Pre-Christmas Countdown Round-off

First of all, yesterday was my mom's birthday, and I just want to put out there what an amazing woman she is. Let me give you an example: Last week the whole family was in town, and almost every night she asked what we wanted her to make for dinner. This was THANKSGIVING week. We all looked at her like she was crazy and told her not to make anything, since we knew she would be cooking all day Thursday. She just said, "I like cooking for you guys." Honestly? Who LIKES to cook for the whole hungry family every night and THEN prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal? But that's not all. She will wear herself out in the service of others, falling into bed each night without getting more than a few things done on her own to-do list because she was too busy helping others. And she's always been like that, it's not a recent "new Relief Society president" thing, although that has given her opportunity to meet and help more people. Nope, it's just my mommy, being her own selfless self, and not thinking very much of it at all. Everybody loves my mom. And I mean everybody. I have never met a single person who said anything other than "I just love your mom" or "Your mom is amazing." And boy, do I know it. And I am so grateful. Happy birthday [yesterday] Mom!
Okay, on to Christmas:
Starting tomorrow [and every day that I can think of one following that] I will have my Christmas countdown posts. Last year we tackled: snow, socks, trees, lights, advent calendars, music, Chicago Christmas, cards, movies, wrapping paper, candy, and Santa. It was a lot, but so fun, and well worth it. Any requests for what you would like my take on this year? Or should we just leave it up to my own devices and see what sort of cleverless [read: craziness] I can come up with on my own?
Regardless, the Christmas season is officially upon us. It really IS the most wonderful time of the year.

Here's a video of one of my absolute favorite Christmas season songs just to kick us off. It is truly amazing, and moves me every time I hear it.

Random stuff...again

I keep thinking that I will be better about keeping this blog updated with all of the adventures of my life for all of the world to read and enjoy, but the truth of the matter is this: I do not lead an adventure-filled life. Truth be told, my life is currently very boring. Take a sample:
Every day I wake up and get ready for work. I should get up earlier and work out, but I can never manage to convince myself that leaving my warm bed to sweat is better than staying in it and sleeping more.
I go to work.
I take my lunch break and waste time.
I go back to work.
I go home and eat.
I do whatever activity I have lined up for that day, whether it be something with the singles ward or a date with my washing machine or watching NCIS.
I go to bed.

Spattered throughout that very exciting spread is the occasional waiting for news from grad schools, getting brilliant ideas for my stories [I REALLY need to be better about that! I've been slacking.], and discovering new things, like Pinterest. Ho boy, Pinterest...
But all in all, I really don't ever have anything to say. I dunno, what do you guys WANT to hear from me?
--
Thanksgiving is over, which means Christmas is upon us. I'm so excited about this. Christmas is such a magical and spiritual time and it just fills up my soul. And not gonna lie, my soul could really use some filling. Things are tough right now.
--
It was WONDERFUL having my family all here for Thanksgiving. I am really so blessed in the people I have in my family. It is so quiet at the house now. It's a little weird, to be honest.
--
I'm trying to decide if I will do the Christmas countdown posts this year again and I just don't know. What do you think?

November!

So October was not very active as far as my blogging is concerned. But I did actually do a TON last month. Here's a quick recap:

• General Conference. LOVE.
• Phantom. See post below for my true feelings.
• Trip to Lansing. AMAZING. Enjoyed a fantastically fun-filled weekend of silliness with my niece, which included the coolest apple and pumpkin farm ever. It was windy, or "winny" as Carly says, and enjoyed doughnuts, fresh cider, cider slushies, and picking our pumpkins from the patch. So fun! She's so awesome. I think being an aunt is the best.
• Trip to Knoxville. Very fast trip, but SO fun. I got roped into participating in Jenny's institute activity instead of just helping, so I was in the brown bag skit entitled The Dark Side of Justin Bieber. Totally hilarious, particularly when the institute director was Bieber..... Then Jen's meet was AWESOME, and we got to see some of our friends who were there for UK, which is okay, and UT beat IU, which makes the world a happier place.
• Trip to Louisville and Cincinnati. Got to watch Jen and her team beat Louisville very soundly, which was awesome, as I tend to not be a very big fan of them, but that's besides the point. The day was a bit of an excited blur, thanks to an announcement I will discuss later. Then we drove up to Cincinnati and stayed with the Rahlf's for a few days, which is the most relaxing thing in the world, and not just because they have a fireplace that turns on with a light switch. We watched Dallin play his last high school football game, which ended in a disappointing loss and we spent most of the game angry, but I won't touch that soapbox. I would never get off. I did get to see my friend Amy, who is probably the friend I've had for the longest that is female. We hadn't really talked in a looooong time, so it was so awesome to see her. Saturday we came back home, but not before stopping in Indy to see Chris, who was there for a conference.
• Stake Conference. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! One of the best EVER!!!!
• Halloween.

