The Sing Off 2

Viva La Vida


Hold On

THINK

In case you missed the show or if you just want to watch it again and again and again (okay I know you probably won't watch it that much but I am and I will because I really just love it and it makes me happy). Here is Noteworthy singing "Think" from the first episode of the Sing-Off.

I am so proud of these girls/young women. I believe they did a great job, that they represent "mormons" and BYU wonderfully. They have not compromised their standards by one iota which is extremely rare in today's world. They are and do stand for truth and righteousness and I would not want it any other way.

Hard Work

The girls are hard at work rehearsing for the show. They got to LA on Saturday had a meeting with important people and then were off to Kelsey's wedding reception. Sunday, was an 18 hour day of rehearsing, fittings and all the other things that go into making a reality show. I can't go into alot of details here just yet but lets say they are all working hard.

All the groups are really great and really nice and all are having the time of their lives. I don't have any pictures to post but thought I would give you all an update. Since, I don't have any pictures here is a video for you to enjoy.


Courtney & Katie cover of Beyonce's Irreplaceable

On their way!

The Noteworthy ladies are officially on their way and I am beyond excited. Sometimes, when I think about it I am so excited I just want to cry. As I am typing this they are actually in the air flying to LA. First thing they will do is meet with NBC and then the nice people at NBC are driving them out to Kelsey's reception. Kelsey one of the girls in the group is getting married today at the Redlands Temple. (wow she really has an exciting weekend) And then tomorrow actual rehearsals begin. I know Noteworthy will be amazing and if they are supposed to win they will but winning isn't really the goal; having the opportunity to share who they are with the world is and I hope the world can see just how awesome these girls are. I also wish the best to all the groups on the show and can't wait to see them all.

Ahhh, now I think I will go do the "happy dance".

Noteworthy - Salt Lake Tribune Article

Check out this article about Noteworthy that is in the Salt Lake Tribune:

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_13852769?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

THE SING OFF

The eight groups in NBC's The Sing-Off—competing for $100,000 and an Epic Records/Sony recording contract—will be: The Tufts Beelzebubs from Boston, Massachusetts Brigham Young's Noteworthy from Provo, Utah Face from Boulder, Colorado Maxx Factor from Baltimore, Maryland Nota from San Juan Puerto Rico The SoCals from Los Angeles, California Solo from Omaha, Nebraska Voices of Lee from Cleveland, Tennesse It's on. NBC will premiere its new singing competition special The Sing-Off on Monday, Dec. 14. The four-night show will feature a cappella groups from across the country competing for a recording contract with Eric Records/Sony Entertainment.

So, yeah this is the big news we have been waiting to share. NBC has a new singing competition/reality show in December and my girls Courtney & Katie and all the Noteworthy girls will be on the show. As you might imagine we are super excited. The show will be on Dec. 14, 15 & 16th and then the finale is Dec. 21st. The only time the audience gets to vote is at the finale. We are hoping Noteworthy makes it that far and then we can all vote!

Last night we were in bed I was asleep my husband was watching TV when all of a sudden he is trying to wake me up because there was a commercial on for the SING OFF and Courtney was beatboxing. It was only about a 10 seconds long but we were freaking out. So, now we have channel 3 on and are waiting for the commercials to come on. I know, I know we are dorks, but hey, if it was your kids on TV what would you do? So, far we haven't seen the commercial again but we will hopefully! We will be traveling to LA to watch the taping of the shows so that will be lots of fun. We are just so excited to see these amazing young women take the stage and share their talent, their love of music and performing, their beautiful spirits and joy with the world. Everyone involved with the show has already noticed that there is something different about them and they love the Noteworthy ladies. Hmm, why is that? I am thinking the gospel of Jesus Christ makes a difference.

Okay, so you will probably get sick and tired of all this but I am exicited to share the news with everyone and will keep posting any other exiciting happenings about the sing off here.
This is a picture of Courtney and Katie in front of KSL TV Studios in Salt Lake when the group went to tape some songs and stuff for the news.

WOOT, WOOT!

Almost

Less than 24 hours!

Can You Feel It?

Can you. . . Can you feel it? Big, exciting things are happening!

