Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Last night Ryan and I went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Temple Square Orchestra in concert in Norman, OK. I have grown up listening to them at every General Conference. I have heard them once or twice in firesides on Temple Square. I have listened to them on tv broadcast or shows. Last night was so different. They were wonderful. Amazing. I smiled. I laughed. I cried at my favorite songs. I closed my eyes and let the music wash over me. I leaned forward in my seat to watch a little girl down on the floor in the corner twirling, swaying, and dancing to the music. She danced almost the whole night. I clapped until my hands were stinging. Such a good night. I am so glad that we went.

Some of the highlights for me-
"Danny Boy" - I will always think of Pres. Hinkley when I hear this song. I remember when the choir sang his favorite song for his birthday a few years ago.
"Ah, el novio no quere dinero!" A traditional wedding song from Spain. You could "see" the dancing getting faster and faster.
"Betelehemu" - a traditional song from Nigeria - so much fun - the rhythem, the clapping, the drums.
"Come to My Garden" - This song is from "The Secret Garden" (love that book) and was when I first saw the little girl dancing. It was absolutely perfect.
"Come, Come Ye Saints" & "Battle Hymn of the Republic" & "Amazing Grace" & "Rock-a-My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham" were all amazing.
The Organ solo - oh I wished that my friends the Westons could have heard it. Ben Weston plays the organ (he is actually mastering in it). The Solo was "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" - it truly was amazing. A memory I don't want to forget with this song- my friend Alisa's grandmother passed away a year or so and she asked Kim, Allyson, and myself to help her dress her for the funeral. When we were finished, we sang this song together, one of her grandma's favorite songs. The love I feel for these friends of mine and the memory we made together that day...

My favorite hymn is "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" Tears poured down my cheeks as I hummed along with the choir. I don't know why, but that song reaches in and squeezes my heart like no other.

And last - for an encore, the Choir sang "God be with you 'til we meet again" - the final song sung at my mom's funeral. Everytime I hear that song, I can feel her saying the words directly to me.

I am a bit envious of the Norman wards today. Can you imagine the hymns today in church with some of the choir members present? I think I would want to cancel the regular meeting and just sing.

It was such a beautiful night and I am so glad that I went. It was worth every penny.

Options

We have MUSIC! In the car! Over a year ago, our stereo was stolen out of our car. We have had tons of long boring drives, especially for visitation (we meet 1.5 hours away.) We have looked at stereos forever but I just couldn't bring myself to pay for one. I was telling my Bishop that I was hoping to get one before the long road trip to Nauvoo on Sunday when he said - "you can have my old one. I just got a new one yesterday." Yeah!!!! It still costs a pretty penny to install, but we now have music in the car. Ryan & I have so enjoyed singing at the top of our lungs. So many memories attached to music. I have found myself turning it off a few times to enjoy the silence but the best part is that we have options.

You Are Invited-

to Nauvoo! I told you here about my love of theater and my dream to one day be in a church pageant. Well, it is about to happen. We leave for the Nauvoo Pageant in a month & two days. The following is last year's BYU-TV commerical about the pageant. **NOTE- the dates are not current.


Find more videos like this on NauvooPageant.net


Many have asked our schedule- We arrive in Nauvoo on July 19. July 20-25 we are in rehearsal all day and we participate in the pre-show activities and in the finale. July 28-Aug. 1 we have some of the days off to see the sites and we are in the pageant performances. We know that it is a huge undertaking to come, but we wanted you all to know that you are invited. The following link has more pictures and talks about Nauvoo. www.historicnauvoo.net

July 28 will be the one year anniversary of the divorce. It will also be my first performance in the Pageant. Somehow, that is very fitting for me.

Ryan Talking Out Loud

Today we were talking about Ryan's spelling or lack there of. He said, "I'm a boy. All I really need to spell is CAMARO."

Life in the Fast Lane

For a few weeks I have been impressed to have a TV fast. I was very hesitant how this would go over with Ry but after multiple promptings and a few fervent prayers, I brought up the subject. He agreed to give it a try. We just finished one week without TV! Not only did we survive, we thrived! We decided to disconnect the rabbit ears antenna and live life in the fast lane permenantly.

So that I can remember later, this is what we accomplished this week:
*Read books!
*Inventoried most of the food storage
*Studied scriptures tons!
*Watched Facing the Giants & Forever Strong together
*Workout & walked the park multiple times
*Attended sports camps, baseball practices & games
*Cleaned out the kitchen & re-organized
*Had Family night
*Cooked real meals
*Listened to John Bytheway & tons of good music
*Attended a team party
*Worked at the Sno-cone shack
*Played board games
*Finished a few craft projects

I was very surprised how much I didn't miss it. I am not sure I could go without my computer that long, but it was really, really nice to not have tv.

Return to Reality

I love to read. I grew up without a tv most of the time and remember reading everywhere - in the car, in the bathroom, camping, at the dinner table, while cooking - it was only burned a little, until the wee hours of the morning by the light of the lamp outside (which is why I have contacts). Everyone in my family reads. We would get into trouble because we would sneak off to our rooms to read instead of doing our chores around the house. When my brother came to visit me right after his divorce, he brought a bag full of books and spent the entire week reading. Ryan was so impressed that he read Eragon in two days. I think it was theraputic for him.

Here's my problem - when I read nothing. else. gets. done. And I mean nothing. If you want to know what a mom does all day, come to my house right now and see what didn't get done in the last 24 hours because I was reading. Two friends recommended the book "These is My Words" and I have been drawn into the Arizona Territories & life in the 1880's. I finally finished at 1:30a.m. last night. I read all day, I even read a chapter in the parking lot of Walmart & I seriously considered reading while I was pumping gas. I did get Ryan to his camp & baseball practice. I did make dinner (scrambled eggs because they are fast & I could get back to my book.) I haven't read for myself like that in over a year. It felt soooooo good.

When I woke up this morning I took a look around. I have a lot of work ahead of me. It is not so bad, I'll have Sarah Prine to keep me company.