April Birthdays

Happy 11th, Didi!

Top 11 reasons why the world is a better place since the birth of Didi Lovell, who was born 11 years ago this month:

1.  When she was born, we knew our kids wouldn't be all boys.  That was exciting!  We were hoping for at least one of each : ).  (We ended up with 2 of each, which of course was doubly exciting!)
2.  She adds one more soft voice to the world.  There are definitely plenty of loud people out there, and very few soft-spoken people.  Her tenderness is a rare treasure.
3.  Her gorgeous smile, bright eyes, and not to mention her amazing waist-long hair, add real beauty to our world!
4.  She is confident in her singing talent and is willing to share it with those around her--we can't wait to hear her perform the singing role of Kaa the Snake in her school musical in a few weeks!

5.  She loves our Heavenly Father and cares about following his commandments, which makes the world a safer and happier place for everyone!
6.  She speaks kindly to everyone.  She is a great friend to have!
7.  She is intelligent--getting straight A's in school!  So whether she decides to perform, calculate stuff, keep records, teach people stuff, or help people out both now and in the future, we can all trust that she's going to be smart about her choices and we'll all be better off for her service!
8.  She is thoughtful!  She always writes me nice letters when I am sad, and she makes fun and beautiful gifts for other people when she is feeling artsy and crafty.  You can always count on Didi to lift your spirit when she's around.
9.  She joins me in my hobbies and responsibilities, which gives me the blessing of companionship. Stamping classes, cooking in the kitchen, anything crafty...recently we made clay figures together, and we are looking forward to using her Shrinky Dink stuff that she got for her birthday.  Fun!  She likes to shop with me (we both love to shop together at the thrift stores), and walk with me to go places.  I love having her by my side!
10.  She adds music to our world!  I already talked about her beautiful singing voice, but you should hear her play the piano!  She's going to put on some truly amazing concerts someday.  For now, I just love hearing her master song after song.  Her piano playing talents are truly a gift!  (Her saxophone chops are brand new, but also coming along nicely : ).)
11.  She is sensitive and kind, beautiful and happy, organized and pays good attention to detail when finishing any task, she's creative, funny, smart, helpful, and amazing!  Our world is definitely blessed by the presence of our Didi!

birthday gift in the box:  "good kids"

And now, on to our second birthday person of the month--JAZZ.  Instead of writing out 37 of the reasons we are all lucky to know Jazz (that might take too long), I'll just offer 11 favorite reasons as they come to me, as I did for Didi.  Here goes nothin'...

1. His amount of gray hair makes the rest of us feel younger, ha ha!
2. He has great piano chops.  He's even willing to share them as accompanist now of the ward choir!
3. He still has saxophone chops, when he needs them. 
4. He is the world's best husband!
5. He loves his parents and siblings, nieces, nephews...he cares about all of them deeply and tries to stay in touch with them. 
6. He is an amazing father.  So loving, fun, and a great teacher of values.
7. He is fun to talk with on the phone!
8. He is Superman.  Where would the world be without him?

 ice cream on chocolate waffles doesn't hold candles well

9. He understands the scriptures and the gospel and helps me understand them.  He lives the gospel and is a worthy priesthood holder.  We are all blessed by his righteous example.
10. He is willing to fulfill his callings in the church to the best of his ability, even when it's hard!  (Right now he wonders if there is anything more challenging than his current calling--Primary teacher of the 5 year old boys!)
11. He is a great scholar!  The world is about to find out what a great researcher, writer, and reporter he is--as he is soon to have his dissertation published.  Can't wait!

And one more 'cause he deserves this big bonus shout-out:

12. He is a favorite professor among his students.  I'm not kidding! Time and time again, students have come to him and thanked him for his guidance, even after times when he has had to be tough on them.  One student said these things in an email to him this week:

  "I just wanted to take the time just to say thank you. Thank you for all that you have done for me specifically to become a better musician... I never thought theory would be fun, or interesting but I just wanted you to know that you have made it this way.  ...[Other students and I] want your approval more than more than any teacher, student or mentor on this campus.
     "So again, thank you for your patience through our struggles as musicians, students and young adults. I will always be grateful for your input and knowledge. I hope that in the years to come you will always be a resource and mentor to me as I build my path of musicianship."

Wow!  Way to go, Prof. Lovell! 

So happy birthmonth to our two April-ites.  We LOVE you so much!!

Who Moved My House? Part II

Since I had some major plans fall through this week (missed my flight and had to cancel a 4-day trip--boo hoo!), now's probably a great time for me to get to write this post that I've been wanting to write for weeks.   Here's the rest of the story that I started by telling of my childhood homes...now on to my grown-up homes.

PROVO, Utah*--It's 1992, I'm in college now, and living on my own for the first time.  I got to live in the dorms my first year, so I remained naive a little longer to the life skills of shopping and cooking for myself, etc., but at least I managed to work a part-time job while I studied.  My first job was in this very stadium, in the concession stands.  Good times!  I can still remember trying not to lick my fingers when selling those yummy cinnamon and sugar-coated churros.  I don't think I ever got used to the winter weather there, but who wouldn't want to look at those beautiful mountains every day?!  Gorgeous.  I lived in Provo for almost my entire college career, until I got married (which came in my 5th year of studies).  I just want to finish my Provo segment by saying that the BYU campus is my favorite place on earth.  It has everything I would ever want from the world--superb music & other arts, racquetball (& a few other sports), education (of course), an amazing library, religion, and the BYU Bookstore is something like I would imagine the mall in heaven to be like ; ).  I LOVE BYU.  I hope my kids get to go there!
 *Before I/we left Utah for New Jersey, Jazz and I also lived awhile in Springville and Orem, but those really aren't too different from Provo.  Except that now I was a newlywed, and a couple years later a mother, so of course that was a whole new world!

