First Game Day of the Season

After a week and a half of intense learning, working, and sweating, game day was finally here!! And it was an intense one at that.

My game day started at 2 when Rachel arrived at my house early so we could grab the new makeup before practice. It was crazy. I forgot my uniform so we had to go back to my place. Then the store was out of the makeup we needed. I forgot to get fake eyelashes. And Rachel and I had hardly eaten anything that day so we grabbed Wendy's too. All in forty minutes. But at last we made it to the stadium for practice. A tender mercy, we didn't start for 20 minutes. Thank goodness!

After practice, we had less than an hour to eat, dress, curl our hair, and put on makeup. The food was Blackjack pizza--1 pizza per 2 people. That's a lot of pizza! Pizza I couldn't finish. Then in a mad rush, I  got everything else ready, including curling my hair in three minutes. That's a feat. Then, in another mad dash, the colorguard grabbed our equipment and headed to practice, where it preceded to rain and my hair went flat.

But being in the stadium made up for my flat, lifeless hair. The people streaming into the stadium, watching the pre-concert, wandering the aisles. The energy was intense. And it only intensified when I got on the field. There's nothing like being on a football field with 50k+ people surrounding you. I loved them. I wanted to give my all to these strangers in the stands, give them a good show. Adrenaline rushed through my body. I was alert and ready. Then as I watched the football video with past BYU football moments, I admit I got a little teary-eyed. I just forgot how much I love performing and BYU football. I'm obsessed. Honestly, I think I'm going to be one of those season ticket holders who dress their babies in Cosmo and BYU cheerleader outfits, indoctrinate their children that people who go to the U are "gypsies and thieves," and go family portraits in front of the Cougar.

My Pre-game went well. I even made it on the new giant LCD screen. That's an accomplishment. And then, in a new twist, I spun to the fight song while fireworks went off 10 yards away from me. Scary? YES! I got hit with sparks.

Another new twist to this season was the pompoms. Sure it felt a little weird dancing with pompoms in the stands, but once again I was on the big screen and I made it on ESPN!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!! National television, baby. But the downside to this new setup is I lost my great view of the game. Now students block my sight. Bummer. But maybe exposure on tv offsets the bummer factor? We'll see.

Halftime was great. I just felt the crowd's energy course through me through the whole show, especially when we performed Rolling in the Deep. Sassy, sassy, sassy! And I got to see my former roommate, Sarah, on the sidelines. Way fun!

The game was good. As expected, BYU beat Washington State. The band played Celebration and then we performed our fifth quarter concert. After cleaning up the guard room and saying a group prayer, I made my home.

Time: 12:30 AM

Yes, the first game day was crazy! But it was a great start to an awesome season!

School Begins

It's weird to think I am over halfway done with my college education. Time just flies by in college. But now it's time to get serious. Graduation is now looming in my future. And graduation means the real world: a job, marriage, kids, bills, investing. It's a whole lot of scary. Lots of decisions need to be made this year. Including that M-word: Mission.

This year is intimidating.

But I love BYU. There's no place like it. Sure, I do get tired of Provo. But I can't get enough of the learning environment on Temple Hill. There is so much peace here.

Today is not only the fourth day of school, but also the very first game day of the football season. It's going to be crazy. The high is around 90 degrees which will feel more like 100 on the blacktop. We have 45 minutes to eat and get into full colorguard costume. And then the game ends around midnight. Luckily, I have no classes tomorrow.

Details on my first game day will be up tomorrow. But until then, check out this new BYU music video.

GOOOOOOOOO COUGARS!!!!

Thoughts on a Third Band Camp

It's over!

Thank goodness!

I mean, we learn a lot of great things at band camp and really bond together as a guard and etc.

But I'm really glad it's over.

Every band camp has its challenges. My first year it was physically exhausting, I had to learn a whole new way to do guard. My second year I struggled with the elements, especially the heat. On the blacktop, it would get to about 118 degrees. Sweat just poured everywhere. This year was difficult mentally. The work was easy, the weather was in the 80s, but I was almost crippled by my mind.

Honestly, it was pride. I was a junior. This was my third year of BYU Colorguard. I was in leadership. Thus, I knew everything. So when my coach changed the counts to a move in pre-game, I was offended. How dare she do that! There were lots of moments like that which irked me.  Instead of having love towards others, I was pretty bitter.

But my pride taught me a lot-- once I realized how prideful I was being. On Thursday, the Band Leadership Corp President shared a thought that really struck me. She had us read 1 Corinthians 13 which talks about Charity. It lists the charateristics that a charitable person has and I was failing in almost all of them. For example, long suffering? You bet I was complaining out there on the field, though mostly in my head. Not easily provoked? Ha! See previous paragraph. But the point made in chapter 13 is that without charity, all we do is for nothing. So although I might do well on a routine, it meant nothing if I was grumpy and annoyed. Yeah, I'm on band leadership, but without charity, that didn't mean anything in the eternal perspective.

When I was a teenager, my dad put a quote in my room about attitude. It said that 10 percent of our life is what happens to us, the rest of the 90 percent is how we react to what happens to us. True words. Attitude is essential. I would also like to add motives. In the eternal perspective, 10 percent of our lives is what we actually do, while 90 percent is what motivated us to act. Why we do the things we do is the determinant on the status of our heart.  If our actions are driven with love(charity), then we are on our way to be like Christ and receive celestial glory. But if our actions are based on selfishness, we need to change our ways. Cleaning our motives is one of those lifelong challenges, but we can start now. And the best part of it, we may fail a lot as we work to clean our motives and become charitable, but that will  not diminish the love that our Father in Heaven has for us. He always loves us. How powerful is that?


