The Life of Bethany!

New Blog...

2011-07-05T20:40:00.001-07:00

I keep signing into this one on accident, so please see my new blog!

http://bethanyandcameronjacobs.blogspot.com

Thank you!

If You Can, Please Help.

2010-02-17T18:54:00.001-08:00

http://weloveemily.yolasite.com/

Click on the above link and donate to my friend Emily's site. This is Cameron's older sister. She was involved in a horrible accident, and any donations will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for everything. I love you all.

New Beginnings.

2010-01-28T14:33:00.000-08:00

So as many of you know, I moved to California to finish up my last year of school. So I made the big move out of Show Low, and am living in Roseville, California with the Heaps' clan. It is different, and I love it. These kids make my day everyday. I wish I could be getting more pictures, but my camera is currently not working, and all I have is my camera on my phone. It is a slow, and cannot keep up with any of them:) But I will put the few I have on here. I got my room all put together for the most part, dad wanted pictures so there are some below. I am loving it here though. School is keeping me busy. I have been looking for a job for the last few weeks, and have currently applied for a total of 24 jobs, still nothing has come up for me.
Julianne is such a good mother and housekeeper and everything else. I still don't know how she does it, but she is so awesome and a great example to me. She puts up with my anxiety when it comes to waiting for letters from a certain missionary and is taking care of me like I am another child of her own. I'm lucky to be part of this family. I have to apologize to Julianne for teaching Hyrum a trick. That he can fit 2 pacifiers (or "faf's" as he calls them) in his mouth. He hasn't done it since the night I tought him thank goodness, but he loved it!

I have been attending the single's ward, and I love it. It is different of course, but everyone has been very welcoming, and it will be fun. I've already been asked to speak in church.

Laurel and I watching a movie. I love this girl. She is so creative,
loves to sew, makes to do lists like her Aunt Bethany now, and you
never know what she is going to say. I've been sitting down with her

to help her practice her piano and she is just doing so good! And something

that her Aunt Bethany might not ever get into is READING all the time!

John is so smart, and he loves his legos and wii time. If he comes across a

level he can't beat on the wii, he asks if I can beat it for him. His prayers are always sweet

and funny as well, since he will bless that whoever is not being reverent during

the prayer, will be reverent in the prayer. He loves to be organized, and is a great older brother.

I spend a lot of time with this little guy during the day, and he has said some hilarious things.

Just read Julianne's blog for some of those sayings. He always makes my day by

telling me I look beautiful and how adorable some of my purses are. He is starting to love legos

and really is such a sweetheart..

Hyrum is so full of joy, except he has been teething and was sick,
so was a little cranky at times. But he is talking a lot now, and I love
when I wake up and come out of my room, he gets a huge smile on his face and he will

give me hugs and kisses sometimes. He is just so sweet and cute, that's all I have to say.

December!

2009-12-26T17:56:00.001-08:00

So I have been pretty busy this month just finishing up my last few weeks here in Show Low.
I had my last day of work on Wednesday December 23, and school ended December 18th.
Now I am starting to pack to move to California ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! Time is just flying by.
I hope you all had a great Christmas:)

This was my last day of work, we got little poppers that had crowns in them. I am not sure what I'm doing here.

Here is all of us with our crowns in front of our tree, and the last picture of us together before I move.

And us being cool. Haha.

So tradition in the Gentry Family is to take a picture on the steps Christmas morning with all the kids.

Well this is me being sad that I am the only one on the steps. Haha.

And here is my new printer I got for my computer:) It is wireless! I love it.

I also got a bluetooth headset so I can be legal in California! Woohoo.

Once again, Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy New Year next:)

New News!

2009-11-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

So a lot of new things have been happening in my life lately.. Here they are!
I am now an aunt of 12! Emery Scout Gentry was born on November 21st and I got to
be one of the first few people to hold her. She is just a doll!!

I got surgery while in Phoenix, everything is okay. Just ask me for details,

I don't want to post it all over the internet. Haha. This was the pain scale they had me use..

I was practicing all the faces with mom while waiting.

As you can tell by my face I am making, this is me in no pain prior to surgery.

And last but definately not least, I GOT A BRAND NEW CAR! A 2009 Chevy Cobalt it had 13 miles

on it when I got it, and after test driving it, it had 18. So here it is:) Along with this car, I got a Wii !!

So I am a happy girl.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Valley Trip..

2009-11-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

I made a quick trip to the valley this weekend to see family, friends, and see a specialist dr down there.
A lot of you may know I have been having some pain in my right side and decided to finally get it checked out.
I saw an OB/GYN here in Show Low, it took me 3 months to get it, but when he saw me, he said I had something
the size of a golfball in my right ovary. He sent me to the hospital to get the tests and ultrasounds all that lovely junkage
and then I had to wait a week to get the results and see him again. During that week I lost 6 pounds just from
stressing out. When I followed up with him, he said there was a compound cystic mass in my right ovary, and I had
to make another appointment at the hospital for a follow up ultra sound to see if it has grown at all.
I decided to get another opinion and just see a specialist in the valley who wouldn't put me off for months at a time, I
have 2 health insurances right now, so I am taking advantage of that while I can. So I saw a specialist this weekend,
and turns out, I do have a case of ovarian cysts, and might have endometriosis. I will be getting a laparoscopy the end
of this month to see if it is the endometriosis, but I just want to get peace of mind with all of this. I am so tired of
stressing and just always feeling tired.
On a happier note, here is the cutest little girl:) Olivia Cleo Gentry. I got to spend some good time with her and Marcha, and she is just so adorable and I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

Kisses for Aunt Bethany.

So cute! I love her hair.

I just love her!

Rockin' Rockstars.

2009-11-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

So once again it has been forever since I updated this, but here are some Halloween pictures.
We were rockstars at work..

Nerds, Lakes, and Modern Technology.

2009-09-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

We had "nerd day" at work on Friday. I have more pictures on the way. But this is what I got for now.

I went to Canyon Lake with Cameron and his family. Cameron's mom has an old family friend that has a boat, and they would always go to the lake growing up, and he agreed to take us all water skiing and just out for a day on the lake. I am not a fan of open water because I cannot swim well at all. But I had a life jacket so I decided I would give water skiing a try. I got up my 2nd try, and later in the day, I was getting a lot better and stayed up longer. We also went tubing. That was so scary and I got strawberries all over my elbows from rubbing them back and forth on the tube. But overall, it was a way fun day, and I left without getting totally burned, but with a nicer tan:)

This is my getting up for the first time. You can see the excitement on my face:)

Now here is a video of me.. its kind of all over the place because

you know how it is trying to see on a digital camera in the daylight,

and combine that with a bumpy boat and you get one crappy video.

But I went water skiing:)

I have an embarassing video of me trying to handle these things in

the water. It is so much harder than it looks!

Here is Cameron and his two younger siblings..

end of the day all ready to go home. See I didn't get burned!

My phone once again started breaking at the hinges, so I decided to just get a new and improved fancy touch screen one. I got the LG versa.. Here it is. I love it besides the fact that my fast texting skill is gone down the drain. Oh well:)

And one more event.. I am now in the 80-100 words per minute class for school. I finally got all the requirements met to move onto the next class. So I am hoping to cruise through these next couple speed classes.

Pretty Landscaping!

