CAS Reflections- Arizona Museum for Youth

More pictures!

This was by far my favorite exhibit the museum has had since I started volunteering there. The name of it was Jump to Japan and featured the art of Studio Ghibli, an animation company in Japan. I am quite a fan of their work and I think that's pretty evident by the photos.

I pretty much geeked out every time I went in to volunteer.

My sister and I inside the Catbus!

It was my job to keep everything in the exhibit in proper order.

I didn't mind spending extra time keeping this particular exhibit neat and tidy at all. ;)

CAS Reflections- Piano Playing

It's picture time!

CAS Reflections- Bike Riding

So I had what I have deemed a near-death experience during one of my bike rides with my dad. We had gone through the McLellan neighborhood and crossed McKellips when it happened. We had crossed the intersection and were riding in front of an entrance to a parking lot when out of no where this car pops out and slams on her breaks. I do the same and fall over right in front of her car. My dad, however, being an intelligent and observant person, stopped before he was in any danger of being hit. I was fine besides a super scraped up knee and bike (you remember Gepetto), so I got up and was super eager just to continue the ride and forget the whole thing had happened. But no. The woman came out of her car and had the whole, "AREYOUOKAYI'MSOSORRY!" thing goin on. I'm not upset that she checked on me- she did that because she was a kind person and concerned about me. No, that was fine. I'm just not one to enjoy looking dumb and that's certainly how I felt sitting on the ground with my turned-around handlebars, still-spinning pedals, and a wounded knee and ego to tend to.

Then a few days later my dad was taking his bike around our neighborhood. He's the president of the HOA and is in charge of replacing the light bulbs that go out in our community. There are about 500,000 lightbulbs in the community (<--- Gross exaggeration) so I guess he was trying to get the job done and over with because he wasn't watching where he was going too closely. It was dark so he probably wouldn't have been able to see it even if he had been looking. He was riding along the big plot of grass we have in the center of the community when the ground fell out and formed a ditch under him. He was going too fast to follow the contour of he ground safely down the slope so he went flying and landed hard. He was feeling that in his back for like a week after.

THEN my dad had a dream where we were riding our bikes and I either got seriously hurt or even died in a crash- I can't remember which one. After all the accidents we'd been having on our bikes, my dad decided to take action.

Needless to say, we wear helmets on all our bike rides now.

CAS Reflections- Piano Playing

Okay so normally when Kenzie and I go to the retirement centers we perform for the ward consisting of those with diminished mental capacity due to Alzheimer's Disease. Performing for this group of people was great for Mackenzie to practice her magic show tricks in that she can be in front of an audience without need to get too nervous because they don't really interact with her. Subsequently, no one really talks to me when I play the piano before and after her performances. I just sit down, do my thing, and while no doubt they register that music is played, no one says anything to me. I was pretty used to this routine and I had no problem with it. However, one time when we performed it was for those more mentally capable at the retirement center. I did my part at the beginning as the people was filing into the room then Mackenzie did her magic tricks. Afterwards I got back on the piano to provide music as Kenzie mingled with the audience and packed up her tricks. I had brought a few piano books with me and some individual pieces and I'd gone through the individual pieces before the show so I had to play out of one of the books. I didn't know the particular song I was attempting to play very well because I hadn't really practiced it extensively, so it was pretty awful. I just cringed through it and tried my best to finish the song when halfway through I noticed this woman standing next to me. She didn't say anything, she just stood there. I get really nervous when people watch me play so I sounded even worse. I finished the song and turned to pack up when she said something that has stuck with me. It was to the tune of, "Thank you so much for coming and playing. It was wonderful. God bless you." She just kept thanking me and saying how much she appreciated me coming. I was so touched by her words. I had sounded absolutely horrible and yet she had such kind things to say to me. I had been so used to playing for those who were incapable of reacting to my music that I had almost forgotten that I was performing at the retirement home for others and not just because I needed CAS hours. I had really been going to the retirement because of obligation, but now I see volunteering as truly blessing the lives of others and I'm so thankful for that sweet woman for reminding me of that.

CAS Reflections- Bike Riding

Okay so I have pride in my bike- quite a bit of pride. This bike, who I've named Gepetto, and I have been through a lot together, as I've used Gepetto for the majority of the two years my dad and I have been exercising. This bike was with me when I started out- I was awkward, uncoordinated, and, quite frankly, embarrassing to watch. I've never had great experiences bikes, though. I learned to ride a bike at the ripe age of 8. When everyone else was doing wheelies and soaring off of homemade ramps, I was praying that at one point in the future it would be socially acceptable to use training wheels indefinitely. Not only that, but as soon after I had learned to ride my bike, winter hit. Winters in Ohio mean ice on the roads, especially on our cul-de-sac, where the ice trucks rarely salted the roads. This meant that I wouldn't be able to ride my bike until around March- four months later. You know the expression, "It's like learning to ride a bike- you never forget?" Well I managed to defy this phrase in every way, shape, and form. I pretty much MythBusted that whole idea. The kind, understanding kids across the street helped me get my bearings again and that time it didn't take as long to learn to ride again, but the fact still remains that I forgot how to ride my bike. So Gepetto and I had quite a reputation to live down to.

When my dad and I started exercising, our rides started off slow and short- only going about five or 6 miles in like an hour and fifteen minutes down the canal and back. Over time, however, my balance developed and I became pretty pro at riding my bike, I must say. We took our rides to neighborhoods and major streets and our seven mile trips took about an hour. Now my dad and I (and Gepetto) take only forty-five minutes to travel the extended eight mile ride.

The magic couldn't last forever, though. Gepetto was only a $100 bike and he should have lasted as long as he did. His tires kept popping, the handles were loose, and the seat had started buckling. It was time to say goodbye. We parted ways and I never saw Gepetto again. I will always remember the years we spent together- the good times and the bad, the laughs and the crashes. May his gears rest in peace.

Gepetto*

(2008-2010)

*Okay so that's not actually him, but that's the closest I could find in a Google image search

Today I'm thankful for... My awesome creeper dreams

Lol you knew it wouldn't take long before Darren made his way back on to my home page ;D

So the other night I had a dream that my mom, dad, and I went to this party with record label people and directors and what not. I have no idea what it was for or why I was there, but Darren Criss was there. Woooooooah my gosh. So my dad went to talk to the directors and my mom and I were getting our dinners at the buffet when I saw him. Now, I didn't get to meet him in my dream. You'd think I'd be disappointed, but no. Why? Because at least I know Darren and I have the potential to be together in my creeper dreams. And because I think this warrants a new picture of Darren (as if there's a time that doesn't warrant a picture of him), feast your eyes on what is now my favorite photo of him and my background pic:

Now I just have to pray that this was a premonition.