Introducing: Samantha Grace Viscalla

We are so blessed! Ed and I have been trying to grow our family essentially since we were married 7.5 years ago. When traditional methods did not work, we sought out medical help. As we journeyed down that path, we felt strongly that we should also look into adoption. Not knowing the Lord's plan for us, but know that indeed He does have a plan for us, we committed ourselves to doing all that we could do, and relied on our faith that the Lord would make up the difference.

Before we get into the story, first things first...I know you all want to see pictures of this beautiful little girl, so here you go, get your fix! :)

Birth Day

First bottle

Footprints on the hospital nursery wall

Ready to go!

Sleeping in the car

 

Hanging out with Mom

Proud and happy Mom!

Exhausted Dad

So cute...now 2 weeks old!

  

Many times we've gotten our hopes up and many times those hopes have been dashed and ended in heartbreak. Watching others around us who seem to have no problems having children and wondering when it would be our turn...

We had been approved and waiting with one agency but after over a year of being active with them and not seeing anything come of it, a friend directed us to another agency, through which her friend had adopted two children. This agency is located in Utah, well, Ed and I happened to be heading to Utah for General Conference in April so we decided to take our paperwork with us and try to meet with this agency in person while we were there. We drove to the office address listed on their site, but found that the office had moved. I called and left a message with the agency and received a return call within 10 minutes. The case worker that works with adoptive parents was in California at the time, but reassured us that she would contact the agency director and that we'd be able to meet with her and submit our paperwork.

We advised that case worker where we were at, we had stopped off for lunch in Farmington, Utah, we wrapped up the call and she phoned the agency director. Another 5 minutes passed, the case worker called us back and to our surprise, the agency director happened to be grocery shopping around the corner at the other end of the strip mall from where we were parked grabbing a bite to eat! The agency director came right over to us and we were able to talk with her and give her all of our paperwork. The Lord indeed works in mysterious ways!

We were so blessed to be matched with a Birth Mom, pregnant with a little girl. This Birth Mom is an amazing lady, read on and you'll see why...

We had the opportunity to get to know the Birth Mom (not naming her here, since I don't have her permission and as a measure to protect anonymity), as we chatted with her almost on a weekly basis. The funny thing is, many of our conversations were just about what was happening that day. Other times, the conversations were about nothing in particular at all. This was a great opportunity to truly get to know her, hear some things about her life, learn about her likes/dislikes and interests, and share a little bit about ourselves. She even sent us ultrasound/sonogram pictures of the baby with a cute card telling us it was a little girl!

Toward the end of August / early September, I think anxiety levels were high on both sides. On our side, we were so excited to be parents AND the baby was due September 18th (my sister's wedding was scheduled for the 17th); on her side, I can't imagine being pregnant through the heat and humidity of the summer, nor can I imagine the feelings and emotions she must have been going through in her decision to place this beautiful baby girl with me and Ed for adoption.

When all was said and done, the induction was scheduled for September 10th. Ed and I hopped a plane on the 9th to be sure to be there in time and arrived at our hotel at 3:30am the morning of the 10th. The Birth Mom was to be admitted to the hospital at 5:30am to start the induction. Ed and I arrived at 7am and had the very special and incredible opportunity to visit with the Birth Mom in person in the delivery room. We got to know one another better and following the birth, she advised us that the time chatting in person in the delivery room prior to Samantha being born really helped her with the decision to place Samantha with us. It was time to just sit and talk, face to face.

At 11:08am, we witnessed a miracle. Samantha was born, a healthy 9 pounds, 3.9 ounces, and 20 inches long. She was/is beautiful! Ed and I got to stay for the entire birth and were so amazed at the strength of the Birth Mom, and at the absolute miracle that brought this sweet angel into this world. After the umbilical cord was cut, the nurses were busy drying her off to keep her from getting cold. They wrapped her in blankets and I got to hold my little girl for the first time. It was a moment I will never forget!

There are a lot of emotions on all sides with adoption. Ed and I wanted to be sure to appropriately express our gratitude to this Birth Mom for this incredible gift, but also wanted to be sensitive to her feelings. I have no concept of what this Birth Mom must have felt or what thoughts/emotions were running through her during this time. All I know is that I am so grateful to her for the decision she made to allow us to adopt Samantha.

