A Secret

Can I tell you a secret?

Just

CAN'T

Let

The summer

End!

*Photos courtsey of Jenny Winkel.

Tree Street Tuesdays: Meet Becky Ellis

Becky jokes around with me about her hair loss. Humor in the face of frailty = Becky's strength.

Remember that story I told you about the woman riding around the Tree Streets on the back of a big orange chopper? A short recap: My next door neighbor saw Becky Ellis, who has been very sick with cancer, riding on the back of her son's chopper.

What on earth is Becky doing? She's dying! She thought to herself. Then, a switch flipped and her heart corrected her:

No. She's LIVING!

That has always been Becky's style. Having been a dancer her whole life, teaching for decades at BYU, she is more sensitive than most with regards to feeling life in her entire being. She has never had the attitude that cancer would stop her from getting the most out of life, even up until her last breath. And while that last breath has felt very near several times, Becky has rallied and made multiple comebacks. However, after deciding to discontinue her chemo treatments, time is now very precious.

The Glediator and I had the chance to visit with Becky on Sunday. We sat on the edge of her bed, stroking her arms, remeniscing about Gleddy's days as a teenage hoodlam with her son, Jake. She never opened her eyes, but laughed and then cried right along with the big, tough Glediator, expressing how much fun those teenage years were. Really? I thought to myself, having heard all of the wild stories from Jake and Gleddy's high school years.

Then I got thinking about how many of us with teenage boys in our lives really dwell on "how fun they are." Sometimes, in moments of frustration, we just can't see the larger scope of things and how precious each person in our life really is.

I took my boys to the zoo yesterday. In all honesty, I was miserable. The boys were being so bratty and fought the whole time. I felt like a loser parent with no control over my children. Then I felt guilty for not enjoying taking my boys on outings. And if that's not enough, I seriously considered throwing Jackson out of the car window on the drive home. Today, rather than throwing my son out, I'd like to toss those feelings out the window and choose to focus on the few shining moments we did have. Like seeing a baby snow leapord snuggle with his mother, or the boys wanting to pose for pictures with every single statue, and even laughing out loud together when a buffalo laid some cable right before our very eyes.

Thank you for teaching me to see only the good times, Becky. Thank you for teaching me to live.

Becky's Senior portrait. Isn't she a beauty?

Tree Street Tuesdays: Meet Courtney Kendrick

Courtney Kendrick with her son, "The Chief" looking out the kitchen window of Retro House.

There's this girl in my neighborhood. I don't think she has any friends and not a whole lot going for her. Poor, poor girl. So I did what any good Mormon girl would do and I reached out. I thought it might make her feel special to be a featured guest on "Tree Street Tuesdays."

If you have any idea who "this girl" is then you would know just how facetious I am being. In fact, if you are reading this blog, I don't doubt it was because my guest, Courtney Kendrick, directed you here through hers a number of times. (Thank you Ceej).

You know her.

You love her.

You can't go on breathing if you don't check her blog every morning.

So I will spare you the introduction, and let you in on a few candid moments we shared over guacamole several weeks back.

Note the trail of chips and guacamole leading straight to The Chief. Apparently he loves avocado.

Let's just be upfront and honest about the fact that I am in love with Courtney Kendrick, as is the rest of the world (who else has 3,599 friends on facebook?). Courtney says and does what we're all thinking, but without fear and with all the colors of the rainbow. From her witty prose to her multi-colored pastel kitchen floor, her style is both dynamic and magnetic.

I asked Courtney if it was ever bothersome that so many people want a piece of her. It's true. There's no beating around the bush regarding this topic. She laughed at my suggestion and expressed her gratitude for her supportive readership. If I might paraphrase her response, she explained, "I think that because I'm so open on my blog, people expect that I am very open and social in person, when, what I love the most is to be alone with my thoughts. I'm afraid that I disappoint people sometimes when they meet me in real life."

Meeting Courtney Kendrick is no disappointment, I assure you. She is just as witty, and just as genuine in real life as she is as CJane on your computer screen. But there is a part of one's artistic and personal self that one must protect. I think it's only fair to honor that part of an artist when so much of their heart is already on public display. One of my very favorite aspects of her writing is just how personal she gets. Some people aren't comfortable with "personal," and she has had her critics. Let me confess that if Courtney stopped sharing her heart so openly, I would lose interest in her writing very quickly.

Aside from her writing, the girl can SING, ladies and gentlemen! I've never loved doing a duet with anyone as much as I have with Courtney. And that is no lie. See for yourself here. If you came to either of the Nie Nie benefit concerts, then you know what I mean. Such a joy. And that is exactly what Courtney's persona emits. One hundred percent natural, pure, organic JOY. So glad to call her my friend and neighbor.

