how I started 2015

It's past my bedtime, on the first day of the year. I am frustrated that I was trying to cut or undo something and the whole draft I'd written a few hours ago disappeared! Well, I'll start over. :0)

My friend Shelly, whose kids I babysit twice a week, had a fun New Year's Eve party with healthy food. The five of us went, so my husband was able to meet the others that I had met at a potluck back in August (he worked that Saturday). I didn't already know Amy and Nate, though. All five families including us brought our kids, who played on scooters and decorated hats while most of the adults played Five Crowns.

What I really want to write about was the great things about this January 1st. Right at midnight we were home in bed and had a quick kiss, then for fifteen minutes we continued what we were each doing. He watched videos on the iPad, and I finished reading my book: Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright.

Soon after I woke up I was kind of depressed for a minute about the way I feel in the morning and all the time. Chronic pain. I didn't cry and snowball it like I did yesterday, though. It's so good that D and I have each other. We've talked about what we want to do this year and it will be good. For example, we are determined to pay off our debt. Anyway, knowing it's now 2015, I remembered that I had thought that in 2014 I would get rid of my constant headache. I did try more than a few different tests and treatments and stuff throughout the year but I need to be patient with what I'm currently doing (my doctor prescribed myofasical release, the medication gabapentin, and flonase (I don't think the last two are doing anything for me, at least not yet)). And I am going to keep searching, too. Neil Nathan, M.D.'s book Healing Is Possible: New Hope for Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Persistent Pain, and Other Chronic Illnesses is giving me some things to think about.

A little bit after that, I played my piano for the first time this year. I chose Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain / Amen from Handel's Messiah. I bought my copy of the book while in college, for a performance with hundreds of other people; I will never forget that experience!

A few days ago was also really nice, when I played the piano to wake up our kids. That day it was the suite from Forrest Gump. Many years ago I had to tape the spine of this sheet music to hold it together. I played it in a talent show when I was in junior high.

Let's see . . . also, I let the girls watch Netflix a lot today while D was working. I watched some of my own as I cleaned the kitchen and stuff (using the iPad while they had the TV on). The show I'm binge watching is Gilmore Girls. I never saw any of it until the middle of December. 

In the morning I pondered and wrote down some things I need to do (some of them are resolutions) and had some good gospel study time. I worked out, took a long shower, and eventually we accomplished our chore checklist.

Oh! Third Girl made me laugh harder than I had in a long time. She can be pretty funny, but doesn't do this kind of thing as much when she's away from home. You won't fully appreciate it because you can't hear her tone, and I don't remember it all, but that's okay. I was with her as she sat on the potty. It was bedtime, when we always make her go, and I said that I wanted to hear her pee. Then we talked about something else, or I kissed her knees. Then suddenly she said in her voice that's higher than her normal voice, "You hear someping?" And I thought she meant her peeing, but she quickly says, "Butterflies?" As if they even make a sound! Oh, man, it was hilarious.

25 things about me

Several friends have done this about themselves and tagged me. So here they are, in no particular order.

