Christmas Jar

I found myself restless tonight and unable to sleep. I lay staring at the ceiling and reviewing the events of the last year. It seems like a lifetime has transpired over these last 12 months. I reflected on cherished and sweet memories of falling in love, dusting off hidden ambitions, saying goodbye to dear ones, facing challenges you felt were beyond yourself and embracing new kindred spirits soon to become lifelong friends. Finally, after accepting I was never going to fall asleep, I brushed off a dusty copy of Christmas Jars by Jason Wright and started reading. It is now the weary hours of the morning and I have finished the book. For the first time this Christmas Season I have felt the pangs of the true spirit of Christmas. The book reminded me of Christmas miracles. Not just Christmas miracles, but the miracles of everyday life. It was not like I forgot, but rather perhaps lost hope in miracles. Sad since I have witnessed so many this year. I was mostly disappointed in myself for losing hope in the greates of all miracles. The healing power of the atonement. I marvel at a Father's love for His children and the sacrifice of His Son. Christ was born, lived and died that others might live. Not just to bring to pass immortality or the resurrection, but that I might "live" now in this very moment.

In my scripture study tonight I noticed a passage that had never caught my eye before. It is in Jacob 2:8. Jacob is addressing the people for the first time since his brother Nephi's death. Really, what would you say? He admonishes that they, the people of Nephi, have come to hear, "... the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul." The word was given to heal the soul. He lived to heal us. Today. Now. This very minute. I have a merciful Father and through His sacrifice of love I am healed, can become clean and whole again. So, in the quiet of this morning, I rejoice. I rejoice in my King, the Prince of Peace and my heart is full. "Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel... Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought, Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls (Alma 26:16. 20)." It has brought to mind the words of a famous Christmas hymn that struck me in Sunday's meetings as never before. They were the words from O' Holy Night, "... long lay the world in sin and error pining, til He appeared and the soul felt it's worth. A thrill of hope. A weary world rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees. Oh hear the angel voices. Oh, night, divine. O night divine." We are no longer a world that need lay in sin and error pining. He did appear and a soul felt it's worth. Mine. I have reason for rejoicing. I love Christmas and finally I have felt it. Perhaps now I can rest a bit. :)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

O' Christmas Tree! O' Christmas Tree!

Tonight I had the fantastic pleasure of participating or rather watching a small town Christmas tradition in Farmington, Utah. They have been sharing this tradition with the folks of Farmington, friends and family for 40 years. They perform a live Nativity the first Monday of December every year. They act out the King James version of the Christmas story intermitent with carols. The play takes place in a small barn off the beaten path on Main Street here in Farmington. It was a beautiful beginning to this years Holiday Season.

Decorating my tree is another treasured part of my Holiday. Cheers to my grandmother who helped me develop a love for Christmas and Christmas trees. My grandma has my favorite tree of all time. All of her children and grandchildren have given her a doll from wherever they served missions in all corners of the earth and she uses them to decorate her Christmas tree. You could spend hours talking with her about the dolls and where they are from. She passed away this year and I won't have the joy of seeing her tree this year, but I always have the memories.

So, now that I have my tree up..... Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Thanks grandma.

Ginger "Snap"

What happens when you pack a room full of kids with a pile of candy and gingerbread on the table?

FUN!!

Or you snap and go just plain crazy

As part of our Thanksgiving tradition we make gingerbread houses and although we were short a few grandkids this year, we had a great time. It always ends up being more work than we anticipate, but we still manage to have a good time. I actually had time to make a house this year. I opted to make a log cabin. It turned out kind of cute considering it was my first gingerbread house.

Camera one...... We're all finished...

Camera two.....

Did you see what's missing besides Nathan's mammoth bicep?

Maybe you should ask Kyle? What you got there Kyle?

You guessed it....... Kyle sneakily sneaked a marshmallow off Jennifer's gingerbread house.

Way to go Kyle! Those Bott jeans run deep. Real deep. He knows how to get the good stuff.

Why Turkey?

I heard on the radio today that the turkey was once considered for the national symbol for America. No offense Ben Franklin, but I am sure glad they chose the bald eagle.

