Les Miserables

Ok, to start, I do not normally do this, ever. I don't want to be a film snob or anything, I love blockbusters, I don't watch a lot of indie films or anything so that I can show people how much I know about movies... but for Les Miserables my film major-ness really kicked in when I was watching it and then when I started seeing people's commentary I have so many things I want to say in response to them so I'm writing this, which no one will even read, but it'll make me feel better. I'm going to to address the things that people say about this film and give my own response.

I love the musical Les Mis. I have never read the book, I haven't seen the other movie. The first experience I had with Les Mis is going to see it in London this past summer and then listening to the songs a lot since I saw it. So that's where I'm coming from. Not a die hard fan, not emotionally attached, I just like it.

Complaint #1: The disclaimer
"I liked the movie, there were parts I didn't care for but in all it was good." and "It's so good except for the graphic rape scene" and "I have decided not to see this movie because I heard there's a graphic prostitute scene, I won't judge any of you who see it, but I will not. I'm so sad about this"
Did I miss something? Did we go see the same movie? For one, there was no rape scene, Fantine consents, it wasn't rape. And if you know the story at all you know that is what happens, why are you surprised? Two, what was graphic? I don't think I am past feeling on this by any means, I feel uncomfortable with sex scenes, always. I went to the movie with my mom and she didn't notice anything that made her feel uncomfortable... my mom, who feels so uncomfortable talking about such things that she was afraid to give us "the talk." We have been trying to figure out why people are so upset by this scene. It is hard to watch, but I think that the filmmakers did an amazing job with Fantine. I thought that entire part was completely necessary and it was handled in a very tasteful, reverent way. There was no skin, it wasn't glorifying, it didn't prolong anything longer than necessary. It took the time to show he descent and the decisions she made and why she made them. That's the most important thing, the why. You can see her pain and it's not easy to watch but I think that you take that journey with her and you feel the way she feels. At the end of scene with the captain you feel her despair because you went through it with her, making the song "I Dreamed A Dream" incredibly powerful. Can I just say how amazing that was? Anne Hathaway's performance there was mind blowing. Seriously, that song was all done in one shot. She sang that whole thing right in front of the camera with that much emotion. The emotion she put into the song, especially with the line "he took my childhood in his stride" mixed with the emotion you were already feeling was so powerful. One more thought, why are people dwelling on that part? There is so much more to the film, I didn't even remember that until everyone started these disclaimers like they are afraid of being judged if someone sees this part and remembers that they said they liked the movie and approved of it.

Complaint #2: The bored one
"The movie was so slow"
Slow does not mean bad. If you were expecting The Avengers, then yes, this film was slow but if you are expecting to see the musical Les Mis, this film moved just as fast as I remember the musical on stage going. The thing that makes this story so powerful is it takes the time to develop the characters so that you know exactly who they are, where they came from, and why they do the things they do. Every Javier, the "bad guy" of the film, you understand that he is just trying to do what he believes is right and his job so he can in no way be disliked for his actions. The theme of redemption cannot be shown quickly, it has to come with time and effort. I have a hard time with this complaint mostly because anyone who says this has no idea about slow films, try watching Fires on the Plain or Diary of a Country Priest and then we can talk.

Complaint #3: The singer
"The singing was not very good." and "Why was Russell Crowe in this movie?!"
I don't know much about the mechanics of singing or anything like that, I just like the songs from the musical a lot, but I thought the singing was great. I thought Russell Crowe sang really well for not really singing very much from what I know and I thought his song "Stars" was awesome. Except for the awkward position he was standing in during the last shot of that song, why were his arms sticking out like that? Was I the only one that noticed that? No, the actors were not broadway singers but if you want to see those kinds of singers than you should probably go see the actual play. Film acting is so much smaller than stage acting, I think those big voices would have been slightly overwhelming. It's hard for actors to go from one to another, Eponine (Samantha Barks) is a great exception, but I have seen stage people trying to tone it down for the camera and most of the time it doesn't work.

