Some Things I Know!!

This afternoon I was pondering on the 'years and years' worth of good and stupid information I have gathered.   In my infinite confidence in myself, I felt you may like to know some of the good stuff I have gleaned as I have 'wandered' through this life -

* Ladies, don't bother with eyeliner and brow pencils - get a great mascara and experiment using it not only for your lucious lashes.. but also to define your eyebrows and place eyeliner at the bottom of your top lashes and along the bottom... I've been saving money for years using just mascara

* and while I am on makeup tips.. don't bother with blush... just use your lipstick... a dab or two on the apple of your cheek... some light blending and voila.. you are an english rose with a slight blush... and matching lip colour... works a treat.. been using that one for years too

* a kiss from a handsome stranger can solve all kinds of dilemna's (and NO, I am not going to explain where, how, what, why I gleaned that little piece of advice - suffice it to say I have experience with this one)

* on the back of my previous piece of information - I said a kiss.. don't give it all away... just a kiss.. strange, mysterious... and be nice ladies... (and behave yourself lads) - there is nothing like the first time a guy you like holds your hand.. THAT'S IT.. holds your hand.... holding your hand.. there is nothing like it (and NO, that's another story I wont tell)

* Long loud laughter every morning is a prerequisite to having a good day - GO ON, try this piece of advice.. whatever makes you laugh.. guffaw.. snigger.. giggle.. do it.. every morning.. I promise you.. the day is always good after you've released one of those early on!

* children can restore reality to a person and yet also transport adults to the land of imagination and wonder  in the blink of an eye..... put down the washcloth for just a minute or so.. and get down on the floor and play.. just 5 minutes... you will find that life in all it's reality and yet wonder is right there to behold

* I would have been a great primary school teacher!

* the older I get, the more open I am to 'getting in touch with my inner child'.    Next time you get on a swing.. I dare you to say 'wheeeeeeeeee' as you swing high in the air and back down... the wind blowing through your hair

* Just because you are older and have more to say, doesn't mean what you have to say is more interesting... make sure you let the generations to come have equal time in your conversation - you can learn an awful lot

* I like laugh lines.. and lines created by character and expressions of joy and enjoyment.  Men of the world... you may not appreciate these.. but I do.. so NER!

* being comfortable in your own skin does not require a massive loss of weight, plastic surgery or some miracle treatment to take off the years... it means finally accepting the great beauty and the flaws of this all too human vehicle we have.. and loving that you have it

* Julie Andrews is my favourite... Mary Poppins, Maria, the Queen, Cinderella.. Julie.. you rock, always

Ok.. that's just a few... I'm sure you are doubled over with laughter now.. I shall leave with this parting thing I know... whatever truth you have in your life.. live up to it... and greater truths are made known to you!

I've Always Been a Bit of a Clown!

It's a truth universally acknowledged that I've always been a bit of a clown!  My defense is that bringing a smile to someone's face has ever been my goal.. even now.  Humor, the ability to laugh, giggle, snort or outloud guffaw has ever been what drives me.  Sometimes my taste in TV has supported this behaviour:

In fact, I was an avid Goodies fan as a child.. and my mother could never understand what I found so funny!  But I knew why.. to this day.. I cry with laughter at these three boys.. ah, classic laughter

A lot of things tickle my funny bone, in a previous post you'll note I placed a segment with President Monson making me giggle during his conference address.. wiggling his ears... a very becoming thing for a Prophet to do... how I love President Monson's humor.. always good natured, always positive.

30 rock makes me howl with laughter.. literally all the time:

I know people.. sometimes it's rude humor.. but I'm sorry to say.. Tina Fey gets me.. she knows how to press my 'funny' button every time.

There are of course classic movies that make me howl.. in highschool we could quote Monty Python movies... to this day I can still quote some of the funniest lines:

Tis but a scratch.. a scratch. your arms off... come on you pansy!

And I can still quote large sections of The Princess Bride:

Pixar have long been making me laugh... with their long films like toy story, etc.. but especially their short films... For The Birds is the little film I watch when I just wanta get happy... and snort with laughter:

Musicals - Into the Woods.. Stephen Sondheim is a genius.. every time I hear the princes sing agony, I have to smuffle my giggles:

If you ever want to see a musical that makes you laugh, cry, think, ponder - you MUST go and see Into The Woods.

And in the end, I'm always up for something that makes me laugh.. because laughter.. (and laugh lines) are the best way to spend every minute on this place we call earth:

Some Things Are Beyond Words!

