thankful thursdays 7/29

I have been gone from home for almost two weeks and my heart is full of lots of things I am grateful for.

* With eight people staying at my mom’s and seven of them girls, I am grateful for my hair. For those of you that don’t know, I have pretty amazing hair. I am not saying it is amazing-beautiful, just amazing-easy. When I wake up, it usually looks just like it did when I went to bed. I just run a comb through it and I am done getting it ready for the day. It also doesn’t get oily…even after days and days of not showering. This has been a huge blessing this week as we have had to be up every day by 5:00 a.m. (I am NOT a morning person!) and out the door to music camp by 7:00.
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* I am so grateful for my mom. She has let us stay here for two weeks and fed us, clothed us, laughed with us, saved many a child from tears, let me use her car to save on gas mileage, and been very patient with the fact that small army has invaded her quiet, solitary life.

Thanks mom! This has been a wonderful blessing to be able to be here and participate in all the pioneer day activities and music camp.
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* Today I am especially grateful for a dependable vehicle. I have driven a TON these last couple of weeks and it does wonders for my peace of mind to know I am not about to break down, my car will start, and everything is in working order. It’s also fabulous to be able to carry so many people and all of their stuff.
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* Our new lil’ camper. My Aunt Carol gave us a camper that was given to her and after cleaning it, getting it inspected, fixing the lights, washing all the mattress covers, and learning how to drive it, I am taking it camping. It has held all of our stuff for the past two weeks and tomorrow it will make its maiden voyage as a our camping vehicle. It is 40 years old and certainly shows its age, but it has been a huge blessing to us already.
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* Have I mentioned the amazing Tami? This friend (and cousin) of mine brought my mom a 10 x 10 shelter from Colorado and dropped it off on her journey across I-80 AND she brought us a treat! Safeway makes an ice cream flavor that we have never seen out here in the land of Winco, Fred Meyer, and Albertson’s. Mint Moosetracks is heavenly…so delicious I’m sure I could eat it everyday and not get tired of it. Thick swirls of fudge, mint-filled chocolate cups, and creamy mint ice cream. So yummy!

Thanks Tam! You are a gem!
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Time for me to get all these girls a movin’! Music camp starts mighty early.

If I don’t get back on here before I leave for my mountains, toodle-loo. I will be back after days on end of gazing at my favorite peaks, swimming in glacier-fed waters, going on hikes with my little ones, and soaking up the wonder of nature, family, and friends.

there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch

You know how some municipalities have a “free lunch” program? Well, we are attending a music camp in just such a town. I was pretty amazed it was offered here as I thought Wyoming was the last bastion of the whole “land of the free and the home of brave” thing.

I remember the first time I encountered the free lunch program. My children and I were playing at a park in Idaho when this huge bus of kids from a daycare were led out in single file line and told to stand and wait till the lunch lady came. I was bewildered by what was going on. Then a van pulled up to the park and a lady got out and started handing out brown bags with a pb&j sandwich, an apple, and a little box of milk. After she handed them out to all the daycare kids, all the kids who lived in the houses surrounding the park, and a variety of YMCA summer camp kids, she came over to us and gave us some bags. I told her “No, thank you,” but she would not listen, she said she had some left and they needed to be eaten. I again told her “No, thank you,” but she put them on our blanket and walked away.

Later I learned the schools in our area provide breakfast as well and that the children in my area are eating it…and that their mothers have stopped cooking them breakfast because the school does it for them…and that the kids who do still get breakfast at home are also eating it at school. What????? My tax dollars are going to feed people breakfast and lunch? People who don’t need the help!

Well, today at music camp, we were offered free lunch. I guess the local elementary school has a free lunch program during the summer months to insure that children don’t starve because they aren’t in school. Pretty much everyone at the camp took advantage of the free lunch and when I say took advantage that is exactly what I mean. Took advantage. The program isn’t intended to feed camp participants who are here from all over the intermountain west, it is intended to feed children in poverty level homes whose parents can’t afford to feed them.

I told my children all about the program and why we would not be participating. First of all, it is not the government’s nor the government’s schools responsibility to feed children.

Ever.

Secondly, it is not the government’s responsibility to tax people to feed other people.

Ever.

It is totally and completely wrong for them to do so. The responsibility to feed hungry people lies with themselves, their families, and then you and I.