Those are the biggest three complaints that I've seen and I disagree with. I have one thing to say to the girls who keep posting statuses saying "I am Eponine." Please just stop. haha I understand relating to character, what girl hasn't liked someone who didn't like her back? But most of these 16 year old girls who are saying this are not seeing the complexity of the character who gives her life for love even though she knows he doesn't love her back and they are just saying that to try to get the attention of the guy that they feel like they've been friend-zoned by.

Other thoughts:
I wanted Enjolras' voice to be a little bit stronger. He was really really good in the movie but in the play he had a voice that was mesmerizing like the Phantom's that made you actually want to get up and fight with him. Wasn't it cool how he fell out the window and hung by one leg when he was killed in the same position that he dies in on the barricade in the play?
Eponine has the greatest dimples on her cheeks, I wish my dimples looked more like that haha
I don't like the Master of the House song. I didn't like it in London either. It's too much.
I'm amazed that those actors allowed themselves to look THAT bad on that big of screen. There were no glamour shots in this movie. None. They all looked horrible the whole time haha, and that made it so much more real and I loved that.
Russell Crowe still has a baby face to me.
The sewer part was so gross! But that helped it be more real.
Marius did a weird head shaking thing when he held long notes... thank goodness the editor noticed and cut to a different shot during all of his longer notes. (I don't normally notice editing, you're not supposed to, but when he was singing there were times when I wanted it to cut and then it did. I liked that.) His freckles were cute.

6 Months

I guess you would think that because it's technically Christmas right now I would be writing a post about Christmas and how it snowed today and I was able to get all of my shopping done in 3 hours this afternoon, we were able to skype with my sister in Thailand for a couple hours, and I am now sitting here writing this in my new zebra print footie pajamas... but that's not what is on my mind right now.

I have been thinking recently about the past 6 months. You know, some people have a hard time living in the present because they are so busy looking forward to and planning for the future, I'm not like that. I have a hard time living in the present because I like to remember the past... it's one of the curses of having a ridiculously good memory. It's how I am able to see someone I met once and place where I met them and what we talked about, and how I was able to keep myself completely head over heels for a guy that I hadn't seen or talked to in 2 years. Anyway, these past 6 months I think it's safe to say have been the most life changing for me out of any other 6 month period so far in my life. Let me explain a little bit.

6 months ago I was living in London. I was immersed in a world that was unfamiliar but I loved so much. I was surrounded by amazing, fun people all the time. I was using foreign money and spent my time going to museums via the tube. I spent a couple of hours a day on skype and the rest of my down time dreaming of the next couple of months to come.

You know on 500 Days of Summer when there is the split screen of expectation and reality? Looking back on this 6 months feels a little bit like that.

I came home from London and went to Colorado and had a perfect week. I cannot think of a single thing that went wrong during that amazing week of four wheeling. Then I came back to Provo and things changed. In the past 6 months I have felt hurt and pain unlike anything I have ever felt before. My heart was completely crushed and I found myself having to work my way back up from what seemed like nothing. The pain has dulled now, that's something that I have found happens over time.

Good things happened too, amazing things actually. I applied for graduation, making this past semester my last full semester of school ever! I was blessed with the greatest roommates in the whole world, one of which is my kindred spirit and has been a life saver for me. I secured a job for next semester that will give me a set schedule.

 I have completely re-evaluated my life and straightened out my priorities. I have become the kind of person that I want to be and that I am proud of, all on my own (with help from a loving Heavenly Father, of course) but without the influence or motivation of another person. I have made changes in my life that I did not even realize that I needed to make before.

My best friend got engaged 5 months ago and was married this past weekend, and I was able to go! I turned 22, which is an age that I have been really excited about for a long time. I had a party and just gave people an open invitation to show up if they felt like it. I had 30 people who I love so much from all of the 4 years that I have been at BYU show up at my apartment to wish me happy birthday! I still can't believe that I have met so many incredible people here! I love them!



