Happy

This song has sure been popular in our house this week.  

I'm not really into the Oscars, so we missed the show on Sunday.  But I did catch some of the highlights and loved this cute performance.  I had no idea until this week that that song was from Despicable Me 2.  Loved that movie!

Current music is way off my radar lately, but most of the stuff I accidentally hear after Savannah has been in the van isn't exactly uplifting.  It's just loud.  And annoyingly repetitive.  

What a nice change to have peppy, contagious music that makes you...well, happy!  

Passion

I read a blog post about this a few weeks ago...  

And then I saw this on Instagram yesterday…

I don't know why I'm always surprised when those repetitions happen in my life.  They happen all the time.  I should be used to them by now.  That's how Heavenly Father gets my attention, by putting things in my line of sight multiple times so that I cannot possibly ignore them.  I love this one.  Seeing it twice in just the past few weeks has made me more aware of the passions in my life.  

Do you know what I'm passionate about?  Music.  I love it.  I have always loved listening to it.   I don't have a favorite genre or style.  I just like anything that reaches me.  You know, the kind that makes you stop and listen, that makes you remember something, or that inspires you to do something.  Sometimes it's the lyrics.  Sometimes it's the voice.  Sometimes it's the instrument.  I hear music everywhere.  Even when it's completely silent, there's always a song in my head.  Always.  (Right now, it's that "Say Something I'm Giving Up on You."  Oh, I love that song.)

But as much as I love listening to music, that's not the real passion for me.  My passion is making music.  I love to play the piano and I love to sing.  

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a singer.  Specifically, Marie Osmond or Karen Carpenter.  I sang at the top of my lungs, all by myself in my room with the door closed.  In a family where musical talent was abundant and effortless, you would have thought that any natural talent I had would have thrived, but I didn't let it.  I was intimidated by my parents' beautiful voices and in awe at the way extended family members could come over and pick up ukuleles and guitars and burst into song.  Everyone in my family sang.  Even my sweet, humble, inauspicious 80 year old grandmother, had the most beautiful alto voice I've ever heard.  And when the mood struck her, she added harmony and layers to the music that stunned us all.  There was always singing at my house, but I rarely, if ever, participated in it.  I loved sitting in the middle of it, but never could bring myself to contribute.  Somehow, I talked myself into thinking that I wasn't in the same league as all those great singers in my family, so I never tried singing with them.  Somehow, I convinced myself that the risk was too great.  What if I was terrible?  Then what?  

My current family sings as naturally and beautifully as the family I grew up in.  In fact, Craig and I met in our high school choir and I was instantly drawn to his deep, bass voice.  But even as the matriarch of this family, and even though I know that I must be at least partially responsible for their musical talent, I still have a hard time mustering up enough confidence to sing so that I can be heard.  I'm much happier tucked safely into a small group, or better yet, a massive choir, like DMCO.  As long as I'm not the only one singing a part and my voice is never completely identifiable, I'll sing until the cows come home.  

Someone told me years ago that I needed to stop worrying about what other people think and just sing.  (OK, a few million people may have told me that same thing.)  I know that my greatest challenge with this particular talent I've been blessed with is having the confidence to use it.  

This passion isn't random.  It's been around my entire life.  And it isn't without purpose.  I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to do something with it.  And I'm pretty sure that if I've been given the passion, I've also been given the ability.  

DMCO started again last night.  The music is more challenging this time.  There are more choir members.  The directors have higher expectations.  And yet, I can sit through a two hour intense rehearsal of mostly sight reading, and not even notice that the time has gone by.  I could have stayed for another two hours last night.  I am invigorated and energized in the time I spend there.  I leave those rehearsals wanting to turn the music up in the car and sing all the way home. 

After two-hour rehearsals week after week for months, and then signing up to do it all over again, I have more confidence in my talent.  My sight reading is better.  My range has increased.  And my voice is just a little bit better than it was before.  That happens when you practice a thing, or exercise a body part, or use a talent…things magnify and you can't help but be better at them.  I still don't know what I'm supposed to do with this passion.  Maybe DMCO is it.  I most certainly love it there, and I love being numbered among that giant group of musicians who can move heaven and earth with it's amazing sound.   Maybe a solo career like Marie Osmond's isn't in my future, but just being an integral part of a really great choir? Maybe I'm just supposed to have enough confidence to sing so that my kids remember hearing my voice?  Whatever it is, I'm grateful for yet another opportunity to take a few more steps toward this passion and magnify this talent.  