Thirdly, aside from the program being wrong, it is being poorly implemented. It is not efficient or effective when bags of food are handed out to people at a park who already have food with them or music camp attendees who are not starving.

Yes, attending this camp is costing us an arm and a leg, but it will not cost us our principles and our self-respect.

book bonanza – nick of time

We have been listening to this book on our travels this week and are loving it! We tried listening to it about a year ago and we liked it then, but we never finished it. The girls begged to check it out again, so we gave it another shot and this time around it is fabulous.

Isn’t it interesting how sometimes it isn’t the right time for a book? We change, we grow, we have different needs, different perceptions, and then, all of a sudden, it IS the right time for said book. I am really hoping that happens for me this year with Pride and Predjudice, as I have started it umpteen times and it has never clicked for me in the past.

Back to Nick of Time…this book is set in 1939 England, right on the cusp of WWII, and the hero of the book, twelve-year-old Nick MacGyver, is a lighthouse keeper’s son who loves to sail his little boat, Petrol, all through the reefs of Gravestone Cove. His father is also part of a group of English citizens collecting information about German air and sea activities and passing it on to Churchill. The German U-Boat, Alpha-33, is patrolling Nick’s coves, searching for Lord Hawke and his illustrious inventor, Commander Hobbes. Things turn dicey when the U-Boat actually captures Commander Hobbes and Nick’s six-year-old sister, Kate. Leonardo Da Vinci’s time machine shows up on Nick’s beach with a letter from Nick’s Great-Grandfather pleading with Nick to travel through time back to the Napoleonic Wars to help him win a battle with everyone’s enemy, William Blood, who has another of Da Vinci’s time machines and uses it to travel through time kidnapping children, stealing great treasures, amassing a fortune, and terrifying people all over the world and throughout all time.

Sounds gripping? Yes, it is! I highly recommend the audio version because the voices are done fabulously well and you will fall in love with little Katie the first time you hear her speak and tremble with fear at Blood’s threatenings. It isn’t too scary for Fisher at age five, but it is hard to know how much he has really been paying attention to it, and it is completely fascinating for this mama who loves mysteries, WWII history, and anything with the heroes using science to win the battle for good vs. evil.

shade? what is its price?

I have been searching for a shade shelter for our big annual camping trip…searching does not even begin to describe the lengths to which I have gone to find the perfect piece of polyester, poly-oxford, poly-coated, poly-nonsense to provide our group of five families shade, rain, and hail protection while eating, cooking, and most importantly, while playing Rook.

My mom has had me looking for weeks, but we have put off making a final decision until we were certain we were getting the best product for the best price. We have been using a 10 x 10 with slanted legs for the last five years or so, but it is on its last duct-taped, missing pegs, ripped velcro, bent legs and it is high time for a new one. We wanted something a little bigger, a little stronger, and something a little less likely to take a finger off when you pull the legs out without watching where your hand is placed.

Oh, what a gargantuan task that is!

So many of the shade canopies have reviews that are complete opposites…some people saying it is the best shelter they have ever had, others saying it should be thrown in the trash upon buying it as it will do you more good there than it will standing up over your picnic table. It is a difficult, overwhelming mess to try to sort out what canopy will actually survive a rainstorm and 20 mph winds without snapping in half.

And the warranties? They all say they are warrantied for 1-2 years, but the internet is full of warranty nightmares where the companies are either impossible to get a hold of or they insist that the broken canopy isn’t covered because it isn’t defective, the user used it inappropriately, so says the companies…oh my, we so did not want to deal with that whole fiasco.

We just wanted to find a shade shelter that would hold up for more than the first few weeks, preferably for several years, through a rainstorm, mild wind, and repeatedly putting it up and down. We also wanted it to not break the bank.

This is a seemingly impossible task. Shade shelters simply don’t exist that do all these things. Shade shelters only exist to put up for a few hours when there is no breeze to ruffle their feathers, not a single raindrop to put undue strain on top, and certainly not for a repeated use.

After a whirlwind packing weekend so I could get to Wyoming by Monday night and to the dentist in Salt Lake by Tuesday morning, I realized I needed to use my time in SLC to find my mom the shelter of her dreams.

Nine hours, multiple cross-valley trips, at least 30 stores, and who knows how many phone calls to my mother brought me nothing, but an exhausted Keziah, blurry eyes, and an encyclopedic knowledge of every shade shelter in existence.

