Happy New Year!

As 2010 draws to a close, I've been reflecting on all the amazing things that have happened over the past year and thinking about what my hopes and expectations are for 2011.

It's been a pretty phenomenal year.

So many things have happened to and around me in 2010, all of which have influenced me, I'd like to think for the better. Many of these things may have seemed small or insignificant at the time, but accumulatively have most definitely changed me.

Overall, I feel like a better, stronger person than I was this time last year. And I have my friends, family and experiences to thank for that. I can only hope that 2011 will be even greater. I'm already taking steps in the right direction.

Before I get too sappy and sentimental (because I'm just in that kind of mood at the moment) I will leave you with a question. What shall I do with my hair in the new year? Go dark, return to natural, red again, stay whiteblonde, other? Let me know ^.^

Resolutions for the new year:

1. Be more confident

2. Take care of myself

3. Create things I'm proud of

4. Be more proactive

5. Live, laugh, love.

Current Harry Potter Book: Philosopher's Stone

Page Number: 127

As my mum always says,

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fight.

That is the way, isn't it?

Every family has their thing, and even though you try every year to put on a good show of smiling, happy families, sometimes it's just impossible and the inevitable argument ensues.

but soon enough, you're all over it and opening gifts and eating chocolate and all is well.

I got some really lovely things this year, as I do every year.

What can I say? My family has impeccable taste ;)

It was a particularly slow and lazy morning.

We didn't finish unpacking gifts until about two o'clock.

And now we're all dead tired and decided to take naps in various rooms in the house.

So if you'll excuse me,

my bed and my new adorable owl shaped pillow are calling me.

Good night!

Christmas is the greatest

I just got home from Christmas dinner with my family. We do it on Christmas Eve because that is traditional in Denmark and my mum's side of the family is Danish. However, we still open presents on Christmas morning, as my dad is from England.

It was a hilariously wonderful night, full of song and laughter, joy and good conversation. My family are a great bunch to be around, and though I sometimes feel my ears are exploding from how immensely loud we get, I simply love any chance I get to spend with them all. (although, we were missing a few this year, due to circumstance. :O and since Janna was in hospital (after just having a baby) we had no one to ceremoniously stick something up their nose!) ((I know, we've got some strange traditions in my family...))

I just love Christmas and all our wacky antics and family traditions.

Christmas dinner with my family does not involve turkey. We eat duck. And a special rice pudding, called ris ala mande, for dessert. And dessert involves a game. Whoever finds the almond in their bowl of rice pudding wins the chocolate prize. Of course, there are rules.

1. No stirring or mixing of the serving bowl!

2. No spoons may enter the bowls or mouths until everyone is ready.

and 3. If you find the almond, be coy and wait to see how long it takes the rest of the table to notice that you've got it.

This year, my dad won :)

After dinner and dessert, we then sing carols from our little song books. Everyone gets a chance to choose a song to sing and we end on 12 Days of Christmas, a competition between two sides of the table. One side gets odds, one side gets evens and it's a fight to the death for who can sing the loudest and essentially be the most obnoxious. Oh yes, and of course we have to stand up and down on our alternating turns. Such fun!

And now I'm home and it's bedtime. My sister and I have just opened our new Christmas Eve pajamas (another tradition) and I will soon be climbing into bed, snuggly and warm, with fleecy pink monkeys on my legs.

I hope you all are having a wondrous Christmas! Or whatever holiday you may (or may not) be celebrating. It's likely I will post tomorrow about things. Perhaps make a video about my hoard of stuff ;)

Goodnight all!

just a little blog to fill you in

Hello blogger, it's Christmas time.

Here are a few things that have happened recently.

1. We welcomed the first baby into the family! My cousin Janna gave birth to a lovely baby girl named Madeline Rose. This is so very exciting for everyone in the family. Janna and Travis are going to be amazing parents! I'm so happy and proud! I cannot wait to meet the little darling!
2. We got our Christmas tree! (finally!) Unfortunately, this was the first year I was unable to be a part of the selection process, as I was working. But this means it is officially Christmas time!
3. I finished all my Christmas shopping. Phew!
4. I took a trip to Narnia for a few days. ;)
5. I got the DVD from my Glee Camp performance. I watched the whole thing and cried, just a little. Apparently, I was a touch off pitch and look incredibly awkward on stage D:
6. My dad is home from the hospital and much, much better! He's well and eating, though definitely not in tip top shape just yet. But at least he'll be able to eat at Christmas dinner! He says he's "building up to it" because he "waits all year for this meal and [doesn't] want to miss out!"

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season, whatever you may be celebrating!

Peace, love, hope and happiness!

Current Harry Potter Book: Philosopher's Stone

Page Number: 121

Project For Awesome 2010

This is my first year participating in Project For Awesome.

I made two videos for P4A.

