Reliance on technology = big fat fail today!

If you couldn't tell, I was a little frustrated in class today! I love this lecture and I love to talk about music so I was pretty upset that the technology was not on my side today! :(  It got me thinking just how much I rely on technology for teaching. I have a powerpoint for every class. What would I do if it failed? Could I just give the whole lecture? I'm pretty comfortable with the material now, so I rarely, if ever, bring any sort of notes to class, so I wonder if I could just wing the whole thing.....could be interesting! I also really rely on my media clips and go through huge effort to find good ones to show, so when technology doesn't work for me, I feel a bit lost! It kind of breaks up the whole lecture, so I apologize for having to skip around today!

This could have been me today....if I were a man.



What makes it even worse is that the only other time I have had technology fail on me during teaching was last semester....for the MUSIC LECTURE! Again! This time, the projector wouldn't work, so they set up a portable projector.....which didn't have itunes so I couldn't show a single clip. Boooooooo! This lecture is cursed! Next semester better be on my side!

On a side note, I was listening to NPR on the way home (yes, I know, I am officially a nerd) and they were talking about.....MUSIC! Apparently during the recession people are listening to something called "bubblegum pop" which is really happy, very shallow music. Apparently, it takes our mind of things like not having a job, or losing your house! But now that things are getting better, songs with deeper, more introspective lyrics are coming back on the scene. Very interesting! I never thought about how the economic climate can influence what songs are popular!

SO Wicked!

I LOVE theater! And my all time favorite musical is Wicked, so I was thrilled when it came to Salt Lake this summer! I've had tickets for an entire year and have been so waiting patiently for it to arrive.

We decided to take Nate with us. He knows all the songs (yep...I'm that person....we got the CD and listen to it all the time in the car), and is actually really well behaved at the theater. He was a little afraid of the monkeys (who isn't? Those things are evil!) but LOVED it! It ended around midnight so I was impressed he stayed up so late!

I just love the messages in this movie. There are lots about following your dreams, overcoming persecution, love, friendship, etc. But what stood out to me this time was a message of tolerance.

I just got called to be the Primary chorister, which is an awesome (though busy and tiring) calling. We were learning the song "If you don't walk like most people do" and I thought this theme was expressed perfectly in Wicked. So the same week I saw the play, I walked into primary and painted my face green. The kids were seriously transfixed. I told them the story of Wicked and how just because someone has a different color of skin than you, doesn't make them bad or weird, or anything. We then talked about the words to the song and what it really means if you say that you are going to "walk with someone", no matter what!  I then had a doll that I painted green, taped to a paintbrush, and then tied a rope around her. When the kids sang loud we made her "fly" just like in the show (anyone who isn't inspired by "defying gravity" is pretty much heartless!) Honestly, I have never heard these kids sing so loud. I almost started crying as their voices yelled out "Jesus blessed all He could see, then turned and said, come follow me, so I WILL! I WILL!" The Spirit was so strong, and I hope they could feel it. Primary can be a pretty thankless calling, but this was one of those perfect, golden moments that makes it all worth it. Thank you Wicked!!!!

My first 5k ever!

Okay, it's taken me a while to make this first post: we've been trying to get our Disney Princess study up and running and it's kind of been an insane first few weeks of the semester!

So this isn't all that exciting in the grand scheme of things, but it's really exciting for me. This last weekend I ran my first 5k! I know it's not all that long, but I've wanted to run one for a long time! Between having 3 kids, and a number of injuries over the last few years, it's just never worked out. But Saturday was the day!

I found out because one of my "friends" posted a link on his Facebook account to a race going on in Spanish Fork the next morning. So I thought, now or never!!

I ended up 4th in my age group and got a really good time for me! I'm so glad that I at least tried this, cause I ended up having a lot of fun! The best part (besides finishing) was grabbing a cup of Gatorade, swigging it, and then throwing it on the side of the road. I don't know why this was so fun, it just made me a bit giddy! :)

Here is me at the end of the race

What I noticed is how much music influenced my run. I ran the whole way and I don't think I would have been able to keep up the pace without music! I have lots of songs on  my playlist, but here are some of my favorite songs to run to:

Beautiful Day (U2)
Elevation (U2)
Eye of the Tiger
In the end (Linkin Park)
Since you've been gone (Kelly Clarkson)
Everyday Life (Rascal Flatts)
American Girl (Tom Petty)

and my very favorite.......

Lose yourself (Eminem..edited version)....which doesn't exactly fit my personality, but is such a fabulous song to run to because my feet just go exactly on the beat when I hear it and it always motivates me!

I've had the same workout list for a few years now, and I want to update it! So, what is your favorite song to run or exercise to?!?