California Vs. Utah

Well, we've been living Utah almost three weeks now, and we've had the chance to notice many differences between California and Utah.

People in Utah seem less patient...if you can believe it!  This surprised us because we thought it would be the complete opposite.  When it comes to waiting for their tires to be changed, and being stuck behind you while you wait to make a left hand turn against traffic, Utahans simply aren't very nice! 

Driving is quite a different experience.  Everyone goes with the speed of traffic, instead of one person flying past you in a hurry.  Where Chevron gas is the most ridiculously expensive gas in California, it's the CHEAPER gas out here!  And there is construction all over the place. 

I think I understand why people in Sandy don't speed very often:  the Sandy Police Department.  They have a quota to reach each month in regards to how many traffic tickets they "give" out.  (I think this should be illegal, oh well) They are ALL OVER THE PLACE, and their cars aren't like "normal" police vehicles. 

The Sandy police drive mustangs, and other cars that don't LOOK like police vehicles, giving you a false sense of security while you drive 40mph in a 35mph zone and get pulled over!  A colleague at work said that her husband received a ticket for changing lanes.  Apparently he didn't have his blinker on long enough before he went from one lane to the other!  Nick brought up a good point:  Utah doesn't have the same worries as California:  gangs, drugs, etc.  The police in Cali are more concerned with that than if we're driving 5 miles over the speed limit.  Sandy apparently has nothing better to do than be nit-picky...oh, fun!

The school system in Utah is very different.  A teacher's worst student in Utah would be considered the student in the middle of the class, if not the best student in a California class.  The first day of my current long term sub job, the teacher gave me the keys to her class.  I went to lock it at lunch and she laughed.  Teachers leave their doors unlocked and open the entire day!  I simply couldn't believe that.  If we did that in California, everything in the school would be stolen!

There was a Kindergarten program today.  During the program, that included several Christmas songs, they sang a song about Jesus' birth.  That would NEVER would happen in California!  It's such a politically correct state that if a school even tried it the parents would go crazy!

At lunch today, I discovered a teacher's daughter is a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a bunch of teachers are going to the Conference Center Friday in Salt Lake City to hear David Archuleta sing with them.  There were other teacher's in the room who weren't members and they knew EXACTLY what we were talking about!  In California if you mention President Monson, or President Utchdorf, more likely than not they would have NO IDEA who you were talking about!

Temples:

My entire life I've lived in California.  There are only 7 temples in that state:  Oakland (my fave), Sacramento, Fresno, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Redlands, and San Diego.  Each temple has always been at least an hour drive from where I've lived.

From where we live now, we are only 20 minutes away from the following temples, and we can see them while we're just driving through town!  Sounds geeky, but it is so awesome for someone who has never lived close enough to a temple that you can just see it from where you live!! 

Draper, Utah

Jordan River, Utah

Oquirrh Mountain, Utah

Along with these three temples, there are 4 other temples that are within 45 minutes of us:

Mount Tipanogos, American Fork, Utah

Bountiful, Utah

Ogden, Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

So, I've gone from having just 7 in the entire state of California, to having 7 within 45 minutes away from me!!  And don't get me started on how many church buildings there are in town!  They are all over the place.  And just because you live across the street from one, that doesn't mean it's the building you attend church at!

When you walk into Walmart, there is an entire Latter-day Saints section simply for books!  President Monson's book is throughout the entire store.  The first time I saw this, I forgot I was in Walmart and thought I was at a church bookstore!

Clearly job searching is easier here than it ever was in California!  11 days after moving here, I landed a long term sub job, with other jobs to follow!

There are restaurants everywhere in Sandy.  The Sizzler in California is MUCH better.  The seafood salad here (which has always been my favorite part of Sizzler), is just a lot of celery with little bits of crab thrown in so they can call it "seafood" salad.  Oh, I wanted to cry.

The view of the mountains is incredible.  Here is a look at what we see everyday:

Yep, two temples, just a few miles apart!

Overall, life in Utah is great.  We haven't been hit too hard with snow yet, though we know it will be coming again soon...and it will be coming hard.  I've already driven in snow and haven't killed anyone, so I'm hopeful that I can make it through the winter.

So far, in the California Vs. Utah debate, Utah is winning!

Who Sings It Better?

