Spring Break, Operas, and too many pictures

Howdy ya'll! What an exciting past 3 months it has been! Let's get right to it! Buckle your seatbelts cuz it's looooooooong.

Christmas 2016
 This Christmas was spent with Ian's family this year. Cookie decorating and our annual caroling was a hit, especially since this time it was held in concert form in the park! A solid 75 people showed up if I remember right. All in all a wonderful holiday.


LOT Magic Flute!
UGH I will never get tired of talking about Magic Flute. It was such an amazing experience and a super fun one to boot! I got to work with so many talented individuals on a regular basis [more than I already do] and I made so many new friends! We sold out all four showings (which is saying something considering our closing is a Sunday matinee!). I had so much of my family come and support me, including my grandma, my aunt Cindy, my dad and my brother Nathan; all of whom live out of state.

I was able to spend some quality time with my dad, which was really fun since we haven't spent that much time together in years. He stayed with us while he was in town and we hung out, went to the Renaissance Festival and out to dinner a few times. It was really nice to see him and have him visit. Now he can say he's been to the opera. ;)

This show is definitely my favorite to date and I feel so lucky to have been part of it!

 me and Taryn, my dear friend!

 Aren't we stunning

 This is the adorable little figurine Lauren (my Queen of the Night) gave me as I dive head first into this whole opera thing. We shared a dressing room and she is just the most thoughtful person. 

 The costuming was pretty amazing for everyone, but I think I got the best ones. ;) 

Nathan Haltiwanger as Papageno, and yours truly as Papagena. He was so amazing to work with!

 Ach, ich fühl's (tech rehearsal!)

 Baldt Prangt (tech rehearsal!)

After Papageno rings his magic bells and Monostatos with his slaves dance their way off stage. It really is the best part of the entire opera. ;) 

The opera consumed my life for a solid 3 weeks! I feel bad because I'm just now getting life back to normal and I was called to be Young Women's President a little over a month ago and I have been trying to keep up and not feel like a total flake. :P Good news is that I {kind of} have a grip on things now. Ha. Just kind of. ;) 

SPRING BREAK {Disneyland}

Ian bought the tickets the Friday before Spring Break and off we went! We stayed with our friends Taylor and Jadyn, who were kind enough to let us crash as they were moving into the cutest little townhouse. It was such a good week! 3-day parkhoppers, good friends, and beautiful weather. I could not have asked for a better way to spend spring break. This was the first vacation we've taken together since our honeymoon 3 1/2 years ago! It was a much needed one. The 6 hour drive there and back definitely were not my favorite parts but it was definitely worth it. WARNING: LOTS AND LOTS OF PICTURES.

brb crying from withdrawals with the sight of this castle 

It was so adorable how they were asking all the kids to use the Force to help defeat Kylo Ren. My ovaries exploded it's fine. 

Disneyland does not mess with their portion sizes. Or their flavors. Drooling. 

It's a McHardy tradition to pose like the statues...next to the statues. haha

They do a flag ceremony on Main Street and they recognize the military attending. It was really cool. 

The best ice cream cone and the best seat for World of Color. Which was prob the best part of our entire trip.

I spotted Moana. Several times. I can die happy now. 

Ian and his Indiana Jones hat. Stud.

  

All of the cool pop up shows make Disneyland so special

ALL of the selfies were taken:

 my first set of Minnie ears!!

 the Autopia ride gives you little paper drivers licenses!

 SPACE MOUNTAIN {err, Hyperspace Mountain now}

You can't not take a picture with the Chief when you go here.

Also, many a dumb Snaps were taken as well:

Star Tours. Duh.

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. More intense than we anticipated. haha

At least I think I'm funny

These guys were so cool. Hanging out behind the River Belle Terrace in the little alley.

We were able to hangout with Taylor, Jadyn and Olivia quite a bit too. They are so much fun and I miss having them around! We strolled around Downtown Disney and had some fancy lunch. Olivia was my buddy our whole trip and simply put, has stolen my heart! I just love that little girl.

I forgot what they named him but it was cute. I'll tell ya that much.

     

Legit artwork, guys.

    

The amazing food alone is a good enough reason to come to at least Downtown Disney

I got this little gem on Snapchat and it's my favorite

GUH what a fun week!! I miss Disneyland but I am also glad to be home and back in school. How nerdy am I?!