I did make it home with a Kelty Canopy House that was on sale at Target. The thought of having a shade shelter that weighed only 7 lbs and could fit in my beach bag was so intriguing that I drove clear to Timbuktoo on the far side of the Salt Lake valley to snag the last remaining one within 20 miles. But, when Blythe and I set it up this morning we found it was sized perfectly for anyone under the age of eight. Adults would need to go elsewhere to find relief from the sun and rain.

This morning, I have spent hours searching the internet for the Coleman 12 x 12 Straight Leg Instant Shelter that mom decided she wanted. It is sold out pretty much everywhere, even on Amazon. Luckily for her, I am an internet detective and I found it at three stores. The cheapest is Sunny Sports where we picked it up for $169 with free shipping, a bargain since when it was available on Amazon it was $179!

Now she has decided she would also like the 10 x 10 in the same brand and style, so I have been calling Targets all over the country to find one (they are on sale for $125 this week). Most places are sold out, including the Target out in Timbucktoo where I found the Kelty Canopy. I, now have three on hold in Colorado and one on hold in Idaho and am trying to work out which family member I can beg to pick one up for my dear sweet mother who has the simple goal of playing rook without getting wet.

After we use them for two weeks in the Wind Rivers, we will let you know if we made the right choice or not. Then you can avoid the above mentioned mess.

p.s. This does not even include the fact that I DID buy a 12 x 12 Regency last week in Pocatello and miraculously got the 60 lb. monstrosity into my vehicle, but I had to take it back because it had such terrible reviews of collapsing on the first use during a mild rainstorm, or the fact that I had the Coleman 10 x 10 in my hands yesterday and walked out of the store without buying it when we hadn’t yet decided that was the one we wanted.

p.p.s. The price of shade? Apparently more than I could ever earn in this lifetime.

perceptions

Today while packing up for our upcoming adventures we discovered that Keziah didn’t have enough shorts that fit her…so off to the basement storage overstuffed-overwhelming-disaster-waiting-to-strike room. We uncovered the bin that held Blythe’s old clothes and found a treasure trove of all sorts of clothing for Kez. Camping clothes, Sunday clothes, swim clothes, under-clothes, cute clothes!

Clothes full of memories.

It was almost surreal going through that box of clothes. It felt like a different life almost. Keziah has always worn Blythe’s hand-me-downs, so this is not a new experience…but today it was a very different experience.

It was so strange to see these clothes that my precious girlie wore when she was still small, before she developed lovely curves and grew up into a young woman. I remember when she wore these clothes. As I pulled out each piece of clothing, my mind would flash back to specific moments in time when Blythe had worn those capris as she swung on the monkey bars or rolled up those pants to wade in the stream or splashed food on a shirt at a family reunion and I scrubbed it and soaked it to get it clean.

So many memories of my precious girl.

When she wore those clothes she seemed so big.

So old.

And now? The clothes look eency-teency. They are so small and I can’t really wrap my mind around the fact that my beautiful grown-up girlie ever was that little.

How did this happen? How have the last few years of her life flown by me and I now have a daughter that is sharing my clothes, stealing my shoes, and looking every part of loveliness.

Isn’t strange how our perceptions change? How the way we view the world or people or things governs what we believe about those things and how we treat them and yet, our perceptions can be completely off base. They don’t even have to be based on reality! We create these perceptions, make sweeping decisions based on them, and we could be totally wrong.

I remember a time that I thought being 40 was old…now I know it is so not old. I remember thinking my Blythe was all grown-up the day she was baptized. Now I can see how little she was. I remember a time I believed someone didn’t like me and I was absolutely wrong, they were just quiet and communicated differently than me. I remember a time I thought everyone knew everything I had ever done wrong and that they were judging me on a moment-by-moment basis. Now I know the world is far to busy for most people to even notice I am alive, much less what my faults or sins are.

Perceptions are powerful.

I just want mine to be accurate!

thankful thursdays 7/15

* Today I am only going to write about one thing I am thankful for…life.

I am grateful to be alive.

I am grateful to be a wife to my Mr. Amazing. I am grateful to scratch his head, massage his aching back, listen to his dreams, and snuggle in his arms as we drift off to sleep. I am grateful to know him and to have the privilege of loving this man who is simply good. I am grateful to be able to bear his children and to stay home with them as their mama.

