It's January of 2015! Whaaaat?

The New Year started off taking care of the aftermath of a flood that happened New Year's Eve day.  An overhead sprinkler next to the band room exploded and both the band and choir rooms flooded.  There was at least an inch of standing water in my music library.  Thankfully, none of my music was damaged because of the incredibly quick response of my amazing administration.  When I came back from break, everything from my office outside of it.  The janitors were AWESOME and helped us get everything back in to place in no time at all. Some band music was damaged and replaced, but probably only a few hundred dollars worth.  It really was a miracle. 

January is a big month for our family, as both my sisters celebrate their birthdays! For Anna's birthday on January 10th, I got a peek into her college life.  She and her roommates threw an enormous "Roaring Twenties" birthday party.  So many people came dressed up to match the theme.  Christina and I found ourselves a bit old- especially considering my roaring twenties are now past me- so we dropped in once or twice and mostly stayed holed up in the condo having dinner with Jer, Scotty, Christian and Chelsey.  I was so proud of Anna for being such a great hostess with the mostest.

Tina and Jer brought Scotty up one Saturday so I could watch him while they went to the temple.  This kid is growing up so fast, and learning SO MUCH.  He can throw and (sort of) catch a ball, he is saying lots of words, and he's the hippest toddler on the block- check out his outfit! He loves to crawl into our laps and have books read to him.  He says, "ho ho ho" whenever he sees a picture of Santa Claus.  He does baby signs, especially sorry, please, and all done.  If he gets excited and hits, we tell him to be soft and he drags his little hand "softly" across the face of the person he hit.  It's so cute.

I also got to have another "girls night" sleepover with cousin Nicole! We visited Scotty and she read him a book.  We also helped babysit for stake conference and got milkshakes.

For Christina's 27th birthday, we had a family dinner consisting of one of Christina's favorites meals, Stauffer's lasagna! My mom made Tina's favorite buttermilk chocolate cake (sans the discontinued rainbow chip frosting...so sad).  We also went to the outlets for Tina to pick out her birthday present from my parents, a puffy winter vest.  Scotty had the time of his life running around outside in between stores. Again, please appreciate the way his mommy dresses him. 

 My dad and his brothers own my Grandad's property.  AND THEY HAVE HORSES! And two llamas.  It's like my dad's dream come true.  And all the kids have a bit of cowboy and girl running through our veins, thanks to a mom who was raised on a farm and a dad who lived every summer at his grandparents' ranch.  I had a great time brushing and walking Annie. I am known as the only Houston kid who doesn't love animals, but I have a special love for horses.  Check out that brush-- crazy! I wouldn't like that thing on my hair, but Annie loved it. Christina got a chance to ride her a couple days later. Can't wait for my turn!

I started my very last graduate school class.  Below is a sample of the kind of excitement that happens for 2.5 hours every Thursday night.  I have to admit, I actually am quite fascinated by music theory and I am enjoying this class.  It goes really fast, though, so I can't afford not to pay attention for even a minute.  And that's hard for me.  But...after this, I finish my project over the summer and I'm done! As of December 2015, I will have finished my master's after a mere 3.5 years (ha ha).

Well, I did it. I got my hair colored after years of abstaining.  And I am LOVING IT.  I really shouldn't have started...because now I won't be able to stop.

For New Beginnings, we are introducing the mutual theme this year of embarking in the service of God.  I am in charge of the frames we will send home with each girl. Gilary made the darling picture we are putting inside each one.  I find it therapeutic to come home from work and school and work on a few frames at a time. I'll be kind of sad when they are all finished!

Lately...

 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL(S)

I was one of the biggest skeptics when we decided to do Sweeney Todd.  I'll admit it.  But it turned out to be a really fun experience! The music of Steven Sondheim is absolutely crazy and brilliant all at the same time.  Changes in key signature and time signature abound, but incredibly beautiful melodies (such as, "I Feel You Joanna") are heart melting.  

We felt so cool in our Sweeney gear...plus, it was the most AMAZING excuse to wears sweats to school!

Nathan is my hero!