Listen to this incredible arrangement of How Great Thou Art that we're singing this season…it's in the background until the end, but what the directors are saying is pretty amazing, too.  

Busy Weeks

I think we have managed to cram every possible thing into the last 10 days!  (which is why the blogging has been sporadic lately and the pictures are non existent.  I didn't even have time to remember to bring my camera anywhere, much less take the thing out and use it.  Thank goodness for iPhones!)

After all the girls' concerts and shows, and after Craig returned from his December traveling (which we like to call the December World Tour around here) there was the annual ward Christmas party on Friday night.  I made a couple of things for the potluck dinner.  I sang a peppy, fun Christmas song in a quartet with a handful of amazing women.  Savannah played the guitar and sang "Where Are You Christmas?" and then I played the piano for the Christmas carols at the end.  

On Sunday, Savannah directed the choir.  I played the organ.  Craig and I taught our 16-17 year old Sunday School class.  And Megan and I sang a song together in Relief Society.  That might have been my favorite thing I agreed to do this weekend.  Late Friday night, a friend called and asked if we would be the closing song for her lesson.  We sang a beautiful arrangement of "He Sent His Son" and I loved having Meg next to me.  We are not usually the soloists in our family (and technically we still weren't soloists because we sang a duet after all…) but I'm feeling pretty confident about my voice these days with all the use it's been getting, and Megan is so enthusiastic about trying out her talents, that I couldn't possibly turn this opportunity down.  She's also picked up my mom's old ukulele recently and has started playing and singing along with that thing.  I love how this house is filling up with musically talented kids.  (Oh, and in case you think we've left anyone out, did I mention that we bought McKay a drum pad for Christmas so he can get ready to be in the percussion section of the band?!!…EEK!)


After church, all three girls went to YW Presidency meetings, and Craig had the Deacons Quorum Presidency meeting at our house.  

Oh, and the baptism…our sweet Casey was finally baptized on Sunday night.  Here's a link to her cute blog so you can read about the details and see the pictures.  It was an amazing night for her.  Hundreds of people came to support her and we had to hold the meeting in the chapel!  Savannah sang "Come Thou Fount," and another lovely girl sang "Live It" (the Jenny Phillips song from the YW Theme last year.)  And I had the extreme pleasure of accompanying for both girls.  That is my favorite place to be lately…behind the piano accompanying while beautiful voices sing in church.  I love that so much!

After the baptism a few people came over for a little Open House to congratulate Casey, and then the missionaries lingered until about 9:00.  I love that those guys feel comfortable here.  They are awesome!  

It was a crazy busy weekend, but one that was so unbelievably happy and fulfilling that I wouldn't have given up one single part of it.  I loved having something to contribute to all the meetings at church and to Casey's baptism.  And I loved hearing all of my kids share their talents.  I'm so proud of them for being willing to do that.  What a huge blessing it is for other people to hear beautiful music, or even just fun music.  It connects, and uplifts, and brings the Spirit into a room like nothing else can.  I am especially grateful for all these musical opportunities and for the busy days in preparation for the holidays.  I love this time of year and I love remembering the reason we are all so busy.  I'm so grateful to celebrate the birth of the Savior and to be able to give back to Him a little bit of the love and generosity He has given to all of us.  

The next few weeks are going to slow down dramatically (more on that later…) so I'm glad to have been able to participate in all that crazy busy-ness last week.   I hope your holiday season is filled with busy things that you're enjoying being part of and LOTS of music! 

DMCO

link

Craig and I have been singing with this amazing choir since September.  We rehearse every Thursday from 7:30 - 9:30 and every Thursday night, I think as I'm sitting in that beautiful church, singing that beautiful music, that I have GOT to write a blog post about this experience.  But after two hours of singing and a 20 minute drive home, I never seem to be able to drag myself up the stairs to write it.  So, I'm writing it on a Monday afternoon.  

This is the most amazing musical experience I have ever had…and I've had more than a handful of really great ones.  I sang with an incredible high school choir.  I sang with the University of Texas Women's Choir.  I have been part of exceptional church choirs put together for special presentations or events.  But nothing I have ever done before this even comes close to this experience.  

