I'm Alive ... Really

I don't know what it is about this time of year (it was the same time in 2011 that I disappeared) so here's the highlights of the months I missed, minus pictures because, quite frankly, I am being lazy and wanting to get things up to date.

SEPTEMBER

* Played the flute for my friend's wedding.  It's the first, possibly the only time, that I have ever played the processional music for the wedding march.  Steph looked beautiful and when her now husband, Wes, sang a song he had specially written just for her, we were all fighting tears.
* I got to do a day trip to Kansas to bring a client back from her dad's house.  It's an experience being with a teenager on her first flight, especially when said flight is on a tiny plane (9 rows total).  If you are wondering, the Dodge City airport is not exactly huge.
* I got to mix a little bit of business with pleasure as my roommate to attend the Utah Fall Substance Abuse Conference in St. George.  Then at night we took advantage of Tuacahn and on the way home the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.  We had fun seeing Hairspray, Aladdin, and Les Miserables.  Loved all of them and would so go to any of them again in a heartbeat.

OCTOBER

* An amazing month of being spiritually fed as there was General Conference and then I was able to attend two wonderful Time Out for Women conferences.  I've learned that it doesn't matter how many times you may hear the same speakers or same music, there is always something different that touches you.
* Probably the most important thing of the month would be Russ and Shauntell welcoming Cameron Russell Ottley.  Cam was born in North Carolina on 1 October and is joining out family through adoption.  He is so sweet and just smiles.  It's amazing to us how much he looks like their other kids.  The more weight he puts on (he was only 5 lb. 14 oz) more weight he looks more and more like his big brother, Zach.  He's definitely well loved by all of us.
* It wouldn't be a blog update for me if I didn't mention Real Salt Lake in there somewhere.  They did make it to the first round of playoffs before they were taken out by the Seattle Sounders.  That's what happens when you don't score a goal in the last five games of the season.  (There have been some pretty big changes this off season so I'm excited to see what happens next year.)
* Book Club books this month were Jane Austen's Emma and Kathleen Grissom's The Kitchen House.

NOVEMBER

*This was an interesting month.  I had two funerals for friends who passed unexpectedly (both younger than me).  Plus, Jen was in and out of the hospital with health problems, which seem to have been resolved now.  And we had Grandpa in the hospital as well.  It was a bit stressful, but it made me so continuously grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel and the peace its teachings bring into my life.
* One of my cute little girls was adopted.  It's so fun to see their excitement when they know they are going to be with the family they have grown to love and feel a sense of belonging.
* Thanksgiving was great.  We missed Mom as she went out to help Jen recover, but the rest of us kids and Dad were able to come together for the meal and just enjoy each others' company.
* Book club book for both book clubs was Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond.

DECEMBER

* I actually only worked the first week of December and then took the rest of the month off.  That was really nice.
* I went out to Virginia and spent a couple of weeks with Jen and Will.  It was so good to see her getting stronger and stronger.  She was even able to drive again while I was out there.  We didn't do any sight seeing or anything this go around, for obvious reasons.  We did venture out for a couple of movies and I got to help them celebrate their 20th anniversary as Jen and I went to The Moscow Ballet's The Nutcracker (Will's gift was that he could fulfill his promise to Jen and not have to actually have to go).  That was absolutely incredible.  The things they did with their bodies just didn't seem to be natural.  They were definitely trained professionals.  I'm still amazed a month later.
* Christmas at home was wonderful as well.  It truly is a blessing that I am able to just take this for granted that we will enjoy ourselves together.  I am so grateful for that.  Spending time with family who are counted as some of my best friends and being able to be myself with them.
* Even though I was out of town for it, I did read the book club book, Sickened: The True Story of a Lost Childhood by Julie Gregory.