Piano Recital

Acadia has had a very busy week!  Today was her piano recital and she did a great job!



She played two songs: I Know That My Redeemer Lives and Jessica's Theme.  Her teacher awarded her with the Teacher's Choice Award for going above and beyond what was expected; Cadi had selected two pieces that were both difficult, especially Jessica's Theme and then she worked really hard to learn them.  We are so pround of her!

Here is her performance:



Good job, Acadia!

*Cadi officially learned Jessica's Theme one year before I did; I was 12 and had been playing for four years when I learned it, but she is 11 and has only been playing for 3.  :)

Dragon Slayer

Last night was Acadia's orchestra concert.  They did a good job!  There were also performances by the Beginning 6th Grade Orchestra (Acadia is in the Advanced 6th Grade Orchestra), the 7th Grade Orchestra, and the 6th Grade Choir.  This was Cadi's group's last piece, called Dragon Slayer:

Happy Day of Your Birth!

After we attended the awesome Primary Activity this weekend, we headed over to the Hills to celebrate some January birthdays, namely: Mary Jane, Chad, and Ryan.  I'm going to stop saying how much fun we have everytime we see them because I know it just starts to sound like a broken record, but I will say that I laughed harder that night than I have in a LONG time!  I had tears streaming down my face and my cheeks hurt so bad... oh man, it was awesome!

First some pics (click to enlarge)...




Present time!




Matthew and Mary Jane gave Ryan a "Sympathy" card, lamenting sore knees, balding spots, and diminished energy levels.  It was pretty funny! 



The kids LOVED the pinata!  Heck, even the big kids did!


We played several games: Uno, Yatzee, Mafia (I was Mafia both rounds and totally knocked off my family! lol), The Game of Things... but these videos were from a new game we tried.  We had to cover our teeth with our lips and took turns going around saying words in funny ways to make everyone else laugh.  If someone showed their teeth, they were out.  Yeah, I was out first every time! lol  I knew I would totally lose at that game! lol  It was hilarious!!!

In this round, we were saying "Marco" and "Polo" and it came down to Sami and Matthew:


This round had me laughing SO HARD!!!  I'm sorry the camera jiggled a bit! lol  We were saying "Wha" and "Bam"  (Wha-BAM!) and it came down to Matthew and Ryan... they sounded like monkeys in a zoo! lol



We ended up staying way later than we planned or should have, but we just couldn't leave; we were having such a good time!

Meeting Super Heroes

On Saturday, the primary children were invited to an activity where they would be meeting super heroes!  As you can imagine, the children were very excited!  They arrived, some dressed as heroes themselves, and anxiously awaited their guests.  As the primary president began their activity, they were interrupted by Moroni rushing in with sword and gold plates in hand:



Acadia took that video - Thank you, Acadia!  Otherwise, you would have only had these photos to look at (click to enlarge):



After Moroni left, the kids split into groups and visited different rooms.  In each room, they found more superheroes:





Helaman is a great story teller!  He told his exciting story about leading the 2,000 stripling warriors.  He used the chairs to show how they tricked the army of the Lamanites.



Lehi and Sariah told the children about having to leave their home and possessions.  Lehi told the kids about his dream and some of the kids (including Rori) were able to see what it would be like to be in total darkness, lost and confused, even a little dizzy, and to try to find the tree on their own.  But then they found how much easier and less scary it was once they grabbed hold of the Iron Rod.



Captain Moroni brought the Title of Liberty and all of the children were able to sign it.  In the picture of Rori, you can see where she wrote "Rori" all by herself, at the bottom near her arm.  After signing the Title of Liberty, each child was given a smaller piece of material to make their own.  The wrote the things that were important to them and what they wanted to stand for.

After visiting each of the rooms, the kids went back to the primary room and found Joseph Smith, Jr. waiting for them!  He told them about how the Angel Moroni visited him and told him about the gold plates which had been hidden.  After 4 years, Joseph Smith was finally ready to recieve them:



Of course, once again, some of the kids helped to unbury the plates.  Then Joseph, too, bore special witness of the importance of them.

At the very end of the activity, all of the heroes hung around to get pictures taken with the children:



Also, here are a few more pictures that Acadia took with her camera during the activity...



This was such a great activity!!!  All of the kids loved it and the adults did, too! ;)

(I apologize for the poor quality of my photos.  Turns out, Ryan borrowed my camera for work, changed the setting to one of the lowest settings, and didn't change it back!  Grrr.... Note to self, always check the settings before taking pics that you'll consider important and valuable.  :( )

Friends

Sesame Street talked about friends today. When it was over, Rori came to me and said, "I have friends. You have friends, too." I said, "Yes, it's nice to have friends." She answered, "Yes, it's lovely."