There are just over 150 of us in this choir, but I know that the directors have big plans to grow that number significantly in the coming months and years.  It is a non-denominational group, although both of the original directors started this as a Mormon Choral Organization when they started the original choirs in California and Arizona.  We are the fourth city to have this amazing opportunity, and I can't even tell you what a strange and improbable path led me to this group.  I'm adding it to my growing list of things that can only be explained as divine intervention.  

To say that the music is challenging would be a ridiculous understatement.  We sing in 8 parts much of the time and the directors expect not just singing, but enunciation, blending, memorization, and technique.  We stand for the full tow hour rehearsal and let me tell you, it is a workout!  I'm exhausted by the time we leave.  

Our first concert is coming up on December 4th, and I have never been so honored to invite my friends and family and blog readers to an event in my life.  If you are trying to find a way to set a spiritual tone for your family for the holiday season, this is the way to do it.  This music is spectacular and reverent and gorgeous.  I love singing it and I cannot wait to see how all the pieces come together, children's choir, orchestra and grand chorus.  My head spins when I think about what has been accomplished in what will be just four short months of rehearsals. 

But, when you are engaged in a righteous and worthy endeavor, I'm certain you have help from ministering angels to bridge any gaps.  I'm pretty sure I can hear them singing with us every week.  

"Once you have experienced excellence, you will never again be content with mediocrity." - Thomas S. Monson

Spontaneous Music

Our amazing friends, the Rodriguez's, invited us over for dinner tonight.   There are so many of us, when we all get together, that it's kind of a major undertaking to pull off food for such a big crowd.  They made brisket and a million other delicious things.  It's always amazing to eat at their house.  Always!

And somehow it always turns into karaoke night over there.  Couches are moved, microphones are connected, the Apple TV is turned on, and POOF!...we're all transformed instantly into lounge singers.  

Andrew is home from University of HOU for the summer, so he jumped into the singing.  Savannah came late with McKay after baseball practice, and they didn't hesitate to jump in.  I sang a couple of Carpenters songs (with Megan as backup and moral support.)  Craig sang a Zac Brown song.  And the rest of the Rodriguez's filled in the empty spaces.  I LOVE hearing them sing all those cool Spanish songs.  I have a secret plan to sing something in Spanish the next time we get together!  :) 

And sometime, after four hours of passing around that mic, picking every song we could think of on the Karaoke Cloud, and singing our heads off, the instruments appeared!  Johnny pulled out the ukulele so he and Alyssa could sing the song they had taught our girls.  And then all of a sudden, Thunell girls were replaced with Rodriguez boys.  More instruments appeared.  I'm telling you, guitars appear out of no where in that house!  And they started just improvising stuff.  

They sing.  They beatbox.  They harmonize.  They are amazingly talented.

We had SO much fun just listening to them mess around together.   Totally entertaining!!

What an amazing night.  I honestly have no idea how it is that we managed to be connected to this family as closely as we are, but I LOVE IT!  And I LOVE them!  What an honor and a privilege to be associated with them.  Whenever we're together, they feel more like family than friends.  

Fine Arts Night

The fourth graders had Fine Arts Night at McKay's school last night.  The Scout Master is still in Chicago and the older girls were off at the library studying, so Emma was my companion for the night.  We had such a fun time listening to these cute kids play their instruments.  And she had fun reminiscing with her old teachers and friends.  I can't believe we've lived here long enough for her to be able to reminisce!

There was a huge group of kids playing recorders and then another handful who were also playing xylophones.  McKay volunteered to learn both.  They played variations on a lullaby that the kids had composed themselves.  So cool!

He came straight from golf lessons to his concert, so he still had his name tag on and he was wearing the I <3 BACON shirt.  Oh well...at least we're real, right? Nothing pretentious or stuffy about a shirt that proclaims your love of bacon.  

You'd never know I took a photography class by looking at these pictures.  I had such a hard time coordinating the low light in the gym, the distance I was away from McKay, and all the other moving "subjects" in my shots.  I really need to get this camera out more often and practice.  

Oh, how I love that cute face!  Even a little blurry, you can still tell he's adorable.  <3

Practice

For the last 6 Saturdays, Spell Girl has been taking a sight-reading class with Colin County Youth Orchestra.  She LOVES the challenge, and her sight-reading has drastically improved in the short time they've been practicing.  

