Did I Pass or Fail?

Tonight I attended the last of my 3 bicycle safety classes. We have been learning all about laws, safety, signaling, maintenance and more. Tonight we applied all that learning in the parking lot as we executed various skills and defensive maneuvers. While practicing the quick stop skill, (where you ride fast directly toward the instructor and stop suddenly within 3 feet of him by slamming on our brakes while throwing your weight back over the back wheel), I did great until I couldn't get my foot out of the clip. The result:

A wounded knee and trashed PRIDE!!! This all happened while 45 class members looked on and gasped and "Oh'ed!" It hurt, that's for certain, but the frustration and embarrassment topped the pain. I'm glad had pants on or the damage would have been much worse. I was given a token Bonneville Cycling Club water bottle as a consolation prize! Woo Hoo...

We returned to the classroom to take our written test and guess who got the highest score in the class? Yep, Ms. Roadrash! I guess I know it all but can't execute. (At least on that skill. I did great on everything else.) I got my certificate anyway and a hug from the instructor who said not to feel bad for two reasons: 1) falling is better than crashing with a car and 2) My sweet ride is fine because I sacrificed my body to save my brand new bike from getting a scratch. Spoken like a seasoned cyclist who loves a beautiful bike!

I'll have lots of opportunity to practice as I take to the road and continue training for triathlon season!

Palm Sunday

What a beautiful and enjoyable day. The sun was shining and the temperature was pleasant. William is in San Francisco for a few more days, but I was blessed to have his parents come to help me in the morning and attend church with us. Because of General Conference next weekend over Easter Sunday, we had our Easter Sacrament Meeting program today.

I am the ward choir director and it was my responsibility to prepare three numbers for the program. My calling is challenging because it is completely reliant on volunteers to have any measure of success. We certainly have the talent, however the support varies from week to week. I wasn't sure we could pull this one off, but it happened (as it always seems to) that when I do everything within my power to motivate attendance and rehearse the music, miracles happen or the angel choir shows up and it's magnificent.
The choir sang two numbers: "God So Loved the World" and "Jesu the Very Thought is Sweet" They are both more difficult pieces that sounded fantastic. We did the first a'capella and the second with the organ and a flute. The result was very moving and we received many compliments. I was relieved and grateful when it was over.

The third number I provided was "He is Risen" a SSA trio arranged by a very talented woman in the ward, Annette Coombs. I sang with my dear friend Carol Thomas and my fabulous sister, Diana. It was fun because not only do we sound great together, but we have a riot practicing. I love it when I can sing with sisters and friends!

Later in the afternoon, we ventured over to my parents house for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. The Brady's (who are as close as it gets to being family without be family) joined us. They have sold their home and will be moving an hour away in a few months and we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get together before the craziness of moving hits them. My mom is super festive when it comes to holidays, so she put together an egg hunt in the back yard for the kids. Everyone played well together and completely wore themselves out.

This is Melissa Sherwood Brady, daughter of my Mother's deceased best friend, Nancy. I consider her a sister and love her just as much as if she were blood related. We have always been told we look like sisters and I must agree. I take it as a compliment, too! This past month, her father, Jack, sold his and Nancy's home and Melissa had the primary responsibility of going through everything and packing it all up or giving it away. It was an emotional journey for all of us who helped, but especially for Melissa. Nancy died three years ago, but cleaning out her life made her being gone seem terribly final. I wasn't ready for Melissa to announce that during the process of cleaning out her parents house the Brady's had sold their home too and would also be moving away. It definitely marks a new chapter for the Halford and Sherwood families. It's all bitter sweet. Our families have been connected and virtual neighbors for over 50 years. Distance will influence the frequency of getting together and change the dynamics for sure. I'm glad we still have the eternities to continue the friendships!

Things that Help us Feel Better

We have all been nursing colds this week. Last night Dasha's turned into a full blown ear infection. She woke up in a lot of pain at 1:00 a.m. and I did everything I could to help her feel better and then held her until she fell back to sleep. As I sat and watched her slowly relax and give into sleep, I couldn't help thinking about how grateful I am for her and the modern conveniences that help us feel better physically and emotionally. Sometimes these comforts take the form of medicine or perhaps loosing yourself in a good movie; and other times they take the form of food. Best of all is when someone you love puts their arms around you and strokes your hair and face and lets you absorb the warmth of their body. Today we gave into all of it!



The boxes in the back were medicine for Mom. God bless the Girl Scout Cookie program!



I asked Dasha what she wanted for dinner and she enthusiastically answered, "Waffles!" Dad is out of town and other than the choice being totally void of any nutritional value, I couldn't think of a GOOD reason not to give in to the request. She responded with, "You're the best mom in the world!" This interchange reminds me of one of my favorite comic skits by Bill Cosby when his kids chant, "Dad is great, he gives us chocolate cake! (for breakfast).


