Christmas Music

Note: I think my dad will like this post most of all. He loves Christmas Music more than anyone I know.

One of my favorite parts of of the holidays is Christmas music. I have been known to unabashedly listen to certain Christmas songs year-round. Some of the most beautiful and expressive songs ever written about Christ are Christmas songs... so why should we only sing them one month a year? I know some of you are vehemently opposed to that idea so I won't force it, but during Christmastime is there anything better than decorating your house while the Pandora Mannheim Steamroller Holiday channel plays in the background? I submit that there is not.

I'll admit, some of the more commercial Christmas music is awful. Absolutely painful. And they seem to be utterly inescapable. It seems that the world thinks that there are only 20 Christmas songs in existence so these are covered and rearranged and provoke nausea every year. These songs include but are not limited to the following:


Wonderful Christmas Time- John Lennon
So This Is Christmas -Paul McCartney
(note, ex-Beatles members are responsible for these first two... the Beatles should lose all credibility for this reason)
Last Christmas- Wham!
Christmas Time Is Here- A Charlie Brown Christmas
Jingle Bell Rock- Bobby Helms
Santa Baby- Eartha Kitt
All I Want For Christmas Is You- Mariah Carey

And finally, the all-time worst Christmas song in the history of EVER... the song that makes me want to scream and cry and drive my car off a cliff just so I don't have to listen to it...

Christmas Shoes- someone who deserves a lifetime prison sentence

BUT HEY.

This is supposed to be about the stuff I love. So let's get into that, shall we?

My favorite Christmas songs are MANY, but here are a few definite favorites:

Some Children See Him
What Child Is This
Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel
Pat-A-Pan
In the Bleak Mid-Winter
Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance Flowing
Good Christian Men Rejoice

ANYTHING that the Cambridge Singers do and pretty much anything from Mannheim Steamroller.

My absolute favorite Christmas Song is Oh Come All Ye Faithful. It actually is probably my favorite hymn in the hymn book besides How Firm A Foundation. I would like both sung at my funeral. And wedding.... as we walk out of the temple. And all of my children's births. And all of my birthday parties.



I'd also like to share another of my favorite Christmas songs, Infant Lowly, Infant Holy. We used to sing it in Primary, though it was called Stars Were Gleaming. This song is incredibly sweet.


Okay, I know Pie Jesu isn't necessarily a Christmas song, but it is about Christ and this version is sung by Sissel, who is ridiculous. Seriously, I cannot imagine a more perfect  voice for this song or a more perfect voice for Christmas music in general. I could listen to her clear, beautiful voice all day. She came and performed with the Choir while I was on my mission, which is so sad. I would have loved to see her; this woman is incredible.


But I have to end with the single most exquisite performance I've ever heard (hands down), which just happened to be at a Christmas Concert. In 2005, Renee Fleming came as the guest performer with the Tabernacle Choir for their Christmas program. I still remember where I was sitting in the conference center when I heard this (second to last row in the very back of the highest balcony on the farthest right side) and remember that I just cried as I listened. Steve Snell was sitting next to me. He can attest. I have yet to hear anything that beautiful. This song is also on my list of absolute favorite Christmas songs. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming:

Nutcracker Grand Pas de Deux

I used to go to the Nutcracker for my birthday with my mom when we lived in Chicago. I remember the little white fur coat I used to wear to the show, complete with a little white muff. It is another of my favorite memories from Christmas as a child.

Last year, I went to the Nutcracker in Salt Lake for the first time in several years. I loved it. I don't understand ballet very well and probably don't appreciate it the way that I should, but I will say that during this number I was absolutely mesmerized. The music is absolutely gorgeous. It took me a while to find a pair of dancers on youtube that I actually liked and these ones do very well but it was nothing like the choreography and the dancers I saw last year. I haven't been able to erase that from my mind. Absolutely breathtaking.

