Wheel of Fortune

Back in October, I was chosen to be on Wheel of Fortune. It was a blast and I only had a week to prepare! I finally found a clip of the December 2, 2008 broadcast online through YouTube. So, here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC_mm9Thn0Q

Enjoy! I start off strong, but it all goes downhill after I guess the letter "H". You'll see what I mean. :o( I had fun, though and left with a little money!

A Legend Dies

I'm very upset today. Michael Jackson has just passed away. I can't even believe it right now. Very shocking news. I have ALWAYS loved his music, regardless of how he runs his personal life. He was such a talent. As I type this, I'm listening to his music. Funny how in this particular week, the world has lost three huge, iconic figures: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. What a sad, sad, sad week for the entertainment industry to lose such talents! Rock on Michael!

Happy Father's Day

We had a very nice day today. After church, we all came home and took naps. I love Sunday afternoons when we can all just snooze away! Then, we went to my parent's house for dinner. I gave Bob some shirts and we had a nice meal. Then, we headed over to the Bueno's house. I'm so grateful for Ibis and for what a loving and involved father he is. I can't wait to have more children because I know he will do everything in his power to show his love and support. I love him so much and I am proud to be his wife and mother to his children.

Update on events

Ibis lost his job....again. I tell you, this blue-collar trade bidness is driving me crazy! We're looking at other options. He's going to go back to school for either electrical apprenticeship, or he'll complete his associates and work on a bachelors in electrical engineering. I like the sound of that. The only issue is that Ibis isn't a huge fan of school. He's very intelligent, but doesn't do well in a classroom. I'd LOVE to go back to school. I can't believe I just wrote that. Ha ha ha! I would love to go to pastry school eventually to pursue opening a bakery at some point. Not for a while yet, though! So, we're just waiting on a couple of companies to get back to Ibis about starting work again and then we'll be able to decide our next course of action. I mentioned border patrol to him and he's agreeable, but they aren't accepting applications right now.

In other news, I have a couple of cake orders for this summer. A 4th birthday cake for a little girl in a princess theme. That will be fun. Also, my aunt and uncle are renewing their wedding vows and I'm making a two-tiered wedding cake for them with fondant. I'm excited to see how they turn out.

I have submitted an audition cd to LDS Auditions for Mormon Night at Dodgers Stadium in August. I needed to submit a cd of me singing the National Anthem (of course!) and one other song of my choosing. I came down with laryngitis the week before I needed to record my song. Of all the luck! But, because I was in an actual recording studio, there was magic! I was singing a cappella so I'd just sing one line....wait.....sing the next.....drink of water....sing the next, and so on. Then, he just spliced it all together. I tell ya, it was difficult to sing through the laryngitis. When I got to the other song I had to sing, I just used a previously recorded art song in French that I had from college. My voice has definitely matured and developed quite a bit from six years ago, but this cd was just to get a live audition. I put a disclaimer in my package of info to let them know that I was singing with laryngitis and that I'd love to sing live for them. Hope it works! The submission deadline was this Monday, so I had to record when I did.

The contest winner receives: $1500 award for singing the Star Spangled Banner at the game, VIP seating at the game, a chance to audition for Deseret Shadow Mountain Record Label, among other opportunities. So, I'm stoked that I might be able to be chosen for this opportunity. There will be 10 finalists who will also receive awards and will be asked to sing at various engagements throughout the contest period. We'll see how it goes!

Lyric Opera San Diego

I'm very excited to report that I've gotten one of the leading roles in Anything Goes at Lyric Opera San Diego! This is probably one of my biggest roles professionally. I've had bigger roles in community theater, but not professionally, so I'm very very stoked about this! I get to dance, sing and act. I'm going to be playing Hope Harcourt. She's a young aristocratic American who is engaged to an older English gentleman, whom she can't stand. She falls in love with an American named Billy. One of the songs that I'll be singing in the show is "It's Delovely", which is a very well-known piece. It's all Cole Porter and some of it's pretty tricky music. I'm very excited. It will be performed the first two weeks of October. Check back for updates on tickets and other info!

Fun with Marli

Marli and I went to the park today and we had a blast splashing in the water and playing on the playground. Here are some pics!

A couple of weeks ago, I had Rene, Geno, Coco, Tristan and Mia come over for an impromptu dinner. I made a roast and it was so big, I thought I'd invite everyone! Well, Mia and Marli both needed a bath, so we stuck them in the tub together and of course, we HAD to take pictures! Here they are!

Both the girls smiling pretty!!!

Crazy hairdos for the both of 'em!

Marli's vocabulary is growing. Here is a list of the words she says now: mama, uh-oh!, fow-ow (flower), efow (elephant), nana (banana and Grandma Coco), shoe, Pooh, waz is? (what's this?)

She really knows and understands us now. We'll tell her to go get something or go do something and she does it. She keeps a lot of stuffed animals in her crib and Ibis and I will ask her to find Tigger, Lambie, Dolly, Monkey, Wiener Dog, etc. and hand it to us and she knows each one of them out of a pile of animals. What else.....she is still afraid of Bebo, Ibis's cousin......I don't know why. She just freaks out when she sees him. :o( He's so nice, too!

Yay for Ibis!

I'm so happy for Ibis! He's been working a lot lately. Lots of overtime (which is good for our income) with the company he's working for now. We're starting our house hunting this week and we've been pre-approved for a home loan. We're so excited that we'll be able to get out of this apartment this year (hopefully!) and that we'll have more room to add some more little ones. :o)

Speaking of little ones, here are some recent pictures of my Marli Jayne

Marli likes to drink milk and water. That's all I ever give her to drink. I choose to not give her juice, but it's fine if she has some at Grandma's house. She has one bottle of milk and one bottle of water in her hands and she didn't want to put either one of them down!

As you can see, she's by the door. In her right hand, she has my car keys. She put on Ibis' hat and grabbed my keys and started waving "bye bye". Too cute!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Fun at the beach with Daddy

Listenin' to some tunes!