Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm playing catch up with Thanksgiving pictures.  I'll try to get some up from Christmas soon.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the first time.  It was fun to have so much family visiting at our house.  Most of them came from the other side of the state and we don't get to see them much.  

I thought this was a cute picture of Greg's sister, Teri, and her husband, Jason.  I'm making the face I often make when I eat...the face of trying to get something unstuck from my braces.  Can't wait to get them off!

Greg was excited about the turkey.  His parents bought it from the farm they often visit, so it grew up like a normal turkey, eating normal turkey food, and it was fresh.  Yum!

That's Michael and his girlfriend Leslie.  He owns a CrossFit gym and she works as an RN at Children's Hospital in Seattle.  It was fun to have them along.  I'm liking the way things are turning out with the girls Greg's brothers are dating.  It's nice to have our numbers evened out a little, and I'm glad we all get along so well.  I'd love to have all of them for sisters!

Lory, my mother-in-law, and my mom.  Isn't it great that I like my in-laws as much as my own family?

That's Maggie in the background.  She's marrying David this summer.  They live in Spokane and are lots of fun to meet up with after a temple trip.  Maggie had Dad mesmerized with her stories of how she met David and when they decided to start dating.  She's fun to listen to and watch while telling stories because she is so animated and expressive.  I think she should be a professional storyteller.

Does this look familiar?  I keep finding pictures of Greg with a wooden spoon over his ear like that.

What a silly guy.

2012

2010

2006

Greg and his mom worked on the turkey together.  It was good bonding time I think.

Can't wait for you to come back and visit again!

Happy Halloween

At work, we (nursing and Mary from X-ray) decided to dress up in pajamas for Halloween.  I think that's the best costume idea I've ever tried!  Much more comfortable than an itchy wig or face paint...  

The night before Halloween, four of us ran over to Walmart and found matching pants (the black ones that say, "Boo.") and coordinating Halloween shirts.  We had fun posing for silly pictures and pretending do some kind of procedure on one of the nurses.

Our camera woman jumped in for the last shot.  She's in administration and lots of fun to be around.  She had a wooden spoon stuck in her hair for the day with her apron.  I thought that was a cute idea.

The nurse I specifically work with is sitting just in front of me.  She is one of the reasons I love my job so much.

I love to see the temple

"I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday,

to feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray

For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty.

I'll prepare myself while I am young. This is my sacred duty."

I went to the Spokane temple yesterday by myself while Greg was at work.  I've never gone alone, but it was a peaceful experience.  It was so beautiful, and I enjoyed the time I had to think and ponder things in my life and choices I'm making.  

There was a nice couple there who offered to take my picture when they saw me with the camera.  I enjoyed visiting with them while they showed me around the temple grounds.  They are in charge of landscaping, so it was fun to talk about all the plants and see their work.

"I love to see the temple, I'll go inside someday
to covenant with my Father, to promise to obey.
For the temple is a Holy place where we are sealed together.
As a child of God I've learned this truth: A family is forever."

                                                                                                                                                                                                 Janice Kapp Perry

Hair cut

I got a hair cut.  How do you like it?  If you can't tell what's different, I got bangs.  I think it looks weird because I'm not used to it yet.  It looks like I'm wearing a wig. haha

Only one person at church noticed, so I guess it's not really as different as I thought.  Someone else asked me if I got new glasses. haha

Oh, and of course the teenage girls that I teach noticed.  I love that they always tell me if they like my dress or the way I did my hair.  They are so sweet and cute.

I shared my testimony in sacrament meeting and I said how much I love my calling in Young Women's and that my worst fear is of getting released.  I was half afraid to say anything about it--like I might jinx myself and get released the next week.  I just feel like Young Women's is the place to be for me.

I love this video!

I loved this song, and then it was even better when I saw the video of this guy's proposal.  What a good idea!

Gardening! Sort of...

I wasn't sure what we were going to do about a garden this year.  We moved into this house, but it's still a rental so I can't dig up the yard and make a big garden plot the way I'd like to.  So I didn't start little seedlings this year because I was indecisive and thought I probably wouldn't have a garden...But when I started seeing other peoples' gardens on our evening walk I decided I had to do something.

Here's the solution for this year:  Garden vegetables in long planter boxes.  It's not exactly 60 pepper plants and 20 tomato plants like we did before, but we should still get something from these little guys.  And it will be fun to watch their progress as they grow fruit this summer.  I've got red, green, and orange bell peppers, tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, and two kinds of squash.

Maybe next year we'll come up with something better.

Maggie Graduated!

