Bon Jovi Concert

After 8 yrs, Bon Jovi FINALLY made it back to SLC to do a concert! When each new album came out I had to be disappointed that SLC was not included in the tour! But I was not disappointed with this concert---it was like a greatest hits of all time concert!! I was about at center court with a step up from the floor(with stage to south end of b-ball court)---so I had pretty good seats. Marilyn and Rod had front row seats with backstage passes which was pretty cool(can't wait to see their pics)! But I couldn't afford those seats. So I had dinner beforehand with Marilyn & Rod's 3 girls and Carol, Marilyn's sister. Their seats were in the upper bowl. I danced and sang the whole time(2 hrs worth) so I'm thinking I got my exercise in! All I can say is that I LOVED IT!!! And Jon Bon Jovi is still hot, hot hot!!! As long as they keep coming to SLC on tour, I'll keep going, since I've been an avid fan for 27 yrs!

Weekend in SLC

Every year my best friends from highschool and I get together(there's 4 of us) for a weekend get-away. It seems like it's becoming a yearly Salt Lake trip which is okay because the important part is that we are getting together not where. We can have fun anywhere! SaRene picked me up and we met up with Carol in Layton to shop at Kohls. And I actually found some cute stuff! Usually I never find anything(because what I want is never in my size)! And for once I found something my friend wanted but it was in my size, not hers(she's very thin)! So she couldn't buy it and I could! That never happens! Since everything was 50% or more off at the store I saved a couple hundred bucks! Gotta love that! Then we met up with Marilyn at the Marriott Hotel downtown. We headed to the Gateway Mall to eat at Z-Teja's(yummy crab tamales) and see a movie(The Adjustment Bureau---loved it!)--and enjoyed movie theater popcorn. And my friends laughed at me because I knew I would have left overs from the restaurant, so I brought little tupperware dishes to put my food in so those huge styrofoam boxes would not take up so much room in the hotel fridge(and it worked wonderfully). There are 2 double beds in the room so we have to share beds, but the room always has a couch hide-away. So I volunteered to sleep on it the 1st night which turned out to be good since I tossed and turned all night. Not even my relaxing music on my iPod got me to sleep! But the next night when I did share, I was so exhausted I fell immediately to sleep and didn't move from my spot(which you can't do anyway when sharing a bed). Anyway, the next morning we got 50-minute massages at one of the massage schools. It felt wonderful! But afterwards we couldn't stop laughing because we all had a "sheet"-face from laying on the tables. Then we showered and got ready for lunch and another movie(more popcorn)! For lunch we ate at Macaroni Grill---Carol and I split a mushroom ravioli dish--mmm! While waiting for our meal we played "spin the crayon"(their tables are covered with drawing paper and 2 crayons). So whoever the crayon "landed" on, had to draw something on the table! It was fun for the 5 minutes it lasted! Then we caught an early showing of The King's Speech---awesome movie!! Not only did I love the storyline of the movie, but there were lots of characters from Harry Potter movies(Dumbledore, Peter Pettigrew, Bellatrix) and Pride and Prejudice(the wife of the king's[Colin Firth aka P&P Mr. Darcy] speech teacher was none other than Jennifer Ehl[Elizabeth of P&P]) and Pirates of Caribbean(Barbossa). So I had fun seeing them in different roles! After the movie, we headed down to Desert Star to see Beverly Hillbillies 90210---it was funny& we got more popcorn, but I was getting so tired by that time(it started at 8:30pm) I could hardly keep my eyes open! Loved getting away from reality for a weekend!

Ice Castles

It's been such freezing weather, that a family in Midway, UT decided to have some fun with it when they saw water freezing to their yard items. Using sprinklers they create "ice castles". It was really cool to see! Just like glaciers, the red and yellow hues are absorbed which leaves blue to be visible thus giving the ice a bluish tint. There were ice tunnels to walk through. And to look up at some of the tunnel parts and see huge icicles pointing right toward your body was a bit eerie at times. I loved looking at the intricacies of the frozen water. It wasn't a huge place but I sure took tons of pictures! Since I went in the daytime hours, I had to wear my sunglasses to protect my eyes from the glare. At night, they put lights in the "castles" so I'm sure it's quite a beautiful sight then too! And while we were in Midway, we saw the cone shaped volcano that has hot springs in it. So people go scuba-diving in it(90 degree water).When your down in the water you can look up and see the volcano opening! During Labor Day weekend Midway hosts Swiss days. I might have to check that out! Already the architecture of there homes is very Swiss looking! Plus Midway is by Park City so we stopped by the outlet mall. One new place we stopped was Dave & Harry's. It has unique-blended food stuffs that all looked so yummy! The samples I tried were delicious(especially the barbq sauce and salsa & chips)! Anyway it was great to get out and explore this region of Utah!

A-V Therapy Endorsement

For the next year or so, I am taking on-line classes from Utah State University to get an Auditory-Verbal(A-V) Therapy Endorsement. My school district has been and will continue to get more and more students with cochlear implants(CI). They need intensive auditory and verbal therapy to allow the implant to be a success. So I am getting the training I need to be a better service to my CI students. Plus I believe that it will better my services to my hearing aid students too. This semester I am taking 2 classes for 5 credit hours. I wasn't nervous about taking classes, but I was extremely anxious about doing the classes on-line! I seem to have a technology-curse, where if something can go wrong with technology, it will for me(maybe it can be called "Marcia's Law"). Needless to say, the first week was very frustrating for me trying to get everything to work correctly and figuring out the "set-up" of on-line courses. Now with 3 weeks behind me, I'm starting to feel a bit more confident with the on-line courses. I love learning new things! I swear, I could be a professional student all my life if I could get paid for it!

Messiah Sing-In

I attended our neighborhood Messiah Sing-In last night. They provided the orchestra & soloists and the congregation provided the choir parts(we didn't do the whole score, just an hour and a half worth). So you have a score of the music with you and it's like crazy to follow(especially for someone like me who can't keep count of notes). I tried to keep to my alto part but I sang all the different parts (I was used to singing with the record when I was younger, so many times I just sang those parts that were embedded in my mind). Growing up, my parents had the Messiah album and as it neared Christmas, it would be played on the record player every Sunday(My dad still listens to the CD every Sunday during December). And during the Hallelujah Chorus there was a part that the needle always got stuck so it literally played "forever & ever Hallelujah" forever & ever. By the time CD's came out and I listened to it without the 'scratch', I found it odd to hear the song perfectly played. My mind still heard the 'scratch repeat'. Anyway the Sing-In was worth attending to feel the Lord's Spirit and get me focused on the true meaning of Christmas! Plus it's fun to try singing the chorus parts like professionals!