2009-09-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

So as I posted a while back, we did the landscaping for my work, and I just thought I would show you all one more time how pretty it turned out, now that it has had time to bloom more. We also have a tree planted now in memory of one of the therapists that worked there who passed away. She worked with the little kids we would get as patients, and worked for free pretty much. It is a maple tree, and that was her favorite, so we planted it in honor of her. Here are the before pictures, the after, and the current.

California Here I Come.

2009-08-23T21:58:00.000-07:00

So just some recent news from my life, I put my last day in for work. December 23, 2009:)
I am looking forward to it because I am going to be moving to California about a week later.
I will be living with Julianne and Brad for a while until I can just get used to being away from home
and kind of get myself going up there. I can't wait to get out of Show Low and just be living where
I have always wanted to live. I look forward to being close to a couple of my sisters, and being more
part of 7 of my nieces and nephews lives. I can't wait to just help out more and grow closer with my
sisters since I didn't really get to be with them growing up. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I am a phonecall
away when the tv or computers aren't working:)

Just an update.

2009-07-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this whole blog thing is getting harder for me to do.

I wanted to put all our Boston pictures up, but I know all the family has facebook,

and I put most of them up on there. It just takes so long on this blog thing to upload a lot of them at the same time:(

I took around 600 pictures when we were in Boston, so it is very hard to narrow it all down.

But anyways, I have been very busy with work, school, and I am starting to run/work out again just to get in shape.

I turned 20 and can't believe how fast time is flying! I really will try to be better at this whole blog thing. No promises though.

Boston Part 1

2009-06-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

So mom, dad, and I are visiting Christian and Laci and the family in Boston for a week, and here is Day 1 in a nutshell.
We toured Fenway Park and went to the Museum of Fine Arts. It was a lot of walking, and I rode on a subway for the first time. Here are some pictures fellas:)

The ceiling is pretty:)

Museum of Fine Arts again.

I thought this was radtastical:) Haha.

I got yelled at for using Flash Photography, so I just tried to

catch the effect of all the pictures in this hall it was kind of hard to.

This doesn't do it justice at all.

The Courtyard at the Museum of Fine Arts, so gorgeous.

Museum of Fine Arts.

The longest escalator I have ever been on..

From the press box.

Fenway Park, where the Red Sox play.

Adorable Berkeley:)

The Fam.

Boston Red Sox.

Yawkey Way.

Recitals..

2009-06-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

I had a little practice recital and Jeremy and Marcha and Olivia got to go to it along with a couple other people. But it was fun, and I love all the pieces I sing. I am working on uploading my big recital that was on June 25th, onto youtube, however I only have one song uploaded so I will just have to put that up for now.
Here are some pictures from my practice recital, and then my bigger recital, just a little video of one of my favorite fun songs:) I will put up more as I get them uploaded.

My big recital on the 25th. This was the only picture taken for some odd reason.

Adorable Olivia.

I love her!

San Diego.

2009-06-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, its time to crack down on my updated. A lot has been going on, and so here is a time to just catch up!
I went to San Diego for a weekend to spend it with Maren and Brock and the kids, and then Julianne. We went to the Wild Animal Park and then were just kind of crazy and had fun together. We made a midnight shopping trip to Walmart which is always interesting. Here are some pictures:)

Landscaping..

2009-05-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

So Mom, Dad, and I all did the landscaping for my work and here are the results. The before and after:) It was a total of about 10 hours of work, and I sprained my hand, and I am having some trouble walking today because my back and legs are so sore. But it was totally worth it! We got some shrubs that will eventually cover up the gas thing that was so perfectly placed in the very front of the building in the most random spot, and also the water box that we had to keep open. But over all...it looks "soooo good." (said in a teen girl squad voice from homestarrunner.com)

For You Jon Schmidt Fans.

2009-05-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

Got this from a friend and I thought it was absolutely amazing.

Cal EE forn I A

2009-05-09T18:09:00.001-07:00

Check out my facebook for pictures of California for Laurel's baptism. I finally got around to it! It is in the album titled "Laurel's Baptism." You will see lots of fun filled pictures of all my cute nieces and nephews! Love you all!

I Ran Across This..

2009-05-05T17:28:00.001-07:00

So while I have been writing a paper on court reporting in my study skills class, I came across this lovely link in my research. Man I hope I don't just bust out laughing if I hear something to this extent in court, because I can totally picture myself doing that! Hope you enjoy this!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13408/What-People-say-in-Court

Can you imagine?

2009-04-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

This video is cut off, so just click on it if it cuts off for you. It will open it up in a new window and should be normal size:)
So I know I haven't really updated things on my blog lately, but this is awesome!!
Can you imagine being there and seeing this? I got chills watching it, but then again
I am a musical nerd!
I hope everyone is doing well!

Found This Interesting:)

2009-04-08T18:09:00.001-07:00

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=6649456

The Usual and Unusual.

2009-04-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

So once again I have been sick!! What else is new right? I went to Urgentcare last Monday the 23rd of March because I was to the point I was having trouble breathing, talking, and I could not swallow my own spit without going through a lot of pain. Turns out I had tonsillitis and pharynxgitis, something like that. I got some antibiotics and am currently still on those suckers:(

I hate taking those things.

I was feeling a lot better, until about Tuesday night. I was to the point again where I could barely swallow and it hurt to talk. I did the usual with gargling with salt water, and I got to bed super early. I have been feeling a lot better, however, my voice sounds horrible, and my nose is running like a horse at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May!

Well I did finish my 2nd Semester of school and I can't believe how fast time is flying. I got a 99% on my speed test at 60 WPM for 5 minutes, and I missed 10 out of 500 on my Theory Final. I LOVE what I do, and I can't wait to get more into things. My schedule for the Spring Semester is as follows:

Monday-English Grammar I 6:30-8:00 PM

Tuesday-60-80 WPM 6:30-8:00 PM

Wednesday-English Grammar I 6:30-8:00 PM

Thursday-60-80 WPM 6:30-8:00 PM & Study Skills 8:30-9:30 PM

So I will be a busy girl with school 4 nights a week, but I am looking forward to progressing my education in the good 'ole court reporting field!

Well I am at a new office for work, and I LOVE it! I get my own little area, and I will take some pictures of my new office sometime to put up here. But I am loving being a lot closer to home (we are located just behind Asia Gardens) and plan on riding my bike to work once it warms up a little more.

Lastly, I got glasses! I have been getting a LOT of headaches. Especially at work doing all the paperwork I do every day, and all the school work and up close work I do at night. I went a whole week with getting headaches every single day around 1 PM. I decided since I have good insurance through my work, I would get my eyes checked. Turns out I needed reading glasses! I have been wearing them this whole week at work, and I have not had one headache:) Yay!!

News!

2009-03-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

I passed my 60 WPM quiz with 99% accuracy! I was one of 2 people to pass it so soon and the other girl to pass it, it was her 2nd time in Theory II. I have taken 4 speed tests so far, and I passed the 2nd one I took. I haven't gotten the results on my other 2, but I feel like I am doing well on them. To celebrate we went to Charlie Clarks Steakehouse.
Also, I got a new steno machine! My very own steno machine.

http://www.stenograph.com/productdetails.aspx?id=100001&subid=4730001&childid=&subchildid=&prodid=30085&nocall=1

There is my beauty:)

I love it so much, and it is exciting having it be my very own. I got a big student discount on it, and it ended up being about $1,480 or something like that. Thank you mom for your help on this. I really appreciate it.

My friend Josh at work got baptized this week, and I sang an arrangement of "I am a Child of God." I was quite nervous since a lot of my work people and patients were there. However, I feel like it went pretty well.

