The Luck of the Irish

So....it's later than St. Patrick's day, but for a while now I have been wanting to write about my love of the Irish and what better time than (somewhat) around the green holiday? Ever since I was a little girl, I have been drawn to Irish everything. Maybe it's because of my very Irish maiden name: Katie Connors. You really can't get more Irish than that :)

When I was about ten, I went with my family to see Riverdance on Broadway in LA. I remember listening to one of the Irish songs and starting to cry, and I didn't know why. All I knew was, that for some weird reason, the music resonated with me as if I had heard it before. I can't explain it, but just listening to the music, I knew that being Irish was a big part of my heritage. Not to mention, I fell in love watching the Irish dancers dance. Even though it is made fun of all the time with its straight-armed stance, who can seriously not love this:

However, I wouldn't recommend showing this to your friends at a sleepover when you are twelve, like I did. I literally made my friends watch Riverdance (an older version of the video) because I thought they would love it as much as I did; I think I was made fun of for weeks after. I don't blame them. 

An Irish Dance studio was opened up near my home by an Irish dancer medalist, from Ireland, and I was determined to go. I subsequently learned that Irish dancing is not tap dancing--there is hard shoe and soft shoe; I fell in love with soft shoe. Soft shoe, obviously, doesn't make any noise and is more graceful. Here's an example of soft shoe:

Irish Dancing became a huge part of my life, and I loved going to an occasional Feis (Irish Dance competition) to compete, but after a few years I had to choose between voice lessons and Irish Dance lessons because both were just too much. After much deliberation, I chose Voice as natural talent didn't come to me as easily in Irish Dance. I took an Irish Dance class at BYU and re-fell in love with the whole thing.

If that wasn't enough to indulge in my Irishness, I was assigned to sing multiple Irish song solos for different choirs throughout the years and had one special experience with a particular Irish song (that I may tell on this blog later on, but that's a whole other story). I found that I loved Irish singing and Irish music in general. One of my favorite groups is Secret Garden, featuring an Irish Violinist and a Norwegian pianist--playing Celtic inspired songs. Love. Another is Celtic Women; you may get seasick if you watch them because they love to sway when they sing, but for just listening purposes, it's heavenly.

All of this Irish obsession helped drive my goal to go to Ireland one day. A BYU Study Abroad to England with a week long trip to Ireland helped fulfill that goal:

Dear Study Abroad Friends in Ireland

I was just a little excited to be at an Irish lake with mist all around...

I couldn't believe when a year later my parents wanted to take a family trip to Ireland and review sites of our family history, and we explored everywhere. I fell even deeper in love with my Irish heritage.

My dad and I on our Irish journey.

Maybe my love of the Irish borders obsessive, but I also feel that it is one of the strongest ways I have to connect with my ancestors. 

Idaho Trip!

Ben and I had such a fun trip to Idaho to visit Kim, Steve, and Mike for the weekend! We stayed at Kim and Steve's darling place, and we are so glad we made the trip (even though I was sick and literally had no voice) because we found out this is their last semester at BYU-I! Steve got into the New England Culinary Institute, and so Kim and Steve will be moving to Vermont come late September and are going to work in CA for the summer! We are so excited for Steve's news! And we loved sampling all his creations all weekend--we were spoiled rotten with beautiful and delicious food! Steve even made us his famous chocolate souffles!

We had fun playing games, watching a movie, going bowling, and exploring Rexburg! Mike was over all Saturday night, and we talked about his exciting news that he is going to BYU Jerusalem this summer! Yipee! So many neat things siblings are doing in their life right now, and it makes me want to join in their adventures :) Rexburg was a fun weekend getaway; we love our family! 

Some Things Don't Go According To Plan

Some Things Don't Go According To Plan

Plan: beautiful double layer snicker-doodle cake for a dinner party with friends
Reality: this was my first double layer cake ever--a snicker-doodle cake; can you tell? That's alright; I couldn't either. I even followed the directions perfectly, at least I thought. The only thing I could do was dollop the cinnamon frosting on the top since I, obviously, couldn't spread it on. I kept thinking--do I take this hideous thing or hide my shame and save my pride? Luckily, I decided that these were the kind of friends who wouldn't "de-friend" us for bringing such a thing. I made another dessert (thank goodness for Carmelitas) so that there would be something that looked edible, and then veiled my snicker-doodle blob with tin foil for just the right moment. I unveiled the blob and lots of laughter ensued. I was surprised that everyone still ate some, and it actually tasted snickerdoodly.  I am so glad that I have friends that I can serve a snicker-doodle blob to and still feel loved :) 

Plan: enjoy the warm weather by walking outside, breathing in the fresh air, and perhaps doing some gardening
Reality: This week is the first week in Utah where the forecast has said it wouldn't feel like winter--like in the balmy sixties--heatwave! Instead of enjoying the glorious weather, I have been stuck inside with some kind of strep throat/cold/fevery thingy. The good thing about this is it has given me an excuse to watch chick flicks, lie down and relax, sleep lots, and it even allowed me to convince Ben to make a smoothie for me--this was a big deal, and it was a really delightful strawberry/banana smoothie! Ben takes good care of me when I am sick.