I am grateful to be able to watch my children growing up day after day. I am grateful to be able to do their laundry, wash their dishes, prepare their food, rub their feet, get slivers out of their toes, tickle their bellies, wipe away their tears, bathe their muddiness away, see the light of happiness in their eyes, listen to their padding feet, touch their soft cheeks, hear their words of apologies to one another, watch them zip up and down our road on their bikes, and hear their prayers each day.

I am grateful to have a body that can climb trees, wade streams, type letters, scrub floors, kill spiders, carry heavy loads, read books, give hugs, and smile at friends (and strangers!).

I am grateful to be on the earth with my family. To be here, growing and learning together.

I am grateful my body is not full of cancer or any other life-sucking disease that is taking the lives of so many dear people who are in the prime of their lives and have oodles of children depending on them.

Here is one family’s story of their wife and mother who just died of cancer on July 3rd as a 36-year-old mother of six.

Yes, I am thankful for life.
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music video

The music video that Keziah was in back in March has finally been released!

The story of the video is that the children attend a very restrictive school where they are fed slop for lunch, given 5 seconds to play with one ball at recess, have boring lessons drilled into them day after day, and they are just supposed to live with it. They are supposed to be good little students obeying every demand of their teacher. One girl decides to lead a revolution and make some changes. She orders pizza, finds the key to the ball cage, and inspires all the children to escape.

Now, some of you may be offended at the disrespect shown by the children in this video…that’s okay. I won’t be upset with you if you are offended. It bothers me an eensy-teensy bit, but given what resources the children have to fight back, I think they used the tools they had in powerful ways.

I am thrilled Keziah had the opportunity to be part of making a movie. It was a great learning experience for her to see what goes into producing what we see in our media laden world every day.

Here is the link:

Taylor Swift Music Video for “Change”

Enjoy!

thankful thursdays 7/8

Oh my goodness, my heart is full this week. So many things to be thankful for!

* First up is a recap of our Independence Day Weekend activities. My mom and sister arrived here on Thursday to watch Blythe, Keziah, Eve, and Fisher sing in the America’s Hope choir. We had a great time watching and listening to this great children’s choir sing with joy for liberty. We nearly laughed our heads off watching Fisher make hilarious facial expressions, play with his flag, and sing louder than everyone else so that Keziah felt the irrepressible need to SSHHHH! him during the performance. All of the children did a great job and I am so grateful for the women who came together to make it happen for our community.

Then about six families went to Dairy Queen and got dipped cones to take to the park and let the children run, slide, and swing till dark. By the way, I have never had a dipped cone before and it was much better than I imagined. I should have one of those more often!

Friday was full of fun, but it started out with my mom crashing on my awesome recumbent bike and has a row of bruises to show for it. I showed my short sightedness by asking how my bike was before I asked how my mom was…eeeeekkkk! Mistake!

Then we had a visit from a recent doula client and their adorable little boy!

Then we went to the lake and swam, played in the sand, went down the slide, ate gobs of food, got sunburned, and delighted in watching Annes go back and forth from the water to the towels, water to the towels over and over again. At dark we enjoyed the first of three nights of fireworks. The best part? Annes yelling after each explosion, “That freak me out!”

Saturday we went to a parade with temps way low and the wind briskly blowing. My mom was wrapped up in her blanket the entire time and tried using her umbrella as a wind break. Definitely not 4th of July weather! The kids got lots of candy with Eve teaching them how to step on two pieces while using both hands to gather everything else around her. Then we went to our favorite hill to set up our camp for the fireworks. We have been going to the same place since Blythe was three and LOVE it.

Then we went to the much anticipated Toy Story 3. Fisher and Grandma have been planning this outing for over a year and thankfully they let the rest of us join them. It was a great movie and I admit it, I cried at the end. It worked out for Buzz and Woody and was a perfect ending to the saga that started years ago.

After a stop at the grocery store to replenish our food supplies (a quick stop for turkey turned into a watermelon-toting, pie-laden adventure), we were back to our spot on the hill to play football, redneck golf, explore the river, and laugh ourselves silly.

The fireworks arrived amid hundreds of glow sticks wrapped around our children, cousins, and friends, and they were bigger than ever. Afterwards we stayed and watched a movie projected on to the pavillion wall until all the traffic was gone and we could drive home without the bumper-to-bumper ordeal that accompanies massive public events.