Happy Late St. Patrick's Day! We dressed up at work for the most part, and here are some pictures of us 3 who dressed up. We have a patient that asked us to do the "Captain Morgan" pose and it was quite funny I have to admit... The therapist at my work teases me a lot about my "weight problem" and when they picked me up, he said "man, it feels like I just put another necklace on"

Eventful Week.

2009-03-14T13:40:00.001-07:00

I started my speed testing for my class this week. I think I passed my 2nd one, I will find out on Tuesday or Wednesday if I did pass it.. If I did, then I go on to speed building in April. If I didn't I still have quite a few chances to pass. But I know I will pass:)

On Thursday, we found out that at work we will be moving to our new building the 27th of March. Our Lakeside office will be moving the beginning of April. So doing the change of addresses with all the insurance companies and doctors will be very fun! Not! The office I am in now has been the main billing office for 25 years, and now we are moving into the building on McNeil street where the little pink house used to be. The one right off the Deuce of Clubs by the post office and Asia Gardens. So I want to start riding mom's bike to work everyday.

My phone also decided to break this week. So that was fun. I think I kneeled on it when it was in my back pocket and knocked one of the hinges loose, so I removed the piece that was sticking out and the whole side popped off. Thank goodness for insurance and I only had to pay $50 for a new phone. The inside screen worked for a while, but I woke up Friday morning and well... it didn't work anymore.

It definately isn't supposed to move like that.

The good ole band Alaska and Me broke up this week as well. A lot of things just happened at once, and Ian, the drummer, his Uncle died from a hunting accident, he was shot in his leg, and it hit a major artery and he was rushed to the hospital and had to get his leg amputated.
Alaska and Me had their last show on Friday night where there was a fight in the middle of it with two girls, some random jokes from people in the crowd, and a crazy ending to the show.
I miss playing music and having my hand feel like its broken after playing the tamborine for a couple songs. But everything happens for a reason.

I am still doing voice lessons, and I hope to have a voice recital in May. Some of the songs I am working on right now are "Moonfall" from The Mystery of Edwin Drood, "O mio babbino caro," "How Could I Ever Know," The Secret Garden, "Se Florindo e Fedele, and "Jurame."

Visits and Blessings!

2009-02-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

So Christian and Laci and cute little Berkeley got to come visit us from Boston, and we had ourselves a fun time, besides the fact that I was sick the day they got here, we had fun.

I got myself a dr mask so I could at least hold Berkeley..

We also got to go to Olivia's blessing in Phoenix, and it was so fun seeing all the family and such.

Here are some pictures..

MOGOLLON RIM

THE NEW CUTIES!:)

JUST SOME FAMILY PICTURES

AND THE BABY GIRL ON HER BLESSING DAY.

Employee of the Month!

2009-02-23T22:48:00.001-08:00

I got employee of the month, and I got this $50 visa check card, and a paid day off!
I absolutely love the company I work for. They are all good, lighthearted, fun people.
My following responsibilities at work:
Maintaining the charts and keeping perscriptions up to date
Medical Records
Primary Claims
Secondary Claims
Charges
Inpatient Physical Therapy at the hospital
Outpatient Wound Care in the Hospital
Lakeside Office Authorizations
Show Low Office Authorizations
Calling Insurance companies
Answering Phones
Scheduling
Discharging patients and filing all the charts away from 7 offices.
Cleaning the office 3 times a week
And organizing anything I get to organize:)
I love my job, and I hope I get to keep it for a long time...
Here is our website, the pictures are a little outdated, but some of you might be interested.
http://whitemountainpt.com/

Home Renditions

2009-02-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

I couldn't post this until Christian and Laci actually saw it because they had no idea we were even doing the main bathroom and "David James Gentry Memorial Room"

But do you remember this?

Say "Hello!" to the new bathroom!!

We failed to get good before pictures of the bedroom, so here is the carpet and bed..

And now....

And lastly.. the new bookshelves!

Before...

And after...

Valentine's Day

2009-02-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

I came home from work on Friday and instantly saw rose petals leading up the stairs. I started following them, and realized they went right into my room..

Robert did this for me for Valentine's day. There were a dozen roses and a home made card that I was so proud of him for making by himself.

We were planning on going to Lake Roosevelt with my friends Mandy and Justin and her parents, but it was quite cold, and things fell through last minute, and Robert told me we were going to the Renaissance Festival. I was so excited, because I have always wanted to go, but never got a chance. So we went! It was so much fun, and wasn't TOO crowded. I loved the jousting, that was my favorite part, but I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted too:(

The pictures are of a couple of the animals I saw in the petting zoo. There were a lot of animals actually, and to make it better, there was hand sanitizer on your way out:)

I got to ride an elephant for only $4! It was so much fun, and the elephant attacked Robert and Justin, and got snot all over them:)

Mandy and I found some Zorro masks and Robert found a huge furry hat!

So while I was out in the nice Phoenix weather, White Mountain Physical Therapy was doing this.

http://www.wmicentral.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=20265799&BRD=2264&PAG=461&dept_id=505965&rfi=8

We got 1st for the most money raised as a company, and you can view some photos of them dressed up in the "photo gallery section" BRRRRR. I'm glad I didn't do this, I would die!

Family Time.

2009-02-05T20:46:00.000-08:00

I have been ridiculously busy with the hardest semester of my school, so I apologize for not updating this sooner. It would have been the same thing anyways.
Work, school, and voice lessons.
I am starting to prepare for a voice recital I am hopefully going to be putting on in May or June sometime.
We went to Idaho Monday night for Uncle Steve's viewing on Tuesday night and funeral on Wednesday night. We drove all night and got to Pocatello around 10:30 Tuesday morning. Jonathan and I got to spend some fun time together, and we didn't stay up TOO late.
I thought the funeral was put together perfectly. It was very touching, and something I will never forget. I think everyone left with peace, and I was just very proud of all my cousins.
It was so good seeing all my family I haven't seen forever, and I actually didn't know a lot of their names. I heard a lot " I remember you when you had a body cast!" So that should tell me I have no idea who they are.

Adventures and Another Aunt x2

2009-01-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome New Year! I've been in California since Dec. 29th, and I got back late last night. Robert and I took a little vacation for Christmas/His birthday present. We had lots of fun hanging with the Kirwan clan, and we got to visit his Aunt and Uncle in Ramona. We left Sunday, and stayed at David and Kasey's Sunday night, and woke up Monday morning and left for San Diego. We arrived quite later than we wanted too. We got lost a couple times, but thank goodness we have GPS systems these days. I have to say I liked telling Robert where to go and just having him do the driving.. He was a good sport about it, and listened quite well! Well Maren is always so good about taking care of her guests, she woke up around 6 on Tuesday to make sure we had everything we needed for our little trip, and made sure we ate breakfast. We left for Disneyland, and had a fun day! All the rides were totally packed. We got in the gates and ran to Space Mountain, and there was already an hour wait for it. So, we got fast passes and moved onto all the rides. Well Disneyland is Disneyland... happy, magical, and fun! So enough about that. Wednesday Maren and I just hung out, did some shopping, I lost the opal to my favorite ring in Target, I organized her coupons, and she inspired me to start doing coupons. Those things can really save you money! It was New Years Eve, so we just had some fun food, and played apples to apples with some friends of theirs.. I celebrated New Year's twice, Arizona time, and California time (and as in twice, I really did celebrate it) :) Thursday Robert and I went to lunch at DZ Akins with his Aunt and Uncle from Ramona. His cousin met us there as well, and she just had twins a couple weeks ago. I loved the little ones, and loved holding them. It got me excited for my new nephew Berkeley William Gentry and my new niece Olivia Cleo Gentry. We stayed in Ramona that night, and woke up Friday, and headed back to San Diego to say bye to the Kirwan Clan. I miss them so much already! Rob and I went on a little adventure to La Jolla Shores, and Mission Beach, then headed back to Phoenix to stay with David and Kasey. We got to visit Marcha and the new little one Saturday, but I was very sick, as was Robert, so we didn't want to get her sick. She is adorable, and I just am such a proud aunt! Church is now at 11:45 instead of 8:15, which made my morning not so grouchy, and we have about 6 inches of snow on the ground right now! Well Happy New Year!

this picture is just for David!

