.beyond.measure.

The love I have for this group is well....'Beyond Measure'.

Being apart of something like this is a dream of mine.

I feel like I have known these people for the longest time. 

Feeling like I belong somewhere is worth while.

Being with these people doing what we love feels right.

Ladies and gents...BYU brings to you their first coed acapella group...

'BEYOND MEASURE'

.dreams.come.true.

After not making it past the first cut at BYU Young Ambassador auditions, I was mad. I felt stuck. Stuck with nowhere to go. For those of you who know me will know that performing is my life. It's what I live for. It's my passion. I then made a promise to myself that I will audition again and again. A few weeks later I felt like I needed to text my friend Laina asking about Noteworthy auditions. **Noteworthy is an all girl acapella group at BYU.** Auditions weren't until fall so that gave me 4 months to prepare. A few minutes after this conversation she sent me a picture of a flyer advertising a new acapella group that was forming at BYU. A coed group. Auditions? 6 days. As soon as I received that picture I jumped on my laptop looking for song ideas for my audition. Every day after that I practiced and practiced. A few days before the audition I got the flu followed by a sinus infection. (my life!!!!!!) The day before the audition I woke up with no voice. I panicked. I did everything I could to get my voice back. Voice rest. Nasty drinks. Steamy showers. I auditioned the next day and did surprisingly well considering the fact that I had no voice. I got a phone call that night asking to come to call backs. I cried. CALL BACKS! 2 words I wanted to hear! 

Call backs came and I found myself discouraged. I walked into the room and found more people there than anticipated. I panicked. Then I heard some of the girls sing. I panicked...again. I had no voice. And with no voice came no confidence. "Well..I'm screwed!" I said to myself. My mom then texted me at the perfect moment. "You will be great. You are great! Lets have a joint prayer right now. Love you!" Man my mom is good! I then knew that I needed to say a prayer. I paced around in the back of the room while others were singing. It was a very simple yet important prayer. I sang and gave it my all. Still, not much of a voice to show. I found myself starting to get a little emotional. Tearing up inside. I wanted to leave. But I knew that this was my chance. That I needed to be there. So I stayed and finished my call back. 

Leaving the call back was discouraging and heart breaking. I didn't think I had any chance. I found myself giving up and accepting the fact that I was "stuck". Later that evening, I was with my sister Jessica and I looked at my phone and had a missed call and voicemail. Long story short, I was asked to go back to the audition room the next morning for a meeting with the 2013-2014 BYU Coed Acapella Group. I made it! I couldn't believe it. I immediately said a prayer of thanks to my Heavenly Father. I finally feel apart of something. I am truly blessed. This is a dream of mine. This is silly but after watching the movie Pitch Perfect, I had this dream to be apart of a group like that. Now I am. It has all happened so fast. I love it.

.god.is.good.

I know you have all seen bunches of posts on Facebook about a historical evening the Pinnock family witnessed last night but I just have to blog about it. Without knowing, cousins, Josh and Stephen put their mission papers in on the same day. We had planned on watching them open their calls on March 6th since that was the day we expected their calls to come....however....they didn't arrive. Josh and Stephen, being the amazing boys they are, didn't mind one bit. Stephen would tell me, "It's okay! I've been called and it will come eventually. That's all that matters. I'm not worried one bit!" What a guy! March 7th comes around and I receive a text from my mom: "It came!!" And as luck would have it, Josh's came too. Welp...saddle up! Time for lives to change in just a sentence or two! 

We all gathered at my Uncle Jon and Aunt Laura's house for this moment.  A few minutes before they opened their calls I told Jon that they had to go to the same country...they just had to. Not the same mission...but we were hoping at least the same country. In past conversations our family had talked about predictions as to where we thought Stephen would go. My mom was convinced he was going to the Philippines. I thought either New York or Italy. Jess thought Italy...only because she WANTED him to go there (she is our little Italian). We gathered around these two boys (okay men...) and anticipated to hear the assignment of where they were to serve the Lord for the next 2 years. Stephen, being the oldest of the 2, went first. 

