Friday, November 28, 2008

A Wonderful Thanksgiving!

It's 8:00 AM on Friday morning, and I still feel like I am in a Turkey-induced Coma!!!! My darling niece and nephew are here today; they had a sleepover last night with Jaxon. So we are all up much too early. The only reason I would have wanted to be up any earlier is to do Black Friday shopping. But Chris had to work today, so we are going to do our shopping tomorrow! Hope there is still some good deals and stuff out there to purchase! I'm guessing there will be due to all that is going on in the economy, but still hoping I haven't missed out!


Back to Thanksgiving...it was absolutely PERFECT!!! My morning of cooking was stress-free and everything went flawlessly I'm getting all this Thanksgiving Meal cooking down to a science! Jaxon and I were all alone because Chris went to work to make his homemade rolls, yams, and his Virginian Corn Pudding! All the other kiddios were with their other parents this year, so it was pretty quiet around here. But Jaxon and I made great use of our time and he was such a big helper! We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and then Wall-E!!! Well, it was more Jaxon watching while I was cooking!!!! Nonetheless everything went as planned and before Chris returned home I had everything completely done, and all the tables set-up and decorated!



My entire family arrived around 2:00 and the festivities began. Again, with all our kids missing, it was pretty quiet. Even with Jaxon and his cousins here, it was still relatively quiet! Dinner was fantastic and everyone was very content!










Since the little one's finished quickly and ran away, the adults decided to share with one another the things that they were Thankful for. It was a wonderful way to end our dinner. There were several mentions of family of course, the blessings of living in a country where we are free to worship as we choose, being members of the church and the blessings of the Gospel in our lives, as well as living in a free country altogether. There were some very touching moments, and we all shared in each other's love and tears. It was really a special moment!



I thought I would share the things that I am most thankful for this year, as this has been one incredible year for me personally. First and foremost, I am thankful to be here today. Having gone through the possibility of cancer, and having to have a hysterectomy at the first of the year, I am just happy to be alive. That experience was one of the most difficult and most painful processes I have gone through, and at the time, I truly believed that it was my time to go. I know that I wouldn't have made it through without all the love and support of my family and all my wonderful friends. I have never felt so much love as I did during that four month period. I know that the Lord was blessing me, and that it clearly was not my time...I still had too much to accomplish in this life!

I am so thankful for my children. I'm especially thankful for all the doctors and specialists that have helped our Chasers. It's been a year now that he has been on his medicine for ADHD and he is a completely different child. Chase has always had such a huge heart, but he has struggled for so long emotionally. And we have finally been able to get him the help he needs. He has improved so much in school, and he is doing so much better. I love him so much! I miss him every day that he is not here.

I am thankful for the wonderful schools that Cydnee and Jaxon are attending this year. Their new schools and the incredible learning environment that they are have been such wonderful blessings to us. Jaxon is so in love with his school and his teacher. He never complains at all about going to his school. I am so thankful that he is no longer in daycare and is a loving and educational environment. I am thankful for my opportunity and freedom to have time to be a part of the kid's activities. I've never really been able to be this involved and I am so happy that I can be now.

I am so grateful for this incredible new opportunity that starting this new company is bringing to my life. It has been a complete joy for me to work and meet so many wonderful and talented people. I am thrilled to be utilizing my skills and talents in a new industry, and of course learning about a new industry altogether. This experience has been one of the greatest in my life. And the best thing is that it is all just beginning. I know that there is going to be so many more wonderful opportunities coming our way!

I am thankful for my friends. Again, this has been one of the most stressful and trying years of my life, and I just don't know if I would have made it through without their love and support. I am so blessed with so many wonderful friends who I love and love me in return. Whether they are here in Utah, or far away in Oregon, Virginia, and Atlanta, it matters not, I feel close to all of them every day!

I could not have a list of things that I was thankful for and not have my ward and the Gospel a part of it. The members of our ward have shown so much charity and love to me and my family this year. I am so thankful for our Bishop and Relief Society President. These two wonderful individuals have been there so much this past year and most of the time without having asked. They just show up, and always when I needed it most. For nearly three months while I was down from my surgery there were people I have never even met coming to my home to help clean, bring in meals, and help with Jaxon. I never had to worry about a thing. Every minute of every day was taken care of for me. I've never experienced such compassion before. I will be forever grateful for all that they have done for me and my family.

I am so thankful to have Melanie and her beautiful kids living with us. I am grateful for the opportunity to help someone in need, but I am receiving so many more blessings because of it. I love this family with all my heart and I love seeing them happy!

And last but not least, I am so thankful for my husband. We have struggled together more this year than any other year of our very short marriage. It has felt so many times like we just weren't going to make it. But I am so thankful that I know that there is enough love there to get us through. And I do love him. He is a wonderful father and I love how he loves the kids. We have learned what we must focus on in order to make it through this dark and dreary world, and it's when we lose that focus that we are struggling the most. If we can remember to always put one another first, and keep the Lord close to both of us, we can make it through anything.

