. The portion of the museum I saw was the special exhibits. The 6th floor explored the color wheel and the second section was titled "Design and the Elastic Mind." It was very cool, a lot of it was very future oriented. It was very interesting. But my favorite part of the exhibit was the"Take Your Time"exhibit, by Olafur Eliasson (he's Icelandic, more proof that awesomeness comes from Iceland). This exhibit was really fantastic. The program states the exhibit is probes "the cognitive aspects of what it means to see." Bottom-line: it was awesome and inspired me to take some photos. I've provide descriptions, with help from the program on each exhibit pictured.

The first picture, and the display in which I knew I was going to enjoy this exhibit, is in a dark room filled with fog, with the beams of the 24 spotlights are oriented to articulate one cubic meter of space.

The next four photos were from the "360 degree room for all colours," It was a panoramic room that immersed you in the color spectrum. (I loved this room!)

This next picture is of the "Negative quasi brick wall." Stainless steel with mirrored interiors are stacked in six different positions to create a reflective and kaleidoscope wall.

The last picture is of me inside of "Room for one colour." The room was solely illuminated by monochromatic bulbs which emit light at such a narrow frequency that they affect your normal color perception, making everything in the room appear in shades of yellow or black.

Next fun thing, but first a bit of how we got there...

Last Wednesday I went on a search down 50th street to find flip flops and hangers. While on my adventure I came across the Winter Garden Theatre, which is where "Mamma Mia" is showing. I popped in to determine if they had any student discounts, a lottery, a rush or any other kind of discounts for tickets. I found out that they have unobstructed standing room tickets available for $21.50. Late Saturday afternoon, while Kaitlyn and I were on the subway heading to 34th street to get some flip-flops at Old Navy, I suggested we see if "Mamma Mia" had any standing room tickets for the night. After some shopping at Old Navy until the standing room tickets went on sale we got them!

Mamma Mia is such a fun show! I enjoy Abba music, and have heard more than the casual observer my age, partially because of Sarah's almost "12 days of Abba." The music is really great and the actors were very good. We had two stand-ins that night, for Tanya, one of Donna's (the mother) friends and Sam Carmichael, one of the potential Dads. I must say that Tanya, Lori Haley Fox, was SOOO funny. Her character is funny, but she elevated it. It was great! The actor playing Sam, Brent Black, did a good job, he wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I could see where he was a stand in. I was probably the most impressed with Carolee Carmello, the actress playing Donna. She had a great voice and did a great job of conveying her character's emotions. I was also a fan of Donna's daughter, Sophie Anderson, played by Carey Anderson. I would say although not my favorite song, the best choreographed and overall impressive song/scene was the "Money, Money, Money." I also really liked, "Knowing Me, Knowing You."

I'm Just Here for the Food

2008-05-03T14:40:00.004-06:00

Here's a little bit on each of the places I've eaten thus far:

Wednesday at my first day of work the office went out to lunch and they treated. We went to Harry's Burrito a Cal/Mex restaurant on about 71st and Columbus Avenue. It was good, it reminded me of Julio's, the Tex-Mex restaurant I waited at last summer in Omaha. It was a fun little place, I wouldn't say it's a must go to in New York City, but it was good and seeing as it is only a couple blocks from work I could see me going there again for lunch. I would recommend getting the enchilada, instead of the burrito, despite it being Harry's Burrito.

Thursday Ahmad took me out to lunch at one of his favorite local Chinese restaurants, Ollie's on about 68th and Broadway. I'm a tough critic when it comes to egg drop soup and they passed the test with flying colors. It was extremely good. When I went to PF Chang's, for the Divine Comedy banquet, I got a beef entree, but tried a friend's sweet and sour pork and it was delicious. With that in mind, I ordered the sweet and sour pork. It was still good, but PF Chang's actually has Ollie's beat on that front. Ahmad offered me some of his Beef and Broccoli, which I almost ordered, and it was extremely good. That is what I will be ordering next time, for sure.

Thursday after returning from work, a fellow BYU Intern and I went to go eat dinner. We decided to go to Cafe Lalo on 83rd and Amsterdam Avenue. It's the cafe featured in "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. I really loved the place. It's so charming and cozy. I ordered an Italian soda with a shot of almond (per the server's suggestion), lentil soup and a slice of midnight chocolate cake. Mhhhmm, so good. I was pleased with the Italian soda and the lentil soup had a lot of flavor and the cake was good, though after having a slice of my friend's desert, I deduced hers was better. It was a cake with various fruits, with almonds lining the side. Very pretty, very good.

Yesterday, Friday the BYU group met at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which I'll talk about in another post. Afterwards, Kaitlyn and I went to the World Famous Carnegie Deli on 55th and Seventh Avenue. My friends it is world famous for a reason. Everything is fantastic and it's done in a unique way. First you are graced with a plate of pickles. I'm not a huge fan of pickles but was told I must have them. I really liked the really green ones, which weren't in pickle juice very long. They were like sweet cucumbers. I'm a fan. Not long after diving into the pickles, we received our sandwiches. They are HUGE! And very tasty. I got the #9 which features roast beef, lettuce, tomato and onions. I almost ate half of the sandwich. But you can't go to Carnegie Deli and not get a slice of cheesecake. IT IS DIVINE! PURE UNADULTERATED BLISS! I got the fresh strawberry cheesecake. Oh my goodness. So good. A must go to for anyone visiting New York.

