Happy Anniversary!

Three years ago today I drove through a snowstorm to marry this guy. To say that I am a lucky girl, is an understatement. To say that I'm grateful for him, isn't enough. To explain how my life has changed would take... awhile.

Let me put it this way:

I went from this

:(

to this

=)

when he came into my life!

It has been a great three years!! I love him so much and I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father blessed me with such a wonderful guy. He is my best friend. His love and support means everything to me. In everything I do, he is right by my side and I couldn't ask for more.



Thank you Matt for all that you do for me, I love you!!

The Graduate

Last Friday was the official day of reckoning for the last two years of our lives. Matt received his Master's of Business Degree from Utah State University!



My husband the MBA Graduate.



I'm so proud of him!!


Matt's sister Connie and his mom and dad on the front row and my parents on the back row.

New radio jingles as promised

Here are two of the jingles that we've been working on for my friends' store Sugar n'Spice. Go to the Lovell-Studios website (http://lovell-studios.com/b2evolution/blog5.php). You will have to click on the individual attachments to hear each jingle. Let me know what you think!

Still here just not much time to blog

I know what you're all thinking,

"A new blog post from the Lovell's!!! It's about DANG TIME."

What can I say?? Life is BIIIIIZZZZZYYYYY!!!

(Ahem, that is an understatement at the moment.)

I didn't think it was possible to have so much going on and still remain standing at the end of the day (albeit swaying back and forth from exhaustion).

I'll give you a sampling of my day yesterday:

5:50am wake up, get Shannon up, eat breakfast, get dressed and semi presentable

6:30 say goodbye to Shannon, teach lessons

7:30 get Ellie up and ready for school

7:45 finish typing up information flyer for Piano Gallery (I'm coordinating the Clavinova Fun Fest for them. Me and my big mouth.)

8:00 get in shower

8:30 ask Matt to take Ellie to school because I am running behind schedule

9:00 meet with Piano Gallery contact to discuss out going flyer

9:30 go Visiting Teaching

11:30 home and lunch for Shelby, read stories and put her down for nap

12pm work on Sugar n'Spice jingles (four of them, music and lyrics)

1:30 realize I have to teach in about an hour and I haven't prepped yet.

1:31 start prepping for lessons

2:30 Shelby is up from nap so I rehearse for my up coming performances. This Saturday I'm doing a performance for a Stake Social event and next Saturday "Lilium" is performing for Smithfield's Chamber of Commerce "Night of Giving". It is a BIG deal!! I'm so excited for both of these performances but extremely anxious about doing not doing well!

3:00 teach

6:00 done teaching, fix dinner, eat, immediately set up for recording "Sugar n'Spice" jingles and put final touches on all the music and lyrics.

8:00 Sugar n'Spice owner arrives. (She's one of my BFF's and so this is where things got really, REALLY FUN!!!!) Begin recording sale jingles.*

10:30pm done recording. B.L.A.S.T. Funnest thing I have done for two weeks (or more). The jingles will go on air this weekend and I can't wait to hear them because they turned out awesome!

*HUGE SHOUT OUT to my amazing husband, Matt. He is the guy that is behind the scenes doing all the recording work and editing. I couldn't do any of this with out him. I will post the jingles for everyone to check out as soon as he finishes the editing. (If I know him he will have them done by tonight!)

11pm get a text message from one of my wonderful students letting me know she got a part in Sky View High Schools play "Oklahoma!". How cool is THAT?! Made my day. : )

11:15 in bed

Just a day in the life that is mine (ours) right now.

I auditioned for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat" last month and was given the part of NARRATOR! I'm so excited (and nervous) about this! The production will be in March and YES I will let you all know when, where it is and I hope that you all will come!! OH! And cool news! The directors have asked Shannon and Ellie to be in the show - at the beginning (no children were cast in this production) and they are THRILLED!!

I have also started a class (Well Prepared Pianist) that is once a month that is helping me learn all the things I don't know, how to be a better teacher and ugh! TECHNIC! I felt like such a beginner at my first lesson. My teacher is great and I know I am going to love it (I already do!).

