Conference Weekend 'Miracles'

I LOVE Conference weekend. Its seriously one of my favorite weekends of the entire year. We had the General Relief Society meeting on Saturday which was amazing as usual. It was weird not being in Utah for it though. I was definitely spoiled with getting to go to at least one session each time conference rolled around. I guess it's time for other people to have the opportunity. Before the Relief Society session, we had a musical fireside for our Stake where my mom, sister and I got to sing the song 'Miracles,' by Sally DeFord, together. It was so special for all of us to get to do that. We used to sing together all the time. I remember when we sang for my brother's farewell, the Bishop got up and said something about the "Anderson sisters striking again!" It was good times! I remember when I was younger, my mom would play songs on the piano and my sister would pull out her flute and I would sing and we'd just do that for an hour or two. I remember doing "The Hearts of the Children" from the Primary songbook all the time! Maybe that's why I love doing genealogy so much now... Definitely one of my favorites. My sister videotaped us practicing and she put it on her blog for y'all that wanted to see it and weren't there. This one was probably better than the actual thing anyway since our knees weren't shaking with nerves, this time around :) We definitely weren't used to singing in front of people anymore...its been almost 10 years since we last sang together...woooo! Man how time flies! Anyway, here's the link: http://thetexasbreinholts.blogspot.com/2009/09/miracles.html

I cant wait for this weekend though. What can be better than two full days of uplifting messages and feeling the spirit. Bring it on! Sunday morning we always go over to my sister's before hand and we have quiche and...food? hahaha All I remember is the quiche. Cut me some slack...it's been 5 years since I've watched it at home. For some reason, I remember a lot of rolls too...but that shouldn't surprise anyone :) Most of my memories have bread in them. I'm in charge of the quiche this year tho and I'm using Beth's yummy recipe to change things up a bit! YUMMMM! My brother was pretty excited when I told him about it. The other quiche is good, but you can only have so much of it cuz its rich or something...I dunno... I hope it turns out well! :)

I don't know if I'm allowed to have a favorite apostle...but I do, so whatever! :) I always LOVE hearing from Elder Oaks. Not that I don't love hearing from the other's. I love them all...but there's something about Elder Oaks that I cant get enough of. I think it's cuz he's so intense that it kinda scares me a little and just zings me! Plus...he's the cutest old man and whenever he speaks, its always so wonderful! His voice also reminds me of the guy at the beginning of those Living Scriptures videos that's like "...please don't make a copy of this tape..." lol I love it and I love him! I hope everyone gets to watch it and has a wonderful experience. About 4 years ago, when I took a 'Teachings of the Living Prophets' class at BYU, she challenged us to pray and fast before Conference started and to ask certain questions. She told us to write them down and then take good notes throughout conference. Each time I've done that, each of my questions have been answered, if not through a talk, directly, through the spirit. I always laugh when the Conference issue of the Ensign comes out and I'm rereading the talks and comparing my notes and I had written things down that had nothing to do with anything they were saying. Its wonderful to know that the Lord communicates to us, the things we need to hear and know, through the Spirit and through his called prophets and apostles. I'm so grateful for this gospel and for the guidance, direction and peace that it constantly brings into my life.

