High Five for Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you've had a great week.  Mine has been busy, as you can probably tell by the number of posts I haven't written.  Although today when I tried to think about what I've been busy doing, I can't really think of anything specific.  I had lunch with a friend.  I went to Institute on Monday.  And I think the rest of the week I've just been driving kids around.  Seriously, from 2:30 yesterday until 7:30 last night, all I did was drive.  To the school, from the school, home for five minutes, to lessons and baseball practice and a resume building session for Flowering Buttercup.   
FB did a lot of the actual driving, but until she gets her license, I still have to sit in the car with her, so it's not a lot different than me driving myself. 

It was busy, but there were great things this week...lots of them.

1.  Flat Stanley came to our house on Tuesday all the way from Utah!  Mack's cousin, Ethan sent him to hang out with us for a couple of days.  He leaves tomorrow to go back, but first, we have to make sure he sees an Allen High School FOOTBALL game.  Look out Stanley, I'm pretty sure you've never experienced anything like this!   

2.  There was a BLACK LIGHT PEP RALLY at the high school this morning.  Can you even see that picture?  Probably not, but if you close your eyes and imagine "freaking awesome" it'll be almost like you were there.

3.  I wasn't at the pep rally this morning, but I know that it was "freaking awesome" and I have that picture up there because I got a text from Flowering Buttercup before I even got home from dropping her off at school this morning.  I happened to be listening to some YW music in the van, and I might have already been a little teary eyed because I get like that when I hear the youth sing anything, and so getting this text just about sent me right over the edge. What 16 year old sits next to her friends at a high school pep rally and thinks "Oh my gosh!  I've got to tell my mom about this!!"  Maybe they all do that...I really don't know.  But I'm pretty darn thankful for my 16 year old, who thinks about me a lot, who doesn't mind that the whole world says she looks and acts just like me, and who likes to share everything with me via iStuff.  

4.  Here's the song of the week and the one I was listening to on the way home from the high school this morning.

It will go with next year's youth theme "Stand Ye in Holy Places and Be Not Moved."  I love this theme.  I love this song by Jenny Phillips.  (I love the entire CD, in fact.)  

It's a little early to be listening to this already, but...

5.  I have spent a lot of time here this week...

Last week, I was feeling restless.  Do you ever have that feeling?...like you know you're supposed to be doing something, but you're not sure what??  I was doing stuff everyday, but not feeling fulfilled at the end of the day.  So I prayed for a project.  And guess what!  Within a couple of days, the Stake Music Director emailed and asked if I would play some Christmas music for the annual Nativity event that the Stake hosts every year.  And the YW Pres asked me to work with the girls on a song to sing for Sacrament.  Whew!  I knew that would happen.  When I pray for stuff, I typically get immediate, clear, distinctly personal answers. I've had that experience enough times to know that when I ask for something, I need to "buckle up" because something will come.

I realized as I was practicing the YW music that we've run out of weeks to sing in Sacrament meeting.  From now until January, every Sunday is booked with ward choir and Christmas music.  And then I thought how awesome it would be for the girls to start learning the songs for the new theme so that they're ready in January to sing for New Beginnings and/or Sacrament meeting.  (Are you feeling the rising enthusiasm train that totally took off while I was sitting at the piano???)  I immediately ran upstairs, Googled the new Jenny Phillips 2013 music, listened to it, ordered the CD, downloaded the sheet music, played the songs, and emailed the YW Pres with my brilliant idea.  (Um...when I have an enthusiasm train, I have no control...it just takes me wherever it wants me to go.)  The YW Pres agreed that it was brilliant, but she also wanted me to continue to plan on teaching the 2012 music to the girls because she wants them to sing it for the YWIE program (Young Women in Excellence) on November 14.  So, my days and weeks from now through January will be spent sitting at the piano, practicing all that music...but I can't think of a better place to spend the next three months!  

This has been a great week.  And there are more great ones coming...I can't wait for the holidays that are around the corner, more fall weather, more football games, breaks from school, and road trips!!  Have a great weekend!!