The Conclusion of a Break

I truly appreciate this Thanksgiving Break. It has been a blessing to be home with family for a few days. Now that the break is over, I am looking forward to getting back to work to conclude another semester. I am grateful to have something to work on now that the break is over.

Nutella

I don't think I have yet expressed gratitude for Nutella. I wondered if I may have written about it before, but I don't think I have. This evening I enjoyed Nutella on waffles. I enjoy and appreciate the thick, delicious taste from that finest of chocolate hazelnut spreads. A local restaurant has recently added new desserts to their menu and most of their desserts involve Nutella in one way or another. I am grateful for the versatility and most importantly the yumminess of this delicious treat.

"Thankful"

I put the title of this post in quotation marks because I am referring to a song in Josh Groben's Christmas album, Noel. The lyrics read in part:

"Some days, we forget to look around us.
Some days, we can't see the joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight, we pray for
What we know can be;
And on this day, we hope for
What we still can't see.

It's up to us to be the change;
And even though we all could still do more,
There's so much to be thankful for.
...
It's up to us to be the change;
And even though this world needs so much more,
There's so much to be thankful for."

What I appreciate most about this song is not just the fact that it reminds the listener to be grateful. It acknowledges that there is so much work that still needs to be done to make our world more ideal, more perfect. Yet, with everything that is being done and has yet to be done to make things right and good in the world, "even though we all could still do more", we truly have so much to be grateful for. That is what I try to remember every single day, and that is why I make the effort to express my gratitude daily.

"This world needs so much more", but each year we rest from our diligent efforts and reflect on what we have now and the progress we've made. I am grateful for this reminder in the form of a lovely holiday song.

Christmas Trees

My sister and I put up our Christmas tree at home today. To me this is when it generally becomes official: We are most certainly in my favorite time of the year. I really like the symbolism of a Christmas tree. It symbolizes the Christmas season and in several ways it serves as a symbol for various aspects of the Nativity Story.

Bing Crosby

I am grateful for Bing Crosby because of his marvelous contribution to classic Christmas music. My sister and I listened to a whole album of his Christmas songs while on a plane home, and it made for a lovely trip. Christmas includes many great things, and one of those things is the voice of Bing Crosby. I also really enjoy one song he sang in collaboration with David Bowie: "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy". It is a classic.

Vocal Point

Vocal Point is the name of the best male a cappella group at Brigham Young University in Utah. I had heard some other a cappella groups before I heard them, but my freshman year of college saw my first exposure to Vocal Point. I saw them in concert and auditioned for a spot in the group. I have yet to make it into Vocal Point but I have found many other opportunities to perform a cappella music. Today I am grateful for Vocal Point because watching them perform has served as a major inspiration for me to start learning how to make cool beatbox and echo sounds with my mouth. Four years after I really started to learn how to beatbox I know I have made considerable progress, and I can even make a very convincing echo effect with my voice. I will keep working hard to prepare for the annual Vocal Point auditions, but now it's more a matter of becoming a better performer overall, and to find ways to make people smile. Because there are excellent groups out there like Vocal Point, we all can be encouraged to pursue excellence as well.

Chocolate Milk

Yesterday I expressed gratitude for hot chocolate. Today I express gratitude for some colder chocolate. This evening a friend shared some especially delicious chocolate milk with me, and I was reminded how much I love the taste of chocolate milk. That is what I am grateful for today.

Hot Chocolate

Today I am grateful for hot chocolate. I am not only grateful for how delicious it is or how much it reminds me that we are in the best season of the year. On top of all of that I am grateful for the effect hot chocolate has on over-cooked cookies. Dip an over-cooked cookie into hot chocolate and all the dryness and hardness is soaked and melted away by the time you taste it. Hot chocolate is one of the several things that make great things even better than they could be alone.

A Peaceful Laundry Room

During those times I get laundry taken care of, I sometimes take a place in the laundry room to study or read or listen to music. Occasionally someone comes down and we exchange friendly greetings and brief conversation. This laundry room is a good place to study, and a good place to see people without too much constant activity. Also, the white noise is helpful to me. I like white noise or soft music when I sit down and do some mental work. I am grateful for the laundry room for the cleaning services it provides, and for an environment nearly ideal for doing some homework near my apartment.

A Summer of Arranging

Last summer, I spent a lot of my time at home working on an a cappella arrangement of Owl City songs for my a cappella group this semester. Tonight, we performed that arrangement. The arrangement developed over the semester and became shorter and ultimately better by the time we performed it. After the show, I heard about half a dozen people complimented my arrangement. It is clear a number of people enjoyed the piece, so today I am grateful for the summer hours I spent working on it.