Do me a favor!  Just sit here now and listen to this piece of music.. it's long.. I apologise in advance :)  Barber's adagio for strings is one of the most amazing pieces to ever be composed.. when I hear this... I hear angels sing.. really, truly:

How one man can come up with this is amazing and something I celebrate!

Speaking of angels singing - I am also an outrageous fan of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  I know, I know.. you suspect it is only due to the fact I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - but not so.. I was fan before I was a member of the church... there is something otherworldly about this choir:

This song, by Roger Hoffman, is based on the Saviour's sermon on the mount - listen to the words.. do you feel that.. your heart opening up and growing two sizes just by the music and the voices... I wish I could do that!

Beyond words - President Thomas S. Monson - who I have loved all these years - showing his great sense of humor

A read of his biography shows a man who has always simply and yet powerfully loved and served.   How I love to listen to him twice a year in general conference!  How I feel as I listen to him speak are beyond words or expression

My love for my sisters, my father and my mother are beyond words!

My love for my sisters 'babies' are beyond words....

BUT most of all, how I feel about Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, is sometimes beyond words

That is what I have been thinking about this morning, pondering, feeling!

Another Great Love of my Life!

If music is the food that feeds me.. then dance, particularly classical ballet, is the water!  I have loved ballet since I was a little girl and though I never had the talent nor the right body shape to become what I always longed to become.. I can still feel the love for it coursing through me!

Two of the greatest dancers.. and the greatest pairing was Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nuryev.  Dance is a very exacting world, and I learnt at the age of 14 that there was no possible way I could ever be the exact type it required, so I taught and loved it for as long as I could.  There is a freedom and a joy to dancing ballet... even with those torture shoes on.. pointe shoes (and yes, they do cause a lot of pain!)

I don't know why it is so entwined with my heart and mind, but it has been since I was a young girl.  Perhaps it was a kindness from Heavenly Father that I could not devote my body and soul to this artform - because it certainly requires that to 'grow up' and do it - because it does enact some terrible tolls on the body.  Out of every 1000 girls who make it to a company, only 3 or 4 ever have the kind of talent and presence of a Margot Fonteyn, Darcey Bussell or Sylvie Guillem.  Most will end up with injuries and flaws that stop them from being truly great.

Still, as I watch it.. I find my feet twitch, my toes stretch out in the point I learnt at 10 and have never lost.

Ultimately.. though I love music, and I love ballet and dance... there is something I love more.  The gospel of Jesus Christ touches deep into my heart, where I truly live, beyond the music, beyond the dance, there is a recognition that I am His daughter, and I am going home - and a longing to be home that is greater than all these 'loves' I have here.

Music Is My Life

Anyone who knows me, knows that music is my life.  All kinds of music.  U2, sesame street, classical, opera (within reason) and everything in between.  The above clip is of one of my favourites by Lakme.. The Flower Duet.

Music speaks to me - often when I go to see a film, I'll be listening for the soundtrack!!  I have often remarked to friend or family sitting with me at the beginning of a film "there's another soundtrack I have to get"!

I'll never forget going to see Pride & Prejudice with Keira Knightly and sitting mesmerised in the opening scene as the piano softly begins to play as the sun slowly rises in the sky.  You will notice on my blog page here I have included some of my many, many favourite pieces of music... most recently from the new Disney film Tangled... I love Disney music.. always have.. always will!

You will also notice on my blog page I have included one of my favourite songs, from "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" sung by one of my all time favourite artists - Kristen Chenoweth

My parents encouraged me early to love music.  My mum and I would sit and watch old musicals (her favourites) and being a 'balletomane" of course classical was part of my repertoire.  I still remember one of the first cassette tapes mum and dad bought me... music from "The Mission".. to this day, the music created in this film brings me to tears..

Here is Yo Yo Ma (one of the all time great musicians) playing my favourite piece from The Mission:

Now that I have lost dad.. when I play this.. and remember that he and mum gave me this love for and appreciation for music.. this music is so much more emotional for me...

Of course, it's not all about soaring notes.. part of the reason I love U2.. it unleashes the wild girl inside of me:

You have never seen me unleash this wild child, but she is there.. and when I put this on.. or any number of other pieces... I just dance, and dance, and dance.. (nope, not EVER gonna post a video of that on here)!

I sing all day long.. hymns, rock tunes, sesame street, the muppets, classical pieces... yep, if you asked me what makes me happiest.. it's music...

