My Addiction

I have a problem.
A big one.
I love Christmas music.
I couldn't help but start listening to it the minute the first snowflake fell here in Rexburg. I think that was about two weeks before Thanksgiving...
Truth be told, I sneak Christmas music into my listening throughout the year. Don't tell.

There is just something about Christmas music that instantly brings me a feeling of joy. I recall reading the Christmas story with my family every Christmas Eve, shopping for presents for my friends or families, the Christmas my siblings and I all got sleds and headed out to the sledding hill as soon as all the presents were open, or Christmas mornings with my siblings where the clock seemed to be stuck on 6:59 a.m. for two hours (we weren't allowed to do presents until 7.)

Music is a big part of my life. It has been for very long time and I have this habit of associating memories with songs. Whenever I hear the hymn "Love at Home" I always think of my mom singing it when my siblings and I would either scream at or try to beat on each other . Or, when I hear anything by Bad Company I always think of the jam sessions I had during the opening shift at Wendys with my manager and my coworker at seven in the morning. My thing with Christmas music is that it can range from Frank Sinatra singing "Baby it's Cold Outside" to Whams "Last Christmas" to the hymn "With Wandering Awe" and all my Christmas memories surface and send me into Christmas euphoria. I love it. LOVE IT.

I think the main thing I love about Christmas is my family. My family is the best. THE BEST. I am thoroughly convinced that if every person had a family like mine, world peace would be obtainable (well...maybe worldwide love lol.) Anyways, enough bragging. My family has a lot of Christmas traditions. Every Christmas Eve we invite the missionaries over for dinner and to participate in the world-renowned Holyoak Christmas program to sing, read the Christmas story, watch the LDS short film Joy To The World or Mr. Krueger's Christmas, each open one present (yes of course we have awesome presents for the missionaries too), then head downstairs for some sweet pool action or a ping-pong tournament. We end the night by piling all the kids in the basement. In the olden days (before Aubrey had to go get married to Kenny, whom we all love) we would all pile into Aubrey's bed and stay up late listening for Santa then wake up super early and stare at the clock until 7 o'clock would come around so we could go open presents. Now us unmarried siblings pile into my room and generally pass out on my bed and wake up right on time (or a little after hehe) to open presents. I love it. After that we all head upstairs to search for the pickle ornament (whoever finds it gets a extra present. Bonus.) Then we spend all of Christmas day loafing and watching movies and eating delicious food...or candy. Whatever works.

Writing this is making me homesick. And I was just home last week. Wow.

I can't believe I just told you all my life story of Christmas (well actually not ALL of it, because I probably have a million more things I could say...) but that just proves my point. THIS is what Christmas music does to me. I flashback EVERY time! I think that is why I love it so much. I wish it could be Christmastime ALL THE TIME. Maybe that will be one of my New Year's Resolutions! To keep the feeling of love I get around Christmas with me throughout the year.

I'm Lacey Holyoak and I'm a Mormon.

♪I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
I know who I am. I know God's plan. I'll follow Him in faith.
I believe in the Savior Jesus Christ. I'll honor His name.
I'll do what is right; I'll follow his light. His truth I will proclaim. ♪

At our Stake Conference last month, my stake president, President Kush, asked everyone to write their testimony down somewhere, whether it be on a blog or in a journal. I'm finally accepting that challenge.

I know for a fact that I am a Daughter of my Heavenly Father who lives in heaven.

I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. The greatest prophet there has ever been.

I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and that it is a book of truth.

I know families are eternal and I am so grateful for the family I was blessed with. I can't imagine my life without them.

I know Thomas S. Monson is a true living prophet and that he receives guidance for us directly from the Lord.

I know that through prayer we have a direct line of communication to the Lord and I know He hears our prayers.

I know that only through the Atonement of Christ and by His grace are we saved.

I know Jesus Christ is my savior. I know that He was sinless upon this earth and went through pain beyond comprehension so that I can return to my Heavenly Father.

I am so grateful for the life I have been given. For my wonderful family, my beautiful friends, and my faith. Without my church, without the gospel, I know I would be lacking in my life.

Thank you all for the kind words, the constant support, and the occasional slap on the back of my head. I love you all.

Vent.

Since I don't really believe in screaming out loud and scaring everyone, I am taking two sentences of my blog to vent.
*deep breath* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Only 15 more days until Thanksgiving break. I can do it.