The hospital staff was great! They were aware of the situation and did their best to try to make everyone as comfortable as possible. Samantha was released on Sunday. We took that opportunity to go over to the Birth Mom's house so that her family would have a chance to meet Samantha and to meet us.

The next day, we were scheduled to appear in court. The judge applauded the Birth Mom, stating that in many adoption cases, the Birth Mom simply signs the paper and does not appear in person to relinquish parental rights. In this case, the judge acknowleded the very amiable relationship we have with the Birth Mom and again, expressed his kudos to the Birth Mom for her decision and for her strength.

The rest of the week was a waiting game. With adoption, both the birth state and the adoptive parents' home state have to sign off on the adoption. This process can take anywhere from 5 business days to a month or more, in extreme cases. Again, we were very blessed. My sister's wedding date was September 17th and we were able to fly home on the 16th to be able to attend the wedding/reception the following day.

Told you she's beautiful!

Before we left, we visited the birth family a couple more times. We wanted them to have the closure and comfort they needed that we will love, protect and care for this little girl with everything we are and wanted for them to have some peace in this.

Here I sit, finishing this blog entry 3 days after I started it. Samantha is sleeping soundly on my chest as I type this and I'm still in tears with gratitude for this most precious gift.

People have asked us if Samantha will know that she is adopted. Our answer is a resounding yes! We want her to know that she is loved so much by so many people and that her coming to our home was a decision made out of love by me and Ed, and by her Birth Mother.

So, I'll end this post the way I started...by acknowledging how truly blessed we are!

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Have you ever heard of Dr. Horrible? Yeah, me neither...well, not really. I recall a co-worker mentioning something about it at a team meeting, and even pulling up the blog...until my manager walked in, then we had to get back to work.

Anyway, so a college roommate and friend of Eddie's is also an actor and he called us and let us know he was performing in "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" at the Balagan Theatre in Seattle. We were excited to go and support him. I had also never met Butch before, just talked with him over the phone when he called Eddie, so it was a good opportunity to finally meet him.

The show was phenomenal! From the music to the comical lines to the level of energy that was present, there are some very talented people in that theatre company! And meeting Butch just topped off the whole evening!

So, if you're in the area this weekend, looking for some funny entertainment (ok, there are a few raunchy lines in Act II, Scene II...so let's call it PG-13), head to the Balagan Theatre!

Butch - Eddie and I will see you for dinner next week and again, fantastic performance! :)

Peaches, peaches, and more peaches...

Summer time = fresh fruits and vegetables = making jam and canning.

Last year, we bought 50 lbs. of peaches and canned half of them, made freezer jam with the other half. This year we again bought 50 lbs. of peaches but canned them all. That's right, in a matter of 4 hours or less, I cleaned, blanched, peeled, sliced, pitted, and 'jarred' all of the peaches. I followed up that act by adding simple syrup to all jars, sterilizing the lids, and finished preparing all jars for sealing. Sealing the jars is not my favorite part...I left that for Eddie! :)

Finally, with a 97% success rate (one jar didn't seal, so it just went in our fridge and we ate those peaches :) we ended up with

30 quarts of peaches!!

The best part of all of this? A co-worker had given Missi some canning jars and since she doesn't do any canning, she gave them to me! There were almost 50 quart jars and several pint/jelly jars. Yay - means all I needed to buy were lids and some rings! Thanks, Missi!! :)

Next project, making lots and lots of raspberry and strawberry jam!
Oh, if only I had the time...maybe in a few weeks, you know, after Missi's wedding! ;)

Dad

I love you and miss you, Dad!

February 1940 - August 2007

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love you! :)

Girls Camp 2010

Main camp theme banner

For the past four years, I've spent the first week of August at Girls Camp. The last three years as a "Teepee Mom" (leader over a specific group of girls), and this year, I was a part of the Stake Staff specifically over Golden Hour, the evening activity/lesson.

Daily Theme Banners

There is so much more to do for Golden Hour than I had ever imagined; preparing every detail for each night, ensuring activities are approved, getting music in line, learning how to set up and use all of the microphones and A/V system, holding song practices, meeting with my two helpers, and then trying to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

It's always a lot of fun, but was a lot of work. Add preparing for that to preparing for my vocal recital and helping Missi plan her wedding - I just don't know where the summer has gone. Feels like I haven't had a moment to myself and my house/yard are evidence of the neglect!

Just having fun...

