Friday, August 31, 2012

See Will Run.

We are heading out today on our way to Utah for Will's race and my concert.  My concert is sold out, but Will's race is open to anyone who would love to come and cheer him on with us! You will also be able to follow Will's progress online at this website on race day: www.Wasatch100.com

Here is the info he provided me. Please come support if you can!  He will be running his 3rd 100 mile race - the Wasatch 100.  It is a grueling race with a lot of elevation climb (about as much as Mt. Everest). It is considered one of the hardest 100 miles races.  Sometimes the only way he keeps going is by seeing familiar smiling faces along the way :)




People can see me in the mid afternoon & again around dusk on Friday, but we’re only allowed to take one car to these aid stations, so everyone will need to park at a designated interim parking lot that the race has set aside up Parley’s canyon which is close to these aid stations. See more information here: http://wasatch100.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=54


People can see me early Saturday morning at Brighton Ski Resort (hopefully around 5am but you'll want to tune into the race website to confirm this). Anyone can come see me there.

People can see me at the finish line around mid to hopefully not too late afternoon on Saturday at the finish line in Midway. I hope to be there between 3-5pm.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Concert Pics

My CD release concert is overwith!

*breath huge sigh of relief*

It was a really big task to organize and prepare for, one that I almost postponed due to gallbladder surgery, but decided to keep going ahead with it. In the end, it was a GREAT night and it turned out really well. The crowd was wonderful - got to see lots of friends and family, some even flew in from out of state for the event.

I received a standing ovation at the end of the night, performed an encore.  Received lots of very sweet comments from people, and just really enjoyed the evening.  It was crazy trying to memorize 13 songs in a matter of a few weeks, but I mostly got it done (only had to sneak at my sheet music a few times).

Now I have a sold out concert in Utah in another week and a half, a video shoot in September, and then I'm almost off the hook until December. Here are the pics....video to come soon.

The venue...



My friend, singer Viktoria Tocca, opened the concert with three of her own songs, including Dark Waltz.


Stephanie Yose on cello, performing "Secrets" with me.


A little out of order, but this was the red carpet with all the performers...


My dashing husband and I...



Preston came on stage and handed me flowers. It was so cute! Will told me that he picked them out himself, and during the entire concert kept asking when it would be time for him to give me the flowers.  I had a HUGE smile. Love that sweet boy of ours! :)

I ended up letting Preston come to the concert at the last minute, even though I had a wonderful babysitter lined up for he and Taylor.  He remembered that I had told him weeks ago that he could come, and he was so sad to find out he was going to be home with a babysitter. So the boy stuck it out until midnight hanging out with a lot of adults. I felt so bad for him - he was so tired!  But what a trooper, and he was a fan favorite at the concert! :)  Such a cutie.





Viktoria and I getting ready in our dressing room before the concert. She was loving her dress and had to show the back....



Celebration non-diet food after the concert at The Cheesecake Factory :)




This photo of my face cracks me up. What exactly is going through my mind? I have no idea, but it's funny.


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Never a Dull Moment Around Here.

Well the past two weeks have been an adventure.  

I had surgery.
Will's Grandma died.
Will's really good friend got married.
Will's brother got married.
I got nominated for 2 awards.

Let's start with the surgery....




Between my last ER visit on Saturday the 28th and my surgery on Tuesday the 31st - my stomach totally swelled up and was killing me. All I can say is I was literally counting down the hours until it was time for me to go to the hospital.  This gall bladder was killing me.

They checked me in, I was nervous of course.  They IV'd me up and took me into the OR. The anestheseologist told me I would start to feel a little bit sleepy.  The nurse was talking to me, but the last thing I remember is poking my head up to tell her I didn't know what she was saying because I felt very whoozy.
The next thing I remember is having a dream where I was performing on stage in a concert, then heard doctors and nurses talking around me. I found myself waking up in a recovery room. The nurse asked me what my pain level was and I thought for a second and realized my shoulder was killing me.  "My shoulder hurts."  is what I said. Then they doped me up on some more pain killers and whoosh I was all dizzy and asleep again.

An hour later, Will came in to see me.  And after that it was all about trying to get me up and dressed so I could go home.  They tried to get me to eat something but it all made me want to throw up.  Eventually I forced myself to sit up long enough to get my street clothes back on.  Then the next thing I knew I was being helped into a wheelchair.  I remember the nurse saying something about my hair smelling really good.  Then I was in our car.  Next thing I knew I woke up in our driveway and Will was opening my door for me and helping me out of the car.

Will helped me upstairs and then I laid down in the bed and don't remember the rest of the day.  The 2nd day I was in a lot of pain from my shoulder. I guess they pumped me full of carbon dioxide during the surgery so they could operate better, and it is quite common for the air to get trapped in the diaphragm/shoulder area.  

