Vacation to Utah!

Hello! Sorry it's been so long since I've last written. Mostly, I procrastinate.

Here in Indiana, we've been struggling to survive the sub-zero temperature. That's right, sub-zero. On the 14th of January, seminary was closed because it was -17 degrees, with a high of 1. I'm not sure it actually got that high. However, on January 16th, Mom, the twins, and I journeyed to Utah. In this letter, I will recount that trip.

1/16: Wake up at 6am, board airplane (on which I discovered my carry-on luggage was too tall to fit in the overhead bin, so a flight attendant escorted me to the back of the plane (with tired and curious fellow passengers looking on) and gave me a large bag to fill with excess luggage. I quickly emptied the top of my suitcase, thanked the flight attendant, and hurried to my seat. My suitcase fit above, thankfully. It was the twin's first time on a passenger airplane, so they were nervous and excited.
Approximately two hours later, we landed in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas airport, with an hour delay. My first time in Texas! Even though I never left the terminals, haha. It still counts. I wasn't sure what to expect of Texas, but it wasn't that exciting: Never ending flat, barren ground. Fort Wayne is flat, but it has trees.
We rode a train/subway thing that sped us toward the opposite side of the airport. DFW is gimongus! Thank goodness we didn't have to walk, especially since I had a wobbly suitcase (my friends later named it Penguin) and an awkwardly-shaped travel bag. We bought miniature hot-n-ready pizzas from Pizza Hut (in truth, I forgot that it was Sunday...), and it wasn't long until we were skedaddling onto our next flight.
I read Christopher Paolini's (go home-schoolers!) Brisingr until I fell asleep. Did you know that, depending on your plane, you can mold the headrest to fit your head, so you can sleep more comfortably? I thought that was awesome!
An hour and forty-five minutes later, we arrived at the Salt Lake International Airport. By now, I feel dirty. It's 5pm. My shoulder hurts, so I rest said travel bag and my purse on my suitcase, where they rest against the handlebars as I roll it down the terminal. Coming down the escalator, with all the other passengers directly behind me, my purse decides it's had enough of being stuffed away, and explodes. Out fall my wallet, my notebook and pen, and my camera. Out of my camera falls its batteries. Mind you, we're in the middle of the escalator. Panic--within me--ensues. Briefly, I fear my batteries will get sucked into the floor, where the escalator disappears. People are in front of me, and I can't push past. Finally, on the floor, I park my suitcase and wait anxiously for the crowd to pass, praying they won't step on my items. Clark Kent is a trooper, but even Superman has his weaknesses.
When it's clear, I dive forward to pick up my scattered belongings. Everything is intact, and the batteries are turning in frantic circles at the foot of the escalator, unable to hop the curb onto sturdy floor, and too fat to slip under the lip in the ground. I snatch these up. We head for the restrooms, pronto. I remove my jackets, pjs, journal and purse from the travel bag and stuff them again into my suitcase. Whew. I will definitely not overpack next trip, despite what you may think.
After running back and forth and up and down in the airport, Molly and I find cellular service, and are able to contact our ride to Stansbury Park. Waiting on the curb of our ride's house are my two best friends in this entire world: KK and Parker! I say a quick goodbye to my family and depart with KK and Parker, walking to her house down the block. Later that night, more friends appeared and we partay-ed! Mostly, we watched Hercules.
I didn't get to bed before midnight. C=
1/17: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so I have all day to spend with friends in Stansbury. KK, Parker, Heather, Kacy and I drive to the University Mall to window shop, hang, and check out gorgeous prom dresses! (We dragged Parker around with us, of course...=p) It was a blast, and KK and I each ended up buying 5 dollar-T-shirts from AnchorBlue.
1/18: Meet up with family. We drive to Salt Lake City, and take a tour of Temple Square. I lived there for 12 years and I don't recall ever taking a tour before. We listened to an acoustics test in the Tabernacle, which was pretty incredible. The organ has like...11,655 pipes, or something like that. We ran into a senior missionary couple who are from Muncie, Indiana, and whose daughter and her family live in our ward. Small world, isn't it?
Walking past the temple and all its splendor and beauty, it reminded me of how much I missed it. Missed going inside a temple, to be more accurate. Hopefully we can go to the Chicago temple soon.
Our ride to Layton arrived, and we headed in that direction. We spent the day with long-time friends, the Smedleys. I always love visiting the Smedleys! I consider it my second home. We did a lot of catching up, and it's staggering how old we're all getting. It seems only yesterday we were crunching through the woods behind my house in Layton, building log forts, collecting trash to decorate said forts, burying any unfortunate animals that crossed our paths (unfortunate, as they were already dead. We were just showing tribute to them by giving them a proper burial in our little cemetery), and pretending to be "lost girls." Now we're teenagers, faced with school, jobs, drama, and boys (actually, I think the first three all accumulate into the last). We're still silly ol' us, though, and that's nice.
1/19: After watching Over Her Dead Body (hilarious!), family leaves for Orem at about noon. We attended a session at the Draper Temple Open House. I went through the Bountiful Temple open house when I was about two, but I don't remember it. I'm not particularly fond of the exterior stone on the Draper temple (it looks like a prison), but the interior is utterly gorgeous! The spirit there was incredible, even if it hasn't been dedicated to the Lord yet. I wanted to sit in the Celestial room and never, ever leave. And I didn't know that temples have a bride dressing room. I think that's awesome! It made me want to do baptisms even more. Afterward, there were refreshments in the neighboring chapel, along with a beautiful display of paintings. There was one of Christ and Mary Magdalene in front of the tomb, that I've never seen before, but I thought it was beautiful. Mary's expression displays complete love and devotion and adoration for her Lord, and it caught my heart.
