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 :)

Race starts in Kaysville at 5am on Friday. Anyone can come see me off there. Here is a google map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=East+Mountain+Wilderness+Park,+Kaysville,+UT&hl=en&ll=41.053887,-111.904678&spn=0.019579,0.042272&sll=47.495863,-121.787335&sspn=0.035084,0.084543&oq=east+mountain+wilder&hq=East+Mountain+Wilderness+Park,+Kaysville,+UT&t=m&z=15&iwloc=A

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.

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.

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! :)

Week in Review

So what has the Thomas family been up to lately?  Enough that I'm having a hard time keeping up with our blog.

Here are some photos and recaps of the past week or more...

Exotics at Redmond Town Center

This is a long story, which I won't bore you with.  But for the past three Saturdays in a row, I have spent my mornings at Exotics@RTC - which is a car group that brings their fancy schmancy cars to show off to the public.

Last Saturday was Ferarri day and so Preston really enjoyed that - as he thought they were all Lightning McQueens. :)

So the real story behind all of this is I've been looking for fancy cars to show in my upcoming music video for  Illumination.  It started with me asking around within friends on Facebook, to then posting on some local car clubs forums, to then meeting the founder of Exotics at RTC.  He has been more than helpful in aiding my film crew and I to find the right car(s) for the video.

I have to say its a bit weird having people email me offering their vintage Ferarri's, BMW's and more. One person even said we could just use it for a few days and just replace the gas.  

The founder at Exotics told me though to spend some time looking around at the cars and to pick ones out I was interested in, and he would talk to the owners. I have come to learn that many of the car owners used to be in the music business, and like to help out with projects like this. And usually their cars just sit in a garage, so for them to get the chance to show it off - well they are all over that.

I have say my personal favorite is the Audi R8. I have always been a huge fan of the Audi and this one just blows my mind and gets my heart racing.  I guess the engine is a Lamborghini engine. Crazy right?

Anyway, it's looking like our two cars will be a Rolls Royce Ghost (was the Phantom, but that one was recently sold), and a McLaren.  The McLaren is owned by a hiphop artist you might be familiar with whom, in the mid-90s, released a one-hit wonder that started out with "Oh, my, gosh Becky, look at her butt.  It's like one of those rap guys' girlfriends...."  He attends Exotics every Saturday and is very much involved in the community there.

Since our budget is so low for my music video, having a nice car will up the visual value and make it look expensive.  There are also some other very cool things in the video that I'm really excited about.  A lot of good people coming together and offering their time to help with the video because for some reason they all believe in my music. ;)  Which is kinda nice.  We'll be filming in mid-September.

Sickies

We've all sort of battled some down days lately.  When we got back from Lake Powell, Taylor was sick for several days....

Will was scheduled to run the White Water 50 Mile race this past Saturday, but he injured his calf/ankle muscles and has been limping around most of the week. He is pretty bummed about not being able to race, but is hoping he is all better in time for a make-up race next weekend.

I am sad that he didn't get to do his race, but I think maybe the timing worked out well because early Saturday morning I had to go to the ER (2nd time in the past month) for severe stomach pains.  The last time this happened, Will drove me and we had to wake up the boys and they never went back to sleep - we're talking like 2 a.m.  So the next day was brutal on everyone.  

But this time I pulled myself together and drove myself to the ER which was so stinking hard!  I just wanted to throw up the entire way there. I drove super duper slow.  I finally did make it though, and eventually got some pain killers and anti-nausea medicine.  My bloodwork, once again, didn't show anything wrong with me. But they told me to come back in later that morning for an ultrasound. So I did....

This is your gallbladder.  And this is your gallbladder on stones.

I learned that my gall bladder has stones, and not only just that, but had a thickened lining - which meant inflamation, aka infection.  

(a very real depiction of me in the ER yesterday morning)

And so given that there is infection, I will most likely have to get it removed.  

I'm really not so happy about having to lose one of my organs. If it were just gallstones, I guess surgery wouldn't be mandatory, but since it's infected...well....it's kinda serious.  So tomorrow I am meeting with a specialist to get more testing done (right now I'm battling the pain with some percoset).  and most likely Tuesday I will have surgery.

My parents are meeting me at the hospital tomorrow to take the boys back up to their house until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, and then I think the Relief Society from our ward is going to try to put together some help for the rest of the week. or at least I hope. I hear it is a quick recovery, but it would be great to have some help with the boys.

Having Fun

Aside from having sickies and injuries and diseases, we have been enjoying our summer :)

The boys and I have taken many walks to the parks and played...

Speaking of which I'm still baffled that I have any sort of diseased organ still - I really try to eat healthy and I work my rear off at the gym. In fact the day I went into the ER I had done a super tough workout at the gym and have the sore muscles to prove it. :(

Anyway, also, got my new CD booklets....

There were some typos in the original booklets, which I'm totally embarrassed about.  The world probably wonders if I can count properly. :) In my own defense, when I originally proofed the artwork, the way these booklets are assembled - they do not appear page-by-page in order. And so I didn't even notice that the numbers on the tracks were off.

Anyway. An expensive mistake, but all fixed now.

I also went hiking with a girl from my ward - which was nice. Will was all over that!  I think it's one of those "attractive" features he finds in me - haha - which I just never really do without him.  So the fact that I went hiking with another girlfriend on my own accord - he was super impressed~!

Thomas the Train was in town, and so we took the boys to go look at him. But we did not pay the $20 per ticket to go inside, but I'm sure they would have loved that. As you can see, they requested to wear their Thomas tshirts and bring their Thomas toys. Taylor is ecstatic. :) 

 Well I think that's about it!

Aside from not getting any more work done on our house this summer like we'd hoped to, we're keeping plenty busy. I keep teasing Will that I'm going to send out an email to all of our friends that says we're having a "Barn Raising Party - Bring your hammer!" to finish our house. :) haha he wasn't too crazy about that (but secretly I think he was).