New baby Olivia Cleo

Olivia Cleo with Aunt Bethany.

New baby Berkeley William Gentry

The castle at night.

California Screamin!

Some nice lady took this picture for us.

California screamin again..

Tower of Terror! I totally posed for this picture, but was too late obviously.

castle. and us..

Space Mountain. I wonder if the other people in this

picture will ever come across this? haha

On the pirate ship!

Pirates of the Caribbean!

Good ole' famous Disneyland picture taking spot.

Us excited to be at Disneyland!

Break!

2008-12-19T21:50:00.000-08:00

So I finally have a break from school/work.
I will be working next week, the week of Christmas,
but only Monday-Wednesday, then i have Thursday and Friday as
payed holidays.
Then I am leaving Sunday for California for Disneyland and other fun times!
I have the Thursday and Friday off for work again. But decided I would take
a week off from work to just take a break all together.
I start school the 6th of January again, and I will be going into Theory 2.
I got a 97% on my final for my class.
Maren and Brock also surprised Mom and Dad, I had to be the sneakster behind it all!
But I am excited to have them here for Christmas as well! It will be really fun!
Happy Holidays to all! I love you!:)

Sick and My Performance

2008-12-12T17:23:00.001-08:00

So I had to call into work on Wednesday because I was very sick for 5 hours before, and pretty much most of the day. I got food poisoning from McDonalds and was very sick.:(
I went to Snowflake that same night to sing in the performing arts center where I would be (hopefully) singing the next night. Well I did.
Here is my performance Thursday Dec. 11, 2008 at Snowflake Performing Arts Center.
First song is "A Conventry Carol" and 2nd is "Still A Bach Christmas"
Dad is my accompanist.

Court Reporting, Singing, Working, and Playing.

2008-12-09T20:53:00.000-08:00

Just an update, school is going good. I have my final in a week! My class started off with 24, and we are down to 10 people in the class..
I have a little Christmas performance on Thursday in Snowflake. I am singing "A Coventry Carol," and "Still a Bach Christmas." I am excited because some of my co-workers are going.:)
I am also singing in the ward choir, and singing in church "Still a Bach Christmas" as well.
Work is calming down a little bit, and we have our Company Christmas Party this upcoming Friday, and I am looking forward to that.
And I am still the primary pianist. I have to learn 2 songs for the church Christmas program which is a week from Sunday. The little kids are so cute.
Robert, David, Kasey and I went to Feast of Carols on Saturday which was really fun. We played some board games on Friday and Saturday as well. Robert is quite competitive when it comes to games. But Feast was successful, and it was very weird for me not to be in it, since I pretty much was for 12 years. I got called up by the Jesters to do a little dance, how kind of them right?

So I am definately staying busy. I am still hoping I will finish class up in 2 years. It is getting pretty difficult, which is why our class is slowly dropping out.
I leave for Disneyland the end of this month, and I am so looking forward to it!
That's it for now

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T20:17:00.001-08:00

To all my dear friends and family!
I love you all, and am very thankful to have you in my life.
I found these quite amusing.

Oh, and just for a note, I still think our chickens have some issues.
Here is a picture I took of the eggs they are laying.
We have the "double yoker," "the wee little lad," and "the regggy one"
Okay, so I just made those names up, but seriously. These animals are wacked out!

Now welcome December! :)

Singing.

2008-11-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

So here is a piece I recorded, it isn't the best, and my voice teacher has worked a lot with me on breathing loud.

My facial expressions are wack sometimes. But it has been my favoritre piece I've learned so far!

Treats and Travels..

2008-11-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

So it has been pretty crazy at work, and Friday came along and I was so excited it was Friday.
It was a fun Friday besides the fact that I left for an hour so I could have my voice lesson at the high school
and dad made me sing in front of Honor Chorale, that was embarassing, and I was too shaky.
And also, I locked the truck keys in the truck.
But then Robert picked me up from work, and we went to his house, and he made me dinner.
We had delicious steak, that he had marinating for 2 days because he was so excited to cook.
We also had potatoes and corn on the cob, and then we bought some Martinelli's apple-grape stuff. So that lightened things up a bit.
We then traveled to Globe with his dad because they invited me to their "Thanksgiving" dinner and it was quite fun. I heard lots of funny stories, and looked at lots of pictures.
Copper is getting so big. It is very hard to take pictures of him because he is constantly moving. But here is one I got to show how big he has gotten since the day Rob bought him.

They are totally not good pictures of him, but it shows the growth for sure!

caarraazzzeee

2008-11-13T18:21:00.000-08:00

So I decided I would just type a little update on my life.
Sorry no exciting pictures or anything!
Well work is absolutely crazy busy. I am doing authorizations for
our St. John's office, Pinetop-Lakeside office, our Show Low office,
some for East Campus in Show Low, and I do authorization's for the
Wound Care/Inpatient Physical Therapy office at the hospital.
So things are busy at work!
School is so fun. I am loving it. I hope to have my CSR (certified shorthand reporter)
in 2 years. I have to go through 6 months of this Theory and I have to start
my English/Vocab classes next year. I am looking forward to it.
I can do 26 letters with only my left hand on 10 keys! :)
Class has been getting a lot harder, because I am having to UNlearn how to
spell words, and just spell them how they sound.
For example, the word "build" is stroked as "bild" in steno I push "PWEULD"
the word "young" is stroked as "yung" so in steno it is "KWRUPBG"
It looks absolutely crazy, but everything makes so much sense, and things are really
shortened so much.
The book and online practice I do have some funny sentences in them. My favorites so far
are:
"The bad drugs are with the fat thugs."
"I am such a jerk" (when the lady was reading this, I saw her just try so hard not to laugh.)
It just makes me giggle.
I won the Bryan College Halloween Costume Contest.:)
I get a $25 credit card for winning the "most creative halloween costume."
I am on the Bryan College blog for it too. www.bryancollegeonline.blogspot.com
I am still doing voice lessons, but have missed the last couple because of work
being crazy, and my voice has been weird.
I am singing in a christmas concert December 11th, and I am looking forward to that.

Busy Times

2008-11-09T21:18:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone is doing well though!
I just got back from Phoenix this evening. Mom and I took Robert's car down
to go to Marcha's baby shower, which was put on by Marie, and was totally awesome!
I had a lot of fun, and little Captain, David and Kasey's dog is absolutely adorable I did my 15 hours of practice for my school this week, and I did my 2 homework
assignments tonight, plus 3 hours of online practice time to start the week off.
Things are definately crazy, but I am loving being busy. Work has been really
hard with everything going on, and we are opening a new office next week. So
I hope everything will calm down sometime soon!

