Adventures with William Wurlitzer!

In March, 2017, I went on a piano adventure and bought a new/used piano! But before I get into my new-to-me piano story, let's take a walk down piano-memory lane...

I had been using my great grandparent's old Story and Clark piano since 2003—when my Grandpa Charles was so generous to give it to me after my Grandma Ardis died (in 2001). My grandpa's gift was such a blessing in my life!

At the time I received my great-grandparents' piano, my church calling was Primary pianist. Before my grandpa so generously helped me out, I had to go to my church building to practice the assigned Primary songs. Thankfully, my weekly outings to my church building didn't last long. I was thrilled to be able to practice Primary songs in my very own home! I was also excited to refresh older songs I had "perfected" in my youth while taking piano lessons and performing in recitals and Federation competitions.

Because my family's historical piano was moved nine times while in my possession, it really started showing wear and tear everywhere. I felt so badly about its worn-out condition, but we needed our piano, so it always went with us wherever we moved!

Fast forward 13+ years.

Once I gained many more piano students (I don't remember the exact tally, but it was more than 15), I decided I not only wanted but needed a newer piano. I asked Greg what he thought about me buying a new/used piano and he agreed it was a good idea—a smart business decision! Up until that moment, I had never realized that I was a small-business owner, but it's true! 😊

As I prayed what to do about my piano needs, I received the distinct impression that I should go to the Piano Gallery in Murray, Utah, and buy the black Wurlitzer piano. That was a very random thought considering there's a Piano Gallery closer to my house up north, and especially considering the fact that I was being told so specifically which piano brand and color to buy. Thus, I knew it had to be divine inspiration and decided to follow through on my answer.

But before we went to the Piano Gallery, I decided to do my due diligence and check KSL.com's classifieds. (I always do my part when receiving heavenly answers!) There were so many used pianos and I searched through every single one of them(!), but nothing felt right. Greg and I even looked at purchasing a 30-year-old Yamaha upright in our own little city, but when I saw/played it in person, it was nothing close to what I wanted. I was most definitely not feeling it! To me, the price of that old Yamaha was outlandish for a piano in not-great condition!

As I prayed again—this time to "present my case" and confirm my decision—I had the same impression: Piano Gallery, Murray; black Wurlitzer piano.

It was a rainy Saturday when we pulled into the Piano Gallery's Murray parking lot. As cheesy as it sounds, I can truly remember it like it was yesterday! Aww! They were having a sale that day, so I was super hopeful at what I'd find...until I walked through their side-front doors! I was blown away at the high prices of their pianos! That dinky little used Yamaha upright was looking pretty great at that point! Ha ha.

After practically drooling over the amazing, gorgeous, lovely, and inspiring grand pianos (Oh, they were so unbelievably great!), I yanked my soul back into reality and forced myself to walk to the smaller used pianos section in the back of the gallery. Yet I was pleasantly surprised at what we found: I saw many great used pianos! Yay! There were also new, beautiful Yamaha spinets and uprights, among other brands that I don't remember. Still, there was nothing in my price point that I wanted to pony up for, so I walked mindlessly toward the section of used medium-grand pianos.

That's when I stopped in my tracks: I saw a GORGEOUS black Wurlitzer grand piano! It was sooo shiny and looked absolutely perfect! But once I saw the price tag—which included the on-sale price that was still too much money(!)—a little, tiny piece of me died inside. It was waaayyyy over our used-piano budget. 😢

As I continued walking through the rest of the store, I never saw another black Wurlitzer piano. Add to that, I never saw another Wurlitzer piano at all! Not a one! It was true: The only Wurlitzer piano in that entire store was a black, medium-grand beauty!

I was very befuddled in that moment. I had received very direct and specific inspiration of what I was supposed to do, yet what I found at the Piano Gallery was not at all what I expected. But I had followed through on said inspiration up to that point, so I decided to go back and play the black Wurlitzer. I was nervous as I walked over to play it because I knew I was entering dangerous territory! You laugh, but when you follow inspiration like I do, there's a point of no return and I knew I was nearing it!

When I finally played the lovely, black, medium-grand Wurlitzer, it absolutely did something to my soul! I was overjoyed in that moment of contact! I knew I just HAD to have it! I also didn't know what to tell my husband! Aahh! 😄

Greg was taken aback when I told him of my gorgeous find, and about the inspiration I had received. The look on his face said he wasn't entirely sure of what to do. He suggested asking if the Piano Gallery was firm on the Wurlitzer's price. They were very firm on their price and pointed out it was on sale, but they also said that we could do in-store financing if we wanted. (It was zero percent interest if the piano loan was paid off within six months.) We asked the store manager, Mike, how long the sale with special financing would be available. I don't remember what he said, but we told him we'd think about it and let him know. I'm pretty sure he envisioned that we wouldn't be back! Ha ha.

