thriller!

So...I'm finally getting to my Thriller post. Back on Saturday (March 6), a few of us from the stake and ward (23 to be exact) got together and danced to Michael Jackson's famous song Thriller...oh, all the while we were donning makeup and outfits so we looked like zombies. It was way fun!

Interestingly enough, I wasn't planning on doing this at all. I had heard about it several weeks before the night of the performance and kind of brushed it off because I would be too "busy" with school and such. Well, spring break came, which just happened to be the same week of the performance. The Tuesday that week I went to a Relief Society activity (we were celebrating the R.S. "birthday" which is today). Julie (the gal who was coordinating the whole Thriller dance) was there and somehow managed convince me to join rehearsal that night where she would be going over the dance). By some miracle I said yes (I wanted to say no).

So I stayed after to try to learn the Thriller dance. The moves aren't that hard, it's just stylizing them and the speed you have to do them that makes you feel like you are going to fall on your butt.

After going home from the first rehearsal I realized that I had only 4 days to learn the dance AND to create a costume. Julie had sent everyone an email with a link to an instructional dance video of Thriller...so I used it. I must have looked like a dork dancing in front of the computer. I will say it helped a lot...I practiced a lot to get the moves down. If there was a move that I was having difficulty with (which there were a few) I would go over it step at a time and then repeat it over and over and over.

Next came creating the costume. I found my outfit in a bag that was going to be sent to the DI. I lucked out that I hadn't dropped it off yet (I have had it sitting around for quite a few months now...I know, sad). So I pulled a dress out of there (kind of a peachy color) and went about shredding the heck out of it. Then I proceeded to splatter it with black and red paint...I even got as desperate as to throw it in the mud to make look dirty. I got carried away :)

Now my next predicament: makeup. I don't know about you, but I find it near impossible to find Halloween makeup anywhere in March. Unless you have some already...sorry, no luck. Luckily, my luck had not run out. My mother was attending a GM show at work, where there were displays for back-to-school, Christmas, and (you guessed it) Halloween. So my mother grabbed some samples of makeup including some fake skin and blood. Now I was ready.

Me in my full costume trying to do a "scary" pose.

For those of you who don't know, I LOVE to dress up and do makeup. It is so much fun and I really get to go out there.

Rehearsals were the night before we would actually be performing. They messed around with lighting and such while us dancers figured out our place on stage. By the end of the night I was way excited!

Saturday finally came. After getting off work I went to Claudine's house (a neighbor down the street). We had a "makeup party." We all did each others' hair and makeup...It was a blast! Then we practiced the dance some more and took some awesome pictures. Then we headed to the middle school (which is where the talent show was taking place).

Me and the Finlay clan after our zombie makeovers.

Now, we had been instructed to try to not let anyone see us. I don't know about you, but a bunch of undead people walking around is as far as inconspicuous as you can get. Only a few people saw us, which was good.

We were the final number in the show. The lights in the theatre dimmed, a strobe light started flashing away...the music started. Creaking noises...and all of us started creeping and crawling towards the stage. Then the music started, lights lit the stage, and we broke out dancing to Thriller. I had a blast!!! At the end of the song we did a scary pose and started slowly creeping towards the edge of the stage...way cool effect with the strobe light and everything. Loud applause and a big sense of accomplishment.

The "local zombies" dancing to Thriller. Sorry for the blurry picture.

Me and some of the Young Women posing on stage after the show.

Three crazy zombies. The gal in the yellow is Julie, the one who did the coordinating for our group (the scary looking guy is her husband).

Half of the "local zombies" clan with Miss Herriman.

After the show a group of us zombies went to Artic Circle and terrorized the customers. Amazing how you act more absurd when you are hiding behind makeup (keep in mind some of these people were in their 40s). It was an awesome night!

Chillin' with the girls eatin' ice cream.

The Andy and Claudine with their adorable daughter (who kept saying I wasn't scary enough...I don't know how to be mean).

Me and Julie eating our ice cream cones. Again, trying to pull of the scary face. Did I succeed this time?

biopsy

So, last week I found out that I had to go in for a biopsy. I pretty much found a bump in a not so good area. I had it checked out and the doctor wanted to be safe and do a biopsy to make sure it's nothing to worry about...

...well, guess what...I'm worrying...

...but not too much...

...in fact, I feel uncharacteristically "calm" about it...

...I'm still concerned, but I've decided not to worry about it until I get the results.

I went in on Monday morning to have the biopsy done. Now my natural reaction to such an event is to stress and build up anxiety about it, so, naturally, I did. I did, however, mangage to calm myself down slightly...practiced deep breathing and listened to music while they were doing the biopsy.

It didn't hurt, minus the shots they gave to numb me up, but after that I didn't feel much. I did, however, get very, very, very woozy...almost to the point where I was going to pass out. I don't know why, but I lose any blood it sends my body into shut-down mode...not fun. The nurses that were there were very nice. One got a cloth wet and put in on my forehead, the other one got me a sucker (I know some of you are laughing about that). The sucker really helped (blood sugar and all).

So they finished the biopsy stitched me up (only 3 or4 stitches), and left so I could get dressed. I was still very woozy at the time and almost passed out while getting dressed...no fun. I sat down a minute until the ringing in my ears and the dizzy sensation in my head passed. Then I got up to leave.

They told me it would be about a week before I get the results back. It looks like it's going to be a long week.

the "big picture"

So, this past Sunday was fast Sunday...and it was a very good fast Sunday. So many good testimonies were born, including mine (not saying that mine was a good testimony). The theme of this testimony meeting was about trials, and me...I was smack dab in the middle of one (refer to "biopsy" post) as well as other things.

One of my friends, Holly, got up near the beginning of the meeting and bore her testimony. It really touched me. She talked about trials and how we don't see the "big picture" but our Heavenly Father does (now mind you, Holly said all this and the following far more eloquently that I did). As we go through trials we wonder why we are going through them, or how we are going to get through them. Sometimes we think how it is even possible to get through. But Heavenly Father doesn't put us through something we cannot handle. He can see the "big picture," and tries to help us understand that what we are going through is for our good, to give us "experience." Holly also talked about having more faith in our Heavenly Father as we go through our trials. She said more things, but it was the "big picture" that stood out to me.

I bore my testimony near the end, though I got the feeling to do so about 30 seconds before Holly got up. Can I say it is not smart to ignore that prompting, because I felt it the whole meeting and it kept getting stronger and stronger. I went up and talked about how I needed to rely more on my Heavenly Father. How I may not understand the things I am going through or have been through, and that I probably never will, but that these things are shaping me into the person I need to become. I was pretty much sobbing the whole time. I even make a quick comment on how I get it from my grandpa (he cries all the time).

So here I am, going through my trials, trying to see beyond my limited human perspective and trust that my Heavenly Father sees it all. He knows how things will play out for me. This quote just came to my mind "It will be ok in the end...if it's not ok, then it's not the end." Don't know where that came from. Things will be ok. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow...but it will be ok.