This is my sister-in-law-to-be, Maggie.  (And my silly husband.)

Last weekend Maggie graduated from Gonzaga University, so we had a nice time visiting with her and lots of family.  Below is Maggie with her fiancee, David.  He is Greg's younger brother.  Greg and I love hanging out with the two of them.  It's great to have in-laws that you would be friends with anyway.

Greg's parents came to stay with us for the weekend, and his uncle, Bob, from California.  It was fun getting to see them too.  We only get to visit a few times a year.  And we see Bob even less.  Greg and Bob got some special time together going out for a movie after the rest of us went to bed one of the nights.

I've really enjoyed hanging out with these guys since they moved to Spokane.  It's about two hours from our house in Pullman, but we go to Spokane about once a month to go to the temple anyway, so we can usually meet up with them sometime that day.  I will really miss them when they move away.  I think they should come back and David could teach at WSU.  That way Maggie and I could hang out all the time.

Congratulations Maggie!

Flat Hunter

My nephew's class in Texas is doing a project to learn about different places by sending a small and flat version of themselves in the mail to visit friends and family.  "Flat Hunter" came to visit us in Pullman, so we showed him around.  We showed him the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse, as well as the dam on the way to Ellensburg.  We had a good time.  

We had so much fun we decided to make flat versions of ourselves to send back to his class!

Thanks for coming to visit Hunter!  See you next time!

Craigslist--$5

I was about to go to bed one night and I thought, "Eh, I'll browse Craigslist for a second while I wait for Greg." I saw this picture and thought it was pretty, so I emailed the lady. Not 24 hours later it was hanging on my wall. Cool.


I plan to get a few other pictures to go with it--it looks kind of lonely there on the wall by itself.

Happy Easter!

I think this may be an Easter miracle. The rainbow maker mom gave me a long time ago finally started working! (Or maybe it's just that we are heading out of winter and there's finally enough sunlight getting through to my window.)



Here's our Easter fun.


We went shopping together last night and picked out the chocolate we like: Reece's Peanut Butter Eggs and Cadbury's Eggs--the kind with the thick sugary "egg yolk" in the middle...Mmmmm...

Then we watched "The making of the Labyrinth" while putting together our Easter baskets. Jim Henson was a pretty talented guy. It's really too bad he died so young. I wonder what other movies he would have made if he were still alive.

After we finished that, we spent some time before bed putting together one of the puzzles Summer sent. That was fun. 100 pieces is just right for an evening project. And I like the picture a lot too.


I had kind of forgotten about Greg's basket. I made this a couple years ago. It still looks funny to me.


And of course, let's not forget the thing we are celebrating at Easter. I love this picture. My parents have a similar picture in their home that I liked to look at. The Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of those things that is important to remember year-round, so I keep this picture on the wall in our living room to help me remember.



This weekend there's a page about Easter on Mormon.org where you can comment and share your thoughts and feelings about Jesus Christ. I thought it was kind of cool to see that there are thousands of comments already. There's also some neat Bible Videos on this website, and a Facebook page with some Easter cards that you can comment on too.



Watching that video and reading the scriptures about Christ kind of makes our Easter basket and egg traditions seem silly and nonsensical. I've been trying to think of some good traditions to have (besides Easter baskets) at Easter so my kids will know why we celebrate Easter. What kind of Easter traditions do you have in your family?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's a little late, but here's our St. Patrick's Day fun.

First, I had a little get-together at my house with some lady friends. I didn't have the camera to get pictures (Greg took it camping), but here's a picture of what he left for me. The flowers are primrose.


At the party we frosted sugar cookies and played games. I was glad I finally set a date and invited friends over. I've been wanting to for a long time and always talk myself out of it for whatever reason. It was really nice to have Maggie (my sister-in-law) over for the few days before the party too. It gets forgotten sometimes, but girl-time is very important. And of course, it was more fun having her here to help decorate and get ready for the party than being by myself. Greg and his brother went camping for the last half of that week, so we both would have been home alone if she hadn't come here.


The other fun thing we did this month was our ward's family dance at church. The Young Women were in charge of this activity, so they voted Greg to be the DJ again, and they decorated and advertised for the dance. Do you like my poster? I don't want to throw it away now--the bright colors are so pretty. =)


We had fun at the dance, although I wish more people came. I think next year we should invite all 3 wards in Pullman so there's more people, and then they won't be afraid to dance. The kids had fun though. The little kids were the best dancers there.


Do you like Greg's hat?