The first is the one I made with my friend & fellow YouTube addict, Laura.

We spent a day spreading love and hope around our city

in support of To Write Love On Her Arms.

The second is a very short and simple video I made at the last minute about

Child Foundation.

I would have made it earlier, but I kept thinking I wouldn't have time and because I'd already made one and blah blah blah.

But in the end, I just had to. It meant too much to me not to.

It's been a hectic week and my brain is kind of frazzled, otherwise I would write more.

But I think, ultimately, the videos speak for themselves.

Current Harry Potter Book: Philosopher's Stone

Page Number: 112

quick update about my dad

He is home now since yesterday morning.

He's still not well, but definitely getting better.

He's able to eat, just a little bit, which is a very good sign.

Luckily, he works from home and so, can get some business done since his clients must be thoroughly confused about his unexplained, four day absence...

The doctors at the hospital are still not sure what exactly went wrong, but seem to think it was some kind of viral infection. They have done many more tests and he will be going to his regular doctor next week. Hopefully everything will be sorted out.

But for now, he's home and resting and slowly but surely getting better.

That was quite a scare.

I hate hospitals.

The past few days have been pretty rough, although I'd like to think I've maintained a reasonable amount of composure.

My dad has been in hospital since Saturday afternoon and is staying there again tonight. Doctors aren't sure what's wrong, but he's been violently ill and severely dehydrated. They think it may be some type of infection. He's undergone several tests and is in for a few more tomorrow. He's hooked up to an IV to get some fluids into his system and he can barely eat. When not at the hospital visiting with him, I've either been at work or at home trying to keep my mind preoccupied and distracted so I don't stress out too much. It's not working.

Tonight I went to see him and it was one of the scariest moments of my life. It's terrifying to see my big, strong dad looking so weak and tired and hooked up to machines. I'm not telling you this because I want sympathy, but more because I just need a place to talk about it. I plan on visiting him again tomorrow, but I find it very difficult to be inside a hospital. It brings back a lot of awful memories.

He's doing a little better today, but they don't seem hopeful that he'll be coming home just yet. If they sort out what's wrong tomorrow, they might be able to give him the proper treatment and send him on his way. But for now they can only treat the symptoms, not the illness.

Thank you to everyone who has sent their well wishes so far, it's great to have your love and support.

Supernatural is still my favourite :)

With all the complaints I have about this season, I sometimes forget that I plain and simply love this show. And with what happened last night, I've gotta say, I just love it all the more.

All my negative thoughts flew out the window, because last night was amazing.

links to my friends, Kaitlyn and Naficeh's write ups about last night.

So, I don't know if you know this about me, blogger, but I'm kind of a crazy obsessed Supernatural fangirl.

As in, I've been to a convention, I own a lot of merchandise, and every so often, I go set hunting. I hadn't been in a while because I may be dedicated, but I'm not dedicated enough to travel too far for a hunt. So when I found out there was one only a few blocks from my house, I jumped on the opportunity. Not only is it awesome, as a fan, to get to witness the show as it's being created, it's also a time for us gals to get together and hang out, a seemingly rare occurrence these days.

So I met up with my buddies and we headed over to the set.

When we got there we were suddenly panic stricken, as it looked as though they were finished and packing up for the day. We stood, confused and staring, for a moment until one of the (super awesome) crew guys came over and said "Pssst. Wanna know a secret? We're filming on the next street over."

So, after thanking him quickly and profusely, we walked around the block and came upon the set. They were just setting things up, lights and such. One of the crew guys told us it would be all interior shots, but we didn't believe him. If that were so, why would they be setting up so many lights out on the street? And why would there be so many PA's standing around, directing traffic? So we spent the next hour or so convincing ourselves that they would, eventually, film outside. Then we started to realize how friggin cold we were and decided to walk the block and a half over to Starbucks to get hot chocolate and tea.

(On a side note, I had a super embarrassing moment when my card was rejected and I had to bum 75cents off Neffy to pay for mine D: apparently, I'm flat broke.)

With our extra hot drinks in hand we went back, this time taking the long route and approaching from the opposite side, in hopes of gaining a better view.

Most of the night was spent complaining bitterly about how cold we were and occasionally chatting with some of the crew (such as Clif, who returned Kaitlyn's earmuffs she had left in his car the night before)

But then, this happened.

