2. Listen to this cool recording that was made in Halifax, NS. It will warm your heart! Thanks to Kathie for sharing the link.
3. It's been sunny and warm this week - and it actually feels like spring! The snow has been melting and it's even getting muddy in some places.
4. I was adventurous in the kitchen this week! Lots of good food cooked up and enjoyed :) Today we are having chocolate cheesecake as a birthday cake for our son-in-law Jonathan and tomorrow I'm serving a carrot cake jelly roll. I'll have lots of leftovers - if you'd like to drop over!
Just a little idea today from my friend, Linds, who recently wrote about some of her favourites. Favourite Movie: I have a few that come to mind: - Mary Poppins was the first movie I saw in a theatre when I was about 8 years old. It came to the old theatre in Wetaskiwin and I went as a guest of Daphne Ludwig, our pastor's wife, who was very British. I loved everything about the movie - and going to the theatre for the first time - and can still sing many of the songs by heart. - Love Story was the movie Bob and I saw on our very first date! There are so many things to remember and smile about when I reflect on that night. It was a double date with our closest friends at that time (R died just a short time later after a motorcycle mishap) and we were even stopped by the police on the way into the city!! Many, many years later Bob found a copy of the movie and gave it to me on Valentine's Day. - Dr. Zhivago still is a favourite with its beautiful scenery, dramatic love story and timeless music. - Any movie that stars Julia Roberts is at the top of my favourites list whether it's Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovitch or My Best Friend's Wedding. She's such an amazing actress! Favourite vacation/holiday: If you know me, you will know that I love traveling and would be gone monthly, if I could! And because I love it so, every trip is one-to-remember! - When our children were younger, we took a two-week trip to southern California, going via Montana, Yellowstone National Park, Bryce Canyon in Utah, the Grand Canyon in Arizona and on to San Diego and Los Angeles. It was truly the trip of a lifetime and we had so much fun together. I'm looking forward to going to Disneyland with our grandchildren someday. - When Darrin was just a baby we went to Jamaica for 10 days with friends. That was the first of many great vacations with many sets of friends. - Visiting the Great Wall of China, the commercial district of Hong Kong, Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, Innsbruck and Vienna in Austria, Prague in the Czech Republic, Krakow in Poland, Manaus in Brazil, Iguassu Falls on the SA borders, and Buenos Aires in Argentina - we have been so incredibly lucky to see so many wonderful places in the world. Each place had its own unique beauty and interesting people. - Traveling to Africa, driving on safari through Kenya and Tanzania, seeing Mount Kilimanjaro, cruising the Nile River and visiting temples and burial sites in Egypt, and then finishing in Zanzibar was an incredible month long adventure. I still am in awe that we actually did this trip! Favourite Book: The list of possibilities is ever increasing in this category! These come to mind: - The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Earth's Children series by Jean Auel - A Walk Across the Sun by Corbin Addison - Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah - Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks - Still Alice by Lisa Genova - The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister - The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rawling - The Silver Chalice by Thomas Costain Favourite Hymn: The hymns learned in my childhood are mostly committed to memory from singing them for years and years. Some of these were favourites of my grandmother too - she loved them and often sang in her native tongue, German. - What A Friend We Have In Jesus - Children of the Heavenly Father - I Come to the Garden Alone - one of my Dad's favourites - Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven - sung at our wedding - Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Me - Just a Closer Walk with Thee Favourite Colour: I love colours - the brighter the better usually! Sometimes when I look around a group of people gathered, I wonder about myself in that way. - orange is my all time favourite - followed by yellow and green - in combination, I love teal and brown, grey and yellow, and red and black.
I recently received a copy of Alexis Cole's Christmas CD, The Greatest Gift, in the mail and I am happy to tell you that it's wonderful! If you like jazz and Christmas music, I'm sure it will become a favourite
of yours too.
Alexis has teemed with her Dad and a host of other musicians and technicians to produce this album. It has a mix of familiar carols and some new, original songs as well. I like the way they've redone
traditional songs and given them a very jazzy feeling. Some instrumental pieces are also included - the sax, percussion and flutes are outstanding. At times the music is reflective, at other times it's very upbeat and one piece has a distinct Asian feel (love track 5). The instrumental work is outstanding - even to my relatively untrained ear :)) My very favourite song, and the one that I keep humming after it's done, is the last track, "Jesus Is The Best Part of Christmas."
What I absolutely love about this project is that Alexis is donating 100% of the proceeds from
this album to World Bicycle Relief! Their mission statement is "providing access to independence and livelihood through the power of bicycles". Established in 2004 after the tsunami in Asia, 24,000 bicycles were shared in Sri Lanka and the project has now expanded to several African countries. While visiting Kenya and Tanzania this fall, I saw firsthand how having a bicycle impacts lives and provides opportunities to people. Instead of walking and having to carry everything, people are able to ride to work, to school, to medical care, and can haul food (even milk in cans!), water, building materials, charcoal and another person. This project is really and truly making a difference in the lives of people! Check it out and consider giving the fund your support.
And so I am happy to recommend this CD tell you that I will be purchasing some of them to share with music lovers that I know. Please look for Alexis' album and try it for yourself. Here's one song for you to enjoy!
Thanks to Adam at Two Sheps That Pass, a marketing and consultation company, who contacted me and sent the CD to review. This was a first for me!
Oprah's Christmas music show today featured this amazing song! The first bit of the video shows another song - stick with it to hear "What Child Is This", sung with amazing emotion. It's so good!
We are just home from the Josh Groban concert and it was FANTASTIC!!!! I would go again in a heartbeat. Such good, good music from an amazing singer!! I loved every minute of his show.
The video show backdrop was really well done, complimenting each song beautifully.
Josh talked about his experiences in Africa and the impact they made on his life. The video here showed images from the trip. My favourite song in this section was "Lullaby" that he worked on with Dave Matthews.
He played to both sides of the crowd using stairs on each side and for one song even started way up in the crowd.
Thanks to flickr for these images. I didn't think to take my cellphone to take pictures - next time I'll be prepared! If I was really smart, I'd link you to YouTube so you could hear a song but that's not happening yet.
I just ordered tickets for Josh Groban's concert in Edmonton!!!! I love his singing and we haven't been to a concert for ages so we are going to take our friends for their 10th wedding anniversary celebration in August. It's going to be so much fun!!!!