Plan: Read book after book after book once graduated; always cultivate your literary skills 
Reality: Being an English major and having my Master's in British Lit, you would think I read all the time these days. I am sorry to confess to my English friends that I have let them down; in fact, I have let myself down. I have only read 12 books in the 17 months of being married. How pathetic is that? It's not that I don't like reading anymore! I think that for so long I was assigned to read three hundred to four hundred pages a night (especially in the Master's classes) that I at first wanted a mini-break once it was all over. Then I found Pinterest and this thing called TV, that I had barely watched in six years, and it is oh so fun to watch old Van Dykes and Murder, She Wrote with my husband. Basically, I still loved reading but found some other activities that were easier for five minute breaks and bonding time with Ben. Since being married, I have read fluffy, fun books--mysteries and romances and Wives and Daughters (the only classic I have read since graduating). Good thing I found book club (without that, I may have only read five and missed out on some much needed talks and friends!) Being short on literary funds, I felt like I had nothing to read. Then it occurred to me. There is an invention. It's called the library. I live five minutes away from our local one. Now it's no Harold B. Lee, if you know what I mean.  (I miss the cubicles in that place for some strange reason). So for our FHE activity, Ben and I went to the North Ogden library on Monday night, and I fell in love. You can check out books for free for three weeks (how did I not know this!?) Basically, it's one more reason to love North Ogden. I think finding the library has given me the motivation to, once again, dive into the worlds of written words.

Plan: Read a book about potatoes and Guernsey, a device that sounds like a girdle, for book club
Reality: I found the next book club book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society while at the library. When I first heard that title, I was a little skeptical. How wrong was I! It was one of the most hilarious, moving, and touching WWII historical fiction books I have ever read, and now I want to visit Guernsey! Basically, this was not a "fluffy" book; this was one that had everything needed to be the compelling novel it is. I am glad my plan fell through on this one! 

I guess the moral of this story is, sometimes having plans fall through is not a bad thing. Tah Dah!

Date Week

Two weekends ago Ben and I went to help move my sweet, sweet Grandma into an assisted living facility. This was a huge change, even though she will be less than five minutes away from her home.

One of my most favorite things to do in the world is to go visit my Grandma Jones. Ben and I love to go and visit her. We love hearing her stories of receiving her mission call in the forties, what WWII was like, how she met my Grandpa, etc. even if it means we have heard it already because her memory is fading.

Grandma loves live music in her house, and so she often encourages us to sing. Ben and I have had many spiritual experiences going over and singing hymns to her. I love singing for my grandma. She is my favorite audience. She gets so excited to hear songs from the forties and fifties (some of my favorites to sing). No one appreciates hearing me sing Judy Garland, Doris Day, or songs from Showboat more than Grandma. Words cannot express how much I have learned from getting to know her better. I honestly think one of the reasons I needed to go to Weber State was to reconnect with my relatives who live near Ogden and, in particular, my dear Grandma Jones.

We will miss seeing the cow in my Grandma's family room and playing on her old, old piano (when my Grandpa retired from being a banker and moved from Michigan to Utah to pursue his love of dairy-farming, his co-workers gave him this huge life-sized, stuffed cow that has been in her family room ever since). We are excited to visit my grandma in her assisted living home as much as time permits. We love being with her!

 When we moved Grandma, we got to spend time with relatives who live out of town, and I got to play with their darling children!

Sunday night we had my relatives over from Alaska and Georgia and had so much fun reuniting with them! Last Monday night we had my parents stay over and had an Italian dinner and an FHE together. It was so nice to have them here. I love having family come and visit!

Last week became un-official date week :) Ben and I went to the Brigham City Temple Tuesday night; mutual was cancelled Wednesday so we had a fun Martinelli/movie night; Thursday

Ben and I were able to receive some tickets to see the Utah Symphony perform Les Miserables songs with past Les Mis singers. I was in heaven hearing them all sing; I left proclaiming that I want to be on Broadway and sung Les Mis the whole way home (poor Ben). I get that passion for being on Broadway every time after I see a performance, and then the reality hits me--I have never acted before, and my voice could use lots of work...

 Friday night Ben and I had a Harry Potter night--I didn't realize how much I like these movies until recently....Saturday was filled with more date fun as we left early to go to Provo, stopped on the way to visit my dear friends Rachel and Adam and their sweet three children (I can't believe the last time I saw them was our wedding day!) Rachel was my roommate in college Sophomore and Junior year, and we had so much fun together. I have loved watching her family grow!

We then met up with a couple from our ward to go to the BYU Rugby game, and had a blast! BYU won 91-3 against Utah State--I almost felt sorry for USU...almost. Afterwards, met with Sam and Natalie in Provo and walked around campus until we went and got some delicious ice-cream from the Creamery and then walked/galloped back to their cute home! We had too much fun last week. I loved it! I wish every night was date night! :)