Andy Williams Christmas

Classic. Classy. Wonderful. Perfect. 

Where did this style go? The Andy Williams, the Gene Kelly, the Julie Andrews, the Fred Astaire...

Sometimes I wish I lived during their prime. Good, clean entertainment.

Brett has been gone since Wednesday so I decided to take a little trip down to Branson, MO to see the Andy Williams Christmas Show. And I loved it so much. Just loved it. My mom used to play his Christmas cd every year, and this just brought back wonderful memories.

 

Yes here he is, Andy Williams. And I got to sit on row 6! Easy to get a good seat when there is only one of you.

 Even at eighty something years old he still has his voice.

 Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, I only took a couple with the flash. The rest are without it.

 While they changed the scenery behind he stood out in front of the curtain and told jokes. It was great :)

 And here he is singing his classic "Moon River" to close out the show.

AND I drove all the way there and back with his motorcycle in the back of the truck. Which meant that big huge 18-wheelers were passing me on the huge hills the WHOLE way there. But there was no way I was getting it out of there myself. It would have been in pieces by the time I was done. So I left it. But it was so worth it.

So that was my adventure this weekend...without a husband. Many more adventures to come :)

Week Number One

We made it to Missouri in our trusty little truck. But of course we didn't leave when we wanted to. That never happens with us. AND we missed our exit ... so we took a short little hour detour. 

Books on tape. They'll do it to you every time. :)

Sooooo we ended up walking into the lodging office at 10:30 PM on Sunday night.

The drive is beautiful though - through the Ozark National Forest, rolling hills, trees changing colors. Some of my favorite things.

It has been a crazy past couple of days since he started in on his training. He had to report Monday morning at 5:00. Well at 5:26 when he walked back in the room I was thoroughly confused and he could tell. So the wonderful husband that he is decided to tell me (after my asking why he was back already) that they told him he was here a week early and that he wasn't supposed to be here until next Monday.

Me: "Well then why would they put on the orders November 29 if you aren't supposed to be here until next week. That makes no sense!"

Brett: "I don't know. They  just said that I don't have to be here until next week. Now we just have more time to get ready."

Me: "That still doesn't make any sense. I don't get why they would do that. Ugh."

And then he just laughed at me and told me he was just kidding. They just got a break for an hour. I love him. :)

  

 Can't you tell?

Christmas Around the World week. But I'm not there this time. I've thought about it every day for the past while. Especially this week. And I miss it. I had to do an interview one time about our mid-semester tour show with a reporter from one of the cities we were performing in, and she asked me what was so different about folk dance that would make people want to come see it and bring their families to it. I actually don't remember what I said exactly. I probably stumbled over my words, because I was never very good at interviews. I remember thinking a lot about that question afterwards and realizing how blessed I was to have been a part of folk dance at BYU. The people, the time, the love, and the spirit. You don't really find something like it anywhere else.

"Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself."

Smiling Carrots and Slippery Rooftops

 Life in Tennessee over the past three weeks...

Working six days a week at a catering business just outside of Memphis, owned by a family in the ward here. The other day as I was piling up carrots to peel and slice for yet another vegetable tray I found this: 

Since it was the coolest thing all of us had seen all day, they decided we didn't have to use it. We added some "hair" and took pictures. Oh the excitement of working in a kitchen :)

Painting Brett's grandmother's house. I kept sliding down the roof, so we used the climbing gear my grandpa gave us and attached ourselves. Thanks to my inventive husband I didn't fall off the roof.

I've been asked many times which season is my favorite. Fall. 

Maybe it's because my birthday is the day after it begins.

Maybe it's because fall means soccer season, night games under the lights, listening to the national anthem, and the smell of freshly cut grass.

Maybe it's because we can go pick apples and fill bags and bags of them then carry them home and eat them until we are sick - but love every single bite. Because you just picked them.

Maybe it's because of long walks at night.

Maybe it's because of motorcycle rides through the tunnels of colorful trees.

Maybe it's because I am in love with colors. Especially yellows, reds, and oranges. 

Maybe it's because the air smells of sweet apples, leaves, a fresh cool breeze, light rain, hot apple cider, hayrides, fields, and cinnamon.

Maybe it's because it is everything lovely all bundled up in one, painting a wonderous portrait of beauty surrounding me and right before my eyes.

I've never known anyone yet who doesn't suffer a certain restlessness when autumn rolls around... We're all eight years old again and anything is possible.
-- Sue Grafton

Grateful...

Each life that touches ours for good reflects thine own great mercy, Lord

Thou sendest blessings from above through words and deeds of those who love.
What greater gift dost thou bestow? What greater goodness can we know
Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways strengthen our faith, enrich our days.
For worthy friends whose lives proclaim devotion to the Savior's name
Who bless our days with peace and love, we praise thy goodness, Lord, above.

There is a beauty and a truth to this song that I don't think I have ever recognized, and wouldn't have recognized if the Lord had not seen fit to bless us so greatly at BYU and then send us across the country.

It's a tricky thing to really recognize what we have before it's gone. And that is definitely something I could work on much more. And isn't it wonderful that the Lord gives us more than one chance to figure things out. We are off to start life away from BYU. Missouri. Hawaii. And on and on.

One thing I have learned from all of this in the past couple of weeks/days? Don't take what you have for granted. Say thank you and tell the people you love that you love them for everything they have done because not everyone is always going to be there. I truly believe that people come into our lives for a reason, and the imprint they leave on your heart is there forever.

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

Update: We made it to Tennessee yesterday after driving almost straight through for 24 hours. We took a small break at a truck stop in Texas. We will be with Brett's family for a couple of weeks while we get ready to move up to Missouri. Maybe I'll have an accent before we go :)

Do not waste time bothering whether you "love" your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.
C.S Lewis

Ten good things from today:
1. Sunday. enough said
2. the sun
3. the flowers in the back yard decided it was finally time to bloom :)
4. Bishop's talk on revelation, giving, and receiving
5. blue sky, green grass and walking barefoot
6. hope. faith. love
7. the cat falling asleep on her back, on my lap
8. walks and talks
9. Brett
10. time

Just sit back and watch the world. Everything proclaims His name. Definitely something I have been taught over and over again throughout the years, and something I love to learn because it always means seeing something new. Listen to the wind blow, then listen once again...

I'm horrible at this stuff...

A year ago I told someone I would start one of these. And a year ago I signed up for an account.

And that's about as far as I got.

Now here I am today, finally convinced that this could be a good thing. Life can be exciting. New places. Who knows where we're going in the next couple of months. I feel like a little kid, eyes wide, just waiting to see what will happen next.

Life is just an adventure waiting to happen :)

So we'll see how this goes.

Blog number 1. Check.