Something Scary for Halloween

I am WAAAAAAAAY behind on the blog but there is a good reason why. Its in large part because of what happened Tuesday morning which is all I will blog about for now. Layne leaves for work at 6:30am. Tuesday morning was no different. I usually leave an hour or so later. Tuesday morning was no different. When I came downstairs to leave for work, I stepped off the bottom stair into 3 inches of standing water on our month old new wood floor. I opened the door to the half bath to the sound of shooting water and opened the cabinet beneath the sink and to my horror, hot water was shooting out of the pipe. I tried to turn the knob by hand but it wouldn't budge. I ran to my neighbor's house for help and he told me I'd have to use a wrench. So I found one amongst our tools and managed to crank the valve shut. When I waded around the house to asses the damage, this is what I saw. Standing water had filled the entire main floor and was spilling out the front and garage doors. I took some pictures and video so some of the days events and decided to put them all together to give you an idea of what we've been through since Tuesday. And no thats not a high glossy finish on our floor, thats water! I even took these after we had mopped a good portion of it up and moved a bunch of stuff!




And this is the state we've been living in since Tuesday. The "drying" phase. Those noisy dehumidifiers have been running nonstop and we've been living in this mess with nails and wood splinters all over the main floor. The guys come back today to run some moisture tests to see if more gutting will be required. Stay tuned. And for those of you wondering, didn't this just happen to them a month ago? The answer is yes. And we're still paying for it. Totally unrelated problem, similar result. Thank GOODNESS for State Farm!! They have been FANTASTIC and are going to pay for most of this. ...most, but not all...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Kimberly!

Last week was rough. I've had a viral infection for like 3 weeks and it just kept getting worse. I finally made it to the Dr. Thursday afternoon after escaping my afternoon research meeting. My Dr. was a Russian woman with a VERY thick accent. After the basic questions she broke out her stethoscope. "Oh Kelly I can hear you VEEZING. No more supress cough with syrup! Cough it out Kelly, cough it out!! ...but do not svallow if cannot get it out... I give you Z-pack, you take, you get better, or you come back to me. Sleep vith humidifier! Ok you go home Kelly, take first dose, take nap." I wish I could have. But I did go straight to the in house pharmacy to fill my prescription!

On my way home, the check engine light came on and my car started shaking violently every time I slowed down or stopped. Oh boy. Car problems! Yippee!! So Layne and I arranged to have the car looked at on Saturday. Friday morning on my way to work however, I got pulled over by a state trooper on the I-15 for not having my new registration sticker on my plates. When I handed him my license he about threw a fit that it was a North Carolina license and not Utah and then told me to "sit tight". So I did...for about HALF AN HOUR!! What was he doing all that time you ask? CALLING FOR BACKUP! One moment I'm just sitting there feeling sorry for myself, the next moment, this is what I see in my rear view mirror
2 more trooper cars with their lights flashing pulled up behind me. I was begining to wonder if I was going to end up in jail. 15 minutes LATER, my trooper finally came back over and told me that he had called for the other cars because his computer wasn't working and he needed one of them to print my ticket for him. How nice. Is that even legal? If he can't write me a ticket is he really allowed to hold me hostage for 45 minutes while he waits for someone who can? These are questions I shall be asking the district attorney when I go down to the courthouse to complain/try to get out of paying/end up paying anyway.

Friday night was dress rehearsal for the big SLCA concert from 7-10pm.




Saturday I spent a time working on my YW lesson, helping stuff CD's that would be sold at the concert, getting ready for the concert and picking up my car on the way. I don't even know what all was wrong with it (Layne talked to the guy) but I DO know that it cost us nearly $700 to fix. I LOVE our mechanic, and actually really trust him to do things as cheaply and quickly as possible. For those of you who live in the Salt Lake valley and are in need of a GOOD and trustworthy mechanic, I HIGHLY recommend Dee's Automotive on 4062 S. State.

Its never fun to get a $700 car repair bill, even when you HAVEN'T been slammed with home repair bills the month before. Oh well! Onward and upward! It could always be worse. Saturday night's concert was a long one to be sure, but everyone who came (including Layne) was thoroughly entertained! I'll post some clips, pictures and the Salt Lake Tribune review when I get a copy of the recording. I managed to sing most of the concert except for 2 songs in the middle of the Chamber Singers program. I had taken some cough suppressant (my Dr. would probably send the Russian mafia after me if she knew) so I could make it through the concert, but I got a sudden tickle in my throat in the middle of a Latin American ballad and had to spend the next 2 songs not only NOT singing, but trying to suppress the URGENT need to cough while still mouthing the words and not look like I was dying in the process. I know many of you know the feeling of trying to suppress a cough. I was shaking, beet red and had tears streaming down my face by the time the applause came and I could relieve myself a bit. The miracle is that no one noticed besides the people on either side of me that I was in SEVERE distress. To me that means MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I should be an actress!