So yeah, that was October. Pretty busy. What you don't see listed are the days and hours spent working on blasted grad school applications and essays. If I never do another, it will be too soon. Thankfully, everything is done except entering the GRE scores and mailing them off. And ordering transcripts. I have to wait until November 8th for my scores, and once I have those, I will order transcripts and mail everything off. I cannot wait until all of this is over.
I am currently on a Jane Austen kick. Again. It comes every few months or so. I just love it so much. Anyway....
Halloween last night was pretty fun. Dad and I sat outside with our outdoor fireplace and handed out candy. I love doing this, because we get to see all sorts of costumes and kids and we get to talk with parents. It was cold, but fun still.
Okay, now to the announcement which has changed the course of life for the Connollys forever: On Thursday, just before Jenny's meet, we found out that my brother and his wife are having TWINS! I NEVER expected that, and obviously neither did they. It has been an entertaining few days for me, watching my parents talk about what they are going to do and want to do and being giddy grandparents. I cannot imagine how overwhelming it would be to find out you were having two babies instead of one, but I am confident that Chris and Erin can handle it perfectly and they will be the most fantastic twins to ever grace the planet.
So that is life as I know it. Now it is November, which is a nice month, but tends to be a tad depressing as all of the leaves turn brown and fall from the trees and it gets colder and darker. But Thanksgiving is at the end of the month, and I really do love Thanksgiving a lot. I'll post on that holiday later, but I feel very strongly it needs to receive its own due.
Happy November to all, and when you are out of your sugar-coma from last night, go for a walk. It's pretty today.

