A bit of sad news

I have mentioned before that Game Boy participated on the Academic Team at his junior high school this year. They did very well, and made it to the semi-finals for the district. Unfortunately, they were beaten in the semis and will have to settle for 3rd place this year. But it was fun to go to the meets, and Mr. Perfect was able to cheer them on at almost all of their games.

Way to go Bennion Bobcats!

Thursdays are....

Time to blog hop again! Give it a try. It's a lot of fun.

Book of Mormon reading update

I thought I should update you all on how the "Three Times in Three Months" challenge is going. We finished our first reading in 28 days. Whew! The second time through is going much slower. We realized that normal life was getting pushed aside a little too much with this challenge, but we still read some each night. We might not make the full challenge, but if we're reading some each day, that's better than nothing.

I've made it back to Alma 7. The focus this time is on Christ and his mission. I love the perspective it brings to what I'm reading. I also love the perspective just reading brings as well. I would love to get a copy of the Book of Mormon that's not divided into verses, but laid out in paragraphs. I'll have to see if either Amazon or the Distribution Center sells those.

Playlists and other odd music things

I just realized that I have not blogged much about music. If you don't know me very well, you're probably thinking to yourself "So what?" If you know me anywhere from slightly to very well, you're probably thinking "Wow, that's strange!"

You see, I have a degree from the University of Utah in Music Education, specifically choral conducting and vocal pedagogy. (That's fancy-shmancy talk for "I know how to wave my arms and tell you how to sing the right way".)  I teach piano and voice privately (I know I've blogged about piano recitals -- okay, maybe one piano recital). I play the piano at church for the choir and the children's group (Primary). I started taking piano lessons from my grandmother when I was 6. I played the violin from grades 4 through 11. I sang in the school choirs from grade 9 through college. I MAJORED in music at the university. My whole, entire family (all seven of us) play the piano and at least one other instrument. (Yes, yes, very noisy Saturdays growing up.)

What all of this means is that music has been a major part of my life since before many of the people I know were born.

So why the minimal blogs about music? Hmm....I'll have to think about that one for a while.

Anywho, on to the main topic of this post. Last night, Mr. Perfect had to stay up rather late to get some work done. He wanted music playing, but his iPod was out in the garage in Dexter. Mine was close by, so I plugged it into the stereo and asked what he was in the mode to listen to.

"Music but no spoken stuff."

Ah, he knows me too well. I currently have the talks from the last three LDS General Conferences on my iPod, and I love it when they come up randomly while I'm listening to music at work. I also realized that I have a book that I've loaded that I haven't labeled correctly. It still shows up randomly when I'm playing music.

I need to fix that.

So, what do you have on your iPod or other music playing device that might seem weird to other people? I currently have over 12,000 tracks on mine, so there's no limit to the crazy things you might come across while listening to it.

Wordless Wednesday

It's blog-hopping time again!

Click the button to find more blogs to hop!

Have fun, campers!

Wordless Wednesday

Where to dine in Kamas, Utah

I promised I would blog about the food we had on our anniversary. While on our very fun trip to Woodland, Utah, we decided to brave the white-out conditions and not drive the 14 or so miles to Heber, but stay closer to the B&B and try the Gateway Grill in Kamas. It came highly recommended by our hostess.

Good choice. Very good choice, indeed.

The atmosphere was fun, with art work from local artists on the walls, and also some interesting plank art, where you can't really see what it is until you're about five or six feet away from it. The one over our table looked like a Native American death mask.

We ordered the rack of lamb and Louisiana-style BBQ'd shrimp. Harry and Percy also approved of our dining choices, as you can see from the pictures.

We started with a salad, of course.

Mr. Perfect enjoying the shrimp.

For more casual dining, we had lunch at the High Mountain Drug to try out their famous burgers. They were good. But alas, we ate them too quickly to get pictures.

We did get pictures of the ice cream, though.

Percy and Harry go to Woodland

For our anniversary this year, we booked a room at the Woodland Farmhouse Inn Bed & Breakfast in Woodland, Utah. For anyone not familiar with the valley towns between the Wasatch Front and the Unitah Mountains, there is a series of small communities heading south from I-80 starting with Wanship/Coalville and ending at Francis/Woodland before you hit Heber City. Okay, not that Heber City is a thriving metropolis, but it's bigger than Wanship, Peoa, Oakley, Marion, Kamas, Francis, and Woodland. Maybe even bigger than all of them combined.