Best accompanist out there.

Mikell, our fearless director, and Erin, our amazing choreographer

This is Hughes, the musical mascot.

I wanted to sit in the pit during the last performance, so Emily got me an instrument to "play" and I pretended to play during some of the numbers.  I felt slightly guilty and rebellious but it was really amusing to those of us in the pit. At least one person thought I could really play the trumpet!

Here we are modeling our "red mufflers," a thank you gift from Mikell

Closing night!

Here is John, our technical director. Love him and his students!

I had the chance to drive down with Celestial and delightful baby Beau to Duchesne, close to her home town, to see my cousin Emmy play Ms. Dorothy in "Thoroughly Modern Millie."  She was darling! Her voice is phenomenal! #soproud

NEW HOUSE

Michelle and I moved and we now have a ginormous kitchen!!!

I bought couches from a consignment shop.  We now have carpet in our living room, which we are both stoked about.  This picture features the music wreath Christina made me!

HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE SEASON

Michelle is my biggest supporter- she comes to EVERY SINGLE choir concert I give at Highland and to every Temple Square performance.  I don't know how she does it! It really means so much to me to always have at least one person there to lean on.  We always go out afterwards and "debrief." What an amazing friend and roommate! I am so lucky. 

Our caroling social put on by the choir council was a smashing success! There were probably 80-90 kids there and TONS of food and hot chocolate.  There were several students who aren't even choir, which makes this annual activity is a great recruiting tool for us!

We sang at the City Creek mall in front of the giant Christmas tree.  I didn't make Christmas cards to send out, but this is my Christmas card picture. So Merry Christmas, everyone!

Love this kid with all my heart!

I had an amazing experience at our holiday concert at Highland this year (notice our amazing new shell!).  This is what I wrote on my Facebook after the event: "Time to get sentimental. The holidays can be a lonely time when you live far from your loved ones and you do not yet have a little family of your own. Today, as I looked at my choir students singing Candlelight Carol together (including at least 6 dear alumni), I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for every sweet face. I felt like the richest woman in the world to know each kid by name and to associate with them daily. They bring me such joy and because of them, I will never be alone."

Longest Life Update in the History of Ever

Well, two months have come and gone. I have never gone so long without writing on my blog.  I think I'm in a blog writer's funk.  Who knows if this will persist. But it's 4:42 in the morning and I can't sleep.  My blog is my memory album, among other things, so I cannot desist for family history's sake.  I'm doing it for the children.

So here we go...

Preston's Mission Farewell

I sang, "Come Thou Fount" at my cousin Preston's mission farewell in October.  I got really sick with the whole cold situation for 24 hours this fall, which happened to be exactly the day I was singing. Sweet, right? But it wasn't the end of the world. It was still a special experience for me and I am so excited for darling Preston! Sheralyn and Les have raised such great boys! When I walked in to their church, I had to do a double take when I saw Sister Olason-Tourney sitting at the organ.  She and Leonard are in my cousin's ward! It felt like I was right back home in the Goleta Valley ward in Santa Barbara!

I'm obsessed with him.

We all went shopping the week before together at Downeast outfitters during Priesthood session and showed up wearing our spoils the next Sunday.

The Sweet Sounds of Jazz

Thanks to incredible parents and students, our annual fall dessert fundraiser was a huge success. This year's theme was very close to my heart...JAZZ! Some favorite songs from the program included "Linus and Lucy", "Bumblebee" (performed original by The Real Group), and "Moonriver."  Also, we had student soloists who absolutely rocked the house- one kid sang "Fly me to the Moon" and he brought down the house.  We combined on the last sang with the Chamber Orchestra for Ellington's, "Come Sunday."  That was a little rough due to me being anxious and making some significant conducting errors, but hopefully it wasn't as noticeable to everyone else!

I have the most amazing choir council.  My president's mom made me this beautiful Hawaiian lei that I will keep forever.

