Tuesday Tribute: Heather C

Tuesday Tribute this week goes to my fabulous, fabulous, fabulous Zumba instructor Heather Cullimore. I started going to Zumba a year go & I go as often as I can. 2 months ago she had a miscarriage but with what she found out was twins. She has been on bed rest and I have missed her teaching style like crazy. She was healthy enough and came back Friday for her first time and taught 2 songs. Later that day she found out she is having her first boy!

I love her animation, 

her bubbly personality, 

her insane amount of energy that rubs off on all of us,

her fun style, the way sings along like she is a diva, 

her crazy hair flipping, her ability to always goes full out, 

she makes working out feel like a party, 

 she has lost 100 lbs and is a great inspiration 

and she is a sweet, sweet friend to have.

My recent favorite song to jam out to is this. We do a lot of the same moves. Looove it! 

I might look like a total fool, but I have so much fun! Lydia loves to dance too!

Tuesday Tribute to my man-

Feeling extra grateful for this man lately. He'd be embarrassed if he knew I was writing this, so I'll keep it quick.
3 reasons today:
1. He is a HUGE help around the house, when it come to hauling laundry, vacuuming, cleaning up after the meals etc. I appreciate assistance in those mundane tasks that always need re-doing day after day.
2. He appreciates all the small simple joys of life with me. For example watching Lydia run from house to house last night while Trick-or-Treating brought us so much joy and we got to share that moment together.
3. He does amazing at his calling. Day after day preparing meaningful, heartfelt lessons for a group of sleepy teenagers cannot be easy, and it isn't (did I mention it is the Old Testament this year) but he does it and in the best way he knows how. I think he's amazing at fulfilling his daily calling.

Tuesday Tribute to Nikki

Do you remember being the new girl, the new girl in school or in this case at Church? I like to think of myself as a confident, outgoing girl...the one who notices those sitting alone, who don't have friends yet. Well in this case I was the quiet girl with no friends.

In Memorial Park Ward (in Ogden) I didn't know many people, I didn't have a kid yet so I wasn't in the Mommy group and then when I did have Lydia I was a working/Mommy and in all truthfulness and I didn't make the effort to step out of my comfort zone and make new friends at first either. This Tuesday gets tributed to Nikki Bingham. Every Sunday she would come up to me and give a genuine hug and a hello, even if I was already sitting down, she'd find me. She didn't know me well and was older than me, but that didn't matter to her.

Something so simple meant so much to me. Did she know I hadn't made any good friends yet and that I felt out of place in a ward where everyone else was so close knit? I don't know. But I remembered feeling loved by her. Our friendship eventually grew as we served in callings together. I now try to follow her example even more when I see others who might be in those same shoes I was and I am already trying to teach Lydia to do the same.

Aldi

Can I be totally lame this week and tribute my Tuesday post to my favorite grocery store?!? Good, cause that is what I am about to do. Has it changed my life? Don't know if I would go that far, but it sure has saved us tons of money and it makes my grocery shopping trips a lot more enjoyable. I love Aldi because it is:

Small and quaint. 
Only has 4 isles. 
Never crowded.
Helps me be green.
Tasty produce.
Super low prices! 

More facts: 
You have to bag your own groceries & in your own bags. 
I've gotten pretty good at that one. 
It is 8 miles away from my home. The trip costs about 2.25  in gas, but is totally worth it. 
They don't have name brand items....Kelloggs etc, so if you are picky, this store is not for you. Food is food in my opinion, packaging doesn't really matter on a lot of things. We've found a few things we don't like, but that happens at any store.


Tyson shopped at Aldi on his mission in NY & Marie shops at them in France and they both got me hooked. If you have an Aldi nearby GO! You'll love it!

Tribute Tuesday- President Hinckley

Do you hold a special place in your heart for our passed Prophet Pres. Hinckley too? Do you recall his quick wit, his loving smile, his love for sweet Marjorie, his hand shaking away at us from the pulpit admonishing us to be better& the wave of his cane. 

 I love and now sustain Pres. Monson. His talks this past conference were just wonderful, his example and stories are so special. I know that he is a prophet of God and that he is the mouth piece for the Lord on the earth today. 


However, Tyson and I both have this special connection with President Hinckley, we share this affection for him and have often discussed it. My admiration for President Monson is present and ever growing but it is just different. 


