I'm quitting the dentist.

I have never been in so much pain in my life! Usually I don't mind going to the dentist, but the assistant today was out to get me. I swear she was stabbing my gums with a cork screw! I told her beforehand that my lips were really dry and cracked so I was wearing a lot of chap stick and I promise she stretched out the cracked part the most! I'm pretty sure I swallowed at least a pint of my own blood {shudder}. And that is why I am quitting the dentist. After I get my cracked filling replaced.

Washington D.C.

I am getting SO excited to visit Washington D.C. for the 2nd time in February (I'm not counting the "layover" we had in the city over Christmas Break last year). We went there over Christmas break in 2006 and I LOVED it. I had always wanted to go there and it's amazing that I get to go back! The company that I work for is having a seminar there and I am the lucky person who gets to go help out. Some of the highlights of our first trip were: The D.C. Temple, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Holocaust Museum, riding the Metro, seeing the White House, the World War 2 Memorial (amazing), the National Gallery of Art and visiting Mt. Vernon (not technically in D.C.).

We didn't get to go into the US Capitol building because Gerald Ford died that same week and there was some big deal going on (probably a funeral) at the Capitol. We also didn't get to visit the National Museum of American History because it was closed down for renovations. They had moved a couple of the exhibits into the Air & Space museum so we did get to see Dorothy's Shoes, Kermit the Frog, Rocky Balboa's robe, and a few other AMAZING things. I have heard that the American History museum is the most exciting one, so hopefully it will be open this time!

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Hopefully on this trip I will get to:

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1. See the National Mall (all of the monuments) at night time

2. Visit Jefferson Memorial (it's quite a hike away from the other monuments... but I would really like to see it)

3. Spend more time at the National Gallery of Art. I don't think Sean will be up for this. He just about died of boredom when we spent an HOUR there last time. I could spend a WEEK looking at all of that amazing art!

4. Eat at some restaurants in downtown (last time we ate at the same DANG sandwhich place EVERY day because it was 10 feet in front of the Metro station)

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If anyone has been to D.C. and has suggestions of fun things to do or yummy restaurants, please send them my way!

Follow the Prophet

My brother-in-law posted this picture on his blog in the beginning of January. Just wanted to post it today. What a great example he was for us.

Glenn Beck on President Hinckley

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

Movies to See Before I Die:

Last night Sean and I went to Blockbuster and I was looking around the store while Sean picked out his movie (that's right... we can't agree on a movie so we each get our own). I started noticing all of these "classics" that I had never seen... and I started to feel ashamed! So I have compiled a list of movies I have to see before I die:

1. Funny Girl (my sisters are SHOCKED that I haven't seen this one... I'm practically an embarassment to the family)
2. Gone With the Wind (OK... I actually HAVE seen this... but I was like 10 and I don't remember it)
3. South Pacific (It's sad when you know all of the songs but have never actually SEEN the show)
4. Casablanca (I cringe as I write this... my sisters will be so ashamed!)
5. An Affair to Remember (AHHHH! they REALLY are going to disown me!)
6. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (I confess I have never seen a Marilyn Monroe movie and this is my choice because it has "Diamonds are a girls best friend" in it)
7. To Catch a Thief (Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant & Grace Kelly... How can you go wrong there?)
8. Paris, When it Sizzles (I LOVE Audrey Hepburn and this is one of her movies I haven't seen)
9. Citizen Kane (this is said to be one of the best films of all time. I've seen parts of it but never the whole thing)
10. Some Like it Hot (another Marilyn Monroe film I would like to see)

Well this is just 10 of them... I'm sure I could think of plenty of others (The Music Man, Carousel, Bringing up Baby, Show Boat, Vertigo, His Girl Friday, etc.)

President Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

We love and will miss President Hinckley. What a wonderful and full life he had. We are so grateful for the many things he did for us as our prophet.

