Sunday, June 26, 2011

Fame

My first Red Sox game.
Not to fear...
I am forever faithful to my SF GIANTS!

My attempt at a Larynx.
We had to make it in anatomy class and it took forever!
I have new found sympathy for all the members of the family whoever had to mold a tooth out of wax for dental or ortho school.

*Taylor Swift*
Jenny, Danielle, Lauren & I
We were very close.
We got a little crazy.
{Average age of the girls? Between 8 and 17. We even had a little 'first-timer' in front of us who I'd put around age 10}
About an hour in, it started to rain. Then it all unhinged. It was as if me and the other 52,000 "tweens" looked at each other and said, "Well girls? Shall we do this? Should we completely embrace this and just love it?!?! Y.E.S."

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Motherese

Motherese
Mothers provide a framework wherein children learn language, practice speech, and experiment with communication. Mothers express a willingness and desire to create an environment uniquely attuned to their child's needs to learn and grow.

The importance of mothers in language development has been the primary focus of my Language Acquisition class. I can remember clearly as a kid sitting on the kitchen counter as mama cooked dinner and talking with her. She definitely raised a kid who loves languages and talking (just ask her how very unable I was to summarize a book in a paragraph. My versions were more like mini novels themselves).

Though I'm no longer at a "church" school, the principles of the gospel and the Family Proclamation have followed me here to my education in Boston. Motherhood and the nurturing instincts are ever present in the materials I'm reading and I just can't help but smiling as I see the truths of the divine role of women in families shining through.
I, just like babies, have always preferred the sound of my mothers voice over any other voice in the world.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Inspiration

My brain is bigger.
I swear it.
If you measured it today compared to what it was two weeks ago...it would HAVE to have increased in size.
All thanks to the AMAZING education of

Today for anatomy class we met off campus at
Mass General's Center for Laryngeal Surgery
and Voice Rehabilitation.
They have one of the, if not THE, largest
facilities in the world devoted to vocal rehabilitation
and recovery, etc.
Today we used spirometry to trace, calculate, analyze our own
Inspiration & Expiration.
{I love that breathing in is called "Inspiration"}
I figured it was a good sign that I was really excited to go to school today because I love what I'm learning. Very hands-on.

During class my teacher just casually drops,
"Yeah, I used to have Steve Tyler's test, but I think somebody stole that." Well, I wasn't just ganna casually accept that he said that and stay quiet (like everybody else seemed content to do!). So...I did what I always do...I asked a question!
"Wait, so when you say Steve Tyler...you mean the Steve Tyler?! What was he doing here?!" The teacher then had fun telling us funny things Steve does when he 'comes and visits' because apparently he's a huge supporter of their facility. They help him out a lot since, as you can imagine, Steve's vocal chords aren't exactly in the best condition.
Turns out quite a few celebrities go there. They had pictures of Julie Andrews, Cher, lead singer in 'The Who', etc up on the wall.
I love learning from these professionals who work in such renowned facilities.
~That has been truly inspiring~

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Nottinghill News

There are a million and one things to do
here in Boston.
I had a fun first week before school started
to play and see some of the sites.

(...and a very full week of reading and studying
once school actually started)


Walden Pond
"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful
and expressive feature.
It is Earth's eye;
looking into which the beholder measures
the depth of his own nature."
-Henry David Thoreau

Louisa May Alcott's House

The "Beach"
The "beach" was passable for a beach when I consider I'm no longer in California so I need to lower my expectations. (Please note I have on a California sweatshirt. Just keepin' the dream alive baby.)
It was quite unique, as I guess the beach was directly in line with the landing strip for the airport, so we saw about 100 of these in the 2 hrs we were there.

Then, homemade pizzas on the grill when we got home :)

My first/second time around.
Mama and I missed this exhibit by like 3 days
when we were out here a few months ago.
So I took as many photos as I could so you, mama, could feel like you kinda got to see it!
Me, Alyson (my floor),
and Allison (floor below me).
This boat full of glass was inspired by Chihuly's adventures with a different project. I guess at one time he wanted to see how water would affect the look of the glass if he threw his pieces into a river. After standing on a bridge and throwing his pieces into the river (and appreciating the new perspective), he hired some local young boys, who were hanging around watching him, to dive into the water and retrieve all this glass.
Seeing all his pieces haphazardly piled on the boat gliding across the water inspired this piece. The glass is featured in a wooden boat which is placed upon a shiny black floor to act as 'reflecting water'.
Chihuly Boston
Chihuly Boston
Modeled after Native American woven baskets
(hence the Indian tapestries in this room)
There was an empty room where the art was displayed above you with a clear ceiling and hundreds of glass pieces piled on top of each other.
He had 6 hanging fixtures (the largest number to ever have been on display in one exhibit)
Chihuly Boston
Chihuly Boston
Moss on a log.
I read he was inspired to do this piece after moving into a work space where the ceilings were very high, so he wanted something to fill the space.

