Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy holidays, and happy new year!

Whew! It has been an exhausting break, but has been so much fun. Some updates...

Thanks to Brandon's parents, I was able to head home to celebrate "Christmas" with my family (a week early). Luckily, I was able to go when my parents theater company was doing their closing weekend of Mulan, Jr. (the musical.) For those of you who don't know, my parents own their own theater company. For me, they are the perfect example - they are doing exactly what they want to be doing, and following their dreams. Check them out if you are in the Nevada area, TOAD. Their age-range varies, however, this show my brother was in, and I was able to see him as Mushu! Such a great production - my parents continue to awe me with everything they are able to accomplish; they empower these young students and I love it (my sister musically directs, they involve other community members on choreography, costumes, etc.) My brothers costume was pretty outlandish - but of course, in true Braeden fashion, he played it up!
While I was there, I was able to get my hair cut, colored and tinsel put in! I was skeptical of the tinsel, but I've really enjoyed it (and the attention it draws doesn't hurt, either.) We also exchanged gifts; my family helped to spruce up my office (themed and decorate office supplies!!!) and got me the Cruz eReader, equipped with over THREE HUNDRED BOOKS. I've got my work cut out for me (and a 1-hour commute to help me.) After I got back from Nevada, I worked for a few more day, then IIT closed until January 3 and Brandon and I headed to MI. We were able to spend a little bit of time with the whole family, minus the Johnston's and Brooke, before we had to come back to IL. We were back 1.5 days and headed BACK to MI to spend some time with the Ruble's and Brooke, who was up for a week from Colorado.

Part of the reason we went back was to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra with Brandon's parents. Before the concert, we went to the Frederick Meijer Garden's and saw the Trees of the World!
The trees of the world attempts to accurately re-create trees the way different countries, or parts of the world, do them. It was very neat - Brandon and his dad made a game out of trying to guess the country of each tree; it was entertaining, however, none of us were very good at it.
 
Some of them were easier than others (Canada, Mexico), but they were all unique in their own way.
Not all countries celebrate holiday's similarly, and not all countries had trees. There were display boxes that held something similar to the Christmas tree for various countries. Some of the trees were also accented with other things they do, such as this:
Overall, it was a lot of fun, a great experience, and something I'd recommend! Something else I would recommend is a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert! If you have never seen them, you should know that they put on quite a spectacular show. Pictures will never do it justice, as its about the pyrotechnics, the light, the movie stage, but here are a few favorites:
We finally made it back to IL just in time to prepare the condo for the arrival of Ryan and Christina for new years. We spent New Years Eve at Chen's Chicago; we had such a great deal and such a good time. We took a standing table by the bar, grabbed two plates of food, and rang in the new year in style! I hope everyone else had an exciting and safe new year. As Oprah said, Here's to a new year - another year to get it right!

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I'd love to hear what you think!

Happy holidays, and happy new year!

| Saturday, January 1, 2011
Whew! It has been an exhausting break, but has been so much fun. Some updates...

Thanks to Brandon's parents, I was able to head home to celebrate "Christmas" with my family (a week early). Luckily, I was able to go when my parents theater company was doing their closing weekend of Mulan, Jr. (the musical.) For those of you who don't know, my parents own their own theater company. For me, they are the perfect example - they are doing exactly what they want to be doing, and following their dreams. Check them out if you are in the Nevada area, TOAD. Their age-range varies, however, this show my brother was in, and I was able to see him as Mushu! Such a great production - my parents continue to awe me with everything they are able to accomplish; they empower these young students and I love it (my sister musically directs, they involve other community members on choreography, costumes, etc.) My brothers costume was pretty outlandish - but of course, in true Braeden fashion, he played it up!
While I was there, I was able to get my hair cut, colored and tinsel put in! I was skeptical of the tinsel, but I've really enjoyed it (and the attention it draws doesn't hurt, either.) We also exchanged gifts; my family helped to spruce up my office (themed and decorate office supplies!!!) and got me the Cruz eReader, equipped with over THREE HUNDRED BOOKS. I've got my work cut out for me (and a 1-hour commute to help me.) After I got back from Nevada, I worked for a few more day, then IIT closed until January 3 and Brandon and I headed to MI. We were able to spend a little bit of time with the whole family, minus the Johnston's and Brooke, before we had to come back to IL. We were back 1.5 days and headed BACK to MI to spend some time with the Ruble's and Brooke, who was up for a week from Colorado.

Part of the reason we went back was to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra with Brandon's parents. Before the concert, we went to the Frederick Meijer Garden's and saw the Trees of the World!
The trees of the world attempts to accurately re-create trees the way different countries, or parts of the world, do them. It was very neat - Brandon and his dad made a game out of trying to guess the country of each tree; it was entertaining, however, none of us were very good at it.
 
Some of them were easier than others (Canada, Mexico), but they were all unique in their own way.
Not all countries celebrate holiday's similarly, and not all countries had trees. There were display boxes that held something similar to the Christmas tree for various countries. Some of the trees were also accented with other things they do, such as this:
Overall, it was a lot of fun, a great experience, and something I'd recommend! Something else I would recommend is a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert! If you have never seen them, you should know that they put on quite a spectacular show. Pictures will never do it justice, as its about the pyrotechnics, the light, the movie stage, but here are a few favorites:
We finally made it back to IL just in time to prepare the condo for the arrival of Ryan and Christina for new years. We spent New Years Eve at Chen's Chicago; we had such a great deal and such a good time. We took a standing table by the bar, grabbed two plates of food, and rang in the new year in style! I hope everyone else had an exciting and safe new year. As Oprah said, Here's to a new year - another year to get it right!

0 comments:

Post a Comment

I'd love to hear what you think!

 

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