Beautiful Fall Weather!

Cool weather!...How I've missed thee!
I walked outside on Tuesday, and just stood there for a minute breathing in the nice cool air. That's right...COOL air. Something I thought was lost forever until Tuesday. I love the fall! After the heat, it is so refreshing. Unfortunately for me, Texas and Georgia just fly through Fall weather as if it wasn't a real season. (Yet another reason why I miss Utah. Although, I can't say that I miss the bitter cold! The snow...yes, but not the wind and bitter cold!)
So in honor, of this "unseasonable" Fall weather we are enjoying in Georgia, I decided to change my blog background to welcome the new season. Enjoy the Fall if you have this weather for a while. As for us, I'm hoping we hold onto it for a while, before heading back to the 90's. Yeah for the low 80's!!!!

I guess the down side of all this is the sudden change in the weather always brings with it the influx of sickness. I say this (or I guess, type this) as my husband lay in the other room sick from Strep throat, and I fight off yet another oncoming cold, masquerading as "really bad allergies!"

But dang it if I won't enjoy the cool weather anyways!!!

Musical Mutterings

I know I've been a slacker lately with the blog, but in my defense, I've been busy being a good friend. I was helping some friends of mine with their search for the perfect piano. In the mean time, I learned a lot about them. I'm definitely not an expert, but now I actually sound like I know what I'm talking about when I call a piano store to talk about the different kinds of pianos. By the way, just in case you were wondering how to pronounce spinet...it's with a short "i" sound like igloo...not a long "i" sound like spine. Yeah, I was corrected on that one.
It reminded me of when I was in high school and I had to call to order my clarinet solo from a music store and I asked for the Weber Clarinet Concerto. You all just read that as "wee-ber" right?!? That's how I pronounced it when I called...yeah, I didn't know it's pronounced "V-a-ber." It's a German thing! I learned really fast though...it's amazing how fast you learn when you feel like an idiot. Now if my students mispronounce things I'll let them know how to pronounce it correctly...after I've told them the funny story of my mispronunciation. Let's face it, musical words and names are usually in a foreign language, and unless you are fluent (or farmiliar) with German, Italian, French, and Musicalese, it's easy to mispronounce things.

Alright, enough on that!

On the subject of music. Those of you in my ward...wasn't the Stake choir awesome!!!!!! I knew that I had to participate when I found out what we were singing. For those of you who either didn't go, or aren't in the stake...we sang arrangements of "How Will They Know", and "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". The latter of course, arranged by Mack Wilberg. The same arrangement that the combined BYU choirs sing on "Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymn" WOW, that piece is a killer. We had such a great group of amazing talent! How often do you get to sing something that difficult in a church choir setting??? It was awesome!!! Our conductor was so prepared, I can even imagine the prep time that she put into just that piece alone.
As for the other piece, "How Will They Know." I fell in love with this piece a few months ago. I even ordered it for our ward choir. It's an arrangement of the same song in the children's hymn book. It is so beautiful, and the tenor part is by far my favorite!

Alright, enough about that too!

I'm wondering something! Know that my kids are all in school, I want to start practicing again (both clarinet and piano). How do you get everything done (housework, grocery shopping, meals made, home improvement projects, etc) and find time to practice as well? Of course, don't forget the time needed to update your blog and leave comments on others blogs. I thought once my kids were all in school, I would get so much done during the day. Surely, I would have at least an hour to devote to music! That's not necessarily the case, I don't even have much time for the MANY home improvement projects I have planned. Please let me know how to fit it all in?!?!?!?

Have a good one!

With that said, I'm signing off now to go work on the laundry and fix some lunch for myself!

The name thingy!

What Stephanie Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are influential and persuasive. You tend to have a lot of power over people. Generally, you use your powers for good. You excel at solving other people's problems. Occasionally, you do get a little selfish and persuade people to do things that are only in your interest. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

At first, when I was reading this, I was thinking..."oh that is totally not me", but then a few things were right on, and then some things were totally off. Let me know what you think!

I Love My Husband!!

So this morning, Erik was outside mowing the lawn...that's not the (only) reason I love him...just wait! Anyways, he was outside mowing the lawn but he hit something and bent the blade. He comes in and tells me that he has to go buy a new blade for the lawn mower...that's fine. I really didn't care that he bent the blade...that thing was needing to be replaced anyways, but I'm super happy that he is totally fixing it and doing it himself!
Those of you who know me, know that I like to fix things, and put things together, and do all sorts of crazy stuff, that some may deem as man's work. Before you think that I am not allowing my husband to do his share just know that Erik refers to himself as "Mr. Break-it"
With that said, I really don't like to mow the lawn, if I had to I would, but luckily my husband is...well, I wouldn't go so far as to say happy, but more like gracious enough to do it. So anyways, Erik figures out the problem, and finds a place where he can get a new blade, goes to the store (in his mowing clothes, BTY), gets a new blade, comes home and puts it on the lawn mower. He is now tackling our 3 foot high weeds in our backyard (we have had a lot of rain). It was so great to just sit back and let him do it all, I think I may do that more from now on.
So just in case you didn't get it from the title, I just have to say that I love my husband! He is so great. He really doesn't get some of the acknowledgement that he deserves. He works very hard, being the best soldier that he can be, then he comes home and helps the kids with their homework, relaxes a little until after dinner when he helps me clean up and then if there is time we will do stuff with the kids before it's time to get them ready for bed. So Thank You Honey, for fixing the lawn mower and tackling our lawn, and more importantly for reminding me what a wonderful husband, father, and friend that you are!