Work, work, work

2008-05-03T12:52:00.001-06:00

Wednesday was my first day of work at my job, in case I haven't mentioned it enough I'm at the Public and International office for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On my first day I got the traditional tour of place. The cool thing is my office is in the Manhattan temple building but it is an non-temple portion of the building, which is the southern part of the building, Public Affairs is on the 2nd floor. There is a "meetinghouse" on the 3rd which is currently under construction and a distribution center somewhere, that wasn't a part of the tour.

The big project I will be working on for almost the entirety of my stay in New York City is on what my boss Ahmad Corbitt said is "the biggest event of the year" LDS Public Affairs is hosting. The BYU Philharmonic Orchestra is going to be playing in Carnegie Hall on June 4. We have two tasks: getting dignitaries from the UN and Consulate Generals to fill the box seats and to fill the remaining 2,600 seats.

Things have been good at work, we've had some major computer difficulties but as I was leaving on Friday it looked like everything was figured out. We'll see if that is really true on Monday.

Also related to computers, I finally got to the bottom of my power cord issue for my laptop, and it should be here in the next few days. It only took them about a month. (Shakes fist in general direction of Office Depot warranty people.)

LDS Newsroom

2008-05-01T10:00:00.011-06:00

I've known about the LDS newsroom on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Web site for a while, but with my internship at LDS Public Affairs I am to keep up on things and read it everyday. Here's a quick little bit from the article "Mormon Youth Put Careers and Education on Hold to Serve as Missionaries," I thought was cool.

"Three years ago, Guillermo Franco interrupted his professional soccer career in Argentina so he could be a missionary for the Church. Now that he has returned, he is once again making his mark on the soccer field.

Franco told Argentine newspaper Diario Uno that he has been blessed in his life and that he was truly happy. “I am coming back in football and in 2007 I married my wife Lorena!'”

I too know that I will be making sacrifices financially and perhaps in my career as well to serve. But I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the one true church on this earth and I look forward to sharing it with others.

I will blog more about New York tonight, hopefully, last night the Internet was down at the I house.

You Learn Something New Everyday

2008-04-29T21:58:00.002-06:00

Do not iron a completely black pinstriped item of clothing in a hot room, when tired.

One word: Vertigo

New York City...I've Arrived

2008-04-29T19:50:00.008-06:00

As I write this I've been on New York City concrete for 24 hours.

I had a lot of travel blunders yesterday, the first being missing my flight in Omaha. Yes, I'm from Omaha. Yes, it's an extremely small airport. Upon arrival to Eppley Airport my flight was delayed about 30 minutes. My mom and I decided to go get a quick bite to eat. After eating, I checked the boards to see that the delay was reduced and I needed to get to my gate ASAP. When I got to my gate, they had just shut the door and wouldn't let me on. It was extremely frustrating to see my plane right outside the window and they wouldn't let me on.

Two hours later I was flying to Minneapolis instead of Detroit. After four hours in Minneapolis (not a shabby airport), we took off for La Guardia. New York City was having a bad rainstorm and we had to hover for about 30-40 minutes before landing. Once we landed we were boxed in by two planes and couldn't "park" at our gate for 10 minutes. Luckily, I quickly found my baggage in the "unclaimed luggage land." (It was much larger than I expected, at least 25 pieces of luggage.) Finally, at about 11 p.m. I entered the I House with Elder Howell one of the people I will be working with at my internship at the public affairs office for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I quickly found some vending machines, ate and got started on settling in. I then made a quick little video blog or "vlog" on my experiences thus far and a tour of my room. (Unfortunately, it's not uploading. I'll try again another time, but here's a picture from the door)

Today we had I House orientation at 10 a.m. Thankfully, it didn't last very long. It appears that everyone that I've talked to had bad travel experiences yesterday, with a few exceptions and mine was not the worst of it. After the orientation, Brian (from Divine Comedy, advertising) and I went to Fairview grocery store to get some things. I got some shelf stable foods and laundry detergent. Funny story, rather two funny stories:

First, Brian and I couldn't figure out where the customer entrance was. We easily found the loading area for the suppliers, but couldn't find the customer entrance. Finally I decided to go through the customer exit, as I walk through I am staring at a New York Fire Fighter. He stares at me. I think he's going to reprimand me for entering through the exit, but then looked away.

Second funny story, (these are more "oh funny" stories, not laugh out loud stories), so I'm from Omaha, Nebr. and I go to school in Provo, Utah, both places are relatively cheap price-wise. I'm expecting to see a price hike on things, even groceries. At Fairway, I go to get some granola bars and on the price labels on the shelves had an orange section in the left corner of the tag which stated they were $7.89. "Holy CRAP," I thought to myself almost 8 bucks for a box of granola bars, no way. I walk away and see more ridiculous prices in the orange section of the tag. Finally, baffled by the ridiculous prices, I look at the tags closer. When to my pleasant surprise the orange section of the tag is the price per pint, pound, etc. The individual price is to the right in unflashy white. I go back to the chocolate peanut butter granola bars, which is actually $3.19 per box. I can handle $3.19.

