Hello! How Are You? My Darling. I do Adore.

This morning I woke up at 6:30am.

I know, I'm stunned too. If I wake before 9am it means something extra special.

And it was...for two reasons.

My freshman year room roomie from BYU was in town visiting her sister. Yipee!!! In town, meaning, an hour and some change, depending on traffic. I haven't seen her since my wedding in 2001. She is a blessing in my life.

Freshman year at BYU - Go Cougars - Fall 1995

Of course...since she technically, was in my neck of the woods, that meant I would visit bearing gifts of food. My morning included a shower, making a pasta salad, cookies and cupcakes for Bimi (her nickname).

Ang (Bimi's big sis - who was that cool sis at college too), QS, Bimi 2010

Due to my genes, I was running late. About a half hour in fact. I forgot to factor in time for frosting, and the filling for the cupcakes. Whoops. Then I had forgotten that hormones had gotten the better of my face below my nose and right under my bottom lip. They were disastrous, so I had to cover them up. (stop staring) Sometimes, hormones really kick my bum.


I quickly then mailed off some thank you notes for all the birthday love I received, and I opened up my own mailbox to discover the second treat of the day.



I received an advanced copy of the Marvelous Mindy Gledhill's new album, 'Anchor', to review. DUDE! Me! Can you believe it? Yeah, me neither.

First off, I am a sucker for clever, beautiful packaging. Mindy Gledhill's CD layout and design was spot-on with the vibe of her album. Creative guru, Jed Wells did a fantastic job putting it together, and Wendy Whitacre, pixie-winged photographer of Blue Lily, really has an eye for memorable images.


On to the music, baby! We needed some new tunes so I immediately opened the adorable package and slipped the disc into the car's system.

Then, I drove.

Mindy Gledhill won me with the first track, California. I love living in California. I love the sea salt air, the sleepy towns, boardwalks, sun and sand. Mindy's voice is delightfully distinct. Too bad I can't pull an Ursula charm on her.... love this chorus "pack your bags and lock your door/I'll take you places you've not been before/all I've ever wished to do is/travel through this life/with you." I can't stop singing this ...frankly, I don't want to stop!


I'm a sunny, breezy, beachy, ocean kind of a gal, and these songs... these songs should be playing on every boardwalk up and down the west coast.

As we went through track by track on our short road trip, all I wanted to do was eat cupcakes, dressed in a tutu, twirling up and down a beach, as the sun lazily stretches along the horizon, and the waves crash so that the spray makes my lips taste salty. (see pictures of my girls w/tutus, wands and cupcakes... "oh, that's why..." "Si, Senorita")


I love the way Mindy lingers on certain syllables as she sings. The lilt of her clear, pure voice is gorgeous. I enjoyed the words in track two, Crazy Love "it's silly to think/that I'm on the brink of falling right off my rocker/ ... I'm a definition of obsessive compulsive crazy in love."

I was also thinking that Mindy and/or the adorable, Krista Maurer, her PR gal, should send a few copies to the So You Think You Can Dance (#SYTYCD) folks. For reals. I can see a red balloon attached to a dancer as they perform to track three, Anchor. (When that happens can I tag along?)



Track five, All About Your Heart made tears well up in my eyes at these lyrics "it's not about your scars/it's all about your heart." Whether our scars are visible or invisible ... this line, this song really moved me. Thank you Mindy... thank you from those of us with scars inside, or out.

Woah... didn't mean to get deep.

Of course, on this road trip my girly girls were in tow. My oldest, the five-year-old asked me to repeat track six, All the Pennies over and over. Glad that the CD is filled with songs my girls love, and that I love too.

My heart and soul are both part Hawaiian, so hearing the ukulele on Mindy's CD made me think of untouched beaches, fresh, sweet breezes and delicious food.


Mindy is a mother, in addition to filling out the role of singer/songwriter and general do-gooder. I love that she's incorporated songs every parent would desire for their babies. In Whole Wide World "doesn't matter what the future brings/I'm going to live a crazy dream/I want to hold the whole wide world/right here in my open hands/maybe I'm just a little girl/a little girl with great big plans" I hope that future is in store for my girls.

Hourglass also embodies a parent's point of view, "when you reach for the stars/don't forget who you are/please don't turn around and grow up way too fast." These are songs that are sweet, incredibly fun, and inspiring.