AAM

2008-11-02T00:08:00.000-07:00

So I went to the Alaska and Me new cd release show tonight.
I miss playing so much, and it was the best show they have done I have to say.
The lights were amazing, there was fog, there were black lights, they were
dressed up like cowboys and indians, and they even had a dancing robot.
The new album is called "I Will Die In The West"
It is all about living in the west, and has quite the western theme and a little
bit of a western sound.
There is a man who just feels like he doesn't quite belong in the west and all
the songs kind of tell one long story.
This album is going to be available on ITUNES and AMAZON.COM November 25th, 2008.
You can pre-order it now at http://smartpunk.com/product.php?item_id=29356
If you pre-order it, it helps the band out a lot more! So go ahead and get it for only $6 I believe.
These boys deserve it.

Spooks and Smiles

2008-11-01T12:06:00.001-07:00

So Halloween wasn't anything too special, besides the fact that my work dressed up
like cowgirls and cowboys.
It was a lot of fun, and I got some of my fun Polly Baker things again.
Along with my halloween day, my new laptop came in! Mom took the picture on my
phone, therefore it did not turn out too great. But here are my Halloween pictures.
I wore a different vest the moment I got to work, I brought some extra cowgirl stuff
incase someone needed something else. I put on the dress up vest that would fit me
when I was about 2.. now it still does.. Look at the group picture for the new vest:)
You gotta love my horse too. Bring back any memories to anyone?

Long Time..

2008-11-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

So I decided to finally catch up on my blog! It's been forever.
School is going great, and work is so much fun.
Here are some pictures from Kel's baptism when we went to San Diego a couple
weekends ago.
I can't believe how big all my nieces and nephews are now.
I was Kel's age when Reed was born! And look how tall Reed is compared to me now.
I even had high heels on!

Back To School

2008-09-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

-Headset with microphone? Check.
-Webcam? Check.
-Steno machine? Check.
-Bryan College books? Check.
-Secure Internet Connection? Check check.
-3 hours of online time? Check.
-Water? Check.
-Clean room because I hate working in an unorganized/dirty area? Check.:)

So I completed my list, now I am ready to start my online class for court reporting.
Quite crazy how technology just rocks!! :)
I'm excited because I have officially started the first day of the rest of my life/career.

Happy Day!

2008-09-23T19:17:00.001-07:00

I got my Steno machine in today. So I am so excited:)
School starts a week from today!! I hope I can handle all this!

Long Time.

2008-09-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

Its been forever, and all I've done is the following:

-practice the piano hardcore for my calling
-work 8 hours a day
-started my voice lessons
-visiting david, kasey, jeremy and marcha and their cute new houses.
-gave up david's nintendo.
-been getting ready for school which starts Sept 29.
-applied for loans that I ended up canceling anyways.
-swept up a dead bird that ran into the glass window at my work and it must have been
sitting there..well lying there for 2 days because it was stuck to the concrete.
-caught lizards that crawled into our work.
-busted out in random song to make an idiot out of myself. (hippo noises also)
-hang with the family.:)
-hang with the b/f rob:)
-been very ridiculous with my organization lately.
-make long to do lists.
-found a laptop for $1200 but found out with my school I can get it for $575
-decided I am going to disneyland with david and kasey and robert for christmas.
-decided I absolutely hate calling insurance companies... they are rude and such.
-make cards
-read the 6th harry potter in 3 days. (i never ever read)
-listen to the legally blonde musical soundtrack
-got a fortune cookie that read "you'll accomplish more if you start now"
-been having crazy dreams.
-youtube.com
-facebook.com
-just enjoying life after high school and growing up.
:)
thats it.

Church Calling and Work..

2008-08-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

So this is my new calling. Playing these for primary..on the piano of course.
I don't know. I might be better at playing them on the recorder. I just haven't
been into the piano since I quit the band. It brings back a lot of memories and
makes it a lot harder to play again.
I just have enjoyed singing so much more. I am not a sight reading kind of person
and never really have been. I am a play by ear kind of person. So I hope I get it down
quickly.

And as for my new job I have. I started it today! It was quite intimidating and very
overwhelming. I am now working for White Mountain Physical Therapy. But in
the billing office. I call the insurance companies to make sure the patients are
authorized for physical therapy and call and fax the referring doctors to make
sure the prescriptions are up to date. I hope I get it, because insurance is straight up
annoying. The people are grouchy too. So that doesn't help.
Well I scored a 23 out of 25 on my entry exam for Bryan College, my online court
reporting class I am going to be taking. And I start September 29th.
I also registered for voice lessons through NPC and that cost a lot more then I
thought I would have to pay.
I just can't wait to be going to school full time, working full time, trying to learn the
primary songs every week, taking voice lessons and try to keep a social life..
I just am so excited to get all stressed out again! :) (sarcasm)

Court Reporting

2008-08-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

So as some of you may know.. i am doing court reporting for a future. I am so excited because I found an online program to do this. I am taking it through Bryan College located in Los Angeles and Sacramento. I am just really looking forward to school and learning this new skill. It is pretty much another language and is just something I will have to practice like crazy. I should be done in about 18-24 months. Here are some fun pictures and examples of what I will be learning and using.

Here is the machine.

what comes out.. pretty dang crazy.

Honda Performances.

2008-08-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

So here are the performances I uploaded on youtube of Skippy and I singing our little songs.
I sang first, "Someone to Watch Over Me" And then we sang out Irving Berlin Medley,that the CD skipped in a couple times. Then Skippy sang his "Aint that a kick in the head" by Dean Martin. I can't believe I made it through this performance, but man, I felt miserable that night.:( My voice felt clear, but it was my chest voice that was so hard to get out because of my throat hurting so bad. My head voice worked fine.. So my head was working fine? haha. But I can't believe how much I am getting sick or something is always wrong with me. I just can't wait until my shoulder is totally better, so then I can start exercising. I am sure that will help.
If you want to look at more videos I have uploaded on youtube you can just type in bethaneegentree and all my videos will come up. I think there are 17.
Well here you go..

I love how you can hear mom trying to figure out my camera. She thinks she was
doing it wrong. haha I love you mom.

Sick:(

2008-08-02T17:17:00.001-07:00

So I was going to bed a couple days ago, and felt awful. I felt so very hot, itchy, chills, achy. My throat kind of hurt..
I slept like 30 minutes that night. And then about 3-4 hours Friday.
I went to the urgent care at about 5:30 that evening, and they tested my throat
for strep because i couldn't swallow and could barely speak. Both the tests came out negative
but they gave me a very strong antibiotic I only have to take one pill a day for 3 days.
I am feeling better already.
But Skippy and I had to sing at this White Mountain Woman's club thing at Honda Casino today at noon. I was very scared because I wasn't sure if my voice would keep up. But it did. I will post videos from our performances in a later blog.

San Diego Visit. La Jolla Shores

2008-08-02T16:54:00.000-07:00

Pretty.
I just liked this picture.

fun jump:)
this was some nasty sea weed that looked like a feather boa. smelled like crap though.
cute little lovers:)
sista friends!
just goof balls on the beach.

sand castle buildin with brock and kelemen
Mom and dad:)
Maren's jump I got on the first shot.
This took forever. haha.
Kelemen was so proud of this castle:)

Doggies! This is for David!