1. I love natural light and prefer to have it come into my home through the windows than to turn a light bulb on when it's not dark outside.
2. I'm a sweater person. I have lots of them to wear when the weather isn't warm.
3. I pretty much always wear socks, not bare feet, when I'm at home {well, I guess I don't wear socks much in the summer}. When I get in bed, though, I have to take them off.
4. I like quiet. I don't like talking to be too loud or to have too many sounds going on at the same time. Although I love music I don't listen to CDs very often unless I'm in the car.
5. I don't need ice in my drinks, but I do like my water to come from the cold fridge. If someone offers me ice, two cubes are plenty.
6. I don't get up nearly as early as I used to but I'm usually up by 8:00. Honestly, the time I go to bed depends on whether or not my husband has school in the morning.
7. I have read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover I think 6 or 7 times. The most recent time I completed it was this week.
8. I have not read the whole Old Testament, so my next goal is to read the Holy Bible from cover to cover.
9. I have never liked or owned Cabbage Patch Kids; I think they're kind of ugly.
10. Remember Micro Machines? I liked playing with those. I am in the middle of two brothers so that could be why.
11. I would like to take ballroom dance classes -- mostly swing -- with my husband. I think I'm actually an okay dancer if someone shows me the steps. I took social dance in high school and in college. {Other than that I've had no dance classes except for a semester of modern dance in high school, and I've danced in musicals.}
12. Near my hip I have a large mole.
13. I don't really like soda, with or without caffeine, and have never been a Coke or Mountain Dew addict. A few, like Fresca, taste good to me but I hardly ever drink them.
14. I eat cheesecake only rarely because it's so rich, and even then I only like it with a fruit topping.
15. Back in 2002 I was going to go to Brazil with two college friends, until one figured she didn't have enough money and the other got engaged.
16. I lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil when I was about 3 and 4 years old because of my dad's job. I wish I could remember what it was like.
17. When I opened our new pack of toothbrushes the other day, I decided which was mine and which was D's based on which color matched our universities. I wrote on mine "iManda" {for BYU-Idaho, but I went to the U also}.
18. I don't usually stick with one task until it's all the way done. One example is that when I'm on the internet I typically have about five tabs open. I'll even hit the login button and, while I wait for those few seconds, open one or two tabs for other sites I need to log into. I think I want to change this, if my 'demanding little sweetheart' will let me. {When I take breaks from emptying the dishwasher or putting laundry away, she is the reason.}
19. I have no desire to ever have fake nails. The ongoing cost of them and the smell in those places make me want to gag. I also wouldn't want long nails making things {like playing the piano or guitar} difficult. My own fingernails are fine.
20. However, I do understand wanting to be pampered. The only real {non-massage-therapy-school} massage I have had was when I was 39 weeks pregnant. I'm looking forward to my next relaxing massage.
21. I am a loser. A person who loses things, like an earring, and sometimes never finds it again. Two of the cell phones that I've misplaced never showed up. This has also happened with at least one set of keys. Unfortunately my husband is a loser, too, but mostly with his keys, and he is able to locate them.
22. I don't like getting tired because there are so many things I want to do other than sleep. Except of course, I'm sleepy. I know our friend Josh C. feels the same way.
23. The highest-paying job I ever had {not counting a really successful SimplyFun party} was just a temp job typing for $14.06 per hour. It's sad that with my bachelor's degree I didn't find anything that would pay me more than that.
24. I'd like to learn more about different types of flowers and gardening.
25. Okay, last one . . . I miss my husband right now. Only about 67 out of 68 weeks left. He's absolutely perfect for me and my best friend.

Christmas and the End of 2008

I just noticed I've published 100 posts! This is number 101. I hope you have liked reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed yours.

These are pictures showing the rest of our family's December fun (well, the times when somebody had a camera).

• Ward party, December 13th

This is the chair Santa sat in once he came. Shboogoo had gone up on stage to sit here a bunch of times. She liked him and the candy cane he gave her. She loved going to lots of parties.

Some of the kids sat on the floor to watch The Nativity. The sisters next to Shboogoo, plus the blonde to the left of the girl wearing red, hung out with Shboogoo the whole time.

• Watching one of the many snow storms

• Body Worlds, December 22 (we went with Grandma Nene, Shauna, and Uncle Aaron)
  

• Loving the new blocks, in her Christmas dress, after Christmas Eve dinner at Nana's
  

• Christmas morning at our own home was both exciting and peaceful. Watching our girl run out to the tree and really "get it" this year was so fun. She had been saying every day, "Santa be coming! I open presents on Christmas!" [but with her own pronunciations, of course.] We didn't want to take more pictures, but I promise D was there!
  

We gave her 3 wooden cars bought here and wrapped in individual boxes, Bee Movie, Tibbar's Everyday Big Board (I am still a SimplyFun consultant), a dress she can wear later, and her stocking stuffers. I think that was all. Her grandparents gave her a lot.

• Roommate reunion, December 30 -- Bobbi, Sarah, Annika and I hadn't all been together since we were roommates in 2002.
  

Shboogoo played with Sarah's two kids and Bobbi's son.

• New Year's Eve -- No pictures, but D had a good night delivering pizzas while Shboogoo and I had a lot of fun at my friend Anne's party. Shboogoo was up past midnight and then the three of us didn't wake up until about 10:30 New Year's Day.

