Thoughts on Mary

This morning we had a ward choir practice in preparation for our Christmas program tomorrow during Sacrament Meeting. We're singing a pretty simple, yet beautiful arrangement of Once in Royal David's City. I've never not cared for this particular Christmas carol, but I think it is one that is often overlooked.
As the women sang the first verse with these lyrics, I couldn't help but focus entirely on the lyrics:

Once in royal David's city 
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby 
In a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild, 
Jesus Christ her little child.

What would it have been like for Mary? I mean, really, being pregnant is hard enough! And while back then there certainly wasn't as many comforts of birthing and delivery as there are today, I'm sure there was something better than a stable and a manger. I teared up a little bit thinking of one of the most holiest and sacred mothers of all of history. No wonder other religions worship and praise Mary as such a divine being! While I love the self-describing phrase she uses "the handmaiden of the Lord," I like to think of her best as the Mother of God. Above all else, she was a mother!

We continued singing:

He came down to earth from heaven, 
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable,
And his cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.

What a tender reminder to me of what Christ's live was like. He lived on earth just like the rest of us! As we continued singing, I was reminded even more of why this one man's humble existence was so unlike any one else's . . .

And our eyes at last shall see him, 
Through his own redeeming love;
For that child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heav'n above,
And he leads his children on
To the place where he is gone.

One day He will come to greet us 
Blazing trails of glory past.
We will bow in adoration,
For our Lord has come at last.

O the long awaited morning,
We will shout in joyous praise.
Promised Lord at last to meet us,
Christ, the King, Christ, the King of latter days.
Amen.

I was probably wiping tears from my face the whole time we sang. Perhaps it's the hormones of a pregnant woman, or perhaps it's just the Spirit reminding me of the reason why we even sing Christmas carols in the first place. Jesus was born, Jesus lived. He died and lives again. 

I love Him, and I love celebrating all that He has done for us. 

(If you're interested, here's a link to the arrangement we're singing.)

Lasting

As I sat in the stands at the last football game trying soo hard not to freeze to death, I thought a lot of this topic. I decided to make a list of things that last and things that don't last.

THINGS THAT DON'T LAST (forever):
-frozen toes
-chapped lips
-shivering
-being scared or nervous of something that you have to do
-having to pee so bad during halftime show that I was shivering out of control
-Idaho (high school) football team
-handwarmers, although they do last for a very long time
-hot chocolate. You either drink it all, or it turns into cold chocolate.
-the numb feeling in your exposed fingertips
-being a member of the Cougar Marching Band

THINGS THAT LAST
-feelings of accomplishment
-the warmth of relief
-school spirit
-the comfort of cuddling with your husband drinking hot herbal tea
-the feeling of sharing something with so many wonderful people that are dear to you
-knowing that you finished the thing you were scared of/nervous about and that everything in the long run was okay

I basically just had a bag of mixed feelings at the game. Knowing that it was my last home game in Cougar Stadium, I wanted to put forth my best effort. It was hard, and by golly, it was COLD!!!  I started feeling sick and lightheaded from the cold during our run-through before the game. After rehearsing on an ice-covered field with barely visible yard lines, I was worried to pieces what would happen inside the stadium. And sitting for several back to back hours in the stands with the possibility of even more snow?! Yikes! Because I was feeling not so great, Jacob made me sit inside as the band marched down to the stadium. (On a side note, I still remember the first time I marched down to the stadium for my very first game. I had many of the same feelings . ..Am I doing everything right? Will I remember how things go? What will this be like?) Thank goodness I was able to march pregame! My fingers had regained some mobility, and I kept a smile on my face the whole way down the field. I did it! =)
And sitting in the stands wasn't too terrible either. (Well, I say that looking back on it). I managed the first half without even putting my parka on, and my handwarmers tucked behind my ears made 'em nice and toasty. Plus, my sister and her husband were at the game, too!
Halftime. Again, big smiles, doing my very best. Thankfully, there was no ice on this field! =) Of course, by the end of halftime, I had to pee sooooo bad, that my lower body was literally shivering uncontrollably.
The good news is . ...we made it! We did it! We won! We didn't just win the game, the bowl game invitation, etc. We won a feeling of progress and accomplishment. And that's what lasts.

FALLing behind

Well, a few days after Halloween, and I'm just barely posting about our adventures. First, we carved pumpkins with our Cub Scouts. We had the greatest time!

Jacob: His is supposed to be an orc from Lord of the Rings.

Ryan: This kid is fast. He kept carving and carving on all sides of his pumpkin.