GET READY FOR IT:)

Annie

After lots of rehearsals, blood, sweat, and even a few tears EGMTC pulled if off again. Both shows turned out great in the end. Jungle Book was fun and the kids were so cute. Annie, also was awesome. Someone, even came up to me after and said it was there favorite show so far! Wow, that was a really nice compliment to hear. Producing and running a theater company is hard. . .especially when you don't have a clue what your doing. It is a learning by trial and error experience for me. I have learned ALOT over the past 5 years. And I have made a lot of mistakes but when all is said and done I am very proud of what we have accomplished. Yes, there are times when I want to pull my hair out and just quit because it is so hard. But is during those really difficult and dark times I remind myself of the good things we have accomplished, the smiles on the performers faces or someone tells me thanks for what I have done and how it has helped their child or how much fun they are having and it gets me through those difficult times. At the end of the day it is worth it. I have to remind myself more often that the hardest times/things usually bring you the most joy. And that is definitely true with EGMTC. Also, I want to give a huge thank you to all the parents who help make this possible. Without them there would be no Elk Grove Musical Theatre Company. And especially to Angee Wangsgard I really couldn't do this with out you. And I can't believe it but we are having auditions for the Spring show Dec. 10th. Oh, let the fun begin again!

Here are few pictures from the show!


Annie and Sandy


Annie and servants


Ciara during NYC


Easy Street

If your out there

This is a video of when Noteworthy went up to Oregon last April and performed with the group from University of Oregon - Divisi. They girls had such a great time and are now great friends.

Our Zoo

Welcome to our zoo. Yes, somedays I feel like I am living in a zoo, literally. I thought I would share some pictures with you of our zoo.



Meet Pepper. She adopted us. I wasn't really excited to have a bunny but she is fun to have around. She just runs around our backyard. She loves carrots and sometimes she lays out on our deck and looks like she is sunbathing. Pepper has been with us for about a month. I think she is here to stay.





This is a lizard. You have to look closely to see him because he looks like the leaves. He knows how to camouflage very well. Louie eats crickets. Louie is not very exciting.



This is Kevin the King Snake. He is also a new addition to our zoo. He eats mice and sleeps. Kevin is a nice snake and if you are up to it, he will let you hold him. He likes to snuggle and get warm.



Meet our dumb birds. Yes, that is what I call them. I could also call them loud and louder or annoying and more annoying. If anyone would like some parakeets you are more than welcome to take these. You would probably really like them if you feel like your house is to quiet.



Meet Dolly. She is a desert tortoise. Dolly has been with us for several years now. We are not sure how old she is but she could be around 50+ years. Desert tortoises live to be like 100 or something so she is probably older than me. We have two tortoises but I wasn't able to find Big Buddy at the time of this posting to take a picture. He looks just like Dolly only bigger hence, the name. (i just need to say at this point I did not name the tortoises my son did when he was about 6 or 7) Anyway, Dolly and Big Buddy are married and this summer Dolly laid 7 eggs they have been cooking away for almost 4 months and here are the newest additions to our zoo!









The babies are really quite cute. They love to play king of the hill.

And now, my husband wants chickens! And Ciara wants a dog. I may have to start charging admission.

Halo

Another video for all to enjoy!

Choose a Worm

It has come to my attention that some of you do not have a facebook account and so you have not been able to see the videos that Courtney and Katie have been posting and per your request here is one of the videos.




Yes, a little silly but so fun. I think my favorite thing about this is that they are just making it up as they go. How do they even come up with stuff like this. . .?

motivation

I know I should update my blog and I have lots of things I could blog about but I just can't seem to find the motivation. . . .I have lost my blogging motivation. . . .I guess you will all know when I find it. So, for now I am going to leave you with a quote from my sister-in-law who I am thinking of today because she is having . . . .well lets say a bad week.

"An object may consistently gravitate homeward, to its parental pull, yet there is a time, a force, a strong industrial size power, which known senses alone cannot detect, that reels the object to another, more meaningful mass. " ~c. stapp

I love this quote and the person who wrote it. Enjoy:)

More Summer

Thought I would show a picture of Courtney's new hair. I love it! Thanks to Jamie Gums the best stylist ever! And not sure if you can tell but Jamie also cut Katie's hair and it also looks so good. We love Jamie if you are looking for someone great to cut your hair you should give her a try 761-4648.






















Also, just an update on our Olema camping trip/Jensen Family Reunion....it was fantastic. Probably the best camping trip I've had ever. We had lots of fun hanging out around the campfire, skits, playing Nertz, speed, Zarahemla, going to the beach, hiking and driving to fast! Lots of fun memories and can't wait for next years reunion.

