Totally made me smile. :)

Soul Searching

Have you ever started talking (or writing) about something that you were upset about and were fully prepared to rant about only to find that as you went on, you realized that what you thought was the issue, wasn't even the issue, making you look inside and wonder what was really bothering you and if in fact, it was YOU that had the problem, not the person or thing you thought you were upset at/about?

Yeah. Me too.

Sometimes I think that's a good thing.

In mourning.

Yesterday, in Relief Society, we talked about sacrifice. One of the things we talked about sacrificing is our pride.

check.

Growing up, I didn't care about sports. I still don't care about most sports. But I LOVE football. I really do. I love watching the game, I love hard hits, I love amazing plays... it's not even about the guys in tight pants anymore (which was the best part about going to high school football games back before I cared about the actual game). ;)
I especially love Patriots football. I really, really, do. I think we've got great players. I think Belichick is a genius and Brady is brilliant. I love that we don't have one or two guys that we always go to for great plays. We have so many great guys, we use them all. Our defense is young, but they are learning and growing and doing pretty dang good in the meantime. The Patriots are a really good, solid team.

Except for yesterday. There was no fire, no excitement, they were going through the motions but no one brought their heart. It wasn't just one person - I don't even think it was all Brady's fault this time. Balls were dropped, defenders were let through the line, stupid violations were made... it was a mess. I hate it when we lose. I hate it even more when we lose to the Jets (come on, ANYONE but the Jets!!! ... Okay, or the Giants cause I still hold a grudge there, too. lol). But I hate it most when we lose and deserved it. And yesterday, based on how they were playing, they totally deserved to lose. I think that's what bugs me the the most.

Hey, I showed up. I was here, cheering, wearing my red, white, and blue... excited, hopeful, talking smack... but it was as if I cared more than they did. I know that can't be true, but they sure played like it is. They let me down. Big time. I'm mad... I'm hurt... I'm seriously disappointed.

Watching from the sidelines.

Sometimes time and distance changes things.

I love my family and I miss interacting with them on a daily basis like I was able to before Ryan and I moved 14 years ago. At first, it was really hard for me, I was so homesick! For years, I wanted to move back so we could be near them again. But time has lessened that feeling. I still love and miss them, but I don't feel homesick anymore. I'm happy where I am and I don't need to move back in order to feel like I'm home. I feel like this is my home and it's where I want to be.

My relationships with my family members have changed because of this. And that makes me sad. I don't feel as close to them, or they to me. I really wish they knew my girls better and had better relationships with them. When I go home to visit, I feel like an outsider. Not that anyone treats me like that - just that I don't know the history behind things, or inside jokes, or what is "the usual".

And then there are the times when something happens and I hear the recounting of the story, but of course, I am not there, so I don't really understand all of it. And I realize that. In some ways, it's easier during those times. I am 600 miles away from the drama, stress, emotions, etc. so when I step away from the e-mail or hang up the phone, I can go on with my daily life and try not to think about what is going on. But that just makes me more of an outsider, and who wants to feel that way about family?

I don't know the answers. I watch from the sidelines because I'm not involved and I wasn't there, so I can't really say anything. My thoughts or feelings hardly count because I wasn't there, I don't know. So, I wait to see how things turn out. It's kind of a miserable feeling. I want to say, "Can't we all just get along?" But I know full well that if I was there, it wouldn't be that simple.

It's hard to know that people are having a hard time and there isn't anything you can do about it. It's hard to sit from the sidelines and just watch things happen to your family that you have no control or say over. I know that I don't know exactly what happened or what it's like, so I know I can't fully judge either way and I can't really say what I think because what I think is only a 600 mile away point of view based on only what I've heard. Because I wasn't there and don't know the full story, I try not to judge or draw conclusions of my own. I try to give the benefit of the doubt. But I know that the ones there can't do that and they do have to make choices on how to handle it and I certainly can't tell them what choice to make because, of course, I wasn't there - I don't know. I also realize that my feelings and opinions are going to be a little different simply because of the distance/seperation between me and everyone else - and that they might not be what's right for those who are actually there and IN it.

Some of my husband's extended family don't speak to each other. There are siblings that haven't spoken in years. And when he is in the area, he has to see them seperately because they refuse to be anywhere that the others are. Sometimes they even get mad if a family member goes to visit and sees the others, even if they also go to see them, too. It's not just inconvenient for those of us who are there to visit family, it's also just plain sad. I never thought something like that would ever happen to my family - and I don't know that it will - I really hope it won't, but I can kind of see now how it could start.

I want the best for each of my siblings and for my family as a whole. I am the oldest and when I did still live at home, most of my siblings were still kids. I naturally had more of an influence (for better or worse, lol) back then. Now, they are all adults and even if I was there, they are capable of, and responsible for, making their own decisions. I don't want to make anyone's decisions for them but it does leave me feeling kind of helpless. I hope that whatever changes need to be made, are made. And whatever needs to be forgiven, is forgiven. Ultimately, I hope and pray that there is growth for everyone and that as everyone moves forward, it is done in a way that makes our family stronger. From here, I feel like hoping and praying is all I can do. :S

Drip, drip, drip, and one other random thing.

