Happy Valentine's Day!

20 years ago when Paul and I were still in Salt Lake City, we went to the Utah Symphony's Night at the Movies. They played dramatic movie clips on a huge screen directly over the musicians as the symphony played the music score, live. Good gracious! It was wonderful! Some of the movie scenes they showed, we were familiar with; North by Northwest and Gone with the Wind, Oh! and the battle scene from Ben Hur, that was cool.

Of course they showed scenes from movies we hadn't seen too and my favorite, by far, was In a Rehearsal Room. So exquisitely beautiful, it made me cry, still does. It satisfies every romantic sensibility my little heart can muster. The exactness of the plucked violin, the harmony and seamlessness of the dancers moving together, the flower in her hair, the shawl hanging on the bar, even the widows are in twos! For heaven's sake, even Cynthia Gregory's name is romantic!

Doesn't she look like she's just stepped out of a Degas painting? The version they showed that night wasn't this short or pink and you can click here for the version we saw, it is even more romantic and wonderful, except that the sound and video quality are terrible.

I looked for a copy of this short film for years I even contacted the Utah Symphony with no luck. Of course, I finally found it on YouTube!

I've been saving it for Valentine's Day. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Wait! one more thing, Happy Valentine's Day my sweetheart. I love that my very happiest memories and experiences always include you.

Five Songs

Five songs that I was happy to hear on my iPod this week. In fact I played them all several times before I moved on.

Con te Partiro by Andre Bocelli

Calypso by John Denver

Undone by Weezer

Popular from Wicked

He Lives In You (Reprise) From the Lion King (here's the full song, no video)

This song is not a rebel song . . .

One day early in my freshman year of high school, Troy Thayne held up a cassette tape and asked me, "Have you heard these guys?" "Um, I don't think so." "You should listen to this." He handed me a cassette called U2-War, with instructions to bring it back on Monday.


It was Sunday afternoon, I was doing the dishes and I put the tape into my boom box and that was the first time I ever heard the song Sunday Bloody Sunday.

I LOVED IT!

It was different than anything I knew up until then. Although I didn’t know its meaning, it was obviously about a terrible day of war. Even more than the words though, was the way the singer was singing them, it was so beautiful and impassioned and full of genuine feeling. It was poetry to me and I couldn’t get enough. I was changed and the way I saw and listened to music was different after that.

Monday night was wonderful, Paul and I went to see U2 at the new Cowboy’s Stadium. The stadium itself is pretty incredible, it seats 100,000 people and is so enormous it makes the football field look and feel small. Paul and I got a great a deal on tickets and I was afraid we would be stuck behind a column or something but we could see everything!

They didn’t sing as many older songs as I had hoped and I wished that I was more familiar with their newer stuff but I was just so much fun to be there!

I told Paul beforehand that if they only played one song I liked, I would choose Sunday Bloody Sunday. They played it and Wow! The euphoria of singing that song along with 100,000+ people at the tops of our lungs was mind-blowing! (Yes, if you must know I did in fact harmonize with The Edge.) I drank in every second!

I love those times when it feels like I've come full circle. That concert, that song, was one of those times. What an amazing night!

There's nothing you and I won't do . . .

I Melt With You
By Modern English

For Valentine's Day last year Paul downloaded every version of this song he could find for me. My favorite is a actually a piano solo. We emailed Cory Gabel, who wrote it and asked if we could buy the sheet music. He said it wasn't for sale, at least not yet.

This is the sweet 80's video



Updated (and more watchable) video

Almost the last one . . .

Forever and Ever Amen
By Randy Travis

This song was realeased right after we were married. It always brings back happy memories.

Our Songs # 9

Thank You
By Dido

Our song #9

Your Love is King
By Sade

Our songs # 8

Arrested
By Rupert Hine (Better of Dead soundtrack)

Our songs #9

I Only Have Eyes For You

By The Flamingos



At the last military ball we went to, after everything was cleaned up and everyone else but the the D.J. had gone, Paul and I danced alone on the giant dance floor to this song.

