Awaken Possibility in Other People

I suddenly had the realization that the conductor of the orchestra doesn't make a sound. He depends for his power on his ability to make other people powerful....I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people....you know how you find out? You look at their eyes. If the eyes are shining you know you are doing it.

--Benjamin Zander

I highly recommend the whole talk, but if you cannot, start listening at 17:24.



I suspect this is what he envisioned...



Meet the amazing man who makes their eyes shine...



See their blog here

See their wikipedia link here

Loving This

I found this song on a blog I follow and I LOVE music that is written from the heart (and finding cool new artists).

First, I just like this song - just because, even if I didn't know this story.

Second, knowing the story certainly makes the flavor of the song even richer. The musician, Aaron Ivey has an adopted son, Amos, who is still in Haiti waiting to come home.

Now that you know the story listen, watch, and appreciate...



P.S. - Yesterday I came across a video on the Department of State's website about how they are responding to the disaster in Haiti. They have a hot line number, search and rescue teams, and State Department workers in Haiti (and the Dominican Republic) working around the clock to find American citizens. They have flown thousands of American citizens out of Haiti. I wish the video I watched was still up. It was fascinating.

Today the proclamations of the DOS website came to life when I had to call the US Citizen and Immigration Services customer service with an immigration issue. The poor operator was like "I am so sorry, we are experiencing a really high volume of callers right now with Haiti." I guess the USCIS call center has been helping out. Anyway, please notice on the DOS website that priority is being given to Haitian adoptions.

Some Advice....

"I want to suggest to you that it is your relationship with other people, including your husband or wife and your children that gives you your best chance to say what you believe about the Atonement. Your most important beliefs are not going to be statements made in a classroom. They certainly aren't going to be statements made in a symposium. What you will say best about your understanding of the Atonement, about love and repentance and forgiveness, will come in your human relationships with people who have problems, people who make mistakes, who haven't in every hour of every day done all that he or she could have done in righteousness. You know I'm describing you and me." - Elder Jeffry R. Holland

Number of Blog Ideas Stolen From Adam: 1

Number of times I lost my keys: 5

Number of times I lost my phone: 30

Number of times I lost my mind: 2

Number of Polar Bear Plunges completed: 1



Number of Times My Sister and I Performed Acroyoga at a Party: 1



States Lived In: 1

Times Moved: 1

Places of Abode: 2

Number of Roommates: 3 (35 is the current grand total)

Number of Times I Taught Max the Fine Art of Cooking: 2



(Once I found a battery that he slipped into banana bread. Here I left him to open the brownie bag...)



Number of Times Max Beat Me at a Water Fight: Once too many





Number of Gardens Planted: 1


Number of Times I Tried to Pass My Dad's Garden Off as Mine: 1

Number of People Who Believed Me: 0

Number of Gardens I Killed Due to Lack of Watering: 1



Number of Times I went Kayaking Under the Stars: 1

(Picture taken the next day. Kayaking under the stars was amazingly beautiful.)



Visitors from out of State: 7 (Nate, Cindy, Zack, Suz, Nancy, Tom, Jamie)











Number of Times I Visited the Arch: 2

Out of State Trips Taken: 6 (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., Nantucket, Tennessee, Utah, New Hampshire)













States seen in Person: 13

State Capitals Memorized: 50

State Capitals remembered: 14

Foreign Countries Visited: 0

Number of Passports Expired: 1 (sniff, sniff)

Boyfriends: 0

Number of car accidents: 0

Number of speeding tickets: 2 (So much for my perfectly clean driving records from three different states that I had when I graduated law school!!)

Number of times my car wouldn't start: 2

Number of times my car ran out of gas: 0

Number of Times people didn't recognize me on Halloween: Quite a few



Thanksgiving dinners: 2

Bungee jumps: 1



Sky dive: 0

Half Marathon Trained for: 1

Half Marathons Run: 0

Number of Awesome Women I got to Know in the Process: 6



Five Mile Run: 1



Football Games Watched: 1

Number of times I convinced people that I was living with a man: At least 2 (He is five, therefore not a man :)



Number of engagements faked: 0 (a record low)

Number of actual proposals: 0

Number of rings my mother had to bite into because she wasn't convinced I was actually engaged: 0

Number of rings my mother considered biting into: 1 (my brother is engaged. She believed him.)

Times I got to visit my K.L.E.B.: 3

Number of members of my family returning from a mission: 1

Number of members of my family: 7

Number of members who are returned missionaries as of 2009: 7



Number of Confederate Flags spotted in NH in 2009: 1



Number of Confederate Flags spotted in NH in all of my previous years of existence: 0

Wedding invitations received: 15

Weddings Attended: 2





Number of Great Wedding Dances seen: 1



Number of visits to the doctor: 0

Number of scars from Raymond: 0

2010 New Year's Resolutions

My New Year's Resolutions for 2010 are:

(1) Do Less.

(2) Be more superficial.

(3) Play more.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Adultery Still a Crime in New Hampshire After 200 Years

Read here for details