We settle in at the Escalantes' at around dinner time, who have been generous enough to allow us room and board for the LDS Film Festival for the last few years. Then we hurry over to the Scera Center for the Arts for the Meet and Greet part of the Festival. Official staff badges in place (the little cards that allow us entrance into about every nook and cranny of the festival--I LOVE it! =D), we take tickets and hand out ballots for the opening film, Father in Israel, directed by our good friend and director of the festival (and Austrian--amazing accent!), Christian Vuissa.
Main reason I love handing out ballots: Getting to meet hundreds of funny, fashionable, peculiar people. (Filmmakers are a race of their own.) This also includes meeting many attractive male specimens, but that's another story.
Father in Israel is incredibly good, and very-well made, as are all of Christian's movies. I definitely recommend seeing it when it comes out.
After the movie, as is tradition, the actors and filmmakers of the specific movie meet at the Celebrity Wall in the gallery for pictures and autographs. The twins and I got our picture taken with the young actors of the movie, and with the missionary brother. I only wanted this actor's picture because he's famous in Mormon Cinema. The fact that he was blond with blue eyes and an irresistable smile had nothing to do with it.
1/20: Full day of volunteering at the festival. KK came up with her mom to volunteer for a few hours, and we saw a few documentaries. One was about the Nauvoo pageant (which I will attend this summer for Youth Conference!) and one was about a family with three little boys who all had mental/physical disabilities and were getting a new house because theirs was condemned, as it was infested with black mold. Both documentaries were very powerful. I also saw a documentary on the life of the late, and beloved, Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. It was interesting to learn more about his life and how he became the man whom I have come to love and respect and adore. It is impossible in every way for me to think of President Hinckley and not know that the gospel is true and that Christ lives. It was through President Hinckley's (and ultimately through Christ's) teachings that gave me my testimony. Needless to say, I was a mess by the end of the film. (Also, I had no idea he was such a hopeless romantic! His relationship with Majorie is adorable!)
I could have gone to Stansbury with KK when she left, but I really wanted to attend my favorite part of the Festival: the 24-Hour Film Marathon. (The fact that the majority of the 24 hour marathoners are male teenage/young single adults again had nothing to do with my enjoyment of taking tickets.) Landon acted in a film, as did Aubrey and Josie, so I had to go support them. This year, most of the films were really good. There was a Twilight (for those who don't know what this is, it's a novel by Stephanie Meyer, and now a feature-length movie) spoof that was ridiculously hilarious. "You're impossibly fast, and strong. Your hands are pale and icy cold. You have a beer belly and an unshaven face, and smell really bad." (If you've seen the real movie, you'll understand.) Anyhoo!
A young man was in the crowd (he talked to me for a second), who I swore was David Archuleta. Seriously, from what I knew of the young Utahn singer/American Idol runner up, this kid was identical. There was even a film about how David Archuleta was in the audience. Turns out, it was just a joke, and the kid said he wasn't David. Who knows if he was telling the truth, to avoid the press? So I googled David Archuleta when I got home. The kid was telling the truth, because David isn't half as good looking. haha!
Afterward, I watched the feature length film, Dragon Hunter. Remember that missionary brother actor? Yeah. He's lovely. McClaine Nelson is his name. The movie was great, but a cheap remake of Eragon. Not even kidding, there was a reluctant young man, a single beautiful, mysterious female elf, dragons... The acting was a little stiff at some parts, but it was well-made, the CG wasn't horrible, and it was very visually attractive.
1/21: I manned the door for filmmaker presentations downstairs. This is where assigned filmmakers go and give a presentation on their work and talk about what it's like to be be their particular occupation (director, actor, screenwriter, etc.). I partly wanted to be upstairs to watch movies, but since I was downstairs, I was able to attend the beginning of McClaine Nelson's presentation. C=
Then I returned to the 'Bury. My friends are utterly amazing, and it was great to see them again!
1/22: Since Parker was helping a family move into their house, and Heather was attending the Draper Temple Open House, KK and I decided to make a quick trip to the D.I. We tried on some rather ridiculous outfits, and some rather cute ones. I tried on these KILLER white boots, with a pointy toe and metal, spike heels. If they weren't 15$, I so would have bought them. That night, we went to a stake dance, which providence had set for the weekend I was in Utah. I saw many of my dearest friends, and had an absolute blast. It wasn't completely without tears, though; my friends can profess to that. We wanted to stay up until I had to leave for the plane at 5 the next morning, but we only made it to about 2am.
1/23: We made it to the airport just in time, so I had to hurry through security, and our goodbyes were painfully and unfortunately brief. I'm so sorry for that, KK! =C
Having learned from last trip, I pre-stuffed clothes into my AnchorBlue bag, so my suitcase fit in the overhead bin without too much difficulty (it fit, but that doesn't mean it didn't weigh as much as my bed....). I slept the entire way (waking up in spurts) to Dallas/Fort Worth, and most of the way to Fort Wayne. The trip went a lot smoother than the flight there, I daresay. But it wasn't without flaw, as nothing ever is. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I know something probably fell or came undone or ripped. Welcome to my life. C=