2008-07-25T12:24:00.001-07:00

Briggs and Copper have become quite the buddies.
Rob and Copper. He is gettin big!
The size difference cracks me up.
Drinking out of the same water dish..

Sniffing eachother and licking.
This video cracks me up too. Right before I laugh you can see Copper run into the coffee table. He is such a klutz. Copper is playing with Robert's sister's dog named Maverick. A miniature beagle.

Look what I can do!

2008-07-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

Look what I can finally do!! My surgery has definately helped. My left arm is almost up as high as my right one!

I have been going to physical therapy for 4 weeks already

and am already getting to be a normal person after 4 years

of not being able to lift my arm above my head.

Here we go!:)

I still have 2 more weeks of just working on movement in my shoulder.

Then I have to work on strengthening it slowly.

The only scary thing is my torn rotator cuff.. I have to be so careful

for the next like 4 weeks because I can't lift anything or my stitches could

come out and my rotator cuff will rip more and I will have to get

rotator cuff surgery.:( But things are looking good!

I am happy because I want to exercise and lift but haven't been able to

for years.. Just my right arm which is just bulging in muscle size ;)

19 Years Old!

2008-07-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

I turned 19 today. Wow.
I don't feel older.
But I had a birthday party last night.
Quite interesting though...
Jonathan is visiting along with his friend Casey
from Pocatello Idaho.
They helped me set up my birthday party
which was at the Show Low High School Auditorium.
Well my keys got locked in my car. Mom called
AAA but they sent this guy who was a mumbler
and was quite odd looking. Well 40 minutes later,
Robert finally helped him, and Robert was the one
who got my car unlocked. Thank you Robert for
being a "professional" when the guy we called was not.
Haha. Well the party was fun. Considering only 6 people
showed up. 4 more came after it was over.. We watched
a movie on the back of the stage in the auditorium.
It was fun!

Gentry Family Reunion 2008 Pigeon Point California

2008-07-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

Handicap Senior Picture

I like making funny faces. Waiting for Julianne to get the
Rental car.

My one armed talent

I love my brothers and sisters! yay!

Brad and Hyrum sleepin:)

Me with a lighthouse and such.

Christian and I. Goofballs

Who knows?

Family picture..

The whole fam damily.

ma girl and i.

the crobster kasey got.

the family started with these two falling in love.

I have to end goofy... Yes this was my bed.

Recovery Room

2008-06-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well the surgery went well... I got there at ten oclock and got hoome at about 4. I was very sick the first day. Almost threw up 4 times but yesterday was a lot better. And I started moving around a lot yesterday. Well 5 times is a lot. I bet mom is sick of me. Every time she would come home from work I would ask her to get me a new ice pack or more water or something. I finally ate a meal yesterday. I was not feeling good enough to eat alot. But things are definately better now. I don't want to type a lot because I am only typing with one hand and it is way annoying. But here are some pictures of my surgery. I have no idea what it all means? But it looks cool I think. Sorry if they gross you out. Everyone has shoulders!! Haha, but I guess he had to stitch up my shoulder a little because it was torn a little bit and they didn't think it was.:( But I will be fine! I can't wait for reunion!

Wow..

2008-06-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

So finally my last week at DQ!! One year and two months is far too long for a place like that. But it has been a nice teenager place to work. However, I just can't stand working there any longer.
Well surgery in less than a week. Not excited... I am excited for family reunion though! I just can't wait! I am not looking forward to being all drugged up (or am i?) However, it will be fun no matter what! I am so excited to finally have the whole family together again!!
Well its summer projects again. Dad starting all his yard work and such.
I have been mowing the lawns. But today was the last time I could for a long time, because I will be in a sling for a while.
Here are a few pictures of my life lately. Mostly Dairy Queen! :)

my friend Sarah Wagner and I sitting in the baskets, and Ileva, she is from New Zealand

I dropped my ring in the garbage.. this was disgusting. about 4 inches of melted mess ups of ice cream at the bottom..

This was my last time working with Kyle Pratt, and we decided we wanted to have a jousting tournament.. But we needed eye protection because we didn't want to poke eyes out with the extreme long straws we were using on the mop bucket. So I got 2 small sunday cups and taped them to his face.. This was so hilarious.

robert and I got bored and took pictures one day.. we are pretty much nerds:)

Blahh..

2008-06-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

So work has been absolutely ridiculous. So so busy! I put my two weeks notice in today. Getting my surgery and all I will be out for probably 4 weeks.. So I just put my 2 weeks notice in. Crazy crazy. Well here are some more pictures my friends sent me from senior trip. It really was a blast.

this was after our first long day. We went to six flags, and then traveled to Bigs Pizza in Anaheim.. This was the gang after we ate. The girl carrying me, Lesley Nielson. She is crazy cool! Haha.

Brooklyne and I and Chelsea Martin waiting for the tram to disneyland.

Graduation. Chelsea Martin and I. And charles creepin in the background.

Junk..

2008-05-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

So I went to the Orthopedic Surgeon today, Dr. Washburne, for my Pre-Op appointment for my shoulder surgery... It went well I guess, but it is going to be a little scary. The bad news, I am going to have to be in a sling for family reunion:( really cool!!! Not. I get my surgery June 17th, and I have to wear the sling for 2 weeks. I tried to get it earlier but we had to change it because I was supposed to be going on a two week tour with my band, but since I am not doing that anymore I could go earlier, but now I can't because their scheduling is so hardcore.
So not fun.
Well here are some pictures I got from some friends that I didn't have before. Just from Senior Trip. I really love how tired I was at the end of Disneyland. haha. You can tell. And you can tell I went on Splash Mountain due to my weird curly hair.

this is my friend Lesley, she did most of these pictures..

i was pretty much tired of smiling by this point.. it was forced. haha.

Senior Stuff.

2008-05-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

So I am all graduated now.. It didn't hit me until we threw our hats in the air. Famous quote from the format "So give it up throw your hats in the air, and change is as you ladies say "we'll get out of here" something tells me that you're too scared to go."
So in case you guys haven't heard, I quit Alaska and Me for many reasons. I got pretty much a full ride to NPC for acting, dad is trying to get me more for choir, but I just couldn't pass that up. I had to come up with 2 grand by August for recording time... and I just couldn't do it... The band still loves me thank goodness, and still support me. They went to my graduation which really meant a lot, but when they hugged me, I lost it, and started bawling cause I am going to miss them. But you gotta do what you feel is right.
I have been trying to find a new job because I just can't work at Dairy Queen anymore. Sure it is fun, and was paying me decent, and i worked with friends, but I wasn't learning anything productive besides the fact that there are a lot of rude and inconsiderate people in this world who have no patience and have to get their ice cream right away! And sorry Dairy Queen actually makes our food fresh for order and it can take five to fifteen minutes to get your food instead of the one it does everywhere else.
I just couldn't handle that anymore. I know where ever I go there will always be rude people, but getting the F bomb thrown at you at least once every day at work, just isn't cool. And 3 times by one person within 10 seconds, I lost it.
So I applied for the new hotel that is going in in that huge field across from the Show Low Movie Theatre, Hamptonn Inn and Suites. I am applying for other front desk and receptionist jobs because I love organizing and working with computers and such. So we will see how that goes.
Well senior trip was a blast. Brooklyne and I hung out the whole time which was good for us to get more time together again. We left Sunday May 18th at about 11 PM went to Six Flags that morning, went to our hotel that night, and then woke up that morning went to Disneyland then left about 9 PM that night for Show Low.. Here are some pictures.
the whole group

jarred macarthur and i. yes our shirts say "put a fork in us, we're done" weird?

i tried to make ugly scary faces in all the pictures. haha

Senior Pictures that Miken took for me.:) thanks sister friend.

miranda jones and i. she was the other polly in the play.

brook and i

skipster the gangster and i

Ashley Daly and I

tucker bingham and i

my girls

corinne bigelow and i

my number one black girl julianne weeks! :)

my favorite teacher Mr. Grena. He stole one of my envelopes out of my hand and said "that's from living in the big city! he is hilarious."

the band except ian.

chelsea martin and i.

ellie baird and i.

rileigh nikolaus and i. she does my hair for me all the time. she is gorgeous.

madison allan and i.

caitlyn jeffs and i.