At any rate, it was fun. Tuesday night, everyone participated in the "Value Olympics." There are eight values by which we try to help the Young Women of the Church to come closer to Christ: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity and virtue. For each value, we had an "event" associated with it and a goal of helping these girls understand how they can live these values daily and draw closer to Christ. From what I saw, everyone enjoyed the activities Tuesday night!

Value Olympics - Virtue

Wednesday evening, we started off with skits - not my favorite thing in the world, but required for camp certification, so we added them in the schedule. Following the skits, we changed the modd a bit through music. A friend of mine along with one of my helpers met together and planned the flow of the evening. They decided to combine the overall Mutual theme for the year of, "be strong and of a good courage," with the camp theme of, "Come Unto Me." We started off with songs about being strong and establishing a strong foundation in Christ ending the evening learning through song of the many things our Savior has done for us, and what we will do in return. We had stories, testimonies, and dialogue between the numbers.

Thursday night, we had some very special guests: Mary, mother of Jesus, Joseph and Emma Smith, Captain Moroni, a Sister Missionary, Sariah, and the three virgins sacrificed in Abraham 1:11. We asked people/leadership in our Stake to come be a part of our activity Thursday evening by playing one of these roles and explaining how they stood as witnesses for Christ, why it was so important, what role the gospel has in their lives, and how we can do the same in our life. We ended the evening all together in the amphitheater and watched a powerful video with examples of being strong, being an example to others, and being a witness of Christ. Thursday was by far the most impactful evening in my opinion.

Sariah

Mary

Emma and Joseph Smith

Three Virgins from Abraham 1:11

Captain Moroni

Sister Missionary

It was great, although I don't think I slept the entire week, or the 6-8 weeks leading up to it! After camp, I talked with the person who was in charge of Golden Hour last year and I fully agree with her - we need to form a support group for former Golden Hour leaders!

North Pole

After what seems like years since we've seen them, Eddie and I decided to go to North Pole, Alaska to visit a friend of mine and her family. They have 4 kids, so it's not often they make it to Washington. Ed and I are a bit more mobile so we were excited for the opportunity to go visit them!


I mean really, how often do you get to (pictures coming soon!):

1. Say you went to visit the real Santa Claus at his house in North Pole;

2. Go panning for gold and actually come away with gold flakes;

3. Ride a river boat to a native, although staged, Alaskan village;

4. See the Alaska Pipeline;

5. Experience daylight hours a day; and,

6. Stay up until after 2AM playing games with amazing friends?

We had such a great time! It was as if no time had passed too - Sarah and I picked up right where we left off! After going up there to visit, I can see the draw to live there, but I sure to miss them and selfishly wish they lived closer! Ed and I agreed, we need to go visit more often...Sarah, keep that air mattress handy for me and Eddie!

O Canada!

Happy Canada Day!

Allow me to pass along a good piece of advice...when planning a trip out of town, especially to another country, verify if there are holidays happening at your destination!!!

A few years back, Eddie and I decided to spend a long weekend in Canada (British Columbia) over the 4th of July weekend. We planned to leave on July 1st and come back on the 4th, to see the fireworks here. What we failed to realize is that July 1st is CANADA DAY! Yeah - it's a big deal. So, not only did it take us a very long time at the border, but we had just planned to mill around British Columbia - we really only had a general idea of our route, no real hard and fast destinations in mind. Well, we got to the border and border patrol asked us the usual questions, you know, where do you live? how long will you be in Canada? where are you going? etc. We didn't have very good answers, apparently, because we were pulled to the side and detained for a little bit until they believed us that we're really just here to spend a long weekend and don't have specific plans. That, and we mentioned that one of the towns we were headed to is called Lilooet. We had just thought of going there because it was so fun to say the name of the town, but the border patrol I guess couldn't believe that without family that lived there, that Lilooet would be one of our stops while in Canada!!

Ok, so they finally let us proceed and we made our way to Lilooet. It's a quaint little town - not really a destination and nothing really to do there - be we can now say we've been there. Anyway, on our way around, we ended up in Eastern BC and it was getting late, so we decided to stop and try to find a hotel in Penticton (another fun town name to say!). So we got to Penticton and I must have called over a dozen hotels - ALL of them were completely booked!

