The Lyon & Healy Harp Factory

Last August my harp students all set goals to practice a certain amount of minutes a day. Their reward? To go to the Lyon and Healy harp factory and see how harps are made. The extra bonus was...the factory is in Chicago!!! They all worked so hard and were soooo excited! We got in Wed night and hit up the factory Thursday morning for a tour.
Ready for the tour and standing by a harp over 100 years old. The 9th harp to be made by this company(the best harps in my opinion and most people's opinion too).
Our tour guide was fabulous and it was amazing to see every little step of harp making and all the pieces being put together. Such intricate work. It takes 2 years to build one harp! There are over 2,000 moving parts on a harp.

All the moms were saying "Now we understand why our harps cost so much!" We loved the man had carving the columns. It seemed like most all the workers were from Eastern Europe. Amazing to see these craftsmen at work.

The factory was nice enough to set up 5 concert grand harps for us to play at their concert hall. The girls had practiced ensemble pieces to play together. They played many classical songs to Pirates of the Caribean to Titanic to Phantom to hymns. It was quiet the sight and sound. I was very proud of them. They sure rose to the occasion!

I had some of them play a few solos. This student played a song that she wrote. She entered reflections at her school and won the state competition. She was so happy.
This student played a very hard classical song by Haydn. It was awesome to hear and watch. I wish you could see out the window better. The big Chicago buildings in the background were gorgeous.
"You have to work like the devil to play like an angel!" So true! We loved this and all the girls said "Let's make T shirts that say that!"

A bunch of very happy moms and daughters. Way to go girls!

We saw lots of different harps-black and gold and blue!
And a small electric harp that they could try!

Here are some videos of the girls playing the electric harp. I was too busy directing everyone in the concert hall or I would have recorded some in there too. The girls had a blast playing around with this harp.

They even got to meet the owner of Lyon and Healy! I met him and his beautiful wife a few years back. She is from Argentina so it's always fun to talk to her in Spanish. She is also a fabulous harpist. They are such a classy couple and talked to the girls about their experience at the factory, Chicago pizza, skiing in Utah and much more!

What a great time we had and memories made to last forever! But that is not all!! We not only harped, but we shopped, ate, saw art museums and aquariums and stood on high buildings. Stay tuned for the rest of the trip! This was one weekend that made me so happy and grateful for what I do. These girls and their moms are such blessings in my life.

Relaxing and intense

That is how this past weekend was. Relaxing and intense. Rosie and I headed to Las Vegas to just chill and I certified to teach Zumba. I have been teaching kickboxing for 5 years and while recently feeling slightly bored with it, I took my first Zumba class. I realize that I am one of the last to try Zumba. I sometimes have this thing of NOT jumping on band wagons. I didn't read Twilight or Harry Potter and never saw The Lord of the Rings. I dunno. However, I am now gladly jumping on the Zumba train. It's so fun! When we left our first class I told Becca "I am going to teach that!"

Friday was intensely filled with Zumba training for 10 hours. I learned all about Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia and Reggaeton styles of dancing. I got a little Latin hip swaying in me from living in Chile HOWEVER I can't move my hips quiet as easily and naturally as those Latins. It's a work in progress. I will start teaching Thursdays at Gold's Gym and I'll keep you posted about other classes coming soon...
Rosie and I hit up the pool/hot tub, shopped, ate and cozed up. She is pregnant and we would laugh because I think people thought we were a real couple. Oh you know we are!
After the long Zumba day we hit up Benihanas for dinner at our hotel. Nice and convenient.
The next day was filled with Caesar's Palace of course.

The new H&M shop there was excellent. 3 floors of great clothes and a kids section. Rosie got her girls darling Easter dresses there. This store replaced FAO Shwarz. This BIG piano is missed of course!
Cheesecake factory is always a must. We don't mind that we have one in Utah now. It's a tradish!
We got to meet Dick Butkus. You older people or sports fans will be excited. All Rosie and I could think of was that is a pretty bad name to have. Yikes.

The Belagio is always a must there for me. I find it a place of serenity amongst all of the chaos.

Great fun and rejuvenating trip. Thanks Rose for all the talk time and the mini eggs.

February news

First on the February news agenda is that BYU moved into the #3 spot in the National ranking for college basketball which of COURSE constitutes Ro shaving his head with the BYU letters and spray painting it. Also My mom had her 64th birthday.
She shares a birthday with Eleisha, aka her adopted granddaughter, aka my harp student.
So the family went up to a cabin and took a snowmobile trip for the day. It was grande!

Then we hit up the ice castles in Midway. They are a real gem.
My mom LOVING her birthday!
Then my dad dared us to lick the ice "The Christmas story" style.
So we did.

Beautiful times and beautiful memories. Now welcome MARCH!!

Family in town

Instead of the annual ski pictures I put up every year when Brian and his family come into town, I'll put up some of the new family pics!

We haven't had an updated picture of the family since the one where I am holding Norman the cat. Oh you know the one!
LOVING Hillary and can't believe she is 16! She is such a fun girl and I just want to hang out with her all the time. One night after skiing we sat up giggling until all hours of the night and fell asleep on the floor by the fire. That's my kind of camping.
We took a shot of the WHOLE family but I believe that it is under construction at the moment (photoshop). Coming soon...
Mom and dad so cute. I like that saying

"All because two people fell in love."