I felt defeated when we left the Piano Gallery. I was super bummed we hadn't bought a piano that day like I planned! Frustration set in as I literally could not stop thinking about the black, medium-grand Wurlitzer! It was at the forefront of my mind for endless hours—and especially while I folded laundry!

At my extended family's party that Sunday night (one day later), I told everyone of our piano adventures. I explained how difficult it was going to be finding a piano we could afford that was nice enough and made my soul sing like the black Wurlitzer medium-grand did!

Greg and I talked about the beautiful Wurlitzer grand piano again on our drive home. I was shocked when Greg said, "Let's buy you your piano!" I argued with him, explaining our tight budget (Greg was still attending Harvard online; our expensive, growing children; etc., etc.), and pointing out everything that was wrong about buying the expensive-to-us Wurlitzer. Greg rebutted with the fact that my piano-lessons money could pay for the piano within a year and that it could be written off as a business expense! While both of those were valid points, I still completely worried about what such an expensive purchase would do to our family's budget and well-being! They were legitimate concerns!

That very next Monday, March 27th, two days since I first met Mr. Wurlitzer, I went online and searched for "my" piano. I was stunned to see the price of it online was $1,000 less than the sale price in the store! I excitedly told Greg and he said, "We are buying you your piano!" I squealed and replied, "Really?! We're doing this?!!" He said, "Yes! We'll finance it and pay it off with our savings before the loan starts charging interest." My soul soared!

At that point, I had a new worry: that my incredible find would have already been sold out from under me! I immediately called Mike and asked him about the price of "my" piano. He said the online price was correct and the piano was still for sale. I asked him if the price could be lowered any further than that, considering the internet price was lower than the price in the store, but he said that was it. I told him I wanted to buy it, but I'd have to come later that day. He said he would hold it for me until 4:00 p.m., but after that, it would be available for someone else to purchase. I said okay, thanked him, and told him I would see him soon!

I was absolutely giddy with excitement! Not only was I was purchasing the black Wurlitzer that the Holy Ghost specifically told me to buy(!), I was also buying the piano that I fell head-over-heels in love with! Again you laugh, but piano love is a real thing! People have fallen in love with pianos for centuries! I have nothing to back up my statement, but Google it and you'll see that I'm right! Ha ha. 😍

I drove myself to Murray (so Greg could pick up our kids from school) asap to buy my piano. I was glad I'd be finished with everything before my piano lessons began that afternoon! I had so much time on my drive to think of ways to shrink our budget for six months—so we could get a head start on our piano loan payments; I knew we could do it!

When I went into the store and told them which piano I wanted, I could barely contain my excitement! I looked over the black, medium-grand Wurlitzer one last time (to be absolutely certain of my decision), found a piano bench I wanted, and headed over to sign the paperwork. As a funny side note, I took longer deciding what piano bench to buy than I did my piano! 😄

While sitting across from the store manager, Mike, I looked at his family photos around his desk. I suddenly realized...I knew this man! I was 99% certain he had been in our ward (church congregation) 13 years ago! I asked him if he had ever lived in Layton, and he said, "Yes." I then said, "I think you were in my ward in Layton!" We talked and confirmed that we were indeed in the same ward!

I was utterly amazed when I remembered that Mike was on my list of "substitute pianists" for my calling as Primary pianist! Oh, wow! I had suddenly come full circle! I also remembered the incredible vocal talents of his darling wife, Stacie. Even now, 14 years later, I can still recall their soul-touching performances in our ward's sacrament meetings! I was stunned to learn that his wife had never created an album of her astounding gift! As we talked, I was blown away thinking of the many things that had to fall into place for that moment to happen!

I mean, comon'! What are the odds that I would choose the very piano store that not only produced my perfect-for-me piano(!), but also included the man who used to be in my previous ward who was on my list of substitute pianists?! Those odds are ridiculous, and most definitely not a coincidence!

Back-in-the-day, I tried to convince Mike's fabulous wife that she needed to create a CD of her vocal talents. As I recently searched the internet for Stacie—to see if she's created a CD like I recommended (😁)—I was disappointed to see she hasn't done anything yet. I remember Mike telling me that Stacie now teaches singing lessons (or something like that), which is truly wonderful for her to pass on her gift!

Side note: I found a performance of Stacie and Mike (from their family reunion) for you to watch! So yeah, please feel free to say, "You're right, Adrie! She's amazing!" Ha ha. Yes, I'm an internet sleuth! #notastalker! 😆 Of course this performance is not professional, and I wish you could see them in a sacrament meeting setting(!), but their talents as a musical couple are impressive!