Courtney gives her all to an encore of "Smile" at the Love for Nie benefit at the Covey Center. Feb. 2009.
Photo, courtesy of Haley Warner.

Did You Know?

Photo by Russ Dixon

One thing about me that you might not know is that I am sort of a loner. Being alone is one of my favorite treats. Consequently, only a few people out there know me well enough to know that I:

1.) Am gluten sensitive.
2.) Sleep with my socks pulled over my PJ bottoms and my shirt tucked in. (Sexy visual, I know.)
3.) Used to barrel race horses.
4.) Speak fluent Spanish.
5.) Used to wear head gear.
6.) Have gone bunjee jumping several times.
7.) Love to have my hair played with more than ANYTHING in this world.
8.) Didn't make the high school chamber choir.
9.) Didn't make student government.
10.) Gave the speech at honor's night, but didn't get a scholarship.
11.) Was the homecoming queen.
12.) Tried out for Miss Provo. Not even a runner up.
13.) Signed a record deal.
14.) Left the record company to be an independent.
15.) Don't know what the heck I'm doing in life half the time.
16.) Feel like I could conquer the world if I wanted to the other half.

We all have a polished as well as a quirky side to our personalities. Successes as well as disappointments. These things shape us.

What is something about YOU that I might not know?

Funny Business

Recent funny business:

1.) Took my boys out for ice cream. Youngest boy prefers plastic spoon on ground over clean unused spoon. I freak. "Don't worry Mom," he consoles me as he sucks on it,"there's no more germs because I sucked all of them off."

2.) Went on a road trip with David Archuleta. Referred to him once as "David Enchilada." He was not amused.

3.) Got chased by an enormous, radioactive bumble bee during the Nauvoo Pageant. Made a mad dash for it through the audience.

4.) Youngest son gave me the most adorable kisses today, until . . . he slipped me the tongue. And I dry heaved.

5.) We currently own three spoons. Glediator resorts to a ladle with which to eat cereal.

6.) Youngest boy stepped in a pile of the neighboring Great Dane's poo. In BARE FEET.

Tree Street Tuesdays (is it already Wednesday?): Meet "Wally"

Last week, my wanderlust led me to the quaint streets of a historic city both built and abandoned by my ancestors. Nauvoo, Illinois was once a swampy, bug infested land where the Mormons were driven to after being persecuted. They labored to transform the land into a beautiful town that at the time, rivaled Chicago in development. Due to further persecution after the murder of their prophet, Joseph Smith, they were once again forced to abandon their beautiful city and seek refuge in the west.

Now restored, Nauvoo hosts a production through the summer every year called the "Nauvoo Pageant" (not like a beauty pageant, but rather a play). Actors give of their time and talents to reenact the history of my people during that time. Among the cast was my neighbor and fellow Tree Streeter, Paul Walstad, a.k.a "Wally."

During my visit, I was invited to sing a song I recorded several years back called "Emma" (a song about the angst of Joseph's wife) for the cast during a luncheon. I have never been so emotional over that song as I was after seeing Nauvoo and learning more about Emma. Paul gave me the best pep talk of my life right before I sang and really helped me to feel at peace.

Later that night, I sat in a sea of people surounded by fireflies. We watched the pageant, picturesque against a grassy hill and the iluminated temple. Paul played the part of Parley P. Pratt who narrated the whole production. He was so perfectly cast for that character. Thanks for the lovely experience, Paul.

Scrambled Prayers

Frankfurt Cathedral, March 2009

This morning as I scrambled eggs at the stove, the Glediator raced into the kitchen in a flying hurry for work. He put his arms around me as he offered up a hasty prayer, while I stirred the eggs with my eyes closed.

"You're going to hell for stirring the eggs during the prayer," he joked afterward. (If I am going to hell for anything, it won't be for stirring the eggs during the prayer.)

"Well, you're going to hell for always being in such a mad hurry for work every morning," I shot back.

I hope the Glediator and I do not go to hell. But I think we have some work to do.

My thoughts wander back a few months to the cathedral in Frankfurt, Germany. I had a five hour delay at the airport during some travels and I ventured out into the city with some friends. Having lived in Spain, I have seen many cathedrals, and every one fills my whole being with reverence and wonder. As I quietly marveled over paintings, tombs and statues, I peered into a small side chapel and saw two boys, about twelve years of age, kneeling in prayer over an altar. With my breath stolen, I wept at the sight, grateful that there is still faith in the hearts of the children in this world.

I doubt I would have been so moved had the boys been scrambling eggs over the altar. I am very glad that there is 24 hour service in heaven and that I can pray wherever and whenever I need to, but I am resolving to be more thoughtful in the way I approach my Maker.