This past half year did not go at all the way that I planned, but sometimes God has a better plan for your life. That's what I've learned.

What a Great Weekend!

This weekend was a really good weekend. Yesterday I only had one class. So I went to class for an hour and when I came home I skyped with Julie who is my awesome sister who is studying abroad in Madrid right now. Isn't she gorgeous? Seriously, I have the prettiest sisters.















Then I had to do an assignment where I had to do a lighting set up and light someone... but there was no one around and I couldn't set up lights for myself. So I called Nich who lives really close and was done with class for the day. Then I ended up with an awesome picture like this. haha Jolly Old St. Nich.

My Mom came down to hang out with me for the night. It was awesome! We went to dinner at Zupas and then walked around the mall. (Which doesn't mean just walked around I got a pretty great jacket, thanks Mom!)
















I got an awesome letter this week from my sister Erin who is on a mission in Thailand. My mom brought it down with her. It was one of the best letters ever, she somehow knew exactly what I needed to hear. Missionaries are good at that :) See? She's awesome too, she plays with tigers.









This is the envelope that the letter came in, isn't it great?!
She added a little commentary in the last picture:
"So Asian"


This morning I got up early (7 am!) and went to help film a capstone. I was really cold the whole day. I worked on camera for the first real time, it was a lot of pressure! I think I did ok... There were two Red Epics on set today so instead of doing the second assistant camera person job that I've been trained to do, I found myself being the 1st AC. So I had to focus the camera. I have only done it once before. I made a realization about myself, my left eye is very rarely actually in focus. I'm guessing it has to do with my astigmatism... but I had to focus the camera with one eye haha. It was a little rough, but good practice for when I'll be helping out with camera again next week :) I love working with camera, they are so cool!

Tonight I went to a international movie with my roommate, it was extremely weird. and that's coming from a film major who has watched an unreal number of movies.

When I got home tonight I was just tired... so I sat at home and watched Youtube videos with my roommates :) I found a playlist of 40 of the best cat videos... so worth watching! haha and now I am still not in bed, even though I have now been awake for 14 hours.

Day 1

You know, I have never really understood the phrase "today is the first day of the rest of my life."
But today I understand it perfectly.
One of my first thoughts this morning was, "ok, day 1. Let's do this." I haven't felt like that all day by any means but that's ok. I guess you just have to take some things one day at a time and eventually it won't even be a conscious decision, it will just be automatic.

Life Lately

I haven't posted in a few months, mostly because I have been interested in other things for the past couple of months. But today I feel like writing a little bit. Well, my last post was about going to Ireland from London. I am no longer living in London, unfortunately. I still have dreams of going to the Gloucester Road station and riding the tube to the BFI. I miss the perfect London skyline. We were lucky to get to be there during the Olympics, but at the same time, it got so busy  and packed with people that I started to feel like a native London-er who was getting frustrated by tourists. It was actually a good feeling :) It meant that I was completely adjusted to being there and I had made it my home for the short period of time that I was there. It seems weird that I was actually in London just this summer. It seems like another life. But I guess that's just how life is, isn't it?

I have learned a couple of things about life the past few months, these two lessons have been taught and re-taught to me in so many different situations and ways.
1. Things really do not turn out the way that you expect or plan.
2. Life is so good! No matter what happens, things are going to work out the way that they are supposed to and I am going to be happy.

These lessons have not been easy to learn but I am thankful that I have learned them, and that I have been able to get through some difficult situations through the learning of these lessons.

I had a hard day and came home to this from Mary. 