At 3 p.m. the Comms group met up again for a scavenger hunt of NYC, for cash. Tour NYC with the possibility of getting some money, I'm down. I set out with Emily Peterson (formerly Bylund), her hubby Richard, Adam and Adam's wife Rebecca. We went all over the place! We saw Tom's Diner (the Seinfield diner), St. John's Cathedral, Central Park, specifically Strawberry Fields, Trump Towers, the Manhattan Temple (aka the LDS Public Affairs office), Times Square, Adam's internship office off of Prince Street, and Emily's internship office off of 51st and Madison. I think we went on at least 15 subway trips. I go from subway virgin, to well seasoned Metro commuter, okay that's a little much, but I feel pretty comfortable on the subway. Unfortunately, we didn't have the most points and we were 45 minutes late returning to the I House.

It's safe to say that as for the first 24 hours I'm a fan of New York City. I also really like the International House. Everyone is so friendly, I've already met someone from Pakistan getting his Master of Public Administration at Columbia and had a good chat with him. I've also met a guy originally from California who is working on his doctorate in Decision Making, which has to do with a synthesis of psychology and economics. This place is awesome!

In not New York news, as some of you may know and some may not have known, I'm planning on serving a mission after my internship. My availability date is Sept. 1, and originally I thought I would have to wait a bit longer to have them officially submitted, but the stake clerk seemed to think turning them in early would be fine. I submitted my mission papers on the 20th of April, so I was expecting some time next week. But I just got an e-mail telling me that my stake at BYU is going to hold them until the 24th of May, so I have to wait some more.

Friends, please give me suggestions as to places I should go in New York City, I live on the Upper West side so close things are good, but please don't limit your responses.

Vegas: Shows, Everybody Likes Shows

2008-03-26T13:02:00.015-06:00

It's all about the shows in Vegas. We had the opportunity to have what I'll call a "double double." My basketball friends enjoying March Madness, don't be confused, this is a double double Vegas style. (Those who are not of the basketball terms persuasion, a double double is when a player has double figures in both points and rebounds in one game.)

My Vegas Double Double is this: watched two shows: performed two shows.

This entry will be on the shows we watched.

Las Vegas Shows

Blue Man Group

I love these Blue Men! Having seen them in Chicago, last August, I was elated to see them again.
We saw them on our first full day in Vegas, Friday night. For those who are not aware, Blue Man Group is a show which features three Blue Men mute musicians who synthesize innovative percussion, visual stimulation, theatre, satire, and a message of unity.

It was so wonderful to share this experience with my friends; to watch and listen for their reactions and for the discussions that followed afterwards. As a part of the pre-show, there are scrolling marquee signs, at the very beginning of the marquee segment it said Blue Man Group would like to welcome "BYU DIVINE COMEDY." We roared with screams, applause and overall joy.

Not only is the show stunningly, visually stimulating it has AMAZING music. These performers are musicians. In fact after seeing them in Chicago I found out that in the audition process, they examine their percussion skills first, then their acting. The quality is of utmost importance when performing to the Blue Man Group and they succeed, oh my goodness do they succeed.

In comparison to seeing Blue Man Group in Chicago, there were some small differences, but overall it was very much the same. There were two segments that were not in Chicago, but the remaining segments were in Chicago. One thing that I liked better about Chicago was the smaller theatre, and therefore audience. It was a much more intimate experience, where the messages of unity were able to resoundingly ring true as there was a smaller, closer audience.

Granted, I would recommend seeing Blue Man Group wherever you can, as often as you can. But if one has the choice I would recommend Chicago, though there are perks to Vegas as well. For example in Chicago the band is in one kind of crammed area the whole time. Whereas in Vegas, they are in two larger locations at first then they disperse to 6 separate locations on three different levels. That was awesome, there were able to move more freely and visually become more a part of the show. Now, I'm kind of torn...just go see it.

SPAMALOT

We were able to see the 10 p.m. show on Saturday night, following our performance for the Las Vegas Young Single Adults (more info. to come). Spamalot is a musical based on the film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." What's interesting is based on the location that you see the show, it really is a different show. In Vegas there are a lot of Vegas jokes and in New York there are jokes about Broadway.

This is us outside of the theatre recreating "the ministry of silly walks."

Overall, there were some really funny scenes and some that I could go without, essentially because they were crude.

The hands down most hilarious song was "You Won't Succeed On Broadway." Through a sequence of events, King Arthur must put a show on Broadway, this song is when Sir Robin explains to King Arthur, played by John O'Hurley, that "You Won't Succeed on Broadway if you don't have any Jews." It was just hilarious, plus to add to the hilarity that it already was. Our cab driver from the previous day from the strip to The Firefly restaurant (more info. to come) we were discussing this very thing, that in the performance industry you either have to have connections, or be Jewish.

The musical was enjoyable but in some ways it felt very rushed. Spamalot in New York is a full 2 act show at 2 hours and 30 minutes, but in Las Vegas they have cut it to be 90 minutes with no intermission. They completely cut one song, and have reduced three others scenes/songs. Granted, I've never seen the full version, but I'd imagine the New York Version would seem more cohesive.

