Ok what is going on? Why is that people constantly write (e:MK) and that's how it looks? I guess it should be (e:mk) because of the small letters? or maybe (e:Mk)? Or maybe I'm not really a member of this website anymore and I'm pretending to update...

Let's see if any of those work

This weekend was soooo great for so many reasons. I guess mainly because of my recital. My hair looked pretty, my mom's dress THAT SHE MADE FOR ME looked super and my voice teacher did my makeup so people could actually see my pale white face from the stage. And even though I was nervous right before going on, I think I did really well. Of course I went back and listened to stuff that I know I could have done better. But I also listen to stuff and think "...hey that sounds pretty good." Which is an understatement in comparison to what people said. Everyone really seemed to like my songs and everything and that makes me feel really great. I especially love the people who hadn't really heard me sing and their comments, such as, "ok, where was the recording in the background that you were really singing along to?" I guess people were even telling Chris later that they were sad I was leaving this year because they wanted me to give another recital sometime...what?!?!?!

So along with the recital, I had all sorts of people come visit me and it was really fun. My dad's family all came from Georgia/Alabama, and my mom's dad from Pennsylvania, and Chris's family from Albany, and of course (e:mike) and (e:jill) from the B-lo. It was so fun. The opera was entertaining and I had a lot of fun going out even if the end of the night was sort of fuzzy.

And then on Sunday I went and had dinner with my family, and then at night Chris surprised me with a box of Nerds, some cards, and a bracelet for a great recital/our one year. Although our one year is sort of sketchy, since it was such a gradual process of us getting together. We've sort of decided that there really is like a two-month span that could be considered our anniversary. Anyway so that made my night.

Overall it was such a nice couple days. I love when (e:mike) and (e:jill) come down to hang out, and we will again so we can drink out of embarassing moment shot glasses!!!!

I'll post pics sometime from the weekend. Thanks to everyone who made it one of the best weekends I can remember.

(CDs, cassettes, and DVDs will be available for purchase soon. Rated R for RAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRRRR...)

Ok here's the cover of my program...hopefully...I love it : )

So my recital is less than 48 hours away. In reality, a recital isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I'm just going to get on stage and sing in front of people which I've done dozens of times, sing songs I've been practicing for months and then go eat food, hang out, and move on with my life. It just happens to be that I'm wearing a really pretty dress with a pretty hairdo (hopefully) and I'm the only one performing and I sing for half an hour.

I'm excited about it. I'm not THAT nervous...yet. I've worked hard and practiced and done research on my songs and basically put a lot of time into this recital. I don't even get graded on it. It is just a nice mini-concert for my family and friends. There really is no pressure whatsoever, but of course I want to do well and will get worked up about it, but in the end, I know I will sound fine and no matter what, my grandparents are going to cry. And probably my mother and father and maybe even my sister. And I'm sure Mike will shed many tears. After the whooping and hollering that is always appropriate for the concert hall. Hopefully any tears shed will be years of joy and admiration and not the bad kind, like "why did i spend so much money on a plane ticket to see this crap???!!!"

: ) P.S. my programs are going to look so great provided I can find a color printer and print out a copy of the front. I tried to take a picture of the screen and show you but I don't know how to do that on these new computers, I guess. So anyway once I figured that out I will add that to this entry.

And now I am finished. Ta-da.

So last night I went to see the above mentioned movie. I really hadn't thought I was gonna see it, mostly because I don't see many movies when I'm at school and if I do they are usually like the popular ones. But anyway we decided to see this movie because despite the bad critics reviews, most online reviews by "real people" said the movie was really great.

So if you've seen the commercials, they show the woman who got dumped by her husband and her crazy huge Grandma with a gun rampaging through her ex-husband's house and wreaking havoc everywhere and it looks really funny. Well those parts were really funny. The Grandma was great and the beginning was funny and entertaining. Then out of nowhere it turns into this evangelical story about a woman who realizes God and Jesus can save her and if she prays hard enough then her life will come back together. And after awhile we forget who we're supposed to dislike and like because she keeps like forgiving her jerky ex-husband and turning her back on this other great guy and well I guess I won't give away stuff... But you know how quality a movie is when during the emotional, romantic scene in which this woman finds true love and the man of her dreams is pouring his heart out, people in the theater are laughing out loud at what the guy is saying to her. And at the end there's a scene in a gospel church where this random 10 year old girl starts singing like Whitney Houston in a gospel choir and suddenly this religious power takes over and people who are crippled can suddenly walk again and junkies are drug-free and everyone is singing and happy and saved. It was sooooo cheesy!! I mean I have nothing wrong with loving Jesus but it was totally not what I expected the movie to be. It was so ridiculous, and looong, and just soooo strange. I only recommend the movie if you're in the mood for a movie that's so bad it's slightly entertaining. The Grandma was very funny, but barely in the movie at all. That definitely would have improved everything. Frankly if she had been the mad black woman the movie was about, the movie would have turned out to be much better!