For example: This semester I didn't know who I was going to live with. I needed a new environment but the people I would consider living with were getting married, doing beauty pageants, going on missions, etc. things that were keeping them from being ready to sign a contract for fall semester. So a random girl posted on facebook that she was selling her contract I messaged her and bought it. It was just down the street from where I lived last year and it was cheaper than my previous apartment. I was nervous about moving in with three random girls, but I felt like it was a good decision. I had a really great experience moving in with random people freshman year but what are the odds that I would be that lucky twice? I wasn't planning on spending much time in my apartment because of school, work, and dating so I didn't think it mattered. But this semester has been far from what I expected it to be with all three of those things so I found myself spending more time with my roommates than I ever have. I don't know how but I ended up with the best roommates ever! My roommate Mary has quickly become one of my favorite people ever. I love getting to spend time with her and when she's not around I am actually disappointed. My life is not what I expected it to be, but I am happy. I am so thankful that I was "randomly" put with the girls that have gone out of their way to help a girl that they hardly knew feel better during a really hard day (or couple of weeks). Life is good.

Ireland

 This past weekend has been one of my favorites while studying abroad. We took a three day trip up to Ireland and it was such a cool experience. We took off right after class on thursday and took so many different modes of transportations. Within one day we took a shuttle, plane, taxi, bus, and train. Our flight took off from the Luton airport and landed in Dublin. From there we got on a train and rode the width of the country to the west coast. Our final destination was Galway. It was beautiful! There were cows, sheep, and horses everywhere, it was fantastic. I'm not gonna lie, I was feeling a little bit clausterphobic being in London because it was so much city around me so it was really nice to go to a place where you look for miles in every direction. We stayed at a bed and breakfast two miles outside of the town center that was owned by a great Irish couple. They were so nice to us, at one point we were standing in the rain waiting for the bus and Dez (the husband) saw us and felt sorry for us and drove us into to town. We spent a lot of our time on Quay (pronounced "key") street, pictured above. It was a lot of fun, there were a lot of pubs and stores to explore. The street was lined with musicians playing a variety of instruments. We learned later that Galway is the place for musicians in Ireland.

The Cliffs of Moher

Friday morning we woke up and went on a bus tour through the countryside. The highlight of the tour were the Cliffs of Moher. (where they filmed the Cliffs of Insanity scene in Princess Bride).  Being there was one of the coolest things I have ever done. They continued on forever and I just wanted to stay there for hours walking along the edge of the cliff. Every step I took changed the way that they looked. It was awe inspiring to feel like you were standing at the end of the world. I loved it!

Saturday morning we got back on the train and headed back to London. It was a successful weekend! I loved having the chance to go to Ireland.

Fires, Skype, and Such

I have some pictures and stuff that I want to show. I don't have much to say, this past weekend the exhaustion hit and I haven't done much. I relaxed a lot but it was a good kind of relaxing where I'm getting ready to enjoy everything I can. Today I went to class where my teachers once again taught a lesson that really impacted me, it was great! then we went and bought The Amazing Spider-man Tickets that we went to tonight. From there I went to H&M looking for a rain jacket, I didn't find one, but I did find a cute shirt that I'm excited to wear :) When I got home I finished Life of Pi, something that I am proud of. I spent the remainder of the afternoon on Skype with Cameron :) it was awesome.  

They put up the Olympic rings on the Tower Bridge a month before the Opening Ceremonies. I wanted to see them so bad, so I talked my friends into walking over there with me.  

This is one of my favorite pictures. I took it while sitting on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral. It was a little bit cold and rainy but I didn't mind because the view was worth it. 

This past week was a bad week for fires in Utah. Last friday I got on facebook to see my cousins posting on my mom's wall asking about the fire in Herriman, which is where my parents live. The next day there were posts about them being evacuated. I had a little bit of a rough time waiting for news (the internet being my only form of communication) about if my family was safe and if I still had a house. Finally I got the response that they were safe, they had to be evacuated but on sunday morning they were allowed back home. This picture was posted a little while later. The circled house is the one my parents live in. The fire came up to our backyard and then stopped. We are so blessed. 

Observations

While wandering around London this past week I have made a couple of observations that I would like to share.

