6th Day of Christmas

By Alyse Neibaur

I just finished up teaching piano for the week, working with those wonderful kids inspired me to comment today on one of the most meaningful things to me music. It can reach in and touch my heart in a way nothing else can. It has the power to heal and express emotions I at times cannot say any other way. Berthold Auerbach said it best, "Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

Whether it is rock, classic, country, pop, gospel, or any other kind of music you prefer the magic is still the same.

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done

5th Day of Christmas

When I was in Nashville last month for the ARVC Convention I saw a poster that made me think. (I have looked all over and can't find a copy of it :( ah well.) It showed a freeway with many exit and road signs. But as you looked at the words on the signs they did not make any sense. It was a poster for the Literacy Campaign and the words on the bottom half of the poster talked about how over one in five people in Nashville are functionally illiterate. This percentage just blew me away. I figure I spend at least 25% of my life reading something, whether it be a book or a work ad or emails or blogs; to not be able to do any of those things........

Some of my oldest memories are sitting by my dad listening to him read to us at night. Reading has always been an escape for me. It is one of my greatest joys and I cannot imagine what it would be like to not be able to read. There is always at least one book on my bedside table, one in my car and several scattered around the house. This last year I have also taken to listening to more books on tape/cd while I drive in the car or work around the house. But, I always consider these as a supplement not the only way to get a story. So I am very grateful for growing up with a love of reading in all its' forms and the ability to indulge it.

4th Day of Christmas

So, I stepped funny on my right foot yesterday and now it is killing me. I am desperately hoping that I didn't break my toe, (it made a funny popping sound at the time). This, in conjunction with seeing the Body Worlds exhibit in SLC yesterday leads me to my 4th Day of Christmas.

I went with Dad, Shawn, Alyse, Scott, Erik and Grandma to The Body Worlds exhibit. It is plastination of real human bodies so you can see how the body functions. It was absolutely fascinating. If you haven't seen it yet I suggest you take the time. http://theleonardo.org/bodyworlds/index.php As I explored this exhibit yesterday it made me appreciate again how complex and utterly intriguing my body is. Even though I have had many medical problems in my life I still take things like my heart beating for granted. I am awed by the miracle that is my body and so happy I am fairly healthy and can enjoy doing physical things like skiing, running or even shoveling the snow.

3rd Day of Christmas

The post is a bit late, time wise, today. I am in recovery mode from the last week. It was fun, but tiring. Still, thank you to everyone who came to Alicia's Bridal Shower last night. My camera was being weird so she took most of the pictures. (Yes, Alicia was behind the camera, it was somewhat frustrating. *Big Grin*) I will try to get the pictures from her tomorrow and make an additional post then.

In celebration of the 3rd Day of Christmas I want to stick with the theme of family for one more day. On Christmas Eve I got a very special gift from my dad. We were sitting around discussing family and he was asking which of us kids had recently read his dad's (my Grandpa Neibaur's) autobiography. He thought us kids each had copies, he went up stairs to his office and found 3 copies with dedications to Alicia, Shawn and I. (My dad is not trying to scan one in and find the other copies.) In the font is a dedication to me which reads in part, "May God ever bless you. I love you." Having this message from my grandpa, who has been gone for many years now, was incredible touching. I miss my grandparents who are gone but this holiday season is full of wonderful memories and I am so grateful I lived close enough to have so many memories of them.

This Christmas Grandma Joan (my mom's mom) is in town for the holidays. She is so strong and has so much experience I don't tell her often enough how much she means to me and what an inspirational lady I think she is. I had a wonderful time playing cards and just chatting with her this last week. All together I have truly been blessed to be surrounded by a wonderful family. I know many people do not have families like mine and I want them to all know how much I love them.

2nd Day of Christmas

So yesterday I had the privilege of going to my friends Dustin Parmley and Nicole Mullen's wedding. They got married in the LDS Logan Temple and then had a dinner and dancing at a wonderful small house a few blocks away. We got up there just a bit late for the dinner but they were very understanding about our tradiness. She was gorgeous and they looked blissful. They are wonderful together and I wish them all the best. However, if any of my friends again decide to get married in Logan in the winter I will wish them all the best and say have fun without me. :-) It took us over 3 hours to drive the normal 1 and 1/2 hour drive up and about that long coming home. The freeway was frozen and I decided that I am not that happy to be driving on ice in my little Prius. Thankfully we caravanned with dad in his Toyota Tonka Toy and so I knew if anything bad happened they would be there to help.

This leads me to my 2nd Day of Christmas. Since I talked about the women in my family I am sure you can guess what I am going to talk about today. My Men! Dad was a sweetheart yesterday and danced with me at the reception. He always wants me to be happy, even though he is not sure how to help with that, he does his best to "fix" my problems. He is so supportive of his children and I am so blessed to have him as my father.