For the first 4 days I felt miserable. Totally felt like what I felt post-csection.  I thought this recovery is so stinking hard!  And worse, my stomach ballooned up from all the air and swelling, and I looked in the mirror and thought I looked like I was about 6 months pregnant.  My weight went up like 6 pounds after surgery even though all I'd eaten was gatorade, chicken broth, and graham crackers.

Finally around day 5 and 6, I felt some strength coming back and my swelling started to go down.  And now I'm down 5 pounds under what I was before surgery. So down 10 from the swelling.

During all that week, Will worked from home most of it and waited on me hand and foot.  There is something about served by your spouse in that manner that makes you just love them all the more.  He was so sweet to me and got me literally anything I needed - even a run to the grocery store to find a specific ice cream for me.

Our boys were having a really fun time at Grandma and Grandpa's house during the first 4 days....


I got the boys back after Day 4, and then there were a couple of families from our ward that volunteered to help me and they watched them on Days 5 and 6.  I felt really bad shipping them off to another home again since they had already just been gone for 4 days, but it was a blessing since I couldn't lift anything. Just getting them dressed and ready to go to the peoples' houses totally wore me out!

And then after that, they went back up to my parents house again for another 3 days so I could continue to heal up and also get some things done.  The whole surgery thing really put me behind on preparing for my upcoming concert and I was starting to freak out that I would need to post-pone it.  But having those extra 3 days to get some things done really helped and I was able to feel like maybe I would be able to pull it off.

So, I forgot to mention on Day 5 post-surgery, Will left for over a week.  His friend, Bryan, got married in Spokane (Bryan is one of Will's long-time friends and was one of Will's groomsmen at our wedding back in 2005....see below of some history with Bryan)...

(our wedding, 3.25.05)

(Scuba diving trip to the San Juans - Labor Day weekend 2004)

(Scuba diving trip to the San Juans - Labor Day weekend 2004)

(Scuba diving trip to the San Juans - Labor Day weekend 2004)

So anyway, Will went to Bryan's wedding on Friday.  Then drove through the night to be at his Grandma Harmon's funeral the next day in Idaho Falls at noon.


(Will at his Grandma's funeral)

The original plan, before my surgery, was we were going to drive over together as a family to go to Seth's wedding (Will's younger brother) on the 11th.  But then the unexpected surgery happened, as well as the unexpected death of his grandma.  So instead of making two trips to Idaho, Will decided to just stay there the entire week. He brought his laptop so he could work from his computer, and also be around to help out with all the wedding plans too - which turned out to be a good thing. :)  

I finally got our boys back on Wednesdays of this past week (so 5 days ago) and I had never been SO EXCITED to see my boys!  I was getting really lonely at home all by myself. I mean yes I was getting a lot accomplished, but at night when I went to bed, I just laid there alone in a quiet house. It was very sad. Will was 2 states away, and my boys were 2 hours away.  Our family had never been so split up :(

Once I got my boys back, we just played!! I was feeling much better and I just wanted to spend time with them!!





Preston had a little too much fun on his bike and fell over and scratched himself pretty good on a nail that was sticking out of the side of our foundation of the house. I called the nurse and she said he should be fine with neosporin though.  I was worried he needed to go get a tetanus shot.


I went to Home Depot and finally bought and installed a curtain rod for our front living room window. It was my first time installing one though, and it ended up being crooked. Not because I didn't measure correctly, but because the darn screws kept coming out of the wall. So when Will gets home, I will need his manly-man muscles to redo it for me :)


Home Depot was also having a rug sale and I finally bought a run for out entry way to cover up the crawl space opening. I really love it and think it makes it look much homier there :)



Here's Taylor saying "Bu-Bye" when I left the boys at my parents house the 2nd time.


I went and bought a sprinkler so the boys could play in the water in our front yard....which needs mowing haha.


Taylor the Tailor. :)


The beach near my parents home....ah lovely. :)


One thing on my 2-do list was to get my new album submitted for the Grammys this year. Which I did. Wish me luck with that. 


And then Friday I found out I was nominated for two HMMA awards this year. One is for "Best Contemporary/Orchestral song" for the song "Illumination". The other nomination is for "Best Film Score: Indie/Documentary/Short" for the Minuet score. This is the same awards show I went to last November, so looks like another fun "business trip" for Will and I this November as well. 


Well, Will is due home in about 45 minutes.  So I'm a bit ecstatic! Yay!  This is the longest and farthest we've been apart since the beginning of our marriage when he was gone for 2 weeks when his parents' basement flooded and he went to install new carpet. I'm glad he was able to be there for his family, but I am very excited for our family to be all together again!  YES! :)