•We were forecasted a few days ago to have a big snow storm today. Yeah, it's 51 degrees out right now. lol But they had revised the original forecast and ended up quite accurate by the time the storm finally hit. We had some freezing rain last night but now it is all rain, rain, rain. The kids are disappointed that it's not a snow day. I'm not. lol

•While running the dishwasher yesterday, I noticed the water backing up in the sink. It never went down. When I ran the garbage disposal, thinking maybe it was full, water came shooting out of the drain behind the washing machine. Then, it began leaking from the pipe joints under the kitchen sink, too. So odd. Ryan checked it out after work and is pretty sure there is a clog about 18-20 feet out. He doesn't have the time to fix it until Saturday so I'm living without kitchen or laundry water for the next few days. I did just pour some Drano Max Gel down, just in case it might help - heck, it couldn't hurt. But most likely we'll be eating a lot of frozen meals and take out for the rest of the week.

•Rori continues to love swimming lessons. She's signed up for another session after this one and will probably continue until the end of the school year. I'm enjoying visiting with other moms while we wait. On Monday, I found out that one of the moms I talk to most is LDS, too. :)

•I don't know what this last one has to do with anything 'dripping', but yesterday (prior to the water problems), my friend and I rearranged some of my furniture. We now have the fireplace in our family room and it feels so cozy! I love it! :)

Rori-isms

Rori is always saying the cutest things! Here are a few samples from yesterday:

Rori and Cadi were playing on the Wii, going through the characters they had made. They came upon a prince that Rori created. Cadi asked if they could delete him but Rori said, "No, I need him. Because I am going to marry him."

Then later, we were talking about the Word of Wisdom for FHE. We were listing things that were healthy and things that were unhealthy. The first thing Rori said about unhealthy things was, "Something unhealthy is being dead." She also said, "Lazy helps your body be bad."

At the end of the FHE lesson, Rori said, "That's a wonderful story."

John 14:27

We had great High Council speakers in church yesterday. One of them told of two experiences he had, both involving a great deal of work-related stress. The first was about a business trip that was supposed to be kind of a break, but ended up adding to his stress even more. By the time he got home, he just wanted to relax, so he spent the entire weekend laying around watching movies. He did go to church, but didn't do anything productive, didn't even help his wife with the kids or home at all. Come Monday morning, he was just as stressed as he had been at the beginning of the weekend. The same problems were still there and he was nowhere closer in solving them.

The second situation starts at the end of a very stressful work day. He was assigned to accompany the youth at the temple that night for baptisms and after his bad day at work, he really didn't feel like attending the temple. He wanted to back out but knew that he couldn't. (He was the only bishopric member available to go.) So, he went. As soon as he entered the baptismal font with the youth, a peace came over him and he had a wonderful temple experience. On the way home, he felt great! And he began to receive impressions about how to handle his work situation. The next day, he applied those impressions and things improved.

John 14:27, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The way that the world tells us to seek peace is nothing compared to how the Lord gives peace. The Lord's way invites revelation and strengthens us to be able to deal with the things that weigh on us. Seek the Lord's peace when feeling overwhelmed, troubled, frightened, or discouraged. Seek the Lord's peace through prayer, scripture study, church and temple attendance, service, etc.

This message was such a great reminder for me. I am at times easily overwhelmed with the responsibilities that I have, many of which are church related. But the answer is to seek the Lord. I am so grateful for the Gospel and the many ways that it blesses and enriches my life. Even setting aside such things as eternal salvation, the blessings that come from living the gospel daily are worth it, alone. The peace that I feel when I'm living it, the revelation I'm entitled to, the joy I feel - all are blessings that can come from no other source.

I am sincerely and truly grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve the Lord in my calling. Though it is a very challenging and demanding calling, it has also been full of some of the most beautiful, spiritual experiences of my life. I have grown so much these past 3 years. I have felt great joy as I have served. And in case anyone is wondering now, I'm not done yet! ;) I'm looking forward to entering our 4th year as the Relief Society presidency in our ward, and I am excited and grateful to continue feeling the Lord's peace as my schedule is filled with His work. Following even the best suggestions that the world would tell me to do with my time could never bring the joys and blessings that the Lord gives me as I do His will. :)

Consolation

After not getting her braces off and instead getting another bracket put on, and also having to say good-bye as we took Puma, the leapard gecko back to school, Cadi received good news today:

We get to keep Puma over Summer Vacation!!!

We are all happy about this, hopefully Puma is, too. I'm sure he is... call me crazy, but he did seem to like hanging out with us. ;)

"Disappointment"

The word disappointment could be defined as:

Going to the orthodontist thinking you would be getting your braces off only to find instead that you'd be getting one more bracket put on.