Handel's Messiah

I've always wanted to go to a Messiah Sing-in... something about being involved in the performance really appeals to me. I knew this was right up my Dad's alley so I got us tickets and we went to Abravenel Hall in Salt Lake on Sunday night. Dad brought his old copy of the score. Tucked inside was the program from the same event 24 years earlier, when I was just a baby. That was the last time he'd gone to a Sing-in. It used to be a tradition with him and his parents and siblings. The Joneses are known for being quite musical so that wasn't surprising. It was surprising that he hadn't been since then.

I realized mere seconds into this thing that it was going to be iffy. The performance itself was marvelous but my participation was nothing to brag about. I have a good voice but I cannot sight read to save my life and this was no basic melody. The music is crazy hard, especially for a soprano who can't read music. Needless to say, I was lost about 95% of the time. My dad did much better than I did. I mostly just mouthed some vowels and listened to the people around me. It was interesting though... between arias and choral numbers, the people around us would chatter and laugh nervously and encourage each other. You never see that during normal performances at the Symphony Hall. 

There are a couple pieces I know well enough to pull off a decent performance. During these numbers, I noticed the cute little girl in front of me turned around and just stared. She was darling.

Overall, my performance was a big fat flop. BUT the experience was entirely worth it. Very Christmasy. 

Reminds me of one of my all-time favorite Flash Mobs:

Christmas Posting

For the past few years, Christmas has not been what I've wanted it to be. I tend to be somewhat of an idealist and have in my mind something edited to perfection. I have had great expectations for the Holidays but sometimes get too busy to actually see these expectations fulfilled. I look forward to the Christmas season all year with such great anticipation but find that due to stress and work and school and being busy it has often snuck up on me before I even had time to revel in it. I am determined to not let that happen this year. I'm going to enjoy it for all it's worth. One thing I've decided to do is to post about the different things I love about the Holidays or the different ways I'm celebrating this year.

I was born 2 days after Christmas so for as long as I can remember, I have been a Christmas Baby through and through. I love everything about the Holidays (well, nearly everything) and appreciate so much when others embrace them with me.

So join me, will you?

Maggie Smith

I was watching the movie Hook tonight and I realized that Maggie Smith has looked the same for 25 years. This is impressive.

A Room With a View- Charlotte Bartlett- 1985

Hook- Granny Wendy- 1991

Sister Act- Mother Superior- 1992

First Wives Club- Gunilla Garson Goldberg- 1996

Ladies in Lavender- Janet- 2004

Harry Potter 1-7- Minerva McGonagall- 2001-2011

Way to go, Professor! I love her. Not as much as Judi Dench but she's up there.

In other news, I've decided to post something Christmas-related every day during December. Starts tomorrow. Excitement. 

Fix You

Whenever I watch this, I get all fidgety and sometimes forget to breathe and sometimes my eyes sting and sometimes I stop whatever I'm doing and sit up straight and just watch. Why?!



Oh yeah, because it's BEAUTIFUL.

Mountains

I've got to be honest about where my loyalties lie. I am strangely not the type to lament the arrival of colder weather. My California and Arizona friends marvel at my deep and true love for winter with it's shorter days and longer nights. I will always love the feeling of walking out into the crisp winter night and breathing deep, feeling that cold air fill every space in my lungs. I love the smell of frosty pine and I find snow absolutely enchanting the way it sparkles and spins as it falls in perfect white sheets, making everything look untouched as if I'm the first to see it. Things feel different in winter air. Winter looks, feels and smells like Christmas. Maybe it's because I'm a Christmas baby... I am fully converted to winter. The roommates and I decorated for Christmas this weekend and it just feels better here. Sparkly twinkly lights everywhere.

I went running yesterday morning and marveled a bit. As the sun rose over snow-covered Y mountain I stopped my run and took a seat on the curb while gazing up at the rosy pinks, pale peaches and deep lavenders spread across the sky. No painting or photo can capture that kind of color- they exist only in the moment and then they're gone. Looking towards the mountains made me reflect on a bunch of decisions I've made as a result of mountains. Just as things feel different in winter air, everything is different up in mountain air. I think clearer, I breathe deeper, I see better, I feel easier. It sounds cheesy and like I'm quoting Backpacker Magazine or something but it's true. I was taught to love the mountains from the time I was a little girl and suddenly while sitting on the freezing cement curb, I remembered that. I remembered what the sun felt like on my back and how the air tasted like aspens. I remembered the great feeling of looking out over the valley and down to where a trailhead began and realizing that I conquered something. 