I know that I've been kind of a downer of band camp, but there were some AWESOME moments! Check it out!

Band Camp 2012!!!

Guess what?!!!

BAND CAMP IS HERE!!!! (enter cheers, whistles, hallelujahs, etc.)

And because the colorguard is so awesome and hardcore, we started yesterday. And we hiked the Y. But we'll get to that later.

We showed up at the stadium at 8 in the morning. Some of us were veterans and found each other to catch up on our summers. Others were freshman, nervous and excited, for most of them this was their first day in P-Town. We gathered around and introduced ourselves. The 2012 BYU Colorguard is diverse: we have girls from all over the countries, all ages, all majors, and even skin color. It's going to be a great team.

Then we paired into our big sister/little sister groups. Big sisters help the little sisters with choreography and basically just look out for them during their first season at BYU. This year, my little sister is Solange Haynie from Branson, Missouri.

Honestly, I felt yesterday was pretty low key and easy. Maybe it's because it's my third year and we were just reviewing technique and the fight song and our pregame. Which I know pretty well. And I was in the front for both our daily run and on the Y hike. Pretty good for being out of shape.

But the best part of the day was hiking to the Y, a colorguard tradition. But this year, we added some flavor. We blindfolded the freshmen, drove them around Provo, and then led them to the gate at the Y. I really enjoyed this. Makes me think I would love being a sorority girl, with all that hazing. Is that bad? (Don't answer.)

We took it nice and easy, stopping every switchbacks to share things about ourselves like favorite ice cream flavor, favorite disney movie, and worst colorguard costumes. And honestly, some of those were REALLY bad. I mean, velvet unitards, nude bodysuits, and double snap leotards? Yuck!

I'm happy to say that the guard survived their first day of band camp. Now it's time to show what we are made of when band camp officially begins tomorrow!

BAND CAMP 2012!!!!!!

Fashion Friday: Colorguard Uniforms

Band Camp starts tomorrow! Well, at least for the colorguard. Doing this whole guard thing for another year has gotten me into a creative mode. Here is my dream combination for a winterguard show. 

It's a Romeo and Juliet show, to a very beautiful song that I'm obsessed with. What song? Well, if I told you that, you would have a full idea for a guard show. And I can't have that. 

Anyways, here are some other cool colorguard uniforms.

Blessings in Disguise

Sometimes bad things turn out to be a blessing. Tonight was one of those moments.

I'm am officially out of the Lion House and back at Monticello. But this time, I'm no longer in Apartment 10. No, this time I'm in Apartment 12. The transition is difficult, most transitions are. On one hand, I want to jump back in to the social scene in my ward, but I also want to relax and enjoy some alone time before crazy begins with band camp. For me, this conflict=stress. Stress that I relayed to my dad today when I picked him up from the airport. So, he gave me a father's blessing which talked a lot about peace and knowing how to make the right decisions, exactly what I wanted to hear.

When I got back to Provo tonight, I went over to 10 to collect some items I'd left over there, including my dishes. Everything was good, I was climbing the last staircase to the third floor when

CRASH!

I slipped on a stair and all my dishes flew out of my arms and broke on the pavement below. I was in shock! My dishes!!! Crap!! I was so excited to have dishes, since I pretty much don't have any other kitchen stuff in my apartment yet. And now, I still have nothing, for now. And even worse, there was a witness. I did my best to play it cool and gave her an awkward smile meaning, "Can you just believe that just happened?" But honestly, I was SO embarrassed! And deflated. I was really bummed out about losing my dishes.

But that's when the awesomeness of the Provo YSA 2nd ward came in. A bunch of people came out asking if I was alright. And a few even came and helped me clean up the mess. And then we started talking. And I got someone to help me set up my wireless router (not that you really care). But good things happened. I felt that I was going to be okay. I will be able to make the transition back into the ward. I felt peace, all because I dropped some dishes.

Fashion Friday: Olympian Finality

Yes, the Olympics are going to be over! Unfortunately, I did not get to see enough. (Darn you house for not coming with cable!) But it has still been an amazing time.

One of the special things about this year's Olympics is that every nation that competed in London had to bring at least one female athlete. So for many countries, specifically Saudi Arabia, this was the first time they brought female athletes. Which is HUGE!!!! Also, for the first time, there are more women on Team USA than men. Way to go, girls!

Hopefully, the world will continue to learn that the welfare of women is a key factor in the success of the country. But as we women wait, here is a cute "Girl Power" Olympian outfit.

Remember, you have the power to make your dreams come true, whether it's being an Olympian or graduating college. 

Pictures

If you haven't noticed, I'm a little obsessed with food. If you ever want some good food in SLC, Red Iguana is the place. I mean, look how happy my dad is! But if you're up Ogden way, Warren's is another good eat. 

Fashion Friday: More Olympics!

Maybe it’s because of the Olympics, but I have been on a fitness streak this week. Smaller portions, no ice cream, physical activity: It’s a wonder. But this sudden urge to exercise could also be caused by my new awesome tennis shoes I got for $30. (And even better, my brother, the connoisseur of tennis shoes, was jealous. That’s gotta mean something.) Or it could be because Band Camp starts in two weeks and I’m seriously worried that I might die, since I’m so out of shape.

Whatever the reason, I’m exercising and it’s the Olympics. It’s been fun watching Phelps make history, Maroney’s fantastic vault, and Misty and Kerri Walsh (I’m excluding their new last names) volley for another gold medal. Team USA is awesome! Thus, here is my Team USA inspired running outfit to help me feel like an Olympian.