Buddies

Oh, they just make my heart strings twitter.

For Mom

I've been thinking a lot about my Mom this week and wishing I could give her a call, so I wanted to share a little tribute. Forgive me if I go on and on about myself, but this is my blog after all so here goes. You may know from reading Jess's blog that I did a violin recital a little while back. Doing a recital had actually been a goal of mine for a few years. The night of the recital I shared with the audience that the recital had been a long time goal of mine and part of my original intention in doing the recital was so that my Mom could come hear me play again. As you know, I wasn't able to achieve that goal before Mom passed away. Thus the recital had become my way of honoring her and the gifts she left us. I played five pieces that night, and I dedicated the last piece especially to her. Many of you will know the piece as a family favorite--"Ashokan Farewell." I have to say that I think that night was one of the most incredible that I have ever experienced. The joy I felt in achieving that goal and in being able to provide a tangible tribute to Mom was indescribable, and all of the emotion that came with that feeling I poured into that last piece. I really can’t describe the feelings I had during that piece and then when it was all over. I felt elevated and filled with just pure, sweet joy. I know this is starting to sound fairly cheesy, but it's the best I can do. Again, forgive me for laying out for you all the inner thoughts of my head, but I just share it because I'm so grateful to have had the experience and most importantly, am grateful for the saint I knew as Mother. I probably sound overly dramatic and actually feel kind of stupid for posting this, but at the same time feel like its something I want to share, so anyway… The following is a clip of the last piece, "Ashokan Farewell," at my recital. Hope you enjoy.

Tagged

My gracious me I have something else to post about! Jess tagged me ages ago and here it is finally.

Jobs I've Held:
1. Counter girl at Training Table
2. "Landscape Maintenance Technician" for Kaysville City (aka lawn mower and gravedigger)
3. Hostess at Ruby Tuesday
4. Clinical Dietitian for Scripps

Places to go for a weekend getaway:
1. San Diego (there's still plenty here I haven't explored)
The rest is my wishlist (hint hint to hubby)
2. L.A.
3. San Francisco
4. Vegas to see Phantom (and Abby!)

Movies I can watch over and over:
1. Emma
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Ghostbusters
4. Moonstruck

Guilty Pleasures:
1. A good book and tortilla chips
2. Chips with Ian's guacamole or pico de gallo
3. Walking down the beach right at the water's edge and splashing around a little when I think no one is watching
4. Afternoon nap with my kitty curled up next to me

Places I've Lived:
1. Shreveport, Louisiana
2. Kaysville, Utah
3. Logan, Utah
4. San Diego, California

What were likely the first things you thought of when you saw your significant other for the first time:
1. Nice hair (it was longer than mine was at the time)
2. He must have tons of friends
3. He'll never talk to me
4. I feel very small (short freshman looking at very tall junior)

Places I've been on vacation:
1. Wenatchee, WA
2. Waldport, OR
3. Cancun, Mexico
4. Maui, HI

Favorite Foods:
1. Strawberries
2. Peanut butter
3. Marinara sauce
4. Chips and salsa

If in a "jam" with your spouse, what tactics do you use to get out of the doghouse?
1. Say I'm sorry
2. Give him my cutest puppy dog face
3. Give him a "power hug"
4. Give him a neck rub

Websites I visit almost daily:
1. Email
2. Blogs
3. Work
4. Google

Places I would rather be right now:
1. The beach
2. Anywhere with my family
3. On vacation with Ian
4. ? (I must say I already am in a pretty cool place)

Who sent this to me:
Jessica

Four blog buddies to do this survey:
Who hasn't done this? I'm guessing--
1. Ian
2. Jared
3. Mike
4. Niki

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

So about our lions that Jess referred to. We went to the Wild Animal Park a few weekends ago. I've heard that some people don't really enjoy the park, so I think how much fun you have kind of depends on the day. We must have gotten lucky because we really enjoyed ourselves. We were completely amazed at how close you can get to the lions. Here are some of our pictures (using our nifty camera with all the great tricks and zoom features).

Here's me at the petting zoo.

Here we are on the tram ride around the Africa pens.

Here's a real cheetah.

And here's some of our lions.