Six years ago I was a lot younger. At twenty, I hadn't yet had some important experiences that shape and define who I am today. I had just completed a class at BYU called Wilderness Writing in which we spent most of our time hiking, backpacking, and camping and then recording our experiences in personal essays. It was during a backpacking trip in southern utah with that class that I decided to go on a study abroad with the same professor. It was on that study abroad in the British Isles, backpacking several hundred miles across the Scottish and English countryside, that I decided to serve a mission. It was on a hike in the Tuscan Mountains on my first P-Day on my mission that I fell in love with Italy. It was while hiking Timp that I decided to apply for a job at the MTC. It was while up at the cabin in the mountains that I decided to apply for my current job as Training Coordinator at the MTC. And if you'd like to hear more about what Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro meant to me, read the posts from September. I have made some of my best decisions in the mountains.

So yesterday morning while watching the colors of the sunrise fade in to classic blues and the light begin to fill the valley, I'll admit that I began to wish winter away just a little. I've got some pretty big decisions to make in the next year and I need my mountains.

Giving thanks for a brother and for perfection

It's Thanksgiving and I have so much to be grateful for. 

First of all, this little guy opened his mission call last night. Can you even believe that he's old enough to go?

PS- this is the cutest picture in the history of mankind

He's all grown up and ready to serve the Lord. He's going to the Texas San Antonio mission and will be speaking Espanol. The craziest part is that my Uncle Steve (my dad's brother) is currently the Mission President there. My brother is going to have his uncle as his mission president! He gets to go to the mission home and see my aunt and our cousins... he gets to work alongside family. I'll see him nearly every day while he's in the MTC because of my job and then he is flying on down to Texas under the watchful care of more Joneses. It was such a sweet tender mercy. Heavenly Father really loves Johnny and loves the work. It is just overwhelming. I'm so excited. 

I could list a bunch of other things I'm grateful for but I actually want to just highlight one more. It occurred to me the other day that when we profess to have a perfect God, we also profess his perfection in every aspect. This means that we have a God that is perfect in creation, in music, in art, in celebration, in love, in family, in thanksgiving. I've been thinking particularly about how He inspires His children to partake in that perfection to beautify this world and enrich and deepen our experience here. This happens for me quite often and I was reminded today of one particular aspect of God-like perfection that I've encountered. 

I don't profess to have much of a passion for poetry (despite my being a literature major...) but when I was nineteen, I read this poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson and it had a very significant impact on my life. VERY significant. It was one of those moments when you come to yourself and realize who you really are and what it really means. Since then, I have read anything of Tennyson's that I could find. The man is a genius and what's more, he's inspired. I truly believe that. Tennyson's best friend and closest confidant died suddenly and in his grief he began writing (and continued for seventeen years) a series of poems in a work he titled "In Memoriam." In times of fear, doubt, loneliness and confusion, I return to these lines as a reminder.

If e’er when faith had fall’n asleep, 
I heard a voice ‘believe no more’ 
And heard an ever-breaking shore 
That tumbled in the Godless deep; 

A warmth within the breast would melt 
The freezing reason’s colder part,
And like a man in wrath the heart 
Stood up and answer’d ‘I have felt.’ 

No, like a child in doubt and fear: 
But that blind clamour made me wise; 
Then was I as a child that cries, 
But, crying, knows his father near; 

And what I am beheld again 
What is, and no man understands; 
And out of darkness came the hands 
That reach thro’ nature, moulding men.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson- "In Memoriam"

Thought I'd share. Happy Thanksgiving.

Engrish

Confession: I start a lot of blog posts with "confession"

Other confession: I don't have much of a desire to travel to Asia. Nope, not any of it. Sorry.