Thursday the 16th was my sister Kimberly Flaherty's 22nd birthday! I feel awful about not being able to do my birthday post on her actual day, but am going to do it now with her forgiveness.
I don't even know where to begin to describe how grateful I am for my little sister. All I can say is that heavenly Father knew I needed a sister, and in His goodness, blessed my life with Kim (otherwise known in our family as Berferd, Berfy or just plain Berf). While during our younger years we went through the typical sisterly growing pains that come with sharing a room, and I was accomplice to a number of plots against her orchestrated by our older brother, Kim and I have otherwise always been best friends. Kim has always been older than her age suggests and therefore has often been like a big sister to me when I've needed it. While we don't look anything alike and are different in many ways, no one understands me the way she does. We can finish eachother's sentences and often say (or sing) the same thing at exactly the same time (which of course always ends in fits of laughter).Kim was blessed with an extremely keen sensitivity and a loving heart. She has made so many sacrifices in her life to help others. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't flown out to NC to help us pack up our house and made the 3,000 mile drive with us from Rocky Mount to Salt Lake. Talk about SERVICE!!! I treasured that time that we lived together while she was getting ready to start school at BYU and love seeing her on the weekends that she comes up to stay with us. Kim is extremely smart and talented, but the best part about her is that she doesn't think she is. I love hearing her play the violin and the piano (and sing), can barely keep up with her athletically, and marvel at her ability to do so well in school with everything she has going on. Not to mention she is the best Nertz player on the planet!
Kim is simply the best friend and sister I could have ever asked for. Being around Kimberly makes me want to be a better person. In short, I want to grow up to be just like my little sister! I love you Kim! Happy Birthday! (One of your gifts was resisting the urge to put some of the pictures on here that I could have.) Think chopsticks and an empty cereal box... :)

October 11th? Really?!

The view from our front door Saturday morning. Its so weird that the leaves haven't even had a chance to change color yet and there is already snow. Utah doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word 'gradual'.


Layne and I had a lovely relaxing weekend...though I got sick again. Friday night we went out with some friends from the ward which was fun. Saturday morning I had to be at Murray HS by 8:45 to do some filming for our ward's portion of the stake roadshows. I was asked to bring my lab coat, safety glasses, gloves and some beakers and flasks so that I could do a "chemistry scene". I also played a HS student. My heart goes out to the people whose calling it is to organize this thing. The rest of the weekend I spent sleeping, going to my meetings and taking Zicam.

Today marked the beginning of fall break for the U of U which doesn't change the fact that I still have to work, but it will ease morning traffic AND means I have a week off of Singers and the rigorous daily memorization schedule! Even so, the Tuesday after rehearsals resume I have the Singers midterm to look forward to. We will be called in in octets (one on each voice part) and have to be prepared to sing from memory on the spot any portion of any of a number of pieces he chooses and will be graded individually on notes, rhythms, words and nuance. I am in the first group to be tested and if I recall correctly, by now we are supposed to have a total of around 20 pieces learned and completely memorized, so we have to be prepared to sing from any one of them for the test. Needless to say I will still have plenty to do during the break as far as Singers is concerned.

In addition, it's concert week for SLCA which will keep me busy. Here is the article (copied and pasted) about the concert from yesterday's Deseret News (click here to see it directly)

Salt Lake Choral Artists conductor is confident in his group

Choir will sing in 12 different languages in next performance

By Edward Reichel
Deseret News

Published: Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 12:15 a.m. MDT

Tom Smart, Deseret News

(Brady Allred, conductor of the Salt Lake Choral Artists, rehearses for a performance of Brahms' "German Requiem" in April 2007.)

Conductor Brady Allred has a lot of confidence in his Salt Lake Choral Artists.

There is no other way to explain it after one has had a chance to glance at the new season. "I'm trying to stretch the choir and the audience," he told the Deseret News.

And the choir members don't seem to mind one bit.

They will have their hands full at the first of their four concerts this season. Titled "Multicultural Celebration," the concert, which takes place Saturday in Libby Gardner Concert Hall, is a musical journey through parts of Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Rim.

"Ever since I took part in the World Choral Symposium, where I was exposed to Latin American and African music, I've been turned on by it quite a bit," Allred said. "I try to program at least some music from those parts of the world every year."