But, the coolest thing about seeing Spamalot was what occurred after Spamalot. In the show there were three BYU graduates: Jeff McClean (ensemble), Robert Moffat (ensemble) and Aaron De Jesus (Mayor, Patsy and Guard 2). Rob took us on a full backstage tour, we got to see the side back, front, on, and under stage. You name it we most likely went there. This is Laurel and I in the backstage elevator.

Rob charmingly rambled off wonderful, what he said was useless trivia to us. For example, in the "Feet of God" scene two real fire extinguishers are used each show, with a new set of fire extinguishers being brought in every four days. Aaron De Jesus joined us for the latter end of our tour, it was really awesome.

Perhaps the highlight was the whole group getting to go into the giant Spam can. This can was made for the announcement of the show. One of the producers, I believe it was Eric Idle, wanted to have a giant Spam can for John O'Hurley to pop out of at the announcement. Two days and $10,000 later, they had it. And on March 22, Divine Comedy got in touch with it's inner Spam.

PS: Have you ever looked at a word thinking you spelled it incorrectly, even though you are positive it's correct? This happens to me frequently with the word "show."

Vegas: I'm loving it, but I'm hating it

2008-03-25T15:16:00.003-06:00

Well I have just returned about an hour or so ago to my apartment from a 5 day Divine Comedy tour to Las Vegas. Having never been to Vegas before, there is much to share. But I believe I will spread out the love over the next bit. So get excited.

Vegas Trip: I loved the trip and the company, I'm not a big fan of the city and what it embodies itself. Hence, I'm loving it, but I'm hating it.

Details to come...

I am my Mother's Daughter

2008-03-17T18:06:00.007-06:00

This one's for you Mom.

At home at the close of dinner when everyone else is shuffling putting dishes in the dishwasher, my mother has a moment to shine...

...with Tupperware spatial relations.

If I try to put the leftover food away, she'll watch closely to ensure I get the correct size of Tupperware container. If my choice looks dismal my mother will stop me, get a different Tupperware container out and the food fits perfectly to the brim of the container. After the last few drops of whatever our family had just consumed slides into the container, my mother proudly states, "I'm great with spatial relations."

Today I had a personal success with Tupperware spatial relations. (Okay actually it was Gladware, I'm a college student, give me a break.) After making Lentil soup for Adam, who wasn't feeling well, I had to put the remaining soup in a container. I looked for the biggest Gladware container we had, I found the lid but no success in finding the actual container. After examining the lid, I concluded that the particular container I was searching for would be far too large. I examined the rest of the containers and grabbed one. To my satisfaction the lentils lined the brim of the container with just enough room for the lid to seal perfectly.

As I put it into the fridge I thought, perhaps I'm great at spatial relations.

Mother would be proud.

Questions

2008-03-07T13:27:00.010-07:00

Steph was looking at my portfolio the other day and saw the divider labeled "Frequently Asked Questions" and asked if it was a FAQ section on myself. It was not it was for the Covey Center for the Arts, (an organization that I did some PR work for). So this incident gave me the idea to create my own FAQ section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do you spell your last name?

A: T-O-M-O-S-E-R

Q: How do you pronounce your last name?

A: TAH-muh-ser

Q: Is your hair naturally curly?

A: Yes, it took a while to tame the beast that is my hair. (Middle school was a nightmare, two words: triangle hair) But now that I know how to work with my hair, I enjoy it. Just hop out of the shower, put a few products in, scrunch and go.

Q: What is your major?

A: Public Relations.

Q: (And the inevitable follow-up question) What do you want to do with that?

A: I'm not entirely sure, I've enjoyed all of the aspects of PR that I've explored thus far. I've had a lot of experience in non-profit PR and I'm very excited for my PR internship in NYC with LDS Public Affairs. I'm also very interested in other aspects of PR. Currently, I've had an elevated level of interest in social media. Long term, I think I would like to work in corporate PR, but I'm a fairly open book.

Not so Frequently Asked Questions, but maybe they should be

Q: What are two goals in life (not horribly serious)?

A: I want to ride on an irrigation sprinkler. I haven't decided if I would prefer the ones that go in a straight line or the ones that have a center post and go in a circle. But either one would suffice in my goal .

Secondly, I would like to give a speech/talk and use a teleprompter. I figure you have to be speaking at a pretty important event to have the use of a teleprompter. Now, I'm not saying I want to be a "big shot" who gives speeches all the time at big, important events. But at least once, that would be awesome.

Q: What pair of socks are your favorite?

A: ARGYLE SOCKS!!!!!! I love argyle and therefore love argyle socks. A specific pair though, would probably have to be the knee-high beige, pink and white ones Jamie got me for Christmas. They maketh me happy.

Q: What are your thoughts on paisley?

A: I like it, my bed sheets are a nice blue paisley deal.

What are some of your Frequently Asked Questions?

Brisket, Brisket for Everyone!

2008-02-25T12:51:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was Southern Day! Okay well at least in our apartment it was. I was cooking Sunday dinner for the apartment plus a couple others. We had BBQ Beef Brisket, cornbread, mashed potatoes, asparagus and peach pie. And when you are cooking southern food, it is practically required to speak in a Southern accent. This continued for at least a couple hours.

