Crazy Christmas Time!

My month of December has been completely insane!! And the best part is, I loved every minute of it. Actually, my life outside of work during December has been completely insane. Right now at work, we are in a down time. There really isn't too much to do at work. It is kind of odd that my "relaxation" time is at work, and then when I get done with work, I'm struggling to even get the basic necessities of life done.
Just last week, I was involved in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. The guest artists this year were Nathan Gunn and Jane Seymore. Before this concert I knew who Jane Seymore was. I was an avid Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman watcher growing up. We always watched Dr. Quinn (for me and Ashley) and then Walker Texas Ranger (for Zac) back to back. Those were actually some of the few tv shows I watched growing up. Anyway, I had no clue who Nathan Gunn was prior to this concert. So, when I found out who the guest artists were, I YouTube'd him. Amazing voice!!!! There is also a fun video of him doing something with Kristen Chenowith. He is an opera/broadway star. He is most famous for playing Lancelot in Camelot. And after this Christmas concert, I can honestly say he has such a great voice, and he is very good looking (although at least 20 years older than me and married).
The theme for this years concert was more of a Renaissance theme. We had Jane Seymore tell the story of Good King Wenseslas, with the dancer costumes looking like they stepped out of Victorian England. Nathan Gunn also sang a fantastic version of Twas the Night Before Christmas, as well as Winter Wonderland and other "snow" songs. (I think Winter Wonderland was my favorite thing he sang.)Here is a picture of me and a girl from my ward, Jen Davies, who is the event coordinator for the Choir. We are on stage in front of one of many Christmas trees set up. The set was beautiful!
During the week of the Christmas Concert, my life consisted of going to work for 8 hours, then going directly to Temple Square, and hopefully picking up something to eat on the way (or buying a Lunchable from the vending machine), and rehearsing or performing until 11 pm, then doing the same thing over again. Despite how busy I was, and I didn't have much of a life that week, I was extremely happy. I LOVE being in the Orchestra at Temple Square! Even though I do not get paid, and it brings added stress to my life, I feel that the Lord blesses me with happiness and contentment in my life just by doing it. When people ask me what I am doing with my music degree and I tell them that the only thing I do I don't get paid for, they are surprised that I am ok with it. However, even if I don't get paid in a monetary way, the Lord makes up for it twice as much in spiritual blessings. There are also some non-monetary perks as well. Things such as free parking at Temple Square any time, free trips to the east coast to tour with them, people think I am just that much cooler and think their social status is raised because they know me (flattering, but not too important to me), and an invitation to a really awesome, super fancy Christmas party every year, with the Prophet, and legendary former members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir organization in attendance.
So, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Party was last night. Such a great experience. We were encouraged to bring a date, so I asked a really good friend of mine from my ward, Phil Sanders, to go with me. I bought a new, red dress for the occasion, and got all dressed up. I've got to admit, I looked pretty good. The party was held at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake. We had a extremely tasty dinner, and a program of recognizing prominent members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir organization, a musical number from the percussion section, and singing Silent Night with the Choir. As I mentioned above, in my ward, I am not the only one in the Choir organization. We have a member of the choir, as well as the event coordinator, Jen. We ran into Jen there, and took pictures with her, her date and another member of the Orchestra that they know. It was a fantastic evening!
Now that my crazy December schedule is almost over, I can focus more on the true meaning of Christmas. The whole purpose of Christmas is to focus on Christ, and what he did for each of us. I am so very grateful for my Savior who came to this earth in the most humble of circumstances, and died for me so that I can one day return to live with my Heavenly Father. What a great gift he has given to everyone. I am thankful each day for the gift of the Atonement, and the love that my Savior and Heavenly Father show to me on a daily basis. I am truly blessed in my life!

Thanksgiving Time!!