1. London is incredibly diverse, I have never been to a place with so many people from so many different countries speaking other languages! It's been refreshing to get out of Utah
2. At almost every intersection, there is paint on the road telling you which direction to look for cars before you cross. This is so helpful for those of us who are not used to cars driving on the left side of the road.
3. When words ending in S are possessive they still put an apostrophe S. (ex: James's)
4. Europeans are quiet
5. Asians take a lot of pictures (even during musicals when it is "forbidden" haha)
6. People own really nice cars
7. When parking on the street, you can park any direction you want
8. Police sirens are REALLY loud, and the cars are neon yellow and green
9. Almost everyone smokes. The smoke isn't as stinky as in the US but it still gets hard to breathe sometimes
10. The toilets do not always flush
11. On the street people will walk straight at you until you move out of their way. It's like a game of chicken.
12. When people run into you they say, "so sorry!" I'm starting to pick up on it (I tend to run into people quite a bit)
13. They sell crispy m&m's!
14. There are a lot of dogs! Everywhere. Very pretty, groomed, well behaved dogs.


I'm sure I'll come up with more and post them later, but right now I actually need to do some homework. We gotta study some time on this "study" abroad. :)

Week 1 in London

Well I've officially been in London, well, almost a full week. Tomorrow morning it'll be a week. It has been an amazing week, I am so excited to be able to get another 5 weeks of this beautiful city and great people. I'll just give a brief overview of what I have been up to.

One night after a movie, we found Big Ben. We were very excited :) It was announced today that the clock is going to be renamed after the Queen. And it's real name isn't even Big Ben in the first place, what?!

 We ride the Tube a lot. We're becoming little experts at navigating the city, which always makes me feel cool.

Yesterday we went to the Tower of London. It was really cool to be at an old castle in the middle of modern London. It was also quite warm for the first time so I was happy.

This is Albert. He is a huge statue in Hyde Park right across the street from our flat. We see him basically every day. I have a lot of pictures of Albert.

I went and saw Wicked tonight and it was the best thing I have ever seen! I was so happy! It was worth every pound :) I want to see it again!

My roommates (Cassie and Laura on the ends), Emily, and I after our tour of the British Film Institute. I don't think this skyline will ever get old to me :)

No Responsibilities

I love being at this point in my life. It is so much fun. I'm getting ready to go into my senior year of college... (WHAT!) and I have a job, an amazing group of friends, no classes, and lots of friends getting married. So this past weekend my friends and I took a road trip down to St. George on Saturday to go to some friends' wedding reception. It was awesome. I loved being able to drop everything just to drive 4 hours one way for the sole reason of seeing some friends on their wedding day. I like being able to take advantage of this lack of responsibilities we have right now to just drop everything and go. I know that some day, a day that is gradually approaching, I will have obligations to others. Obligations that are more important that what I want to do at the moment. I love being able to have these spontaneous road trips and experiences like it so that when I do have to be more responsible I won't feel like I am missing out on things.

 CJ and Katie Neser. These two looked so ridiculously happy, it made me a little jealous :) Everyone is happy on their wedding day, but they are one of those powerhouse couples that makes you feel that happiness when you look at them. It makes you think, wow I want something like that someday.

our group that drove down, switched up cars, and drove back. So much fun :)

Their send off, I love these lanterns

I seriously love these girls! They are both going on missions this summer and I'm going to miss them terribly

Something to Smile About

Today was one of those days when I had to look for things to smile about just to keep me going. It was a rough day to get through. You'd think that it was going to be a good day considering I took my last final this morning but I woke up sad. I didn't get much sleep last night and I didn't get any studying done either. Then on my way to my final I felt the need to do something that just made me more sad, it might have been a little bit dramatic to do, but I felt like it was necessary. Then I walked to my final, on the way it started to rain. I got my test... the first question was about something that I had no idea what it meant. There was a concept in another language that we were supposed to talk about, I didn't even know what language it was. That combined with everything else almost made me burst into tears right there. but I didn't. that would have been embarrassing. I ended up guessing what language it was and the deducing what it meant. I found out later that I was right, luckily, it was German. From that final I went to go help my class finish a movie that we've been working on. The sound guy never showed up or even contacted us, so we didn't get to finish that. In all, I was just zoned out today. On my way home I called Chloe and she happened to be home. I haven't seen her in a few weeks so I went over there. That's when my day turned around.