This was the first time that I have ever made beef brisket. I got the recipe from my best friend from back home's mother. Whenever they would be having it for Sunday dinner I would magically appear at their house or request a doggie bag.

Well I desire to share this recipe with you all because it is easy and delicious! Sorry I don't have pictures, I didn't think about posting this until after all of it was consumed.

BBQ Beef Brisket

Beef Brisket meat
1 Bottle of Italian Dressing
1 Bottle of BBQ Sauce

The size of the Italian Dressing bottle and BBQ sauce depends on the size of the brisket. I bought a 1.8 lb beef brisket and used a 16 oz. Italian dressing and used about half of a 18 oz. BBQ sauce bottle. So adjust accordingly. (This amount served 5 people)

-Put beef brisket and pour bottle of Italian dressing in crock pot on low overnight.
-Remove brisket from crock pot and separate with forks.
-Put separated brisket in pan on the stove at about medium heat and pour the amount desired of BBQ sauce in.
-Toss the brisket to evenly coat the meat with BBQ sauce, and allow the meat to somewhat caramelize the sauce.
-SERVE!

I hope you enjoy it and if you make it tell me what you think!

Start Spreading the News...

2008-02-22T13:57:00.006-07:00

...I'm leaving in May. Okay really a few days before May. But yes, I am going to New York City! I have been offered and accepted an offer to be an intern with LDS Public Affairs in New York City!

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The public affairs office is in the same building as the Manhattan Temple.

Here is a summed up version of what my duties will be as an intern with LDS Public Affairs:

-United Nation activities (such as attending UN meetings, activities and events with UN Ambassadors and preparing reports about UN activities, with the goal of contacting and establishing positive relationships with the 192+ United Nations ambassadors in New York)

-Consul General activities (such as participating in efforts to contact and establish positive relationships with the 100+ Consul Generals of New York, by going to activities and identifying key staff, etc.)

-Local Public Affairs activities (such as planning and attending local PA events in the NYC area consisting of 14 stakes [a stake is around 1,000 people or so])

-Office Duties (such as answering phones, responding to e-mails, preparing country evaluation reports, assisting in planning and carrying out International Public Affairs events.

I'm really excited to be interacting with Ambassadors and Consul Generals from across the world. I have been informed that in early June, the BYU philharmonic orchestra will be playing in Carnegie hall. I will be helping plan the event and a reception for Ambassadors attending the concert.

What's a Dial Tone?

2008-02-11T23:17:00.001-07:00

Today I had a phone interview for a possible internship in New York City. I was instructed by my coordinator to have the interview on a hard-line phone.

I had to stop and think...who has a hard-line phone?

I couldn't think of anyone I know here at BYU who has a hard-line phone. Cell phones meet the needs of a student who moves perhaps 2-3 times a year, maybe more.

When I think of having a hard-line phone for myself, it seems to go hand in hand with settling down into a place.

It was as if my coordinator could hear all of these thoughts and told me I could schedule a room with a hard-line phone in the Brimhall building (the Communications building, my building).

It had been weeks since I used a hard-line phone and over 6 months since I actually had a conversation on a hard-line phone. And I'm going to be honest...it was nice.

It was so clear, and the handset was large and comfortably fit into the crevice of my shoulder. I may even go so far to say that because of this experience I miss hard-line phones.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to sign up with Comcast to put in a phone line, but...it's now something to look forward to.

This blog entry makes me feel like Frank in "You've Got Mail" who has an infatuation with typewriters. But rest assured I'm not going to start collecting hard-line phones.

Though a unique old-school one like in the cartoon version of "101 Dalmations" would bring me adulations of joy.

The Secret is Out!

2008-01-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

My classic rock kick continues. I was watching some Kansas (Carry on Wayward Son, Dust in the Wind) on Youtube and well I think I know who JK Rowling's muse was for Hagrid...

It's Robbie Steinhardt, violinist for Kansas!

It's even more obvious in the Carry on Wayward Son video and Dust in the Wind is just...wow, if only every music video could be so...stoic.

Journey - Don't Stop believing

2008-01-23T23:43:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to take a small moment to express my love for Journey. My love for Journey has been within me for awhile now, but my love was brought to the front burner tonight for some wonderfully unexplainable reason. I immediately thought of sharing my love with the small number of people who read this blog, maybe someone needs the happiness of Journey today. And I accept the challenge to be the messenger.

The Rods and Cones of the present

2008-01-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

So I've been a bit dormant on this blog. (But not my movie one, check it out.) So I've decided to do a little color game. I will list some colors and put what my first thoughts were with that color.

Yellow: The color of the shirt I wore when I went to Medieval times as a freshmen in high school with my high school band. I told this story yesterday as there is a chance, not a strong chance, but a chance I might be going to Medieval Times again.

Blue: My favorite color. Every semester I buy plain colored folders for each of my classes. I realized today that I always give my PR class the blue folder.

Red: Extremely soft zip-up sweatshirt with a fleece interior. I re-found this piece shortly before Christmas break. It's so warm and comfortable. It really helped me stay warm in my really cold house.