In other news, one of my dearest friends in high school got married over the weekend! He's been like my brother for so long and it was so exciting and special to be there for him on his special day! 

Brayton and his new wifey Mackenzie

  

Biggest congratulations to the happy couple! :)

Also in other news, my sister in law Allie finally had her baby boy!! He is the sweetest little nugget you ever did see. I can't believe he's actually here! He was born early in the afternoon of the same day we left for Disneyland so fortunately we were able to go see him and Allie in the hospital on our way out. :) 

little Campbell Alan McHardy

    

We love our newest nephew!

PHEW. Glad you stayed this long and kept up with my rambling. You should get an award, or something. That's basically been my life in a nutshell over the past few months, and it's been an amazing past few months. Let's hope this trend continues. 

Thanks for reading, my lovelies. 

Decemburrrr

Hey y'all. It's been a while up in here so let's get to it!

Last time I checked, we had done the anniversary post...yes! That is correct. Well, let's do a month play-by-play!

Rest of September:

After our anniversary, was my birthday! Since I'm in school it's not like we can do anything super crazy, but we went to Serrano's for dinner, which was delicious. Did we do anything after that? Gosh I don't remember. I'm becoming a party pooper for my birthdays. I don't like spending that much time over it.

October:

Because I'm *that* exciting, it was a crazy blur. 17 credits worth of classes will do that to you. Well, the first of the month was general conference, which was obviously wonderful. I spent my time between sessions decorating, which was super cute.

The next weekend after that, my brother-in-law Max got married to his childhood sweetheart! It was the sweetest thing. They've known each other since they were like 7 or something like that. Bri is the sweetest and it was a beautiful day!

That led into fall break, which was a nice little break till the semester came down hard. I was mainly focusing on getting all my music learned for my recital, as well as working at rehearsals for the student lab production of Cendrillon {Cinderella} at school. Not to mention auditions for Mozart's The Magic Flute were coming up, and apparently it was custom to have the callback material learned before callbacks to show you're prepared and serious! Just add that to the list of music I had to have learned and memorized, sheesh! {By the way, I totaled up how many songs I had to have learned and memorized over the whole semester and it came out to 14. No wonder I couldn't retain anything by the last week of classes} Nevertheless, I did my best to learn the Papagena duet (since Papagena was my first, albeit very bold choice in a role that I preferred). Also, because I am not that wise of a person at times, I didn't take some advice that I had received to learn the 1st Spirit's callback material as well, and lo and behold, I got a call back for 1st Spirit in addition to Papagena. I had to learn 13 pages of music in one day! God Bless Hope Douglass, for she saved me that day. I mustered through the callback, though I definitely could have handled myself better. I take myself way too seriously at times. My Papagena callback went well, though I couldn't remember the words at some points and the music stand my audition partner and I were sharing was further away from me and I couldn't make out the words! Oops. I thought overall it wasn't bad, but I didn't think Papagena was realistic since I was competing against two grad students and another senior. A very long 3 days came and went, and Taryn texted me at like midnight telling me to check my email and LOOK WHAT I FOUND:

I could hardly believe it! I was half asleep and thought my eyes were playing tricks on me! Fortunately enough people auditioned where they could double cast the principals, so here I am on the docket! I am so excited to be part of this production, and to have a fun role! 

In the excitement of auditions and callbacks, which were held on 10/30 and 10/31, we did not celebrate Halloween this year. Which is cray, but honestly with these results, I didn't mind one bit. 

November:

The first weekend was the Marine Corps Ball. This time around was so much fun! Especially since I'm starting to remember people and we had an awesome group at our table. It was held at a Double Tree Hilton way up in North Scottsdale, and it was huge! Wayyy bigger than the last few years, which was awesome because we were so smooshed the last few times. The food, as always, was to die for. I even tried the salmon on my plate and it was actually really good! The dessert was so fancy.

This was like a chocolate mousse with a crunchy crust on the bottom. Noms.

This was a key lime cheesecake! So good!

THEN, literally the next day was the dress rehearsal for Cendrillon, and the following day the actual performance! Talk about a busy weekend! Cendrillon was a such a fun experience and was perfect as my first opera. I was La Fee (fairy grandmother) and I hammed it up, per usual. I made so many new friends and got to know people I met before way better. It makes me sad that I don't get more time here to hang out with these special people!