That's the low down of my vacation to Utah. It was awesome, and I already miss it!

Guess what? I already received my birthday present! It's a cello! We found her on Craigslist for 350$, but when we drove to Cromwell to see her, the guy brought the price down to 300$. I am now the proud owner of a violin, mandolin, and cello! My first lesson was last week, and I learned the basics. Since I play violin, I am able to comprehend the cello. Really, the most important things I need to learn are technique and to memorize the bass clef. I have already taught myself to play a few songs, such as How Firm a Foundation, Amazing Grace, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Old McDonald Had a Farm! I am officially in love with it. I named her Sophie. (To think, I've had my cello for a week and I've already named it, when I've had my violin for 5 years, and still can't make up my mind on a name.)
Yesterday, Dad, Mom, the twins, and I went cross country skiing! (Because, of course, there ain't no hill high enough to really ski.) It was my first time on skis, which are a klutz's worst nightmare. I fell down a lot, but I had fun! What with skiing and my cello, I'm a little sore lately. haha!
My Sweet Sixteen is in 22 days! I am stoked! C=
In regards to my writing, I'm on it again! I started writing I AM BUTTERFLI last week. I outlined it on paper, so now it feels almost official. All I have to do is get it out. This is the part I hate most about writing: when I have the story in my head, the characters in bloom, but I'm the only one who knows about them. They exist, but not on paper, and no one else can know what I know. I can't wait for readers to meet Jace and Butterfli!
A family friend, and member of the stake, Shane Thomson, is an editor for Variance Publishing, and has offered to help me edit the manuscript. This is exciting, as it will give me experience and a polished novel!

I'd like to make a shout out: WOW! GOOD LUCK, ELDER McCLATCHY! I AM CERTAIN YOU WILL DO AMAZING! REMEMBER, LOSE YOURSELF AND GO TO WORK, AND ALWAYS GO WITH GOD! I WILL MISS YOU, DEAR FRIEND! C=




www.jilliansuzannnewell.webs.com