We ended up staying at this little motel - they had ONE room left. Picture a hotel from the 1960's...single story, you back your car in right in front of the door to your room, a little area where all of the travelers can gather together and have a BBQ, complete with built-in charcoal barbecues - seriously! We very reluctantly accepted this room and only because it was really the only one left in the entire town that we could find - it was a smoking room so I was not thrilled at the prospect of coming out of there smelling like cigarette smoke!! BUT the owners, a nice little older couple, were so sweet - they had an entire BIG bottle of Febreze just waiting for us when we arrived so we could spray down the room. We used it all - yep, the entire bottle!!

The next day, we started meandering a bit more...hitting LOTS of traffic, but eventually making our way back to Washington.

Now, despite how it sounds, this trip was a lot of fun. We discovered some very interesting places, encountered mountainside roads where one lane was completely washed out and a straight drop down the face of a cliff, toured a river boat, and even visited Hell's Gate :)

We've often said to one another how fun it would be to go back...probably not over Canada Day and likely next time, we'll make hotel reservations in advance! :)

Happy Canada Day!

Twilight Trilogy

I love "Twilight!" The third installment of the series came out in theaters on June 30th. Now, for the previous two releases, I went with friends and waited in line for several hours and we got to see the midnight release. This time, the Woodinville theaters were showing a "Twilight Trilogy" where they let us purchase tickets for all three movies, admitted us to the theater, we started with "Twilight," then on to "New Moon," and finished with the midnight showing of "Eclipse."

What was so fantastic about this trilogy is that they gave us these lanyards to wear, they were essentially our in and out privileges to the theater, that had a $10 gift card attached, you know, for the snack bar! It was really well coordinated and we would likely go back to that theater based on our experience with what could have been a very out of control release.

I have to say, the movies, both directing and acting, are getting better with each new release. It was almost comical to look back at "Twilight." The acting was bad, the lines were bad, the directing was bad...yet I love the movie because it's "Twilight." Things improved in "New Moon," but again, "Eclipse" is by far the best of the trilogy.

I can't wait for "Breaking Dawn." A little irritated that they've decided to milk their fans for 2 tickets by splitting it into part I and part II... not sure I'll go to the midnight showing... oh who am I kidding? I love "Twilight" so you know, I'll be there in line for the midnight showing! ;)

Wallet, Watch, Phone, Keys, Badge

Whenever we're leaving the house, Eddie and I have this "list" that we verbally run down to verify we're not leaving anything important behind. This list is typically modified depending on where we're going.

For example:

• When we go to church, I run through the list for Eddie as, "wallet, watch, keys."
• When Eddie is headed out to a photo shoot, it's, "wallet, watch, phone, keys, camera."
• When we're headed out shopping or just out in general, it's, "wallet, watch, phone, keys."

Well, one list I've really missed is, "wallet, watch, phone, keys, badge." (When we say it, it kinda comes out as all one word... :) As of today though, I am happy to report that the list can now be said once again in its entirety. See, Eddie was laid off of work last year and after many months of looking for just the right opportunity, coupled with fasting and many, many prayers, we have truly been blessed and he is now back to work full-time! Yesterday was his first day which meant that this morning, we are back on routine...

Wallet, watch, phone, keys, badge - it's kinda catchy!

Ohanapecosh

Gesundheit!

No, I didn't just sneeze...Ohanapecosh is the name of a campground (and river) at Mt. Rainier. Eddie and I went camping there over Memorial Day weekend with 3 other families. In total, I think we had 20 people there! Aside from the weather, it was a lot of fun. Ok, the weather wasn't that bad, it was a tad cold and a little too much moisture for my taste...especially at the end of May!!

We spent our time hiking...

Did a lot of cooking, including trying out a new camping oven. That's right, we had fresh bread, brownies, cookies, all sorts of baked goods this time around - yummy!! ...




The rest of the time we all were warming up around the campfire, playing games (kind of), and...warming up around the campfire. :)

We even splurged and bought a new double-tall air matress to keep comfy. It did the trick - the down side, it took up pretty much the entire tent!

We had so much fun spending time with friends...

And enjoying the beautiful area in which we live!

Marvin Hamlisch and "The Music Man"

My mom has season tickets to the Seattle Pops series at Benaroya Hall and last night, she invited me and Missi to go with her. We were also accompanied by my aunt Lois and a friend of hers.