I've been thinking a lot about practice this week.  Last Monday when I started singing (for real) again for the first time in a really long time, I thought about all the practice it would take to learn the music, to keep up with all the people who had been in this group so much longer than me, and to retain this spot that was so generously gifted to me.  

I brought this book home last Monday night and played every song in it.  I sang and sang and sang all those songs until my voice was tired and hoarse....for seven days straight.  My hope was to learn every song perfectly so that by the next rehearsal I'd be able to hand back that giant book of music and say with confidence that I had memorized every song in it.  That might have been slightly unrealistic...can you SEE how big that book is??  I kept hearing that little saying in my head, "practice makes perfect," so I kept practicing and waiting to achieve perfection.  Apparently perfection takes longer than a week of practice.  

This morning when I woke up I felt dread, fear, worry, doubt and frustration that I hadn't yet accomplished my goal of learning all of those songs.  I let it creep into my entire day.  Finally at 7:00 tonight, I sat down at the piano and tried to remember all the parts I had crammed into my head all week long.  Only about 25% of them even sounded familiar.  After a frustrating hour, I gave up, and fell into a discouraged heap on the floor of my closet and started praying for help.  At first I prayed for help to know all the parts and all the words.  And then somewhere in the middle of my pleading, I realized that I have practiced A LOT this week...not just a lot, but ENOUGH.  So I stopped praying for a photographic memory and perfect pitch, and instead prayed that Heavenly Father would make up the difference between what I HAD and what I NEEDED tonight.  And then I dragged myself to choir.  It was a long, miserable drive.  

But, miracles happened...I learned more music.  I met more people.  I knew more than I thought I did.  And I didn't get kicked out.  It was a really great night. 

And most importantly, I realized that practice might not make us perfect as quickly as we would like, but it definitely makes us better.  I was better tonight than I was last week.  And I was good enough both weeks.  Practicing makes me happy because I love the music, but when I let myself get carried away with ridiculously high goals, sometimes practice makes me crazy.  This week, I'm going to relax a little more and just enjoy the practice.  I'm going to look forward to going to choir again next week, and I'm going to look forward to being a little bit better than I was tonight.  

I'm grateful for that gentle little shove I needed to get in my car and drive to choir tonight.  I'm grateful for a kind Heavenly Father who puts all the right people in my path, who changes my perspective, and who makes up the difference when I need Him to.  I love this music so much.  I'm so grateful to have the time and the desire to spend my days practicing it.      

High Five for Friday

1.  Best Spontaneous Decision of the Week...

impromptu/much Needed lunch with Jeanette after Institute on Monday.

2.  My New Favorite Thing...

where has this machine been all my life?  I love it!!

3.  Favorite Quote of the Week...

"I wish you could be in our class everyday, not just for parties."  - from a cute little girl in Mack's 4th grade class after the Valentine's Day party (makes it all worth it)

4.  Best Surprise of the Week...

I know I already posted these, but I love them and it's not often that I get flowers so that makes me love them even more.  

5.  Song Soundtrack of the Week...

Do you know what's coming to Dallas in the spring?  I'm so excited I can barely stand it.  I've been playing this music nonstop for the entire week.  Only 2 more months to memorize all of it and read the book again before it gets here.  I can't wait!

Happy Friday!  Hope you have a great weekend.  <3

Contributing

A few weeks ago, after an exceptionally thought provoking lesson, I casually sent off a text to the man who teaches the weekly Institute class I attend.  It just said, “Loved institute today!”  And as soon as I hit SEND, I had this crazy train of thought...  

I thought he must receive tons of those little validating texts a day.  Or emails.  Or phone calls.  Or in-person compliments.  I have seen the long line of people lingering after Institute to glean just a little more wisdom from him.  
And then I thought about the rest of his life that he's carved out so that most of what he does uses his talents, uplifts and edifies people, and likely provides some kind of validation for him as well during a typical day or week.  
And that made me wonder if he knew that he needed validation in his life first and then figured out how to get it??  Or if he knew what he had to offer and then found the opportunities and the validation?? 
After a few days of pondering that, I knew the answer.  He had figured out what he was good at first and walked toward it.  He had a handful of talents and used them to contribute in some way to teach, to lift people, to leave his space better than he found it.  And because of that righteous desire, Heavenly Father magnified what he had and made the rewards and opportunities bigger as well.  But he didn’t start with a desire for increase.  (I told him about my little thought train a week or so later and confirmed that my hunches were right.  The talents came first, then the opportunity, and then the reward.)