Saturday's concert will include music from the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, Tonga and Australia. "We counted it up, and the choir will be singing in 12 different languages. I think by the time they're through, they'll be happy to sing in Latin again."

Allred admitted that having the choir sing in so many different languages is difficult, but he'll facilitate it by dividing his ensemble into three separate choirs: women's, chamber and concert choirs, with each singing their own set of pieces.

There will also be selections from two works by David Fanshawe: "Pacific Songs" and "African Sanctus." "In both of these works, Fanshawe takes the music of indigenous people, which he gathered and recorded himself, and incorporates it into his compositions," Allred explained. "It's really quite ingenious the way he interpolates and unifies different cultures into one work."

In December, the Salt Lake Choral Artists will perform a more traditional concert with Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Hodie" on the program. This will be a joint concert with the Salt Lake Symphony and the Madeleine Choir School. Joining them will be soloists Carol Ann Allred, soprano; Todd Miller, tenor; and Darrell Babidge, baritone.

The two concerts next year focus on contemporary works. In February 2009, Allred and the choir will perform Arvo Part's Te Deum. "I've done it twice before, and it's a wonderful crossover piece," Allred said. "Classical musicians like it because Part bases the work on Gregorian chant, and new age people like it because it's a very mystical and atmospheric piece."

For this performance, Allred will follow Part's original scoring which calls for three choirs, strings, harp and prepared piano. The Choral Artists will be joined by the University of Utah Singers, who also will sing some Eastern European folk music as they prepare for their Eastern European tour next May.

Closing out the season in May 2009 will be Mark Grey's "Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio," which was premiered this past February by the Phoenix Symphony in Tucson. "It was also performed at the Grand Teton Music Festival in summer, so this will be its third performance," Allred said.

Allred became aware of the piece when a former student of his went to Arizona to work on his master's degree in musicology, joined the Phoenix Symphony Chorus and sang at the premiere. "He told me about it, and I think it's a great piece to play here in Utah with our native population."

Below is a rundown of the concerts. All programs begin at 7:30 p.m. and take place in Libby Gardner Concert Hall:

Saturday — "Multicultural Celebration:" Music from Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Rim; David Fanshawe, "Pacific Songs" and "African Sanctus."

Dec. 20 — Ralph Vaughan Williams, "Hodie"; traditional holiday songs.

Feb. 21, 2009 — Arvo Part, Te Deum; folk music from Eastern Europe.

May 2, 2009 — Mark Grey, "Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio."

If you go ...

What: Multicultural Celebration with the Salt Lake Choral Artists, Brady Allred, conductor Where: Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday How much: $52 general admission, $35 senior citizens and students (season passes); $18.75 general admission, $12.75 senior citizens and students (individual tickets)

Conference Weekend

Conference weekend is like a holiday to me, and a much needed one in many ways. On top of the week leading up to it being as busy as usual, I got sick which of course makes keeping up with normal busy abnormally difficult. It was inevitable I'm afraid, as I've been literally surrounded by sick people everywhere but home for weeks and admittedly haven't been getting as much sleep as I should. I took the recommended limit of Zicam in attempts to cut it off before it really hit me, but alas, I lost the battle. I will however, take this opportunity to pledge my love and loyalty to Zicam. I have been rescued from the brink of many a terrible bug by this wonderful product. If I do come down with something, taking Zicam at least cuts it in half (in time and severity) every time. Thanks to Zicam, I was at least able to work and sing (though not my loveliest). While I'm still not completely over it yet, a restful (yet rainy and cold) weekend set me on the path to recovery.

Friday morning Dr. Solzbacher (one of my bosses) left some beautiful large yellow flowers on my desk which certainly helped to cheer me up. That afternoon I got to attend a talk given by Dr. Krishna Shenoy, a visiting professor and collaborator from Stanford who is doing some amazing work using the arrays that my team builds. It was REALLY interesting and enjoyable.
Kim came up to stay with us for the weekend again which was fun. Though I just LOVED all the talks on Saturday, my very favorite part of the Saturday sessions was watching the primary choir. We were DYING laughing at! You could tell they had been very well coached to stand up straight, not fidget, keep their hands out of their pockets, smile and NOT look at the camera man wandering around. Despite their best efforts however, kids are kids and many of them succumbed to the temptations to let their eyes, hands and minds wander which made for a very entertaining show! The best scene HANDS DOWN though was the little red head boy who will forever be dubbed as the "Pocket Police" and the "Pocket Perp". If you didn't catch this before, you missed out, but never fear, Kelly will provide! (Sorry the sound is a little off. I had to get pretty creative to get these clips)


The Pocket Police catches a perp! The best part is the pathetic look on the other boy's face after he is reprimanded.


