Spiritual experiences with hymns.  I've had a bunch, but usually it's just me finally noticing that the lyrics actually have meaning and apply to me.  Our YW music specialist had us learn "Dearest Children, God is Near You" before the YW broadcast and while she was teaching it she said that it was the song she used as a lullaby for her babies when they were little (they're all grown up now) and that to her it's a song that says everything she wishes her children would/could learn from her.  Then we sang it and it suddenly meant 10x more to me! 

There was another time during college when a girl in my ward was hit by a car in an accident and died.  They asked me to be part of a group that sang "Nearer, My God, to Thee" at the funeral and I found that suddenly that song was nearly impossible to sing without crying because I now had experience to understand it.  Same thing with "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" that we sang at the same funeral.  I'd always thought of it as a "see you next week at church" song, not a "we might not see each other until after we die, so I'm going to ask God to take care of you since I may not be around to do it myself" song.  Then, I was singing at this funeral where this girl's parents and siblings and friends were trying to have faith and remember the Plan of Salvation and not be bitter and angry about her dying and the music helped me believe and understand that God loves us, has a plan, and takes care of us even though sometimes bad things happen to good people.  Those hymns, along with "I Need Thee Every Hour" are a big part of my ability to have faith during hard times because they explain with music (which always helps explain things better) how utterly dependent I am on Heavenly Father for everything and that everything really will turn out okay in the end now matter how bad they seem right now because He will take care of me and those I love if we let Him.

"I Believe in Christ" is a hymn that helps me express my testimony.  When I sing it I really feel worshipful, and it helps me feel spiritual when it's sometimes hard to feel the Spirit as I wrestle with my kids during Sacrament Meeting. Maybe the Still Small Voice talks a little louder through music. 

• Shower and get dressed
• Do my hair, put on makeup
• Make my bed
• Say my prayers
• Get the kids dressed, change diapers
• Eat breakfast and feed the kids (lately it's been a lot of oatmeal)
• Read my scriptures (I'm trying to do 1 chapter of the Book of Mormon every day)
• Exercise–I'm up to 45 crunches, 7 push-ups, and 45 jumping jacks every day
• Start the laundry
• Unload and load the dishwasher  

This typically takes me about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to complete.

Last night I went with my awesome Beehives and the Deacons ice skating. For many of them it was their first attempt, and I am by no means steady on the ice, so it was fun learning together. Then I got home to a frazzled husband who had been screamed at all evening by Maggie, who calmed right won as soon as I fed her. Some days I wish we shared the ability to feed the baby. Then, right as we were getting ready to go to sleep, Degen woke up and started crying insistently and for a long time. I'd just been reading potty training books about parents in the early 1900s who abused their children by following the current medical wisdom of potty training and started worrying about Degen. Colin agreed that we should go get him out of his room, so we did, which ended up with him sleeping for an hour on the bathroom floor and me trying to sleep in the toddler bed with Degen for I don't know how long. We may have messed up his "training" to get himself back to sleep, but this morning he woke up with a cough and a runny nose, so I think he was probably having trouble because he was getting sick.

Colin's family arrives tomorrow (I think) for the funeral. I need to get the guest bed made and pick up the guest room and the basement where we plan to put Deb and Ben so they have some privacy and their own bathroom. Maybe I'll finally get around to putting books back on shelves down there!

Speaking of the funeral, I've got to cancel my sutures being removed in order to go to the funeral. I wonder how that works–does it hurt to leave stitches in too long? I had a cyst removed from my back 10 days ago and I have about four stitches there that were supposed to be taken out today, but I had to reschedule that to Monday, and now I'll have to reschedule that. When I got the stitches the nurse said (I thought jokingly) that I could have Colin remove them for me. I wonder if she was serious enough about it that I should try it. I think I'll call my med-student Mom and ask her if she thinks it's okay and how to do it.