LCOTD

dad and i.

the parents and i.

chelsea nix and i

jerem tenney and i.

we are the g's of the school. goodman, giger, gentry, garvin.

mr. brackney and mr. adams. me in the middle.

the cement.. we put a secret message in it.. hahahaha. see if you can find it.

well that is all family. i love you all so much.
i am PUMPED for family reunion:)

Success

2008-04-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

Our opening night of Crazy For You was quite successful. Then my cast performed Saturday. And we were quite successful. :) It went smoother then opening night of course. However, Polly was dancing with Bobby, and we do this spin out thing, and my tap shoe slid on the stage, and I almost face planted... But Stanton, AKA Bobby caught me but it was my left arm (my hurt shoulder) that was the one he was holding in the first place. So it hurt my shoulder really bad, but he caught me from totally hurting myself, and majorly biffing it!

Well it went well. I have the student matinee tomorrow, and then my last performance Friday that David and Kasey are coming to. I am quite excited:) I hope they record it Friday, so then everyone who didn't get to see it, gets to see this great musical...

Prom '08 ...Like A Fairytale

2008-04-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

So prom was pretty fun this year. the DJ sucked, but other then that it was fun. I had rehearsal at 8 in the morning until about 12, so we had part of our date Friday night. We went out to my friend Mandy's house out in Vernon, and had a bonfire and Barbeque. I was supposed to wake up at 7 so I could have plenty of time to get ready and get to practice on time, and well the boys thought rehearsal started at 8:30. They stayed at Justin Covert's house which is about 3-5 miles from Mandy's out there, and they came to wake us up and make us breakfast at 7:30. But at that time, I knew I was way late, and had to jump out of bed and head to rehearsal. So that sucked! Robert told me what we were doing later was a surprise. Well we were not supposed to have rehearsal, so I wasn't planning on it, and I guess Robert wasn't either, since he bought us tickets to take a train from Flagstaff to and through the Grand Canyon 3 weeks before. :( So we were going to go kayaking (spelling) but that fell through. So instead I just hung out at the house for the afternoon. Cleaned a little bit, and then got ready for the dance. Rileigh Nikolaus did my hair, and Brooklyne and I got ready together. It was fun. We then went back out to Vernon to this kid's house in our group. His mom makes the best Chinese food. Then we took lots of pictures and went to the dance for more pictures. The theme was "..Like a fairytale." and it was just really cute. There was a castle, and gossomer roof, and chocolate fountain. It was a fun princess decorated dance. Here are some pictures from Prom this year.

22 Days

2008-04-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

I only have 22 days left of High School!
I can not believe how fast this year has gone!!
I decided i really do want to go into law in a few years.
i really really want to do the band thing, but I won't be able to for
my whole life! But lately in my US Government class we have been
studying the judicial system. I really want to do court reporting, but
i also think it would be fun to be a lawyer, or just someone in court.
I know there are some horrible cases out there in this world, but
I just find it interesting. So we will see.
We open for the musical in one week and 2 days. Talk about stressful!

I had my last choir trip today. We went to EAC Large Group Festival.
We received Superior ratings with everything which was good:)
Well I am worn out! I try to keep this thing updated!

Freedom of the Press

2008-04-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

So here is our very first NEGATIVE review for the band. I found this whole thing quite funny...
One man's opinion can be very different. At least get the lead singer's name right! Tyler Cox, not Brandon Cox. Silly little man...

http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=311640

This place however loves us! We have gotten some very good compliments on us here.
So its all good in the hood!
http://thedailychorus.com/

Things are staying quite busy with me still working, keeping up in school, and opening night in 2 weeks. Prom this weekend... I feel swamped with things..
Somehow I end up getting everything done I'm supposed to.

Band News

2008-04-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

Local band back releases new EP today
By: Sean Dieterich, The Independent
04/08/2008
SHOW LOW - The members of a local band, after being separated for a few months, are now back in town.
And just in time for their new EP release today. The five members of Alaska and Me, a young indie-pop band from Show Low, spent time away from each other while attending school and working. Now, the whole band's looking to spend a lot more time together, from seeing their new album released to planning for the future. The album releases today and is entitled "Actors." According to singer/guitarist Tyler Cox, 19, "Actors" has been around a while, but Tuesday's release marks the first time it's been available as a hard copy. Lead guitarist Ben Turner, 19, said the album was recorded in Long Island, N.Y., with the help of Killingsworth Recording Company and producer Anthony Santonocito. "We lived in the studio 10 days," he said. Originally, the tracks were distributed via MySpace. It was fitting, Cox said, because they used MySpace to find a way to have their album recorded in the first place. "We e-mailed a bunch of producers to see if someone wanted to work with us," he said. Tuesday's release means a much wider distribution. "Actors" will also be available on the band's online store (http://alaskaandme.bigcartel.com) and through iTunes. The album has six tracks and a bonus track. "One of (the songs) is an old song we recorded in Phoenix," he said. Alaska and Me began with Cox and Turner getting together and playing their guitars in 2005. In 2006, the band was formed. Joining Cox and Turner were bassist Charles Ellsworth, 20, drummer Ian Dupeire, 19, and singer/keyboardist Bethany Gentry, 18. The group also gets help from 18-year-old Kevin Walker, the band's road manager. Walker sets up the equipment for Alaska and Me's performances and is even called upon to pump up the crowd from time to time. "I get tossed the tambourine every once in a while," he said. Cox said they find inspiration from many bands, both past and present, but their greatest inspiration comes from Arizona indie rock bands The Format and Dear and the Headlights. At the same time, he said, Alaska and Me likes to craft its own sound. "You can take a piece of everything," he said. Turner added, "We like to sound different for some of the songs." Cox and Turner, up until recently, were living in Colorado. Cox attended Fort Lewis College in Durango while Turner worked. The other members of Alaska and Me were doing the same thing. "We've all been in school," Cox said. Turner added, "In three different states." Ellsworth attended school at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City while Dupeire worked, and Gentry is currently a senior at Show Low High School. The band would meet whenever there was a show to do, but that didn't leave much time for practice. With everyone looking to come back to town (Ellsworth and Dupeire are currently still in Utah, but will rejoin their band mates in a couple weeks), he said those constraints are no longer there. "It's easier," he said. "We can practice three times a week." Cox said the decision to come back to the area came about as everyone realized they wanted to continue with the band full time. "We all realized how much we liked music when we couldn't do it anymore," he said. With the band back together again, Cox said they will work harder on getting the band's name out there. They are planning to record a new CD that should be released in October. They will be closer to home while recording this CD. "We were thinking about recording with Anthony again, but we decided to work with Bob Hoag out of Phoenix," he said. Hoag has helped record some of the Arizona bands that inspire Alaska and Me, most of who are enjoying success in music. "The people we like who he's worked with have gone really far, so hopefully he can do the same for us," Cox said. Turner said the band will also schedule more shows. That might include Phoenix, as Alaska and Me is gaining popularity there. "We're starting to build a following in Phoenix behind us, finally after two years," he said. Cox said the sky's the limit for Alaska and Me, as the band would love to be able to play and be in the music scene for as long as possible. "If we can play music for a living, then that's awesome," he said. For fans of the group, get ready to expect great things. "It should be a good year for Alaska and Me," he added. For more information about the band, visit www.myspace.com/alaskaandme.
* Reach the reporter at seand@wmicentral.com
©WMICentral 2008

Here is the Link for the place we will be recording at... I am excited:)
I know LA would have been fun, and it would have been good to record with Anthony again
but I really think this is going to be much better.
http://www.flyingblanket.com/recording

I can't wait for this musical to be over. Things are eventually coming together.
but it is just a load of stress now...