After that little epiphany, I started praying differently.  I prayed to know what was in my little handful of things, what I had to offer, and how I could contribute.  And guess what...it's a small handful, but there are some pretty great things in it.  I’m not an awesome photographer like some of the people in my class, but I can encourage and smile and be warm and engaging in that classroom.  I can ask questions and help people a little and I can gush over their incredible talent.  And I may not be a scriptorian, but sometimes I have some pretty good insights on how those scriptures apply to my life.  I may not be able to teach Gospel Doctrine, but I can certainly act on those little promptings to say things in that class and contribute in a small way.  

So I tried it for a few days.  I tried to just smile and connect and leave a space better than when I got there.  I prayed to be useful and to lift others and to contribute, not in a huge way, but just in small ways that would make someone happy, and bring me fulfillment at the end of the day.  And I prayed that Heavenly Father would use my little handful of things that He gave me to do something good.

And it worked.  I smiled and people smiled back.  I invited and people came.  I emailed and they responded.  I connected and they received it warmly. 

So then I prayed a little more to figure out what else I have to contribute.  And I thought of the music.  I love music.  I'm sure that's not shocking.  I can play it and sing it.  I may not be the BEST pianist or singer in the world, but I can read music and I can hear it, and practicing always produces good results.  And I don't have to wait until I'm the BEST at a thing to be able to use it for good.  So I decided that I would make it a point to touch the piano everyday and sing everyday.  That's it.  Somehow, for however long, I would have some daily interaction with music.   

A week later Stacey Christensen asked me to help her with the Mormon Choral Association (more on that later) and because I had gotten dressed up to meet her, someone asked me about my day and I told him where I had been.  Which led to a conversation about how much I want them to start a Mormon Choral Association in Dallas, and how badly I long to sing with a group.  And he leaned back in his chair, threw his hands in the air, and said, “Well, I can help you with that!”  This person has asked me no less than four times in the past 6 months to be in his small, but amazing singing group.  And every time he's asked, I've desperately wanted to say yes, but stopped myself because I didn't think I had anything to contribute.  They are already complete.  They already have a blend...and sometimes it's an irritating thing to try to blend in a new voice.  And...oh yeah...he had never even heard me sing!  I assumed that he probably wasn't in his right mind all those four other times he asked me, and that he had just casually thrown out the invitation in an attempt to be nice, or give me some additional confidence, or whatever, and that he really didn't want me to say yes.  So I said no.  Four times.  Until last Thursday.  When I could think of no more reasons to say no. 

And then I spent four days worrying about it... 

I worried about everything...getting lost...being late...what to wear...if I should just wear flip flops instead of boots in case I needed to take them off before coming into the house...if they would be "cat people" and I would need to bring mega doses of Benadryl with me.  ugh...exhausting just to read that, isn't it??

I had typed the rehearsal address into the GPS earlier in the day, but wasn't convinced that I would be able to find it at 9:00pm in the dark, so I dragged Flowering Buttercup with me after school to do a test drive.  I had been sniffy ALL DAY and had taken too strong a dose of too many cold/allergy meds.  My head was spinning.  I was groggy and nauseous.  The Scout Master finally forced me to take a nap after dinner to settle both my nerves and my stomach, and that turned into two hours of comatose sleep that I barely woke up from in time to drive down to Plano.  And all the way there, I kept worrying...and sneezing...and praying for just an hour and a half of relief from whatever was making me so sniffy.  

I drove to that house Monday night terrified, uncomfortable, anxious and stuffy...but I got there.  I made myself plow through the fear.  And I got there.  Right on time.  Just as someone else walked in the door, who clearly did NOT know who I was or why I was there. 

And guess what.  The people were nice.  But that wasn’t the most amazing part.  Yes, they were nice.  Yes, they shared their music and introduced themselves, and tried to make me feel comfortable.  But it wasn’t that part that made the night so amazing.  It was the part where we stood in a circle in that living room and sang Come Thou Font, and Homeward Bound, and I was able to contribute.  It took a minute to find my part, but when I got it and heard it blend with the other people in the room, it was totally overwhelming.  All of a sudden it didn’t matter if I knew anyone in there or not.  It didn’t matter if they were irritated by my presence or not.  I was contributing to this group of amazing voices.  And WE sounded amazing. 

