unforgettable

today i attended a press conference for the mormon tabernacle choir featuring natalie cole and david mccullough.

it was incredible.

to see my favorite moment of the morning, click below.

unforgettable.
it truly was.

baby, it's cold outside

life has never been more crazy.

all of my time is currently being eaten up by:

the forgotten carols.
solving ticket problems.
coordinating the signing for the mormon tabernacle choir -
featuring natalie cole and david mccullough.
figuring out what to get brans for christmas.
organizing my house.
playing the organ - yup, new calling.
dealing with 2am phone calls for brans to go plow snow.
trying to stay sane.

but more importantly,

trying to stay warm.

mm hmm. that is the temperature gauge in my car.
and yes, it does say 4 degrees. four degrees!

baby, it's cold outside!

thankful

this year, i have a lot fo be thankful for.
more than ever it seems.

branson. my parents. my siblings. my in-laws. the power of prayer. tithing blessings. the opportuniy to fast for a good cause... or several. my testimony. missionaries. good health. skilled hands. priesthood blessings from my husband. favorable circumstances i find myself in. the opportunity to develop my talents. my great friends. extended family. the generosity of others. food. my job. the people i work with. my piano. being able to cook. scriptures. temples. reassurance that everything will always be alright. our home. the ability to express creativity. plus a billion more...

all contributing factors as to why
this is the best time of the year -
my favorite holiday:
thanksgiving.

i hope that thanksgiving treats you as well as it does me.
and that you have many things to truly be grateful for.

happy thanksgiving.

pie face

today my baby sister turned seven.
gosh, that's hard to believe.
i remember the day she was born.
coincidentally [or not] it was the same day that i first officially failed a test in school. but now, that's not the point here, is it...

pie-fee...
she's such a cute little girl.
she's spunky and sassy, but sweet and sensitive.
i love her.

why do i call her pie face? well, because that's her name, of course! the week she was born, my parents, grandparents, neighbors, ward members and all manner of -ites referred to her as:

such a cutie pie
what a sweetie pie
and all manner of -pies

so tca$h and i started calling her pie.
and then i called her pie face.
and it stuck.

and now lots of people call her pie face.
gee, i feel like such a trend-setter.
[correction: i'm not really]

i find it mind boggling that:

in one year she'll be baptized
branson has known her since she was 4
someday she won't remember life before i was married
she is the smartest of my siblings
[seriously - the girl could get on the internet before she could talk.
and she could read before she could walk.
i'm pretty sure i'm only exaggerating on the later part of this,
and still, only slightly]

and so, i write a simple ode to the babe of the fam...
the youngest... the girl who completed our family:

pief,
[said pie-fff]
i'm glad you're in my life
you never cause me strife
you're cute as a button
and sweet as a muffin
i could eat you like stuffin'
[but i won't]
today you turn seven
sent straight from heaven
to my bread you are leaven
[don't question my rhyme - it's totally legit, yo]
i hope your birthday
is as sweet as a gourmet
[a good one - like at the bellagio]
because i love you - hooray!

happy birthday pie face.

*and just for the record,
yes, i have every intention of calling her pie face for the rest of her life. i see no need to refer to her as anything else. it's worked for seven years so far, and by george, i'll use it for another 87. she's my little pie face. and she always will be.

spinning

i feel like i'm in the eye of a tornado.everything swirling around me, making me dizzy.

but while i'm spinning and spinning
with seemingly no end in sight,
i've realized a few things:

hard work does pay off... eventually.
there is always a bright side.
i have the most in-tune and amazing siblings.
[seriously, folks, they're incredible.]
sacrificing to help someone else is totally worth it.
i need to de-clutter my life.
it isn't always bad news.
crying is genetic.
sometimes you just have to take a step back.
purple has involuntarily become my favorite color.
[green, i sill love you. green and purple, both favorites]
my mom has perfect faith.
i own way too many unnecessary things.
great music is a rare commodity in 2009.
i just plain suck at exercising.
[but i'm determined to get better at it]
sometimes the thought doesn't count.
miller's creamy honey is undoubtedly the best.
catching up with friends can be completely awkward.
i take too many things for granted.
you really can't judge a book by it's cover.
[or a person, for that matter]
i truly enjoy being helpful.

and so much more.
some i knew before.
some i thought i knew, but just believed.
and some... so entirely new and mind-blowing -

making me spin even faster.

november

life was crazy in the month of october.
between:

being sick
catching up on work
rearranging a few rooms at our house
hosting a family party
more catching up on work
and balancing our weekends
with football, baseball and cleaning

the month sort of flew by.

and now, here we are;
the beginning of a new month.
one of my favorites, no less.