Poor Cadi. :( So now, instead of having braces on just her four front teeth, she has them on five. Last month they had indicated that she could be getting them off this visit. I guess the key word there was "could".

Needless to say, it's a mashed potatoes night.

An unwritten goal is merely a wish.

I know I listed some of my goals a couple days ago, but I did it half-heartedly and since then I've been thinking about the quote I used in this post's title. Throwing out some random goals without any details or a plan is hardly a "written goal".

Part of my problem is that I tend to want to be defiant when it comes to setting New Year's Resolutions. Why is this ONE day THE day when we all decide to change? We should be evaluating ourselves and setting new goals for improvement constantly. (Not that I'm especially good at that, either.) But per my own reasoning, there is no reason NOT to set goals on New Years Day, so I usually do. But it's always somewhat reluctantly and half-hearted, as was posted two days ago. I apologize, that was a poor excuse for a "these are my goals" post. New Year's Day was just not the right day for me to truly set my goals... but apparently today is. Call me ornery, stubborn, or rebellious - I guess I just don't want to make "New Year's Resolutions" so subconciously, I refuse to set my goals properly on New Year's Day.

However, now that New Year's Day is past, I have taken time to lay out my goals for this year and I am "resolving" to improve as I strive to accomplish them:

1.Get healthy. Just like every other person. I know, really original. Ryan thinks we should have target numbers, but I don't work that way. My body doesn't respond to exercise and diet change in the same way his does. It can be discouraging if I am looking for a magic number. However, when I set new patterns of behavior as a goal, I can be satisfied with my achievement of it, even if I don't get to a 'magic number'. And so, here is what I 'resolve':

•This week I'm focusing on getting back to my water. I haven't been drinking as much as I should, so that's my main goal this week. Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day.

•Get back to the gym. My schedule right now is very challenging, however, I do have two days a week that I have no excuse for not getting to the gym. So that's what I'm requiring of myself - 2 in gym workouts/week.

•Use my workout dvds/wii programs at home. So, my scheule doesn't allow me to go to the gym everyday, but I do have enough flexibility to do an at home workout most of the days that I don't make it to the gym. In addition to the 2 in gym workouts, I also resolve to work out at least 2 times at home/week.

•Heathy eating. We were doing great at this but somehow we've really taken a step (or two - or more) backwards. So I am recommitting us to a healthier way of eating. More whole grains, vegetables and fruits; less sugar, sodium, and fat.

2.Get organized. I have so many places that have just turned into storage for clutter. Enough. I'm ready to get rid of it. I want cleaner closets, empty corners, organized drawers, etc. I haven't devised my entire plan yet, but I want to select a certain area each week to focus on. In addition, I want to just take a trash bag (or donation bag) with me throughout the house frequently to find items we really don't need/want/use anymore.

3.Increase Spirituality. I have two primary goals in this area:

•Read the next Sunday School and Relief Society lessons during the afternoon hours after church on Sunday. Ponder their messages throughout the week. Go to church the following week prepared to participate in the class discussion.

•Study the scriptures prayerfully each day. It's too easy to just get into the habit of reading without pondering. I really want to focus on studying the scriptures, not just reading them.

4.Read the Silmarillion with Ryan. I do want to, and he's been bugging me to, it's not an easy read though, and that's why I've not accomplished this yet. But this year, I will!

5.Record more songs on my piano. I don't take enough time to practice piano but I want to. I don't know how many songs I want to record this year, but I do know that I have 3 that I am currently working on that I could probably record within another month or two, so that's where I'll start.

6.Manage money and plan properly so we can take the vacations we want to this year. A couple of years ago we made plans for a big vacation this year. Then we were scammed out of a lot of money which we had been planning on using to fund most of our vacation. We have since made adjustments and we are on track to still afford the trip, but that will take continued effort and sacrifice. We've also added a couple more smaller trips to the calendar this year, which will require even more diligence in our money management as well as planning and time management.

7.Finally, I resolve not to be 100% successful. I just know I won't be. I will do alright, then I'll start to slack, or even quit altogether. I am resolving now that when that happens I will remember that I never meant to be perfect at any of this, so it's okay to just start over, wherever I'm at, no matter what the day is on the calendar.

1-1-11

Happy New Year!

The date indicates a time for new beginnings, starting over, or at least a time for some major "firsts". I don't have any grand plans for that though. I'm pretty happy with my life and don't need any huge changes. But of course there is still plenty of room for improvement and I am setting goals, looking to make positive changes, and hopeful for a great 2011. Among my goals this year are:

•Record more songs on my piano

•Get back to exercising regularly

•Daily scripture study - not just reading, but studying

•Decluttering (closets, my bedroom, desk drawers, etc.)

What are some of you goals?