Libera me, Faure Requiem

This last weekend I sang in three choir concerts, and the main event for the choir was the Faure Requiem. It lasts about 40-45 minutes, and by the end my feet were numb. Anyway, I was on youtube looking for a good video to share since it will be at least a month until I get the CD recording to send to my family. I just planned to share my favorite part of the song, but I got distracted by the director in this video. I'm not usually one to criticize other musicians, but I think she is have a seizure. haha. (If you don't want to watch both videos, just skip to the good one below.)



The comments below the video made me laugh too.

"It's great to see a female conductor. I can't think of many, apart from Jane Glover, so this is very refreshing."

"It's good to see female conductors but it's certainly not good to see anyone conducting like this! I don't understand any of her gestures! Do you know what an orchestra player does when someone is conducting like this? He ignores the conductor!!"

Anyway, I really do like this movement. You're supposed to hear the orchestra and imagine a heart beat while the soloist is pleading for God to "Libera me"--save his soul from hell on the day of reckoning when God comes to judge, and when heaven and earth are moved.

Singing in this choir has given me a new way of looking at music. I've really gotten into what we sing and it feels more like we're part of a musical that tells a story than just singing pretty songs in a choir concert. I'm glad to have these neat experiences.

Here's a really good version of the movement.

The snow finally came

We got one big snow fall a little before Thanksgiving, and then it's just been cold and dry. I was starting to feel like it's spring time, but tonight it finally decided to snow again.



It's kind of fun to have snow I guess, but not fun for driving. While we were on the other side of the state for Christmas we bought a car. It's a lot easier for us to get to our jobs with two cars instead of one person driving the other--especially when our start and end times are variable every day. Now that the snow has come we will have to drive each other to work again though. We haven't gotten snow tires for the new car yet, and you can't put on chains.

We're just grateful the snow came a half hour after we got home from our trip to Spokane today. It would not have been fun driving on the highway in the snow with regular tires on a new car...

(Isn't it funny--really I should be worried about sliding off the road because I don't want to get hurt, but somehow the money it would cost to fix the car seems like a bigger deal. The whole drive home to Pullman when we first bought the car was nerve racking. I kept imagining getting in a wreck just because it's a new car. Do new cars really get in accidents more often than old cars? I think it just feels that way.)

Guess what?

Like Ali said, I knew when it was the one, and this is the one. Hooray! Finally!

Robotic Surgery

If you watched the video you saw a little news report about the hospital in my town. We have a new robot in our community! Of course Greg was very excited about it, so we stopped by SEL in the morning and got to try it out.



You put your hands in these little controls that have two loops. Two fingers slip into the two loops--like a thumb and forefinger, and then you can move the robot arm by moving your arm, and open and close the robot "pincers" by pinching your fingers closed or opening them. There are three arms that you can control, but of course you can only really use two at a time. If you want to use the third arm--perhaps because it has a different tool on the end--you push the toggle button on the floor with your foot to switch arms.

Greg and I were wondering what happens if the surgeon sneezes during surgery...Does his arm flinch and cause the robot to use it's amazing strength to rip open the patient? Well, no. The fail-safe is the eye sensors in the control station. The robot is activated when it can see your eyes, but if you move your head and look away, the robot will freeze until it sees your eyes again. Another helpful thing is that the robot filters out "noise" in your movements. For instance, if you are an aging surgeon and your hands shake, the robot will not mimic your shaking. It makes all movements fluid and smooth.

You can see in the picture that there is a screen that shows live what the surgeon is doing, and then you can touch the screen and point out something to the surgeon. The surgeon is also able to control where the camera arm is, and zoom in or out according to his needs.

I just can't get over how much it makes me think of science fiction. This is the thing the aliens use to dissect the people they beam up from earth. Right? That's the image I get in my mind when I think of this robot. The helpful thing to remember is that the robot is not acting of its own accord, it is just a tool being used by a surgeon. (They don't program it to do anything--it responds directly in real time to the surgeon's hand movements.)

I could tell you more but this post might get too long and boring. If you're interested you can find a lot online about this guy--including videos.

A Book of Mormon Story

I was preparing my lesson for Sunday when I came across this video on the church website. I thought it did such a good job of explaining what the Book of Mormon is, and the "story part" is cool. I like the animation. Mostly I just like the way he explains his testimony and how he learned about the gospel, because it is the way I feel too.

Speaking of Choir...

Here is a link to a recording of the last concert. It's not the professional recording, but you can get an idea of how it sounded.