As we were standing there, shivering and teeth chattering, we heard an all too familiar voice from across the street. I was the first to notice him and it took a good few minutes for it to sink in. Kaitlyn and Neffy looked up when they heard his laugh (it's very loud and distinguishable) and started whispering "Is that Jared? I didn't even notice..." and the next thing we knew, he was saying to whoever he was with "I'm just gonna go say hi." And my heart started pounding "Say hi to who!?" I thought. And to my supreme glee, he meant say hi to us!He crossed the street and came right over to our little trio. He introduced himself, shook our hands and asked our names. He was very genuine and easy to talk to, a truly amazing and nice guy. He explained he wasn't supposed to be on set tonight and that he knew Jensen wouldn't be able to come visit us because he was working. He told us about his online chess game with Clif and how he didn't mean to let Clif beat him. We chatted about the upcoming Japanese animated version of Supernatural, which he explained he had been doing voice overs for. Then he asked if we had cameras and if we wanted pictures. We each took a picture with him on Neffy's camera and soon after, he said his goodbyes and left. As he was driving away, he slowed down just a little bit and waved out the window and said "Bye guys!"

We were all too giddy and excited to function for a while after that. As soon as he was gone, we all pulled out our phones and began tweeting, texting and facebooking about the moment.

Not long after that, our other friend Lisa, arrived on the scene. She gave us a hoodie and a towel (because she didn't have a blanket) and set off to her house to gather supplies. We were in for a long night, and it was bitingly cold. She returned not an hour later with a backpack full of socks, gloves, scarves and a couple jackets. An angel sent straight from the heavens, she is!

We stuck around for a while longer, and finally got to see some filming. They did one outdoor shot of Dean on the front porch and Lisa (the character, not our friend lol) answering the door all dressed up and yelling for her son Ben to "get down here now". By this time, a crowd had started to gather and we were no longer the only visitors on set.

As the night came to a close, the crowd slowly dispersed and only us and two others were left. They filmed the last shot of the night and began packing up. Jensen waved goodbye as he drove away and we decided it was about time to go home. We noticed, though, that the impala was still there. For one last hoorah we asked the driver if we could get a picture in front of it. Because he, and pretty much everyone who works on Supernatural, was so nice he let us.

What a night!

Best experience I've ever had on set ^.^

As my wonderful friend Vanda said "Magic happens."

Current Harry Potter book: Philosopher's Stone

Page Number: I don't remember and I can't be bothered going to get the book to find out.

I am such a fangirl!

First, this happened:

And then, THIS:

crappy picture is crappy

Holy crap, what in the world...

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

baby you're a firework

hey, so remember that one time when I was like "yo, i'm sleepy, but i'll write a blog entry tomorrow"?

and remember how that was like, two days ago?

yeah.

whoops.

So.

Glee!!

Tuesday night was my Glee Camp showcase and it was flippin' amazing.

After 12 weeks of work (and a lot of worry on my part) we finally got this thing together.

I had so much fun! I sometimes forget how much fun it is to perform on a stage in front of a live audience. Especially one as fantastic as ours that night. There was so much cheering and clapping, it was so encouraging.

My group, the teens, joined forces with the adult group and it made for one spectacular show. We only got two rehearsals together, and one of those was day of show. There was so much talent there. Some amazing voices in the adult group, for sure. Rocketman? Ah-maze-ing.

And of course my group! Those folks are great. Sad thing is, I felt like we were only just getting to know each other. In the last few weeks we all started chatting much more and I'm sad I won't be seeing them every week. Thank God for facebook, eh? Luv y'all! Hope to see you again soon!

Being involved in this show made me realize a few things.

First of all, I miss singing. I miss having an outlet, vocally. Sitting alone in my room and singing to myself is nowhere near as fun as singing with others.

Secondly, I'm really proud of myself for how far I've come, confidence wise. I was always shy about singing, quiet in choir and never auditioned for solos. But this time around, I threw all that out the window and said to myself, "I'm doing this for me."

And it worked. While I still had nerves, of course, I was feeling so good. Except earlier in the day when I thought I'd lost my voice, because I could barely speak and it was freaking me out... honey-lemon tea and a hot shower came to my rescue and I was fine :)

There were a few minor mistakes made, but that's to be expected. There always are, at any live show. That's the very nature of it being live, and that's the risk you run.

But honestly, I feel so proud of everything we accomplished that night. I feel really good about it. It was a phenomenal night and as far as I'm concerned, a really great show.

Unfortunately, because it was on a tuesday night, this meant I missed actual Glee. (I later watched it online and got really emotional) But it was totally worth it.

And one thing is for sure,

I am most definitely joining again come january. And I cannot wait.

In other news!

I've been obsessing over Red Dwarf and Let's Lumos! lately ^.^

So, basically, this is one of the greatest things in existence

This song gets stuck in my head all the time now

and this is my new ringtone.

and now comes the part I've been dreading... updating on how far along I've gotten in rereading the Harry Potter series. I'm slightly ashamed. But before I reveal how (not-so) far I've gotten, please note that it's not from lack of trying. I am a slow reader at the best of times and as of late, I haven't had much opportunity to read. So please don't think I'm pathetic for being only as far in as I am. Plz? Okay, here goes...

Current Harry Potter Book: Philosopher's Stone

Page Number: 45