Tonight Mark’s piano studio joined a violin studio for a recital of duets. Here is a clip of Mark’s performance with Caroline. 👏👏
Category: Music
Practice time accessory 😎
Two Recommendations
This is a hospice nurse’s account of twelve of her patients’ end of life experiences that changed her. This is a really meaningful and special book.
This film recounts the making of the We Are the World music video for Ethiopian famine relief in 1984. We enjoyed this!
Things that helped
After reading through my 2023 blog posts, I’ve decided that I want to end the year by listing one daily, one weekly, and one monthly thing that helped me get through a year which was actually very challenging.
A daily practice that helped:
- I took the counsel of President Nelson and I kept a journal of impressions that I had while I prayed, and I acted upon those impressions. This created a leap in progress in my understanding of how revelation works and how interested God is in my life.
A weekly practice that helped:
- Friday dates with Richard
A monthly practice that helped:
- I tried to do a variety of work in the temple. Richard and I were able to complete temple ordinances for several ancestors with the help of our children, my brother, and my parents.
I have also looked over my reading list from 2023 to see where I have been. I have a special shout-out for Charles Dickins’ David Copperfield and Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
As I prepare for 2024, I don’t have any major resolutions. I do have plans to keep my good habits, while giving myself the grace to just do one thing at a time, including new things.
Wishing you a gentle look back at your 2023, and a hopeful look forward to your New Year.
Love,
A.
To Thee
This song is worth your time to listen to on this Sabbath day, and could be a great warmup before a personal prayer.
Christmas Concert
This was our first Gentri concert, and it was a great way to begin the Christmas season. Our favorite from the group is their pianist, Stephen Nelson. And look who stopped by during the concert to visit with the people at the end of our row, Casey Elliott!🤩
Mark’s Medal
Mark has been preparing a piece for a piano competition since June. After his performance before the judges, we received a phonecall that he was invited to perform at the awards recital. Friends, we knew his effort, and we knew that his piece was amazing, but hadn’t considered that we would be coming back to see him receive an award. I don’t know, something about the musical community is just so intimidating. We were thrilled that he received recognition among really great musicians. Mark knows the first place winner through piano lessons, so it was so fun to celebrate both of them as they received their medals.
A glimpse of each day
We are in a very full season of life with so much going on and so many things I could share, but I can’t seem to sort these things into words.
Wishing you the best,
-A
Sights of the week
September favorites
My goal to listen to a different piece of classical music each day this year has been fun, but it means that there is a lot of music that I am trying to remember. These were some of my favorite pieces from September, and I am posting them here for personal reference. If you listen to one and enjoy it, too, that’s wonderful.