Happy Chinese New Year

Let me just say in advance that I am SO disappointed that I didn't get pictures of all that went into this day.  

Here was the inspiration for it...

On one of our Hawaii trips back in January 2011, I received a set of dishes that once belonged to my (birth) grandmother, Nanny.  My mom and auntie carefully packed part of the set for me to carry home on the plane, and then brought the remaining pieces with them when they came to Dallas the following August.  I LOVE glass.  I LOVE dishes.  I LOVE heirloom pieces that have been handed down from parents and grandparents.  So these were a treasure to receive.

For two years I didn't do anything with them.  I just put them on a shelf in my kitchen and felt a little bit of happiness every time I looked up there and remembered them.  And then at the end of January, when all the Christmas stuff had finally been taken down and my dining room table looked heartbreakingly bare, I decided to set the table with Nanny's china.  

I hand washed all of these gorgeous pieces.  There are serving pieces, spoons, a creamer and sugar bowl, and salt and pepper shakers that were also included in this set, so it took a good chunk of the morning to wash and dry all of them by hand.  BUT...it gave me such a great opportunity to lovingly give each of those beautiful pieces a little bit of overdue attention.  And I fell in love with them all over again.

OK...here's where this story strays a little and I start to sound like I'm very easily distracted and scatter brained...

I set the dining room table for 8 and happily admired it for about three days.  

And then I thought, "It's such a shame no one will get to see this table except us."  Except I must have said that out loud because Flowering Buttercup chimed in with, "We should invite the Rodriguez's over for a Chinese party!"  (Yes, I know my dishes are from Japan and not China, but in the minds of the people who live in my house, there is very little distinction between those two countries.)  

A few days later, the girls and I were having lunch at Panda Express and my neighbor came in to buy Orange Chicken sauce.  Of course that led to a conversation about what she was going to do with it, and she ended up giving me a recipe for homemade orange chicken.  

Wheels were turning in both my mind and Flowering Buttercup's...and one of us Googled Chinese New Year...I'm not sure who.  And guess what!  We were happily delighted to find out that it was coming up...on February 10th.  

I came home and mentioned our great idea to the Scout Master who said, "Um...why don't we just invite them over without calling it a Chinese New Year celebration.  Cuz we''re not Chinese and that's a little weird."  Well, I am actually a teeny bit Chinese, so it didn't sound that weird to me.  So I sent out this group text to every one of my contacts whose last name was Rodriguez.

(yep, Flowering Buttercup pointed out the date discrepancy, so I had to send another text to change it to the 10th.)  Within a few hours I got responses back from all 6 that they were available and would love to come for dinner.  HOORAY!

So, I started planning a menu...

Orange Chicken (with Panda Orange Sauce from my neighbor Jill)
3-4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Rinse chicken in water and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in large skillet. Dip in cornstarch, then in egg. 
Cook chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place chicken in 9x13 greased baking dish. Cover with orange chicken sauce (I use almost the whole bottle). Bake for 45 minutes at 325 stirring the chicken every 15 minutes to coat evenly.

Beef and Snow Peas (from the Pioneer Woman)

Beef with Snow Peas via TPW

Fried Rice (my mom's recipe)

Baked Wontons (from my Pampered Chef years)

and...
Homemade Fortune Cookies

These were SO cute and so easy, I'm thinking about making them again this week to give to my friends for Valentine's Day.  When I do that, I'll remember to take pictures and post about the whole process.  

Flowering Buttercup helped me think of some cute fortunes to put in the cookies...

I planned and cooked and put stickies all over the fridge, and had a tiny little meltdown on Saturday afternoon because my head was filled with Chinese parties, Valentine's Day, photography homework, a Book of Mormon pageant rehearsal (more to come on that), a play at the HS, a multi stake dance that I had volunteered to chaperone, and not enough hours left in the weekend.  But I pulled myself together and did one thing at a time, and as always, when the Rodriguez's are involved, everything comes together better than I even imagined it.