Black: I just learned about black rice. I'd never heard of it before. It looks like black beans. I'm intrigued to try some. Also I think I will be making a batch of Black Bean soup again soon.

Pink: Sarah's footsie pillow. Feet inside of a pillow. Okay, it's pretty much a visual thing. No matter how hard I try to describe it, it's nothing like just examining it.

White: Snow. Lots of it. Also my inhaler, also seeing a lot of it lately.

Green: The carpet.

Toss the Turkey, it's Time to Trim the Trees!

2007-11-29T00:10:00.001-07:00

You know a little bit before Thanksgiving I was planning on blogging on how great the fall weather was, but now it's COLD!

But with the cold of winter comes the joy of Christmas. The apartment has had most of it's Christmas decorating completed on Monday. Sarah and I bought a voluptuous tree and some more decorations on Monday afternoon and the decorating of 24 commenced.

I was told I decorated the wrong green about 5' 5'' thing in the room

I haven't had a live tree since I was at least 7-years-old. I can't believe what I've been missing! There's something about having a live Christmas tree. The whiff of pine when I walk in the door. The fun of watering it, well I think it's fun.

So not only did we decorate the real Christmas tree, but we have decorated the bamboo tree that has been in the apartment now for over a year (Thanks Mom!). We have decided to have the real tree be a more traditional looking tree and the bamboo tree...well take a look.

I want to get this off of my chest...

2007-11-06T18:51:00.001-07:00

A longtime annoyance of mine is when on DVDs the names of the actors/actresses are opposite of where they are pictured. As seen here:

BAD

GOOD

Although I love the film this movie, it just don't got it...

Yes, there are four people but it's possible, look

Does anyone else join me in this annoyance?

The ABCs of Tomoser's current life

2007-10-31T09:23:00.000-06:00

Accounting 200. Blech!
Black Bean Soup
Chris Koza, who didn't show up for his concert in SLC on Monday
Dance party in SLC library parking garage, in lieu of no above listed concert
Embarrassment from open windows
Forever 21, my first trip last week...a new love
GAP, where I bought my fantastic new jeans
Halloween!
Ice Breaker, the most important speed on Hamilton (my blender) for my virgin drinks
Jon, who has taught me a refresher course in driving stick, brought candy for Halloween and may just be the best hometeacher ever
Korea, rather a letter from Elder Grant serving in Korea
Law school surveys for Comms 318
Maestro's...mmmm gelato
New York City Internship Application
Opposition in all things
Pumpkin Cookies
Quixotic
Range we got a new range (stove/oven)
Springhaven this weekend!
Toenail split in half from overenthusiastic snapping of fingers while dancing
Upwords, from the makers of Scrabble
Veronica Mars
W.I.N.C. Witches In Nature's Colors (wink)
X-Ray, I haven't had one in over a year
Yogurt, I've expanded the varieties I purchase
Zurchers, first trip yesterday (Nobbies in Omaha is better)

"When your stomach is empty and your mind is full it's always hard to sleep."

2007-10-17T02:02:00.001-06:00

That E.B. White knew what he was talking about in Charlotte's Web. I can't sleep. I'm so tired but I can't sleep.

I thought I would communicate some of the things that have popped out to me recently in application to my life from various forms of entertainment.

From "The Holiday"

Arthur: "In the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend, you I can tell are leading lady, but for some reason you're behaving like the best friend."

Iris: "You're so right. You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for *goodness sake."

*Changed from original form

From Death Cab for Cutie, "Someday you will be Loved"

But I know your heart belongs to someone you've yet to met
Someday you will be loved

You'll be loved you'll be loved
Like you never have known

Maybe I need to be more of a leading lady to be loved.

Maybe I just need to get some sleep.

It comes but twice a year...

2007-10-07T21:15:00.000-06:00

If you would have asked me how my weekend was going to go Friday morning it would have been quite a different than how it went. Luckily it went BETTER!

Friday afternoon, Nicole calls me and says Brittany is in Provo and Ben is coming in that evening! It was so much fun hanging out with them again, it's been awhile since all of us were in the same place to play. At the end of the night it turned out that they had an extra ticket for the morning session of General Conference!

Then in between the morning and afternoon session Ben got tickets to the afternoon session! We also ran into Sister Fokken, (who is serving at temple square) a girl from my home stake who I've been friends with for like 8 years.

I think my favorite part of conference was when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang I Believe in Christ during the morning session. It's in my top five of favorite hymns. I also really enjoyed Elder Ballard's and Elder Teh's talk.

Not only was I spiritually fed, but I ate well today too! After our apartment watched conference from the comfort of our own apartment. Our hometeacher fed us lunch, then following the afternoon session Sarah and I had our now traditional (because we've done it more than once) General Conference dinner get together. Sarah made Pozole and helped me with an experimental mac and cheese.

We Eat Like Kings!

Good Weekend.

On an unrelated note, I've made a new blog of reviews of "The Last Movie I Saw." Check it out. http://www.fruit-snacksmovies.blogspot.com

The Happenings in Happy Valley

2007-09-27T10:44:00.000-06:00

Well my friends it's been awhile since I've posted. I've been busy with a good number of things school, as always, plus it got a little challenging to get back up to speed since I went back to Omaha for a few days for my Grandpa's funeral.