Stacie and Mike Raddatz Opera Aria

The next several days were a blur of getting my house ready for my black, medium-grand Wurlitzer to arrive! I spent a long time researching where I should place my piano and realized I had to switch around my entire living room! You see, the bass side of a grand piano needs to be on an inside wall, away from windows with direct sunlight, and away from blowing/direct air. I actually had a great time rearranging everything! It totally reminded me of moving houses/cities/states again, which I was so grateful we didn't have to do!

In my spare time before bed each night, I researched my new piano (the make and model number) to make sure I had made a good decision. I know, I know!, that seems like such a backward move—especially considering that I'm such a researcher! Yes, I should have researched my piano before I bought it! Yet I was so completely certain of my actions that I didn't feel the need to research any of it beforehand.

In the hours I spent looking online, I realized that I could not have made a more perfect piano purchase if I tried!! Even if I had spent hours upon hours researching pianos and pricing, I still would have absolutely come to the same conclusion: the shiny, black, medium-grand Wurlitzer was the perfect piano for me and my situation! Even today, knowing all that I know with hindsight being 20/20, I would still make the same decision over and over again! And that backed-up/solid/researched knowledge feels incredibly great!

My new piano was safely delivered and installed (woohoo!), and my great-grandparents' piano was sent to my dad's living room! He was super excited to receive his family heirloom and is looking into getting it restored. Yay! Yay! Happy piano days!

After I had my piano for a few hours, I decided I'd better name my black beauty, I also decided my piano is a boy! I know, I'm the silliest! I looked at all the "W" boy names and narrowed it down to like nine or 10. In the end, William Wurlitzer sounded the best to me and I named "him" exactly that! I'm very happy with my naming choice! 😁 Oh, and I forgot to mention that William was tuned a few weeks after I brought him home!

In an email I sent April 3rd, 2017, I told the family of my birth how much I love my piano and presented some of the reasons why I have such cheesy piano love:

• I love it because it sounds so amazing!
• It's so beautiful to look at! 😍
• It challenges me in my mind, heart, soul, and physical abilities.
• I'm able to create something from inside of me that doesn't exist without my piano.
• It gives me all the feels! 💛
• My piano connects me to my family in ways that I can't without it.
• It brings an amazing spirit into our home.
• It energizes me as a player, and as a listener. Sometimes I'm like, "Wow! I just played that! That just happened!" 😄 Ha ha.
• My piano makes me feel like I'm contributing something 100% worthwhile to our world—it's an activity that's actually making the world a better place!

Nearly one year later (almost exactly 😁), those reasons still totally apply! Buying William Wurlitzer was and is one of the best decisions I've ever made! Thankfully, my Gregor agrees with me! My medium-grand piano is literally the purchase of my lifetime! It's been a financial struggle, for sure, but it's worth every penny. The great news is, our bank account has nearly recovered from our life-changing purchase! Yay! I still remember the oh-so-happy day I paid off my piano, I was so excited and jumped for joy!! There is just something about finally owning what you love and have worked so hard for! 😍

*By the way, no, this blog post is not an advertisement to get you to go buy a piano! Ha ha. I'm simply stating the fact that there is almost nothing on Earth so lovely as live music that you or your loved ones create yourselves!

I've also thoroughly enjoyed watching my wonderful students fall in love with my piano as well! They're fascinated to watch all that goes into making a piano play! They also love playing their own songs they've created on my piano. Wow, I love watching their growing minds work! So yes, buying William Wurlitzer has been highly beneficial to my piano students, too! We have such a great time playing the piano together! I absolutely know that having my students play on an "above average" piano truly helps inspire them to play their very best!

All of that fun aside, last fall, a few of my piano's keys began sticking. #ohno! 😬 I became really concerned when they weren't becoming unstuck! I worriedly thought, "Did I buy a lemon?! Did the Piano Gallery pull the wool over my starry-eyes and take advantage of me?!" I researched everything that could possibly be wrong with William Wurlitzer and came to the conclusion that, no, the Piano Gallery didn't do anything wrong—sticky piano keys are very common, especially in older pianos like mine who've been through big transitions. The only thing I could do was hire a piano tuner/technician. Thus began my search for a piano doctor!

While I liked the piano tuner I used to tune my great-grandparents' piano, I couldn't find a website for him anywhere (and I really searched!), so I didn't know if he did piano repairs, or not. Because William Wurlitzer means the world to me, I decided to go with a piano tuner/technician who has an active, functioning website that clearly states all of his/her services, accomplishments, certificates, and customer reviews! After all of my research, I narrowed it down to one gentleman who has really great piano credentials—and his resume outside of piano tuning/repair is truly amazing!