Adventures with Leesha

2008-04-03T08:31:00.001-07:00

treats!
that purple thing is my electronic pet dinosaur.. Reggie!
milkkkkkkk
best friends!
cool pants at dq!

garbage can lid. ew.
its amazing what you can find at DQ
again.. crazy dress ups.
caution!!!
peace!

So It Comes Together...Slowly

2008-04-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Just when I have a meltdown on the musical... Thinking nothing was going right, and nothing was coming together... It does. Our poor "Bobby Child" (Stanton Davis) was gone for mexico for spring break, and got back, and had food poisoning. So it has been hard to work without him, but last night we got so much done! I absolutely love tap dancing! It is so much fun. I was so stressed about it, because I just couldn't get it. But I worked for about 3 hours on dancing last night. And got it... We completed 3 dance numbers last night... And it is just a major stress reliever having everything come together.

It hasn't helped that I woke up Sunday and was very sick as well! Totally stuffed up and coughing. And when I up Monday, it was worse. I went to the Dr. and found out I had Bronchitus. But I left rehearsal early that night, and got a good 12 hours of sleep, and I felt a lot better in the morning.. I'm still sick, but gradually making my way back to health.

Well Spring Break is well over, and it was a nice break while I had it. I spent the first few days just at home. I had a hardcore acting session with Mr. Willard for 4 hours on ONE scene during one of the days of Spring Break. I felt like I was emotionally exhausted. I have really learned to love theatre. I always thought it was kind of weird because of all the theatre geeks at my school... They were wacked out! But I am beginning to appreciate it more, and love all the magic that can happen in one scene. Well I went to Phoenix Thursday just to hang out and stay with some friends. And then I stayed with Mom Friday night at the Hilton Hotel (very nice)

Saturday night was my bands huge show. We played a show with a band called Lydia who is quite famous now. It was a pretty huge show for us... And it seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong, but somehow we pulled out of it, and probably played one of the best shows we have! So one of my rings, that was very very expensive, and I have just worn it for every single show, I couldn't find it so I was stressing about finding that. We finally did after about 30 minutes of searching. Then we went to go do our sound check. My synthesizer was working great. You could hear it perfect. And then I go to plug in my keyboard, and it wasn't working at all... So I was way way stressing out!! So for an alternate plan, I just found a decent keyboard sound on my synthesizer and had to use that. Then Ben's string broke in our 2nd song I believe it was.. So while he was trying to fix that, Tyler played a song he wrote a couple days before that. It was very good, and Ben got his string fixed, but right when he played it, it came unwound from the peg, and so he just played without it. Well it was successful. We were only supposed to sell 50 tickets as a band. We ended up selling about 75. We made 300 bucks just from playing( keep in mind we were just the opening band), and then we made about 150 from merch.

We finally have CD's printed from our ACTORS EP. So if you want one, let me know. I will probably just have you guys buy them at the wedding or reunion. We will be recording a full 12 track EP in August in LA. I am so pumped for it.

Well this is my busy life. I still manage to have fun and keep up in school and work. How I do it? I have no idea... But things are workin out, and it is going to be an awesome musical.

Choir Choir Like Crazy.

2008-03-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well this week was full of choir events. Tuesday we had our Choir Extravaganza, Friday we had our Region Large Group Festival In Joe City, and Saturday was All State Auditions in Glendale. Not to mention early morning and lunch rehearsal every day that week!!! Things did finally come through. We did some very hard literature, but got it together. Got through our concert, barely. And then went to Large Group and got superiors with both Show Biz and Honor Chorale combined, then just Show Biz's performance. All State Auditions went well I thought, but I didn't make it. I was quite bummed because it was my last chance to make it... But it makes me feel a little better that the number one soprano in our region didn't even make it.
So besides all this I have been working and keeping up in school, attending musical rehearsal everyday.
I had quite the scary experience at rehearsal when it came to Tap Dancing for the first time. I don't know ANYTHING!! And I have to learn and perfect this in less than 5 weeks. It seems impossible, but I hope I can get it. I am finally having a lot of fun with this role. Polly is so fun to play! I don't just sit up there so quiet and bored like Belle did reading her books and such. Polly kisses about 10 more times though. Haha.
Well I am staying busy, and getting nervous to graduate. But I am excited for everything coming up!

Stress=Sickness

2008-03-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

So I think I get sick more than anyone I know.
The stress of everything is starting to hit me however last night was a good night at rehearsal.
We did a little something called a "meat grinder" as Mr. Willard calls them, and It is just
running a scene until it is absolutely perfect. If one word is messed up, we start from the beginning.
We did the first 3 scenes, and they are pretty close to perfect.
I feel like I am starting to become "Polly" a little more. It is a really fun character.
She is just one of the guys, but doesn't like, to be messed with. Kind of sounds like Bethany in a way:)
Haha.
So I am sick again, starting to lose my voice.
We have a choir concert tonight, Large Group Festival Friday, and All-State Auditions Saturday.
I hope my voice holds up.
Well things are crazy, but I am stickin in there.
I can't wait until this school year is over, but I know I am going to miss High School so so much!

News News News!

2008-03-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

So I decided to finally get one of these to keep the family updated when I can. The Family website is too hard to keep up with right now:(
So here is my news..
My band Alaska and Me is now sponsored with Applicant Apparell Clothing Company.
We get free clothes and they help promote us if we help promote them.
It is quite fun:)
We have a couple shows coming up. One in Blue Ridge on March 15th, and one in Phoenix with a pretty huge band Lydia March 29th.

The musical is coming a long. If you didn't know, we are doing Crazy For You and I got the lead role of Polly. But it is double casted, and that can be frustrating most of time.

So after all these years of having trouble with my shoulder, we finally have a solution.
When i fell in the walk in fridge at Dairy Queen back in October, my shoulder has hurt daily
everyday. I have been to several doctors, and they just give me shots and such.
I got an MRI done, but they didn't see anything...
I finally got an order to get an arthrogram done which is when they inject dye into the shoulder
then get an MRI done so they can see deeper into the shoulder.
I got my test results back. Luckily nothing was torn, however, I have a "shoulder impingement"
Which is when my bone is slightly curved, and this causes the muscles and tendons to catch on the bone which is curved, causing pain, inflamation, and swolen tendons.
I do have to get surgery, but they just have to shave that hook off, and about 10 days later, I will
be back to normal! So that's that!