Weekend Warriors

*Journal Entry Post*

While not completely the busiest weekend on record, this one certainly came close! For me it started Friday afternoon with a job interview for a 2nd job. More will be forth coming about that soon. I haven't made a final decision about it yet. Friday in Murray has now also come to be known as "David Day". For those of you who somehow may not have been aware, Friday marked the triumphant return of our native son, David Archuleta to his home town. This picture is of the plane flying above Murray High trailing a 'Good Luck David Archuleta' sign prior to his arrival. There were helicopters and news crews all over the place. Layne had to leave work early to avoid the mob of people trying to make their way to the high school to see David perform 3 songs. It was an absolute ZOO! After grabbing a quick bite to eat and getting our house ready for weekend guests, I ran off to Elijah dress rehearsal from 7 to10. While I was gone, Kim picked up John and his friend James from the airport.

Saturday morning, I had early baptisms for the dead with the youth (all 4 of them) and John and James drove down to Timpanogos for the wedding of Ben & Crystal Shultz. Congratulations you guys! When I got back from the temple, we were graced with a surprise visit from our good North Carolina friend Chris Hardy who was in town on business. After getting a few things done around the house, I had to don my ugly beaded dress and go to the concert hall for 6pm call. All in all Elijah went great! It was probably the largest scale choral and orchestral production I've ever participated in.


I think only the Brahms Requiem and Handle's Messiah come close. We even had a handful of MoTab & orchestra at temple square members join us just because they wanted to. I couldn't pick them all out, but I did see the guys that always sing the trio at the beginning of The Spirit of God. Layne said he thought it was one of the best concerts I've been in. Can I just take a moment to say how grateful I am for a husband who has always been my number one fan? I told him after the concert that if he had known years ago that marrying me would mean sitting through 2+ hour Oratorios on Saturday nights he may have run screaming. But by his own admission, he has not only come to enjoy such concerts and attending the symphony with me, but he can also now speak quite intelligently about music and composers and always gives me quality feedback after a performance. He's turned into quite a cultured guy! Thanks for supporting me babe!

The only thing I can complain about (besides a few minor flubs) was the hand full of concert goers with no etiquette whatsoever. We sold out the show which is always a good thing, but the down side to that is getting everyone into their seats on time. There was a gaggle of folks who arrived late and were still trying to find seats 15 minutes after the performance began. It got so obnoxious that finally Dr. Allred cut off the orchestra and stood there waiting for everyone to find seats.


During the second half, after a tenor recitative leading into Trio of Angels, a cell phone belonging to a guy in the front of the hall started ringing LOUDLY. Well, either he was too embarrassed to claim it as being his, or he couldn't figure out how to turn it off because it rang at least 5 or 6 times. Again, Dr. Allred cut off the choir and orchestra and turned to GLARE at the guy and wait until the ringing ceased. If looks could kill, that guy wouldn't have stood a chance! It was one of the most uncomfortable 2 minutes ever! He restarted the tenor solo and we moved on from there. We only had one chance to get a good recording and Dr. Allred was pretty peeved that rude people who showed up late and didn't turn off their cell phones had to ruin it. Other than that however, he seems thrilled with the evening. The audience gave a 15 minute standing ovation at the end. The soloists were phenomenal. It was a very rewarding (and exhausting) musical experience, but it'll be nice to have a little break from rehearsals over the summer.
Layne and I got home around 10:45 and we played a round of Hearts with John and watched Hunt for Red October (one of the best movies ever).

Sunday was a beautiful day and we enjoyed going to church together. Layne volunteered to sit with a primary class so all the women could attend RS. He had his hands full and has a new found respect for the women who have to teach that class every week. The YM took over YW's for us so I got to attend RS as well. After church we got another surprise visit from more North Carolina friends Bryan and Rachel Garner and their cute cute kids. I posted a picture of their baby Andrew (Mr. October) last time they visited. He's so big now!

It reminds me just how fast the time is passing. After dinner, we called and sang to mom for Mother's Day and played Nertz until John and James had to go to the airport. After we dropped them off, we cleaned the house and Kim finished packing up her stuff for her final move down to the Y this morning. My sister has either lived with us or been 5 minutes away from us for the past year since she helped us move from North Carolina, and I have loved every minute of it! While I'm super excited for her to be starting school at BYU and all the fun and new adventures that will bring, I am sad today at the thought of her not being around when I come home from work today, and how much more empty and quiet our house will be without her. Best of luck at BYU Kim! Layne and I will both miss you a lot!