Matt finished his last class in October... his MBA is in the BAG!!!!! I'm so proud of him for all the hard work he put in to accomplish this goal. He will graduate with his Masters of Business early next month (December 11, let me know if you can come!). Way to go honey!!!!

There is so much else going on that I haven't even mentioned!! Matt has been working hours every day getting our website up and running. Please check us out!! Lovell Studios is keeping us all busy with lessons, teaching, performances and recordings... Matt is the business man behind it all and I just let him run with it. He does a great job and I am so thankful for all that he does to help me!

I love this stage

I love when babies learn to talk. This was at my mom and dad's this past weekend. On the way down to Payson we taught Shelby to say, "Oh dear!". This is her showing off her skills to everyone. Thanks mom for capturing this on video!!!



Now everything that comes out of her mouth is of course, "oh dear". It's still cute. Even after the 100th time. =)

The Sister Pact

For all of my reader friends and family out there I have a new book for you...




"The Sister Pact" was written by one of my very good friends, Cami Checketts and it is being released on Saturday August 1st.

I finished reading it yesterday (got my copy early - the perks of being a friend of the author!) and I LOVED IT! It has all the elements of a good suspense novel: Heroism, romance, danger, mystery and did I mention ROMANCE?? :) Cami is a terrific writer and you'll find yourself unable to put it down.

Here's a brief description of what you're getting with "The Sister Pact":

Savannah Compton is devastated when her sister and best friend, Allison, falls into a coma after a tragic accident. Or was it an accident? Even with a charming and handsome detective at her side, it seems Savannah may never discover the truth. But if she doesn’t her family could be in even more danger. And Savannah’s past holds its own secrets that could change everything.

Now she must prove her innocence to the one person who is beginning to matter most. Join Savannah as she struggles to summon faith and rely on hope, even in the darkest of circumstances, and learn how the bond between sisters can overcome anything.

If you'd like a chance to win your own copy of "The Sister Pact", go to Cami's website. The book will also be available at Barnes & Noble, Deseret Book, Seagull Book, Wal-Mart, and Costco. And no, you can't borrow my copy. GO GET YER OWN!

Updates on everyone...

The first summer month is almost over. Yikes!! We haven't even set up our pool yet! But of course, with all this rain it hasn't even been an OPTION.

We are trying to stay busy - so I, wait... I mean THE KIDS don't get board. Shannon joined a competitive soccer team out in Richmond and is loving it. They have 2 hour practices twice a week and she is required to practice AT LEAST 30 minutes every day but Sunday. She is thrilled!! We did find out (after spring soccer season ended) that she has a knee problem called Osgood Slaughter Disease: inflammation of the patellar tendon where the knee meets the top of the tibia (shinbone). The condition is caused by stress on the tendon that attaches the muscle at the front of the thigh to the tibia. She gets pretty sore after practice but with the help of ice packs and Ibprofen she is good. She is just growing up way too fast and her body can't keep up! The symptoms (swelling and tenderness) subside after treatment and rest and should go away after she stops growing.

Ellie is counting down the days to when the pool is finally up. She is quite the little swimmer and wants to see if she has graduated out of having to wear a life jacket (yes, I'm THAT paranoid). She is one of my biggest helpers around here and as of this week, has asked me to start calling her "Cinderella". I'm not quite sure what she means by that...

As for Shelby, where to begin?? We have little "incidences" every day. Multiple incidences actually... I think I just threw away all the markers in the house due to the last one.



Pictures are worth a thousand words.


She has learned to climb, which means I have had to do a mandatory re-decorating that involves all chairs, stools and benches. This added to all the dowels, locks, gates and other baby proofing items makes my house quite the Safety Zone. She is talking more and more every day (though I confess I can't always understand WHAT she is saying). We are at 17 months now and you know what that means... NURSERY is just around the corner!!

Christopher is still living at his dad's house in Payson. I see him every time I go down there. He loves hanging out with his friends and is the typical teenager: Texting, xbox, movies, friends, late nights, computer games... His voice is so low now that I don't recognize it when he answers the phone. KIDS GROW UP SO FAST. =(


Matt is still busy with school. Only two more classes to go!!!! We try to make the most of the weekends he does have off and the nights that he doesn't have to study. He works so hard and is doing really well. I'm so proud of him!!