Reunions of the Arizona Kind

I spent the last week-ish in Arizona and it was so much fun!!! I started out in Mesa to spend time with Beth and her family before I headed over to Havasu to see Ashley before she left on her mission. This was my first trip to the Mesa area and I LOVED it. It was so much fun to be there with my friends :) They introduced me to "gelato" which is an Italian ice cream...*melts* Yeah, so good! And we got to go to a few little craft/decoration shops which is definitely right up my alley! I probably could've stayed in those places all day. I played with Will a lot too which was totally different from what I'm used to. Instead of playing dress up and having Syd cover me in make up and hair clips and dancing around the room with Malla in my arms, I was playing pirates, star wars and baseball! Definitely a flip flop, but still really fun! Beth told me that one night, Will was talking in his sleep saying "Tara...I just want a cookie!" over and over again. haha. Gotta love it. I think one of my favorite parts of being in Mesa (other than just hangin with the Borgia's) was getting to go through a session at the Mesa temple. Brother Borgia ended up officiating at the session we were at, so that was cool. While he was standing there, I got to thinking....I wonder if it's weird for them. An entire room full of people is sitting there staring at you and you're looking back at them and not saying anything. hahaha Meh...they're probably used to it. It would be hard for me to not slip in a weird face every now and again though :) Seriously though...the Borgia's were so great. I think they feel bad because I was "bored" or something crazy...psh! please! I'm such a boring person...I did more there than I usually do here. haha I'm used to being unemployed and doing nothing all day. lol. I really did have so much fun and they did so many wonderful things for me! I really appreciate them so much. It definitely felt like a home away from home. Oh yeah....they introduced me to the gloriousness that is the cream puffs in the temple cafeteria. Holy, wonderful! Beth also introduced me to these SWEET baking pan things that you never have to spray or anything and the food pops right out (and very nicely browned too). It was so fun to bake mini muffins with them! And so easy too! No more hassle of muffin liners or cleaning up spills when you miss the cup part (which I do on a regular basis). When I'm rich, one day, I'm going to buy some. The end. I hope I get to go back soon...I really did love it there. AND not to mention that Emily is moving there in November so that's an added bonus! All of my favorite people, minus my family, are moving to Arizona...apparently its the place to be! :)

Havasu was fun too...we ended up cramming all of us into their house instead of me staying somewhere else which was definitely more fun but maybe more cluttered than they would've liked. Ashley and I were sharing her bed which is in between a twin and a full bed. So needless to say, we had some funny accidents. lol. Apparently, one night, I was dead asleep and I started playing footsie with Ashley's foot. She laughed and scooted me over a little. No harm, no foul right? HA! A little nudge isn't going to keep me away! Apparently, no matter how far away she moved her foot, I would keep searching for it with mine. This went on for a while. I would find her foot and be set at ease and she'd move it and I'd search for it again. :) Finally, Ashley just bent her knees so her feet were behind her. I started searching as per the usual and I got frustrated that I couldn't find her foot so I let out a big puff of air and retired to sleep on my other side as a sign of defeat. Definitely funny to laugh about when I woke up the next morning. The last night was hilarious because she had put off packing until the last possible hour. Naturally, I stayed up with her to help her pack since packing happens to be one my super powers. I can always get anything to fit! Anyway, by about 1:30 we were both slap happy from running around so much the previous couple of days that we would just start laughing hysterically out of no where and it wouldn't stop until we got too tired to laugh at all. OH and deal of the week...we went to walmart to get some last minute things for her and we saw that the clinical strength dove deodorant (so wonderful during hot weather) was on sale so we took it up to the register and the guy had his list comparison thing as to what other stores were selling it for and they rang up as 2.00 each when they're originally like 8.75. Naturally, we both ran back to grab armfuls of deodorant. I'm sure we looked retarded, but I'll do what is necessary in the name of a good sale such as that one! Her setting apart was wonderful too. The Spirit was so strong. The tradition in Havasu is to go around the room and say a part of your testimony or whatever else you feel impressed to say before they set her apart as a missionary which was really neat. I'll miss my Ash-face but I'm so excited to hear about all the crap she has to eat down there! hahahaha. (and all the other stuff too)

And I'm happy to report that since its been raining here so much, its actually green AND for the last two days its been like 70 degrees outside. I was actually COLD today. Weird, I know. But it definitely feels more like fall which is something I'm not used to happening here until December...MAYBE by Thanksgiving on rare occasions. Although, I'm not banking that this weather will last long :)

Nine

In honor of it being 9/9/09 tomorrow, I decided to do a little somethin' somethin' with it! Plus, I'm really excited for the new movie, Nine, to come out. :) Holy jeez, its gonna be good! Seriously though, nine has proven to be a particularly good number for me. We moved to Texas when I was 9 which has turned out amazingly. I met my best friend of all time when I was 9...Kami and her family came over on our first Sunday there and we hit it off. We've never failed to have ourselves a great time since then. When I moved into Sparks, I moved into apartment 9. Sparks was seriously one of my favorite parts of my BYU experience. So many of my favorite memories and so many of the people I met that impacted my life, happened there. No, nine is NOT my lucky number...but 8 is, and that's pretty darn close :) So see...nine is great! :) Anyway, I decided, in honor of the number 9 (haha I feel like I'm doing a Sesame Street tribute or something), I decided to list 9 things that most people don't know about me. That is...unless I know you really REALLY well, and/or you've ever lived with me, cuz you just sort of find these things out... Although, some of these, I dont think I've ever told anyone so enjoy!

