Thursday, October 30, 2008

Miriam visits and other things

So, Rose's sister Miriam came and stayed with us for a week a couple weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of our adventures, I hope they don't embarrass anyone.



Rose (& Jordan) at Chincoteague Island Wildlife Sanctuary



Miriam, Jordan & Rose at Chincoteague Island Wildlife Sanctuary. We saw a wild horse from quite a ways away, cranes, cormorants, ducks, and geese. Oh, and a couple chipmunks.



Miriam pointing & Rose at the White House.





Jordan, Rose, Miriam, and Ben at the World War II Memorial




Rose & Miriam at the National Archives, where the keep the Constitution and Declaration of Independence among other things, which you can explore here.


Rose starts her new job tomorrow as a Production Assistant for Home Made Simple on TLC. I think that's pretty cool. It's a contract job, so it only lasts a couple months, but I'm sure it will lead to bigger and better opportunities in the future.

I'm still tenaciously searching for my summer job which is quite a challenge with things as they are. It's a bit more competitive than in years past, or so I'm told, but I'm sure I'll find the right place for me. It's just a matter of finding the right people at the right time. It's difficult deciding what you want to be when you grow up.

I also registered for classes today which was very exciting. I went to an open academic advising session with Dean Johnson and there was nobody else in line, so we talked for a good 40 minutes about my schedule. He said he'd never seen the actual registration process, so I registered right there with him, which was very helpful for us both. I'll be taking Evidence, The Federal Circuit (from a Federal Circuit judge and BYU/GW Law alum), International Law, a Constitutional Law Seminar on the Supreme Court, and Jurisprudence (from a woman with a PhD in medieval Arabic philosophy, yeah I know, awesome), which I guess is something like legal philosophy.

Anyway, I'm excited about that lineup, should be a great semester. Plus I have no class on Friday, which I think is because no law professors want to teach on Friday. Also, I don't think they like getting up early because it's hard to find a class that starts before 11 a.m. I think that's wonderful.

Monday, October 06, 2008

The Emmy Awards



This weekend BYU Broadcasting flew me and my friends Hannah, Jim, and Kendall to Arizona so that we could attend the Rocky Mountain chapter Emmy Awards because a film we made called "The Christian Eye: An Essay Across England" was nominated for Best Student Production. We made the documentary a year ago, about English professor John Bennion's study abroad that involves taking writing students to England, having them hike 10-20 miles per day until their legs go numb, making them write about their experiences there, and actually changing their lives. The four of us must be really good at what we do because guess what? We won! That's right. We are Emmy award winners.

The ceremony was not quite what I thought it would be. I was thinking more...well, what you see on TV. What I felt when I was there was more...well, beauty pageant. It all played out at a not stunningly attractive ballroom in the Rennaissance Hotel in Scotsdale, Arizona. We had a cocktail/games/dinner party beforehand with fairly pricey drinks (I'm talking $4 for a water) and cold buffet food. (Although some of it was a perfect temperature and very good.) One part of the ballroom was partitioned off for the ceremony and a stage was placed at the front, with a podium and curtains and some screens. The picture below looks more exciting than it was in real life:



They decided not to allow speeches, which came as a huge relief to me because I was feeling a little socially anxious and did not want to get up in front of everyone and say anything, and also there were 91 categories to be announced. With speeches allowed it would have taken FOREVER. However, if I had given a speech it would have gone something like this: "I want to thank the BYU English and Media Arts departments, John, Kendall, Tom, Hannah, Jim, and digital media for this experience, because without this film I'd still be single, sad, and alone." (Actually Hannah and Jim and I had decided to take random names out of the program and thank them. Unfortunately we did not get this opportunity.)

Though there were things about the event that weren't quite up to my expectations, it was actually a lot of fun and I did appreciate all the work that went into it. Also, there were a lot of things that I really enjoyed. One, I got to wear a hot new dress. Two, I got to see some great friends again. Three, I got to stay in my very own super large hotel room with a balcony. Four, I WON AN EMMY AWARD! Five, the parting with Jordan made the reunion more exciting. And six, I got all of this for FREE. That's always a nice feeling.