I am busy with teaching, though the summer months are not quite as hectic as the school ones. I feel a more laid back pace lately, which I really am grateful for. Young Women's keeps me busy as well. We are getting ready to go to camp in two weeks and I don't have to take Shelby with me this year. YEAH!!! I'm speaking with the YW presidency in sacrament meeting this Sunday (I should be writing my TALK instead of updating the BLOG. Can you say, "PROCRASTINATION"?).

I found out this week that my foot is broken =( It's a long story... Back on May 1st when I was down at BYU's Women's Conference I rolled my foot off a curb as I was running to get to my first class. DUMB. It hurt like crazy and almost made me cry. ALMOST. But I limped my way through the day and the next and the next... It took a couple of weeks before the pain went away and I thought that I was better. But then I'd step on it wrong and it was like I was starting all over again. After awhile the aching and pain was so constant I couldn't stand it, so I finally drug myself to the Podiatrist. Apparently I was born with an "extra" bone in my foot called he accessory navicular. The way that I rolled my foot when I hurt it caused the accessory navicular to break off of where it had fused to the normal navicular bone. I'll have to wear a cast for 6 weeks and then see where the healing process is. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid surgery (they will have to remove the extra bone completely and reattach the tendon if the cast doesn't work). The cast itself isn't that bad - that is to say, it's annoying but it isn't slowing me down. : )

I'm off... it's Friday and after teaching 1 lesson (YES ONLY ONE) I'm playing with the kids for the rest of the day.

First summer camping trip

This past weekend we loaded up the camper and went SOUTH. Not too far though, just down past Delta to the land of DESERET. We stopped at the old Fort and there, we stayed. I don't know what the appeal was?? It could have been the big mud puddles...



Madi and Ellie taking a "mud bath" in the big mud puddle that developed after the first cloud burst. After this, they of course needed to take a dip in the canal that was close by.




Shannon cooling off/washing off the mud in the canal.




Shelby REALLY wanted to go swimming too. The water was pretty clean. No visible floaties. That means it's safe, right?



We went on multiple exploring trips with the 4-wheelers.

Shannon at the Great Stone Face which is said to resemble the profile of the prophet Joseph Smith.




Shelby was constantly climbing up on the pink 4 wheeler. I think she's trying to claim ownership....



One day we took a long ride out to an old volcano. We found a really cool trail that took us all the way up to the top.


Matt and Shelby going up the trail at Pahvant Butte.




Cool and very LARGE lizard that scurried under Matt's machine.




Inside a really cool abandoned cement building on top of Pahvant Butte. We later found out that it was originally constructed to be a windmill plant (back in the 1920's) that was to supply electricity to the local residents. It was never completed.




On the top of Pahvant Butte. This volcano erupted about 15,500 years ago. The explosion produced this crater on the south face of the mountain.




Matt and I on top of Pahvant Butte.




Shannon spent much of her time exploring and looking for lizards.



On our way home we stopped to tour through the museum in Delta (yes, museums are COOL). We also stopped to see the Morrison Charcoal ovens just outside of Leamington.





Inside the ovens.



We sort of got rained out which sent us in the direction of my sister's house in Santaquin. We stopped over there for a visit and they took us on a beautiful ride up Santaquin Canyon.


Chris, Brenda Matt and Shelby up Santaquin Canyon.




Shelby always falls fast asleep on these rides.


We had a great trip!! Went by way too fast, but I'm sure glad we were able to go.

Relay For Life

The Relay For Life (cancer fundraiser) was this past Friday. This was the night that I've been working towards for the last 5 months and it was AWESOME!!


"Lilium" Carey Heaton, Me and Dawn Garrett. My dad (the botanist) helped us choose our group name. Lilium is the Latin name for Lily - a 3 petal flower.


My brother-in-law asked me clear back in Jan/Feb if I would be willing to sing as part of the entertainment in the park for Relay's festivities. Heck, YES I said! I called up my girls, Dawn and Carey (my singing partners) and they were totally on board. Every time I went to Payson we rehearsed, we discussed song possibilites, parts, wrote parts and practiced-practiced-practiced. They came up here and we played... ahem, I mean practiced. We even got another gig to sing at The Peteetneet 2 weeks before the Relay (but I've been to busy and LAME to blog about it. Sorry. I really am gonna try to do better.)