With the feast of good things upon us I have spent some time reflecting on the last year and the good things I am thankful for and some of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

• Family
  
• Forgiveness
  
• Friendship
  
• Life
• The Thanksgiving Day Parade
• Love
  
• Stuffing
• Mercy
• Cutting down Christmas Trees
• Going through the Pre Service Teacher Training course
• Nacho Mama
• Christmas music
• My Mother's strength
  
• Prayer
• Hope
• Kindness
• Gingerbread Houses

As I have reflected over the past year I have come to realize that mine is a life of great blessing. This year has brought many uncharted territory for me and I have moved forward with faith, praying I was making the right choices. Some of those choices brought difficulties and growth, challenges and happiness. It truly has been a time of great joy and some of my deepest of sorrow. I have lost loved ones and close friends have lost loved ones, I chased some dreams and lost some dreams, but in it all I have been blessed to see the hand of the Lord in my life. I have not been left comfortless. In reading President Uchtdorf's talk The Infinite Power of Hope again yesterday I found reassurance that,

"The things we hope in sustain us during our daily walk. They uphold us through trials, temptations, and sorrow. Everyone has experienced discouragement and difficulty. Indeed, there are times when the darkness may seem unbearable. It is in these times that the divine principles of the restored gospel we hope in can uphold us and carry us until, once again, we walk in the light...

We learn to cultivate hope the same way we learn to walk, one step at a time. As we study the scriptures, speak with our Heavenly Father daily, commit to keep the commandments of God, like the Word of Wisdom, and to pay a full tithing, we attain hope. We grow in our ability to “abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost,” as we more perfectly live the gospel.

There may be times when we must make a courageous decision to hope even when everything around us contradicts this hope. Like Father Abraham, we will “against hope [believe] in hope.” Or, as one writer expressed, “in the depth of winter, [we find] within [us] an invincible summer.”

So, this year I am most thankful for hope.

WALL OF FAME - WALL OF SHAME

Holy war! Holy Cow!

Every year we have an office pick on who will win the "Big Game", UTAH or BYU and every year the trash talking gets a little bigger and a little better.

or

I say...

"Who's on the Coug's side. Who? Now is the time to show. I ask it fearlessly. Who's on the Cougs side. Who? We wage no common war, cope with no common foe. The enemy's awake; who's on the Coug's side? Who.... Oooo?"

I AM!!!

GO COUGARS!!!

Top 5 Costume Picks

5 - Mike & Julie Chidester as John McCain & Sarah Palin
4 - Jolene Kremin as "Bonnie" of Bonnie & Clyde... nice gun
3 - Dave Carlson as The Happy Painter on KBYU... love the wig man.
2 - Mandy Christensen as A Goth... it just didn't sit right. Creepy! Really creepy!
1 - Beth Webster as Doll in a box... just plain genius.

"I'm Fifty!"

Halloween always poses a good excuse to be crazy, scarey or psycho and get away with it. This year I struggled with what costume to wear because for me, if it isn't clever it isn't worth it. I was going to go as the crazy tooth fairy, but I couldn't find a white tu-tu, so I settled for Red Riding Hood because that is all I could come up with at the last second. Now... let's be honest how unclever is Red Riding Hood and it is one of those costumes that girls wear that they can still look cute, but be dressed up. Not my style. I really wanted to be Richard Simmons, but I couldn't figure out how to do it modestly and then I found the best red jump suit at the DI and I had it! Sally O'Malley from Saturday Night Live. Not a single person knew who I was, but it was a fun costume because there was some acting involved. Her famous monologue and dance routine is.....

"I'm fifty! Five. O. And I can kick.... stretch.... kick! I'm fifty!"

There is some kicking, stretching and kicking involved. It was a duzie. Check it out!

Progression Scales

Here is the latest on the piano front. I know you were itching to know. I finally have it all sanded, but the bench. I am hoping to get it all stained this weekend. I need to get this finished. I desperately miss playing and I am not very good at having uncompleted projects laying around the house unless you count scrap booking, but who is ever really caught up on scrap booking?

THEN

NOW!

Are you wondering if it will every play again?.... So am I.

