So Many Good Things Happening!

So many good things have been happening lately! I feel so grateful.

First, I feel like I have finally been participating in music in some really fulfilling ways. Ever since I decided not to pursue a degree in music in college, I have felt like I missed my opportunity to develop my musical skills. But being here in Corvallis has been such a great blessing for me in that way. I was asked to be the ward choir director a couple years ago, which I had done before, and it was my favorite calling. Our choir is fairly small and requires a lot of PR work and practice, but it has been a lot of fun. And it has really grown and developed over the past couple years. I am finally able to give them challenging pieces and know that they can sound beautiful!

After leading the choir for about 6 months, I was asked to be the musical director for the stake play, which completely intimidated me. But I learned so much! Then recently, I was asked to conduct a combined choir to sing in stake conference. Wow - it was AMAZING to conduct a large choir that could really follow me. What an exhilarating experience! It was like playing a really large musical instrument in 4 parts at once, just by waving my hands around! I really enjoyed it.

And then they asked me to conduct the stake choir for the upcoming stake Easter program. We have only had once practice, but it was really fun to work with the cream of the crop in terms of musical ability. I am really excited! Conducting feels like it fits me so well. I have always wished I could play the piano better because I love the expression that can be conveyed through piano music. There are pieces I feel like I can play with all the expression I want to communication. But I don't sight read really well, and I will never be a great pianist. But when I lead a choir, I can help them sing with that much expression. I can use the dynamics, variations in tempo, fermatas, and other musical elements to bring real meaning and beauty to the music. I know I still have a lot to learn, but in the moment, I feel like I was meant to do this.

And also, as a result of my ward and stake choir opportunities, people keep asking me to teach voice lessons. I have refused for a while because I have no formal pedagogy training. But finally, it felt right and I conceded. So I have been teaching a 10-year-old girl voice lessons since October. And I LOVE IT! We are not doing anything advanced, and since she is so young, I have tried to be very careful with her voice. But it has been wonderful to help her discover her head voice and develop the talents she already has. We have also worked on sight reading, breath support, tone, pronunciation, interpretation, and various other elements of singing. She has already improved a lot! It has also forced me to begin singing myself. And surprisingly, I still can! I would like to really get my voice "back in shape", but I'm glad this has forced me to start.

All this music has kept me really busy though. In addition, someone from the stake asked Adam and I to conduct a youth ballroom dance activity, so we spent last Thursday night teaching night club two-step. That was fun. I am also watching a neighbor girl (Lily's best friend), almost every day. But it's all good things and it is nice to do a few things that feel self-actualizing.

And for the final bit of good news - Adam got a job! (You have probably already heard) He will be teaching family studies and human development at the University of Arizona. This means we will be moving to Tucson, Arizona in early August. I am very sad to leave Corvallis, which I have loved so much. I am also sad that we won't be moving any closer to my family - we'll be just as far in the other direction as we are now. But Adam's sister and her family, including Lily's only cousin, live there, and we are SO excited to be close to them!

I could write several more posts about how I feel about this, but I won't have time, so I'll sum up: super excited about being employed, hate the climate in Tucson, love lots of other things about the city like great food, ballroom dancing, lots of artistic stuff, temple announced there, will have to learn how to garden in the desert so my yard isn't just rocks and cactus, LOVE the housing prices, and my hair will actually be blonde again (not yucky brownish like it is now!). I hope it will be a good experience for all of us, but I know it will be a great opportunity for Adam. The job is perfect for him in every way! It is a huge answer to prayers, and we are so grateful! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us to get a job! (Now pray that Adam can finish his dissertation in time to actually start working on August 17!)

Catch-up: Halloween and Birthdays

I can't believe it has taken so long for me to write about these things! Halloween was well over a month ago. What can I say, things have been busy. We didn't do anything extremely memorable for Halloween, but Lily's costume was just too cute to pass up. Here are a few pictures of us. In case you can't tell, we were trying to be the family from 101 Dalmatians. Our costume probably would have been more obvious if we had, like, nine kids. Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately), that is not the case. So most people struggled to figure out our costumes. But it was fun anyway.

Shortly after Halloween, we had a fire safety activity at our apartment complex. Lily was very excited about the fire truck, as has talked about that day every since.

Lily's 2nd birthday was on November 21st. She got to celebrate twice, since we couldn't have the party until Saturday. Here is Lily opening a few of her presents. The highlights included:

a Minnie Mouse doll from Grandpa and Elizabeth,

several fun books from grandparents,

a baby doll stroller from my good friend Amberly,

and two pairs of firetruck pajamas from my good friend Candice. If you read my first post from November, you will know that Lily greatly coveted Candice's son's firetruck pajamas when they come to visit, so they thoughtfully got her some of her very own!

Lily really wanted an Elmo party, so that's what we did. It was not extravagant in the least, but enough to make her happy. We didn't take many pictures, aside from these Elmo cupcakes I made, which Lily was so very happy about.

This is the community center where we had the party, with a few birthday decorations.

