Why I Love Living in Boise, #653

Boise Music Week

I've only known about Boise Music Week since 2008 - it has been in existence since 1918. That year I went to "Singin' In The Rain" with Sabrina and her friend Sara. Now I've enjoyed watching "Brigadoon" (2009) and "Bye Bye Birdie" (2011), watching the Silent Movie at the Egyptian Theatre (2008 & 2009), and the Public School Night Gala (2011). Sabrina has been playing in the Elementary Honor Orchestra (EHO) this year with Sara Smith and Maddie & Kayla Midgley and they were a part of the Public School Night Gala this year.

Every year, Boise has the first week of May filled with FREE music events. Daily Organ recitals at the different churches downtown, International Dance Showcase, Showcase Concert, Musical, Silent Movie (with live organ accompaniment), School Night, Church Night and Music in the Park.

The talent is amazing. The music is fun. I wonder what came first: the siren on the movie-house organs or the fires in silent movies?

Here is an unrelated picture to enjoy:

Hyrum is brushing Toto and Leo wishes he was also outside.

Restaurant Review: Boise Fry Company

Roderic, Clara and Hyrum after eating their fill of fries.

When coupons came in the mail for a restaurant that specializes in fries and makes burgers on the side, I was intrigued. The coupons didn't say exactly what to expect, just that they serve different kinds of fries - sweet potato, Russet, Yukon Gold, etc. Being pregnant and sensitive to getting cravings based on suggestions, I decided I had to try it out. I dragged Stacy (OK she drove, but I invited her!) along and we took ourselves and our combined 4 children on an outing to Boise Fry Co.

Let me say right off that this is not a restaurant that caters to children. At. All. It only had 2 tables that would sit the 6 of us and they were both bar height. The only kid friendly (or pregnant lady friendly) drinks they offered were milkshakes and Sierra Mist.

The staff was very friendly in explaining our options for fries. There were more than 15 different kinds of fries offered. Shoestring, curly, home style and regular were the cuts. Russet, Gold, Purple, Sweet, Yam, White were the potato choices. I ordered Home style Russet and Curly Purple to try. They were tasty. The condiments bar was a lot of fun: Ketchup, Fry Sauce, Blueberry Ketchup, Roasted Garlic and Mayo, and Teriyaki.

The burgers were HUGE. Stacy and I could have gotten away with ordering one burger for the 4 kids to share.

Will I go again? Perhaps with adults only. Do I recommend it to you? Yes I do, but take a coupon with you!

Newsflash: I like running!

If only my junior high and high school gym teachers could see me now. I find enjoyment in running. Who knew? I believe that none of them were runners, they were the basketball coaches. (The track coaches were English teachers.) No wonder I didn't learn how to run without getting side cramps. I dreaded the mile run each Friday. I wanted to perform well, and get a good grade, but every time I got side cramps, painful side cramps that left me walking and talking with a big posse of girls.

Two months ago, I was talking to my sister, Keturah, on the phone about stuff. She mentioned that she had been running for a while and was liking it. I was skeptical. We had the same gym teachers, you know. She told me about the beginners running training program on runnersworld.com and told me to go check it out. I did. AND, I've completed it. I can now run jog really slow for 30 consecutive minutes - about 2.5 miles, while pushing my boys in a double stroller! And hooray for mp3 players! I had a different soundtrack for each run. By the end, I was running jogging to General Conference addresses.

Now I'm looking for a 5k race to enter. And, I'm going to try to run jog a little faster.

East

But as I lay back in Neddy's lap, my eyes idly fell on some breeches of min that Mother was just beginning to work on. There was a great ugly tear in the backside that I had gotten sliding down a small waterfall earlier in the day. My near drowning at the bottom of the waterfall had left me more subdued and tired than usual. I closed my eyes sleepily, drawn into Neddy's description of Thor swinging his mighty hammer as he crossed the rainbow bridge. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that the rip in my breeches had disappeared.

I sat up, wide awake. It was magic.

It might be thought odd that I had never noticed Mother sewing up a hole before, but usually she saved her mending for later in the evening, the peaceful time of day when I was asleep.

I was by her side in a flash, all trace of sleepiness gone, the Bifrost bridge forgotten.

"Do it again," I demanded.

"Do what?" she asked, bewildered.

"Make a hole go away."

She smiled and picked up another piece of mending. She showed me how to thread the needle, then neatly stitched up a small tear in Sonja's smock.

I watched, avidly, and then said with conviction, "I want to."

This is the excerpt from East by Edith Pattou that completely got me hooked. I mean, come on, sewing is magical! Any book that admits it, has to be good. This book is a retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." If you enjoy reading fairy tales, I believe you will enjoy this book.

Still my favorite

A couple of weeks ago, I opened my email to find this letter from shutterfly.com:

Dear Malauna,

We'd like to thank you for being one of our favorite customers with a free 20-page 8x8 photo book (a $29.99 value). Use it to hold onto your spring flings and birthday celebrations for years to come.

Your free photo book will be applied at checkout.

Order yours by June 24, 2008.

Needless to say, I quickly made a book about our family camping trips in 2007. I paid only $8.14 for shipping. Gosh, I LOVE shutterfly!

Big Surprise

Ryan really likes to spoil me. A lot. Birthdays. Christmases. Anniversaries. Valentines. One year for Mother's Day, he got me matching towels, bath mats and accessories for our bathroom. This birthday was no different. I felt my birthday couch was overflowing with presents from him. And then at dinner he pulls out another surprise.

It's an ION Tape2PC Cassette Archiver. The name says it all. It's a dual cassette tape deck that has a USB cord to attatch to my PC. Press play on the tape deck, press record on my PC and all of a sudden I can digitize our ENTIRE tape collection! You may have noticed that I haven't blogged in a while. Well I have been on the computer. I've just been turning my favorite tapes into mp3s.

I now have the 1993 Utah All-State Choir concert on my mp3 player! The Book Of Mormon Seminary music "Free to Choose" can be played again at my house! Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy", BYU University Chorale from 1995. Even piano accompaniment practice tapes of songs I sang in high school. My playable music library has been expanded!

The software is easy enough to use. I'm hooked. Anyone have a tape they want me to digitize?

Roman Shades

Before and After

We've lived in this house for almost 3 years. The only backyard neighbors we have are rabbits, quail, hawks and an occasional owl. It hasn't been a high priority to get shades for these windows in our "Great Room". Standard curtains were out because we all enjoy the view from these windows and since the windows have decorative moldings around them I wasn't sure how to hang a curtain rod, anyways. I don't like vertical shades. At all. I thought horizontal shades would look odd. That left me with roman shades. Since these windows aren't a standard size, any pre-made shade would have to be special ordered at a great expense. After doing a Google search on home-made roman shades, I found make-roman-shades.com where they walk you through the whole process. I bought some unbleached muslin at Joann Fabric (at a killer price of 50 cents a yard) and purchased 2 kits (one for each window) from make-roman-shades.com. The kits came with liner fabric, and all the hardware for making the shades (everything was pre-cut, so I just had to sew and install).
I am really pleased with how these turned out!

Product Endorsement: Shutterfly.com

I LOVE SHUTTERFLY.COM!!!!!

About 10 PM on Friday, December 14, we sent a request to have Christmas cards printed and shipped to us. Their website said we could expect our Christmas cards between Dec 21 and Dec 24. Well, Saturday we got an email (that I read yesterday) that said the cards had been shipped and we could expect them between Dec 19 and Dec 21. Last night, when I got the mail, the Christmas Cards were in them!

Good news for friends and family. This may be the earliest we've ever sent out our Christmas cards! Ever!