Music in my heart

Last night I went and saw Phantom of the Opera, the 25th Anniversary performance, which was taped live from the Royal Albert Hall in London. It was SPECTACULAR. Ramin Karimloo played the Phantom, and he was so good it was breathtaking. I have been a fan of his for a long time, ever since I saw him do this and this. But as the Phantom....he was spectacular. Sierra Boggess played Christine and she is hands down the BEST Christine I have ever seen, heard, or dreamed up. I ADORED her performance. Her vocals were unnaturally good and her acting brought tears to my eyes. Turns out I loved her before I even knew who she was, because I have been in love with this, so it was just an awesome treat for me to see her in this role. What was a true revelation was the man who played Raoul, Hadley Fraser. Now, in the film version of the film, Raoul always seemed a teeny bit simpering to me, but I still liked him and wanted to Christine to go with him. But when I saw Hadley's version of Raoul....my GOSH, I was in love. And quite possibly legitimately so. He was soooooo good, and I do not think he got enough credit for the brilliance of his performance. So I guess you could say that I loved the show...... You know what was awesome? Having the camera close enough that we could see their faces. As much as I adore live shows, I always wish I had a better view of faces. So this was just perfect for me. Aide from the complete lack of a crashing chandelier [can't blame them for that....Royal Albert Hall is not exactly a good place to crash a chandelier], there wasn't a single thing I would have wished could be different. Well....maybe a different Meg. But she doesn't really do anything, so that's okay.
I have a problem, though. Every time I am exposed to some brilliant musical performance, I feel this agonizing twinge. I love music on a level that is so deep, it is engraved on my soul. Sounds dramatic, but it's true. And I have always wished that I had pursued the musical side of me with more vengeance, with more passion. But I am just insecure enough to not even attempt something if I doubt I can do it.
I have played the piano since I was a kid. I had the most amazing teacher, who taught me to love and appreciate music in a way I had never imagined. I had always loved Disney movies and the music from them and I grew up adoring Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins and the Sound of Music. I always wanted music on in the car and singing was my favorite part of church. I played the flute in the 5th and 6th grade band in my elementary school.When we found out we were moving, I was crushed. I was just getting to a fun level with piano and flute, and junior high school had choir, which I wanted to try, though I really didn't think I could sing, but it would be fun. But I decided that I would try out for choir with the other kids in my class, even though I was moving, just to see if I could make it. I would also try out for Jazz Band, to see if I would make that. When we moved, I would do which ever organization I would have made at  my old school. Turns out I did not make Jazz Band. But we got a phone call from one of the choir directors at the junior high to inform us that not only had I made it into choir, but I made the advanced choir. Since our family was not particularly musical, outside of piano lessons, we were pretty surprised. But I did choir when we moved, and never stopped. But sometimes, when I am feeling sorry for myself, I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed. What if I had been able to do the "advanced" choir in 7th grade? Would my training have been better? Would my voice be something impressive? What would I have been confident enough to do if I had that? But 'what if's get us nowhere, right? Right. Moving on.
I was once told that I had a good choir voice. I have no idea what that meant, but to me it said "Don't sing without other people" and very rarely have I strayed from that. I wish I hadn't listened. I wish I had done more musicals in high school. Sure, it would have been tough with swimming, but I would have loved that. I should have done that.
The best compliment I have ever received was when someone who is not particularly musical, but enjoys good music in his own way, said to me after a rather harrowing [on my part] duet in church with a friend, "Becky, I had no idea you could sing like that." I will never forget the glow that spread through me as I heard that. I wish I had tried harder so I could have heard more things like that, not to puff me up or give me an ego, but to boost  me, to reinforce that I could actually do what I loved because I was good at it.
This sort of melancholic musing happens every time I see a show that strikes me. Some have suggested I stop going to shows if this is what is going to happen. I can't do that. I just can't. It's kind of like my addiction, I guess.
Anyways, I hope I didn't sound whiney in here. That wasn't my point. I just wanted to get today's feelings out, and they happen to be a little self-pitying at the moment. Let me just say this: I know that I CAN sing, I just wish I was better, not for acclaim or notoriety, but so that I could be more comfortable with it. I would love to be able to sing in shows and in church and anywhere else without freaking out about it. Maybe I just need to take a little lesson from Sierra, huh?
Sigh. If onlys and what ifs are my weakness, guys. I know I could have and should have done so many things, but I let my own fears and doubts and the opinions of others dictate my actions. Don't do that. Be true to yourself. Do what YOU want to do, and don't let anybody tell you that you can't. Work hard and give it your best, and who knows? You just might get it. Miracles happen every day.
Hingsight is 20/20.
Okay, time to say something happy........uh.......Tomorrow is Friday! Woohoo!
PS. I am wearing gray knee socks with fuzzy spiders on them. That is awesome.

Thoughts of the Day

...or of the moment, at least. I can't promise these will still be my thoughts later. Some of them will be, but I dunno about others.

• General Conference was this weekend. If you don't know what that means, it's a special conference that is held twice a year for the general membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our leaders speak to us on topics that they have felt inspired to, and it is one of the most uplifting weekends ever. If you want to know more, click on the nifty little button on my sidebar that says "I'm a Mormon", or just shoot me a message! But this conference was really special. I felt so uplifted.
• President Uchtdorf's talk in the General Relief Society meeting was FANTASTIC! It literally took my breath away. I will read this one again and again and again.
• At the very end of conference, when the prophet was speaking, at one point he just said, "I love you. I pray for you." Now, we hear that sometimes, but for some reason, this time it really touched me. Maybe it was the way he said it, with such sincerity and emotion, or maybe it's because I was trying really hard to pay attention this time, or maybe it is just because he is the prophet of the Lord and can do that. Whatever reason, I got choked up myself and I had it confirmed to me AGAIN that this man is truly God's prophet here on the earth today.
• Along with that, I just love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I really really just adore them a lot. Who could help it? They are truly spectacular. Now, I am a bit of a hymn junkie, in that there are several hymns that I truly love, if they are done well. But there are some things that the Tabernacle Choir sings that are just turned into gold, and I am convinced that angels in Heaven are singing. Go here and here and here and here for examples. There are so many, many more, but I think that will suffice for now. December I will have more. =)
• It's October now. I LOVE October. I love the changing of the leaves, I love the smell of leaves burning, I love jumping into piles of leaves [but NEVER with a wet sucker]. I love Halloween. I love the cooler weather and drinking hot chocolate and cider. I love the pumpkin flavor things. Basically, I love October.
• My sister and I have been playing Scrabble on Facebook. Normally, I am opposed to games on Facebook, but this is Scrabble. I think it's brought us closer together, right, sis? Bah hahaha, yeah, right. Most of the time we are arguing about fake words that they say are real words and real words that they say are fake. But still, it's awesome. We'll have to play real scrabble when she comes home.
• Someone brought Olive Garden into work today for us. I may have hijacked a handful of Ande's mints from the pile. Maybe.
• My life coach is having a baby right now. Like right now right now. Well, she's in LABOR right now, anyway. Sounds like the little guy is being stubborn. Hang in there, Shay!
• I have an obsession with baby names. Have had since I was about 13. It's bad.
• I need to get going on grad school stuff. Gotta get those apps done so I can get back to life as I know it! Or...brain capacity as I know it, anyway.
• I get to see Carly next weekend! And baby Deux, I suppose, but he/she won't really be able to play very much. And then I see Jenny the week after that, and then AGAIN the week after that and THEN I get to go to Cincy for an intense high school football game! GO EAST!
• My mommy made pumpkin sugar cookies with candy corn faces. I felt like a kid again. In all the best ways. Except I didn't get dough this time. Oh well. Christmas is coming.
• I almost spelled 'sugar' with an H just then.
• Christmas is coming. It really really is. I may or may not have bought my first Christmas present already. Maybe.