We started the evening going out to dinner (Stuart Anderson's Black Angus...I don't recommend it). Dinner took a little longer than planned so we ended up racing down the freeway to get to Seattle from Lynnwood, parked, and in the theatre in 25 minutes. Ok, so we were a tad late, missed part of the opening number. Of course, it didn't help that when we arrived, someone was in my mom's seats, so we had to wait for the end of the opening number and the usher went over and straightened things out for us.



Ok, so we got all settled in and finally able to enjoy guest conductor and composer Marvin Hamlisch. He's a very talented and funny guy! We enjoyed the orchestra playing the overature from, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," and Hamlisch on the piano with an original composition. He then welcomed out guest artist, Ashley Brown. Most recently, she originated the part of Mary Poppins in the musical by the same name on Broadway. She has performed other parts on Broadway as well, including Belle from, "Beauty and the Beast," as well as performed several concerts across the country. Brown sang, "Somewhere," "Feed the Birds," "Speak Low," and Marvin Hamlisch's, "The Way We Were."




Following intermission, a Readers Digest version of "The Music Man" was presented. So many talented people in the Seattle area took the stage playing parts in the chorus and the mens quartet. The lead roles were played by actors brought in from other parts of the country, including some who had performed on Broadway and in television and movies. Of course, Ashley Brown played the role of Marian Paroo and did a fantastic job.


Now, if I didn't know the story of The Music Man, the shortened version may have been a bit confusing, but in general, they really did very well in shortening the story but still keeping the storyline flowing. Many of my favorite songs from the movie were performed including, "Ya Got Trouble," "Til There Was You," "Marian the Librarian," "Goodnight, My Someone," and, of course, "76 Trombones." My mom was a bit disappointed that she didn't get to hear, "Shipoopi," and "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little."


If you're interested, there are still tickets for sale for this performance going through this weekend. It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours!!

Published!

Since last Fall, Eddie and I have been privileged to work with NorthWest Sports News and NorthWest Theatre News. Eddie has been able to hone his photography skills in attending and photographing local High School sports, and both he and I have enjoyed several High School drama productions, the latest at Everett High School.

When we attend these High School plays, Eddie does the photography and I write the reviews. It's really fun to get to experience these dramatic productions and see the talented kids in the area up on stage. Of course, it's also really exciting to be published on a web site for doing something so fun!

Check us out at http://www.nwtnews.org/.

Wedding Planning

I'd forgotten how much fun it is to plan a wedding. As I've mentioned before, Melissa is finally engaged, so she and I have spent some time recently doing wedding "stuff." Last week, we went to a dress shop and she found the perfect dress. Simple, elegant, truly the perfect dress for her!

Then over the weekend, there was a "wedding expo" of sorts in Snohomish where various venues were staged and featuring several wedding vendors from Snohomish.

Now Ryan would be content with a reception in the gymnasium of one of our church buildings. BUT, Missi is a princess (shouldn't he know this by now?) so having a reception in a gym with basketball hoops overhead and court lines on the floor is not her style. Convenient, large enough, kitchen access, and the right price, yes - but a gym is no place for a reception for this princess!

So, the hunt is still on for the perfect place for the reception. Of course the wedding location is not an issue - that will happen at the Seattle LDS Temple. It's just a matter of figuring out where to send people after the wedding! :) Luckily, they have an appointment at another place this week and we're all keeping our fingers crossed that that price, resources, size, and availability will be right!

Dress - check!
Photographer - check!
Wedding favors - check (well, in theory)!
Caterer - check!
Venue - almost there...
Wedding cake - pretty darn close...

Now there are just the small matters of registering, bridal showers, invitations, tuxes, flowers, food decisions, bridesmaid dresses, and the list goes on and on! Wow, so many things to do...so little time! The timer is set and ticking away on the preparation for this September wedding!!

Vancouver, B.C. Temple

Eddie and I took a day off a couple of weeks ago and headed up to Vancouver, B.C. to attend the open house for the new temple. We couldn't have asked for a better day! Not only was the sun shining, but the lines to get across the border were short and there was no line at the temple. We'd heard from others that lines on the weekends were horrific, so Thursday was a good day to go.

The temple is beautiful! With every temple, they try to weave some of the local culture into the temple. In this case, the dogwood is the B.C. provincial flower so many of the carvings and etchings and even the landscaping contained bits of the dogwood flower influence.