In Front of the marque at The Peteetneet. We were pretty excited to see "Lilium in Concert". Made us feel special...



This shot made my thighs burn...


The Peteetneet concert was a good run-through for the real deal. We had everything covered, ready and under control for the Relay except... the weather.

Anyone living in Utah for the past 3 weeks can tell you, it has rained pretty much every day. EVERY DAY!!

Friday night was noooooooo different. We were supposed to go on stage at 8pm. But as luck would have it, they were running 30 minutes behind schedule. Kelly V (the performer right before us) got drenched when it started pouring rain right at 8 o'clock.

Dawn, Carey and I huddled under a canopy making some last minute costume adjustments... BLACK UMBRELLA'S. Oh yeah, we were going on NO. MATTER. WHAT.

Just as Kelly V finished up her last song it stopped raining. We got up there, wiped the water off our stools and music stands and away we went! It was so much fun!! I don't remember what song we were on (maybe Loathing from WICKED) when I thought to myself, "I love being up here!!! This is such a BLAST!!" It helped that the audience seemed to enjoy each of our songs and there were a few sweet fans (little girls on the front row) that kept our spirits up by saying things like, "YOU ROCK!!!!" or "I LOVE YOU!" or "YOU'RE THE BEST SINGERS IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!". (I might have just imagined that last one.)



It was an amazing time. The crowd grew and grew (no, I'm NOT making that up!). In fact my brother-in-law later told me that they have never had such a big crowd stick around for the music before. (Insert BIG SMILE here) I loved every minute!! We weren't able to do our slide show due to the weather, but everything else went off without a hitch. It didn't rain a single drop our entire performance (PRAYER WORKS). 10 minutes after we left the stage... it was a DOWN POUR.






My dad (who is fighting Multiple Myeloma) holding Shelby in the audience.

The Relay was a HUGE success!! They raised over $34,000 dollars (last year it was onlt $14,000)!! I am so grateful that I got to be a part of it!!!

KEANE

I waited for four years and they finally came back.


My favorite band. Tim, Tom and Richard. I love these guys!


I became a huge fan of KEANE when they exploded onto 101.9 with "Somewhere Only We Know." I bought their fist album "Hopes and Fears" and fell in love with their music! They have since released two more albums - Under The Iron Sea and Perfect Symmetry. Both awesome!




At the concert. The ushers were so very nice at showing us to our seats but kept telling us that we couldn't take pictures. (Seriously, what was up with THAT?!) I slyly took this picture when no one was looking...

Actually, there were sooooo many people taking pics and videos with cameras and phones the ushers finally gave up. But this is the best I could do in the low light and my little camera. Sadly, shortly after this shot, it (camera) pooped out on me. :(



I wish I had been this close.




Me and Matt at the concert. Matt Kearney was one of the bands who opened for Keane. He was incredible! I think I have added a new favorite to my list. He sounds so much like Cold Play...



My friend, Rochelle and I. I tried to get her to go with me four years ago and she couldn't. I'm so glad that she was able to go this time!

What a great night and AMAZING concert!!!!


A huge, HUGE thank you to my sweet sister-in-law, Lori and brother-in-law, Scott who watched the girls for us so that Matt and I could go. The girls had an absolute BALL with them!!!! Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!! Love you!

I am a happy girl

Two of my very good friends from Payson came up to spend the weekend with us. It was a "working" visit and YES, we WORKED until our little voices were RAW (not really, but we did work hard).

I am singing with Carey Heaton and Dawn Garret, two amazing voices and wonderful friends of mine, at the Relay For Life in Payson on June 12th. We have been working over the last few months to get our songs ready and have been trying to practice as much as possible. But when you live 150 miles apart that is difficult to do. Having them come up here this weekend was a BIG HELP to our progress not to mention a total BLAST!!! Oooohhhhh, I LOVE having friends and family visit us! (hint, hint, hint....). We were able to get all of our songs recorded, rough versions of them at least and we practiced our guts out. It was so much fun - I just love these guys! We got a little wild and crazy with the Karaoke singing one night (Carey - s'okay if I post your ABBA dance? Lol!) Dawn's daughter, Meg also came up which was fun as well! I thought she would be totally bored, but she wasn't! She sat there and listened, watched or practiced right along with us!