Eternal Light Concert Link

Click on Choir Palouse Choral Society, then Recordings, then Performances, then PCS Concert_Eternal Light mp3


The concert started with the Chamber Choir--which I'm not a part of. The chamber choir sings for about 26 minutes, and then at 26:45 is when the Chorale starts.


Here's the program:

Chamber Choir
Missa Brevis St. Joannis De Deo
By:Franz Joseph Haydn

Puisque Tout Passe
By: Paul Hindemith

The Coolin (The Fair Hared One)
By: Samuel Barber

Bright Morning Stars are Rising
By: Traditional, arranged by Paul Siskind


Full Chorale
Let their Celestial Choirs all Unite
By: george Frideric Handel

Lux Aurumque
By: Eric Whitacre

Luz Aeterna
By: Morten Lauridsen

True Light
By: Keith Hampton

I miss high school choir--Journal entry

I can hardly believe it's been 7 1/2 YEARS since I sang in my high school choir.

This is a video of the choir at my old high school in Texas 2010.



When I was in choir, I used to be one of those girls in the background doing a silly dance and singing backup. I always thought it would be cool to be one of the soloists that sing with power and confidence, but those are hard things for me to find in myself. I sang my "Senor Solo" at our last high school choir show ever, and that took every ounce of courage I could muster. I was the Blue Fairy from Pinoccio singing, "When you wish upon a Star." I wore my blue prom dress that happened to look like the fairy's dress in the movie.

For me, choir really started when I joined the Musical Theater and Dance class with Ms. Gillis in Junior High. It was so fun to sing AND dance. I also enjoyed the new experience of singing in small groups and ensembles. We had an awesome group and an awesome teacher. She took us to State--the only freshman choir to make it. Then I went to high school in Bremerton and the choir kind of fell apart. We started with 27 girls in the "Elite Audition-Only" girls choir. By the end of the year we only had 9 girls left because all the others dropped out of choir. On the CD of our competition at the end of the year you can hear me clearly because I'm one of 3 altos, and the other two were really shy.

I moved to Texas when I was 16. I also moved from a mediocre girls choir of 9 to an amazing girls choir of about 50. Our teacher was very strict, but I loved having her nit-pick at us until we sounded perfect. Every note, vowel, dynamic, etc...had to be PERFECT, and we were capable of doing that when she pushed us.

(This is one of the songs my new choir in Texas sang--so cool. This version was the closest I could find to the way we sang it. Nobody had cell phones to take video back then.)



I loved learning how to sight read music and use solfege to figure out the notes without a piano. ("Solfege" = Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do) We went to choral competitions with music memorized, but we also competed by looking at new music we've never seen/heard and singing the whole song a capella. Amazing! I didn't know that was possible! I learned so much from being a part of the choir in Texas.

I really wanted to be a part of the Show Choir too, but I didn't have room in my schedule for a 2nd choir class. (Instead I was focusing on Health Science classes.)

Here is the Show Choir from my school in 2010.



These days, now that I'm old and not in high school anymore I am part of a very "mature" community choir. (Median age: 65 yrs?) We wear fancy dresses and stand nicely on the risers to sing 20-30 minute songs in latin. We also mix in "normal length" songs that are really beautiful too. My favorite from the last concert is Lux Aurumque--the one I posted on the blog a few posts ago.

(I couldn't find any youtube videos, so here's a picture of us last year in St. Boniface Church. We always sing there at Christmas. It has cool echo-y acoustics.)



I enjoy this choir too, and I'm definitely learning and improving my music skills....I just miss swing dancing on stage while I sing, or wearing fun costumes sometimes. Our last choir concert was about a week ago and we got to "dance" a little. We were singing, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." and at the exciting part we got to step in place to the left and the right on the risers. After the concert we were congratulated by our conductor for doing so well on the dancing part. haha

ShapeMatch Puzzles

By Diana Weddle


We went to the craft fair on Saturday and came across this booth. Most things you just walk by and say, "Oh that's nice." But this booth caught my eye and I wanted to take home everything they had! Diana Weddle draws these amazing pictures made up of lots of little characters and then cuts them out as a puzzle. The puzzles were over our price range (cheapest was $60) but they also sold prints of the pictures for $15. It was so hard to decide on which one to pick! I loved the elephant, and the horse, and the moose. She had lots of animal shapes to choose from: dinosaur, sea horse, cat, pig, hedgehog...etc. I expect to collect a few more of her pictures in the future. They are just starting a website: http://shapematchpuzzles.com/. It doesn't have any information or links yet, but it has the picture I posted above. I would love to have some of her puzzles too, but I wouldn't want to let the kids play with it! It would just be my special puzzle that only careful hands can try.