Drive Out With The Sun In Your Eyes

Yesterday James and I saw Band of Horses play in Bristol, I booked the tickets over six months ago so it had been a long wait!  James was happy to go with me, but confessed that he knew not of the joys of Band of Horses.   I played him some songs and he promptly declared 'Oh I know that band, you play them all the time in the kitchen!'.  It seems I can spread good music into the subconscious while cooking.

Before we set off on our first-date-since I-don't-when, our eldest offspring questioned whether we should be going a concert on the sabbath.  My response involved the following: 'We're not skipping church.'  'It is in the evening.'  'There was no other date locally.'  'I think that going to see people share their God-given talent is a good thing.'  Ben decided this was indeed an OK thing for us to do.  Phew!

James was introduced to the way I like to attend gigs, unfortunately for him it involved queueing for a little over an hour to ensure we had a good spot.  James doesn't like to queue for anything (especially in below freezing weather), but he got over that pretty quickly when we bagged ourselves front row views.

Observations:

- The first support band was Goldheart Assembley; I have their album already so it was a good surprise to see them live.  I also love that they used an oil drum as part of their percussion:

- Beards and moustaches rock:

- Bill the bass player looks like Napolean Dynamite's dodgy uncle. Here's a quick video of Bill being awesome:

- I have never seen so many guitars lined up to be played, there was a change of guitar for nearly every song.  (I also think red guitars are awesome!)

- Mr Bridwell held me spellbound for nearly two hours, my face hurt from grinning so much.

- Tyler is one tall bloke and he reminded me of the B.F.G when he sat down to play:

 

I think James now gets why live music makes my soul happy!  Why don't you make your soul happy and watch this video I took of Evening Kitchen?

Re-Use

I like to make things.  I also like to try to find a use for items sat around collecting dust.  A friend of mine had some old concert t-shirts she no longer wore, but didn't want to part with (good memories!).  I suggested that I turn them into pillows... and here's how they turned out: 

I love t-shirt pillows, they feel so soft... I may have to make some for myself now!

Saris And Bhajis

Last night we held an 'India Night' for our Relief Society meeting.  An Indian sister in our stake moved to England with her family 11 years ago and we invited her to talk to us about her homeland.  I love to learn about different cultures and I was enraptured with descriptions of Sister Braganza's traditions; the way older people are respected, wearing wedding rings on toes, Rangoli art, henna tattoos and so on.  We had a taste of some wonderful food and of course, we got to try on some beautiful Saris.  I defy you to tell me that anyone wearing a Sari doesn't look beautiful.  In fact, I rather wish I had one!

The highlight of the evening for me was when Sister Braganza told us of her conversion to the gospel.  It started with an arranged marriage to a Latter-day Saint!  (I must confess my views on arranged marriages are very different now, Sister Braganza loves her husband dearly and her story showed a different side to the tragic tales we often read in the news.)  She was raised a Christian and had a testimony of her Saviour but had some questions that couldn't be answered.  Her future husband shared with her the Plan of Salvation and from then on she had discussions and was baptized two months after she was married.  Sister Braganza was the only member in an area double the population of London with the nearest temple to India being in Hong Kong.  The Indian saints often only make it to the temple once in their lifetime.  She and her husband wanted to be able to attend the temple regularly and to be sealed, so after much prayer decided to leave the country.  Three months later, after 9 years of marriage, they were sealed as a family in the London temple and made a home here.

I am humbled by their faith and dedication.  They moved COUNTRY so they could regularly attend the temple.  I am so thankful that I have the blessing of a temple four hours away, that I can go a couple of times a year and not just once in my lifetime.  I was reminded last night of the many blessings I have, and I am so thankful.

- I love this sister, she is Ethan's primary teacher and has always wanted to wear a Sari since she was a little girl.  Last night her dream came true:

Getting Back

The first two weeks of this year have been spent getting over swine flu and back into the school routine.  It's not been fun battling exhaustion and grey, rainy days so I decided to get happy and dig out my soldering iron and that piece of wood lurking at the bottom of my wardrobe to make something for the bookshelf.  Rosie chose the picture I should burn:

It did the trick, I feel much better and I'm ready to face the rest of the year!

My Favourite Gift

The present that surprised me the most and that I loved, was a book of jobs Ben would do for me around the house:

 Complete with pictures and terms and conditions:

Don't you wish you had one?