On Saturday everybody took a break to go and support Shannon and Ellie at their very first soccer games! Shannon has never played until this year but has caught on quick and is loving it.


Shannon playing Goalie


Ellie was really excited about her game, but didn't know what to expect (all her practices have been rained out so far)! At half time she came up to me and said, "Mom, soccer is HARD." Yep.



Because the weather has been so horrible lately the field was still pretty mushy and she got her pink soccer socks dirty... she was NOT happy about THAT.


We all got a sunburn... it was awesome. FINALLY Spring is here.


After the soccer games we came back to the house and got to work... after that is, we went to lunch and did some necessary shopping. Matt was home from school and was anxious to help us do some recording. He waited and waited and waited... so patiently until we were ready to lay down some tracks!! We worked until MIDNIGHT. It was exhausting but also so rewarding to be able to hear our hard work pay off.

Matt at the controls...


It's been a great weekend. I am so grateful for these two girls - they are such wonderful examples to me and are both so talented!! Thanks to their families who sacrificed in order for them to be able to come up here this weekend (Brandon and Kirk - you guys are SUPER-DUPER!) Thanks girls for making the drive and sacrificing YOUR time and energy to do this with me!

We always have to do a "crazy face" picture. It's tradition.

Growing...up?

This was an actual conversation between me, Shannon and Christopher on our way home from Layton this afternoon.

Christopher: "Mom, I've got armpit hair!"

Me: I look at him in the rear view mirror, with a "huh?" expression on my face.

Christopher: "No, REALLY mom. I've got armpit hair. A BLACK one." He says this proudly like it's been his life long wish.

Me: "Wow." I say with little enthusiasm. I'm not quite sure where this is going...

Christopher: Throwing off his seat belt and jumping up on the console between the two front seats. "See look!!!" He proceeds to pull up his t-shirt to reveal a bare armpit...

Me: "Christopher, I am DRIVING. I can't look."

Christopher: "LOOK! See!!"

Shannon: "That's just peach fuzz."

Christopher: "It is NOT! It's armpit hair! Look, you can see it, it's BLACK.
Look mom!!" Now he is pinching the skin to make it easier for me to view.

Me: I steal a quick glance. I don't see anything. I look one more time and see a patch of peach fuzz.

Shannon: "There's nothing there! It's just fuzz!" She is giggling now.

Christopher: "There is too you can see it! What would you know anyway?!"

Shannon: "That's nothin." She pulls up her sleeve to reveal....

Christopher: "Oh!! OOOHHHHH!!!!! YUCK!! THAT'S SOOOO GROSSSSSS!!!!!"

Shannon: "Now THAT is armpit hair."

The End.

Ouchie

We spent the better part of our evening last night in the ER with Shelby.

SHE'S OKAY.

But... has an injured right arm. Possibly broken, but they can't see a fracture on the x-ray so they think it might be on the growth plate.

Let me back up.

Matt has been working hard to put together an awesome recording studio for me over the last few weeks. (Another post for another time.) He had just got a few new components hooked up and had asked me to come back to the office/"recording studio" to try it out. Shelby and Ellie were trying to sit "quietly" on the couch in the room with us while Matt and I did some testing. Anyway, at some point Shelby got restless and started trying to stand up and Ellie's big-sister-wanna-be-helpful switch kicked in. Somehow in trying to prevent Shelby from toppling off the couch head first, Ellie twisted Shelby's arm and it "popped" (according to Ellie).

This is where the crying (the kind you KNOW is not good) started and didn't stop. It wasn't long before we knew we needed to have her checked. Matt jumped on the phone to see what the after-hours dispatch said and we got the biggest run around! We finally just decided to take her to the ER.