 These hooligans.

THEN my life went in to hyper-recital mode. All but one of my eleven songs were new this semester and I was working as I hard as I could to get it ready by November 23rd. GUH. But I made it to that evening with relatively no problems, except a minor meltdown about parking (I know, I'm such a loser haha). The recital started and I did it! It was actually super fun, and I was super relaxed, even when I had to make up a few words in my French songs. I DID IT! We had yummy sweetbreads courtesy of my in-laws and all in all it was a good night. And I couldn't have done it without my amazing accompanist Hope. She rocks my socks. And I REALLY could not have done it without my amazing voice teacher Anne Kopta:

 She is amazing and has helped me grow so much over the past year! I just love her.

 Also, I felt pretty that night sooooo shameless selfie time.

And my poster, that I designed myself with the help of Google.

My recital was the day before Thanksgiving, so I got a nice long break to relax after surviving the majority of the semester! We had Thanksgiving with my family and some extended family at my parents' new house and the community clubhouse. Yummy food and good company. The following week was the last week of classes, meaning wrapping up my finals (because my instructors were awesome like that and I only had to show up to one final during finals week!) and attending dress rehearsals for the Holiday Gala concert at ASU Gammage. I will never get used to singing on Gammage stage. It is so much fun. And the concert was a major success! Even after all the craziness, I managed to come out on top!

Straight A's, baby!

In other news, I bought this beautiful wooden table off of Facebook! It needs to have a major overhaul in sanding and repainting, but it will be nice to finally have a kitchen table again!

I have been majorly enjoying staying up late and sleeping in to an ungodly and unhealthy hour, all while systematically deep cleaning my house. Well, now I am because I have been helping my sister Ashley pack and clean her house in preparation of their move to Alabama. At first I wasn't too keen on her leaving, but I know that is where she and her family are needed right now. It was kinda hard to say goodbye, but I plan on visiting her this summer! 

Also, in another crazy turn of events, I joined Mary Kay! If you don't already have a consultant, come to me! There are reasons why I decided to join, which are valid and I feel like this will be good for me. And I'm excited to make extra money while I'm at it.

 Almost all my Christmas shopping is done, I just need to order Ian's gift and I'll be set. I'm also trying to muster the motivation to clean our room and bathroom but...I don't have any excuses. Thanks for reading, my lovelies! 

Obligatory Anniversary Post: The Triple Threat

{Sorry for that horrendous title. I really couldn't think of anything more clever.}

OMGoodness 3 years ago at this exact moment we were on a cruise in Alaska, frozen and so in love. Honestly, where did the time go?? LOOK AT US LITTLE BABES.

It's hard to believe a whole 3 years have come and gone! When we went out to dinner this weekend to celebrate Ian said that it feels like we've just always been married and it's so normal now. It's so true! I hardly remember what it was like to be single. Well obviously I do, but let's be honest that was just high school for me and that doesn't count. haha it's clear that we are NOT newlyweds anymore and just kind of living life. Anywho, let's get on to the celebration!

We had a Cheesecake Factory gift card that we've been holding onto and this was the perfect occasion to use it! After I got home from school on Friday, I changed into nicer clothes and we went straight to the restaurant. Fortunately the wait was only 10 minutes because I was starving!

{he insists on making this wide-eyed face anytime I take a picture pfft}

 Ian got a gargantuan Caesar salad--I'm talking a 10 inch plate and it was full. I got this lemon-garlic shrimp and pasta and it was amazing. The shrimp were these huge ocean shrimp and it was the perfect portion size. It was off the "skinnylicious" menu, so it was a more moderate serving than a normal entree. I will definitely have to remember that for the future because I hate getting overstuffed. We finished dinner just in time to walk over to the dollar theatre next to the restaurant and we saw Now You See Me 2. Which was amazing because magic. But really the plot and how it was executed was truly fantastic. It was also hilarious which is an added bonus. After the movie we went back to the Cheesecake Factory to get some cheesecake. You can't NOT get cheesecake when you go. It's un-American. Overall it was a super fun night. I love spending time with my designated human. 