"Hello./How are you?/My darling.../today" in track ten, I Do Adore is so catchy. There's no way you'd have a bad day if people would sing that greeting the way Mindy can. She has a tickle-your-fancy way of singing simple phrases that make them shine.

I don't know about you...but I am headed to the beach. Ciao!

all photos of Mindy borrowed from MindyGledhill.blogspot.com (CLICK)

Just so you know: I was asked to review an advanced copy by Mindy Gledhill's lovely PR gal, Krista. I was not compensated otherwise. All opinions are really my own...so dude...don't litigate me...or, no cupcakes for you!

Holla... it's my birthday

...recently when I opened up my iPhoto booth...I found these gems my daughters took of themselves one day. Of course, we followed up with some family ones too.

Yo... I'm 33.


3 is a cool number



3 for the Godhead



3 symbolizes completion



3 symbolizes the marriage covenant between God, wife and husband



3 year olds are holy terrors... 2 year olds are sweet.

3 for time - past, present, future



3 for self - me, myself and I

3 for the main Abrahamic religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism



3 is the first odd prime number

3 in Chinese is a good number as it sounds like the word alive... whereas the number 4 in Chinese sounds like death. Dude... Alive rules!



For my birthday - please go hug someone you love... and hug them 3 or 33 times. Don't tell them why... hehehe

Thanks for making me laugh.


ps. Today also happens to be a day my girls are choosing to be extra whiny and at each other ...so these pictures are reminding me of when I don't have to be a referee, or need earplugs. Ha!

How Will You Measure Your Life?

image from http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nviews/nvaw0510.html

Today on facebook I read an article shared by someone I knew back in high school, Mark. He's a genius. I could study for a thousand years and still not be able to have all his deep intelligence.

He shared this article, by Clayton M. Christensen from the Harvard Business Review.

image from microsoft.com

I read it. As I was reading it I couldn't help but wonder. Is Christensen a Mormon? So I did a quick search on wikipedia and pulled up his page. (Dude... his son is an Taiwan return missionary... yahoo!) My hunch proved correct.

Dude...yeah, he's a Mormon. Sweeeeeeeet!

image from snhu.edu

The reason why I felt he was, as I read his inspirational talk was his simple premise that what matters is family. What matters isn't the status, riches, adulation we receive. What matters are the relationships we have with our children, our spouse...and how we hopefully influence people for good.

This simple principle is something we're taught from birth, especially if you were raised in the Church. It's something we work at mastering... sometimes feebly. We believe that we are sent here to earth to learn, to grow, to improve...to become like Him.

Hope you all have a purposeful weekend. Seriously, read the article - it is a joy to read.


ps. Find more Mormons here.

Dude. I'm a Mormon.

My girls recently were photographed for a photography homework assignment by a young woman. I snapped a few just to document it.

So The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has this fantastic, spiffed up site where all of us ordinary members can upload our pictures and our testimonies to Mormon.org. Of course there are members of the Church that have extraordinary lives, and they're fun to read about from the homepage.

I had started my profile weeks ago, but then was distracted by my girls, and promptly forgot about it, until this past week when my friend Jenny posted hers on her blog. Thanks for the reminder Phread.

So here is mine. If you are a Mormon too, I suggest you go add yours too.

I've been browsing other Mormons too ... and I have to say... dude, check us out!

Happy Sabbath ya'll!

Cheers!

ps. Under the section "How I live my Faith" on my page, I had the spaces between paragraphs when I was typing it all out, and it checks out when I go back and edit...but on the actual page it's just one big blob of text - so sorry about the reading headaches... I need my white space!

Girls, Girls, Girls

I love hanging with my girls.

yes, I am still playing catch-up. ;-)

Back in April my lovely sister, and her little cute boy J, came out to California to visit. So we headed down to Grandma's to all hang out for a bit.



While she was in town - my parents' neighbors, Bob and Gen took some photos of us. They're fabulous friends and talented in anything they do.

Grandbabies with Grandma

Sweet cousins

Sisters

Legally Prohibited...

From Being Funny on Television Tour

We were about 5-7 rows from the stage...and the woman in front of me... is wearing a shirt I have, but was not wearing that night. Phew!

Remember when I totally pulled a Joey moment?

Well, I am finally posting our little adventure with Conan... way back in May.

There he is, Miss. America...

He serenaded us... he always wears great shirts.


La Bamba... he's about to hand me his instrument. (taken with the iPhone)


One of my least liked sketches...but it was a reunion.


...the outfit just exudes hilarity

...such a Conan move... I LOVE IT!