Strauss Festival was fun. Ciara had lots of fun dancing with the Polka Troupe and they were great! Polka always steals the show. And looks like I am going to be directing next years show...it should be fun.














Ciara with her dance partner Devin Kirk (Sheryl Hodgson-Drapers son), Ciara with our good friends daughter Emma Cahoon & friend, Katie and Devin, and after the show Ciara, Katie & David.


















Summer has been going by way to fast. I can't believe that the kids start school in a week. I am not ready! We have been shopping for school clothes for David and he looks great in his new clothes. He will be the best looking 7th grader at Smedberg. I will post pictures of the first day of school later. I am also headed back to Utah the end of the month. My father-in-law volunteered to take Katie and her cousin Rachel back to school and I am coming along. I will be helping both Courtney and Katie to move into their new apartment. They are going to be roommates this year. (Courtney and Katie decided to start a blog about this new adventure www.theroommateblog.blogspot.com) They are excited to be rooming together....lets hope that lasts.

Both girls will be in Noteworthy again this year...which I am very excited about and Courtney will be co-directing the group. Noteworthy will be competing again this year which means they may be headed back to New York......ahhhh, that would be so great but I am getting ahead of myself, but first they will be headed back to Marin to compete in semi-finals in March. I know this because they will make it to semi's of course. You should go check out Noteworthy's new blog at www.noteworthyladies.blogspot.com and then you can keep up with the groups happenings.

It is going to be very hard to have Katie gone again. I have loved having her home all summer and will miss her. I have gotten used to having her home again and her leaving will be like ripping a band-aid off. I am praying she will have a better year and will actually enjoy school this year. I love having grown children but hate that, that means they have to move out. I miss my kids when they are gone.

Okay, have lots to do today so I must end my rambling for today.

Exciting and Busy Week Ahead

So, our family has a lot happening in the next week or so.

1st - Strauss Festival starts tomorrow. Our family has been involved for over 19 years. It is tradition. Ciara is dancing. I am taking a year off. You should come see the show---it is free.....can't beat the price.

2nd- 2nd Annual Alzheimer's 5K Run. Saturday the whole Jensen clan will be in town for the fun. Some our running, some walking and many volunteering. My father-in-law has been very involved in the planning of the race.

3rd - Jensen Family Reunion - next week we are having a family reunion. It will be so fun to see everyone and to hang out. We are camping near Point Reyes. I am actually looking forward to the event. Even though I am NOT a fan of camping. But it will be great to see everyone.

4th - And last but not least - Courtney is coming home YIPEE! I am so very excited for her to be home. She will be here for 12 days. I know the time is going to pass so quickly but It will be so nice to have our family all home together.

I will try to take pictures of all the fun events and post them. Hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

Exciety

Courtney waiting for the show to start

I have something like excitement, anxiety and butterflies going on right now. I am getting David ready to go to scout camp tomorrow. He will be gone for a week and this is his first time away. I am also going to visit Courtney this weekend in Utah which I am so exicited about. She is in a play called Standing Still Standing and I am really looking forward to seeing her in it. I am driving to Utah with someone from my ward and we will be leaving after work and driving all night which is giving me anxiety. So, yes I am just full of all different kinds of feelings right now. Kinda like I might throw-up, have diarrhea and and ulcer all at the sametime. I feel so alive right now though. Life is fun.

Thoughts

Whats on my mind:

"Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter" 2 Nephi 15:20


"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet...." 3 Nephi 14:6

"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them." 3 Nephi 14:16-20

Listen

I love Noteworthy. . . . that is no big secret I know but here is a video you should go check out.

A. it will make you smile
B. it is free
C. really pay attention at around the 1:40 point of the video (my favorite part)
D. a great way to spend 2 minutes

Have a great day! And please pass on the link to all your friends and help Noteworthy go viral.
(click on the link or if that dosen't work copy and paste into your broswer search bar.)

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

Kettlecorn Yumminess

Just thought I would share with you my newest gluten free treat. I have discovered a delicious treat that I CAN eat and it makes me happy. So, I thought I would share it with all of you...

I would like to introduce you to: Authentic All Natural Gourmet Kettlecorn Popcorn
it is"crispy, crunchy, sweet and salty" all in one bag!

