Just doing a little catch up. Daniel took most of these pictures below while I was getting ready for church - so kudos to my honey for that!

My little sister, Christina, sent me the blue and white striped seersucker suit that Liam is wearing - awesome right? And the hat and tie that Noah is wearing is new, from Children's Place. Here's the most shocking part - both boys kept their hats on all day when we wore them to church - hahahaha!! It was so cool. My friend, Senta, said she checked Liam's head to see if I had bobby-pinned the hat to his head and she was surprised to see I hadn't. I think that's awesome.

By the time I got to take pictures with the boys, it was after church and both were hungry and tried, so I only got a few shots in and they weren't great. Oh well .... check out Easter 2010:

Well, sorry it's taken me a while to get back to normal blogging ... but I've been in the midst of "re-entry" at home. Which basically means lots of cleaning - the house, the dishes, the clothes, the boys ... you know.

The OCMCO concert was beautiful. It went very well and I felt good about what I sang. The only hitch was when I had to leave 1/3 of the way through the second performance. We had a 5 pm show and then another at 8 pm. At the 8 pm show I suddenly got a tickle in my throat. No reason why, I just did. I wasn't even singing, just sitting there swallowing. I thought I could just drink it away, but that didn't work. Then I thought I could clear my throat and cough a bit, but that didn't work. Finally, I made the decision that I had to leave the stage and hack it all out in the bathroom. The choir was currently singing a piece and then George, the tenor, had to sing 3 solos and a duet, so I had some time. It felt like an eternity listening to Brett, the director, hold the last note of that choir piece. I was sitting there with my eyes watering and sweating. Finally, he finished and George stood to sing and I stood and walked off the stage quickly and quietly. I got backstage and collapsed into a heap of coughing and hacking. The stage manager was freaking out. He rushed over to me and asked if he needed to call a medic. I half laughed, half choked, "No, I'm fine" and hobbled off to the bathroom. I got it all out and hurried back on stage just as George was about to start his last solo before I had to get up and sing the duet with Erin.

As Erin and I got up to sing together, she looked at me and smiled - so much can be said bewteen performers with a simple glance. I glanced back with a reassuring look and we finished the rest of the concert without mishap. Phew!

There was a photographer that took a bunch of pictures of the choir and the soloists and the last day we were there, recording, Lesa, the choir president, gave us the photos. I hope I'm not breaking some copyright law by posting these pictures on my blog, but who reads this anyway? And I shrunk them down, so here they are:














Brandon gave out the flowers and kissed both Erin and I on the cheek as he presented them, then he handed George his flowers and George said, "What? No kiss?" And that's when the photographer snapped this shot. It was funny. Brandon quickly said, "handshake" and shook the boys' hands :)

That's all I have time for now, but I'll try and post more candid shots that I have and a few form the San Diego Zoo with my family on Friday after the recording.

wow, wow, wow .... this has been quite an experience thus far. I was so nervous about hearing the other singers and singing with them and seeing what everyone thought of everything - it has been amazing! The other singers are: Erin morley - an incredible soprano who sings for the Met in their Young Artist Program ... she gives me chills when she sings this pianissimo on a high B, ahhhh!!! George Dyer - he's a talented tenor and performs everywhere, all the time and has just started his own show in Branson, Missouri. He has one aria that brought everyone (the choir, orchestra and soloists) to applause last night at the dress rehearsal. Then John Huntington is our bass. He lives here and sings in the adult OCMCO choir. He is a great bass!! I think he classifies himself as a baritone, but he has this one low G that he sits on for like 8 counts and it's thrilling to hear.

I am really enjoying the people I'm working with. The soloists are funny and fun and super supportive of one another. Brandon and Brett - the directors are just inspiring. They have and do work so hard. Brett is truly one of the best musicians I've ever seen. I don't know how his head thinks up these sweet, touching, powerful melodies and intricacies of the music he wrote - how does one imagine beauty?? I don't know, but he does. It's just awesome. Brandon is ever smiling, amazing pianist, kind, personable, organized .. I can't say enough good about these guys. Go Brandon and Brett Stewart!!!!