Paella de Marisco--yum!

SPAIN--Madrid, Salamanca, Leganés, Toledo: In the middle of my college years, for 17 months I had the privilege of living in Spain as a missionary for our church.  I got to work in 5 different areas (2 in Madrid), and once a week if we didn't have too many other responsibilities, we missionaries were able to play tourist just a little bit.  Some of my very favorite things I loved seeing or experiencing while I was there were the windmills in Castilla la Mancha, eating their delicious food, speaking their beautiful language of "Castellano", and meeting and growing to love the Spaniards.  I really miss them.  I loved the castles and the grandiose Catholic churches.  Oh, what I wouldn't give to return there someday to see it all again.
    Spain is indeed a glorious place...but when my mission was through, I was very ready to move forward and return to my native land.

Jazz 'n Jenna with our two babies in 2004

North Brunswick, NEW JERSEY--wow, I love the trees!  I finally understood why some people (not I) think Utah is a desert...hello POPCORN TREES in the spring! The shores (I had to unlearn the term "beaches") were great.  And we all learned by listening to those around us, how to say "How you doin'?" just like Joey on Friends.  We felt that the biggest perk to living in NJ was being close to all of the other northeastern states that have cool sites--like in Washington D.C., in New York City, and in Philadelphia.  So one might think most of our fun was had outside of the state itself, but I should at least give props to Rutger's University in Newark, which granted Jazz the title, "Master of Music" after he completed his degree there in Jazz History and Research.  Thanks, NJ!
       We were in NJ for 2 1/2 years for the completion of that degree, and when it was done, we made a quick stop back in Utah for 8 months before moving on to California (long story...in short, let's just say that the "2nd Master's Degree" plan at BYU didn't work out). 

Sacramento, CA Temple     (I got to sing at its dedication!)

Orangevale, CALIFORNIA-- Here we got to experience life outside of college for 2 1/2 years.  Jazz investigated studying at UC Davis, but that wasn't in the stars for us, so he got to work full-time as a piano teacher, and later I joined him in a family business for awhile selling cookware!  We started out living with Mom & Dad for a few months, and were excited later to have (rent) our very own house (not apartment!) with a great backyard.  The weather in California was a little too hot at times, but that's okay.  We thought of buying a house at one point, but, well, houses in California are just simply too expensive!  No worries, we weren't meant to stay in California anyway.  Hey, how about giving that doctoral degree one more shot?  The University of Oregon thought that was a great plan for us, and they said OKAY!

Eugene, OREGON--We planned on three years, but we stayed for five.  We were very happy there, living once again in student family housing!  There was quite a bit of culture shock when we first arrived to Eugene--some nuances we grew to love, others not so much.  We were definitely in the minority as practicing Christians, politically conservative, and sometimes we even felt like the minority being Caucasian (lots of foreign students shared family housing with us).  We learned to become more environmentally conscious (joined forces with the tree-huggers, just a little bit!), and living in Track-town USA taught me how to become a runner.  Very cool!   A few times we went to the beach the shore the coast, but it was usually too windy and cold. Springtime allergies here were a first for me (NOT fun), but the summers were PERFECT, the pink & red fall leaves were unbelievably awesome, and the rainy winters made me happy!  Like I said before, we were so happy there, but knew we were not meant to stay, and we were so happy to move forward once again...on to PA for...(drum roll...)...a NEW JOB!  Hooray!

PENNSYLVANIA--has introduced us to lush corn fields and country life, which is a beautiful change of scenery.  This is our "adventure in progress", and it's been lots of fun so far.  The kids are thriving in school here, and Jazz loves his job.  I'm fascinated with learning about the new-to-me cultures of the Pennsylvania Dutch, the Amish and Mennonite faiths, and feel so happy to no longer be in the minority as practicing Christians.  Mormonism isn't very prevalent here...yet...but I'm always up for the mission of sharing the gospel when I can : ).  The weather?  Except for the fluke catastrophes we experienced last fall (flash flood, earthquake, snow before Halloween), so far so good.  Last winter broke us in gently.  We think it's cool to be near Hershey (yum), and again close to our US history sites in D.C. and Philly, and all--there is much sightseeing to be done!  And a wonderful life ahead of us to be had, here in Pennsylvania.

      Will there be more moves?  Don't ask me.  For the first time in my life, there are no planned moves, and I'm just reveling in this new feeling of what it might be like to "settle down".  I'm not comfortable with that idea, really, so it's possible I'll get the itch again in a few years to pull out the cardboard boxes and go through the whole process again.
     Okay, I just remembered YES, we have one more move coming up, when we'll change from our rented home to owning our first, but that's not for a couple of years.
     Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is making its way into my heart as one of my many homes.  I feel luckier than most, to have so many!