Reese: I think his pumpkin is either eating (or vomiting) the refreshments.

Charles: I don't remember what his was supposed to be . . .

Wesley: He brought his pumpkin from home .. .it was huge!

Cameron: I'm diggin' the eyes.

Brady: His has fangs!

This one's ours: Ain't it so cute? It's nose is akin to Rudolph the Reindeer. =)

 We still have leftover pumpkin seeds in the fridge, waiting to roast. We've roasted one batch with cinnamon sugar seasoning, and it was sooo yummy! We did have another pumpkin, with all the intention of carving a matching Minnie Mouse, but . ..we only got around to cutting the top and gutting it. Now, we just have to remember to take it outside before it starts rotting inside the house .. ..

Now, for the actual Halloween day, we got rill creative with our costumes. We couldn't quite figure out how to set the timer on the camera just right . ..but I'll include the attempts anyway.

We even included the baby:

So with all that, we are ready for November! =)

Uhhh . . . .

1. I killed a spider all by myself today!!! Bam!! I just took off that shoe and pounded its guts out!! Hoorah!!
2. I spent about 3 hours transcribing a Mozart duet. Did you know that you can scan in/import a pdf on Sibelius, and it can read it like a normal music score file? Yeah, way cool. And it saved a bunch of time, so all I had to do was fix some minor errors and transpositions.
3. Our car sometimes makes a weird scratching sound. We thought it was the brakes, but sometimes we're not even touching the brakes and it happens.
4. I'm listening to a Haydn woodwind quintet.
5. I am very tired . . . .
6. Hmm . ..let's put a random picture on here.

I sure like this one! This is Jacob with our nephew Mason. He's a chunkster. Yup, I'm talkin' about the adult here, not the babe. =)

I Discovered a Fear

I discovered that I absolutely hate large spiders. I cannot stand them!! Maybe it's because I've recently encountered two very large ones in our home over the last few days while Jacob's been away at work. I am too mortified to even kill them or smack them with a shoe. I have to stare at them and make sure they never crawl my way. Although they are horrific creatures, I cannot keep myself from periodically looking back at it to make sure it's in sight. My worst fear is that it will crawl up on my shoe or chair without me noticing and crawl on my skin. I shudder at the thought!! Meanwhile, I have these horrifying chill bumps running up and down my spine and arms all the while I can't keep my eyes of this nasty thing. Why do I hate them?! They seriously creep me out. Seriously, is there anyone out there brave enough to smash spiders? I may be tempted to call you in a pinch next time I find one of these nasty creepy crawlers in my house.

Thoughts on Being a Musician

Does one ever stop being a musician?
I was thinking about that today after clarinet master class. Just as always, I learn fascinating things in master class, and I have a great time with my friends there. However, I realized that the reason I enjoy master class so much is because I look at everything from the viewpoint of a music educator. I see some of the techniques we use to teach each other, and my mind is itching to try those techniques out in other situations or with other ensembles. I like to analyze things like "What is the objective here? What are we trying to get at? Did it work?" I must say, props to Dr. Hinckley for varying up master class just enough that I can always glean something new. =)
On the other hand, I don't see myself as a clarinetist. Sounds a little odd, but that's not the title I want to have. I see myself as a musician and as a music educator. The clarinet is just one of the few instruments (literally) I use in order to qualify myself as a music educator. Should music educators be competent musicians-absolutely! Should music educators be experts on a specific instrument?   . .. that one . ..I'm not so sure. I have been playing the clarinet for years, and I admit . .. I can play it pretty darn well. It doesn't always come easy, and I do still struggle with many things. I decided I don't want to teach the clarinet. I want to teach music. Yes, somewhere down the road I will teach a roomful of 7th graders how to put the clarinet together and make a good sound. And somewhere down the road, I will most likely teach a roomful of string players how to hold the bow properly and make a good sound. For as little experience as I have on other instruments, I feel just as qualified to teach them as I do to teach the clarinet. So . . .why do I have to specialize so much in just one instrument?
Backing up to the original question. I don't think someone ever stops being a musician. One can stop being a performer (due to injury or other circumstances), but once you know as much about music as I do . ..it's hard to keep it all in. Teaching is as much of a performing art as performing in a professional orchestra, I think. You have to act, listen, assess, create, encourage, expand, etc.
I just prefer performing in front of a classroom.

Please Come Home Soon!!

Oh Jacob, please come home soon!! I don't like the company. . . .