As we were walking up to the temple, they asked us to put on these white shoe covers to protect the carpeting inside the temple. We did so and headed inside where our tour began. Now being temple worker ourselves in the Seattle Temple, we were very interested to see and hear the reactions and comments from those in our group who were not members of the Church. They had some great questions. Everything from what goes on inside the temple to wondering if members get to come back over and over again. Since we consider the temple a sacred place, there are those who tend to think that we are being secretive. Not true - we just hold those covenants so sacred that to speak carelessly about them would be irreverent and disrespectful.
After the tour, we were invited to walk over to the church building across the parking lot where they had big displays set up to help answer questions and offer more information to visitors. What a great reason to take a day off and head up to Canada!

Before we left, we took lots of pictures of the temple,

the temple grounds,

and even a picture of us in front of the temple...

Of course, after we took the picture, we remembered why it's just better to ask others for help (thank goodness for digital cameras!).

Before we could cross the border though, we had to stop in at a drug store. While neither Eddie nor myself can take them, we have a friend who was in such dire need of a "Canada run" that we stopped in to pick up some Tylenol w/Codeine (because we can't get that here in the U.S.). So, I asked the pharmacist how many I'm allowed to take back across the border and purchased what I could.

Now, I have another friend who loves Kinder Eggs, something else you can't get in the U.S. So after stopping at the pharmacy counter I went to the candy section to find Kinder Eggs and ended up with 5 Kinder Eggs, and other "Canadian candy" - a Bueno bar, Aero bar, Wunderbar, and a puffy Kit Kat (puffy because it didn't look like the kind of Kit Kat I'm used to, and it had some cream filling at the top that tasted like hazelnuts).

Ok, so I walked up to the check out counter with my Tylenol in one hand (already paid for that) and 9 pieces of candy in the other hand. The checker gave me a somewhat strange look given what I was buying, until I explained that I needed to buy all of this candy because we can't get it in the U.S. That seemed ok and the raised eyebrow look I initially got from her disappeared and she was very friendly - even gave me a reusable shopping bag for free! :)

Now, with my treasures in tote, got back to the car, got that same raised eyebrow look from Ed when he saw how much candy I bought (until I explained to him that it's not all for us), and we were headed home. The line at the border moved pretty quickly, only waited about 15 minutes, but I was nervous. I sat there the whole time thinking, "Do I tell them I even bought the Tylenol? What do I say?" We got up to the border booth, she took our passports, asked why we were there - Temple open house, asked how long we were there - 3 hours, asked if we brought anything back with us - candy and Tylenol. Yup, just candy and Tylenol. Nothing - no reaction, no startled look, no eyebrows raised, no desire to search the car - huh, that was easy.

What a beautiful day!

(By the way, Sarah, the Kinder Eggs are on their way! ;)

MISSI IS ENGAGED...

...FINALLY!!!!

(ok, it's an older picture, but a good one!)

NATS

Every year I get the opportunity to participate in a vocal adjudication. This is an opportunity to receive feedback from other vocal instructors/coaches and even has a competitive element to it. Why is it called NATS, you ask? Well, it's an acronym that stands for National Association of Teachers of Singing. My voice teacher is a member of the Puget Sound Chapter, thus I get to participate.

This year, I was in a brand new category, again with my sister. Last year, I needed to learn three pieces but this year was a bit tougher - four pieces. One had to be an aria (Italian - check), the others were to be art songs, only one could be in English, and the others had to be different languages (French, German, English - check, check, check).

Now last year, I met with my accompanist several times. We had our timing down! We practiced, we cut interludes, we sped up songs - anything we could do to get my three songs introduced and performed in 10 minutes or less. This year? Well, new category = 15 minutes for the four songs. Piece of cake, right? Ha ha ha - here's where the major praise of my accompanist comes into the equation. I think we practiced twice prior to the day of the adjudication and one of those practices was during my voice lesson where my voice teacher grew very visibly more and more nervous with each piece we rehearsed for her. Why? Well, I didn't know the words to my songs yet (no biggie, when in doubt, make up new words - it's always worked before... :), I had just changed the key on one of my songs and just barely given the music to my accompanist (whoops) AND, since we can only use original music for the adjudication (they do check the music), I hadn't yet given my accompanist the book for one of my pieces, just a copy. She'd need to read from the book during the actual performance (yikes). Hmmm...things weren't looking good!

