The Truth about India is....

I don't mean to be redundant, to keep posting about India, but it's important to me that people know about this amazing outreach organization.  It's also important to me that people know they can help. 

Saran Raj was my favorite kid. I just loved him so much!

 Rising Star Outreach is more than a "let's do something to make this icky world better" organization. Rising star is a personal, yet very professional humanitarian aid project with some beautiful goals in mind. Becky Douglas saw something in this world that needed change and instead of just feeling bad and sending some money, she got together with some friends and did something about it. I believe she and brother Brian Andre are right when they told me that when you see something that needs to be changed or fixed, you have a responsibility to do so. It's not okay to walk away and forget.

Look at those faces! How could you NOT fall in love!?

Amid the work, and the pouring rain, volunteers still find
time to have ridiculous amounts of fun!

My mom actually learned about Rising Star before I did. She met Becky in the basement of some building at BYU teaching a class on charity and the leprosy affected. My mom came home and handed me a flyer with a little girl on it (Jennifer was her name) and said, "Amanda. I really think you need to go to India." I told her she was crazy. (I do this very often.) And didn't give it a second thought. But after a few weeks, something kept tugging at me. And while I was sitting in sacrament meeting in church one day, it hit me. I needed to go to India. And I just sighed.

Okay. I was going to India.

All through the preparations I just kept thinking. "Oh my gosh. I'm going to India!" Honestly, I don't think I even realized I was there until a week into it. I had culture shock for the first two weeks, if you read my journals you'd think I was unhappy to be there. Maybe I was. A little intimidated and frightening, sure. It was hot, the people stared at us, sometimes the smell was so horrible you thought you were going to vomit, then there were the other moments. The moments that made me realize I could spend the rest of my life in that place. The moment where it was raining so hard, dancing was the only option. Or the moments when the children would just sit in your laps. Or the moments where you sat on top of the roof, hanging your laundry and took a look around at the jungle around you. And realized, "Wow. I'm in India!"

Mixing Cement the old fashion way. Look at all that sweat!

It was moments like this that made it worth being there. Moments that really changed my life. I had a new understanding of things that i never had before.
The greatest thing about being apart of RSO, about being in India was this: I had never in my life been so happy. I had never worked so hard. I had never faced things and challenges this hard. I had never met people like this. People who were absolutely brilliant and educated and talented, but had been forced to leave their homes and family to live in Colonies for the leprosy affected. I met a man who was muslim who spoke four languages and used to teach philosophy at the university, but because he had come down with this debilitating disease, he had been forced to leave his home and job and family to live in a place full of sadness and disease and pain.

Padma Venkatraman

 I learned that these people are extraordinary. Padma was one of the people that helped us realize that. The Daughter of former India President R Venkatraraman, Padma has long been a leading figure in the national fight against leprosy and its resulting stigma. She does a lot in the way of micro-finances in the colonies. Meeting her was for sure a highlight in my trip to India.
I can't tell you what you'll learn yourself in India. I can't tell you what your experience will be. But I can promise that if you go, and you go with the notion to get everything you can out of it, You'll never regret it and you'll never be the same. There will never be enough words to express what these people mean to me, what these people mean to me, what this experience meant to me, or what it did for me. I really challenge you to consider the possibility of allowing this program into your life. There are more options than just volunteering. There's possibilities for donations and for sponsoring children to be able to attend school. Take a look at the website, and really give it an open thought.  And if there's a little tug at you saying "Oh my word. I really want to do this." Then stop thinking. AND DO IT! :) That's what i had to do. I promise if you decide to do this, the universe, God, whatever you believe in, will make it possible. I promise.
   

Quite possibly the cutest smile ever. 

The greatest thing you'll ever do!