Of course, Percy and Harry had to come along.

First of all, we have to rave about the Inn. It is located on State Road 35, about 4 miles up the canyon from Francis (about 2 miles south of Kamas, which is about 11 miles east of Park City from Highway 40). The building used to be Woodland Post Office (immediate references to Lark Rise To Candleford came to bot Mr. Perfect and Most Happy Girl). It was built in the late 1800s, and the owner, Sheri, has done a great job of maintaining the historic charm.

Here is the main building from the side.

One of the outer buildings

The dinning area

The stairway leading up to our room.

Our room was the Loft, which has a large bedroom, a nice sitting/living room, and a massive private bathroom. Here's the bedroom (take note of the wonderful ambient lighting).

The king-sized bed was just right! Even Mr. Perfect (at 6'5") could lay out completely on it without his feet hanging off the end.

And the sitting room.

Including the view from the window across from the futon.

Mr. Perfect in the bathroom.

How fun is this tub?

So next we talk about the scenery. We are so spoiled living in Utah with the mountains so close (the drive to the Inn was about an hour from Salt Lake City). What are men (I think this is referring to people in general, and not males specifically) to mountains and lakes?

Next time, I'll write about the food. Yummmm!

It's so fluffy, I'm gonna *die*!

Mr. Perfect has been growing out his hair for Man of La Mancha. Well, all we have to say is "Thank you, Agnes, for the perfect way to describe the results."

Blog-hopping Thursday!

I joined a blog-hopping site. It's so much fun to read what other bloggers are writing. And also to get fun ideas for new layouts, links, and other blog-world what knots.

Enjoy the hopping!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Anniversary to us...tomorrow

Tomorrow is our 2nd anniversary. Wow! I can hardly believe it's been two years, but has it really only been two years? The last two years have been the most amazing, wonderful, and hardest of my life. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. Even the hard stuff.

Because if I did, it would mean that Mr. Perfect wouldn't be in my life. I love him so completely, and yet that love grows more each day. I love these lyrics from Brad Paisley's song Then:

I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mezmorized
And three weeks later, in the front porch light
Taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight
I hadn't told you yet
But I thought I loved you then

Chorus:
And now you're my whole life
Now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
Stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

And I remember, taking you back to right where I first met you,
You were so surprised
There were people around, but I didn't care
Got down on one knee right there once again,
I thought I loved you then

Chorus:
And now you're my whole life
Now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
Stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

I could just see you, with a baby on the way
And I could just see you, when your hair is turning gray
What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more
But I've said that before

And now you're my whole life
Now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in
And I'll look at you and say
And I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then

So very true. I love the fact that love grows and deepens when we nurture it and care more about the other person then ourselves. I love that someone loves me that way.

Mr. Perfect, I won't tell you to never change, because change is required for us to become all that we can be. I only ask that you be the person Heavenly Father knows you to be. And that you let me be there to see what He makes of you.

I love you.

Christ's appearce to the Nephites

I love this picture of Christ appearing to the Nephites at the temple in Bountiful. What a wonderful thing to know that God loves all of His children so much that He sent His Son to teach us. And to know that Christ's mission wasn't just to those at Jerusalem, but for everyone in the world.

Samuel the Lamanite

I found this picture of Samuel and really liked it. How amazing for him to be called to preach to the wicked Nephites. His faith and obedience are inspiring.

I know all too many people who, like the Nephites, have turned away from truth and light. I see how hardened they have become, and how they seem unable to allow others to be happy in their faith. Someone once described it as the inability to leave the church alone once you've left the church. I know it's not true for everyone who once belong and now doesn't. I think it depends on the depth of the conversion before falling away. I do know that I get more pressure from people who have left the church than from people who have never been involved in it. Interesting...any thoughts on that?

As for Samuel being called to Zarahemla, I often wonder how missionaries called to Utah feel.

Game Boy and the Academic Team

We had the opportunity to go to one of Game Boy's Academic Team meets. It is interesting to watch the kids learn how to work as a team. So far, Bennion Junior High is undefeated. but Brockbank (another undefeated team) looms large on the horizon.

Waiting to move up to the answer table

Working on the answer to a question

Wordless Wednesday