color me good

Despite the fact that I live in Utah and there is snow on the ground on April 1^st I have officially welcomed spring. Last Saturday a group of people (friends and friends-of-friends) traveled to the Holi Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. This was my first experience at the FofC and I regret nothing and would do it again.

This is what happens when it gets into your eye and tears stream through layers of color.

be good to yourself

I have a tendency to bottle up all my emotion. I let all the little disappointments and difficulties along with some big things build until I have an emotion explosion and it all comes out is one big, wet mess. The strange part is some little thing that on a normal day is not a big deal triggers the explosion. It’s like the little pebble that starts the rockslide. Why it has to happen in the middle of church I do not know.

I tell myself to stop crying you big baby, but it doesn’t help at all. It also doesn’t help when someone tries to comfort me; it actually increases the tear flow exponentially. Luckily, there wasn’t any sobbing, just quiet tears. The good thing is it doesn’t last very long. I’m fully recovered within a half hour, 45 minutes tops (at least from the tears).

The saying “don’t cry over spilled milk” is generally good advice. Letting all the little disappointments and a few big difficulties build and build and build until I explode at the most inopportune times isn’t good advice either.

collection of goods

I really love Collective Soul. When anyone asks me who my favorite bands are, Collective Soul is the first out of my mouth. I know I have liked them since their beginning and I know my older sisters had something to do with it. I distinctly remember my sister's copy of "Hints Allegations & Things Left Unsaid" because of the cover art. I liked "Shine" but really didn't get hooked until I borrowed another sister's copy of "Dosage."

As of Thursday night, I have seen Collective Soul in concert five times and I would go see them tomorrow if I could. Each of the five concerts have been in different venues of varying sizes.

#1 The Huntsman Center--2001
They were promoting the "Blender" album. I went with my younger brother and the place was packed. They did the usual walk off the stage and come back out to perform an encore, but after that the crowd was still cheering and the light came up and they came back out and performed one more song.

# 2 The Canyons--2005
Shortly after the Tsunami, Collective Soul play a "free" concert at the Canyons, but asked for donations. Outdoor concert in February, good but cold.

#3 Grand Junction, Co--2005
About a week after I saw them at the Canyons, I went to Grand Junction to visit my sister and see them perform in an old movie theatre that had been converted into a concert venue. I had already purchased tickets for this event when I saw them at the Canyons. I enjoyed this particular time because we were so close to the stage and I hadn't ever been that close before.

#4 Peppermill Concert Hall, Wendover--2008
This was a second try on this particular venue. The first time we drove the two hours from Salt Lake to Wendover only to pull up the venue in time to see "Collective Soul Has Been CANCELLED due to Illnes" flash on the marquee (yes I did spell illness wrong, but only because they did). I wish I had video of our faces when we read that. So instead of seeing the concert, we ate at a terrible buffet and drove the two hours back home. They did refund the tickets, so we were only out the money for gas and the stomach pain from the food.


Six months later the concert was rescheduled and I checked multiple times before we drove the two hours to Wendover that it was really happening this time. This was the first concert I have attended without an opening band. So while I enjoyed the concert and the venue, it was short.

# 5 The Rail--January 21, 2010
Despite the poorly organized process of getting into the venue, I think this is one of the better places for a concert. It is less than a year old, so everything is clean and shiny. The layout is very open with an 21+ balcony area surrounding the entire space. We were about three people back from the front and I took way too many pictures and lots of video. I'm sure the people behind me were annoyed with the crazy girl and her camera, but I didn't really care because among all the terrible pictures I was able to get some pretty cool ones.





I know I'll see Collective Soul again, so here's to next time.

life is good, but sometimes it's amazing

Yesterday I looked into the mirror and smiled. I’m not sure exactly why, but I felt joyful. For the past few months I have been happy, but there has been something keeping me a little down. At that moment, everything felt different. I knew that I had a family who loves me, friends who care about me, and the gospel in my life. At that moment, everything else didn’t seem to matter. At that moment, I realized life is not only good, it's amazing.

my pain may have been a good thing

I usually only wear high heels on Sunday for church or the rare occasions I drive to work. Friday night, however, I was trying out the heels with jeans thing that I have been told some guys really like. The roommates and I were going to SLC for dinner. I was walking to the car when all of a sudden I found myself falling down the concrete stairs toward the front of my car. I can’t be certain, but I think I tried to catch my balance and ended doing a 180 which saved my butt from a big bruise. My left leg, just below the knee, wasn’t so lucky. Of course the roommates didn’t get to see my graceful fall; just me sprawled on the garage floor. I got up and immediately knew I had to change my shoes. I took off the heels, quickly limbed upstairs to my room, and grabbed my much more sensible, but still fashionable boots.

As we were cruising down I-15 nearing the Farmington interchange area (I know they have a name for it but I can’t remember because it hasn’t caught on like the “Spaghetti Bowl”) we saw one of those UDOT signs that said the left lanes were blocked due to an accident and lots of break lights. We came upon a multiple-car-pile-up that had occurred maybe a minute or two before we got there. It seemed to be caused by the slowing of traffic following a previous multiple-car-pile-up.

All three of us rubbernecked as we slowly drove passed the two scenes and couldn’t help but wonder if we had been on the road just a few minutes earlier if we would have been one of the cars with the smashed-in front end. So if my tumble down the stairs and the resulting changing of the footwear saved us from a wreck, then I’m glad my pain resulted in something good.

so good for two reasons

One of my favorite shows recently used one of my favorite bands in an episode and it made me extremely happy.

good to my ears

I'm not a fan of buying single songs, I have always like buying albums. One reason is I often find I like songs on the album more than the singles that are played on the radio. I tend to listen to the same albums over and over. The following are my most recent favorites. I can honestly say I listen to each these albums and enjoy each song.

Absolutes--Barcelona



Are You Nervous?--Rock Kills Kid



Armistice--Mute Math



Collective Soul (Rabbit)--Collective Soul



Don't Make Me Wait--Locksley



Final Straw--Snow Patrol



Once Upon a Time in the West--Hard-Fi



The Resistance--Muse



The Sun and the Moon--The Bravery



Viva La Vida--Coldplay