Okay Asian enthusiasts... pitchforks down please. Will it comfort you to know I don't have a huge desire to travel anywhere? I don't really want to see Russia or India or Panama or Greenland or Arkansas either. I like comfort. I like familiarity. I like places I've been so much that given the money and time I'd pretty much always choose to go back (i.e. England, Scotland, Italy, Park City, downstairs)

HOWEVER... one of the redeeming qualities of Asia is Engrish. I love it. I can't get enough of it. I would pay big bucks to go on an Engrish tour of Asia. Seriously. Observe:

Failure to do so could result in lack of injury.  

I feel like I'd want to say this a lot if I worked in customer service for Chase Bank. "You're right, Miss. We are idiots. This corporation is awful. I am out of ways to say sorry. Please hold while I transfer you to another apologist."

Don't even think about it. Move along, move along.

So detail oriented... they think of every possibility. So considerate to the femen.

Oh, you are welcome. (I think they should add "let the search begin")

Isn't it, though?! Cool your jets, freezer... sit down. Think about your life. 

You don't go around the wall like you might think. You simply cannot rely on logic in an emergency. Through the wall, people.  

Sort of reads like a love tragedy. Eat your heart out, Shakespeare. 

If I had a nickel for every time I wished I had a smallpox switch... 

Who wants to see people obey this sign? Raise your hand.

I'm also sorry for enough service, Japan. Too much service almost. I promise to not kid for The Bath room until leave day. Bless YOUR life, Japan!

The naughty palace simply has too many possible captions. I feel like I have stupid disease when I read it. 

See what I mean? Hope you got a good laugh out of this like I did. 

The Donner Party

I needed to get this post in before Thanksgiving since it is about Halloween.

One of my Halloween costumes this year was a Bird Lady as seen in this post. But since we had two Halloween parties to go to on two different nights, we (meaning my roommates, myself and a few guys we're friends with) came up with a group costume for our second night. We tossed around several ideas, none of which really stuck. We really liked the idea of dressing up as youtube sensations but that proved more difficult than we had anticipated. Finally, we decided to be the Donner Party. We got some pioneer clothes and fake limbs and we were set.

Most people thought we were dead polygamists/ pioneers upon first glance, which would have been strange. But once people figured it out, we got a good reaction. Observe:

Myra Maines Donner and Ima Goner Donner chewing on the bones of some poor soul.

Nathaniel was going to dress up with us until we realized he did a perfect Mr. Bean impression so he let us dress him up to play that part, which he did very well. We had to straighten and dye his hair and plant a fake mole... and we found that bear at DI. Perfect. Hilarious. 

The Donner family.

So hungry. 

Katie had the fake limbs and plastic heart. Why she had them I don't know but we put them to good use. 

Anyway, we had a good time. Next year we already decided we're going as "moms" complete with "mom haircuts, " "mom jeans" and "seasonal sweaters." So exited for that. 

The Dehhhhby.

(Note: please read this entire post in a British accent.)

Our ward announced we were having a Pinewood Derby. Each group worked on three cars together. There weren't any rules or restrictions besides the fact that each car needed to be gravity-propelled. Those in our group decided that we were going to go dressed as if we were going to the Kentucky Derby, which looks a lot like this:

Someone in the group had access to a red racing suit so we designated Tim as our official group racer. He was the only one authorized to handle the cars. We all decided to match him so we all wore fancy clothes in black, white and red. We snapped a few pictures on my phone, which is why the quality isn't that great. 

Mikell was star-struck. Timmy played his part extremely well.

Upon entering the gym, we had some chairs set up near the beginning of the track and we claimed to have "box seats." All night we replaced our individual last names with "Vanderbilt" and we all spoke in British accents. When asked why we dressed up, we'd roll our eyes and in our most condescending tone say, "We're at the Deeeehby, we must dress up for the Deeeehby." We needed a group name for the competition so Frank thought of the name "The 1%" which was hilarious. After the deeeehby, we told everyone we planned on Yachting at Martha's Vineyard. Brian's private jet was waiting in the church parking lot. 

