The Talent Show!

So! This past Saturday night, we were in the Stake Talent Show! My husband told a little story about getting "help" from the Verizon "help" line! And I played the piano! First I did a little bit of juggling! Then I sang the "Me, me, me, me" scales -- two by myself, and 3 scales with the audience! It was fun! I wish I could have been in the audience to see it! We were going to have it video-taped, but that didn't work out. That's OK. Stuff happens like that sometimes.

I planned my outfit WEEKS in advance! And I was constantly getting inspiration about what do and get -- all the way up to the end, before my performance! I didn't check what I wrote about it previously, so maybe I should check and see. I'll be right back! Oh! That's right! I didn't say much, since I wanted it to be a surprise! : ) Ha!

So -- I found my black blouse and my blue pants at the Goodwill store! The blouse is what determined the rest of my outfit! At first, I wanted a blouse with those long dangly ends at the end of the sleeves. But the FIRST blouse that I found was the black one that I ended up wearing. And I liked it, but I thought that if I kept looking, that I might find one with dangly sleeves! So I kept looking, and I found a couple of blouses with the dangly sleeves, but I really didn't like the designs or colors of the blouses, and they didn't really fit anyway. So I kept looking.

Then, since I couldn't find anything, I decided to go ahead and buy the black blouse. I'm glad I did, because even though it didn't have the dangly sleeves, it was the best choice! And it laid the ground-work for the rest of the whole outfit! As always, Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He didn't let me find a "dangly sleeve" blouse!!!

This is a LONG story!! I'm only at the blouse part, and I've got so much more to tell!!!

So -- on a different day, I went back and found the blue pants! I was pretty excited about finding them! I thought they'd give a "fun" look to my outfit! So after I bought them, I took them to the dry cleaners and had them cleaned! : )

Then, I got the inspiration for a long sash! I thought that would be PERFECT!!!! I didn't go shopping around at various stores for one that was already made, because I knew that it might take FOREVER to find JUST what I was looking for!

So I went to JoAnn's fabric store to find some material, because I KNEW that there would be SOMETHING there that I could use! Well -- first, I found a black bolt and a blue bolt of material, and put them in my cart so that I could use them to check and see if the material I found would go with it. At first, I had planned to get a very multi-colored material -- something bright, with lots of colors. But I didn't find anything that fit exactly right.

So I went over to the "reject" section! And I found a BEAUTIFUL, shimmery light-green material, and I LOVED it!!!!! It wouldn't go with my blue pants, but it would go GREAT with a black blouse and black pants! So I stuck it in my basket! It was only $3.00 per yard!!! YES!

Then, I found a YELLOW material, and it was PERFECT!!!! But then, I looked at the price per yard, and my excitement diminished. : ( It was NINE dollars a yard! : ( Hmmmmmm. What was I going to DO?!!!! But then, like a light from above, I looked a the sign above the material rack, and it said, "50% off!". WOW! Cool! I can get it then!!!! : ) YAY!!!!!! And that's the one I decided to use for my outfit.

A few days later, when I felt like it, I decided to finally make the first cut into the yellow material. But it took FOREVER for me to decide exactly how to cut it! I drew a few pictures, I pinned it up. I puzzled and puzzled and puzzled! And finally, I decided what I wanted to do, and I cut it and then tied it around my waist! PERFECT!

I didn't want to have to sew the edges, but the yellow fuzz was too much! It was getting all over my blue pants when I was "rehearsing" my skit and song! So -- I had to resort to sewing both sides! But I left the bottom un-touched, because if I would have sewn it, it wouldn't have looked as flowy as I wanted it to! : )

I really don't think I have the time to tell EVERY SINGLE story that goes with every single item that I got for my outfit!!!

But I'll try to condense it here! I found the necklace at Target, and the earrings and colorful hair-piece thing at Claire's, at Cedar Hill Crossing! I was going to use yellow eye shadow, but it didn't look right. I was going to use brushes to brush on the make-up, but it made the color go "bye-bye"! I'm guessing that brushes work best with cream eye make-up, or if you want a very powdery look! So I used my regular applicators!

I did a "dress-rehearsal" with make-up and my outfit on Thursday. I'm glad I did that! It gave me an idea of how long it would take to do everything! And it helped me decide what I didn't want to do! It helped me decide to sew up the sash, put on MORE blue make-up, and more black, and extra lines! It also helped me decide that I DIDN'T want to wear my hair down in a ponytail, and that I wanted it UP in a bun! : )

I was nervous and worried about stuff that week and that morning, but I did a lot of praying and reflecting on why I was feeling certain feelings, and I was inspired with lots of helpful positive thoughts. I realized that if I only think positive thoughts, that the negative thoughts have no where to stay. They leave. I also had to remember to breathe slowly, and not to hold my breath!

It went well, and I'm glad I did it! I'm also glad it's over!!

My favorite performance that night was a young teenage girl who danced a ballet/free-style dance. It was beautiful! Very impressive and elegant. I loved it! She did such a great job!

Well -- the play is this Saturday! I think it will be fun! : ) Practice is tonight! And then just a few more practices and we're on! : ) I'm the prompter. : )

More later! : ) Have a good day!

Last Week and This Week

Hey! I just wanted to document a few things here!

Last Tuesday, my husband won FIRST PLACE at a Toastmaster contest! He did a great job telling a story about calling a "HELP" line and being on the phone for hours, and then then, right near the end of the phone call, they told him they would need to "un-do" everything they had just done, and then they just did a few simple things, and VWALA! He was hooked up! Craziness!

Last Friday, we went to Multnomah Falls!

It is SO pretty there! I didn't even really want to go, but my husband wanted to go, so I went with him.

I was happy that I went, even though it took forever to get to the top and back down!

It was worth it at the top where the river is! It's beautiful!

This Saturday, I'm going to be in a Stake Talent Show! I'm getting ready for it -- practicing and picking out my outfit. : ) I'm looking forward to doing it.........and then it being over! : )

It should be fun. : ) I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone else's talents! There will be artwork as well as performances!

Well -- gotta git goin'! Have a good day!