I then texted my friend (and wonderful mother of three of my darling piano students!) who recently had her piano tuned, to see if she could share her piano tuner's information with me. I wanted to make sure there wasn't someone better than the guy I chose. Yet after waiting 27 minutes (I checked my sent texts 😄), I felt the Holy Ghost tell me that I'd made a good decision and I should call William Wurlitzer's new piano doctor immediately! 😁

By the way, "piano doctor" is not our piano tuner's company name—it's just the nickname I gave him! I clarified that because there's a piano doctor website, but he's not the piano guy I chose.

When I called to set up William's appointment, I signed him up for every treatment the piano tuner/technician offered besides an appraisal! It was a pricey list of services, but it was fully worth it—and I can write it off as a business expense for my 2018 taxes!

It was a super exciting day when William Wurlitzer was taken apart, completely dusted inside and out, cleaned, fully repaired, and perfectly tuned by our new piano doctor! I was utterly fascinated by everything our piano technician was doing! He really knew his stuff! And he made my mind completely relax when he told me that William Wurlitzer's sticky keys were 100% fixable! Oh, it was such a relief to my piano-loving soul! I could finally breathe again and boundlessly love my piano without any worries! I know my reactions are extreme, but this is how much I truly love my piano! 😍

My favorite part of this whole "Fix William Wurlitzer!" adventure was when our piano doctor began playing my piano (to see how in tune it was)—he's a fantastic pianist! I felt like I was an important patron at a five-star hotel restaurant! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Greg mentioned how great of a pianist our piano doctor was, too! But the best news (besides the repair of William's sticky keys) came when our piano doctor began tuning the piano. Turns out, William Wurlitzer held his tune pretty well from his initial tuning in 2017—which shows, again, that I bought a high-quality piano! Yay me! 👍

I was super impressed with our piano doctor because he tuned mainly by ear! Our previous piano tuner used an app on his smart phone to check his work—which is totally fine, don't get me wrong! But I love the fact that our new piano tuner/technician understands pianos and music as a whole to the degree that he knows every note by ear! #amazing!

And it gets even better! There was one octave, or so, in the higher notes of William Wurlitzer that always sounded a little bit "pingy" or "tinny" when played. It's like they were in tune, but just one teensy little degree out of tune. And those notes had been "off" since I bought the piano, so I thought there was just no fixing them. Yet our piano doctor put those babies right in tune, and they no longer have that tinny/pingy sound! Hip hip hooray!

As I was getting ready to pay William's piano doctor, we ended up chatting while he cleaned up everything. It was a nice conversation, but I was floored when he said he just moved into a house east of my neighborhood! He moved into my stake (several church congregations grouped together) less than one month earlier! I was beyond amazed at the new/additional "coincidence" to go along with William Wurlitzer's story! But I know it's not a coincidence!

I mean, seriously, what are the odds that out of all the internet options available, I would choose a master piano tuner/technician that just moved mere minutes away from my house?! Yeah, slim to none is what I said, too! Ha ha. Yet I know our piano doctor wasn't my discovery: I know the Holy Ghost inspired me with my best possible outcome for fixing William Wurlitzer and putting my mind at ease!

After experiencing nearly one full year with William Wurlitzer, I say yet again: the Holy Ghost is a legitimate spiritual personage—the third member of the Godhead who tells us the will of our Heavenly Father! The Spirit speaks the truth, and He told me exactly what was the best choice for me at each crossroad of my piano adventure! Any and all who will cultivate a righteous life and continually listen to the Holy Ghost, and act upon what He says, will be blessed forever! I'm so thankful I was given so many opportunities to rely on my faith throughout this past year with my beloved piano!

These amazing experiences (among many others) remind me that we are known and deeply loved by our Heavenly Father, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our Heavenly Father gives us exactly what we need, and, many times, He gives us what we want! 😁 The nicest thing is when we, as individuals, align our needs and wants with our Heavenly Father's knowledge of what is best for us!

We must always remember and never forget just how loved we are(!) and that we matter to our Heavenly Father! Our lives are most definitely not small, nor insignificant! Each of us are a vital part of God's very great plan of happiness!

Lastly, my grand piano adventures with William Wurlitzer show that creating beautiful music is very important to our Heavenly Father! We have all been given access to inspiring, uplifting, soul-changing music through multiple avenues. Our musical options in today's technological society are unmatched by previous generations! We are so blessed to have music everywhere! Some people are obviously more talented than others in the music world, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't all still try to create beautiful music to the best of our abilities! Yes, each of us needs to decide now how we will daily incorporate essential music into our lives...I know what I've chosen! 😀

What I've been up to...