There are several parts of this clip that are amusing. First and foremost there is the little boy who just can't resist looking at the camera and even stops singing while he stares at the camera man. Then the little girl next to him steals a glance. In the next frame in the front, there is a little boy (next to the girl in the light blue dress) who gradually turns himself completely sideways. Finally, to top it all off is the deer in the head lights boy who knows he's on camera and whose eyes get as big as quarters as he tries in vain not to look at the camera.

These are just a few of the funny things we saw during this number!

Right after the afternoon session, Layne and I went to my co-worker Rebecca's barn party at their house in Draper. Unfortunately the heavy rain and cold forced the party indoors, though we couldn't stay long anyway since Layne had the Priesthood session. On Friday Layne scored a pair of tickets from his boss to the Pioneer Theater Company's production of My Fair Lady, so Kim and I got to go see that during the Priesthood session. It was REALLY good! We had a blast. Sunday's conference sessions were as good as Saturday's. Layne and I really felt uplifted by the talks. So many of them centered on the theme of "surviving difficult times". It was certainly what we needed to hear, but also made us aware that the troubled economy is causing LOTS of people to struggle, not just us (as it sometimes seems).

Sunday evening the Hastings came over for a visit and to drop my cousin and good friend Sandi off for an over night stay. It was tough going back to work after such a nice weekend, and boy has it been a busy week! We did get to enjoy the company of bosom friend Christi Billquist on Tuesday night when she stayed with us on her way home from Idaho, but other than that it was business as usual (rehearsals, stake leadership training meeting etc.). At least its Friday again, and I'm excited not to have any plans. It's actually supposed to snow in the valley all weekend so I plan on doing a lot of reading and drinking of warm beverages.

Singers Photo Shoot

Just a few shots from the photo session we had a couple weeks ago. Anyone up for a little Where's Waldo? :)

I think this is the one (above) going into the CD jacket.

Good luck finding me in this one! (wow that is a really embarrassing picture. I'm already so self conscious about my stick out ears!)

Sisters in Zion

This weekend seemed like a holiday because my sister who I hadn't seen in a month came up from Provo Friday night to stay with us for the weekend. On top of that, it wasn't half as busy as most weekends have been lately. Poor Layne had to work at 5:30 on Saturday morning, but was off by 10:30 and able to come with me to a lunch with my co-workers to celebrate the upcoming marriage of my boss Florian to grad student Xiaoxin. Lunch was Dim Sum at The Golden Dragon. (side note: of course Layne spent the whole morning singing Bill Pullman's little song from Sleepless in Seattle)
I posted about my friend Qiurong taking Rebecca and I there for lunch one day and trying chicken feet for the first time. Layne had never had Dim Sum before so he was excited to give it a try. Layne is definitely a good sport and he tried everything they put in front of us including seaweed, Chinese eggplant, and some very interesting fish! We had a good time socializing with my VERY diverse group from work (3 Chinese, 2 German, 3 Indian, 4 American, 1 Korean) for two hours before heading home.

My stake got invited to attend the General R.S. session of conference at the conference center and I was able to get an extra ticket for Kim, so we took the Trax downtown Saturday afternoon and attended the session together. We had a great time! While we've both attended general conference many times, neither of us had ever attended the R.S. session live so it was really neat. Our seats were on the main terrace on the left side. I've never sat on the main terrace before. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk! That evening we enjoyed one of our favorite movies The Holiday.

Sunday the Bishop made a change in the YW's by releasing my Beehive adviser Megan and calling she and her husband to serve in the primary. She was devastated. I felt so bad for her. She cried the whole day. I think she'll be great in primary and she is still going to be over camp so she'll get to be involved and see the girls. Though it hasn't been announced yet, I'm really excited about who they've chosen to replace her. I think it'll work out great once everyone gets used to the change. Part of being in this church is dealing with change and learning to serve with all sorts of people in all kinds of situations.

Kim stayed the night Sunday night and by Monday morning it was REALLY hard for us to get up early and go our separate ways again. It felt like a vacation because she was here and you all know how hard it is to return to work after vacation! Ugh! At least next weekend is conference weekend! Yay!

Concert Weekend

In spite of last Saturday being photo shoot, dress rehearsal AND concert day, it was still the most restful weekend I've had in a LONG time! Saturday morning I had to get up early so I could be in my casual concert attire and to the school by 8:45. We met the photographer at City Creek Rotary Park downtown, took some pictures there, then walked up the street to Memory Grove, one of the hot spots for wedding photo shoots.