"Dear Elder Pinnock,

You have been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the ITALY, MILAN mission!!"

I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. Is my little brother seriously going to his DREAM MISSION!? Is he going where I predicted?! Is he even old enough to do this?! 

After a lot of cheers, shouts and tears...it was Josh's turn. We again...anticipated.

"Dear Elder Pinnock,

You have been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the ITALY, MILAN mission!!"

Again...even louder cheers, shouts and tears! I thought he was joking, but Josh put his hand to his mouth and immediately started sobbing. This was no joke. This was real. This was happening. This was amazing.

The 2 elders embraced in a long, much needed, hug. They just held each other. Laughed. Cried. Hugged. These 2 brothers from 2 mothers have been called to 1 mission. The Italy, Milan mission. Departing on the SAME day, July 24, 2013.

God is good. He is real....and well...funny. 

I still can't believe this moment happened. I can't believe that my little brother and his side kick of 18 years are old enough to go on missions....let alone, the same mission! Good speed Elders Pinnock!

My Aunt Laura asked me to make a video of this moment and so here it is!

.fortune.favors.the.brave.

Last night Trent and I decided to try out a new Chinese restaurant. If you know me and Trent...we LOVE trying new things. And this was totally worth it. Along with the bill came fortune cookies. (My favorite) My fortune read the following:

Trent and I just looked at each other and started laughing! How crazy?! I was so excited and happy to get a fortune that was soon going to be coming true. INDIA!!! May 14,  2013 will be the start of something pretty amazing and I cannot wait!

**p.s. that night I had a dream that I was packing up for India and I woke up so excited and happy!**

.life.is.complete.

I had an amazing opportunity to go up to Sundance and help make food for a dinner/concert up at the film festival. I was hoping to meet someone famous...preferably Ryan Gosling or Bradley Cooper...and get a picture with them. I have never really met anyone famous so I wasn't sure how I would handle that kind of situation. Would I be so starstruck that I wouldn't be able to talk? Would it feel normal? I didn't know what to expect. Well an hour or so had gone by and I was ready to go home. A headache was coming and I just needed to get to bed. This older guys comes up to me and says, "Harry Potter is downstairs."...I say, "Harry Potter?...Like Daniel Radcliffe?" As luck would have it, Daniel Radcliffe was downstairs. He was taking pictures with some fans so I decided to get one myself. He asked my name and shook my hand. He told me his name was Daniel *DUH*. He was really nice and charming. I feel like I held myself together pretty well. Now I'm not a Harry Potter fanatic. I will be the first to admit that. I do love the movies though. It was on my bucket list to meet someone extremely famous and welp...there ya have it! I had the honor to hug and meet THE Daniel Radcliffe! He is a lot shorter than I imagined him to be and there was no scar on his forehead. But he was nice!

 The rest of the night was amazing. I met some incredible people and was able to reconnect with some old friends. I loved helping my friend Jory out in the kitchen. He is an INCREDIBLE cook so it was fun to watch him an action and to be apart of his pasta masterpiece. I loved the concert and the amazing talent that was shared. This is a night I will never forget. Thank you Jory and cousin Kim for making it possible! 

Me with Jory (chef) and my new friend Seffy!

Music was amazing!

Me and new friend Seffy! We bonded over frosting cupcakes! Love her!

               

Disney On Ice Take 3!

I have Disney Entertainment auditions in t-minus 18 days....
What better way to get excited for the magic than go to Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3?!
This is me and Aubrey's THIRD time going and it was just as magical as the first time.
We wrote "ANDY" on the bottom of one of our cowboy boots :)
Hey! You're never too old too go to such a magical event!

