Changin' it up.

All righty. Within the next few days, the title "Tales of Garden Gnomes and Other Shiny Things" will officially be retired. In its place, some "My Favorite Things" line from The Sound of Music. Just to keep with my theme. :) I haven't decided what it will be yet, but... It'll be awesome. Let me know if you have ideas. :)
Other changes shall come to pass as well. But... They are to be determined. At a later time. When I don't have 2 weeks to finish online classes so that I can finish high school. Ha. Haha. Ha.
Yes.
Until then, my URL is the only thing that has actually changed - withbluesatinsash.blogspot.com. 

Marvelous. :)

Oh dearie. So much going on! I discovered tonight that Electronic High School coursework is ALL DUE on the 15th of April, so there will soon be even more going on! Online World Civilizations was just an overall bad idea... It'd better be done faster than by the 15th, or I might just spontaneously combust. Ha. Anyway, I think that I'm just grumpy and really need to count my blessings so I'll become less so! Here we go:
Things I loved about today this week:
- Last Tuesday I was accepted to the Music Therapy program up at Utah State! I'm going to be an Aggie! :)
- On Thursday I went up to USU to interview for a scholarship and such. :) I stayed the night with my lovely friend Lauren Tuttle, who is the cutest ever, and we stayed up until 2 in the morning talking about life. It was so amazing! I cannot wait to live up there.
-Lauren Tuttle and her lovely roommates (and hopefully my future roommates) Kaitlyn and Megan.
-Wearing my 9-year-old brother's shirt. Yup.
-Attending the Eagle Court of Honor of my very best friend, Zeegan George! Congrats, cuteness. :)
-Nick Shrum. You really are one my favorites, dearest!
-Utah weather. Sometimes.
-Silver spraypaint!

-The awkwardness of ex-boyfriends + Katy Perry... Oh dear.

-Utah State sweats... Ahhhh like a cloud... The ones in the picture are not the same as mine, but I'm sure they're equally as comfortable. Just less cool. :)

-Silly failullar devices splitting words into things they are not. Case in point - "therapist" into "the *line break* rapist". Haa so hilarious. :)

-Not biting my nails!

-Making wishes at 11:11pm

-Missing school for fun things. Need I say more?

-Peanut butter rice crispie treats for FHE!

-Mismatched socks!

You know, I think I could definitely keep going. Maybe later in the week when I'm not so tired. :) 

Night lovelies!

Mahhhhvelous... :)

Ah! I almost spaced Marvelous Monday! But never fear, I remembered! :) It'll be a quickie, but here it is!

Things I loved about today:

-The fact that because I was so tired, everything was hilarious.

-Finishing the first term of online Computer Technology!

-Muddy Buddies. Mmmm... :)

-I know I said this last week, but hugs! Again!

-The power of deletion! Hooray technology! 

-French braiding! I just need to learn how to do them myself now.

-This adorable love story that happened in real life to Ashley from i believe in unicorns!!

-My new profile picture on Facebook of me about to kiss a pineapple. Hahaha.

-Eating pineapple! (Is that weird since my boyfriend is a pineapple? What he doesn't know won't hurt him. ;) )

-Fashion blogs! Most recently discovered - Thrifted Things. I want her closet! Or just $100 to go spend thrifting... Haha. :)

-Peanut butter jammies time! Haha. It's soooo cold and my PJ pants are the comfiest, warmest things ever...

-And last, but not least, sleeping!

Buenas noches, my lovely 5 followers! :)

Bob Marley had the right idea, for sure!

I have heard a lot of my friends comment on how sad or unmotivated they are of late. This saddens me! So I decided to make a happy post. :)


Go check this out! I thought it was really interesting to see that many of these are things that I am encouraged to do as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Which just makes me more grateful for my religion and faith! I also especially loved that they mentioned music. I don't know what my life would be without my music!

Anyhow, this is an article on Time.com that has 20 suggestions that, if you live them, will help you to be healthier and happier. Here it is: Health and Happiness

Now enjoy this joyful montage! :)

In the words of Bob Marley:
Don't worry about a thing... 
Because every little thing is gonna be all right! :)

MARVELOUS Monday!

A little background on me - I, like many people, am a firm believer in blaming Mondays. 

For example:

Chorale: *sings flat/sharp/both with little to no rhythm correctness and tone quality. Utterly lacking in musicality*

Ms. Tate: *in a more polite way* Why are you made of fail?!

Kira: It's a Monday.

See? I'm not very nice to Mondays. 

Well, this is where I come to the actual point. Because I am trying to have a better attitude towards everything, I have decided that I need to start loving Mondays. To help me do this, I hereby declare that every Monday from this Monday forward is to be MARVELOUS Monday, and I shall post about all the MARVELOUS things that occurred that day, because there is always going to be something. :) 

And you know... In case there are days when I can't think of many MARVELOUS, I think I'll just add things from the week as well. :)

So, here is my very first MARVELOUS Monday list:

Things I loved about today:

- The idea of MARVELOUS Mondays!

- Actually posting on my blog, because I haven't in a week. :)

- Root beer floats.

- Submitting my decision to Utah State!!!!

- Having the opportunity to register early for a couple of my classes for this fall!

-  Talking to friends about college.

- Understanding what is going on in math.

- Being told by Ms. Tate that my "tone is just great". Normally it's "Kira, you sound lovely, but please don't sing a solo," or "Kira, don't take over." :)

- Hugs. In general. :)

- Learning about budgets! I need to start figuring one out for college!

- Comfy jeans.

