I'm sure my mom will not like that I posted this video in making a post about why I am grateful for my parents, but it's a funny movie and it gets the point across :) tee hee!
I'm so grateful for my parents. Just like giving plants a good fertilizer to grow and become strong, I was given good parents - when I am going through trials and tests and growing experiences in life, their nourishing examples, advice, and love are what I always fall back on as a source of strength.
When I am home with Mom and Dad, I feel like me again - just being around them reminds me of who I really want to be. Being around them makes me feel at peace, gives me strength, and makes me really homesick when they are gone :(
I love them dearly and treasure every moment that I get to spend with them.
Music has been a major influence on me and has created a large part of who I am today. As a little girl I watched my sisters and mom in awe as they practiced the piano, longing for the day when I could be old enough to take piano lessons. I caught myself gawking at a lady playing the piano once, you know those moments when you catch yourself doing something really socially awkward? That was one of those moments. My face was literally planted on the piano while I watched her and then I realized what I was doing...and I didn't move, cause I really didn't care, I just wanted to watch, in amazement, as her fingers polished the keys.
Finally my day came to take piano lessons....and although it took a while to make sense of the music it was the exciting of it consumed me in a way. Although not so now, I was a very shy kid and learning to express myself through music was like learning a new language that let me speak about the emotions I felt. It was wonderful to have a new way to express myself and was the driving reason behind why I continued to play on my own long after I lost my piano teacher about a year after I had started lessons. I wouldn't get another teacher till my junior year of high school, but I just kept plunking on alone and got acquainted with music in my own way.
My high school years brought opportunities to publicly perform beyond piano lesson performances and was a fulfillment of my desire to share the music I loved with others. It brought on new challenges as it forced me to play without error or risk embarrassment. I had gotten into playing the trumpet as well in the High School band, and although I never became perfect, I was able to make lasting friendships with fellow band members that still continue today, accompanied by many wonderful and hilarious memories. It taught me that music and the preparation and performance of it brings people together in a very unique way.
Additionally, I was given the opportunity to become the Organist at church. Assuming the role with no prior experience in playing the organ came around the same time I assumed the role of Piano Teacher to three young girls, nothing of which I had done before. The organ came easily, and taught me that not only can music evoke emotion, it can be played with such emotion as to allow others to find gospel messages that cannot be found expect through music. Teaching Piano, on the other hand, was a challenge that I found difficult because for me music had always been like a different language for me - and just as it is difficult to explain why someone speaks English the way they do or why they use the words they do, I found it difficult as well to explain what it meant and why it was done. It seemed like I was the one benefiting more from the experience more than the students.
Throughout my teenage years I felt like it was a growing time, where I was able to gain musical skills that I would never be able to forget. Everything I had learn had become a part of me and came easily. Later in life is when I began to reap some of the most rewarding experiences from the blessing of knowing music. I was able to teach eager Filipino girls who to play on cardboard "piano keys" as there was only one piano for them to learn on and wasn't easily accessible. Teaching them was a joyful experience and was easy to do since they were so eager to learn. In college, I was able to participate in Choirs and musical performances that allowed me to meet some of the most inspiring musicians, ranging from conductors, opera singers, teachers and musical therapists.
I was also able to fulfill a childhood dream of somehow being a part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I would spend hours at home when I was little pretending that I was playing for people who had flocked around me from around the world aching to hear me play...ha ha, it's sounds pretty funny, but I imagined it a lot and loved to pretend I was playing along with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Becoming a member of the Bells on Temple Square gave me the opportunity to become a part of them, and now there literally are thousands of people who do flock around wanting to hear us play. It's blessed me with further opportunities to participate with some amazing musicians, allowing me to participate with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Orchestra on Temple Square, Tom Waldron (our conductor), and have training with William Payne, a professor who teaches advanced bell ringing courses. We are also preparing for our Christmas Concert with David Archuleta in December. Most importantly, through this time in the Bells I have come to feel a strong spirit in music, especially working with William Payne who conducted in such a peaceful way, it created strong emotions that could only be felt by playing with thoughtful emotion and a desire to portray those emotions to the listener. It creates a unique opportunity to be a musical missionary :)
For all of these reasons, I am thankful for music!