So I figured I'd give a thumbnail version of what I've been up to as of late, besides school.

I am now a part of Divine Comedy now. From unofficial crew member last year, to official crew member, to according to a web site management error, cast member. But in reality I'm on the crew and having a fabulous time.

Also Sarah, my roommate, got Jamie (my other roommate) and I hooked on Veronica Mars. We just finished watching season 1 last night. SO GOOD!

My new favorite musical artist as of now is Mika. You can check out the first song I fell in love with here and if you are up for a second go here.

I also just found this blog which is really quite homourous. It consists of overheard converstations in San Francisco.

Oh! I also got a new bike! It's a 26" Triax Blade Mountain Bike. Unfortunately, I've had some challenges with it though. While on my first ride my new bike lock somehow reset itself. So when I locked it up no one in the world knew what the combination was including myself. After a friend decided to finally get those bolt cutters he's been wanting to get, we set my bike free by cutting the lock. Then only a few short days later, I went on a bike ride and went through a field of grass. A few blocks later I got off of my bike to cross a busier street and heard "psssssssssssss" both of my tires were flat. Unbeknown st to me the field of grass was full of sharp stickers. After I returned back to Provo, Peter, a nice young man in my ward offered to patch my tires. A few hours later after he returned the bike to me the front tire was flat again. Peter took a second stab at patching it and the next day when Sarah and I were running late to Divine Comedy auditions my front tire was flat again. Finally, I asked Peter how much a new inner tube cost. After finding out there were less than $5 I said let's just get a new inner tube. Peter put the new tube in and FINALLY it's as good as new.

A new "Sundae" on Sunday

2007-09-03T00:13:00.000-06:00

Today was the first day of church for the new semester, having moved back into the apartment that I was in last year there were a good number of people who were in the ward last year. But also many new faces. After meeting new people at ward prayer and at the festivities despues de ward prayer, I came up with an analogy about the ward...involving ice cream sundaes.

The people who are returning to the ward are like the ice cream of the sundae, you know it's good, you're comfortable with the ice cream and enjoy it.

The new people to the ward are the various toppings. That give the the sundae a little punch and make it unique. You may not have tried a sundae with a 100 grand bar, hazelnuts and drizzled carmel, but it looks to be a winning combination.

(blush)

2007-08-21T13:12:00.000-06:00

So I saw Eragon for the first time this weekend. It was a decent film, I kept thinking it was like a preteen version of the Lord of the Rings. But I have to admit I think the actor Edward Speelers is umm...a an attractive young man. (He's on the left.)

Yes.

One year ago today...

2007-08-16T23:21:00.000-06:00

August 17th 2006

This day will be forever etched into my brain, it was my first day back in Omaha after an amazing trip to Austin, it was the day in question when I went to trial on November 20th 2006. It was the first day I wore my new watch. The day when the world around me took its ques from the lyrics of the Gran Bel Fisher song "Crash and Burn" I was listening to.

August 17th 2006 3:20 p.m. 87th Ave and Pacific Street = my first car accident

Yes, one year ago today after picking my brother up from school I attempted to make a left turn onto Pacific street when a young man driving a Toyota Scion coupe proceeded into the intersection while the light was red. While the lyrics of "Crash and Burn" could be heard through my window...

BAM!

Next thing I knew I was getting out of the car and coughing on the smoke from the airbag. I checked to make sure my brother Stephen, in the passenger seat was okay. He assured me he was. I hadn't realized my own injuries. It wasn't until the girl in the car behind me brought to my attention that my hand was dripping blood.

I looked at my windshield and looked at my hand. The deployment of the airbag caused my hand to punch through the windshield. My brand new watch that had been re sized not even two hours ago had caused a deep laceration on the head of my ulna (the bump on your wrist) along with many tiny shards of glass embedded in my hand.

Once I came out of the ambulance after the EMTs had wrapped my hand to stop the bleeding, I was delivered a ticket by a police officer, who didn't even care to hear BOTH sides of the story before determining who was at fault.

So I have a lot of glass in my hand and I have a ticket I don't deserve. I recall my dad telling me he recently took the collision insurance off of the car.

After some miscommunication resulting in me sitting by my busted car for an hour by myself I was treated at the urgent care. There I had almost all of the glass removed from my hand (I had to get a few hiding shards removed in Provo a couple months later) received some stitches on my ring finger and some superglue on my hand and wrist.

Later in November I contested the ticket issued against me and won. Yeah, take that. I was so relieved to have all the car business taken care of.

Or so I thought.

In March the young man I was in the accident with decided to sue me in civil court for the damages to his car, since he decided to let his insurance lapse on his 2006 Scion, he wanted me to pay for it.

THANKFULLY just a few weeks ago after a counter sue and some pressure from my lawyer, he decided to drop the suit and we therefore dropped our counter suit.