It's like Elvis...but with red hair.


Goofing off with the crowds... (taken with the iPhone)

Adorable, squeezable Andy.


Deon...was perhaps funnier than anyone else on stage. Loved him.


The band, rockin'!


A last send off.


Thanks for the laughs Conan.

Fireworks

Happy Fourth of July

We'll be taking our girlies to our little town center's fireworks celebration. They like fireworks...and it's close by.

I always see people ooh... ahh and exclaim when there are fireworks.

I notice on TV and in the movies, fireworks are supposed to be fabulously romantic.

I have tried, outwardly to also ooh and ahh along with them.

Inside however, I just don't quite feel it.

Fireworks don't move me....my emotional level is blah.

I don't get all excited, or emotional, or passionate about them.

Perhaps we can blame the fact that my ancestors have been shooting them into the sky and at people since the 7th century. Maybe that's why. I honestly couldn't care less about the colors, the kinds, the whizzing and exploding. Fireworks, for me are only interesting insofar that I enjoy seeing the reactions on my daughters' faces.

So to sum up.

Fireworks - meh.

Kids - RULE.

Happy FOURTH!

Cheers!!!

ps. GOD BLESS THE USA
...because gosh darn, we need it.

Doing God's Work...Magnificently

I love Elder Jeffrey R. Holland...and I love how he tenderly encourages, loves and provides hope for mothers everywhere.




Every evening around 11pm my hubby and I get the girls up to visit the bathroom. I remember my Mom doing this for us as kids, when we were little ones. I am grateful to have a husband who assists me in this little service for our girls. My girls are completely asleep when we take them to visit the bathroom. They are also incredibly cuddly, and cute in my mother bear opinion.

It's nice to know all these seemingly small, insignificant acts of service, and love we do for our precious little ones add up to doing God's work. Knowing that as a mother, and as a father working to do our best, we are essentially doing His work is magnificent, stunning, HUGE!

When it comes down to it, nothing else really matters, or even measures up to this simple, profound role. I am a mother...and that rules!

Following Him in Faith

Recently in a combined YW lesson a young Beehive (ages 12-13) bore her testimony.

She's one of those girls who always thinks of others. She's the one that skips break time at school to help out the special needs kids. She's the one that pays attention to my daughters, and is a real friend to them. She's beautiful, responsible, intelligent, sweet...and possesses a very clever, witty humor about her.

She began her testimony explaining that she'd be searching for a real, solid testimony. She said that she didn't think she'd be able to find one. So she had been praying, and after making an appointment with a member of the bishopric, she had met with him that morning. She said that after that meeting, and feeling the spirit of the lesson that day, she knew, she knew she had a testimony.

My eyes would not stop welling up with tears during her short time in front of all of us, sharing her pure testimony.

I admire her.

I admire her because she has decided at this very young age that she wants a testimony.

I admire her because she searched for guidance from a wise steward, a member of the bishopric.

I admire her because she used prayer to ask her Father in Heaven to help her.

Is it any wonder that this generation of souls is here at this time, in this place?

This kind of young women increases my faith. Enforces my persistence in enduring, in obeying, in standing firm, in my testimony. I am grateful for that.

Come Follow Me by Dan Freed

We are in a day and age where grown-up members of the Church think it's okay to air out their doubts, accusations, and criticism of the Church and it's leaders because... I guess it makes them feel better, seem more cerebral, enlightened to their peers. Or, perhaps because they think that that is how they will gain a stronger testimony. These people assume that because we choose to follow our leaders, to stay in the safe zone, that we are without questions. They are wrong.

Just because we choose to follow the Prophet doesn't mean we have all the answers we want. Following our leaders and the commandments of God doesn't make us perfect. It just means that we've made a conscious effort to choose God's ways, and eschew our human, imperfect, unknowing ways. That's all.

Well, I guess I shouldn't dismiss it that easily. That's a big deal. It takes courage. It takes faith. It takes a willingness to put God's needs, and wisdom above our own.

No matter how uncomfortable, difficult or seemingly, unsympathetic a choice we are asked to make is to follow our Prophet and God... I know that if I want to be obedient, I will turn it over to Him. My very limited human eyes can't see the eternal perspective. Knowing this, makes it a much better choice, in all cases, to choose following the Prophet, our leaders, and ultimately, God. I know that one day I will understand, but for now, I will follow Him.

...perhaps that's why we are asked to have faith as a little child.