Winter Retreat

Well the weekend was a success! We all had such a blast. It was so fun to be up there with my friends. It was also really fun spending time with everyone's significant others. Some of them I didn't know that well and it was really nice to get to know them better.
There were 8 couples that came up over the course of the weekend. It was snowing a little bit on Friday night, but the roads were plowed pretty well and everyone made it up ok. We spent the night playing couples ping pong (me & Sean won!!!), pool, fusbol & air hockey in the game room. We also played a round of pictionary (my team won!!!) and watched a movie. We decided on watching "What Lies Beneath" for some reason... but it really wasn't scary because everyone was cracking jokes about it the whole time. We finished the movie at around 3:30am and then everyone crashed. All of the married couples had their own bedrooms, and the rest slept in the bunk house. Saturday morning Sean and I drove Jamie & Tyson down to Heber to help them take their car in. They had some trouble with it the night before. Then we headed back up to the cabin and ate a delicious breakfast that Kess, Ryan, Erin & Trent were in charge of making. Then we went out on the snowmobiles. It was SO much fun! I usually just let Sean do the snowmobiling by himself because he likes me to ride my own and I don't like to :) But we all had to share, so I rode with Sean. It was a PERFECT day. It was sunny and pretty warm and just beautiful. Some of my friends had never been snowmobiling before and I think they really liked it. After we got back, some of us went sledding. I have to say that sledding was probably my favorite part of the weekend! I hadn't been sledding since I was a kid and I had forgotten how fun it is! We pretty much sledded down the whole main road and then finally got to the "sledding hill". This hill is the part of the main road that is closed off in the winter because it is too steep :) I went down it in this crazy fast black sled and I thought I was going to die! I was getting so much air on the bumps! My knees are seriously bruised but it was SO worth it. We were all laughing so hard! After sledding, we all relaxed for a little while and then started preparing dinner. Alicia, Jonny, Jamie, Tyson, Tiff & Whit all helped with dinner. We pushed 2 huge tables together so we could all sit together. It was a yummy dinner. Jonny & Alicia made the MOST delicious rolls! After dinner, we had a little birthday party for Jamie because her birthday was on Sunday. We just had cake & ice cream & presents. Then some of the group headed home. We were all so exhausted on Saturday night that we didn't do much. We played Friends Scene It for a while and then went to bed. I really didn't sleep much on Saturday night because the wind was blowing so hard. It kept waking me up and I was getting nervous about the weather for driving home on Sunday. We didn't end up going to church on Sunday morning (we were planning on going to a ward in Heber) because we were worried about the weather. The rest of the group helped clean up a bit and then went home around 11:00am. Sean & I stayed around until 4:00pm so we could finish up the laundry.
So that was our weekend! I am really so glad that everyone was able to make it. We don't get all of us girls together very often and it was some great bonding time! I love my friends! I don't know how many of you even know I have a blog... but thanks for coming and helping and making it a wonderful weekend!

Weddings!

My friend Alicia got engaged over the weekend! YAY! They are getting married on May 14th in the Salt Lake Temple. Here is the happy couple. (Alicia Montgomery & Jonny Taylor)

And while I'm announcing weddings... my friend Kess got engaged on Christmas. They are getting married on May 3 in the Salt Lake Temple. Here they are... this was at a Halloween party and they were Jim & Pam from The Office. (Kess Bergk & Ryan Cunliffe)

Weekend

We had a very fun holiday weekend! Friday night we went out to dinner with my little sisters and Erika. We went to Joy Luck... of course! I seriously love their food. I'm sure they probably know us by name by now :) Then we played at my house.

Saturday we got up early to go to the cabin with Heather and Annette. We didn't stay for very long, but we did get a chance to sled down the driveway, go for a short ride on the snowmobiles, play in the snow, and watch 2 episodes of the Cosby show (random, I know). Then Sean and I went back to Kaysville and babysat our nieces. They are so funny and cute! I love hanging out with them. Kelty taught us how to play the Wii too. How sad... a 4 year old is better than me :)

On Sunday I sang for my mom's friend's Relief Society. Cara was teaching the lesson called "God The Eternal Father" and she wanted me to sing a song that she wrote for her dad. I felt a little bit heartless. The song was very sappy (as can be expected when someone writes a song for their dad) and I was kind of not looking forward to singing it. But all of the ladies in the room were crying! And once I heard the song in context with the rest of the lesson, it was very fitting. I'm glad that all those women enjoyed it, at least! We also ate dinner with the whole family at my parents house on Sunday. I love it when everyone comes!

Sean had to work on Monday, so I got to do all of my chores! I cleaned the house, did laundry, went grocery shopping, shoveled snow (and LOTS of it), etc. I also was finally able to make some preparations for the cabin this weekend! I'm getting really excited to be with all of my friends! YES! I hope the weather is not toooooo snowy. It is supposed to snow on Thursday night and Friday and then again on Saturday night. Hopefully our friend up at Timberlakes gets the roads plowed!

Back to Choir

Last night we had our first choir rehearsal since our Christmas break. It was so fun to be singing again! We are starting a new piece by Gerald Finzi called Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice. It is 30 pages long and takes almost 20 minutes to sing! Good thing we have until April before our next performance.

We also got to hear the U of U Singers perform a short program last night. Cameron, our director, is a member of the choir and they were singing at a high school invitational workshop at Libby Gardner Hall last night. We had our rehearsal up at the School of Music so we could sneak in and listen to them. It was really fun! I wish we were that good! But it was fun to hear a very good choir and realize that we have LOTS of room for improvement :)

Tonight I think we are heading up to the cabin.... depending on Sean's work schedule. They have had some deadlines to meet, so he's been working long hours this week. He worked close to 14 hours yesterday. Hopefully he will get done early today so we can play up in Heber! I love going up there on snowy days. My baby sister Annette is in town too, so I'll probably have a sisters night this weekend! YES!

Once Upon a Mattress

We went to see Once Upon a Mattress last night at Rodgers Memorial and I really enjoyed it! Kirsten did a great job! She played the princess being tested in the first scene and then a lady in waiting during the rest of the play. This was her debut in acting and I think she did awesome. I seriously could never do anything like that. I would get severe stage fright.

