A Lovely Easter

I had such a lovely Easter this weekend. Thanks to a popular LDS video, many of my friends have been posting #BecauseofHim thoughts and pictures in their social media feeds--I had the chance to read the testimonies and the blessings of my friends from all around the world throughout the weekend. It made the holiday seem truly recognized, as we united in our celebration of the Lord's Atonement and His sacrifice for us.

I was also given the wonderful opportunity to sing during sacrament meeting service at church on Easter Sunday. Our ward music director asked me to sing a favorite song of hers, O Divine Redeemer, by Charles Gounod. The lyrics describe a plea to the Savior for redemption, pardon, and help. Preparing this song helped me renew my gratitude for the Lord, and I felt myself grow closer to Him as I studied the message and sang my testimony. Here is the beautiful rendition by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:

After church, we made dinner for some friends for the ward. Last year at this time, Nick and I weren't quite engaged, yet and we made the same prime rib roast dinner for some church friends on Easter Sunday together. So I guess now it's a tradition! It makes for a very special, fresh dinner--and it is so easy to make! I will have to make a post about that meal....

Happy Easter!

Happy Note

This music video is delightful. I saw it first during my flight home from Australia this summer. Beyonce is adorable and the song is so catchy. Car dancing to this during my long drives makes me smile.

Another reason to smile--coming home to letters stuck under my door (my landlord passes my mail along to me this way).

I've been getting letters from this guy. He writes to me, sometimes, in funny, quirky song lyrics and doodles. Other times, he writes as though he were from a century before, sincerely dashing off a love letter as if he couldn't just call and tell me what he had to say. Which, of course, he couldn't. You can never say over the phone what you can express in a handwritten note.

Myrtle Beach {part one}

What's the best thing about having one of your best gals living in the same town? Well, beside having her stop by just to show me her new cowboy hat, running into her at ballet class, or being able to run her a quick burger for dinner when she has to stay late at work:

she's the perfect road trip/beach buddy.

I had to drive South for work and Elizabeth came with me!

This not only made for a much more pleasant drive

(conversations with an actual person vs. talking aloud to myself)

but we figured, hey, what the heck? Why not keep

going and spend the weekend in Myrtle Beach?

So we did.

After two schools' shows and

a quick stop in South of the Border,

we headed to our beachfront hotel.

We explored the boardwalk,

bought cheap sunglasses,

E got TWO henna tattoos.

And THEN.

Oh my goodness, I can't even wait to tell you what happened next.

We went to House of Blues

(and had this AMAZINGLY delicious Southern meal, there was cornbread with jalapenos and maple flavored butter involved, along with the most handsome, Greek-God-look-alike host who took us to our table and the best service ever from our waitress)

sorry, I got distracted by dinner details, here's the important part:

after dinner, we saw Easton Corbin in concert.

This guy.

So ADORABLE.

I love his music

and now I love him, too.

He's just a little rockstar

dancin' around the stage

throwin' guitar picks into the audience

 flashing his heart-stopping grin.

We sang at the top of our lungs and screamed like 12-year-olds every time he pointed to the ladies crowding the front of the stage (a group to which we belonged).

At the end of the show, he jumped onto the floor and started signing people's hands and hats. He was mobbed by a thronging wall of hands grabbing at his shirt, raking through his hair.

E grabbed me and pulled me to the front of the mob just in time--

she squeezed his hand and I totally grabbed his forearm.

Best night ever.

So glad I have this girl to be silly and crazy with.

p.s. We both looked pretty great that night;

I'll stick a picture in here when I snag it from E's camera.

After all, she was the one who put up with the security guys

in order to have a camera with us, at all.

Once in a Blue Moon

On August 31st, my beautiful mama married Jeffrey.

They chose the night of a blue moon because,

she said, every once in a while

you get lucky and get a chance at love.

Amber gave them a guitar engraved with their names and wedding date.

We both have crinkles on the sides of our noses when we smile.

She looked so pretty and happy!

My Grandpa Charlie came! I hadn't seen him in ages.

He has always called me "Sica."

My Aunt Carley surprised Mom and arrived just in time for the ceremony.

Mom's bestie Lynne.

Rachel was the cutest flower girl!

Agh, she's such a spunky little fairy sprite--I love that girl something crazy!

She played with her cousins in the rain, in the woods.

I never saw her put that stick down for a minute.

My brother Cody came, too!

Friends and nice words and toasts and yummy food

plus lots of banjo and guitar blue grassin'...

...it was a fun party.

And my favorite photo:

catching Cody looking out over the crowd.

Johnny Depp from Chocolat, right?

Also! I had my very first public guitar performance, and it was a success! I sang and played the song as my mom walked down the aisle. Add become a country rockstar to the bucket list, please.

Best of Radio

Happy songs

that put a smile on my face

as I drive across America.

I don't love this video, but the song makes me feel

nostalgic in a happy-about-the-future way.

Silly and fun to sing along to.

Walk Off The Earth

Sometimes I hear a song and feel as though the writer looked into my heart, pulled out some ideas, and then fleshed them out with expressive lyrics. Sometimes lyrics resonate deeply and personally so that I think, "Hey! That's exactly what I was thinking! You've felt that, too?? Thanks for putting that down into comprehensive, beautiful sound."

This song is one that gave me a moment like that. A moment when I wanted to write the lyrics down in a letter and send them in the mail, because they were pretty darn close to how I had felt at one time. A moment when I realized, someone else out there has been through something similar to what I've been through. Neat.

Anyway.

This cool group has now made a stellar cover of the song, and I love this video. A lot.
Be sure to check out WOTE's website or look them up on youtube to find some creative, cool indie stuff.
Super cool.
Enjoy.

Bomb dot com

My job totally rocks.
Not only am I finished around 3:00 in the afternoon, when we're back at the office, we take the time to do research online, like watching cool videos and sharing stories about people changing the world with cool ideas. (ps. You totally have to check out THE COLOR RUN!! It's like the color festival, but during a 5k...someone shared this with me and I cannot wait to do it!)
Today, we spent a while watching OKGO! music videos, including two of my all time favorites. These are classic, one-shot videos of brilliance. In fact, their creativity couldn't be contained in just one video; they had to make a second video for the same song. I love these {enjoy}:

p.s. love the broken pianos and television sets in the backgrounds (you can tell they had to run through this multiple times to get it right and in a good shot)

Rockin' Around

We rocked out all Christmas Eve.
 Check me out, strumming a few chords!

My soon-to-be step-sister Jenny is amazing on the electric guitar;

she's a song-writing, lyric-belting rock star.

My brother James pulled out his keyboard.

We all sang our hearts out, late into the night.

MoTab Merriment

A Sunday/Birthday treat. I went with Kristen last week to see her dad in the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert, the portion they performed for the Music and the Spoken Word program. 

 Her brother Chase came, too--isn't he handsome?!

The Tabernacle was beautiful.

The singing was lovely.

The soloist, Nathan Gunn, had the most

 powerful, deep baritone voice.

He was so personable and charming!

It was a delightful morning.

still waiting...patiently

"To Whom It May Concern" by The Civil Wars from Amanda Cafazzo on Vimeo.

I love this song.
It is hopeful.
Patience and self-love: themes of 2011.
2012: let go of the past and open my heart