I think right now would be a great time to post about things that I am thankful for, even though I am almost a week late for Thanksgiving. First and foremost, I am so very grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. My testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ has shaped me into the person I am more than anything else in life. Today at work we had a diversity training. Part of that training was reflecting on our personal values. They had signs such as family, nationality, race, religion, age, gender, etc. posted around the room. Then they asked a series of questions and had us go stand by the sign that most reflects our answer. One of the questions that was posed is "What are you most proud of in your life?" I went and stood by the religion sign. I wouldn't say I was "proud" of my religion, but I do know that I am who I am today because of it. And I am very pleased with who I am today, and who I have become.
Another thing that I am most grateful for is my family. Although I do not see them as much as I used to when I was living in Logan, I love them. I think I appreciate them more living further away. I actually feel that my relationship with my family has become better and stronger due to the fact that I am not always around. My family, especially my parents, have taught me and shaped who I am as well. I am grateful for wonderful parents who were very dedicated to teaching me values and standards that I have adopted as my own in my adult years.
I am grateful for technology. On Thanksgiving, I was able to Skype with my sister, Ashley, who lives in Florida. I have not seen her for over a year. During that time that I haven't seen her, she had a baby. So, because technology is advanced as it is, I was able to meet my beautiful neice over Skype. I am grateful we have the technology to stay in contact with those people who mean the most to us, even though they are so very far away.
I am grateful for my talent in playing the bass, and the opportunity I have to be in the Orchestra on Temple Square. I am grateful my parents insisted on making me practice my bass and piano before playing with friends. I am grateful that they sacrificed so much time and money for private lessons, competitions and tours that have given me so many opportunities that I would not have had if I did not have the talent of playing the bass. I feel so blessed to be part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir organization. On a regular basis, I get to interact with individuals who are just famous names to others. On a weekly basis, I have the opportunity to perform with the choir, and to feel the spirit each time I do so.
I am grateful for my job. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who guided me to this job, and it just landed in my lap.
I am grateful for friends. Both those who I see and interact with on a regular basis, as well as those who I don't see very often, but because we have such a strong, valued friendship, we still consider each other friends. But when I do see those friends, it is like we never parted ways.
Most of all, I am grateful for the gift of life. Life is good, and although I have challenges more often than I would like, I would not change my life for anyone else's. Heavenly Father knows me, and who I am, and what will make me happy, and what will make me grow the most.
So there you have. A very condensed list of what I am grateful for. If I had more time, this list would go on and on. I feel like I am a very blessed person.

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween is an interesting holiday. I have always had fun with Halloween, but lately it hasn't been as momentous of an event as it has in the past. When I was younger, maybe around 5, I got really excited to go trick or treating with my brother and sister. When we got home, we dumped all our candy on the floor and compared and traded. It was fun, but my brother, Zac, kept on stealing mine and my sister, Ashley's candy. We whined and complained to mom, and what did mom do? She grounded us from trick or treating. So from the time that I was about 7 until 12, I did not go trick or treating. Instead, my mom bought us the same amount of candy, and we stayed at home and watched a "family friendly" Halloween movie. It was fun, but sad that I missed out on the fun of trick or treating.
When I turned 12, my mom finally lifted that ban on trick or treating as long as she didn't have to take me, so I went with my friends, and continued to do so all through middle school. I guess I was just making up for those years that I didn't go.
College time came around, and Halloween was a big time because of the annual Halloween Concert that we had each year. This Halloween Concert at BYU-Idaho has been a tradition for many, many years, and I feel so honored to have been part of that tradition. There is a theme associated with each concert. For example, my freshman year we had an Aladdin theme, and played Sheherezade. Sophomore year there was a magic theme and played the Firebird Suite and Harry Potter music. We were divided into "houses," the Scratch and Claw (violins/violas), the Huff and Puff (brass), the Sticks and Winds (pretty self expanitory) and the Grip the Floor (cello/bass). This year was my favorite Halloween concert during my time at BYU-Idaho. The next year we had a space theme, and played the Planets by Holst, and Star Wars music. My final year, we had a pirate theme and played something about the sea by Benjamin Britton and Pirates of the Caribbean. Those years were good memories of Halloween that will always stay with me.
After college, Halloween was a time to get together with friends, have a party, and stay up all night. However, last year, I went to a friends house. There were 3 people at that party and we just watched a movie and handed out candy to trick or treaters. The same thing happened this year with Halloween. I bailed out of the very large party (Tri-stake dance at the institute is not my kind of thing. Too many people, and I hate dances) and instead had 2 awesome girls over to watch the Disney Ichabod Crane.
Now that I am older, my ideal way to spend Halloween is with a small group of friends or family, handing out candy to the adorable trick or treaters (this is my favorite part) and even put on a fun, family friendly Halloween movie. Even though I was mad at my mom when I was youger when she grounded us from trick or treating, the way she had us spend Halloween is the way that I want to continue to spend Halloween. Although, I think I will let my kids trick or treat. :)