thanksgiving
football
decorating our house for the holidays
making pies
cutting down our own christmas tree
wearing scarves
and donning my adorable new purple mittens
sitting by [one of] our [many] fireplace[s]
making hot chocolate with my new lovely teakettle
christmas music on the radio


it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

recap

quick recap:

conference=awesome.
spent time with the larson family - visiting from CA.
braden's birthday as well as jenee's
a quick trip to vegas
no not for the byu vs unlv game, unfortunately,
for a larson cousin's wedding-
which was lovely by the way.
had a delightful time at serendipity -
making up for the colossal failure 6 months ago.
a late night drive saturday
to be back for church duties sunday at 9am.
started rearranging our house... again.
leaves changed colors; fall is totally in the air.
busy at work
an awesome shout out to a project i helped with
on a very popular and inspiring blog.
yes, i do feel special.

but now, unfortunately, i am sick.

s
i
c
k.

and i'm totally bummed about it. i can't breathe real well, i sound like i have the black lung, and i'm pretty sure my internal temperature is 500 degrees celsius. my eyes are constantly watering - i'm afraid i might drown.

so i've got a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup
boiling on the stove,
a hot cup of spiced cider in my hand,
and i'm decked out in sweats, fuzzy socks, scarves and a hat.
i'm sure it's days like this when branson's attraction to me is surely tested...

now, if you'll excuse me... i'm off to sleep away this sickness.

brady

today my youngest brother's 12th birthday.

braden... the baby boy is 12. a young man. he's old enough to not be a little boy anymore. (though in my eyes he will be forever a little boy.)

i'm totally freaked out about this. it makes me feel slightly ancient.

i wish i had more time to write about my fifth brother... but today i worked from 7:30am until, well, now. so a sufficient recollection of my favorite things about braden will be coming along shortly.

but for now...

happy birthday brade! i love you!

and now i'm off to sleep to dream about the heavenly chocolate cake i am going to make braden on sunday afternoon.

an extra hour

i am in desperate need of some extra time.

seriously, folks... Desperate. with a capital d.

its been a super busy year (and it's only september... oh boy.) with weddings, work and family parties galore. not to mention remodeling parts of our house, birthday celebrations and just trying to keep up with life.

i must admit the keeping up with life part has been mildly neglected at times... i have dishes and laundry to prove it. you'd think that two people can't generate that many clothes or dishes in a week. but i just can't seem to catch up. i like to blame it on the fact that i'm at work for 9-10 hours everyday and then come home and make dinner. and then there's just not enough time. some nights i teach piano lessons. some nights we have plans to go out. but most nights, i'm just tired.

dead. beat. tired.

lame excuse? perhaps. blah, blah, everyone is busy... yeah i know. but seriously. i think i could enter a contest. and probably land in the top 5. depending on the time of year, maybe the top 3.

and i'm starting to realize that maybe i have a problem with being too eager at times. and maybe... i said maybe... overestimating my capabilities. regarding the first, as mentioned before, i really love helping people. a lot. i love feeling like i've done some good and accomplishing something. and even better when that accomplishment benefits someone else. so any chance i get, i jump (sometimes literally) to help. however, sometimes, i probably take on too much. i let my ego get the best of me and i am convinced that i can do it... because, why can't i? i don't like being told that i can't do something. so i try, and try. and sometimes try some more until i've aced the talent at an adequate, though not perfect, level of proficiency. so i stretch myself until i can't handle any more. and then i strech some more and take on more responsibilities. because i just can.

but enough of that. because what it boils down to is that i just don't have enought time to be good at everything. time...
time. time. time. time. time.

i just need a few more hours every day. just a few less hours that i need to sleep... which brings me to my nest tangent: in high school, i had insomnia. i survived with minimal sleep every night. sometimes i would get 2 hours of sleep. sometimes i would get less. on a really good night, i'd get 4 full hours of sleep. but i had so much energy and always felt productive. probably because i did so many things at night with the time most people spend sleeping. i would read - sometimes a whole book in one night. (cough cough harry potter cough cough) i would write songs, listen to talks, do homework, exercise - so many things. its amazing what you can do when you don't sleep. but i've found that the older i get, and maybe the more "grown up" i become, the more sleep i need. not get. need. i need to have 7-8 hours of sleep. my body just won't wake up until i've reached that minimum. i try to wake up... but it's just so hard. so i've resorted to going to bed early. earlier than i even had to be home for curfew in high school. and let me tell you - that's pretty early. i'm like an old woman. i have arithritis, i can tell when the weather is going to change by the ache in my joints, and i go to bed early.

i swear i'm only in my twenties. promise.

my point is, that i need just an extra hour or two. even 60 minutes that don't just fly on by.

sixty minutes.
there are so many things that can be done in sixty minutes.
one load of laundry from start to finish.
wash and dry and put away all the dishes from dinner.
an excellent cardio workout.
watching an episode of one of the following:

the west wing
psych
alias
house
fringe
arrested development
and a few others

reading a good portion of a great book
taking a walk

oh, the possibilities!

but alas... there are only 24 hours in a day. jack bauer has drilled that into our heads more times than one. seven, to be precise.

i digress. i need to figure out how to manage my time better. maybe that will make my busy schedule ... not... so... busy...?

who am i kidding?

still, i'm desperate for an extra hour...

rainbow

this was the view from my porch
when i got home from work tonight

i live in a beautiful place.