Although I wouldn't do it again I did learn some things. (In no particular order)

The legal system really takes a long time.
Some people have no problem with lying under oath.
Getting glass removed from your hand is extremely painful and although it was taken care of quickly, it's a toss up as to whether I would rather break my arm again or have that amount of glass removed from my hand again.
I'm more self-conscious about the ugliness of my scars than they really are, but I'm getting better about it.
Having had two lawyers during this process, it's essential to have a lawyer who believes you and understands exactly what happened. Therefore he/she doesn't question you when someone of the other party lies under oath.
It's amazing how in the heat of the moment you really can't feel pain.
When the heat of the moment is gone, the pain takes it's place.
Tylenol with codine makes you really tired.
If you are given a ticket you honestly don't deserve handle it THEN not later. Without violating the officer be firm but lawful and explain to the officer how things happened and why you are not at fault. If the officer had been accurate in his investigation or/and I would have gotten him to understand how it really happened, I would have saved over a thousand dollars in legal fees and never would have had this gorilla of burden on my mind for a few weeks short of a year.
When I am in a stressful situation I am able to be focused and handle things and somewhat even reduce the severity of the situation. (Ex. my explanation of my injury to my parents gave them the impression that I just had a few minor cuts, that may or may not need to be seen by a medical professional but if so it wasn't a big rush.)
In some ways I can't believe how much this accident has effected me.

The sweat of my...everywhere

2007-08-12T00:00:00.000-06:00

As many of you may know this summer I have been an intern at a consulting firm for non-profit organizations called Paul J. Strawhecker, Inc.

On Friday we took the afternoon off from our normal business attire of dress slacks and button-up shirts to paint splattered shorts and t-shirts. Exchanged our computers for powerdrills, pens for hammers. We took a break from helping non-profits by helping them raise money and helped Habitat for Humanity with our time and the sweat of our brow...and back, shoulders, arms, basically everywhere (that's Nebraska for ya during a heat wave, 97 degrees with over 90 percent humidity).

I was apart of the team cutting and putting up drywall, while the rest of the group was putting up a decorative panelling for the ceiling of the outdoor patio. After being inside of an office where my efforts are stored inside of a computer box, it was extremely gratifying to see the direct result of my, our labors. Before we arrived this stairwell wasn't drywalled when we left it was. The work was gratifying and it was refreshing to see a directly see the results of my work. It reminded me of a quote from the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley's talk "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel."

There is no substitute under the heavens for productive labor. It is the process by which dreams become realities. It is the process by which idle visions become dynamic achievements.

Though my work may be menial, though my contribution may be small, I can perform it with dignity and offer it with unselfishness. My talents may not be great, but I can use them to bless the lives of others. I can be one who does his work with pride in that which comes from hand and mind. I can be one who works with respect for my associates, for their opinions, for their beliefs, with appreciation for their problems and with a desire to help them should they stumble. I believe in the principle that I can make a difference in this world. It may be ever so small. But it will count for the greater good

The last quotation I found while rereading the talk and I will try to instill in my life.

A "failure" in my brother's eyes

2007-08-06T11:42:00.000-06:00

On Friday evening my youngest brother Erik (9) and I were watching TLC's "What Not to Wear." The person was a 24 year-old girl who was dressing like a punk rocker to her high-end Interior Design firm. Within a few moments of Erik sitting down to watch the show the following conversation took place:

"She's dumb she's not married," said Erik.
"How do you know she isn't married?" I replied.
"She doesn't have a ring on," Erik said nonchalantly. "Everyone should be married by the time they are 19."

I was shocked to discover:

a) My 9 year-old brother has already gained the habit of looking at people's hands to see if they are married, when I myself didn't get into the habit of looking until my first year at BYU.

b) I'm a "failure" in my brother's eyes having reached the "ripe old age" of 20 without a husband, nor any prospects.

But I'm okay with having accomplished this "failure," it'll happen when it happens and as long as there is cake at the reception I'm sure Erik'll be happy whenever it happens.

Chicago and a little photography comparison

2007-07-30T20:49:00.000-06:00

My hair has fallen back into place as I have now returned from my family vacation from the Windy City. Chicago is the biggest city I had ever been to and as much as I know that I am more of a city slicker than a country girl, upon driving into the city I cannot deny that I felt an ounce of intimidation and almost fear flow through me. But by the end of the week I really came to love Chicago and wouldn't mind working there for a few years after graduating.

The vacation was good and extremely educational in any and all aspects possible. I learned loads about Chicago and it's background and tons of information from the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum and The Art Institute of Chicago . But perhaps unreplicatably (new word!) I learned a lot about my family and my place in it.

I took dozens of pictures (12.67 dozen approximately.) My favorite picture of the entire trip is of my family outside of the Adler Planetarium shown here on the right.

After looking at it a I realized my photograph reminded me of a piece done by one of my fav orite photography artists, Rodney Smith.

Funny huh? Skyscrapers, water, five people...

A new identifier para mi...blogger.

2007-07-19T21:04:00.001-06:00

I've decided to get a blog. I haven't completely decided what this blog will encompass, but we'll see where the wind blows.

By mid-morning today I realized I was going against normal protocol for Omaha in July (HOT...more HUMID + hot). I ate hot oatmeal for breakfast, wore a sweater to my internship, and brought soup for lunch.

I know I go through phases where in the Summer time I can't wait to pull out my pea coat and beanie; similarly in the Winter I long for flip-flops. Well today I guess I just did it anyway I wore that sweater and ate my oatmeal. If only my coat wasn't still in Utah...yeah, take that summer.