The Vanderbilts 

Mikell and Lizzie Vanderbilt

 We were determined to win in every category. We had hollowed out our speed racer and filled with with molten lead so it was wicked fast. Alexis, who is an incredible artist, painted our vanity race car. Then Mikell and I made the Mutt's Cutts car from Dumb and Dumber for the creative category. 

Our speed racer's wheel came loose right before the speed race so we lost that one. However, we won "most authentic racer" with Alexis's talent and Mutt's Cutts won the creative category, which was retitled "Best in Show"- we couldn't have been more proud. 

The original Mutt Cutts

I had my tithing settlement right after this. My bishop's eyebrows raised when he saw my getup. I told him I wasn't sure what the dress code was for settling tithes and I didn't want to be underdressed. 

Our beloved Mutt Cutts: Mikell and my creation. 

Nipotini

I don't think you quite understand what I mean when I say that my nephews are the best. What I mean is that they are the best. No, but seriously. So let's try this again... introducing (yet again) the grande nipotini. 

This is Michael the Great

And Roy the Hilarious

My brother Danny is a talented pianist. They found Roy this little blue piano and put it next to Danny's. Roy plays along with his daddy and it's maybe the best thing I've seen.

My amazing sister-in-law Taryn just started blogging (hallelujah and praise be, prayers are heard and answered!) which means I get to see even more pictures and hear even more stories about my boys. I have two adorable nephews. Roy is 2 1/2 and Michael is 4 1/2 months. They're both the cutest most hilarious boys in all of boy-dom. 

A story she shared that made me die:

At dinner Danny asked Roy if he wanted to watch a movie about kitties after dinner.  Roy got really excited and wanted to stop eating and watch the movie.  After some coaxing we got Roy to try to finish his dinner.  I was confused about what movie that Danny was talking about.  Not wanting to fully bring up the subject I used the ever faithful parenting tactic of spelling it out.  

Me: What M-O-V-I-E about K-I-T-T-I-E-S?

Danny: Oh, the AristoCats

Roy: Yeah mom, the movie about the C-O-R-C-E-R

   I just about died!  Roy knew what I was talking about and wanted to spell too!  Sure he didn't spell anything, but he thought he was spelling kitties.  This kid it too smart for me. 

I love my boys. 

Loss and Family

Today I went to a funeral.

My friend Jeff's little brother Trevor was killed last Tuesday in a car accident. He was serving as a missionary in Texas and was only two weeks away from coming home. He'd extended his mission a few weeks because this was a missionary who was truly converted to missionary work. Trevor shared the youngest-child spot with his twin brother Scott, who arrived home from his mission to Arizona two days after Trevor's death. The twins have five older siblings who adore them. A few of us took the day off work and went up to Kearns to support Jeff and his family so I got to hear from each of Trevor's brothers and sisters.

They each shared poignant, tender and funny memories of this wonderful kid. Scott was the last to speak. Not even home from his mission a week and he's already eulogizing his best friend and twin brother. He bore such a powerful testimony of the Atonement as he stood in a worn suit wearing his missionary badge... but at the end as he tried to express gratitude for his family, his face broke. He buried his face in his arms right there at the podium and sobbed. Jeff's dad jumped up and put a gentle hand on Scott's back. We waited in silence, tears streaming down our faces as we watched. It was a moment of true grief and pain. When Scott gained his composure, he proclaimed everlasting love for his brother, declared he would see him again, and closed in the name of Christ.**

Elder Nelson was there representing the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency. He spoke tender words of comfort and validation. He called the family members by name. He counseled everyone to avoid the "what if'"s associated with death and testified with power that Trevor was carried home to that God that gave him life. He told them it was okay to weep, to mourn, to grieve. He then quoted the following scripture from Doctrine and Covenants 42:

Thou shalt live together in love insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die... those that die in me shall not tase of death for it shall be sweet unto them. 