Four years ago, this summer, I had the amazing opportunity to do something that changed my life forever. Rising Star Outreach is an organization that has devoted people's volunteer time and energy to furthering the cause of curing leprosy and teaching those who have been told that they are worth nothing that they CAN do something with their life.
I can't express what Rising Star has done for me. I believe I've gained more from my 4 years of working them than they have. I won't lie, it takes a lot of work to be with Rising Star, but at the same time, it is more fun that words can express. You will fall in love with the most adorable children and humble and grateful people. You will learn what unconditional love truly can be.

I can't praise enough. I have never been so happy in my life than my short 3 months i spent in India. I've never been so sure of myself and sure that I was supposed to be someplace. I've never missed being away from a place than I do India. I hope that someday I can return and stay for a much longer time. The video below shows some of my experience in India and some of the people I was lucky to meet and spend time with.

I promise you this: If you volunteer in India this summer, you will never regret it. You will learn to love these people and love this work. And if you're scared, don't worry. I was probably more scared to go than you will be, because I'm a chicken, but once I got there, the love and acceptance and culture were more than my heart could take. I was extremely overwhelmed by the good humanity of our world. Please take a minute and really think about this. Think about what this could do for your life. So instead of planning your trip to Cabo or Hawaii this summer, give a thought to India.

Help End Leprosy.  Volunteer in India this summer for Rising Star Outreach! Follow this link to see how!

Production Photos

This year, Box Elder High School did Phantom of the opera! A high school doing Phantom? I know right? WRONG! I'm not kidding you guys. This show was absolutely amazing! The talent, the work, the production, everything was fantastic. I was able to be involved in so many ways. Not as many as I wanted, but I was able to do costumes.

If you'd like to see more of my phantom photos just click here and visit my Photography blog! Let me know what you think!

Masquerade!

So recently the LGBS Alliance at USU had a Gender Blender Masquerade. My best friend, Chad, invited me to go with him. For those who don't know what a gender blender is, the girls were supposed to dress as guys and guys and girls. There was a drag show and a costume contest. I went with one goal in mind: Win the costume contest. I've always wanted to go to a Masquerade, and while I knew no one was going to take it quite as intensely as I was bound to, I didn't care. I wanted to go full out. So Chad and I went as Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. And of course we won. We had a blast, we looked incredible, and enjoyed the heck out of our night.

Louis and Marie. We went with the very dramatic Theatrical Makeup
 like you'd find in a Moliere play such as Tartuffe or School for
Scandal! 

I love my Chaddy! Isn't he so cute!

Sexy Full Shot

Posing Full shot! As much as I love Chad's Costume..I just love mine!

Like my C3PO pants!? :) I love how they turned out

Waiting for Guffman Much? Ah yes. A penny for your thoughts. 

Chad's got some major Versaille bosoms going.  But I loved his dress
His fabric came from India. I've been saving it for a long time!

Chad's wig. I styled it myself, added the feathers and little bird!
And I did his makeup as well! I loved how it all turned out~

Beautiful Bustled Backside! 

Full shot of the beautiful dress! Isn't he sexy!?

Ah yes! and myself! I have to admit I am quite proud of my
own costume! I couldn't believe how well it turned out! 

I loved my hair and my cravat. but oh my gosh Look at my
adorable little tricornered hat and my moostache! I loved it!

Look at that backside! :)

The full monty! I loved them!

WE WON! HOOORRRAAAYYY!

My current obsessions!

I know i haven't blogged in a while. I don't have much to talk about. I bought a new car. Yay! And I helped out with Phantom at BEHS. But here are the things I am currently obsessed with.

Mmmm. Velocity!!!

Mary Kay's Velocity is now in a Perfume! I love the smell of my facewash, and now I can wear it as a perfume! It's a very light fun smell. More of an Every Day wear perfume than my current one!

    

Wishing I were somehow the one wearing this on stage

The Purple Velvet cape I made for Christine to wear in Box Elder's Production of Phantom of the Opera. She wore this cape in the scene where she goes to the graveyard and sings Wishing you were somehow here again. Michelle did a beautiful job and Brady's lights made it shimmer like you wouldn't believe! The night I made it, I walked around my house in it for a few hours. I'm so happy I get to add this piece to my costume collection!

