This is a bit late, but..........

I had an interesting realization the other night.

My mom and I have been a part of a singing group since we moved to Riverton in 2000. They perform a collection of songs called "Women at the Well", which are songs about the women who knew Christ. This time I was asked to play the piano accompaniment this time, which is something I had never done with this particular selection. The best part about this experience was that it didn't matter.

I finally figured out (I'm not sure why it took me this long) that playing the piano is more than a stress reliever, a pass time, or what have you. It is literally a spiritual experience for me. No matter what I'm playing, I feel this crazy spiritual connection that I don't necessarily feel while I'm playing other instruments. I'm not really sure why, it is what it is.

Anyway.......................................

It's been great to be home for the past little while. I have been able to teach school, work, and spend time with the people I love most. We had our Sorensen Christmas party on Sunday and I loved every minute. My aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents are so incredible - so loving and so much fun to be with. I love seeing cousins' faces as they open gifts, or as I open my gift from them - their excitement and anticipation that everyone will be pleased - I don't really know how to explain it other than that I loved it.

I miss all my friends in Logan and elsewhere, but I know that this is where I needed to be this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

Money, so they say, is the root of all evil.

I am sick and tired of money, banking, all of it. The banks I am going through are incredibly frustrating - taking money when my account is not yet deficient, losing things, and poor customer service as a whole. What happened to, "The customer is always right?" I think that in a college town that banks should be more lenient, and understand that most students can't work and can't afford it when extra things are tacked on to their other expenses. It doesn't make sense to me to add more fees when someone is deficient...that makes it so they can't pay the bank as quickly as the bank would like...am i right?

....interesting events....

Can I just tell you how much I hate "dead week"? That is the week that USU students are not supposed to have tests or anything so that they can focus on studying for finals. Let me tell you something - for music majors, this is so not the case. I take more tests during "no test week" than at any other time throughout the entire semester. On top of that, I have juries (which is basically my final for private lessons) and a million concerts. During Christmas time, the amount of those concerts seem to double. On top of that, I got in a fight with a friend I've known since 8th grade over something stupid, and my car died. It was just fabulous. But the next day so many things went better! I received blessing after blessing, even my teachers making an exception for me that they normally would not have, and so many others.

Here are some fun pictures from Thanksgiving break :) My mom is working on a fun project for Ben, where we made a sign that says "Feliz Navidad", and she's taking pictures of the sign with people that mean a lot to him and is going to put it in a book for him. Here are some that I got from mom. :)


Steven being ordained a Priest!


Our annual "Ca-Ca Bowl" on Thanksgiving