- Discovering that my super boring English paper is due on Thursday and not tomorrow! :)

- Lettuce in my sandwich. I don't know why, it was just good.

- Wearing my bright orange sunglasses!

- Wearing my bright purple, super stylin' Jacket-in-a-Packet raincoat. ;)

- The rain

- Driving in the rain

- FHE with the Craigs

Well, I'm sure there are more, but 'tis late! I am off to bed. :)

Gangsters roll the windows down and blast Tupac...

But I roll the windows down and blast Julie Andrews.
I'm cool, right?! ;)


Last night, on the way home from my high school's production of Arsenic and Old Lace, I was thinking about several things:

• How much I love that play. Which is SO much.
• How I must get the movie from the library sometime soon! I haven't seen it in ages! If you haven't seen it, please go find it. Right this very moment! It's a Cary Grant movie... And you can't go wrong with him. :)
• How I wasn't in what would have been the last theatrical production of my high school career. :( Granted, I didn't have time for it, but it made me sad!
• How much fun to spend time with my siblings (McKayla came to the play with me), and, come fall, I'll really miss being able to do that whenever I so desire. I need to make the most of the six months I have left at home!
• How much I wanted to roll the windows down, blast music, and sing loudly (and off-key!)

Well, after thinking these things, I did roll down the windows and blast music. It just so happens that Saturday night is Showtunes Saturday Night on KOSY 106.5 (musical buffs, I highly recommend it. I discover new musicals through it quite often!) This was uber convenient. We turned up the radio so loud it could have woken the dead and sang our little hearts out to good ol' Julie, Sutton Foster, Barbra Streisand, and all their lovely, lovely friends. :)
Exciting side note - some attractive guy in a different car waved and yelled "Hi!" at us. I grinned and yelled "Hi!" back! Then the car he was in turned to go to Subway. A shame, really. It's just so fun to talk to people in other cars. I wonder what his name is...


Anyhow, I will be doing more of this with my sisters in the coming months! Actually, I'm taking McKayla and Cami to see The Scarlet Pimpernel at Viewmont High School on Tuesday. Quite a few of my friends from being in The Music Man last summer are in it, as well as my friend Garret, who was kind enough to buy us tickets before they sold out! I'm very excited to see them all. :) But more on that after I've actually seen it.


For now- Good night. :)

I love Fridays.

Well, the school week has ended! It seemed to take much longer than usual this time. Funny how that seems to happen...

Anyhow, before I hit the sack, I figured I'd better post something, and decided I might as well talk about what my new plans are for this lovely blog!

1 - More of my own work will start appearing... And not all of it will be as angsty as yesterday's post. ;)

2 - Less analyzing songs and poetry... More posting newfound artists and poets. 

3 - More pictures! For Pete's sake! I have thousands, after all!

4 - Other cool stuff... :) I need to brainstorm a little bit more, but I think it'll work out to be quite lovely.

Until tomorrow!

Musing on graduation...

some say 
they are
the best years
of our lives


they love
the system


the plastic ones 
and the lovers 
of all things
educational


some will dwell
after we leave


they will
return to these
old brick walls
they will
feel sorrow
and wish 
for the "glory days"


when i
finish
i will fly 
out those
doors


i will go places
i will do things
i will become
something more


i may visit...


but i will not
wish 
to 
go 
back


so for now
i will wait


i will finish, 
then...




i'm outta here.

There is so much more in love than black and white...

I would just like to say that Pandora is one of my very favorite inventions of ever... It brings me delightful new artists and songs. Like this incredible song by Amos Lee. Whose voice I have just discovered and am currently in love with. :) Click the song title to listen to it!

"Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight"

Well I walked over the bridge
Into the city where I live,
And I saw my old landlord.
Well we both said hello,
There was no where else to go,
'cuz his rent I couldn't afford.

Well relationships change,
Oh I think it's kinda strange,
How money makes a man grow.
Some people they claim,
If you get enough fame,
You live over the rainbow.
Over the rainbow..

But the people on the street,
Out on buses or on feet,
We all got the same blood flow.
Oh, in society,
Every dollar got a deed,
We all need a place so we can go,
And feel over the rainbow.

But sometimes,
We forget what we got,
Who we are.
Oh who are are not.
I think we gotta chance,
To make it right.
Keep it loose,
Keep it tight.
Keep it tight.

I'm in love with a girl,
Who's in love with the world,
Though I can't help but follow.
Though I know some day,
She is bound to go away,
And stay over the rainbow.
Gotta learn how to let her go.
Over the rainbow.

Sometimes we forget who we got,
Who they are.
Oh, who they are not.
There is so much more in love,
Than black and white.
Keep it loose child,
Gotta keep it tight.
Keep it loose child,
Keep it tight.

Keep it tight,
Keep it tight... 


I know it sounds cheesy, but this song speaks to me. You know what it says to me?
It says that we often lose sight of what we have and who we are. We expect too much or too little from our loved ones or ourselves, while we should "Keep it loose" - relax and live life - and "Keep it tight" - hold onto who we are, no matter what. As my lovely mother says - "Remember who you are and why you're here."


 Currently, I'm especially a fan of the change in words for the last chorus, which is why I titled this post the way I did. There really is so much more in love than black and white... And by that, I mean any kind of relationship - Your relationship with your family, your friends, anyone. I've recently re-realized that it's incredibly important to remember "who we got", and to keep in mind "who they are" and "who they are not". Otherwise you can ruin a perfectly good relationship in a matter of seconds... So it's just important to be careful with those you love.

That's what it means to me. :) 

Now go listen to the song a million times! :)