This year I got him a gift that would make a great addition to his office space downstairs. He's been slowly but surely transferring things down there from the upstairs guest bedroom next to ours and I thought he needed something fun to hang up in there. I found this Etsy shop that does fancy blueprints of all sorts of things, INCLUDING different Star Trek ships!

The ones circled are the ones I ordered! (not in that size though, but 8x11 versions) They haven't come in the mail yet, but I showed Ian and he's pretty excited about it. My gift on the other hand, I may or may not have been purchased 3 months ago because I really wanted and I told him I wouldn't use it till after our anniversary. I have been wanting a pearl ring since I was like 16. My mom has always had one and I just love how they look. They are so elegant and go with everything. I went into  Kay's with my friend Kelly and I found this ring and I fell in love. The salesman was giving me a deal, so it was way less expensive than what you're probably thinking. {it's also the first anniversary gift from Ian so it makes up for that}. Anyway, Ian gave me the OK to get it since I reaaallllyy wanted it and I said it would count for my anniversary gift. Here's the beauty that I am finally going to wear today!

I love love love it. So pretteh. 

In other news, the semester is going swimmingly. I have more homework than I'm used to because you know, 17 credits will do that. BUT I have friends that have finally transferred there too so I'm not totally alone. I have gotten to know some more people better which is nice, but it's also really nice to have people I'm closer to as well (SHOUT OUT TO TARYN AND TAYLOR). I'm not nearly as stressed out about my recital, now that I have almost all of my music picked out and it's getting learned. I think I need another song or two and I will be golden. {Mark your calendars for November 23, at 7:30 pm in the 5th floor recital hall! There will be cupcakes}. I must say that not working and just focusing on school has made me stress level go waayyyy down. I have so much more time and I don't feel like I'm drowning, even though I have a lot to do for school. I sleep in till 6:30 every day, I have time to prepare a healthy lunch and I still manage to cook dinner maybe twice a week (which is huge for me). AND I have time to binge watch America's Next Top Model without sacrificing practice time or homework time. ;) Overall I think I will enjoy school a lot more now without feeling like I don't have enough hours in the day. 

Major shout out to Ian who is still working full time and now doing online school full time at ASU too. He's a stud who works so dang hard and I am so proud of that nugget. He is such a blessing, and he is mine forever. I love how he loves me without hesitation and is my rock and my biggest fan. Happy anniversary lover boy. 

Autumn-Nom-Nom-Nom

Hey lovelies. I am currently at home, delaying cleaning the guest bathrooms so like any responsible adult I will continue to postpone chores to write a blog post.

Summer has come and gone (kind of) and I am more than ready for fall to be here. It's my favorite season, even though here in AZ, it's rather warm for it to really feel like autumn but it's all that comes with the season I love. I love the start of a new semester, the slowly but surely cooling off of this desert heat, and all the holidays. ALL THE HOLIDAYS. Really though I need Halloween like right now. That being said, any fun couples costume suggestions are appreciated. We are not afraid to be silly and I'm still trying to muster up something because I like to go all out so I need to start preparing now! Anywho.

To help pass the time, let's fill the group in what my summer has been like.

VIK Summer Camp

Can't tell if this year was better or worse. haha I definitely liked my position as the music teacher better than assistant counselor. There were some organizational things that could have gone better but at least I wasn't chewed out for things out of my control this time. Overall, it was a fast summer and I am very grateful for that. I am very glad it's over. If anything, I'll miss my coworkers! We had some pretty awesome staff this year, including my parent table sister Maddie, the wonderful Misty, and my newest married-with-no-kids girlfriend Dani (PS we still need to go shopping!) and last but not least the amazing directors Jessi and Krystalyn who worked so dang hard to make it a good summer. Hats off to you for having the hardest jobs. To the rest of you, I enjoyed working with every single one of you. Thanks for making the job bearable. :)

TRIPS!

I was actually able to do a few trips this summer! The first time in a long time, really. For July 4th I drove with my family up to Boise, ID for my maternal grandparents' 70th wedding anniversary. Yup. You read correctly! SEVENTY! My Grandpa is 92 and my Grandma is 87. And they are simply one of the cutest couples I've ever seen.

I just love them so much. What was really cool, was that my sister and mother and I were able to sing some fun Andrews Sisters stuff at their party! Got to show off a little as well as give them a treat. We practiced our booties off and it was so much fun!