GUM!

Tonight was the "adult" session of BYU-Idaho's 3rd Stake's Conference. I decided to go this semester and I am so happy I went. This is the first time I have actually attended the Saturday night session of Stake Conference and it was wonderful.

Anyways, I am sitting listening to the speaker and decide a piece of gum sounds REAL nice.
So I whip one out.

Orbitz.

Light Green.

Sweet Mint.

Delicious.

Then I turn and offer a piece to my roommate Jess. I am just about to put said piece of sweet mint goodness in my mouth and a thought occurred to me:

Why does gum have that weird zig-zag pattern?!
You know, the one that looks kinda like the tread on a tire??

I turned and asked Jess my mind-blowing question and she said it was so it was easier to cut the gum on the expensive gum-making equipment with the tread, so the gum would not get stuck to the cutter thing....if that makes sense. (Jess has been here for over four years now. She is basically a genius). I hope that makes sense!! If not you can call me and I will explain it to you. (Or at least hand the phone to Jess for HER to explain.)
This is her and I. In matching shirts we bought at DI last semester for our white glove. Yeah, we are awesome.

Anyways, I am Google-ing this question as we speak and Google has no answers. All I have learned so far is that the gum company Wrigleys made coffee flavored gum at one point and that long before I was born, people used to chew on tree pieces to make their breath smell good. Gross.

Google is being worthless. I will just believe Jess and let you know if I learn anything different about why gum is patterned.
Don't be too disappointed, everything will be okay :)

High School Flashback

Yesterday I was asked to go with some friends and play the Baritone sax at a high school football game. My first thought was YES PEP BAND! My second thought was....crap...I have never played the Bari before! I decided it was to be an adventure!
After my master class last night I borrowed my friend Tyler's Bari, got a mouthpiece and a reed, and hopped in this freshman trombone player's car with my friends Heather and Travis (my favorite Tenor and Flute players!)

Adventure One: The Drive To Blackfoot
Upon getting on the highway, we quickly learned that TB (Trombone Boy), is a madman driver. I spent most of the hour drive holding Heather's hand or pretending I was on a roller coaster. It was great.

Adventure Two: The Gig
We drove to Snake River High School's football game in Blackfoot, Idaho. Their mascot? The PANTHERS!

I was almost terrified by the idea of the ferocious Snake River Panther, but then noticed their mascot looked like a fuzzy purple dog, was named Pandora, and danced with the cheerleaders-- clearly a girl panther. We arrived in the middle of the second quarter and the Panthers were looking pretty good. The band?

Not lookin' so good.

Snake River HS has around 600 students and obviously 585 of those students don't appreciate band as much as I do. Their band basically consisted of one trombone, three flutes, one alto sax player (appalling, I know), some drummers (about three), and two trumpets. There was also an older man playing the tuba. I did not catch his name, but from his numerous stories I concluded he is related to about half of Blackfoot Idaho.
Great.
Heather and I situated ourselves at the back of the band and whipped our instruments out. The Bari sax weighs about 20 pounds. My alto probably weighs about five. Awesome.

I felt powerful.

So, I strapped myself into my harness and hooked up! It was SO difference hearing such a deep tone come out of the Bari. I couldn't help myself, I exploded into laughter. That didn't really help my playing much because it takes SO MUCH air to play the Bari! I was dying! Heather and I also had the same part a lot of the time, which sent us into more convulsions of laughter. Who knows why it was hilarious, but I promise that somehow, it was. It was great.
In fact, it seems we were constantly laughing last night, despite the cold. There was deep Bari laughter, same part playing laughter, and then there was the BEST LAUGHTER OF ALL!! TB was getting his flirt on with a high school blond!!!! Needless to say this supplied us with endless reasons to laugh. We laughed at TB, we laughed at the college-0bsessed high school child, and we laughed at the commentary we were creating of their conversation. Here's a peek: (B=blond, just for clarification. Also, as a disclaimer, I am sure that is not how the conversation went, it was probably much more normal, but it was more fun to think of it like this)

B: Oh my gosh, you are in COLLEGE?! *while playing with hair*
TB: Yeah, I'm pretty much hot stuff..
B: I always wanted to play an instrument, but I couldn't figure out all the buttons....
TB: Yeah, only a real man can play trombone...
B: I also always wanted to put my mouth on the metal mouthpiece...I guess kissing you would be like playing the trombone right?
TB: Yup, that sounds about right.