Pumpkin Party!!

So, this week has been extremely crazy!! Last night, my roommate and I hosted a pumpkin party. We made dinner in a pumpkin, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin cake. Everyone else was supposed to bring something pumpkiny to eat. We had a great turnout, and it was a much needed break from my crazy week. It has been my church callings that have made my week super crazy. I am the FHE coordinator in my ward, and I am trying to stay afloat in that calling. On Monday, we had a ward activity of going to the corn maze, and getting that organized was rather stressful, but lots of people showed up and had a great time. Also, we have a concert for the Orchestra at Temple Square this week, so I have been busy preparing for that concert. It used to be that I dreaded these concerts due to the fact that I lived an hour and a half away from Salt Lake. Now that I live here, it is really enjoyable going to rehearsals knowing I only have a 15 minute drive back home.
So...with my crazy week, socializing was a much needed break. Since moving to Salt Lake, I have been trying to tweak my social skills, and be more outgoing. I believe I have succeeded in this, but maybe not to the extent I would like. I was doing such a great job socializing, especially with those of the male gender. Howver, I would one day like to be asked out on a date by said guys, but for some reason, that is one part of my social life that has not changed since moving here. I keep on wondering what is wrong with me, or if I need to be more flirty, more forward, less forward, not as outgoing? I don't know. But one conclusion that I have come to is that the right guy for me is going to think that my amount of flirtyness, my amount of forwardness, my amount of cuteness will be just perfect for him. So I need to stop worrying about getting asked out on dates, and just enjoy getting to know new people. I just need to constantly tell myself that, especially when there are guys that I am interested in, but seem to be totally oblivious to the fact that I want them to ask me out. I need to not worry about it, and put it in the hands of the Lord. But that doesn't mean I will quit trying, right? As President Uchtdorf said in his talk to the Relief Society, "Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don't close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day's ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life."
So, even if I am frustrated that guys do not seem to get the clue that I would love to go out on dates with them, I can still enjoy the wonderful life that I have been blessed with, that is filled with so many activities of things I enjoy. Life is good.

Life

So much for being a great blogger. One post in the past year. Lately I have been interested in family history, and part of that interest includes having a desire to record my personal family history, so I am really going to try to keep up with this blog thing, even if people don't read it.
Over the past year, my life has changed significantly. Looking back at the events that made these life changes happen is really interesting. Things such as new friendships, a serious relationship, tour with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, a roommate getting married, moving out of my house, changing jobs, moving to Salt Lake, etc. I can sufficiently say that my life really has been crazy. A year ago, if I would have known I would be where I am now, I would have thought it impossible. All I can say is that I know that the Lord is intimately involved in my life. He know what is best for me, and what will make me learn and grow in the ways that I need to reach my full potential. Heavenly Father has definately guided my steps in life, and I know He will continue to do so.
My goal is to keep up with this blog, to post current thoughts and changes in my life, as well as attempt to address all that has happened in the past year. I may make blogging my new lunch time activity, just like I am attempting to make family history my new Sunday activity. I hope I can succeed.