I have four wonderful brothers and one almost brother. Shawn is working so hard to be a great father and husband. When I look at him I am so proud of the adult he has become, he recently finished his degree at UVU before going to UofU this winter. I hope he knows how impressed I am by him. Scott is my sanity. I am so grateful to have him in my life. I was joking with Alicia the other day that the man I marry someday will not only have to compete with my dad but with Scott as an ideal. I am trying to make a mental change when I look at Matt and Erik. Matt is still one of the sweetest most loving people I know and watching him be an adult with a family is an amazing experience. Erik is so mature for his age and he is so intelligent. I love talking with him and getting to know the adult he is becoming. Jesse I am still getting to know. But, I love him because he makes Alicia glow. I hope as the years progress I will get to know him better and come to love him for himself.

Thanks to all the men in my family for loving me and making me a better person.

1st Day of Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Holly by Alyse Neibaur

So the Christmas scenery was great; however, whenever I think I want a white Christmas I am going to try to remember this year. :) We have over two feet of snow on the ground and my car doesn't like it. :( I keep having to watch the low clearance, I have never had these worries the three previous years I've had my car. I spent several hours yesterday shoveling the stuff my dad's four-wheeler couldn't plow. I am a mite sore today. Ah well.

Christmas was wonderful, and I will do a post with pictures and details in the next few days. But, I wanted to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas by doing a special blog every morning. So on the first day of Christmas the thing I'm grateful for is the amazing women in my family.

My mom is my best friend, she so strong, caring and all around wonderful. Rosie is an inspiration to me even though she is so far away. I miss her and hope she knows how proud I am to be her little sister. Alicia is so patient and thoughtful. I know I sometimes get frustrated with her when she wants everything so planned out. But really, that is one of her great strengths. So, sorry about my lack of patience sometimes. :)

My other sisters I acquired through marriage and love. (So while my little brothers can be little brothers at times, I have to be grateful for the women they have married! :) ) Alyse is so talented and I know she doesn't always realize it. She's a wonderful mom, a great wife and an amazing artist. (Thanks again for letting me put up your Holly Elf.) Heather is a wonderful person so fun and willing to talk to me for hours. I am excited to continue to get to know her better. LoriAnn is my sister through love and experience. Thanks for always being there to listen.

I am so blessed to know such amazing women and to call them family. I hope the first day of Christmas is great for them too.

Dancing!!!

I love Dancing with the Stars! Okay, so I know that I am a bit behind in this. But I am recording the last season (season 7) off the DVR and onto DVD. I just saw, again, Brooke & Derek get their first 10 in week 3 and Cody & Julianne do a great I Love Lucy inspired routine. There is something so fun about watching the stars progress and become great dancers. I am so spoiled to have a DVR and I watch way more TV than I used to because of it. But, I am glad I have the ability to watch shows like this again. I can't wait for the new spring season, I am sure it will be fun.

Wonderful Orlando Part One

So I took my first vacation days in over a year this last week. I went with mom to Orlando and it was lots of fun. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy the time with no work commitments. First we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. They had some really great holiday specials; there was a live stage show of Grinchmas. Unfortunately I forgot that first day that I had my camera so I have no pictures of that show. The music was done by Mannheim Steamroller and the show was hilarious. We also went on the water rides and got soaked. Luckily, it was fairly warm for December so it wasn't that bad to be wet.

The next day we went to Universal Studios Orlando. They had several of the floats from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was lots of fun.

My favorite float was this central park float. The skater was really on ice skates and she was skating to Christmas music while the float moved. I was really impressed.

Wonderful Orlando Part Two

The second half of our time we spent at my favorite place, DISNEY WORLD!!! Yeah! :-) Our first day there we spent the morning at Downtown Disney and playing in Disney Quest. That evening we did something new for us; at the Magic Kingdom they are doing a holiday special event where they close the park early and you need a special ticket to come in back in. It is called Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. They had some special shows, a fun parade and lots of the rides open! One of the shows was Mickey’s Night Before Christmas.


The best part was the warmth, the weather cooperated and they also had free hot chocolate and cookies (or cider and apple wedges for the health conscious), so we could be out and enjoy the evening. Also, even though the park was open until midnight, the time change let us enjoy it without being tired. They even decorated The Castle for Christmas. Wow!



The next day we went to all three of the other Disney parks. In keeping with tradition, while at EPCOT we ate a yummy meal at the Nine Dragons in the China Pavilion at Epcot followed by the Candlelight Processional and Massed Choir at the American Pavilion. The guest narrator for our show was Monique Coleman; she was a really good orator. Than we hopped over to the Hollywood Studios and saw the Osborne Dancing Lights Show, it was a very busy day.

We also went to the Blizzard Beach on Tuesday morning. That was so wonderful because it was in the seventies! It was weird and wonderful to get to go to a water park in December. Sadly, when we got off the plane that night it was in the low twenties. Talk about a change in the weather! All in all I had lots of fun and really enjoyed the down time.

Giving In :)

So I joined facebook last week and I am going to try this blogging thing. However, I will not promise how often I am going to update this. I am trying an experiment and if you want to come along with me than feel free to read on and check back occasionally.