Chloe is one of the greatest people I know and the best friend a person could have. She was busy writing a paper but when she realized that I needed help she stopped and gave me a huge hug. From there I started finding things to smile about. The little things that could get me through the rest of today and probably the next little bit while I adjust to my new normal.

I have amazing friends like Chloe and her roommates.
We went to the corner store and bought a bunch of candy, Chloe's suggestion
I leave for London exactly 2 months from today. (I wish it were sooner though)
I got my new study abroad backpack today, I quite like it. I've had my other backpack since I was 17.
People shared their pizza with me today
I got a high score on my phone game that I have been trying to play recently
My teacher wrote a really complimentary note in my class binder before he handed it back
only one essay stands between me and the end of the semester
I get paid tomorrow
My little sister called me today and we got to talk for a while
Despite everything, through the sadness, I still feel peace and I am mostly thankful for that

Hey there!

I have a 10 page paper due  on thursday, so naturally I'm going to write a blog :)

This past weekend was one of the craziest weekends ever! We were filming the capstone project that I've been working on for the past semester. I was the Art Director, but that was kind of just a title because I was basically just an art crew member. EXCEPT, for when I had to step up and be the leader... that sufficiently freaked me out. Let me start at the beginning.

We were filming up at the salt flats so we had to leave early so that we could have every minute of sunlight to film. We left at 5:00 am... this was not easy for me but at least I got some sleep the night before unlike some poor people on the crew. One thing that I've found that I enjoy about being up early is sunrises. oh my goodness. The sunsets in Utah are pretty disappointing but the sunrise I saw on Friday was stunning.

The salt flats look awesome. Just flat white ground almost as far as you can see. We got busy and started setting up our set. The set was about a quarter mile away from the cars, which started the heavy lifting. We carried out all of our supplies (which we found out later weighed in total about 1.5 tons!) and got ready to film. We mostly stayed out of the way of the camera so we had a lot of time to take fun artsy pictures. It was pretty easy with an environment like the salt flats with such foreign broken objects such as a park bench or computers.

Then things started getting crazy. The wind blew the entire time, which starts to wear you out pretty fast. Then the director didn't really like what we were planning to do so we had to improvise. At 2, the production designer had to leave so I was left in charge...! All of a sudden people expected me to know exactly what needed to be done and start directing people to get to that goal. After a few flustering minutes I started doing my job, and it was awesome! I felt so cool. And I was so proud of the finished product. Then there was a moment when I thought that everything we had worked for was done. THE SALT FLATS FLOODED! One second I was looking at a pile of books trying to make sure everything looked right and the next I was standing in a puddle of water. From that moment the water came fast! In no time I was standing in ankle deep salt water. We were scrambling around trying to get the equipment out of the water. Salt water stings, a lot, and dries out your skin like crazy, just in case you were wondering. The last shot was planned at sunset, so this is what it ended up looking like. Despite all of the trouble it caused, the water looks awesome, doesn't it?!

We wrapped after dark, so we got to carry everything the quarter mile back through the water in the dark. I felt bad for putting the entire crew through that. We were soaked and wind blown and covered in salt but it ended up looking so amazing that it was so worth it! It's a project that I am so proud of. I worked so hard. In total, I was going from 5:00am-midnight on Friday. Then I got to get up Saturday morning and film again, but it was much more low key then.

my salt covered shoes and
pants that were so covered they were almost standing up on their own.

I have a cool major. :)

And here is another song that is a lot of fun to listen to, enjoy!

Making Money

I got a job!!! It was really an amazing coincidence and it's been great. I just happened to mention to someone how much I needed a job until I leave for London and a guy overheard me and said that he would be keep his ears open to help me. A week or so later he came up to me in class and said that he knows of a job opening and if I sent him my resume then he could submit for me. Within a week I had a job! I can now actually kinda afford to go to London this summer!