I live in an adorable house on Nottinghill Rd.
with great girls, and I'm very thankful.

~~~Kitchen Quote~~~
"If you're not tired, sore, or hungry
at the end of the day,
you're not living hard enough."
Apparently I AM LIVING HARD ENOUGH
cus I am 100% all three of these
after the full week of site seeing
and then this first week of school.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Best Days

I'm starting Graduate School in Boston this summer so daddy and I drove my car all the way from Utah to Massachusetts. {And when I say daddy and I drove, I mean I drove a grand total of maybe 5 hours and he drove the rest!}
This map became our third traveling companion as we tracked our (slow but fun) progress across the country. We flew from California to Utah on Friday and took off Saturday morning when my car hit exactly 7,000 miles. Perfect for tracking just how far we drove.
Grandma Hyer (who was in Salt Lake at the time) made sure we were totally stocked with goodies. Classic grandma, there was more food than we could have eaten and it was all good.

So, early Saturday we took off for day #2 of the adventure. We had a trunk and backseat totally jam packed with all my life's belongings, a box of goodies and a cooler of drinks, a map, and above all...absolutely NO idea just how long and awesome this trip was going to be!
Wyoming
State #3
(Ca and Ut counting as 1&2)
Wyoming was very very flat. We got excited when we saw these rocks, just for the change in scenery. You know you're in trouble when seeing rocks is cool.

Nebraska
State #4
Lots and lots of windmills and clouds.
We loved the clouds the whole trip long.

Iowa
State #5
{The birthplace of moi and alma mater for daddy}
Dad's orthodontic residency was here.
I was born here.
We watched the storm roll in. The same
system that devastated Joplin, Mo.
Who knew?
And then...

Illinois
State #6
{Dad and I couldn't stop saying "The Land of Lincoln" like the guy
from the movie That Thing You Do}
As we rolled into Chicago
daddy put music by the group Chicago on. He said, "Who's this?", and then had to spell all the way to C.H.I...before I got it. "Oh! Chicago! I get it".
It was the second to last day of Oprah taping in Harpo Studios.
Really fun.
They open up the windows of this Bar and Grill,
so it was like eating half inside and half out.
Daddy taught me why the rain makes rainbows.

Indiana
State #7
Indiana struggled and didn't welcome us with a sign.
So we improvised.

Ohio
State #8
Two places @ once!
No retouching. The clouds were glowing.
Groves and groves of trees.

Pennsylvania
State #9
It says, "Buckle up next million miles" Ha!

New York
State #10
Recognize this? Watch the opening of The Office.

Connecticut
State #11
This was pretty much a drive-by state. We're lucky we even saw the sign.

Massachusetts
State #12
My house!
We're currently in the middle of a torrential downpour/tornado warning...exactly as I'm typing this. So we ran around shutting all the windows (in case you didn't notice, there are quite a few) and sat on the back of the couch to watch the lightning.
Awesome.
If you look close, (or click on the photo to enlarge it)
I'm in the top story window, left side.
That's my room!
Under the green monster.
We love fish so we had to hit this restaurant.
Oldest in America. On the freedom trail.
We shared our first boston cream pie.
I thought it was fitting that my first boston cream pie I've ever had was eaten in Boston.

Plymouth

Cape Cod
You guessed it...we ate cod fish & chips
I love my daddy-o.
How many girls get to spend 10 days with just their daddy?

~~~~~
The song below has been my theme song these past few days.
Makes me think of my parents.
Sometimes I still feel like a little kid and remember things from my childhood like it was yesterday: running around before dinner with Amanda Adams playing Lion King in the backyard, getting off the bus at the park, riding my purple bike and crashing the first time I ever tried to show grandma and grandpa, folding laundry on the bed while mama irons, taking bubble baths in the jacuzzi and turning it on when the water was too low so the bubbles went flying, and endless endless running of errands.

I'm trying to be fearless as I start this whole big chapter of life.
~But sometimes I just want to be little again~