It was basically hilarious.
Maybe you had to be there? :)

Looking around I realized how different I am since I graduated. I remember getting all dressed up in my school colors (Purple and Gold) to rep my Sentinel Spartans for all the football games!
On nights we played halftime gigs for band I always rushed one out of my marching band uniform and into purple spandex, face paint, and colorful beads!
Example: This is Cody and I my senior year in our Drum Major get-ups.

I also remember participating in the cheerleader chants and ridiculous taunts to the other team.
I saw the same cocky boys that will always exist as long as high school exists. I also saw some of THOSE girls. You know, THOSE girls. Yeah. Don't miss that!

I loved high school sports. Now, I'm content to watch the game and people-watch the students and people around the stadium.

Ahhhh, growing up. IT'S HAPPENING!

After the gig we packed up our stuff, walked back to TB's car, and headed back to the Burg! If I thought the ride back was going to be a smoother drive, I was disappointed.
Not only was TB still a madman, he turned on Irish rock/funk music, blasted it, and sang. It was enjoyable for a while, then I thought my ears were going to bleed. Heather and Travis both took mini naps (Heaven knows how they fell asleep during that racket) and we arrived safely at the Snow.
What an adventure.
We had planned on watching How To Train Your Dragon (MY ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIE) after we got back at my apartment, but that didn't happen due to a miscommunication, I guess. It has been rain-checked (yes it is a verb) and will be continued at a later date.
To end: Please go watch How To Train Your Dragon. It is the best.

Brain Talk.

It's funny how our brains work.

My brain can do the following: recall a funny memory, solve logical problems, create passages of music, remember inside jokes from way back, come up with the craziest dreams, directions around familiar places, or bring up a scene from the awesome home video collection created by the Holyoak children.

My brain struggles with these things: coming up with witty comebacks, remembering what I had for breakfast, understanding science, spelling of words (like genuine and conscience-- those are the worst), remembering to floss, even to remember saying my prayers sometimes (thank goodness I have the help of the constant reminder given to me at age eight), and remembering people's birthdays.

Isn't it funny that the part of our brains that controls memory is called the hippocampus? The hippocampus takes things we have gathered with our senses (things we've seen, smelled, tasted, touched, heard) and places it into our short or long term memory.

The problem I have with my brain today is that it keeps bringing back memories of things that would be better stashed that floating in my head right now. I read that our brains, as they store knowledge, attach memories to other similar memories. My deal tonight is, I keep hearing songs that I associate with old memories. I heard a song that reminded me of my ex (heavens knows that is never a good thing), I heard a song that reminded me of my childhood, and a song that reminded me of good times with my high school friends.
Isn't it funny how something so small can take you so far back in the past?

I am very grateful for memories though. Without them I would not remember my wonderful childhood, falling in puppy love, the feeling of accomplishment after writing my first song on guitar or piano, the anticipation I get on Christmas morning every year, the first time I touched piano keys, the day of my baptism, my first time going through the temple, the first time I met my best friends from high school, or my first year at Girl's Camp!

So to my memory I say, thank you.

Add. Manage.

Add.

Manage.

These are two options offered when looking at the dashboard of your blog.

Funny thing is, I feel like those are the two items I am struggling with the most this semester.

I started off the semester with sixteen credits. Then I added two ensembles making it eighteen, but by using the amazing power I have as a music major to make my ensembles count as one credit instead of two....I still am enrolled for 16 credits (with an 18 credit workload.)

Don't get me wrong. This semester is going really great! I love having Aubrey and Kenny nearby in Idaho Falls. I also am loving my apartment and roommates.
My only complaint is.....Add. Manage.

Those are my two verbs of the semester. Constantly more is added to my schedule which constantly pushes me to stay on top of managing my time.
I will add that time management is something I waaaaaaayyyyyyy struggle with!
That makes me laugh though because that is the main adventure of being a music major. Juggling time.

Oh, the irony.

Thank goodness for the scriptures being there to remind me "I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7)

The church is true.

Now let the chaos begin!!! (or....CONTINUE!!!)

Now: Bedtime