It has been a wonderful holiday and just the kind of break that I needed. I am so excited for the rest of the weekend. Today I am breaking out the Christmas Decorations and tonight when Chris gets home we are going on the train to downtown and watch the lights at Temple Square come on. Then all day tomorrow Chris and I will be doing our annual Christmas shopping marathon. It's our favorite thing to do together and I can't wait. We actually will NOT be bringing Jaxon this time. He is much to aware of everything now, so this will be the first year that Chris and I get to do our shopping ALL ALONE! Woo Hoo!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving also! My love and thanks to all of you!!! Happy Holidays!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Thankful WEEK!

Well, it's been just over a week since my big announcement, and I can tell you it's been a whirlwind of a time. In fact I can't believe it's only been 10-days! Probably because nowadays, I am working more hours then there are in a day, and life just is crazy as ever! But we're trying to work through it.

Today is a rough, roller-coaster of a day, so forcing myself to stop and think about the things I'm thankful for right now is a good exercise for me. I'm already starting to feel better! So here goes...

1) A weekend alone with Chris and Jaxon! - One of the biggest challenges with all that is going on in our lives, and with as much as I have had to travel these past three months, has been staying focused on "us". So I am so thankful that this past weekend Chris and I were able to have "just-us" focused weekend with Jaxon. We traveled to Layton on Saturday, catching dinner on the way! Then spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express! Jaxon was so excited to be at the hotel. Sunday morning we slept in and had nice leisure morning. We had a late lunch at Cracker Barrel!!! Chris and I love going there at Christmas time and looking at all the Christmas stuff. We did that for over an hour before we even ate! We agree that Cracker Barrel is "the Devil"! After lunch we headed to Disney On Ice! We had great seats and Jaxon had a total blast! It was a great weekend and I was so thankful that we had this time together!





2) Learning a new business! - Though life is crazy, crazy, crazy due to all this business with the band, it truly is something I am thankful for. My trip to LA was quick and crazy! But it was all worth it. Attending the after-party Monday night was completely surreal! It was great to interact with so many people who are in this wild business and who also love Twilight! Additionally, the team I'm working with is incredible. It is very exciting to take skills learned and combine them with the talents of so many individuals. I am thankful for all of the opportunities this adventure is bringing to my family and friends.

3) A "Diamond in the Rough!" - I have more than once mentioned how difficult work has been the past several months. So much that I have a hard time finding the drive to keep pushing forward. This past week I had an associate out from Atlanta and we had a pretty rough couple of days. But having her here, her support and friendship was what got me through. I am thankful to have some sense of sanity in this crazy business right now.




4) Twilight! Twilight! Twilight Premiere! - It's not secret that I've been waiting for this night for over a year now. And I was not disappointed at all. I know everyone will have their own opinion, but 70.6 Million dollars in the opening weekend speaks Loudly!!!!! For the evening, my Twilighter Sisters and I all dressed up in Black & Red and met up late in the evening for a fantastic Italian dinner at Mark Anthony's. We took our time at dinner and enjoyed ourselves and the food thoroughly!!!! We headed to the theatre about an hour before the movie started and took in all the Twilight Frenzy! The movie was incredible and I loved every last minute of it. Rob Pattinson was as good as I knew he would be! Seeing the movie three times that day was the best medicine I could ask for! Twilight has brought so much enjoyment to my life this past year and a half! I am so thankful for the fun and excitement it's brought to my family and friends!!!! And we get to do it for three more movies! YES!!!











5) The Upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday! - I am so thankful that this coming week is a short work week, and that we get to celebrate Thanksgiving once again! We only have Jaxon this year, and so Chris and I hope to have a nice, long and relaxing weekend alone again! I can't wait to have my family over for our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, games and whatever! I love the kick-off of the Holiday season, and I love having all of my family over for the event! I'm excited to get Christmas out and the house decorated...and I can't wait for Christmas shopping with Chris. I love this time of year and this past year has been such a trying one! I'm excited to just focus on my husband and kids and make this another great holiday season!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Too Good to be True!!!!

Wow, I don't even know where to begin this blog! It's been a long time coming and it seems every day more and more happens that just makes this announcement all the more exciting for me! First I have to say thank you to everyone for playing along and being so patient. Whether you have posted your guesses online, via email, on Facebook, texting, or however, it's made this process even more fun for me! And I promise, I don't think you'll be disappointed with the end results! (Chris and I aren't at least!)

So here it goes! And funny enough, this post lands on a Thankful Thursday, which I haven't been able to do in a really long time; and today, I have a lot to be thankful about!

Why don't we start with some of the clues: 1) This is a life-changing opportunity for me; 2) Has to do with Twilight; 3) There was a line in Pink's song "So What!" that applied; 4) There was a connection to American Idol; 5) Has nothing to do with the Twilight Movie Premiere!