Intruders

We've been seeing a lot of bugs in our house lately. Maybe because we don't clean as much as we should all the time, or we've been moving furniture recently, or because it's been getting hotter. I don't know, but we saw this and that we had another visitor in our shower . . .

Doesn't that look like rats?! Nope, it's just the hair that was clogging out drain.

 Now we know why it's called a rat's nest. 

Some of Our Favorite Boys

We're the Wolf Den leaders in our ward. We have to much fun with our boys. This week, we made homemade ice cream! Here's a shout out to Reese, Braxton, and Cameron. =) We're looking forward to Day Camp this coming week, and an outdoor cookout in two weeks. We sure love those boys! Plus also, we have two boys who've started coming once they got back from vacation-Brady and Wesley. Good, smart kids.

Cameron is licking his out of the bowl, Braxton is letting Jacob shake his up, and Reese is just showing off. =)

Only Jacob's and Braxton's turned out ice-cream like.

Recipe: 1 cup half and half (or other thick milk substitute)

2 Tblsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Place ingredients in small Ziploc bag and place that inside a bigger Ziploc bag with ice. Shake shake shake. Then eat and enjoy! =)

We Gonna Find You!

I don't normally cruise YouTube very much, but a friend showed me this that came out a couple of years ago when I was on my mission:

Yeah, that's pretty entertaining, but here's the rill funny part:

Seriously, I think it's SOO FUNNY!! Every so often, I'll pull it up just to listen to it and laugh. My favorite parts are "You are so dumb. You are really dumb." "We gonna fiiiind you, we gonna fiiiind you!" 

Hilarious.

Some of Our Favorite Girls

Last weekend, we had our nieces Natalie and Evelyn over for a sleepover and fun activities. We sure love those girls! I was at work when they first came, but Jacob helped them make a wonderful flower bouquet for when I got home. With lovely notes, too. Oh, and cupcakes. But they were all gone before I remembered to take the picture. And Jacob had made them the night before, so, they were already half gone anyway.

Notes say: well .. .I dunno about the first one, but the second one says "Yar funny!"

I love you, yur my frite ant, meke yur mark!
Clearly, I'm their favorite aunt. =)

close ups of the flowers

Then the plan was to go to BYU Campus to watch a  free outdoor movie, but because of rain earlier in the day, it was cancelled. So for Plan B, we Redboxed KungFu Panda 2, and watched it from our tent. Oh, the girls had a blast!

It was really cute trying to get them to go to sleep. Their sleeping bags couldn't be touching each other, and they had to use the bathroom about 3 times before going to bed, and there had to be just enough light. 

Then for breakfast, we went to our workplace, the Cannon Center. They liked going to the "Eat Whatever You Want" place.

Then we stopped to visit and feed Great Grandma Smith. We sang Primary songs to her from the mic hooked up to the digital keyboard. 

We just love those girls to pieces, and we're so glad that we had so much fun with them! I guess it takes a special bribery sleepover to official become the favorite aunt and uncle. =)

Someday

Someday we will be music teachers.

There's a lot to learn in the meantime.

So we practice .. .and practice . ..and practice some more.

Here's Jacob's latest piece he's conducting:

We've listened to it at least 40 times today. And you know what? It's still just as beautiful. I even made Jacob dance to it with me.

Meanwhile, I had a dream last night that when it was my turn to conduct in front of the class, they all had their backs to me, and then some people didn't have their instruments, and they weren't looking at me or following tempo or anything. It was awful. Then, my teacher has the audacity to say to me, "I don't know if you noticed, but that was a pretty poor performance." Well, DUH!! Of course it was awful! But then I felt really bad when he said that my conducting has really digressed and gone downhill. =(
Luckily, I woke up.

Now we're off to class to conduct our peers. Hopefully we'll do well!

Em-BAHR-rassing!

Do you ever wear something that makes you feel embarrassed? There's the typical unzipped fly, the inside out shirt, mismatched socks, or any article of clothing worn backwards, the noticeable stain .. . .you know.

Well, Jacob had this certain of article of clothing (well, a few of them) that made me embarrassed when he wore it. Any guesses? I'll give you a hint: if he were still 5 years old, I'd probably let him get away with it.

Yup, that's it. Clip-on ties. Seriously. Clip-on ties!! I know he knows how to tie a necktie, and he doesn't have any arm/wrist injury that would prevent him from tying a knot. I gave him a hard time every time he tried to wear one; I even clipped one on to the trashcan as a warning of what would really happen if he tried wearing it again. Of course, if Jacob were writing this post, he'd go on and on about how sometimes he doesn't have time to tie a good tie. And how good the designs are, and how you really can't tell it's a clip-on tie when you wear it right. . . . yeah yeah . . .

