Date Night

I haven't been myself for a while now. It comes with the territory of having a new baby. Some days I feel so beat up from the lack of sleep and trying to meet the demands of those who are feeling neglected in this family while juggling the upcoming release of Winter Moon. I can't remember the last time my husband and I went on a date. I called him up today while he was at work and said:

"If I could find someone to take our kids tonight for a bit, what could we go do?"

He paused for a minute. Then responded:

"We could go play laser tag . . . or go to the Nickelcade . . . or paint ceramics at "Color Me Mine."

I laughed and pointed out that it's been way too long since we did something without kids. So I made a few calls and my lovely sister Marni obliged to taking the wee ones for an hour and a half.

What kind of date can you go on in 90 minutes? This is the part where you leave me suggestions in the comments section.

Winter Moon

Back in June, I made this little Christmas album (in about 5 days!).

The time has come for me to reveal that I will be releasing it on iTunes and in select stores on October 18th.

Preview my song, "Winter Moon" HERE.

Tour dates will be announced soon, but if you come to SPARK (see the button on the right) you'll be the first to hear me sing some of the songs live!

Many thanks to Jefra Starr Linn for the cover photo and to Jed Wells for the album design.

Music Video for "Eyes"

If you like kaleidoscopes and dance music, then you'll probably like the new Kaskade music video for "Eyes" (featuring yours truly). Rad kaleidoscopes of eyes and time lapse scenes by Aaron Hymes. Singing footage by the talented Matt Eastin, assisted by Corey Fox. Now get up and strut your stuff to the beat!

I'm Bored.

I'm bored. Not because I have nothing to do, but because with a new baby and all, I can't do what I want when I want. And that is alright. So I thought to myself: I wonder what will happen if I type a blog post with my one free left hand while this baby snoozes in the crook of my right arm. What could I tell people of interest? Well, for starters, I got a random text yesterday from someone named Braeden. It said :

"Hey its braeden...ill go in on some liquor with you tonight? if ya want ;)"

I hope you know that it took all the gumption I had not to correct his typos and poor grammar just now. Needless to say, I did not respond to Braeden, who had the wrong number, by the way. But four hours later he texted again:

"Hey what time are we getting this? or are we even getting some?"

I continued to give Braeden the cold shoulder.

"I'm guessing we aren't drinkin together tonight?"

I finally felt the need to break the news to Braeden that he had the wrong lady.

"Dude. Wrong number."

"For real, who is this?"

"No one that you know. Trust me."

"This isn't kandice?"

"No, sir. I'm a wife and mother. Please stop texting me."

And just like that, Braeden was gone from my life.

Then, perhaps I could tell you about the Clorox Wipes incident. One of my sons recently had a rash on his bum. I told him to go take a bath. He would not. I told him to use baby wipes. He would not. So he took matters into his own hands and used the Clorox Wipes. Much weeping and wailing ensued.

Hey, what about the time when one of my boys tried to thread a screw through his hair and it got stuck? I don't often post pictures of my kids on here, but this is a prize-winner:

So, there you go. That's my spontaneous, left-handed blog post. Have a lovely weekend.

See the Good

I have a new single out on iTunes today! Listen and buy it HERE.

Produced by Scott Wiley. Photo by Wendy Whitaker of Blue Lily Photography and design by Matt Mildenstein.

My Life in Lavender

One of my favorite remedies for soothing an achy body during pregnancy was a warm bath with a generous sprinkle of lavender oil swirled in. It only seemed fitting when my friend, Jefra Starr Linn, called me up and asked if she could steal me away for an afternoon of photos in Mona, Utah's lavender fields. Jefra has a special way of getting me off my rear end when I can come up with a hundred reasons why I can't find time for pictures, and I'm always so glad she wins out. After all, I'm using one of her photos from a shoot last winter as the cover of my upcoming Christmas album. Stay tuned!

The boys came along and played hide-and-seek in the flowers . . .

. . . and wallowed in the mud like two little piglets.

Mr. Charming was there too. He knows how to get me smiling. See?

See again? I guarantee he was making some obscene gesture in the background.

A million thanks to Jefra for taking my first maternity pictures ever. Why, oh why did I wait to document this incredible time of life until my third child? YOU should not wait. See more of Jefra's work and find her contact information here if you are looking for a tall, smiley, pixie-haired photographer to capture your life's best moments.