Sunday we attended church and then rushed out the door to attend The Tribute to the Constitution, which is a wonderful event put on by Celebration of Liberty. Blythe sang in two different choirs and did a fabulous job. She looked so grown-up up there on stage! Keziah and Fisher sang “The Hope of America” and Annesley sang right along with them from the jam-packed auditorium. Ted Stewart, the author of the book The Seven Miracles that Saved America, was the keynote speaker and received a standing ovation. I want to read the book, but am 21st on the list at the library.

Monday the children sang again with the America’s Hope Choir and I think it was their best performance yet…all the pressure was off and they just sang their hearts out. That night we went to a third night of fireworks, which were much better than we thought and had a great time visiting with friends and getting Frostys at Wendy’s.

We had a fabulous time with family and friends and are so grateful to have been able to have a wonderful four days with those we love while celebrating the miracle of America.
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* We spent Tuesday afternoon at the splash park with some friends and were grateful for sunshine, water, and good, clean fun.
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* My room is cleaner than it has been in years…I can actually walk without stepping on anything! I was able to clean out boxes and boxes of stuff to go to DI and part with loved clothing that hasn’t actually been worn in years. This was very hard for me because I can always come up with darn good reasons of why I need to hang on to things, but it was time for it to go. I will probably not be a size 6 again, right? Now, I just have to keep it clean!
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* Our new dog, Sadie, has already brought us so much JOY! She is a bajillion times fabulous. She is calm, obedient, full of love, gentle with babies, loves to snuggle, can go out in public with us, is a perfect passenger in the car, lets Annesley crawl all over her, sleeps with Keziah, goes everywhere with Fisher, and listens at family read-aloud time better than anyone else. I am so grateful we found her! She is the perfect addition to our family and although it has only been two weeks, we already can’t imagine life without her. Mikelle fell in love with her while she was visiting and understands why I drove over two hours to get her.
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* Reading. I love reading and always have. I learned to read long before kindergarten and have been seen with a book in my hand ever since. My life has been more than greatly enriched, it has been formed by my reading. Books change me. They teach me. They touch me in ways I can’t express. There was a period of time when I lost the ability to cry…for years. I could not cry about real people, real events, real crises, real joys. But I was able to immerse myself in a book and cry for the characters. I was numb to feeling the pains of the real world, but being able to feel the pains in an imaginary world gave me hope that I was still a functioning human being and that I would one day be able to feel real emotions again. I remember the first time I read The Hiding Place. Corrie ten Boom’s faith and determination to do good rubbed off on me and I yearned to be like Corrie. I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird and how Scout’s story became my story and how my thirst for justice was tempered by a great desire for mercy. I remember reading The Little House series till my copies were torn and tattered and loving the simple stories of a family’s struggle to survive, cooperation, a father’s leadership, and a mother’s love and hard work. I love reading. I love learning of other lives, other cultures, other ways. I love learning who I am by discovering myself in books.
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* Family reunions. I have always loved reunions and the feeling of security they gave me as a child. They were a place full of love, fun, stability, and people who knew who they were and what they stood for. I can’t even tell you how much I yearned for a happy family as a little girl. I wanted a family that loved and served and laughed and worked and going to family reunions showed me it was possible. When I was little we would always sing “I Have a Family Here on Earth” and Camille and I would cry through the song because we both wanted to have a mom and dad that loved each other.

This weekend we have a Rollins Reunion, which is where I met my 2nd cousin Tami when we were 12 years old. Having her in my life has been one of God’s great gifts to me. She and my other cousin Camille, have been my best friends for nearly 25 years. We have been through EVERYTHING together and I am so grateful to have them as such an integral part of my life.

This reunion will be the second one we have had without my grandma and it is not getting any easier. I want to play Canasta with her. I want to get her food for her. I want to hear her giggle. I want to feel her lips on my cheek. I want to watch Fisher talk to her. I want Annesley to know her.

In spite of all of that, I think family reunions are one of the best things ever and am so grateful to have a family that keeps holding them year after year.