Here is an email I got today. Mostly I'm posting it on here to keep it fresh in my memory, cause food is fun, especially on your birthday.
In a never-ending search to save money while going out to eat, I discovered a few restaurants that would like to help you celebrate your birthday! I'm liking the free ice cream on your birthday!! If you're married, you can sign up twice – 1 for you and 1 for your husband (as long as you have different email addresses) so you can both get coupons and FREE stuff on our birthdays! Applebees - FREE dessert with your meal Baskin Robbins - FREE ice cream treat Chili’s – FREE chips and queso dip (when you sign up) Cold Stone Creamery - (we LOVE this place!) FREE ice cream treat DQ Blizzard Fan Club – Buy one, get on FREE blizzard for signing up Outback – FREE aussie-tizer for signing up Red Lobster – FREE surprise on your birthday, plus they email you coupons periodically. Red Robin – FREE hamburger on your birthday Starbucks - FREE drink of your choice*To receive a free drink on your birthday, you need to have a Starbucks gift card (Rewards Card), sign up and add your mailing address and date of birth to your Rewards Card member profile and opt in to receive mail from Starbucks. Zaxby’s – FREE Meal Deal
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me: As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on.
Julia Ward Howe wrote the words to the battle hymn of the republic when she awoke in the middle of the night with the words in her head and quickly wrote them down before returning back to bed. The words of this song always stir some emotions for me and I love to hear it. I think the words are especially fitting to honor who Memorial Day is all about, those who died to make us free. I pray that we will all work together to Live to make men free by taking advantage of our freedoms and not letting them be lost.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars take donations for poppies in the days leading up to Memorial Day. The reason poppy's signify Memorial Day is due to John McCrae poem "In Flanders Fields." In the poem, poppies are mentioned because they grew in abundance over the battlefields and graves where war casualties were buried.
I've always been one for trying new things and since gardening to me is such an experimental thing, I like to try out new things in the garden to see how they turn out. Here is my experiment for this year: KOHLRABI...not sure how you cook with it or eat it, but it's apparently really good. You plant it the same time you put your lettuce in. Here is some info I found on it:
"An heirloom vegetable introduced before 1860, kohlrabi is a root vegetable with a bright purple skin and white flesh. The flesh is tender with a mild, cabbage-turnip flavour. Pick when small, golf-ball-sized, as they become fibrous with age. Use cooked or grated raw in salads. Sow early spring or late summer to winter. This is a very hardy vegetable and easy to grow."from greenharvest.com/au
Purslaneon the other hand is another experiment that I'm not sure how I feel about. This is what I've found on it:
"Purslane/Pigweed from Weed to Vegetable: Scientists report that purslane Portulaca oleracea, which is palatable either raw or cooked, is extremely high in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been claimed to reduce the risk of heart disease. It also contains levels of Vitamin E, 6 x higher than spinach. (Reference: Hortideas 10 (2))" from greenharvest.com/au
If you don't recognize it, you should as you begin weeding your garden this year...I know in all the gardens I've had across Utah, this has been a weed in all of them. Who knew it was a better vegetable than Spinach! So if you get a little hungry while weeding your garden, go ahead...I guess...and take a bite out of crime! Tell me what you think!
My sisters, brother in laws, nieces and nephews, bishop, his wife and my friends were able to joing me in getting set-apart as a bell-ringer for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir this week. It was fun to have them there and show them the choir and the tabernacle and introduce them to my director, Tom Waldron. We had a lot of fun. Here is a link to my sisters blog about the evening with pictures and video if you missed it and wished you could have come.
A few months ago, I told the world how much I loved chocolate truffles. Well, the world heard, and this is my ample supply of truffles...it puts the jiggles on my belly and I'm a content lady now!
Once you pop, you really can't stop. I was craving them at work real bad one day and since then I haven't been able to stop. I bought 6 of them the other day cause I couldn't decide which flavor to get, so I got all the ones I wanted. They help me in good ways.