It covers both the sweet and the salty cravings. I found it at Safeway on the chip isle. It is a red bag and says Popcorn, Indian Kettlecorn.

You should try it. Best kettlecorn I've ever tasted.

Gluten Free

Today is day 4 of my being gluten free. So, I have had a very unhappy gut for sometime. And I have grown very tired of ALWAYS feeling icky, sicky. I am, at least I think I am, lactose intolerant and so I try to stay away from diary. I will admit I am not as diary free as I should be but lately I have tried really hard to not consume diary of any kind and even when I completely removed diary from my diet I still had lots of stomach aches and pains. Someone suggested to me that I might be gluten intolerant as well and should try taking gluten out of my diet and see if that helped. Well, that was a very scary thought because I love, love, love gluten or wheat. It is in all the good food, bread, pasta, cakes, cookies, etc. I love bread, like alot! So, I tried to convince myself that I could not have a sensitivity to gluten and tried to push that to the very darkest farthest place in my brain. But I still continued to have so many bad days, nights and just felt ughh! Last week I had just had enough of feeling bad and decided that I needed to take that leap into a gluten free diet and see if that helped me to feel better.

Day 1 was Saturday and it was hard. I mean what can you eat if you can't eat bread? I was pretty hungry most of the day. But I stuck with it and did notice that my gut was not as bad as the day before but still wasn't great.

Day 2 Sunday - ahh, well it was Fast Sunday which was good because then I didn't have to think about what I could eat as much but it was still hard and I felt really hungry but my gut was feeling better.

Day 3 Monday - I decided that I better go to the grocery store and look for things that I could eat and I found I few things but it is still hard. I need to focus on what I CAN eat instead of what I can't eat. Bitter sweet for me because my gut is feeling so much better which is good but sad because it seems not eating gluten is working for me which makes me sad. To think that I may never be able to eat yummy bread from Panera ever again is devasting. I must focus on the positive.

Day 4 Tueadsay - So, I am still gluten free (yay for me)! The hardest meal is breakfast. I mean what do you eat for breakfast when you can't have cereal, toast, bagels. Ahhh, I have discovered gluten free cereal but I am also not eating dairy so for now cereal is out. I am getting tired of eggs and when I eat eggs I really want toast they just go together! Good news I am feeling so much better. My gut is happy not 100% but so much better. And I think I have lost some weight which is definetly an upside to this adventure.

So, this is my life for now. I can't even think I may have to live this way for the rest of my earthly life. I just have to take it one day at a time for now. I am still not 100% sure I am glucose intolerant or the technical term have Celiac Disease but I will continue on and see what happens. Wish me luck! Life is hard when you can't have bread.

Customer Service

Yeah, as most of you know I work as temp for the county and I work at the front counter helping "customers" anyway along the way over the years I have met some pretty interesting people. And well yesterday for example I had another unusual customer. It was a warm day so I guess he decided to stay cool by wearing a bright yellow tank top with a racing back which is interesting in it self but he also happened to be a very hairy fellow and well it kinda looked like he was wearing a fur coat. Yep, he was bald but was proud of the fact that he had lots of hair everywhere else I think. Ugh, can you say "hairball". Just can't get that out of my head.

And a couple of days ago another fine American came in and said "I need to register" and I said "to vote" and he said "no, I need to register" it was then that it hit me. We are located in the same building as the Sheriff Dept. Yeah, he needed to "register" and I definetly could not help him. Don't you just love the public.

Willy Wonka

Willy Wonka Kids
Starring David Jensen as Willy Wonka

This is some video from our tech rehearsal not the best but gives a little taste.

Willy Wonka The Bucket House


















Candy Man and kids Violet
















Oompa Loopmas Fizzy Lifting Drink Room
















Setting up for the show

This was a really fun show. The kids did such a terrific job. If you weren't able to make it you missed a really great time. I think it was one of our best yet. Stayed tuned for pictures of the Sr. Cast show. Alice in Wonderland.

Holi - Festival of Colors

Festival of Colors

Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India, Nepal, and countries with large Hindu diaspora.

The main day, Holi, also known as Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi, is celebrated by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other. Bonfires are lit the day before, also known as Holika Dahan (death of Holika) or Chhoti Holi (little Holi). The bonfires are lit in memory of the miraculous escape that young Prahlad had when Demoness Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, carried him into the fire. Holika was burnt but Prahlad, a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu, escaped without any injuries due to his unshakable devotion. Holika Dahan is referred to as Kama Dahanam in Andhra Pradesh.