Then later that month I was able to drive to St George for my oldest nephew's mission farewell! Talk about feeling old! Granted, he's only 6 years younger than me, but that's just a technicality. haha He did great and he's going to love his time in Rancho Cucamungo, CA! It was also really nice to see my dad and my sister and the rest of her family. I want to visit more often, since it's relatively close! Also, big shout out to my homegirl Kelly for driving with me! Without her, I wouldn't have been able to go! You're the best, even if your dumb phone got us lost about 3 times. ;)


Now that the summer time activities are through, I am working at my old site Meridian for the next week and a half before classes start. I have decided not to work during the school year until I graduate. Straight up, my major is freaking hard without having to be at work every day and my classes are literally all day; so even if I wanted to, I am no longer available to work with my kiddos. Summer camp is so difficult but the school year is pretty easy sailing for the most part, and I'm going to miss my littles. They really are so much fun and I just love them.

Speaking of the upcoming semester, I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I have some kind of difficult rep that needs some real nitty gritty work and I feel anxious for my junior recital within the next few months. But I just keep telling myself it will work out, because it will, right? Now that I mention it, I better hook up my keyboard and get crackin.

Live long and prosper, friends.

Summer is HERE

Hello one and all! Man, I have gotta tell ya, this semester has been cray-cray. I survived my first semester at ASU and so far am in love with everything about this program. I was definitely homesick at first for CGCC, but another few weeks in I settled in just fine. I still don't know very many people but I am at least pretty familiar with most of them and not too awkward. The rigor was a bit of a kick in the butt, yet it was the push in the right direction that I now know I desperately needed. I was letting myself plateau for a bit in my final semester at CGCC but that was soon fixed when I started in January. My wonderful voice teacher Anne has been amazing and my studio has been the greatest environment. It's a safe place where we can get great feedback and encouragement from a bunch of ladies that are right in the thick of it too. In addition to that, having graduate students in the same studio has been so valuable. It's great to hear them sing so frequently and people to look up to (even if some of them aren't too much older than me haha). I did thoroughly enjoy the rest of my classes there (German, German Diction, and Choir). I feel pretty good to be in a quality program like this one.

Also, HUGE shout out to Hope Douglass for being so willing to become my pianist last minute and being so fabulous. She was able to jump right and we have a pretty nice groove going on. You go, Glen CoCo.

Speaking of classes, I went to bed last night, a Friday night....and I did not have to turn in any MacGamut!!

This is how I feel irl:

2 YEARS OF IT! and it's finally done. I am officially DONE with music theory and ear training. Like, I want to cry.

All 14 credits done this semester on top of working almost every morning and afternoon at VIK. And rehearsing for Resonance. And prepping my music class for summer camp. And I managed to get straight A's. Like a boss.

But honestly, the past four months have been a blur. School, work, keeping up with recital attendance, rehearsals, performances, 2 weddings....I have definitely been kept busy. The first half of the semester felt like it dragged but after spring break, time seriously FLEW by! It still is. I'm not sure how to process it yet, but I think it's a good thing. Kind of.

The prep for summer camp has definitely intensified! This year I am going to be a specials class teacher for wait for it....MUSIC! I have my whole curriculum planned out so *hopefully* it will work well enough to keep me going for the whole 10 week program. :O It's going to be a good summer. I want to make it a good one since I won't be returning to work the school year and I need to get my fill on my kiddos before I have to leave! I will be so happy to have a lighter load and lower stress level, but I really do love my job. If I wasn't in school and in a program that wasn't so demanding I wouldn't leave! Those kids are my favorite. I will probably end up working a few days of holiday camp and next summer.

Gee, seeing how short this post just goes to show how rather monotonous my life has become considering January was the last time I filled all ya'll in. What else can I put in here....hmm....well I left my platinum days behind! The lovely Laura Loose brought me back to a much milder golden blonde (which is still rather light since it's been since mid-February since she did it and it has faded). I am planning on going again and try and get it to a nice light-honey color that it was before I started dyeing my hair.

Well, in other news, there is no news. I hope everyone had an enjoyable semester and continues to have an amazing summer. Go forth. Be happy.



That's all for now my lovelies.