I'm the content writer for the Media Arts website film.byu.edu. To some people it might seem horrible and boring but with stuff like this my closet nerdiness comes out and I get a little bit excited. I surprised myself with how much stuff I knew when I sat down to get started editing. I had to get a number code to be able to get into a special restricted room, it made me feel pretty cool. I'm a part time employee right now, I don't have assigned hours, I just come in and work when I can. Spring semester I might be able to work full time because I'm not taking classes. We'll see :)

One of the 5 work stations, pretty fun, huh?
Do you see those speakers? I like listening to music on those while I'm working

Here's the outline of things on the website, I have to now fill in all the info

The only down side? I work in an editing lab called "The Cave" which is in the basement of the HFAC. No phone service and no windows. So I've been missing the sunshine the past few days. Maybe I'll just work nights or something :)

Obsessed

Sometimes when I discover a new song I listen to it constantly. Well I found a new song. Just a warning, it's silly. Completely ridiculous actually. It's mostly a guilty pleasure, but I love it.

This is the song, and this video of a bunch of famous people singing and dancing to it helps me to justify my latest obsession. Enjoy! (The real music video is super funny but it got taken off youtube, unfortunately, for some reason)

2011

I finally had a spare moment today so I put a bunch of the videos that I took last year together. Actually, it took a little bit more than a moment. I happily spent a few hours going through videos and moving things around. It was a great reminder of why I love my major where I get to edit things all the time, of course it's very different when you're putting together your own videos. It's more fun, not gonna lie :)

So here's my compilation of videos from 2011:
(I didn't realize my friends and I danced so much haha)

While I was in the editing lab today cracking up while watching these videos, I kept thinking, wow my friends are so stupid, but I love them!

See you in 18!

on my tip toes trying to be as tall as Erin

Well, Sister Stolworthy finally left on her mission! (actually it was on January 25th but I haven't written since then.)

We got to spend the morning together as a family before we had to drop her off at the curb. It was a bit of an adventure getting her to the MTC though. We all went to Ihop (Erin's choice) for a big family breakfast. As we were leaving Erin asked me for the keys so that she could drive... then I realized that I had stuck it in my backpack, which was in the car, which was locked. oops!

But things all worked out, we were only stuck for a half hour while we waited for the police to come open the door for us. Then it was on to the temple to take pictures! From the temple we got to say our goodbyes, which was hard, but we got through it. When we went to drop her off, we were only allowed 1 car through. So we all piled into the car and drove her in. haha the missionaries that were helping her were surprised to see so many girls in one car.


Here are some of the pictures from Erin's big day.

Erin decided to help me be a little taller.

All of the girls squished in the car



One last goodbye.



Good luck Sister Stolworthy! We'll see you in 18 months!

London!

I recently applied for a film study abroad for this summer in London and I got in!! Not that it was difficult to get in because I am already in the film program at BYU so I if I applied I get to go, but still... LONDON! I am so ridiculously excited. I have never been out of the country so this is going to be a completely new experience for me.

The dates are still tenative but right now it's from June 21- August 1. It's just so perfect! It's my favorite teachers, some of my best friends, all focused on film, the place that I have always wanted to go, AND the Olympics are going to be on there! Every time I think about it, I get a giant grin on my face. London here I come! :)

Moonbird

I haven't had time to write blogs recently, my class schedule is crazy. But I thought I would write this short post to show a little bit that I love about what I do as a film student.

Last year in class we watched this video. I fell in love with it. I'm not going to analyze it or anything but just on the surface I love it because it is just so stinkin cute!

Moonbird (1959)

disclaimer: It's 10 minutes long... just so you know. But please don't let that stop you from watching it. I think I'm going to start posting short films and stuff because it's something that I love so much so I want to share it!

"There's no more candy, bird"

Why can't the everything in the world be simple like this?