Metalmas

Ok, I totally forgot that the only reason I posted the Christmas spot yesterday was because I made the most glorious discovery. A heavy metal Christmas CD. Now before you all start booing.... listen. It is a little irreverant. This I know, but in listening to it I found myself in tears. Not because I was especially moved, but because I couldn't keep from laughing. It was after 12 O'clock, which may have had something to do with it. However, I just listened to it again and it still strikes my funny bone with such force I can't stop smiling. I found it on iTunes. It's called We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year. I hope it brings you love and laughter all through the year. I just found it on Amazon too.

Christmas in the Air

I know. I know. It's not even Halloween yet, but I love Christmas music and I am already on the hunt for my new CD. I purchase a new Christmas CD every year and in my searching I have come across two that I love. Mostly because they have a different sound with mixes of classic songs and their own creations. I thought to myself, "I simply must share."

http://www.castingcrowns.com/music.htm, "Peace On Earth"

and

http://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=4023, "Come Darkness, Come Light 12 Songs for Christmas.Some of my past favorite finds include:

Lifescapes Celtic Christmas


Jewel - Joy: A Holiday Collection


Now the dilemma, which one to buy.... maybe I will just have to get both of them.

"The best and worst humanity offers"

Due to recent events in my life I have developed an overwhelming desire to achieve self discovery. I know. . . you may be thinking, "What on earth is she talking about?" All my life I have had this innate desire to be known and understood. Not just surface feel good stuff, but really known. "How I like my potatoes and what kind of toothpaste I use." (A Mirror Has Two Faces) I have had a personal epiphany that if I want others to understand me, it may be beneficial to understand myself.

In my quest I have been reading every book I can get my hands on to understand how I communicate or how to communicate better, how to connect in relationships, what drives me, how do I make decisions, why to I make the choices I make? Has my past shaped my future? Oooo! Deep questions. I don't know if I have simply frustrated myself more or if I am really making progress in my new path to self discovery.

This is what I have discovered from my most recent read:

"I am a highly complex individual with many extremes. The best and worst humanity has to offer. I have such influential strengths and debilitating limitations." (Dr. Hartman's, The People Code) How do you like them apples? Basically, The People Code is the color code book, aka the Red, Blue, Yellow and White personality test. My core personality is blue, but I have two strong secondary personalities. How do you have more than one personality? Now you know why I am "complex with many extremes".

What personality type are you? Check and see at http://www.thecolorcode.com/

"Sing us a song, you're the pianoman"

I've done it! I have joined the mad, mad world of bloggers. My sister started one in order for family and friends to keep up with the goings on for her and her family. I thought to myself, "that is a good idea". It is fun to read about her cute kids. I don't have any cute kids to blog about, but I'm practically a kid, so I will do my best to be entertaining.

These last few weeks I have been attempting to refinish my piano. "What?" You might be thinking. Well.... I am thinking the same thing now that I have pieces of it strewn from one corner of the garage to the other. Most people start out with small projects when they decide to refinish something, but since when have I ever been known to think small. As my mother would say, "You've got to think big!" So, I have completely stripped down my piano to the bare bones. The keys are sitting in a bucket waiting a new face and the rest is in pieces waiting for some abrasive treatment from your handy sandpaper man. My only hope is that I will remember how to put it back together. Oy! There sure are a lot of pieces inside a piano. I am not so worried about remembering where the pieces go, but I have an awful lot of screws. All different sizes. That will be the test of my genius. I discovered there are not little men running around inside the piano striking strings with mallets whenever you press a key as my childhood mind supposed. Just lots of metal pegs, padded wood and wire.
It is fascinating invention. All the stringed instruments are the genius of a beautiful mind. The piano we are most familiar with, was originally invented by Bartolomeo Christifori, http://en.wikipedia.orgwiki/Piano#Early_history. One of my favorite piano pieces, Christofori's Dream, was composed by David Lantz with this invention in mind. The string family are my favorite instruments. They create harmony and sound that strike the inner workings of my very soul.

Okay enough of that mush and syrup. I just wanted to show how grotesque the inside of my piano looks. I found 63 cents, 10 bobby pins, 5 straight pins, an orange ball and more dust and griminess than I care to expose. I think some kids poored juice and mac & cheese in there just to see what it would do.

I'll keep you "posted" (ah ha ha) on the happenings on the piano front. Until then... TTFN.