Our songs #7

You had to know The Cure would be in here some place.



Pictures of You
By The Cure

another love song

U2 All I Want Is You

This is another one from when we were first married. We have both loved U2 since forever. Of all our U2 favorites, this is the best love song.

When Paul was in Iraq I couldn't stand listening to this. For months after he came home, I could listen to it, but not without sobbing into my hands.

The video for this song is too weird, so this is a live performance. I'm not sure when it was recorded but it must be older because Bono isn't wearing his sunglasses.

Two more love songs

We love Peter Gabriel.

In Your Eyes

This has been one our favorites for years and years. This is the original video. I think the it is distracting (I find all of Peter Gabriel's videos distracting) but this is definitely one of our songs. We love it.




The Book of Love always makes me cry. This is a more recent addition to songs we love and I 'm sorry it is connected to a not so great movie but we love it. I couldn't find a good video for this. I like that this shows the lyrics.

Our songs

I'm feeling romantic this month, thought I'd share a few songs with you.

INXS Never Tear Us Apart

They came out with this song just after we were married. The video made us laugh last night when we were looking things up on You Tube, because we remember it being very, very cool.

We love this song.



We love that this was filmed in Prague; of course we didn't know that back then. We recognized it last night.

At one point we only lived 3 hours away from Prague and visited there several times. We were visiting the Jewish cemetery in the video when 3 year old Daniel wandered off. He was missing for about 30 minutes. I found him about 3 blocks away after we had looked all around that cemetery and called the police. Some very kind people had found him and were keeping him in their store. They heard me calling him and they came out and motioned that they had him. They had called the police too.

Not a very happy memory but one that makes up the last 20 years for us.

When I took Jordan and Jenny Bushman to Prague we had to smuggle tiny Dan out of the country. (A story for another time.) Dan has quite a history in the Czech Republic. Maybe he'll serve his mission there.

Geroge Winston

When I lived with Mark and Robin, we went to their friends' home one evening and they were playing a record, yes a record, of piano solos by George Winston, called December. I LOVED it and bought it. I still own the record, yes the record, it's up in the attic. I thought about it every year and wanted the CD but I just never bought it. The other day I asked Paul to find it for me and he bought the Silver Anniversary edition (am I really that old?) on iTunes.

When the kids came home from school I said, "You've got to hear this." I played Carol of the Bells for them and before it was over Paul was online trying to find the sheet music for it. I happily bought it for him.

This is Carol of the Bells



This is Variations on the Canon

Unto Us a Child is Born

When I was a teenager, we would get extra credit in choir when we joined in the community performance of Handel's Messiah at the St. George Tabernacle. Although some of the solos seemed a little long I LOVED it!! There is just nothing like being a part (insignificant, though I may have been) of something so exquisitely beautiful.

My very favorite Christmas song ever is For Unto Us A Child Is Born, from The Messiah. We were listening to this in the car on the way to church and I tried to hit a couple of the high notes. I used to be able to . . . not anymore. Anyway, this is the Christmas song I listen to first every year, and I cry every time.

I like that this shows the singing parts so I can sing along . . . when no one else is home.

Carol of the Bells

Paul and I saw this as an animated short before a movie we saw, way back when we were still just Paul and I. I have been thinking about this fondly for a long time but had not seen it since then. I LOVE being able to find stuff like this on the Internet.

Now, I remember this being a lot funnier but it still cracks me up when he's looking around for another mallet.

Jenny I got your number . . .

One night Sara and I and a friend, I can't remember who, decided to call 867-5309. (I know, can you believe we were so clever?) Where did we ever come up with that idea? We called and were told that this was a long distance number and that we needed to add the area code first. So we called 801-867-5309.

"ring, ring"

"Hello."

"Hello is Jenny there?"

"YOU BETTER STOP CALLING US!! #$*&! IF YOU CALL AGAIN WE ARE GOING TO CALL THE POLICE!!" Click.

Robin got a cell phone yesterday.