Here is Lily with her friend Jacquelyn, also a BYU fan. :)

Elmo balloon!

Happy birthday Lily!

This was Lily the day after her birthday, trying to wear my shoes to church,

And riding her brand new rocking horse. That was our gift to her, since she loves riding ponies so much.

I also had my birthday in November, although it was nothing super special. I was actually sick the day of my birthday and Adam took Lily to a Christmas parade while I lay on the couch at home. It wasn't a miserable day, but not the most fun birthday of my life.

However, Adam may have made the best birthday cake I have ever had in my life. He made me this peppermint cheesecake. It didn't look exactly like hers, but it was pretty close. Ours just didn't have shaved chocolate on top. I wanted to take a picture of it, but we ate it too fast (and shared with lots of other people). It was absolutely AMAZING! It might be my favorite dessert I have ever, ever had! I have dreams about that cheesecake now, it was so good. Good job Adam. I think I will just have peppermint cheesecake every birthday for the rest of my life.

Otherwise, I spent my birthday reflecting. I am not usually nostalgic on my birthday, but my life will be forever different after this year, without my mom. So I just wanted to think about the past 28 years of my life. I contemplated each one, and thought about what happened and how my life changed. Some of those memories made me cry because I am so grateful for them. These primarily revolved around meeting special people: a few very dear friends, my husband, my daughter. And my conclusion was this: I am so happy. 

True, this has been a hard year. There have been big trials and many little, frustrating struggles. But overall, I feel so very blessed. I have everything that is important. I love my husband and my little girl more than I ever thought possible. Adam truly makes my life amazing, and I am so grateful. He is so patient, unselfish, forgiving, validating, and fun to be with. He is an awesome dad and works so well with the young men in our ward. I know he has a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he lives what he believes with full integrity. I have a testimony of this gospel as well, and I am so grateful for my Savior! My life would be nothing like it is without my knowledge of God's love and His plan for me. There are many other blessings, but they are all peripheral to the gospel and my family. We don't have everything, but we have everything that matters, and I am so grateful. I guess that was my birthday gift - the opportunity to contemplate how blessed I am. I hope I can remember that throughout this year, and that 28 can be filled with gratitude and thanksgiving.

Magical Sewing Machine + Pictures

I have a wonderful aunt who generously thought of me last summer when she bought a new sewing machine, and gave me her old one. This has really been quite a blessing. Of course, I thought it would be fun to have a sewing machine, but it was also an answer to prayers lately. We have been trying everything possible to reduce our budget and postpone the looming necessity of taking out student loans, and gifts have been the hardest area to stay within our budget. This is definitely my fault. What can I say? I like giving people stuff. :) 

I had thought for a few months that if I just had a sewing machine, I could make gifts instead of buying them. Yes, I know it is possible to make gifts without a sewing machine, but it has been a struggle for me to come up with crafty gifts that people would actually appreciate and use. Of course we didn't have money for a sewing machine, so I figured that was not a realistic option, but I kept praying to figure out ways to save more money. And then (bling!) a sewing machine magically appeared! Isn't it great when God answers our prayers my making stuff magically appear on your doorstep? (Okay actually, my aunt brought it to a family reunion, but it felt magical to me.)

I should also mention that I am not very good at sewing. My daydreams went something like: "I wish I had a sewing machine because after I learn to use it I will quickly and effortlessly whip out amazing homemade gifts for all my friends and family and save tons and tons of money and we won't have to go into debt to complete the fourth college degree of our married lives. Hooray!" Needless to say, it hasn't solved all our financial woes, and my first few sewing projects were anything but quick or effortless, but I am pressing on and becoming not-quite-as-bad-of-a-seamstress-as-I-was-before.

Here is one of the first gifts I made with my new money-saving gift-making machine/toy. It is just a simple burp cloth for a dog-loving friend of mine who is expecting, but since I made it out of a never-used dish towel and some scraps I had leftover from Adam's kilt, it was free! (And yes, in case you are wondering, my husband is obsessed with kilts. He says it is because of some bit of Scottish heritage, but I think it's really because at some level he just has the need to wear a man-skirt.)

I also made this Christmas card holder for my mom and a friend, from a table runner I got at the dollar store.

And I also used it to make Lily's Christmas dress. This project was obviously much more challenging, and it's a good thing my mother-in-law arrived in time to save the day. I actually finished it myself the afternoon before she arrived, but some of the inner workings of the dress were less than ideal, so she graciously took out a few seams and fixed them for me. Now the dress might actually last until Christmas. She also helped me figure a rough pattern for the second dress, which I made for Lily's cousin, Amelia. But I actually made that one all by myself. I was so proud! :) Amelia's dress is on the left; Lily's is on the right.

And, just for the grandparents, here is a picture of Lily eating a piece of toast:

And Lily walking:

And Lily "talking on the phone":

And I just think this one is cute (In case you are wondering what Lily is doing, she is stealing a bottle of aspirin from another baby who was playing with it. Real safe, I know)

And now it's December so happy Christmas season! Yay I love Christmas!