What is a magical event without some food to start out with?
I received notice from Aubrey the other day that she had never been to TGI Friday's.
WHAT?!?!
TGI's is my all time favorite restaurant!
Trent's family and mine would always go there growing up.
We headed over to TGI's.
After some debating from Aubrey on what to get, we were ready to order.
Linda was our waitress.
She is awesome!
She called Aubrey, "Love".
We loved Linda.
She got a good tip :)

We drove out to Energy Solution's Arena.
Blasting music and jamming was a must.
We got to our seats. We were in the upper bowl to start out with.
At intermission we were able to snag some seats on the lower bowl.
They were awesome!
Trent went out to "make a phone call"
Came back and threw 2 Bullseye stuffed animals at us.
Presents!
He is such a good friend!
We held them on our laps and enjoyed the second half of Toy Story 3 on ice!
I loved acting like a child and saying "BOOOOO" when Lotso came out!
Don't worry....I wasn't the only one in the arena.

Ahhh the magic of Disney.
Such a memorable night.
I will never get sick of Disney on Ice.
Thank you Trent for providing the tickets!
Thank you Linda for serving us amazing food!
Thank you Aubrey for wearing your Woody backpack and making us giggle!
and.....thank you Walt Disney for providing the magic!

Now get to me Orlando!!

Day of Blessings...

"Where much is given...much is required."

I love this saying....especially today. 

Today at work, I was stressing about money and not working enough to make it. 

Synergy is costing me and my parents a lot of money.

So work has been more stressful that usual.

Today, I received an email from D. Kim Clayton.

Director of Clayton Productions.

Long story short...blessings were received.

An international foundation donated a great deal of money towards Synergy.

$1,300 is now off of my back.

I have been working hard to pay my parents back.

They have been so great to help me pay for Synergy this year, 

but inside...I want to pay for it all myself.

I WILL pay for it all myself.

As I read that email, I gasped and cupped my hand over my mouth.

Phone calls were made to family and friends.

Jessica even called me right after receiving the email just to catch up.

She has this sisterly sense.

I couldn't help but cry as I read the email over and over again.

This is a huge blessing for not only me, but for every single member of Synergy.

Because I received such an amazing donation, it makes me want to push even harder.

It makes me want to put my whole heart and soul into Synergy 2012.

Rehearsals are 6 hours long.

They are tiring and hard at times.

It is all worth it.

I've done this before.

I'll do it again.

I express a large amount of gratitude to that foundation who was so kind and generous to help us all out.

I have found that by living your life in such a way that draws you unto Christ, keeps you close to the spirit and just being obedient, that you will receive multiple blessings.

It makes the hard things in life so worth living for.

Tears were shed.

Smiles were present.

And hugs were given. (thank you Aubrey)

I am a happy and grateful girl.

I am blessed and filled with joy.

THANK YOU.

P.S. Nothing is better than coming home from work to a huge hug from your roommate and having her say, "I just love you Ann!" I love YOU Aubrey! I have the best roommate ever!

A Dream That You Wish...

I love having dreams.
I love working hard in life in order to reach those dreams.
It is hard when you are so excited for a dream of yours...
but not everyone else is.
When that happens, I push harder.
I focus on what ANNIE wants.
Not what others want.
This is what I want.
This is what I've worked my whole life for.
My dream.
All of that sweat, blood, tears, injuries and money will go towards this.
My dream.
It will take a lot of hard work to reach.
My dream.

11-11-11...11:11

Today I am grateful for 2 things...

#1: 11-11-11!!!! MAKE A WISH! Facebook is loaded with statuses about this. I love how exciting people get about it! I know I do! We all made wishes at work today the second the clock hit 11:11. Me and Aubrey are going to stay up late to witness another 11:11!! I never fail to make a wish when the clock is 11:11...today is more special though... 11/11/11...11:11!! LOVE IT!!

#2: In honor of Veteran's Day, I want to express my gratitude to those who are serving our country! I only know a few men and women who are so courageous to stand up and fight for America. Adam Green is one of them. His wife, Sara Stevens Green is my friend Spencer's sister. I was able to play the piano as Sara walked down the aisle at their wedding. So I have a special place for Adam and Sara in my heart. I am so grateful for America and the freedom in which we all get to enjoy.