Now for some of the guesses:
1) I am going to run off with the lead singer of The Mitch Hansen Band and sell my wedding ring on the way to the next concert! (Nice!)
2) I am going to head up a CBS show based off of "Moonlight" (Oh I miss Mick!)
3) I am going to the Twilight Movie Premiere (There were lots of those!)
4) I am going to start a Edward Stalking Coven
5) I am going to Sing on American Idol (Clearly you people haven't heard me sing!)

The Truth!!!!! Are you ready???? (Just kidding!)

It goes something like this... About three months ago a friend of mine was perusing my blogs and noticed my recommendations made regarding The Mitch Hansen Band (Blog on April 27th) He called me up and asked me what I really thought about this group. Being the Twilight freak that I am, and well, I actually really loved the CD, I ranted and raved about it. Must have done a good job because it prompted my friend to make contact with Mitch Hansen. As it turned out Mitch produced his original CD all on his own out of his home was at the time unrepresented by a record label. And that's where my life has taken quite a drastic turn....

My announcement is that I am officially sharing partner in Harper Records and Harper Publishing. I have partnered with two incredibly talented gentleman here in the Salt Lake valley and we are now the acting record label owners of The Mitch Hansen Band. We have brought in a gentleman by the name of John Hancock who is a music producer who just finished production work on David Archuleta's album (Thus the American Idol reference) and his entire team to re-record an arrange a new CD for national publicatin and distribution.

My role over the past two months as been a plethra of managing the Public Relations, scheduling events, and acting as agent for the band. And as such, just this week I have secured an incredible alliance with a company known as TwiCon. TwiCon is the nations largest Event organizer for all Twilight related events. They will be holding a three-day convention in July in Dallas, Texas in which our band is going to be the headlining performing artist. Along with the actors from the movie, Stephenie Meyer, and so on, this is the Twilight event of the year.

To advertise this event, TwiCon is working with Summit Entertainment, the producers of the Twilight movie and this Monday, the 17th they are holding a Podcast in Los Angeles before the movie premiere. The PodCast will have all of the cast members (not to public knowledge to prevent mass frenzy) and the director of the movie. Additionally the marketing President of TwiCon will be on the panel and she will be announcing the confirmation of our band at the July Convention as well as the release of our album in three weeks!!!! Furthermore...We will be at the PodCast!
TwiCon and Summit are holding an after-Premiere party and WE WILL BE THERE MONDAY NIGHT!!!!!!!

I am beyond disbelief at this point at all that has come my way. Working in this industry has been a complete TRIP! Chris and I are trying to take this all in stride and of course we are not making any drastic changes to our lives as a result of anything. My partners and I all have been working on this "project" of our long hours into the night, every night for months now, and we know that one day it will all be worth it!

I have been blessed to meet some incredible people, first and foremost Mitch Hansen and Brent Cook. These two are so incredibly humble and I can't wait to share their talent, their story and their love for music with everyone. We will be posting pieces of their new album each week starting next week. So stay tuned. I would post some of it today, but we don't want it leaked! HA!!!!! (We know what happens when leakers get a hold of stuff! "Midnight Sun" anyone!)

I have posted new weblinks under "TWILIGHTERS WELCOME" to the Right side of my blog so that you can check out the events listed. Our Twilight Music Website and The Mitch Hansen Band website are all being completely redone and will be updated in the next couple of days. We have a huge contest going with the release of the CD!

Oh, speaking of contests...I said it would be worth it to participate in mine...

So after all the entries and all the patient waiting, Chris and I talked about it, and we felt, as did many of you, that the winner is Tiffiny! So Tiff, You will be joining the Band and I in July in Dallas at the TwiCon Convention. Check out the event sweetie! We're going to have one Hell of a Time!

Here are some photos from our photo shoot today that will be going in our press release on Monday! All except the one of Mitch and Cydnee. That's just the one she's taking to her 5th Grade class because her friends don't believe that her mom is managing "the band of Twilight!"

Enjoy!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

OME! Seriously!

Here is Robert Pattinson's Song from the "Twilight" Original Movie Soundtrack. Love it! Breaks my heart!


Tuesday, November 4, 2008

More Clues....

Okay, okay...Here are some more hints!

No, it is not a Celine Dion or a Pink Concert!

It does not have to do with the "Twilight" Movie Premiere!

It does have to do with Twilight, but only as a result of Twilight. (Remember to read my post on April 27th.)

When referring to a "life-changing" opportunity, it has to do with a Career opportunity!

It involves Talent, Production, and an American Idol!!!!

Monday, November 3, 2008

A little Incentive...(and with that perhaps a little clue)

Okay, so you guys are like total downers... ;-)


Here's a little incentive to my Contest since you clearly have forgotten that when Natalee says it will be worth playing...it will be worth playing!


If you correctly guess what my big announcement is than you and a guest will win tickets to a concert.


***Where the concert is???? I can't tell you!***
You have until Friday to post your guesses!!! So get going!


Oh and P.S. Make sure you list yourself as a "Follower" of this Blog Please! Thanks! (To the Right)