I think that'll do for now. I try not to have too many thoughts in one day. It clogs things up.
Except for this last one: PHANTOM OF THE OPERA TONIGHT!!! Thanks to my love for movies, I occasionally will check listings at our theaters to see what is playing. Lo and behold, one of them had an advert on the sidebar that was for a showing of a live performance of Phantom of the Opera for a special 25th Anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I think I bought tickets for it the day I saw the advert. I am SO EXCITED!!!!!
Can you tell?

So it begins...

Well, my friends, Tuesday it finally happened. The day I most look forward to from July 4th to Halloween. The day we should all get off of work and school but we don't. That's right......it was List Day. For all of you who don't know, that is the day when my mother asks all of the girls in the family to turn in their list. The list is the combining of birthday and Christmas wish lists into a single master list that hides somewhere on her computer until the end of January. This is the day that marks the end of freedom for those who enjoy wandering the spaciousness that is Mom and Dad's closet. This is the day when it is officially okay to start THINKING about Christmas, beyond what you want to ask for. This is the day that I start to go crazy. See last year's posts, if you don't believe me.
Why so early, you ask? Particularly when you know how strictly we Connollys follow the "not til Thanksgiving is done" rule. Well, that doesn't count for Christmas shopping. And in case you didn't know, we Connolly women like our holiday seasons. I mean we REALLY DO. So much so that we were all born around there. It starts with my sister in law Erin in October, then Mom and Sarah in November, then me in December, then CHRISTMAS, and then Jen in January. The only immediate female family member that doesn't have a holiday birthday is Carly, and she's so fabulous, we make an exception. Besides, she gets presents all year round anyway.
So you see, we HAVE to start thinking and shopping now. Or at least, Mom does. So list day is very important. Granted, things get thrown on last minute, and as birthdays come, things get crossed off, so Christmas shopping becomes that much easier! Well, except for Jenny. Since her birthday is after Christmas, we all have to check with each other to make sure our Christmas presents don't mess up any birthday presents, and vice versa.
List day was so much fun when we were kids. We would pull out the catalogs and magazines and carefully cut out pictures, or sometimes just circle what we wanted in different colors. Now, letters to Santa obviously did not happen until later, but we still had List Day. So fun.
Last night I went out with my mom to do some shopping, since we had a really good coupon somewhere, and we actually got some things for Christmas! It was awesome! I tried to talk her into not talking me out of buying a ginormous mug with a snowman on it, but she succeeded. Alas, the adorable snowman mug of massive proportions is still on that shelf with the other winter/Christmas looking mugs. I won't say who got the presents, but we were pretty excited about them. And I got a few things for myself as well! Good stuff.
Side note: I am doing the Special K challenge, but the Becky version. Basically, the original just didn't have enough calories in it and I was starving and grouchy just trying to do it. So it's been modified, which will exclude me from the sweepstakes if it works, but still. I'd rather not starve and be happy and lose inches more slowly rather than starve and be irritable and lose it rapidly. And if I want to have a cookie every now and again, I'm gonna do it, darn it! I mean, really, when they are warm and gooey and still on the pan and Mom says she doesn't need them all, why shouldn't I have one??? Food for the soul, people. Those calories don't really count..... And it's probably thinking like that that caused me to need to shed some weight at all. Vicious cycle.
Okay, I think I'm done. October is coming, so I'll post on that when it does, and hopefully we can get me out of my Christmas crazies before I burn out [HA! Not likely.] before Halloween.