I have pondered this and I think I've figured out why exactly we feel this way for President Hinckley. Fact: He became the prophet in 1995 I was 12 years old and he passed away in January 27, 2008 during my 26th year.  


Do you know what occurred in my life during those years? What huge life changing decisions were made? EVERYTHING! Those were the critical years when I truly gained a firm testimony of the Gospel and figured out who I was and the girl/woman I wanted to become. 


President Hinkley, figuratively speaking  was there with me  when I moved to Utah, not knowing a single soul in the world walking into that massive Junior High all alone with a pit in my stomach, he was there throughout  all of those tough teenage years encouraging me to BE SMART, BE TRUE, BE HUMBLE, BE GRATEFUL, BE PRAYERFUL & CLEAN, all of which I strived to live by.  

I got to be in his presence time and time again to listen to him speak or sing in choirs of meetings he was speaking at, one of the joys of living in Utah. Did I ever meet him, shake his hand or greet him with a hello? No. But that didn't matter. I felt like I knew him personally and he was a part of my life in such a special way. 

He was the prophet when I decided what college to attend & what to study.
When I received and tried to magnify my first real calling.
He called Tyson to serve his full time mission to upstate New York. 
He instilled in us a love for the temple and encouraged us to go as often as we could.
He helped oversee the building of the Conference center which has blessed me in so many ways.
I looked to him and his wife's example while I was choosing my eternal companion. 
He was the prophet during my first 4 years of married life.
He challenged us to read the Book of Mormon and promised us amazing blessing if we did it.
He was the prophet when I became a mother and I now have The Proclamation to the Family to help me with my sacred calling. 


We wept with him when his wife died and mourned for him when he passed away few years later. Tyson and I were blessed with the opportunity to attend his funeral and we will always remember the spirit we felt there.

To this day when I hear a recording of his voice my heart swells up with joy and love for him and often a tear or two comes my way.


I grew up hearing about President McKay and how wonderful he was from my parents and Lydia will now grow up and hear Mom and Dad talk about the admiration and love for we hold for President Hinckley, "our" prophet.

Tuesday Tribute { ChOiR & Catherine Glasser-Climie }

My tribute this week is to choirs, but more in particular to Catherine Glasser-Climie my very first choir director. When I was 7 years old my parents had me audition for a professional children's choir in Calgary. It was called Mount Royal Junior Children's choir. 



In one word I'd sum Catherine up as having class. She was also beautiful, talented, warm, entertaining, kind but she did have class. When you were in her presence you wanted watch her every move and to be just like her. She knew how to bring out the best in all of us like nobody I've ever met. She expected high things from all 92 of us and in return we wanted to be our best self, sing our best, smile, stand tall, be on time, have our music ready, look our best (in our uniforms) and make her proud. 


I spent hours each week in rehearsals, at Saturday morning workshops, retreats to Banff once a year, trips to compete in festivals, lots of performances, we recorded tapes, we sung the Canadian National anthem at a Flames Hockey games, appeared on Morning television  news shows and were even invited to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York...and that is barely touching the surface of it all.


The Hallelujah Chorus will always hold a special place in my heart as we sang it each year at an annual Christmas concert with the adolescent choir, the adult choir and full orchestra. It was amazing! It was a 5 year experience that helped mold me into who I am, it taught me so many life lessons beyond just music and truly impacted my life. 

Catherine has since founded the Cantaré Children's Choir Program. Here is a LINK  to her website. What I wouldn't give to go and see her in action again or sing under her direction, or better yet, put Lydia in one of her choirs. Oooh just the thought of that makes me giddy! 


Since my years in MRJCC I have sung with Ms. Reeves (SOJHS), Mrs. Kirby(BHS), Institute choirs, (WSU) Evelyn Harris (Memorial Park Ward) and now I am singing with the Norman Stake Christmas adult choir (Andrea Avance). 


My newest out of comfort zone experience in life is conducting a Young Woman's stake choir. Eeek! Me conducting?!? Teenagers!?! Double eeek!  My specialty is toddlers and primary aged children. I like teenage girls but I won't lie, this assignment makes me nervous & one that will make me stretch.  My first rehearsal starts Oct 22nd. 


I hope I can make it into a good experience for the girls. I sure have had amazing examples in my life to pattern after and I thank them and my parents for channeling my talent to opportunities that have helped me grow.