So, even though I forgot to take my camera out of the bag, and didn't even think about pictures until after the food was long gone, we still had a really great time.  (It's just not documented quite the way I had hoped.)

And guess what else?  Those inspiring dishes that started this whole thing??  I didn't even use them because I only have 8 and there are 9 Rodriguez's and 6 of us...there was no way to make that work.  Instead we went with red plastic plates and cups...brilliantly Chinese, huh?  I did use two of the serving bowls, though, so the dishes were there in spirit.  

After dinner, we played games and then passed the guitar around and sang songs.  Those Rods are so dang talented!  I don't know why I'm always so shocked that they can play yet another instrument every time we're with them.

We LOVE this family so much and are SO happy that they are always willing to come over and hang out with us.  We had such a great time and Chinese New Year was the best excuse EVER to have a little get together.  We might have to make this a tradition!

Happy Year of the Snake!!

New Beginnings

Tonight, the YW held their New Beginnings program.  We do this annually to kick off the theme for the new year as well as to recognize the upcoming 12 year old girls who will be coming into to the youth program.  I LOVE this night.  

these are the five adorable girls turning 12 this year

A few months ago, the YW President asked me to help the girls learn a song to go with the 2013 theme Stand in Holy Places.  As always, Jenny Phillips has written and recorded an incredible CD to remind the girls of the theme throughout the year.  I had purchased the CD way back in September so that I could learn the music in advance just in case there might be an occasion to play or sing any of it.  And...poof!...an occasion presented itself.  (That happens a lot lately.)  The YW Pres asked Flowering Buttercup to sing the solo part in this song, which is 3/4 of it! and then to have the rest of the YW come in for the final chorus.  I have had this music playing in the van since the beginning of the school year, but no one who rides with me has really paid much attention.  And since being asked to sing, Flowering Buttercup really hasn't been available to practice it much.  Tuesday night was the first time our schedules collided and the piano and voice actually met.  So...I played the intro and crossed my fingers that she would be able to sight read through it, and that we would be compatible.  And guess what...do you really have to guess??  It sounded absolutely beautiful.  Of course it did.  Fortunately my girls got their father's genes in the "musically confident" department.  I was totally in awe last night as I listened to her effortlessly sing that song.  The accompaniment is not the slightest bit helpful, so she really had to carry the thing by herself.  And I was so caught up in listening to her that I might have missed a few notes.  (Good thing we practiced it at least once before going live with it tonight, huh?)

The theme was "Wear the Right Shoe" and each of the YW Presidency spoke for a few minutes about standing in holy places, being who Heavenly Father wants you to be, the joys of young womanhood and the upcoming fun things these new 12 year olds have to look forward to.  

I am so grateful to have three daughters in this amazing program.  I'm so grateful to always get to be in their space (even if it is just behind the piano.) And I'm so grateful for a beautiful, spirit-filled evening that each of these girls will remember.

Dallas Wind Symphony

It's not often that the Scout Master and I are able to go on a date in the middle of the week, especially one that is culturally enlightening and musical.  (Well, we did go see Les Mis last weekend, but that was different because there was popcorn involved.)  

A few months ago when we watched our dear friends' dog, they repaid us by giving us a set of their season tickets to the Dallas Symphony.  (We would have totally watched that dog for free.  She was SO easy.  And SO cute!)  We marked the date on both of our calendars and looked forward to doing something a little out of the ordinary for us.

We were surprised to find out that not only did we get to listen to the Dallas Wind Symphony, but we also got to hear the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra.  Both were amazing.  Both directors were lively and entertaining and took time to introduce each piece.  Their enthusiasm about each of the pieces and the performers made the whole concert so much more enjoyable.  My favorite was Intrada 1631.  I'm such a percussion junkie, I couldn't take my eyes off the xylophones and the timpani sections...until I realized that there was an organist, too.  When she turned around and bowed from her perch above the orchestra in her little organ loft, I secretly wished I were a better organist.  We had front row, center seats on the upper balcony so we could see everything perfectly without any distractions.   

And look at this gorgeous place...

So often, I think that I would rather just stay at home in my jammies and do what I'm comfortable doing.  But I find that whenever I allow myself to give in to opportunities for adventure, I am always happily surprised.  This was one of those happy surprises.  I'm so grateful to our thoughtful friends for sharing a little culture with us.