Carey Family

Sue

Fall Into Reading 2010

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It’s time for the Fall into Reading Challenge, although I’m a few days late getting started.  October is National Book Month, so I’m starting in celebration of that.  The rules: make a list, write a post, and read from September 22 to December 20.  Here’s the list from my TBR pile, in no apparent order:

  • Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See
  • The Serpent’s Children, by Laurence Yep
  • Mountain Light, by Laurence Yep
  • The Cross-Country Quilters, by Jennifer Chiaverini
  • Summer on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber
  • The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, by Gail Tsukiyama
  • Red River, by Lalita Tademy
  • Love Comes Softly, by Janette Oke
  • The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, byAlan Bradley
  • Prayers for Sale, by Sandra Dallas
  • Buster Midnight’s Cafe, by Sandra Dallas
  • Mississippi Trial, 1955, by Chris Crowe
  • The Hourglass Door, by Lisa Mangum
  • The Golden Spiral, by Lisa Mangum

Life Changes

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Today I was released from the ward calling I have held since 2003.  I was released for a few months in late 2006 and then called again in early 2007, so essentially I have been the ward choir director in the Mountainville 3rd Ward for 7 years.  For most of that time I had 2, 3, or 4 other callings in addition to choir, but choir has been a constant.  It’s a calling that I really love and I am sad to see it go, but with some current health issues that I am experiencing, it was felt by my Bishop that I need a break.  I have worked with so many great people during those years and seen so much growth in my fellow musicians that I feel truly blessed.  It’s been an emotional day, but I had visits from two families this afternoon with gifts to tell me how much I had influenced them, so I also feel loved.

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My Happiness Project

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Five of my dearest friends met together last month to discuss our book club pick: “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin.  We had a lively discussion on the meaning of compromise vs. collaboration and what really makes us happy and what doesn’t.  At first glance, we seem an unlikely group, thrown together originally because of our volunteer work, but the bonds we’ve formed have helped all of us in good and bad times.  They gave me courage to change because I was wavering on how many of the concepts I wanted to implement in my life.  I am not elastic enough to want a full-blown project like the author, so I gave myself permission to cherry-pick some of the ideas that really resonated with me.  So I am going to spend the next few months working on the following resolutions.  Some of these things I do already, but could do better; some need to be started; and some just need to be done with regularity.  I am hoping to see an increase in my level of happiness as I am more mindful of what I choose to do in my life.

Vitality: exercise better; toss, restore, organize; tackle a nagging task

Remember Love: don’t expect praise or appreciation; give proofs of love

Aim Higher: blog regularly; enjoy now; plan my days

Lighten Up: take time for projects; cut people slack

Contemplate the Heavens: scripture study; temple attendance

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Brian Stokes Mitchell concert

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Last night Scott and I attended the Brian Stokes Mitchell concert at BYU and it was fantastic!  I got the tickets as soon as the season ticket options was available in July and it was a good thing because it sold out the first day single seat tickets were available.  He is such an amazing singer and actor and so personable on the stage.  He introduced each song and told stories and I was just in heaven.  He opened with “Some Enchanted Evening” and sang mostly Broadway music, with a Gershwin tune and a “list” song called “Waters of March” by the well-known Brazilian composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim.  During this song he also played the melodion and said he is always asked what that’s called.  He said it’s a harmonica with a keyboard for those, like him, who are too lazy to learn the harmonica.

He sang “Soliloquy” from “Carousel” and said it’s the best musical theater song ever written for a baritone.  I’ve always loved the music from that show and he was so powerful.  He also sang “This Nearly Was Mine” from “South Pacific” which is my favorite from that show and said it’s the 11:00 song from SP.  He explained that when Broadway shows used to start at 8:30 pm, there was always a powerful song that came at about 11 pm in the show that was the apex of the emotional arc of the story and in SP, it’s Emile’s song, “This Nearly Was Mine”.  So I was right to love that one the best. 🙂  His rendition made you feel as if he really had lost everything.  It was awesome.

He also sang “Dulcinea”, “Stars”, “Another Hundred People”, “Wheels of a Dream”, “The Impossible Dream”, “Where is the Life that Late I Led?”, “New Words!”, and “I Was Here”, plus some others.  He was backed by piano, bass, and drums.  The whole show was really great and I am so glad we were able to attend.  After the show we waited in line for an hour and a half to get a program signed for Brian.  We told him that Brian is in the musical theater program at BYU, is a baritone, and dreams of being on Broadway.  He said, “Good for you for spelling Brian the right way, and my condolences to you as parents that he wants to be on Broadway”.  Then he laughed and signed the program, To Brian, Sing!!, Brian Stokes Mitchell

Wherein I Try Something New

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I tried something new: I made an online photo book.  I am a paper scrapbooker who hasn’t really had time to fuss with learning any digital scrapping except cropping and printing photos.  A friend regularly makes online photo books that become hardbound books and has been encouraging me to try it for a very long time.  I saw a big sale on winkflash and decided it was time.  I wanted to make a book for Brian for Christmas that included all his theater gigs to date.  This included 4th grade to 12th grade and seemed like a good candidate for such a book.  It turned out to be more complicated than I had originally envisioned as I tried to collect the photos.  I found that even though I have tried to be good about organizing our digital photos, there was room for improvement because I couldn’t find photos I knew I had taken.

Over the course of three weeks I found photos, sorted, gathered, cropped, fixed red eyes, picked backgrounds, wrote journaling and made a book.  It just arrived in the mail and I was very excited.  I looked through it and saw some things I would do differently on the next book I make, but overall, I was very pleased and it was fun to learn a new skill and be creative.