Music from Bali

Today I am grateful for music from Bali because I had the great opportunity to perform Balinese music on campus today. The style of the music and vocal percussion isn't completely new to me anymore, but it was new to tonight's audience, and it was a pleasure to share it with them tonight. Balinese music is different, it is more about fullness of each person participating and making sound. Some music is carefully calculated and soothing, while other music is explosive and flashy. It all comes together to make a lovely whole that is a fullness of sound and sight.

Rehearsal Week

This week I have two shows that I am performing in. Needless to say this week is very busy with dress rehearsals and the last day or so of fine-tuning our performances. I always love this kind of week. It is busy, but I become filled with energy. I become more excited and nervous to present months of work to an audience. It is a lot of fun for all this hard work. I have experienced dozens of weeks like this over the years, and I never get tired of it. Today I am grateful for that last week of rehearsal.

A Man Who Makes Gyros

In my part of town there is a small gyro place. I had never eaten from there until tonight. I decided to try it, and it was delicious! I was quite impressed with the food. It made for a great dinner at my apartment. So, today I am grateful for the gentleman who made my gyro tonight.

Today's Ward Council

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a ward council consists of the local leaders and committee chairs of the congregation. I attend ward council because I am the chair of the music committee. This week was a wonderful ward council because several members of the council had great ideas about how to give service to members of the congregation who need help and friendship. I even had an idea or two of what more I could do to be a friend to those in need. It was an exciting council meeting in church today, and I am grateful for it.

Pumpkin

We are in a great season. It is a season of many things, including pumpkins! After showing off our pumpkin-carving skills (or lack thereof), we eat them in many ways. I am grateful for the many ways we use pumpkins: in pie, ice-cream, cheesecake, cookies, etc.

"You Can Do It Now!"

Recently, I have struggled to get out of bed early. I haven't been late for my classes or other obligations, but too often I find myself in a rush to get ready for the day with too little time to prepare all of my materials for the day's classes. I often set two or three alarms within 5-10 minutes of each other for multiple reminders to get up, but I tend to ignore one to gain a few extra minutes of sleep until the next alarm, and then until the next one, and so on...

Two days ago, I had an idea. I remembered a message given over a month ago by a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I looked up the video of the talk, and recorded a small segment on my phone to use as my morning alarm. The segment is this:

"I told him what had happened, but he didn’t seem very interested in my explanations of why I couldn’t get up. He looked me in the eyes, reached out, took my hand, and in a firm tone said, 'Opa, [Grandpa] you can do it now!'" 

Here is the whole talk for original context: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/you-can-do-it-now (The extracted quote is found in the first five minutes of the talk.) 

In the context of getting up out of bed, this quote has proved very effective for me. I woke up to those words this morning, and decided I had no adequate excuses to continue sleeping. So I got out of bed, said a morning prayer, and started to get ready for the day. Today, I am grateful for inspired words by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

Involvement in a Student Journal

As part of a class project, I am involved with a creative writing journal on campus, and I am grateful for the experience I have in that involvement. I am still quite new to the editing field, so my time working on this journal with other students is valuable.

Argyle

I am grateful for the versatile style of Argyle. It is such a classy pattern that looks especially classy on sweaters, shirts, and socks. I often wear an argyle pattern as part of Classy Wednesday. Such a simple geometric concept that is very effective in fashion, at least in my opinion. This pattern is pleasing to my eye, and to me it conveys a cool, classy style. I am glad argyle exists.

A Successful Crucial Conversation

I have a book titled "Crucial Conversations". The definition they give for such interactions between two or more people is three-fold: "(1) stakes are high (2) opinions vary, and (3) emotions run strong."

There was such a conversation tonight at an audition event for the a cappella club of which I am an officer. We had a few judges who would determine which a cappella groups would perform in our big end-of-semester show. As the auditions progressed, the Club president had an idea to allow everyone in the show because there were fewer groups auditioning than we had anticipated. As the judges were deliberating, we (the club officers) started to talk with them about our ideas and proposed adjustments. There were varying opinions, the quality of our show was at stake (as well as our working relationships with other club members, possibly), and we needed to reach a decision tonight.