That's why he's not writing this post. =)

He just could not part with those ties. But thanks to a profound suggestion from my Uncle Mike, we came up with the perfect solution. Jacob would donate his ties to DI if I donated an article of clothing (of his choosing) as well. Here's what he chose:

You know, I really don't see why he never liked this jacket. It's pretty cute, I think. But on closer examination, I discovered this . . .

Yup, sweat stains on the collar and sleeves.

And something else I realized only a few months ago as we were looking through pictures for our wedding album . . .I've had this jacket since junior high.

Yeah, it's time to give it up.

"But, honey, maybe we should save them for sentimental reasons. Years from now, we'll joke about those ties and that jacket, and it'd be fun to have them"

That's why I made this blog post.

Plus also, if you ever want to see how cute the jacket really was . ..you can always look at Jacob's proposal video . .. I was wearing it on the day he proposed. =)

Flying High!

Our friend KJ recently got his pilot's license, and he's working on getting flying hours to advance to the next level. So .. .we got to go flying with him!! It was so awesome! We flew over Provo, BYU Campus, etc, all the way to Timpanogos. We saw some destruction caused by the forest fire in Alpine, and then we flew down over and into Heber for a touch and go landing. Then we looped around back to Spanish Fork where we started. It was soo fun!! Jacob got a little sick, but he enjoyed it, too. =)
So in case, any of our other readers are pilots looking for flying hours . .. count us in!!

Before take-off.

Jacob's ready to go!

It was my first time, so they let me ride up front. Way awesome!

I meant to include the wing in this picture .. .as proof that we were actually on a plane.

You don't see a view like this every day.

Jacob and Carissa chillin' in the back. =)

Fruit Snacks

At the store last month when we did our monthly shopping, I let Jacob pick out what kind of fruit snacks we should get while I looked on the other side of the aisle for something. Sometimes I'm kinda iffy about fruit snacks. Let's face it: fruit snacks can be gross sometimes.
a)if there are any blueberry flavored (or sometimes mixed flavored) ones, they usually taste gross.
b)if they are a really thick texture that gets stuck in your back molars . . .gross.
c)if you feel like you have this never disappearing film of sugar on your teeth and the roof of your mouth .. .gross.
d)If they are shaped in famous Disney, Pixar, dinasaur or other superhero designs .. .well, they usually taste gross. (nothing against Pixar . . .I just feel bad eating Tow-Maters, is all . . .)
e) if they contain weird opaque white or mango-, rose-, or puke green- colored ones . .. .yeah, gross.
That's why I told Jacob that he could pick them out, without bothering to give him my list of requirements. I figured that if I didn't like them, he would, and they'd get eaten.
But, oh man. He picked the best fruit snacks I've ever had!!
Check it out!

Not to steal from the advertising on the packaging, but . . they have 100% Vitamin C, 40% fruit juice, 80 Calories AND . . .GREAT TASTING FRUIT CENTERS!!


We love these things! And our cub scouts do too . . .They ask for 2 or 3 packs of them at every den meeting. Needless to say, we've already run out of our box of fruit snacks. Oh well, maybe we should go back to regular fruit snacks . ..like apples and strawberries and stuff.

Beat Box Bass

Well, I'm not normally one for posting and sharing YouTube videos, but my friend posted this, and I thought it was hilarious. We got a kick out of it. Now we just need to find one like it for tuba . . .

I think my favorite sound is snapping the mouthpiece cap on the mouthpiece. Unique sound that just about every clarinet player recognizes. =)

The Smolder

I saw something smoldering the other day. I know there are fires going on and such, but I wasn't really near any of them. First what I saw was just a smolder . . .(10 pts)

Then, I really began to worry when I saw this . . .

Yikes! This could be something dangerous here! Oh wait . . .

It was just my husband.

Good thing it rained today!

I L O V E Y O U

Scrabble is not my favorite game. In fact, it's probably pretty high up there on my list of least favorite games to play, ever. Sometimes I feel bad for Jacob because he likes that game so much, but I never want to play it. I've volunteered it a couple of times, but . .. eh, still don't like it.
But I suppose the game can be used for something, right?
The other day when Jacob was at work, I left him a message on the table . . .

So, I left him a love note in 4 different languages. (including Texan!) I was pretty proud of my 79 points.
But of course, he had to outdo me again . . .

Yup, not only did he use ALL the letters, but his message was so big, it took four pictures to get it all. Ain't he a C-U-T-I-E P-I-E? =)