The Twelve Days of Christmas has never been one of my favorite Christmas songs.  In fact, next to 99 Bottle Of Beer On The Wall it's one of the few songs I simply can't stand to listen to. 

So my challenge today was to find two versions of this song and pick one that I could actually stand listening too!

First up, a classic; John Denver and the Muppets:

A few years ago, my sister introduced me to a group called Straight, No Chaser.  They sang a version of The Twelve Days Of Christmas on a Christmas program we watched at her house. 

 

Now, if you asked Brandon, he would want to listen to John Denver and the Muppets all day long.  I enjoy the Muppets, so this version isn't that difficult to listen to.

However, the version by Straight, No Chaser is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!  Not only are they singing a cappella, but they break out into so many different songs it's just simply incredible!  My favorite part is when they begin to sing the song Africa by Toto at the very end.  I could listen to this version all year long and never get tired of it!

So, who sings it better?

Musicals Monday

Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert

Flipping channels one Sunday after church, my family came across this performance.  Thus began our love for this production!

On October 8, 1995, the show celebrated its tenth anniversary with a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. This Tenth Anniversary Concert is nearly "complete," missing only a handful of scenes, including "The Death of Gavroche" and the confrontation between Marius and the Thénardiers at the wedding feast. Sir Cameron Mackintosh hand-selected the cast, which has come to be called the Les Misérables Dream Cast, assembling cast members from around the world. The concert concluded with seventeen Valjeans from various international productions singing, "Do You Hear the People Sing?" in their native languages.

The concert cast included Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, Philip Quast as Javert, Paul Monaghan as the Bishop of Digne, Ruthie Henshall as Fantine, Hannah Chick as Young Cosette, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thénardier, Alun Armstrong as Thénardier, Adam Searles as Gavroche, Michael Maguire as Enjolras, Michael Ball as Marius, Judy Kuhn as Cosette, Lea Salonga as Éponine, and Anthony Crivello as Grantaire.

Eponine falls in love, as most romantics do, with the high-class Marius, of whom she makes a friend. Yet, Marius does not love her back; instead, he falls for Cosette and passes up the neglected Eponine as if he did not notice that she was there.

"On My Own" is the song Eponine sings about her love for Marius.

Jealous of Cosette, Eponine sets up a way for both she and Marius to be killed at the barricades so that their souls may be together in heaven (thus, Cosette cannot have Marius and he could belong to Eponine). But in a moment of true love, Eponine risks her life at the muzzle of a musket in order to save Marius, realizing that he loves Cosette and not her and saving Marius' happiness. Cosette has a happy ending; Eponine never does.

"A Little Fall Of Rain" is Eponine's final song, as she dies in Marius' arms.

Why YouTube, Why??

Last night I found an amazing video about Luke Skywalker to share with you on a future Star Wars Saturday.  I was so excited that I wanted to go pop popcorn and pull up a chair while I began watching it.  That's how awesome it started!

About 1 minute into the AWESOME video, I thought I heard a word that you only hear from the mouths of sailors.  Not quite sure, I continued watching it and when it happened again I knew I heard it; the creator of the video used a song that dropped the "f" bomb.   I searched the song lyrics out on Google to make sure I was right:  unfortuntately, I was.

I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT!  There is NO REASON to use horrible songs to "enhance" your video; it doesn't work.  I wish I had the ability and know-how to take the song out and put another one in it's place!

I'm also completely bummed because I want to share the video and just tell you to mute the sound, but then it gives the creator more views of his inappropriate video, and allows him to think that people are okay with music that has foul language in it! 

I guess I'll have to learn how to create a YouTube video that is even more awesome than his, and uses the INCREDIBLE music that John Williams wrote for Star Wars! 

Wonder if there's a tutorial on that?!?

Star Wars Saturday

I had a completely different post ready for Star Wars Saturday and then this morning I came across an article on the internet about a 7 year old girl who is being teased at school for being a fan of these awesome movies!  Read the article here

Fans all around the world have come to this sweet girl's defense, and it's heartwarming to see so many wonderful people show they care. 

I LOVE Star Wars, and I hope that these boys come to understand now just how cruel they've been.  I hope their parents step in and stop this now.  Bullying is NEVER funny!

May the Force be with you all.