After many minutes of debate and talk, we all reached a conclusion that turned out for the best of everyone involved. Every singing group, judge, and officer was satisfied with the results, appropriate adjustments are made or will be made, and in the end we all breathed a sigh of relief. I am grateful that this crucial conversation was brought to such a satisfactory conclusion tonight. I attribute it to everyone's willingness to listen and communicate, everyone's desire to do what is good and right, and to the peaceful influence of the Spirit of God because every good thing comes from God.

My America Tie

Today I dressed up because of a church meeting, and I wore my America tie to commemorate Veteran's Day. The tie has the Statue of Liberty, the American Flag, a bald eagle, and faces of average Americans in the background. I got several positive comments about it. I don't remember where I got the tie, but I am grateful to have it. It's a nice tie, and it's a nice reminder of the good of this country.

Barbershop Harmony

Today I listened to and participated in some barpershop-style harmonizing. The smooth performing style is not only fun to listen to but fun to sing. I am grateful for barbershop singing style and for the people who perform it.

Microphones

I have performed with microphones on several stages, and I have seen countless shows and presentations that used microphones to project the vital aspects of a performance. I am grateful for microphones that work well, which is almost all the time. Sometimes issues arise, such as the time a couple of the mics stopped working in a show I attended tonight. However, the performers recovered nicely and there were very few issues for the rest of the show. I am grateful for the work that microphones do.

Women's Chorus

I really enjoyed a choir concert on campus. It featured a men's chorus and a women's chorus. The men's chorus is always great and I really enjoyed their performance. I was quite impressed with some of the songs the women sang. Their set for tonight included several hymns and spirituals. Their interpretations of songs such as "Come, Thou Fount" and "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" were beautiful and profound. I enjoyed their performance, and I am grateful for their work and talent.

Library Scavenger Hunt

For today's work meeting, my coworkers and I were sent on a scavenger hunt around our section of the library. I knew some general things about how things are categorized and how to find what you need, but this activity was an effective way to improve my knowledge of the library by about 100%. I am glad I participated. It was fun, and very helpful for my work and study. I am grateful for a great and enlightening library scavenger hunt put on by my supervisor.

Making a Cut

This evening I practiced with my a cappella group to prepare for an audition next week. I arranged one of the songs we were practicing. My fellow group members told me it was a great arrangement, but we struggled to make it sound really good and polished because of its complexity. At one point the group director and I looked at the score and decided to cut out several pages to make the whole song easier on us. The change was made and implemented the next time we sang through it, and it sounded much better! The whole arrangement was tighter and sounded much better. I am grateful that a well-placed cut to my arrangement improved our performance of the whole piece.

Study Music

I am one of those people who enjoys quiet music in the background during focused study. It discourages stress and helps me feel more at peace with my progress in whatever I am working on at the time. Today I express my gratitude for study music.

Canadian Candy

Today I am grateful for Canadian candy. Because I have relatives in Canada, I occasionally get some candy from there. Wunderbars, Big Turks, the chocolate Smarties, and especially the Nanaimo bars are all more reasons why I have a special place in my heart for Canada. O Canada, you provide many sweet things for us, and these candies are among those things. :)

The Kingsfold Hymn Tune

According to my knowledge, the tune of each religious hymn has a name independent of the text it accompanies. For example, the name of the tune for Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is "Nettleton". These tune names are usually come from a family name, a place, or the words the tune was written for.

Today, I am grateful for a specific hymn tune known as "Kingsfold". To me, the tune is associated with an LDS hymn called If You Could Hie to Kolob. Others may know this tune from O Sing A Song Of Bethlehem or I Feel the Winds of God Today. Even without words, the tune captures my attention. To me this tune inspires meaningful reflection on who I truly am, what my purpose in life is, and my potential as a child of God. I am grateful for the Kingsfold tune, which is among my favorite religious tunes to play and sing.

Corn Mazes

I had a lot of fun navigating a local corn maze with a couple of friends tonight. The maze was not haunted, which I prefer. Plus, it was large enough to get lost in, but small enough to find your way back. I am grateful for the people who design and create corn mazes. They do good work.

Nosebleed Knowledge

This morning, soon after I woke up, I realized I had a nosebleed. I rushed to the sink and performed the procedure of pinching my nose and leaning forward until the bleeding stopped. For a second I was really worried about it, but I didn't need to be. Within a few minutes, I was cured. I am grateful to know how to treat a nosebleed. I was able to take care of it sooner and move on with my day. This procedure for nosebleeds is very simple, small, and common. Nevertheless, I am grateful to know it because it's a good feeling to know what to do to solve such a problem.