The doctors (yes, multiple doctors checked her out. It must have been a slow evening in the ER) looked her over and suggested that her elbow might have been yanked out of socket. (Nurse-maid elbow) So they did the painful adjustment to fix it. Supposedly if that is the problem, the patient generally responds well after they adjust it (10-15 minutes and they begin to use the arm again.) Shelby did not. She cried harder and still would not use her arm (even after multiple efforts using suckers and popsicles). So then we headed to radiology. Let me tell you how much fun THAT was. The one good thing, she didn't move her arm while they were doing all the x-rays.

The x-rays came back okay. No visible fracture, but with her still in a lot of pain (they tried ANOTHER elbow adjustment. No cigar.) they concluded that there could be a fracture on the growth plate which would not show up on the x-ray. So they put her arm in a fiberglass splint, added a cute little sling, some IBP and orders to make an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor. She will remain in the splint until Monday when we see the orthopedic doctor for a follow up and probably another set of x-rays.

She had a pretty good night, considering. (I however, slept very little. Perks of being a worry-wart.) She is doing well this morning, still favoring her sore arm, trying to rip off the sling and the splint. Never a dull moment!

Update on the situation

It was like Christmas morning when the girls got up today.

They rushed out at the crack of dawn to see if Rosie/Pepper/Bell/Jazzy/Trixie (they haven't quite decided which one yet) was still there.

They were ELATED to see her curled up on the pillow they put out for her. It was an answer to their prayers!! (Seriously, they said several prayers about this last night.) A confirmation that RPBJT now belongs with us!!

I will say she seems to be a good dog. She doesn't bark much, sits when she's told, doesn't nip, isn't hyper-active and she's kinda cute-looking...

Crap.

Trouble

Remember this post??

Matt found a stray puppy in the storage units tonight. Shannon has been on cloud 9 ever since. She has named her, fed her, made a bed for her, played with her NON STOP and is begging, BEGGING to keep her. I'm in trouble. My NO PETS ALLOWED rule is starting to crumble...

A few kid updates

This guy turned 14 last month. Don't you just love the look?? He's sure grown up a lot in the last year. Every time I talk to him his voice has dropped another pitch or two...



Shannon participated in the Solo Music Festival this year for the first time. She earned a "Superior" rating from all three judges and was nominated for the Honor Recital!! She is so talented and writes a lot of her own music. Did I mention she's only 11??



Such a classic "Ellie smile"! She is such a wonderful helper and loves to take care of Shelby.



This little girl has learned to walk, run and climb, she has sprouted three teeth, can say "gink, doo doo (thank you), uh oh, ssssat (what's that), yes, da-da, mommmma, ya-ya and a few other words that I haven't figured out yet.

Time to make a come back

Oh the guilt.

I've been in a funk lately and haven't wanted to blog. I just kept going back and forth as to what to blog about all the time?? Do I just blog about what we as a family have been doing? Do I blog about what's on my mind? And trying to make it readable/funny/interesting can be SO MUCH WORK... UGH.

I gave it up for awhile just to see if I could, just to see if I missed it.

I did, and I didn't.

BUT. I feel so guilty reading the blogs of my family and friends - KNOWING how much effort it takes (please tell me it takes effort for you to blog a post or is it post on your blog?) to write and here I am all hungry and getting fed and not giving back to the blogosphere. (I also noticed that my stats have dropped quite a lot during this "lull". Not liking that much either.)

So here I go again!!



One of my good friends turned 40 last week and we celebrated it with style! (Next time you want to have some fun, put on a wig and go out to dinner and then go play laser tag.) Here we are getting ready to go kidnap Kerri (the beloved b-day girl).



Surprising her at her house. She is donned with a wig, glasses and "40 is FOXY" t-shirt courtesy of her lovely friends.



In our limo-van!! Amber (driving) DeAnna (front seat), Janna (brown fro) and Amy (purple bob)



Leslie and Sarah are channeling Sunny and Cher.




Cami and Tara... I have nothing funny to say about this picture.




Tour-guide Barbie... I mean DeAnna


Kerri is the oldest out of our little group, but you'd never guess. Not only does she NOT look it... she doesn't act it either!!!


At dinner. (We had a lot of fro's going on that night!)



This is the secret of how she stays so young looking.



Playing laser-tag after dinner. AWESOME. Except that I should have taken off my high-heeled boots. They made running around and dodging laser beams tricky.



Wigs + Friends + B-days = FUN TIMES