* For those concerned, List Day is NOT an actual Connolly holiday. I call it that, but no one else does. I'm cool like that.

Whew!

Hi guys. Guess what.
NO MORE LOW CARB!!!
I know, you were hoping for something so much more exciting, like a decision on grad schools or a book contract or [gasp!] an engagement. Well, the grad school thing is slowly but surely working itself out and in the next few weeks I will officially apply to the top choices. The book contract is on that list of "Would Be Great, But Will Probably Never Ever Happen" things. If I ever have free time again, I will work on book #3 seriously. Right now it is on the backburner behind grad schools and RS lessons and, oh, work. And as for an engagement........well, I'm farily certain my sisters would have called CNN if that had happened, so you'd all know by now anyway.
BUT. The glorious news that the low-carb diet is over should be very happy for all of you! If you ever want to appreciate how good apple pie is, go low carb for 4 weeks. But you know what? I'm really proud of myself. I didn't know if I could do this, and I did! If I had to do it over again, I would have been better about my workouts. I didn't always push myself as hard as I could have, and that might have made a bigger difference. But still. YAY for me! And I'm a little afraid of taking things to a carb-coma level of extreme, so I am being really careful about easing my way back in. Except for apple pie. Gimme a break.
In other news, any Castle fans out there? The season premiere was last night and OH MY GAWSH, it was good. Not as funny as your regular episode, but SO deep and rich and emotional and UGH. Amazing. Simply amazing. And it really showed certain people's acting chops. Who knew that funny man Nathan Fillion could pull of something so heart-wrenching and haunting and poignant? And Stana Katic! Not only is she pretty much the most beautiful woman ever, but the turmoil and tension and pain she brought to Beckett was AWESOME. And that ending??? HOLY CRAP. This is going to be a FABULOUS season, I can feel it! If you are not a Castle fan, YOU SHOULD BE! If you are one of those people who like to start a show at the beginning, have no fear. I have all three seasons and regularly DVR current episodes for future watching. Yeah....it's kinda like that.
Tonight are the premieres of NCIS and NCIS:LA. These are two shows that my parents and I are very invested in. As in I may or may not own all 8 seasons of NCIS and all 2 seasons of NCIS::LA. I can neither confirm nor deny that statement. ANYWHO: We just refreshed our memories with the finales last week, so we are ready and raring to go! Anyody else see those finales? Talk about DRAMA. I just love this stuff. Why I did not major in something to do with film or media, I will never know.
But in my work as an athletic trainer lately, I have been BUSY. And it is so rewarding, in its own way. So rarely do trainers get any recognition for the hours they put in and the work they do, but every time you can help someone or put some parents at ease, a small sense of accomplishment forms. And every now and then, you get a thank you from someone. A coach, an athlete, a parent...it doesn't matter. It all feels good. Well. This week, I got 2 different people telling  me that I am a good trainer, that I do a good job, and they were impressed. That stunned me. I don't do what I do to impress people. Quite the contrary, I've always been a bit of a background person. I just do what I do and get on with it. Not gonna lie, though. I felt really pleased that somebody noticed and went a step further to tell me they thought I was good. Little pokes in the shoulder from Heaven, reassuring me that I CAN do this.
Ummm....what else.....oh! I'm trying the Special K Challenge next week. No, it's NOT another diet.....well, okay, it probably counts as one, but I just want to see if it works. If you follow what they say with food and workout and such, you're supposed to be able to drop a jean size in two weeks. That. Would. Be. AWESOME. I dunno about the rest of you ladies, but from age 19 on, my donughts go straight to the jean coverage area. It would be simply lovely to, ah, TWEAK that general vicinity.
Still hacking away at my RS lesson for Sunday. It's on the talk "Remember This: Kindness Begins With Me". The title comes from a Primary song. Pretty sure I have never heard it. But that's neither here nor there. So I'm trying to figure out how to get a 30-35 minute lesson out of the talk, how to apply it to a single's ward RS, and how to make it enjoyable. Luckily, I have parents who are well versed in the Gospel AND in teaching it, so they're helping me a lot. But it all boils down to what the Spirit tells me to do, and the trick right now is figuring that out.
So that's me right now. Just in case you were wondering. ;-)