 I sat in the very back of that cultural hall overcome with a mixture of sadness for this family and faith in the Lord's promises. I don't know this family. I've never met Trevor. I know Jeff but even he is a fairly new friend. Yet I felt such love and compassion for these people as they openly shared their most difficult moments with us along with their proclamations of faith and eternal families. I haven't experience a loss like this ever in my life and I began thinking about the glory of the gospel and the need for an understanding of the Plan of Salvation. The Savior breaking the bonds of death took on new meaning to me today... He made it so loss isn't loss at all, rather a delay. Being reunited is a given, is a certainty, is a for sure.

As I listened to these devastated yet incredibly faithful brothers and sisters talk about their brother, I began thinking about my own siblings... what would I say about them? How could I capture them in so few words? I concluded that I didn't know, that it would be incredibly hard.

So I thought I would try.

Danny: The high bar-setter. The epitome of "the example." Danny has always made good choices, the best of which was to marry who he married. He has continually been steady and consistent in every important aspect of his life and we have watched him carefully. I haven't ever seen Danny waver in his testimony, in his dedication to his family, in his standards. He's quiet and content to sit back and watch others in the family that are more inclined to perform, yet he is willing to step up when needed to take a leadership role. He isn't afraid to do things that are out of his comfort zone when he's needed, and is always willing to help under any circumstances. Giving blessings, listening to stories, performing favors, helping move things... he's easy to call on. He's practical yet tender, he's responsible yet goofy, he's an incredibly daddy to his little boys, he loves the Lord, and I love him.

Taryn: Not a sister by "blood" but since when does that mean anything? I met Taryn the day I got home from my mission and it took me about 3.4 minutes to realize that I loved her. I was so impressed with Danny's choice. She continues to surprise me with her goodness and steadiness. Taryn is honest, incredibly loyal, and fiercely protective of me. That means more to me than she could ever know. She listens to me gripe and groan, she lets me hover over her boys whenever they are around, she encourages me and believes in me. I could not have imagined a better person to marry into our family or a better person to marry my brother. She's an amazing mother and an amazing sister. I love her.

Kathy: Oh my free spirit. Kathy is her own person and I admire so much her passion for life and for living the way she wants to. She is rock solid when it comes to the gospel and doing what is right. She believes in fun and spontaneity and has the most adventurous heart of anyone I know. Kathy is creative and hilarious, she is the smartest one in our family and probably the hardest worker. Her ambition makes her interesting but not distracted, she loves deeply, she's musical and beautiful and pretty much my hero. She was a ridiculously good missionary and I had the blessing of seeing that first hand. I want to be like her, I want her to be my best friend for my whole life and I love her.

Johnny: My best buddy. I don't know what it is about this kiddo but he and I have always had a special connection. I feel this responsibility for John's happiness that I can't describe. I will fight anyone that crosses him and bless anyone that loves him. I am so impressed by his goodness and tenderness. From the time he was little he's been an incredible example to me spiritually. This kid feels deep and it shows. He loves the gospel and loves the Lord. He is artistic linguistically and writes with the skill of someone twice his age. John faces difficulties that none of us have experienced and he does so with class and grit. He is an enormous inspiration in his constant effort. He is intelligent and funny and one of my favorite people to be around. I would hang out with him over anyone anytime. John is dedicated to family and will be an amazing missionary. And I love him.

The minute we got to the car, I pulled out my phone and texted each one of my family members telling them I loved them. Many things were put in perspective today.

**If you're unfamiliar with our beliefs and would like more information, click here.

Christmas countdown

My cousin Hannah just reminded me I have not yet put the Christmas countdown up. I apologize sincerely.

47 DAYS!

There are Christmas commercials on TV and Christmas songs on the radio. Kaylene took down our Halloween decorations and started putting up Christmas and we turned on our gas fireplace. Mikell has been playing Christmas music non-stop. I already started Christmas shopping. Katie.... has accepted the fact that Christmas is coming.

These are some of my favorite things about Christmas:

comfy winter clothes and blankets 

fireplaces and wool socks

Christmas trees and little kids at Christmas

Christmas treats

snow

Christmas movies

Christmas sweaters (P.S. this guy looks like Vin Diesel)

Christmas lights and decorations

My sister, the African

My dad emailed these pictures of Kathy and Josh's Halloween costumes.

WOW.