And tomorrow????? I get to see Tami and Camille and spend the whole weekend having fun with them!
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* Richard’s sister and family came over last night to light sparklers and let the cousins all play together. So fun! They filled up balloons with water and intended to have a water balloon fight (at 11:30 at night, no less!), but the balloons wouldn’t pop! They bounced around like playground balls, jiggling their water to and fro. The kids were throwing them hard at the cement, bouncing them across the deck, and sending them careening off the deck and still they didn’t pop! It was crazy and oh so fun!
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* Blythe was blessed to go make-up shopping with her grandma and auntie and her skin already looks a million times better! Thanks ladies – you are life savers for that young lady!
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What are you thankful for today?

book bonanza-rise to rebellion

For the last few weeks I have been reading the book Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara. He is also the author of Gone for Soldiers, Gods and Generals, and The Last Full Measure. His father is Michael Shaara who wrote The Killer Angels, which I also loved.

Rise to Rebellion covers the period of time from 1770 to 1776 from both the colonists and the British points of view. It looks in depth at four men and their experiences: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Gage. This book was so wonderful I want to read it every June in preparation of Independence Day. If I don’t do that, I will at least be reading a history book from that time period because it was an amazing experience to delve into the history and miracle of this country while celebrating our nation’s birthday.

This book allowed me to understand the British perspective which is something I have never been able to do. It also shed light on the loyal-to-the-crown colonial viewpoint. I walk away from this book a more well-rounded person because now I can see where each of the various groups were coming from and what beliefs drove their behavior. Instead of being infuriated with Dickinson from Pennsylvania, who resisted going to war till the very end, I am able to appreciate his earnestness in articulating his cause for reconciliation. Instead of being disgusted with King George, I am able to see a man stuck in the middle of a mess with an unruly Parliament, colonists he couldn’t understand, and treasury shortages he needed rectified in short order. It was thrilling to witness the evolution of John Adams from his early years as an unknown lawyer into a statesman who was able to convince people of the rightness of the path of independence through his logic and oratory skills. I developed mercy for the Tories and increased my love of the radicals. I am more grateful for the hand of God in the establishment of this great country.

I can’t wait to read book two and the rest of the story of the Revolution – A Glorious Cause. Anyone want to join me?

cello choir

I have a lofty (sometimes I think ridiculous and overwhelming) goal of learning to play the cello. It all started with a CD from the band Fiddlesticks and their rendition of Praise to the Man. The cello speaks to my soul. It has a deepness and a roundness of sound that travels into every cell of my body and fills me with joy. I love, love, love it.

The problem is I have a few musical faults. I am not very good at theory. I am not very good at note reading and by that I mean, I can generally look at a note on the bass clef staff (the treble clef is no problem for me) and tell you what it is, but translating that into reading notes quickly while moving both hands, scanning ahead to see what is coming next, and monitoring my tone, my breathing, and my bow…pretty much way over my head. I am not very good at playing music I have never heard before. I am not very diligent about practicing. I struggle with consistency and that is exactly what is needed to become a musician.

However, I have a wonderful teacher. She is patient with my faults, works with my strengths, and inspires me to keep trying. I prayed for her to come into my life and God sent her to me. My heavenly petition? A female cello teacher that would come to my home and not make fun of my poor attempts at making music. What God sent? A woman that would become my dear friend, a doula client times two, a goat-milk-soap-making extraordinaire, AND a cello teacher all rolled into one fabulous package of cuteness, talent, and fun. We are going to be friends for the rest of our lives and when I am 80 she will still be teaching me cello. That’s just how it is.

This summer, she has compiled a cello choir for her students that are out of the beginning stage, but not yet into the advanced stage. It is so much fun! We have an 11-year-old girl, a woman pushing seventy, and me, a 36-year-old mother of four. We all have different parts and we practice them at home and then come together to play them. Sometimes we are all out of sync with each other, playing the wrong notes for the wrong length of time, with the wrong mood. But sometimes? Sometimes we actually make music.

As I sat a cello choir today, I watched the faces of my fellow musicians (I use that word very loosely to describe myself!) and thought what a remarkable experience we are sharing together. We are at different stages of life, have different goals, different needs, different tugs on our time, and yet, we come together and play and work and rehearse and learn together. As we do this, we are melding our lives in a special way.

Because, making music together requires the joining of our souls.

For one hour each week, I get to slow down, focus on my music and think about how to help each one of us play our best and magnify the efforts of all. Such fun!

What a privilege!