Anyway, for those that have never seen the musical, it is based on the fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea". It is really silly and funny and I definately recommend it (especially the MWF cast). Prince Dauntless was REALLY good. This was weird though.... the guy who played the king was my Jr. High principal, Mr. Hadlock. It kind of freaked me out! I kept thinking.... how do I know that guy?

Here's the link if anyone wants to get tickets: http://www.rodgersmemorial.com/rmt/. By the way... the picture above is of the TTHS cast.

Sean's Favorite Pastime...

Here is Sean hanging out on the couch... watching HANNAH MONTANA. We love that show... I hope he's not embarassed :)

Um I have nothing to write about so I have resorted to this! But in the near future you can expect to hear about our weekend retreat at the cabin with my friends! We invited my friends and their spouses/boyfriends/fiancee's up to the cabin for a party next weekend! I'm sosooo excited. I'm sure there will be lots of great pictures!

Tonight I am going to see "Once Upon a Mattress" at Rodgers Memorial Theater. My sister-in-law, Kirsten is in the play and we are excited to go and support her. I love plays and musicals and operas and concerts! If anyone wanted to buy me an awesome Valentines gift (SEAN... this is a hint for you), I am dying to see Cinderalla the opera! The Utah Opera is performing it in March at Capitol Theatre.

Anyway... this was a random blog... Happy Wednesday everyone!

Photo Blog

To feed my addiction to blogging, I have started a new Photo Blog for the Smith family. This will be entirely dedicated to pictures. So if you didn't see enough of them here, go right ahead and check it out: http://smithphotos28.blogspot.com/.

Friends

I love my friends. Thats all... I just am grateful to have such wonderful friends. Some of these girls I have known since I was 10. Some of them I have met more recently. But I consider myself to be a very lucky girl with very fun and beautiful friends. Here are just a few examples of their fun-ness and beauty :)

HA!

My sister-in-law Stephanie just emailed this picture to me! We were on the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney World and they were in the car in front of us. Brett snapped this picture just as our car started spinning around. That is a genuine look of terror on my face!

Sean is really into that laser gun...

Choir Pictures

We had our pictures taken before our Christmas concert at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful setting! Here are a couple. You can also see them on UMC's website: http://www.utahmasterchorale.org/ in our gallery.

Random Pictures

I didn't post many pictures from our trip, so here are a few more. And some other random pictures as well :)

Hawaii

Well the Smith's are already planning our next big adventure! We will be spending Thanksgiving this year in Hawaii! Sean's parents are renting a beautiful home in Oahu that is just a short walk away from Kalhua beach. Last time we were in Hawaii, we were on a cruise. We got to see Oahu, Kawaii, Hawaii, and Maui. It will be really nice this time to just stay put and relax. There is also a private pool and jecuzzi at the house. So we can look forward to that all year!

I'm very excited that the traveling will be over Thanksgiving instead of Christmas this year! I made Sean promise me that we would stay home for Christmas. I love being home for the holidays!

Here we are in Hawaii on our Honeymoon (4wheeling in Maui). This is before we got a digital camera :)

New Calling

I am excited/terrified for my new calling in our ward! On Sunday I was sustained and set apart as the ward choir director. I have absolutely NO experience directing a choir! I have only ever led the music for Relief Society & Sacrament meeting a handful of times! I am really grateful for the opportunity and for the experience that this will give me. I felt really peaceful about it when I was set apart. So this should be interesting. I am glad that I have had plenty of experience singing in a choir, at least.

One thing I am really excited about is that I will be choosing the music! Sometimes I get frustrated when ward choirs try to perform music that is too difficult for them. I will definately be sticking to very simple music. I think it will be prettier and that's all I can handle right now anyway!

Anyway, I'll keep you updated. We'll have our first practice in 2 weeks. I still don't know where we can practice because I don't have a piano at my house! And the building is pretty much occupied all day on Sunday. I don't think I would get a great turnout if I had practice at 8:00am :)

Christmas Vacation!

Well our Christmas vacation was quite an adventure! We left on Christmas day at 9:00am and were supposed to get to Orlando that night, but due to bad weather in Denver, we didn't make it until LATE the next day! Our flight out of Denver was so late that we missed our connecting flight from Washington DC to Orlando. We got to DC late on Christmas day and spent the night there. Luckily the airline paid for our hotel, transporation & food. The only flight we could get on was from DC to Tampa, so we had to drive the rest of the way to Orlando. It was quite a nightmare to be honest! But it was very memorable!

Once we got to Orlando, we spent 2 days at Disney World, one day at Universal Studios and one day at the beach. I can't describe how PACKED it was at the parks. The lines were huge for all the rides but it was still way fun. Sean & I got Express Passes when we went to Universal Studios because we didn't want to wait in lines all day and we only had one day there. It was WELL worth the expense! It was so nice to get through a 140 minute line in 15 minutes :)

We also got to drive past the Orlando temple. We didn't end up having time to go and do a session there, but it was fun to see it anyway.

This sign was pretty amusing... It was posted right by the customer service desk :)