Yesterday was long and a little hard. We rehearsed A LOT. And I felt pretty bushed by the time the dress rehearsal came around at night. We were running late, so we didn't start until 8 pm which felt like 11 pm to me. My voice was rough and the first solo felt aweful to me, but after my second solo I felt a little more on top of things. I screwed up twice (totally humiliating) on the duet and felt terrible, like crawling into a hole. But I really felt like overall it went well. I felt the Lord carry my tired body and voice through that performance last night. As I walked to my hotel last night after the dress I prayed and thanked my Father in Heaven for carrying me. I felt overwhelming love and peace. I think the Lord really wants this performance to be great and whether I'm good enough or not, He is making me great. I feel very grateful. To be apart of this production, to be rubbing shoulders with these awesome performers and to be sharing a talent that I don't usually get to share.

The dress went until 11 pm which felt like 2 in the morning and I was so ready for bed last night. Now it's today and here we go! We won't be rehearsing, just getting to the concert hall around 4 pm and warming up and singing our little hearts out - literally.

This music is so powerful, so overwhelming, such a spiritual experience that I'm looking forward to tonight. I'm also kinda really excited to get all gussied up in my gown and do my hair and makeup ... just fun stuff. I DO wish my friend Jennie were here though. She's my favorite performance buddy. And I'm especially excited to see my family - all that are showing up - so wonderful that they are altering their lives to be here tonight - I LOVE YOU!!!

And to my Daniel - I dreamt of you all night last night. I hate sleeping without you. I miss my gorgeous little men, Noah and Liam. Take care of them for me and I will be home before we both know it!!!

As they say, "in bocca al lupo" or "toi, toi, toi" and away we go!

So, I flew into Orange County last night. I got to the hotel and put all my clothes away and hung up my concert dress and then sat on the hotel bed and looked around. It is so odd to not have people around me. I tried to go to bed but couldn't quiet my head. Finally after a few episodes of Judge Judy and a phone call at 11 pm form my little sister, I forced myself to relax (I know, an oxy moron) and fell asleep. I woke up at 3 am, then 5:22 am, then at 6:30 am I couldn't sleep anymore. I'm still on EST and it felt like 9:30 am. I got up, showered, dressed and took a walk down the street to the nearest CVS.
Things I noticed on my walk:

- the air smells like a garden here, very fragrant.
- eucalyptus trees, they smell so good to me.
- a lot more hispanic people.
- it was in the 60's ... ahhhhhh, it felt good on my skin.

My hotel is directly across the street from the concert hall, so I took out my nice camera and took some pictures.

I have been struggling just a little with what I should do to fill my morning until it's time to start rehearsing and so far I've gotten dressed twice, showered, eaten breakfast, taken pictures of the concert hall and other stuff, read my scriptures, talked to Aria, gone to CVS (used their bathroom there), did my hair twice, watched Regis & Kelly, drunk LOTS of water and gone to the bathroom at least 8 times ... I think I'm ready. K, gotta run and go meet up with the other soloists and practice. I'll post later. Love you Daniel :)

I leave on Monday to go sing in southern California. I emailed my teacher and asked him for any bit of last advice he might have for me. He was very kind and shared some insightful comments and helpful advice. As he finished the email he was incredibly encouraging and inspiring as well. He ended the email with, "as they say in the business, 'In bocca al lupo'". I know a little italian and thought he was saying something about his mouth (bocca). I goggled the phrase to figure out his parting words and this is what I found:

The direct translation is: "Into the mouth of a wolf." But the idiomatic translation is: "Break a leg!" I found more info and kept reading:

"Note: used by students to wish each other good luck before exams, the response to which is 'Crepi!' ('May it die!')"

Nice and interesting, right? Well, I read on:

"Note 2: other variants: 'In culo alla balena!' ('Into the [bum] of a whale!'), sometimes added to 'In bocca al lupo!', the response to which is 'speriamo che non caghi!' ('hope it doesn't defecate [vulgar]')
'In groppa al riccio!' ('On an hedgehog's back!'), the response to which is 'Con le mutande di ghisa!' ('Wearing underpants made of cast iron!')"

wow, right? My favorite part was the fact that they had to clarify at one point that the phrase was slightly "[vulgar]" - hahahahaha. Just funny. I kind of want to learn all of these helpful and supportive phrases of wishing good luck and share them with the other soloists before we go on .... maybe that would be a little [vulgar]?

These little clips of the boys make me laugh - I could use that and thought my sisters could too, check 'em out girls:

Liam and Noah playing with Daniel's mp3 player ... oops!




I never think Noah is paying attention to me, but he must've been, because I taught the 2nd article of faith song in February in Primary and here he is, busting it out - Go Noah!!