Oh my sweet potato goodness!

My next obsession is  Ruth's Chris Sweet Potato Casserole! As soon as fall hits, I skip all the pumpkiny goodness and go straight for these! I don't even wait for Thanksgiving! Besides Sweet Potatoes are a vegetable Superstar! Good source of Vitamin A! Great source of dietary fiber not to mention Magnesium, potassium, and Vitamin C! Even when they ARE loaded with Brown Sugar and Pecans! :)

My Lia Sophia Charade Bracelet! This was my first purchase from Lia Sophia and I LOVE IT! I wear it pretty much EVERY day and matches everything I wear! 

Beautiful Gritty cinematography!

Film Noir. I Love love love this genre of film. The cinematography, the lighting, the grittiness of it. I barely even follow the plot. I'm too busy looking at how amazing everything LOOKS! The women are so beautiful and sultry. The men are so cavalier. It's like my Holga made a movie! Sigh! 

One of my favorite of Marisa's transformations

My last recent obsession is a blog called New Dress a Day! I love 98% of this girls' transformations! I've even adapted not one dress but two dresses! I look at this blog every morning after I wake up. It's one of the first things I do when I wake up. She only has two weeks left on her year journey, but I've had a blast following her and trying things myself. In fact I have one of my own that I'll be posting very very very soon! 

Anyway, There's my obsessions as of late! Hope everyone's doing well and getting ready for such a fun time of year!

Birthday for Annie!

 I've been doing the play Annie, and it's crazy because we've had tons of  birthdays. Celeste, Heather, Haylie, and then Phoebe. Phoebe is the adorable girl who is playing Annie in our show. She turned twelve (she gets to go to BEEHIVES!) And she is just such an amazing and talented little girl on stage! Seriously an amazing little Annie! SO CUTE! Not annoying and loud like most Annies. She sits quietly off stage and never protests, takes direction very well, and has an amazing innate sense of stage acting. Anyway, so when it was Phoebe's birthday I asked her parents if I could do her cupcakes.

 I made her Annie Cupcakes!!!!

I was so happy with how these cheery little cupcakes turned out!!!! I was so worried they would look like clowns! I was right to make little peach skin colored frosting and going without a nose.

Little Phoebe loved her adorable cupcakes!

She was so cute and even came over and hugged me and said thank you! I was in Babes in Toyland with Phoebe years ago and she was just a doll then, she's still a doll now.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the cupcakes. I made about 4 dozen and by the time I looked back over at the table all but 5 were gone. (don't worry, those were gone a few minutes later)

Even Erika seemed to enjoy stuffing her face with Annie face cupcakes.

 Daddy Warbucks (Darren Saunders) Even sang a song to a cupcake he mistakenly took for Annie. They were that realistic looking. 

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHOEBE! er...Annie? Er...Whatever! 

Dress Revamp #2

Well When I saw this pretty little ditty at D.I. I was like. WTF! It looked like one of those dresses you see big Tongan women wear. You know? Anyway, I stared at it for a while and I figured out what I wanted to do with it! 

First I removed the little ties on the side then took the side seams in MAJORLY. And then cut them off.

Next, the shoulders HAD to come in. They were way wide. So I added pleats

Next, the sleeves had to come up. They were like 80's long. I wanted them more 40's/50's long. So I turned the hem up and tacked it, making a cuff

Next I added a little vertical gather in the sleeve so it gathered up a bit. 

I also added some darts in the back, and some pleated darts at the waist.

Last thing I did was cut off TONS and hem it up. 

Next I added my Rome Belt, some pearls (my hair looks like that because I was on my way to the theater for the play.) And this was the end result:

A lovely little 40's reminiscent blouse. I kinda want to try wearing it tucked into a pencil skirt as well! I'm actually really pleased with the way it turned out. What do you think?