We'll go through a sugar detox when we feel better!

Celebrating You!

This post begins a new journey for me. A good friend of mine is working on documenting a year with photos on her blog. Not only do I think this is a great idea, but it combines a journal and a photo album into one! I decided to copy her idea and begin my own journey of discovery and celebration.

Tonight I attended the Relief Society activity where the theme was "Celebrating You!" I took my camera with me and thought the theme was a perfect way to start my new daily blog updates. We were seated at tables based on the month we were born in. I was one of 9 women born in January and I was selected to represent our table to dress up and participate in a cheesy version of calendar girls. Now William can officially say he's married to Ms. January! It was a fun evening and concluded with the consumption of a yummy cupcake. I love these activities. They showed a slide show of everyones baby pictures as part of the birthdays festivities. We all laughed and had a fantastic time celebrating each other. Women need to do more of that.

The night reminded me of one of the books I recently read called "The Greatest Miracle in the World" by Og Mandino. One of the messages of the book is to proclaim your rarity. I choose to do exactly that and hope that at the end of the year I can look back with great fondness and further realize how truly blessed I am!

Merry Christmas!

If you came here to read our family newsletter for the year, welcome! We hope you enjoy catching up with our family.

Here's my disclaimer...

I haven't posted anything on this blog since March. So you may not need to bother scrolling down any further.

:)

At least we know one thing I can make for a New Years Resolution.

Home Sweet Home

This post is primarily for my sister, Kristen, who keeps asking to see pictures of my "new house." I direct most of my rambings to her and appolgize to everyone else. (Although you're welcome to make your own comments and participate in our online conversation via blogging.)

I'm so pleased by the way it all turned out!

The kitchen! Love the granite counter tops? Notice the painted island?

This is to give you a view of the paint we chose for the upstairs and downstairs and how they work together. The fabric I have to make new drapes for the bay uses the same two wall colors as well as the green in my family room. Plus I wanted you to see my new pictures of Christ. I'm thinking about using some vinyl lettering with short scriptures underneath each of them. What do you think?

As you can see, I couldn't match the tile for the step with the tile on the floor, so I matched it with the paint on the cabinets. I really like the way it turned out because it makes the step sort of disappear.

Now everything on the walls pop! It's so much more dynamic and interesting to look at. Plus it's more warm and cozy.

Here's a closeup of the island. The color is really kind of a non descript color. I describe it as putty. It looks great with the granite and coordinates wonderfully with the natural maple. (Now I just need to get a stainless steel microwave.... I'll add that to the infamous "List")

Here's a picture of what it looks like now with the picture and clock hung and the puck lights lit. I still want to do something on top of the cabinets, but I haven't yet been inspired. Ideas?

Here's the view from the bottom of the stairs. I LOVE how the fireplace turned out. Everything coordinates so well. I don't think I'm going to frame and hang that picture there permanently, but I wanted to see how it looked with the color palate. How do you like the new hanging light over the table and chairs?

This picture was taken at night so you could see how it looks without any ambient light through the windows. It is much brighter during the day.

Finally, I thought I'd post a few picture of the music room for you so you can see how it all came together. I finished this room just two weeks before the flood. (And then had to move all the boxes containing my kitchen into it.) I scored when I found the drapes, rod, tiebacks and pillows at Ross for almost NOTHING! I love a good deal. They bring out the burgandy's in the painting of Venice that I bought when we were together last July. I still plan to hang the smaller painting of France to the right of the music cabinet. (Another score off Craig's List.)

In this picture you can see the two additional light I had installed to balance the two on the other side which you can't see in this picture. The lighting in this room has always bugged me, so I jumped at the opportunity to have it fixed. And look! The magazine rack is hung!

Thanks for taking the tour and thanks for leaving your shoes at the door!

Primary Party "Farm" Style

In Mesquite, we attend church with some friends we've made, Stephanie and Chris Vogel and family. It's nice to always attend the same ward when we're there. My kids love Mesquite. During this trip there was a Primary party so the kids could meet their new teachers for the upcoming year and we were graciously invited to attend. I think it ranks #1 for Primary parties and here's why...

It was held at the home of a family, the Sleppy's, who have a small farm. Preston is consumed with animals right now and he had the time of his life feeding chickens, chasing the pigs and ducks and ridding the horses. This is Oprah, the pig. I guess we know how the Sleppy's feel about the Queen of Talk Shows...

It was a bit chilly, but we bundled everyone up and had a great time. All of these people are so down to earth. We enjoy being here for more reasons than just the warmer weather.

Dasha and Preston don't have any trouble making friends and fitting right in. It was fun to see them integrate so easily.

If you asked Preston and Dasha, they'd like to live on a farm. They thought this day was just swell. As a matter of fact, we learned about it on Sunday and had to wait until Saturday for the party. It was a LONG week of explaining why it wasn't Saturday yet.