Have I mentioned yet that my accompanist is so fantastic? Yeah - she's phenomenal! If I were in her shoes, I'd have thrown a book at me by this time! (Thanks, Chari!!)

Ok, so the day of the adjudication arrives, it was a Saturday so I had worked at the Seattle Temple that morning (at the way-too-early-for-a-weekend-to-start time of 5am). Needless to say, I was a bit tired when it came time to sing. By all rights, I should have flopped this adjudication. Yes, I had practiced at home, but I was still so painfully far away from polishing these pieces, in my opinion, there's no way I should have been able to pull this off. You know though, I'm absolutely confident in the power of prayer because that was the calm that allowed me to be able to recall those words. Were there some minor mistakes, sure, but in the end things went great!

Take a listen if you want - if you hear mistakes, I blame the camera! :)

Remember how I said there was a competitive element to this? Well, I was awarded 1st Place in my category again this year (YAY!!) and Missi was awarded 2nd Place (yay Missi!!!)!!

Isn't singing fun?!

One Crazy March

Here we are, it's March 18th, and this has to be one of the craziest months for our family! Why, you ask? Well, here's a taste of our month:

• 
  
  I got REALLY sick with the flu - sick enough that we contemplated the ER but settled for the walk-in clinic.
• 
  
  The temple opened back up after its two-week closure. This is a good thing, but means we're back to early mornings on Saturdays (you know, 3:30AM early...).
• 
  
  Eddie and I went to the 3A High School Basketball Championships in Tacoma for 4 days. Eddie was there more than I was because he needed to take photos. I was there for a few games and helped in uploading pictures and writing some of the stories. Check it out at http://www.nwsnews.com/.
• 
  
  This last Sunday was our friend, Kylie's birthday. After racking our brains on what to get her, we decided on pre-ordering New Moon for her. I helped Kylie's mom in getting her cake ready and was able to help just a bit in the dinner prep.
• 
  
  I've gotten back into Family History work building her family tree on Ancestry.com and even e-mailing a distant cousin on my dad's side who lives in OLYMPIA! That's huge! My dad was an only child so most of his family now consists of cousins I've never met because they live in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and North Carolina. Next step, mini-family reunion to meet this cousin!
• 
  
  Seminary - I love teaching, so when I was asked to substtute for a week, I jumped at the chance. However, it's only when the time actually arrives that I remember how early Seminary actually is...I have been dragging this whole week but again, I love teaching. Even took them some cinnamon rolls with green icing for St. Patrick's Day yesterday!
• 
  
  Speaking of yesterday - it was my birthday!!! Yup, I'm not to the point of hating/fearing my birthday (if age is all in the mind, I turned 40 YEARS ago) but I'm past the point of being giddy about it. Started the day with Seminary, went to work for a bit, then decided, "it's my birthday, I'm taking the afternoon off!!!" When I got home, the Relief Society President dropped by with a card and we visited for a while - she is so great! Then Eddie came home and brought me some beautiful flowers and presents! We went to a family dinner at The Cheesecake Factory - so happy, my aunt Lois came to dinner too! I ordered my favorite - the Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps. They're technically an appetizer, but what the heck, they're so good. For appetizers though we did have pot stickers and corn fritters. Can you believe they don't serve honey-butter there? I had to ask for some honey, butter, and a little dish and just made my own. YUMMY!! My mom suggested that we each get a piece of cheesecake for my birthday dessert - a great idea. I got the Key Lime Cheesecake, but was so full from dinner that the cheesecake is still in my fridge...mmmm! I think I need to learn to make Key Lime Cheesecake. Ok, then we went to my mom's and I opened some presents from my family and headed home because again, Seminary comes pretty darn early in the morning!
• 
  
  This weekend, working in the temple and we get to attend a family sealing of some friends in our ward!
• 
  
  Immediately following the temple, I have Stamp Camp. Now, I'm sure to some people that sounds dorky. Not so - I love crafty things. The hardest part for me is coming up with the ideas, not the actual crafting process so to go somewhere, spend time with my sister and with friends, be able to create something so cute - that's a great day!
• 
  
  After Stamp Camp it's off to Kylie's birthday party. This will be so fun, we are going to the IMAX theatre in Seattle to see "Alice in Wonderland." What will Eddie do without me all day?
• 
  