Fall Carnival

The stake YM/YW are in charge of a fall carnival every year the week before Halloween.  It's a huge community event.  All of the wards set up booths for the kids and we have corn dogs and prizes kids can redeem with ticket.  I decided to be economical with my costume this year and use the queen bee outfits Traci made us for Girls Camp!

This beanie killed me.

Best ever twins costumes!

Paige and Grant's 4th Birthday!

A couple of our mini besties had a birthday! We just love Paigey and Grant!

Halloween

After only 2 hours (!!!) I finally got my nails the way I wanted them for Halloween week. Please note the spider web.

We went to Grandma's for her annual Halloween dinner!

Is this woman a doll or what?!

Are you kidding me with that bow tie?!

Michelle and I saw "Thriller" with some of her friends!

I switched it up for Halloween day at Highland by being "Diva Queen Bee" so I'd have an excuse to wear the outrageous purple fake eyelashes my brother put in my stocking last year!

I think my students were a little surprised that I actually dressed up.  I normally don't enjoy dressing up that much, but this year was kind of fun!

Young Women in Excellence: My Personal Pathway to the Temple

Our final stake YW activity of the year turned out beautifully.  I can take zero credit for the amazing decorations, but I had to share pictures of them to remember for the future.  Traci was in charge of the decor, with a lot of help from Janeen.

Traci asked leaders to display their wedding and/or temple dresses.

Each girl got a little handkerchief dress with a poem.

I was in charge of the year end slideshow and the special musical number.  Preparing for the musical number was an incredible experience.  I found a simple arrangement of, "I Love to See the Temple" with a descant.  We got about 13 girls from different wards to come to practice the Sunday before.  During that rehearsal, I felt prompted to share with the girls my testimony of the temple.  I told them, "It will be ten years this June since I went through the temple for the first time. I never thought I would be alone after ten years of going to the temple.  But it's because of the temple that it's okay that I am alone." I then talked about how the temple has supported me, comforted me, and strengthened me.  As a presidency, we talked a lot about making sure the girls realize that, while marriage is one of our most treasured eternal goals, everyone's pathway to the temple is unique. Receiving temple endowments is a very sacred, personal experience and it should be our focus, whether married or single.  As a mid-single YW leader, I feel like sharing my own experience is maybe the most valuable thing I can contribute and possibly the only thing a young woman who goes through a similar experience will remember.  I want to help girls to realize that happiness is living the gospel, plain and simple.And if I can do that...this trial of my faith will be of great worth to me. 

I love, admire, and look up to these women so much.

November Randoms

Allie and Chris are some of Michelle's and my best friends and neighbors. We have dinner together, go to Yogurtland, and watch Cosby every Tuesday.  We've been going strong for at least a year now.  Allie made soup the other week and provided the most incredible gluten-free bread I have ever eaten.

Lane generously donated his time to come perform at our mattress fundraiser!

...along with many students. It was a fun day and we raised $5500 total as a dance, choir, and instrumental department.

My dear Nicole and I had a sleepover.  Nicole is one of the most Christlike, beautiful people I have ever known.  She makes everyone she is with feel like a million bucks.  We are so lucky to have her in our family!

Jessame's sister invited Michelle and I to a "Favorite Things" party.  We each bring three of something we absolutely love under $10 (it's supposed to be three of the same thing but I couldn't help getting three different designs).  I am a stationary freak for those who don't know.  Paper Source has the cutest cards.  Michelle got me some for Christmas two years ago and I absolutely love them.  Can't wait to see what I exchange these for at the party!

After 2.5 years in my cute little apartment, our landlady sold the condo and we had to find a new place to live.  We find a darling little place that happens to be in my exact stake! I don't know how that happened, but it did. And I am so, so grateful.  We have to furnish it, though (we got a slamming deal at our last place).  Michelle told me about this consignment shop on State Street. A. Mazing.  I found this couch/love seat set which seriously looked new for $625.  I made an impulsive decision to buy it after only 20 minutes of walking in to the store. Michelle bought our kitchen table after only about 10 minutes! But I don't think either one of us regret it at all.  I am going back there for all my furniture needs!  I've never had my very own couch before. I kind of feel like an adult or something.