Have an awesome HOLIday

One good thing about India is that it has incredible holidays. Take Diwali for example. Diwali--the festival of lights--is like the Fourth of July on steroids. It simply amazes me that the city hasn't burned down in all these years because there are so many fireworks and candles, and everything in between, being lit in one night. Indeed, I have heard of many cases where batches of fireworks have gone AWOL say to speak and flown into the house, after it was lit. Inspite of all the potential dangers, Diwali is still an awesome festival (and not just because you can buy fireworks that are illegal in the States).

One of the coolest holidays I have ever taken part in, however, is Holi. Holi is a lot of things--it's the festival of spring, love, and color. And Holi doesn't just happen, like every other holiday. You have to go play Holi. It's pretty easy to play; all you have to do is buy colors (they typically only come in yellow, pink, blue, green, and red), go outside, and throw colors at everyone and everything (including cars, dogs, and cows). Here are a few photos of what people did to look like at the end of this absolutely incredible holiday (a holiday which I plan on continuing to celebrate when I move back to the States):

Play!

I just got finished with my last play in high school, which is kind of a depressing thought. The good news behind this is that the play that we did was absolutely hilarious, and simply amazing. The play was called "You Can't Take it With You", and it's about the wild, crazy, fun Sycamore family. Penny and Paul Sycamore have two daughters, Alice Sycamore (who is the least crazy of the entire family) and Essie Carmichael (that's me!). Essie is married to Edward Carmichael (we call him Ed) who "...came to dinner one night, and just stayed." Ed plays the xylophone, does calligraphy, and makes masks, while Essie dances ballet and makes Love Dreams. Penny writes plays, but she also used to sculpt, and Paul makes fireworks in the basement with Mr. DePinna, who was the milkman eight years ago. Nanna, in whose house the Sycamore's live, retired thirty-five years ago, and now goes to circuses, commencements, and catches snakes. Alice is in love with Tony Kirby, whose parents are the complete opposite of the Sycamore family. The whole play is about Alice and Tony's engagement, and how the two families try to get along, although each family has very strong, opposing, views on how lives should be lived. Here are some pictures from our incredible version of the play.

This is the lamp in Essie's dancing corner. Ed's chalkboard.

Penny Sycamore, as she concentrates on her latest play.
Paul Sycamore (in the bow tie) and Mr. DePinna (in the lab coat) show off their newest fireworks. Rheba, the resident cook/maid/bell hop.Ed Carmichael, Essie's husband, after he has had a stroke of genius while composing a piece of music on his xylophone.

Rheba and Donald, the "almost couple" of the play.

Mr. Wilbur C. Hendersen, who comes to get the income tax Nanna has not been paying for 22 years.

Nanna decides to completely ignore Mr. Hendersen's pleas for her tax money.

Mr. Kholenkhov, Essie's delusional Russian ballet teacher.

Alice and Tony Kirby come home from their date at the ballet.Miss Gay Wellington, who has come to read for one of Penny's plays.

Mr. and Mrs. Kirby have an argument over a game instituted by Penny (Nanna is trapped in the middle).

The Department of Justice interrupt the night.

The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina graces the household with presence.

The whole cast together for one last shot.

This play was incredible, and it will be one of the highlights of my high school career. It will definitely be a memory that will live on for years to come.

Hugh Jackman Is My Hero

I don't usually watch the Academy Awards, or the Oscars, or anything like that, but when I heard that Hugh Jackman (whom I love...a lot) was the host of this year's Oscars, I was intrigued. I didn't watch all of the Oscars, but I did Youtube Hugh Jackman in the Oscars, and I found some interesting videos. Watch them; they're hilarious!

This is the opening song which Hugh Jackman created for the Oscars:


This is Hugh Jackman singing with Beyonce:


Did I mention that I absolutely love Hugh Jackman?

(Red)

If you're wondering what that giant red thing on top of my head is, it's my hair. I went and dyed my hair yesterday, and this is the color of hair that I walked out with. I didn't ask for red. No, I asked for a deep brown. I don't think that's a deep brown. It's red.

As you can probably tell, I'm not really sure if I like the fact that my hair is red. However, the first thing mom said to me was, "That's Chelsey's hair color. You look like Chelsey." And since I think Chelsey is gorgeous, that's a major compliment, so I think I'll keep the red in my hair for now.

Heather, if you're reading this, you should totally join the club. All you have to do is go to an Indian hairdresser and ask for deep brown (although I think your hair is absolutely gorgeous, so please don't dye it red).

Go Cougars!

Woohoo! This post will be so full of excitement and joyousness that those of you who aren't in an exceptionally good mood, come back in an hour or two because we only accept happy people right now.

So, I've been wanting to go to one school, and one school only, since I was about eight years old. I don't know exactly why I wanted to go to this school--I think it has something to do with the fact that it has the highest population of Mormon's of practically any other school in the nation. And the fact that my sister went there helped a lot too. Anyway, last Friday I got the best news I've ever had--up into this point. Last Friday I found out that I have been accepted into that one school.

Everyone shout hurray because I'm going to BYU!

This Is One Of Those Things You Just Have To Laugh At...

India, with all it's faults (of which it has may), can make you laugh. There are some things that the Indian people do that seem so incredibly ludicrous to Western society, but it seems perfectly sane to them. It's almost midnight, and I was Stumbling (see previous posts) when I discovered this picture from Mumbai (Bombay), which is a major city on the eastern coast of India:

In case you can't quite make out what the sign says, here is the warning that the sign gives: "ATTENTION: This building is unsafe and likely to collapse. Persons entering the property do so at their own risk. The owners of the property will not be liable for any damage to life and property."

Well, at least they warned us, right?

They Call Me Auntie

You want to know what the greatest position in the family is? I'll let you in on a secret. It's not the position of grandmother. Nor is it the position of grandfather. Nor is it the position of mother, father, sister, or brother (although I will admit I've never had any experience with the last position). Those familial positions are awesome, and very, very necessary, but they are not the greatest. No, the greatest position in the family would have to be the position of aunt (or uncle I suppose).

Oh, I see your skeptical glances, and I hear your shocked gasps, but it's true. I feel that it is time to bring to light the fact that the aunt has the best job, with the best benefits, in the family. There is always at least one cool aunt in every family. They get to play with the kids all the time, if they want, teach them the ropes of the family, take the girl's shopping, etc, etc. The best part, though, about being an aunt is that the kids aren't yours! So you can give them back whenever you're tired of them. Plus, they get the added bonus of not having to babysit when mom needs to do grocery runs because, hey, that's Grandma's job. AND (this just keeps getting better and better) aunt's don't have to spoil anyone rotten because that's Grandpa's job. Thus, aunt's save the most money when it comes to kids.

When my sister Heather told my mother, who then told me, that she was going to have a baby, I was totally psyched. Woohoo! I get to be the awesome aunt again. And after two nieces and a nephew, I've got the system worked. So future Baby Wahlquist, you just come right to me. Auntie Ashley will show you everything you need to know about our families.

Note: This opinion will probably change the first year after my first baby is born.