1. The last time I watched the Land Before Time (a couple of months ago...shocking, I know), I cried when Little Foot's mom died. Yes, some may say I just have a tender heart. I say its because I'm lame and internalize movies too much. haha.

2. Speaking of crying...for a couple of years, I only cried out of my left eye. I have no idea why. That's just the facts. Someone else can explain it to me if they wish, but I'm happy to report that I'm back to normal and have two, fully functioning tear ducts.

3. The two playlists I listen to most on my itunes are musicals and instrumental music. They make any day a brighter day. :)

4. And speaking of musicals...I was thinking the other day about if I could play any role in a musical, who would I most like to be? I haven't succeeded in narrowing it down to the final winner, however, I have managed to narrow it down to...nine! haha jk, although, it did seem appropriate...no no, I narrowed it down to four: Ado Annie, Oklahoma!; Millie, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Penny Pingleton; Hairspry; and Eliza Doolittle, My Fair Lady.


Mind you, I'm not counting singing or acting ability in these...that would certainly narrow it down to zero. But in an ideal world, those would be my top four. Which is ironic, seeing as how The Sound of Music has always, and will always be one of my favorite movies, not to mention, my favorite musical of all time. There are just some scenes that I could never get through...mostly the part when they're singing about "I must have done something good." I always laugh far too hard for any normal person, when I watch that part. :)

5. If I could do absolutely ANYTHING for a career (and if it still even existed), my ideal job would be to be a performer on a Show Boat. Again, I'll insert that talent (and I'll go as far to say, dress size) will not be taken into account on this one either. But it would be AMAZING and I'm sure I'd love almost every moment of it! :)

6. I have another favorite flower other than daisies...I just don't tell people about it :) I LOVE pansies. Like seriously LOVE them. I could look at them all day. They just look like they're smiling at me all the time. Although, sometimes they make me think of Alice in Wonderland and that movie kinda creeped me out as a kid. The flowers weren't very nice, and that wasn't cool...

7. Ever since I took my endowments out a couple of months ago, I have made a new goal to do temple work in as many temples as possible in my life time. So far, I've done a sesson in four different temples: Timpanogos, Provo, Salt Lake City and Dallas. I'm hitting up Mesa next week and possibly Vegas, but we'll see how that goes. Verdon said he'd go with me to Manti when I come up to Utah in October. And I'm counting sitting in Kami's wedding in Oquirrh Mountain as doing temple work. I know it's cheating, but until I can go back and do a session there, I'm counting it :) My game, my rules :)

8. I am superstitious. Not like CRAZY amounts, but enough to make me do stuff. Example: I always try to hold my breath when we pass a cemetery and I keep a troll in my car for good luck (a family tradition). I dont think that anything terrible will happen if I don't do all of these things, but I do feel a sense of "luck" when I follow through with them. Like, maybe everything will go my way or something. It's almost like drinking my own Felix Felicis potion (for all you non-Harry Potter fans out there, that's liquid luck basically. Although, I'm not sure how we're friends enough for you to be reading my blog if you don't know anything about HP). :)

9. Here we go....the last one: I have a slight obsession with shoe horns. And when I say slight, I mean, really big. Example: I almost cried when I bent my last shoe horn out of commission. And yes, both of my tear ducts were working at this point. Its a good thing I controlled it, right? :) My fun moment of the day last week was when I was in Ross and I found a decorative sign that says "Life is made of choices...remove your shoes or scrub the floor." Attached is a shoe horn. I saw it and knew that even if I had no use for it, I had to have it. I also have a gargantuan shoe horn that's at least 2 feet tall, compliments of Melly. Thanks, lady-face. You're my hero. And if that's not enough, I always make sure to have two spares just incase of an incident like when I became the incredible hulk and bent my metal one.... *sighs* What a traumatic day. I'm glad that's over...

There you have it...Nine, nine, nine! How I love thee, number nine! I hope yall have a splendiforus 9/9/09 day! XOXO