This is my friend Miranda, shes talented and crafty and cool! I like her. So I told her to come to my house and I was inspired!
So this is what came of inspiration. I'm not sure how I feel about it, sometimes I feel like there is a dead bird on my head, but I got a lot of compliments from it, especially from boys, and most especially from boys who like to hunt! My friend wants me to make her one for her wedding with white feathers...so my question is where do I find white feathers that are pretty for a bride to wear in her hear?
Every year, I want so badly to plant my garden using plants that I have grown by seed. The sad thing is that most of my experiments in doing this have ended poorly. I've learned though! In the past I would use dirt from the garden...apparently your baby seedlings need more nutrients than regular dirt, so this year I planted them in seedling starter mix. Also, I've always planted them in egg cartons....which dry up too quickly and make you tend the plants more than you want....this year I spent $4.50 and purchased a plastic container with planters, a bottom for the water to rest in and a lid. I didn't realize the importance of a lid, I always thought the plants needed to breath more than that, but putting a lid on keeps moisture in, meaning you are watering less. Last mistake I've always made is how I was watering the seedlings...by putting them under the sink and getting them wet...this year, as to not disturb the seeds or the dirt, I'm using a spray bottle, getting a fine mist to soak the plants.
Like I said, each year this is an experiment but I'm really keeping my fingers crossed for this year. Also, I'm trying a few new plants: Tomatillo's being one of them! And I'm finally going to start an herb garden for indoors....my pantry's been emptied out of some of the essentials, like oregano, and it's high time I replace them, besides, after looking at the price of good spices, and I'm not talking about the cheapo ones, you can't beat spending a dollar for a packet of seeds that will make plants that will replenish your herb supply on their own!
I planted peas on March 2nd and can you believe that spinach could already have been planted in February! Next week I will be planting spinach along with several different types of lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, broccoli, Kohlrabi (apparently it's delicious and easy to grow...another experiment), and cabbage. I'm crossing my fingers that the house I'm living in doesn't sell....I'd be so sad to plant all of this just to give it all away to the new house owners.
A few years ago, some of you may remember me posting about THIS. It was at one of those a few years ago that I fell in love with a little group called The Bells On Temple Square, a part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I love their little parts in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert and have been to a few of their other concerts, dragging my friends with me :). I think what amazed me more than listening to the music and the bells dinging was watching the people playing the bells - I loved to watch their faces and arm movements, it all seemed so interesting and enjoyable to me. Well, the reason today was so special was because the Conductor, Thomas M Waldron, invited me to participate in their Audition!!!! Auditions are a month and a half long process, which began in January...today was my first time, so I'm making it into the last three weeks of the auditions, not much time to make an impression and I am very much behind the others who have been a part of the process since January. I'd like to stay living in my dream of getting into "The Bells on Temple Square" but reality tells me my odds aren't very high. BUT, I can't stop grinning! I had so much fun, my muscles are sore and I was so happy when I was asked to come back next week after being told in the beginning of the audition that my chances are small. Time will only tell if I will be the next bell ringing super star, but I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed!
Bishop Plaizier: told me a special story about the Shepherds in the christmas story, while serving us hot chocolate in his cozy warm home :)
Jesse: flew in from Arkansas and made the most special christmas I have ever had...he may think he has an idea of how much his time here and his love has meant to me, but I don't think he'll ever really know
Chelsea Noelle Greene: what more can I say...she is a shining star that filled my heart with a little more christmas spirit, just like she always does!
Becca Darling: always helping others out, she helped me get christmas dinner ready, watched her friends little girl all day on christmas and the day after and just carries a happy heart and a peaceful outlook with her everywhere she goes!
Janice Hallaq: I got to kidnap her and have her over for christmas. To add to pretending she was my mom this year, cause I was missing my mom and she was missing her daughter, I let her make the ham gravy :) and it was GOOOD!!!!! I'm licking my lips right now!
Thanks to all the wonderful people that make christmas even more bright!
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