  Sunday - hmmm, Mia Maid Presidency Meeting, BYC, Church (playing the organ AND teaching YW), choir, Girls Camp Meeting, YW Presidency Meeting - I thought this was supposed to be a day of rest?
• 
  
  Next week - I have a vocal adjudication. AGHHHH!! I don't have my pieces memorized yet! One is a huge aria from La Cenerentola, then there's a German piece (why do I have such a difficult time memorizing this language? Pronouncing it - not the issue), there's a French piece (opposite problem here; no worries memorizing but pronouncing the French? Ugh!), and an English piece - not my favorite.
• 
  
  Since Eddie and I are a photographer/reviewer team for high school drama performances, we get to attend the local high school performances for free with our press passes. Those pics and reviews get posted to http://www.nwtnews.org/ and the next show for us will be, "The Wedding Singer," at Lynnwood High School sometime next week :)
• 
  
  Then we get to go to General Conference at the end of the month - very exciting!
• 
  
  Did I mention how much follow up is required every time Eddie goes to a high school event to photograph? He spends hours touching up and posting photos! Add his job hunting and church calling to that and he's a busy guy!!

March - in like a lion, out like a lamb? I don't think so - it's like a big ferocious jungle in here!!! Can March be over yet? Sleep? Who needs sleep?

Just imagine our schedule/life when we have kids - yup, still trying to adopt! We welcome any/all prayers on our behalf for miracles! :)

The Seven Year Itch

Today is mine and Eddie's 7-year Anniversary!!! As we've told people this, they kind of smile and mutter something about a "seven-year itch." What that heck is that? Ok, so I did some looking online, and while I don't consider Wikipedia the best source, it was somewhat informational. I guess the phrase originally came truly from an infection that caused skin irritation (itching) and lasted for seven years. The phrase evolved over time and is most notable from a 1955 movie titled, "The Seven Year Itch," in which the main character works for a company about to publish a book that suggests that many men have extra-marital affairs after seven years of marriage.

Voila! This supposed urge for infidelity after seven years of marriage is the meaning now commonly understood from the phrase. Of course, as I'm reading, it seems that the phrase has evolved to refer to the desire to move on from any situation.

Here's a piece of trivia for you; the movie, "The Seven Year Itch," is where we get the most famous image of Marilyn Monroe standing on the subway grate as it blows her dress upward.

Now that I understand the origin of the phrase, I'm a little put off by it as it pertains to marriage. Enough talk of twisted phrase origins...

Happy Anniversary to us! Seven years - wow, that's so exciting!! No "seven-year itch" here, still as in love as ever!

RAIN

Nope, not talking about the weather today. Since the downpour outside is so dreary, let's talk about a different kind of Rain...

For Eddie's birthday on Saturday, we went to Portland to see a group called Rain. They are a Beatles tribute band. Oh my goodness, they were great! They looked the part, sounded the part, played the instruments (very impressed that the "Paul" of the group even played the bass guitar left-handed, although, not in this picture; played the guitar right-handed too...), and even the mannerisms were accurate. We had great seats too; front row box seats on the first balcony. They were great because if we had been sitting any closer, it might have ruined the illusion (meaning, we would have been able to tell more easily that without the outfits and wigs, they really didn't look like George, Paul, John, and Ringo). Eddie even made it on the big screen during an encore round of the 'na na na's' in Hey Jude. They performed many of my favorite Beatles songs; Let it Be, Hey Jude, Eleanor Rigby, Paperback Writer, and so many more. There's a YouTube video showing Blackbird - another one of my favorite Beatles songs!

To top off Eddie's birthday, or I guess, more accurately, to begin Eddie's birthday, he opened up his birthday present. We were up pretty late on New Year's Day and I was so excited for Eddie to open his present that just after midnight the morning of his birthday, he got to open his present...BEATLES ROCK BAND!! I think he liked it, considering we stayed up until 2:30AM setting it up and playing the game. Eddie switched back and forth between the guitar, bass, and drums. Of course, I was singing!! :) So much fun!!!

After the show on Saturday, we went out to dinner and then to the Portland Temple. The next day, we stopped in at Fort Vancouver on our way home and wandered around for a couple of hours. When we got home yesterday, we finished putting away Christmas decorations and then...played Beatles Rock Band again until after 11PM. No wonder I'm so tired today! What a weekend!!