I'll go with it

Oh it was a blizzard out there tonight. That is not news to anyone. I'll tell you what is news though....FREE movie and popcorn AND drinks.

Conversation driving over in the snow:

Vicki Tracy: "Uh, is this really a good idea?"

Me: "Oh it'll be a good idea alright! We'll love the movie."

As we arrived at the window to buy our tickets the lady asked us if we had cash. Interestingly enough, their credit card system was down. Like we carry cash with us on snowy nights. If ever. I said "Can we go in anyways?" She printed our tickets and we were in! "It's not your fault our system is down." You are right sister.

Popcorn and drinks? I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story.

Happy as larks we sat down to watch the movie and .....it was stupendous! I highly recommend it. We were laughing and giggling and dying at Jen Aniston's hair and 'sneaky hot body' (funny line from the movie) the whole time.

I wanted to jot this down tonight because I've been reading this book that talks about recognizing small miracles in our lives, showing gratitude and happiness that things are 'just working out for you'. Ok ok I know you may be laughing because this was just a free movie, but that is the point. Many times we discount the small sweet things that go well for us and chalk them up to coincidence.

If we recognize and are grateful for small touches of happiness that we get and we look forward to them, they will come to us more easily. I'll keep trying this theory on for size! So far so good. Whew.

Black eye beauty

Look what I have been sporting the last few days.

(the night it happened...much worse now)

Conversation of the day:

Grammy: "Do you have a black eye?"

Me: Yes

Grams: Concerned she grabs my hand "Leave him."

That made me laugh. Apparently people's first instincts are to associate black eyes with domestic abuse because I have gotten many similar half joking remarks.

My 2 black eyes to this day have been from a wave runner and now a snowboarding accident. Who else has a black eye story of their own? Come on, I want to hear it!

A few more things on LoVe

Here are a few things that caught my eye so far this month while we are celebrating LOVE.

TRUE LOVE

Thou shalt live together in love.

-Doctrine and Covenants 42:45

True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well-being of one's companion.

I read this article today and liked it. I should do a click HERE thing in case you want to read it. I don't really know how to do that so...I'll just put the article below and you can read it if you want. It's pretty good I think. Happy February!

Relationships are easy

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Corey Allan of Simple Marriage.

Relationships are easy.

You may have read or heard the opposite, that relationships are hard work. I used to believe that was true. Not anymore.

Relationships are easy.

I understand that making time for someone else or giving up some of the things you love or getting your own way create some struggles in life – but once again, relationships are easy.

Perhaps what people who believe relationships are hard work are actually referring to the difficulty of interacting and living with an immature, childish human.

Why would it be hard work to be in relationship with a mature, caring grown up?

Here’s a couple of other questions to ponder:

Why is it that we are sometimes nicer to strangers than we are to loved ones?

Shouldn’t marriage and relationships lighten our load, not add to our burden? Because if it were the latter, why in the world would any of us sign up for something like this?

Perhaps the problem is that many times we get bogged down in a lot of the unnecessary parts of relationships and lose focus on the essential parts. Or we lose sight of the fact that our significant other is a separate being who is capable of making their own decisions and charting their own path in life.

But this fact isn’t a bad thing at all as it frees you up to do the same! And it also frees you both to choose each other – not feel like you’re stuck in a monotonous existence together.

Why relationships are easy

It all boils down to how you view what goes on within your relationships, specifically your significant ones.

First and foremost, marriage is designed to help you grow up. It’s not about happiness. It’s not about becoming more complete, despite what Hollywood and popular press would like you to believe. Marriage is about growing. Happiness will accompany you at times along the way, but it’s not the ultimate goal.

And second: your growth – your responsibility; your spouse’s – theirs. When you keep this in mind you realize that all you can control in a relationship is yourself.

Many times couples have sought my help in working on their marriage. They come in thinking their relationship is an outside entity that can be fixed. The problem with this is they’ve got it backwards – the relationship is working on them! That’s the way relationships are designed.

When you acknowledge this and live accordingly, relationships are easy.

Here’s how.

How many times has something about your spouse’s behavior driven you crazy? Or how many heated discussions have come from your differences in beliefs?

The best way to combat this is found in this phrase: Rather than trying to adjust the wind, adjust your sails.

Focus on what you can control – and this begins and ends with you!

Simplify things in life so you can savor more of the goodness. This same idea can be applied to relationships.

And it starts by slowing down.

Do you have trouble remembering names when meeting someone new? Do you know why? Most of the time you’re too busy talking or thinking about what to say that you don’t even hear their name.

This happens in regular conversations as well. You’re busy or rushed thinking about something else and you miss the goodness of the moment with your spouse, or kids, or friends.

Slow down. Let their be pauses in the conversation while you think and respond. There doesn’t have to be a banter or speedy exchange of ideas in conversation.

Breathe. Listen. Breathe. Connect.

This will open you both up to more with each other.

Leo’s favorite guide works for most every aspect of relationships as well:“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.”

Just think how much better everything, and I mean everything (wink wink), will be when you follow this guide in your relationship.