Holi is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalugna or Falguna (Phalgun Purnima), which usually falls in the later part of February or March.

Rangapanchami occurs a few days later on a Panchami (fifth day of the full moon), marking the end of festivities involving colours.

Last weekend, Courtney and Katie went to a local celebration of Holi or Festival of colors. And I thought I would share some pictures with you. I don't know about you but I think this looks like so much fun. I want to do this someday before I die.

Nice and clean before the fun begins.

After --so colorful. And a beautiful temple.

Socialist

Socialists in Democrat clothing? What do you think? According to wikipedi this is the definition of a socialist:

"Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly"

Does this sound like anyone you know? Take from the rich and give to the poor.... Are you someone who is "pulling the wagon" or are you someone who is getting a "ride in the wagon". How does it make you feel if you are pulling the wagon?

A government owned bank and now a government owned auto company....even though "they" are being very careful to say they do not own or run GM they are just there to make sure it is run properly. Kinda is reminding me of the whole "frog in boiling water" story.

I am feeling more and more that are country is headed down a very slippery slope. And I don't know what I can do about it.....anyone have ideas? Please share with me.

Noteworthy In Sacramento

NOTEWORTHY

Here are some pictures of the big Noteworthy weekend. In case, you are new to my blog Noteworthy is an all female a cappella group from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. My daughters Courtney and Katie are both in the group. Noteworthy came to Sacramento this past weekend for a concert. They performed at Sheldon High Schools Performing Arts Center. The show was amazing. The girls did such a great job. And we had so many people come to support them and SHS choir program. This show was a fundraiser for the Sheldon High School Choir Program which needs funds desperately and it was very successful. Thank you to everyone who came out.


Here the group is singing for one of the classes on campus. It was so fun because when the group first entered the classroom you could see the look on the students faces was very skeptical and they would say "who are you and what are you doing here" with tons of teenage attitude. You could tell by the looks on their faces that they were thinking this was going to be stupid and they were not going to like it but once the girls started singing the students attitude changed immediately and then they would turn to each and say "wow they are good" and by the end of the song the kids were sold and loved the girls in noteworthy. It was very fun to be able to see the change. And the Noteworthy girls loved it as well this was one of there favorite parts of the whole weekend.


these next couple of pictures are of the NW girls singing at lunch and hanging out with the students. They were dancing and having lots of fun.



This is a picture of Sheldon's principal Ms. Duncan as you can see by the look on her face she loved them as well.




And the next few are of the NW girls giving a workshop for the choir kids. The choir kids loved them and really got into it. Here NW is practcing the song they would sing the choir at the show. Courtney sang the solo. She sang this when she was in high school and part of the vocal ensemble.



This is just a picture of the combined song with the vocal ensemble and noteworthy.




I love this one...one of Noteworthys newest fans.

And this is a picture of two of Noteworthys newest and biggest fans from Sacramento.



Noteoworthy girls are now Huskies forever!

Katie and Ciara after the show giving each other some sisterly loves

Courtney, Kelsey and Catherine driving...yeah they did alot of driving over the weekend



Courtney and Cooley just being silly ....these girls love each other and all get along so well. I find it amazing how well they get along. I mean think about 9 girls spending that much time together would normally mean lots of cat fighting right? Nope not with these girls they truly love each other and it is great to be able to watch them and feel their love.


Here they are being thier usually silly selves.



My favorite.....the "noteworthy tie throw-down" ahhhh so cool.



NotEworthy with some of their fans from the Oakland Youth Conference. They sang for a 16 stake youth conference ....and the youth loved, loved, loved them.



More Noteworthy sillyness. I love how Rachel's hair is standing up in the next picture.

















Grecian Urn---"trickle, trickle, trickle"


And here they are performing before the youth dance. Apoligize-one of my favorite songs.


So, overall it was a great weekend. It went by so fast. Again, I just felt priviliged to be able to hang out with them all weekend. I could feel the spirit so strong while I was around them. And the people they performed for also could feel that spirit. They didn't always know what they were feeling but they knew there was something special about this group. If you missed seeing them you should go check them out on my brother-in-laws website. He took some amazing video of the show. www.jensenweddingvideo.blogspot.com. It sure it sweet to have a family member who is so talented in his field of videography and is so willing to share that with us.