We got rained on after taking some pictures there, then we made our way back to the school and took some pictures around the University of Utah sign and then in the concert hall. After pictures we rehearsed for an hour and were dismissed. My wonderful husband had cleaned the entire house top to bottom and done all the laundry and dishes by the time I got home! I had intended to take a nap but ended up watching the last quarter of the ECU vs. NC State game with Layne.
Even though they ended up losing a game which was in the bag, I'm still proud of my Pirates for putting ECU on the map in football this year going undefeated up until Saturday's game.

By the time I got some visiting teaching and young women's calls made, ran to the store, and folded some laundry, it was time to get back into my concert attire and go back to the school. I had to be there by 6pm even though the concert didn't start until 7:30. I got to go up and sit by Layne during the first half of the concert and listen to the other groups perform which was nice.

University Singers opening with Laudate Nomen. (I'm front row 2nd from the end)

For our portion of the concert we performed 7 pieces and it went quite well. Dr. Allred said it was the best first concert he's done in years. To have 7 pieces memorized and performance ready, AND a Christmas CD recording session under our belts after only about 3 and a half weeks of rehearsals is pretty good! They recently posted the concert recording files on iTunes U (a very cool feature at the U that allows students and faculty to download any file from any performance for free using the iTunes platform). Anyway, here are the files from our portion of the concert in performance order, so feel free to give a listen (though if you're going to, I wouldn't recommend laptop speakers. They can't handle it. Pop in some head phones before you listen).

Laudate Nomen - Carlyle Sharpe
Ave Maris Stella - Trond Kverno (I love this one)
What Sweeter Music Can We Bring? - Leo Nestor (Christmas CD preview)
O Magnum Mysterium - Morten Lauridsen (Christmas CD preview)
'Round the Glory Manger - K. Lee Scott (Christmas CD preview, I don't so much love this one)
Alleluia - Ralph Manuel
Mundi Renovatio - György Orbán (the piece we all had to learn for auditions)

We received a long standing ovation and the feedback was wonderful. Half the audience confessed to being in tears during our performance of O Magnum Mysterium which was definitely Layne's favorite (in spite of the blasted baby crying at the end). It was very rewarding, and a relief to have the first real concert under our belts. After the concert there was a social for all the choirs and guests. Layne took off and I stuck around to help fill punch bowls and mingle for a while, though things quickly turned from party to hostage situation once the dancing started.

Stephanie Brown & I with our punch.

Dr. Allred & his wife in a VERY good mood after a solid concert.

Sunday morning I got to sleep in (9:00) for the first time in a LONG time. It was delicious! I attended BYC at 11, then stayed to rehearse with the girls our musical number for sacrament meeting. We had to learn a few songs for girls camp by Jenny Phillips. I had never heard of her before that. Our ward's song was To Become Like Him and after hearing it at camp, some of the ward leaders requested that we sing it in church. It's a pretty song with sweet lyrics, but I must confess, when it comes to musical numbers in sacrament meeting, I'm all about the hymns (with a little more flexibility at Christmas) and songs written by general authorities. I think there is a time and a place to sing such music (non-sacrament meetings, EFY, girls camp) and that it can certainly be uplifting and moving, but I'm really picky when it comes to the music in sacrament meeting. I am of the opinion that only very tasteful (not poppy or jazzy) arrangements of hymns (including the children's song book) should be used, like in general conference. Maybe I'm alone in my opinion, but I'm not afraid to say it! You can listen to a clip of it here and tell me what you think. Anyway, it went really well and the girls did a great job and of course the ward reacted very favorably to it.

This week wasn't much more eventful than usual. I did go see a bunch of my friends from Singers perform in Pirates of Penzance last night which was a lot of fun, and we got to watch the new episode of The Office!! Yay!! I won't say anything in case you haven't seen it yet.

Yearbook Pictures

First of all, I have to say that ALL the credit for this post goes to my most clever and hilarious relative Megan Hastings for posting about this. Megan, Layne and I did this for FHE activity and were laughing so hard we were in tears, so thank you!! For anyone who wants a good laugh, you can do this to yourself or anyone you have a decent picture of at www.yearbookyourself.com

And now, for a blast from the past. Layne & Kelly Nelson through the years...

1952

Kelly: 1958, Layne 1956

Kelly: 1962, Layne: 1960

Kelly: 1966, Layne 1964

1968

Kelly: 1972, Layne: 1970

1974

1976

1978

1980

1984

Kelly: 1986. Layne: 1988

1990

1994

1996

1998

2003