Teehee

I know I'm soooooo behind in blogging - my apologies! Vacation was fabulous - I have hundreds of photos to sort through, literally! - but then I hit the ground running upon my return, starting the new job (which I LOOOOOVE!!!!). It's been a busy couple of weeks. I promise to catch you up soon, but in the meanwhile, here's a random post for a Tuesday morning. Enjoy!
A bunch of us girls watched the delightful '80s dance classic "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" on Friday night, and wouldn't you know, a blond dancer looked awfully familiar to me this time around? He's been in some LDS Church movies, including "A More Perfect Union," which I watched countless times as an American Heritage TA. Maybe that's why he looked familiar?

So, being the imdb.com addict that I am, I searched through the name of every male dancer in the dang movie, to figure out who this guy was. His name? Derryl Yeager. The man's got quite the impressive resume. He's also the founder and artistic director of Odyssey Dance Theatre in Utah, and is super-involved with the Utah dance scene. Apparently he used to teach dance at BYU and the U of U, too, and was a principle dancer (and artistic director) for Ballet West, plus he did other dance flicks like the "Saturday Night Fever" sequel "Stayin' Alive" (which, by the way, is painfully horrible. I love my dance flicks, but that one's a waste of an hour!) Who knew, right? And then I stumbled upon this delightful photo from Meridian Magazine, circa 2001. The caption? "Derryl Yeager, an extremely talented dancer/choreographer, and Michael Ballam, opera singer and performing artist extraordinaire, share a moment together at Tuacahn near St. George, Utah. (Both do a little acting on the side.)"

Parting Is Sorrow... and Not in a Sweet Way!

Today is my last as the Laguna Beach reporter.

I feel like a little part of me is dying!

Leaving this job would be tough, this I knew - but I don't think I realized just how killer it is!!! Last night was my last City Council meeting, and this morning I sent out a farewell email to all my contacts in town. The mayor wrote back right away: "Miss you already!"

I even got a really complimentary email from a source who hasn't been one of my favorites: "You are the hardest working, most enthusiastic and best reporter. It sounds like you are heading in a different direction for now, but I hope that you will return to journalism some day soon."

And then the tears began to fall...

The only way to get through this is to remember that it's more money, better hours, great opportunities... and my job here has plenty of things I can't stand. Focusing on those is the only way I'll get through this, because otherwise, this is my dream job! It fit like a glove from the moment I walked back into the newsroom to fill in temporarily.

As much as I know I'm doing the right move... I'm going to miss this. A lot.

Bookaholics Anonymous

Books are my weakness.

As a child, I was a shameless, nonstop reader who devoured anything and everything in sight. It was rare that I was without a book in hand; countless hours of my childhood were spent curled up with a book or hanging out at Fremont Elementary's library. I even read books while walking to school... which once caused me to show up an hour late, which I'm sure was a delight to explain to my third-grade teacher. Whoops!

Once this bookworm came out of her childhood cocoon and emerged a social butterfly in high school, however, reading fell by the wayside. For most of college, I did more required reading and less independent reading, and lately I've been so non-stop busy that most of my "fun" reading gets done in airports.

Although I'm not the great reader I once was, I still love books with a passion, and I can't resist purchasing them! If any of them go missing (like my Steinbeck books are currently), it drives me nuts, because I value each so dearly! My room is like Borders, with all the books and movies I've got; I even built in bookshelves myself. I love how there's so much knowledge packed within the pages. Bookstores give me the warm and fuzzies; Barnes & Noble and Borders are among my happy places.

This summer, I have a major goal of returning to my bookworm ways. Our ward's book club whetted my appetite to read some more after rereading "Persuasion" (even if I missed the actual club meeting!) I've already picked up a stack of books - and pulled out books I've bought and never read - to pore through during my beach time and my upcoming vacation.

Here are some of the titles on my list - if you have any suggested books to add, please pass them along!

The "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer - "Twilight," "New Moon," "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn"

"Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen (it's my current read)

"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

"Green to Gold: How smart companies use environmental strategy to innovate, create value and build competitive advantage" by Daniel C. Esty (extracurricular work reading for the new gig)

"Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey (my parents swear by it!)

"Sundays at Tiffany's" by James Patterson

"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte

"When Television was Young" by Ed McMahon (a delightful Walmart find that's right up my alley!)

"'Tis Herself" by Maureen O'Hara (I love biographies/autobiographies, and anything on early film stars)

"1776" by David McCullough

"The Sun Also Rises" and "Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck (which I picked up at Cannery Row in Monterey, teehee)

"On the Road" by Jack Kerouac (of which I read about half and then got distracted by life - I'd like to finish it eventually!)

"Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton (my grandma's pick)

What's on your summer reading list?

The Long Goodbye

I hate farewells and endings!!!

Today is my last full day as a reporter for The Orange County Register, and I can hardly believe it!

The last two weeks have been filled with goodbyes, and it still feels surreal. I can't imagine my job really being over, not having my life revolve around Laguna Beach like it has for the past year. I still love it so dearly! There's a lot of peripheral stuff that I'll gladly not have to deal with anymore, though, and for more pay, so I'm still excited. It's bittersweet, to say the least. There are so many amazing people I've met, and quite a few good friends I've made along the way, too. I'll miss it!

More to come soon, since after Wednesday I'll once again be stuck with only my six-year-old iBook for a computer. It's slooooooow... and I'll be on vacation for a week-plus anyways, so I won't be around the computer too much for a while, anyways. Hope you don't miss me too much! ;)