So.. here's to the music - the way it moves us, the way it grooves us, the way it makes us feel and the way it unlocks our feelings!

Thanks for the music.. as Abba likes to say!

Preparing for Sydney!!

No silly's, not the city, but the incomparable, beautiful Sydney Carlson.  Yes, on christmas day she was surprised with a flight to sydney by her mum and dad... I colluded in this surprise - I gave him the best month for her to come and visit me and my crazy family and this AWESOME place that I live in.. July 2011.

Now,  I know what all the aussies are saying right now.. but Tanya, that's winter, how can she enjoy the world class beaches.. the relaxed beachy lifestyle of sydney..

Shame on you doubters - because my reply is.. Sydney (the person and the city) shines all year round.  Instead of sludging through snow.. Sydney will be feeling just a little chilly and maybe a little wet.... cause we really have quite mild winters!  Why.. if you are a Bondi iceberg - you even swim in the depths of winter - betcha can't do that in Utah in the dead of winter!

Sydney, the beautiful girl, could come here and get the usual tourist sites.. but NO, she is with the locals.. so it is the local she will get.  The food.. oh, the food... so many different types and styles to choose from!  My mother's memories and nooks and crannies of the blue mountains, my sisters and their awesome 'getting to know the area' techniques... picnic down at Garritty with Janne and family.... wandering around the city with Sam and family... I got plans people.. lots of plans!

I am determined that Sydney experience the city and place she was named after...

I did toss up QLD, and VIC.. and even NT.  But felt.. nope.. there is so much in NSW to see and do and experience.. north coast.. south coast... blue mountains.... central coast... beaches... food... city... shopping.... taronga zoo.... featherdale wildlife park.... even just doing my favourite thing with Syd and walk through the city and darling harbour and just 'potter'.. go up to the rocks... climb the bridge.. walk over the bridge.. wander through the botanical gardens... wander around the opera house.. sit at Cremorne point after riding the ferry and looking at one of the most amazing views ever.... maybe go see 'Mary Poppins' and some of the other world class entertainment Sydney holds....

Yep, I got plans.  I will be relying on my sisters to help me with the plans... and my mum.  We are all excited.. for so many years Sydney's family have played host to me.. treated me like I was their own.. we intend on repaying just a small part of that!

So 2011 starts with so many exciting things to come... a family holiday in April (thanks mum).. Mum's 70th birthday.. Mary Poppins with all the girls in the family in May... Sydney in July...

Yep, 2011 is the year I'm really looking forward to!

And so that was christmas!

One could say that christmas seems to pass all too quickly, and that was certainly the case this year.   Perhaps it is age that brings this sense of 'time flying by' that I have, but I can't help but notice that I seem to get to this time of year much quicker than anticipated.  Our family changed tradition this year, instead of doing the 'boxing day' celebration - we switched to christmas eve.

Thanks to little sister and her good husband, we were able to celebrate in their 'spacious' home.  I must confess something very strange happened!  None of us were hungry - we (the royal we as in my mother, I and my two sisters) had prepared a feast and it was not consumed.  Even the children (read - Matthew) did not 'hoover' the food.

Could it be that we have all gone healthy????  Did we suddenly just lose our appetites??? whatever the cause, as a result we have a lot of food left over.  Twas strange to say the least.  The good news is that we are all one step closer to the inevitable 'new years resolution' to lose weight - perhaps that is why - we wanted a head start on the resolution we usually break by 15 January :)

The loveliest part of that whole time is spending time with family.  I did find myself looking around the room at one stage and thinking of christmases to come.  Children to grow up and provide partners and children for future celebrations.  I then thought of how our family has grown and changed since daddy passed only 2 1/2 years ago.  One would think this would bring a bout of sadness, it didn't really.. just a sense of reflection on how time marches on as we miss those we love who are no longer with us.  As you can see below, Janne caught me in one of these reflective moments.

In the end I feel a sense of deep gratitude that I had family to celebrate with.  Sisters, mother, brothers-in-law and children to feel safe and loved with.  Really, that is the greatest christmas gift I receive and one that I would like to keep in the forefront of my mind as we roll towards 2011.

Things are just things.  Owning things gives one only a brief sense of happiness or wellbeing but family, even through all the misunderstandings, differences of opinion, and 'discussions', are the prize for a well lived life!

And so, I can say after this christmas - I have lived well and will continue to try to live well!