My Favorite Things about Christmas, part 4

I love this album by The Carpenters. It had been released as two separate albums but is now on 2 discs. My roommate Laura H. (now M.) introduced it to me in 2001. Some time after that I gave a copy to my mom. I believe it was on this Christmas Collection that I first heard The Christmas Waltz. I found out that Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne wrote it. Apparently Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Barry Manilow, Johnny Mathis, Clay Aiken, Harry Connick, Jr. and others have also sung it. These are the lyrics; the tune is really fun, too.

Frosted windowpanes, candles gleaming inside,
painted candy canes on the tree.
Santa's on his way, he's filled his sleigh with things,
things for you and for me.

It's that time of year when the world falls in love.
Every song you hear seems to say, "Merry Christmas!
May your New Year dreams come true."
And this song of mine in three quarter time
wishes you and yours the same thing, too.

(Then it repeats all of that)

Practicing

Why is it that during our free time we often neglect doing the activities that we enjoy the most?

I loved the piano enough to major in it. My associate's degree is in Music Liberal Arts. I had to practice 1-2 hours a day, 6 days a week or I couldn't get an A in piano lessons. I memorized music for recitals. One of the music professors had a comic strip on his office door that made me laugh. It asked, "If practice makes perfect and nobody's perfect, doesn't that mean nobody practices?" My mom likes to tell people that when I was young she never once had to remind me to practice the piano. It's true. She didn't have to make me do it because it came naturally to me and it was fun -- even the "work" of practicing a new piece slowly. I grew up with my great-grandfather's heavy, imperfect, 1910 upright piano. We never had anyone tune it, but it sounded pretty wonderful to me. It is still at my mom's house.

Soon after we moved into this place in '06 we bought a 76-key digital piano (the standard size is 88 keys) . It can do some cool things that a regular piano can't, and with the headphones I can play it any time, day or night. Recently I have tried to be better at doing the things that are the most important to me and not wasting time on unimportant things. I'm happy that I have been practicing the piano more often. It's nice to get through a whole piece at least twice. (I have to make sure my daughter is entertained or can't hear me playing, or she'll come over and want me to stop so she can play.) The one I have been working on is George Gershwin's piano prelude #1. I have a little book of his three preludes for piano, and the first is the one I know best. If you haven't heard these, you should. They're on iTunes or you could probably check them out from a library. The first and third are really fun to listen to because they are "allegro ben ritmato e deciso." My tempo is not fast enough yet, though.

A lot of popular (best-selling) music isn't great, and a lot of great music isn't popular. I think everyone who is not familiar with classical or jazz music should explore and listen to some of it, because I think they'll find something that they do like. There are tons of composers and styles. But I digress. I think it's cool to realize that George Gershwin's preludes were written in 1927, when my grandma was a kid. As I've brought piano practice back into my life I feel literally like part of myself has returned and I am more complete. I remembered how special it was to play a couple of songs, including one I composed, at my own wedding reception. I am grateful for this talent and that I can put my heart into improving it.

Scripture Sunday

I love Elder David A. Bednar. I still think of him as President Bednar and will always remember the times I was able to talk one-on-one with him or his wife. The group family home evenings that they lead were very special. At the beginning of Tuesday devotionals he would always say, "Are you ready?" and have everyone hold up their scriptures. (If you click on "President Bednar" above there is an article that says more about this.) I also will never forget the Spirit and comfort that came from the devotional on September 11, 2001, just a few hours after we knew what had happened. We sang some hymns, including Be Still, My Soul.

I found a scripture he shared in general conference last week. It is Doctrine and Covenants 59:21.

21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in al things, and obey not his commandments.

This shows just how important it is to express thanks to our maker. It seems that our failure to acknowledge His hand in our life offends Him more than anything else does. (Now that I think about it, I wouldn't be happy if my daughter were to say I hadn't done anything for her.) Elder Bednar said that one way to make prayer -- communication from a child to his or her Father -- more meaningful is to "express heartfelt gratitude." Prayer, gratitude, and spending time in nature were three themes that stood out to me as they were mentioned by several different speakers during this conference. Different things stand out to different people and for various reasons. I think it's so neat that people feel certain messages are spoken right to them to give them guidance for their unique circumstances at the moment. I was definitely uplifted by this conference!