2013--The Gratitude Year

This year, I just set one goal. I wanted to blog daily about my gratitude.

The really interesting thing is--the days I didn't blog were generally days I was too busy.  The blogging helped me to shift and focus and move forward. The very fact that I didn't blog on certain days is proof that the experiment was successful.

So how do you wrap up a year like 2013?

With words, of course.

Top Moments of 2013

1) Stabbing my lover to death with a garden hoe behind a couch in Reefer Madness and then belting my guts out with blood running down my arms. The lighting was perfect. I was a hot mess. It was one of those moments you dream about.

2) Sitting in the soundbooth, listening to the cast of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown nail their harmonies in "Book Report" while Snoopy hung like Jesus on the Cross from the top of the slide. Super satisfying for a music director.

3) Standing at the bottom of the escalator watching my brother Nick and my Uncle Tom walk towards the rest of the family after Nick's LDS Mission to Stockholm, Sweden. I didn't realize until that moment how much we all had missed him.

4) Singing with family and friends for family and friends at Le Jardin at my Autumn Song Concert in November. I made myself make it personal, and it was. Ben Mayfield was masterful on the piano, the audience was with me for every song, and I got to perform with some of my favorite people. It was magic.

5) Being on the set of Stop Pepper Palmer. It was so hot. I was so nervous. It was so gratifying to use my training to calm myself down, to listen, to react, to embrace stillness-while still being a part of the action. I got to work with amazing people. The whole experience was just amazing.

6) Standing in the middle of the dancers in my super awesome corset in Carousel.  I don't ever dance on stage, despite the fact that I was born under a dancing star. I move. I got to move with such glorious purpose while bodies turned like carousel horses around me.

7) Watching and listening to the beautiful cast of Avenue Q. Night after night.

8) Like a good little capitalist--I thoroughly enjoyed setting records and meeting goals at work! I love being a manager.

9) I'm in the middle of letting myself unmask. Right now, it still feels safer to hide everything I am. But I've learned this year that unmasking is not only safe, but inevitable. And it won't happen too late. It will happen exactly when it needs to. In my own perfect time.

10) Being in the temple. Seeing my parents as temple workers in the Brigham City temple, peak around the corner while I held my grandma's arm. Learning. So. Much. Feeling the spirit of my father's grandmother Esther. Experiencing a powerful "coincidence" for the third time. 

11) Singing with the church choir.

12) Talking to my dad about God and love.

13) Connecting with dear friends.


It has been a wonderful year. I am overwhelmed by my blessings.

Thank you for being a part of this year with me.

Happy New Year!!