Happy Saturday afternoon, everyone! Can you believe it's already September?! I can't! Every summer month of 2017 felt like it ended after two weeks—and I didn't like it! Ha ha.

Before school began, I sincerely wished I had at least 21 more days with my babies at home (when they weren't with their friends), but my wish wasn't granted. #sosadface! My three darlings went back to school 10 days ago, and I've been in denial ever since. I just wish they could stay home with Greg and me forever, but that's not going to happen. That said, I'm utterly grateful for the excellent schools they attend—in one of the best school districts in Utah! We are so blessed to live where we have access to such great education!

So, what I've been up to these past few months is varied...yet the same. I'm sure I sound like many other stay-at-home moms during their summer vacations. My little family and I greatly enjoyed our summer break! We loved staying up late and sleeping in! We loved not having a schedule that we had to stick to! Well, I was teaching piano every weekday, so I wasn't completely off the hook, but our summer days were pretty darn awesome!

We didn't do a whole lot of adventuring, but we did get to go on an extended family vacation (thanks to my generous mom) to the incomparable Sun Valley, Idaho! 🌞 It was a (mostly) marvelous experience, but there were a few instances where I struggled with the sometimes lack of communication between my extended family members and me.

Yet isn't that always how family vacations go?! 😄 Don't we all have these grand ideas about how our vacations will be sheer familial bliss? Yet when reality hits, we remember that everyone is imperfect with their deeply-held likes, dislikes, and opinions?! Yes, that is exactly how family life is miraculous: we all somehow come together, despite our differences that are as vast as the seven seas!

I've also been a piano-lessons-teaching machine! It shocks me to write that I'm now teaching piano to 24 students(!)—including my daughter! Yay! My youngest son is taking a break from piano, but he should be back to it shortly. So I guess I'll be teaching 25 students(!) very soon!

Yes, piano lessons are keeping me very busy. Even though I "only" teach piano for two-and-a-half hours a day, Mondays through Thursdays, one-and-a-half hours on Fridays, and a half-hour on Saturdays, I am totally wiped out when I finish teaching! It's definitely a tiring endeavour as I have to be on-my-game 100% of the time! Yesterday when I was so utterly exhausted after a long week, I mistook an "e" half note for a "d" half note and incorrectly told my student what to play! Yeah, I had to quickly correct my mistake, and my student probably thought I was nuts! 😆

I've also been trying my best to keep up with my growing children. If I'm not shopping for their food, I'm shopping for their clothes, or shoes, or school supplies, or, or, or...the list goes on and on! Interestingly (and going along with the theme of my growing children), my little family is at the point where Greg and I don't really have to help out very much with homework anymore! We'll still have random projects where our kids will ask us a question, but for the most part (in terms of homework) they're fully self-sufficient! It's a strange feeling, for sure!

Paying our endless bills seems to take up a good chunk of my time, too. Each time I think, Oh, yay! I don't have any bills to pay!, something unexpected will pop up—every time! Ha ha. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love paying bills, but it's just time consuming to make sure Greg and I are current on everything.

I'll never stop being grateful for my first fully real/grownup job in a finance department! I learned so much from my time there! I learned about creating Excel spreadsheets to keep track of bills and purchase orders, and creating budgets, and allocating money to/from cost centers. There's more, but I won't bore you. 😉

I'm also grateful to my parents for helping me see that we should try our very best not to use credit cards unless we can pay them off immediately that next month when the bill is due. Greg and I don't always perfectly follow that advice because we've had legitimate emergencies in the past where there was truly no other option other than to charge our credit card. But we always try our very best to get our credit card balances back to zero as soon as humanly possible. I don't think we've ever carried a credit card balance longer than six or seven months (at the very most), most are paid off the month they're due, or within two months.

But I digress...

I've posted fairly frequently on Instagram this summer, but it's a pretty tiny snapshot of my life compared to everything that goes on. Yes, Instagram is still one of my happiest of happy places ever! I absolutely love Instagram! I'm sooo grateful for the connections I've made there, and for the beautiful pictures I get to see. I get inspired by my Instagram peeps every single day! 😁

I've also been able to workout a lot more lately than I have in the past year! Yayayayayayayay! Fankle still gives me painful grief, but I'm continually working through it. I'm progressing ever-so-slowly every day, and that's what matters!

I'm so excited because I implemented a new laundry system at my house this past week! I'm seriously jumping for joy at my new inspiration! So, for nearly twenty years (next week!), I've been the laundry queen of the Peterson household. You see, not only do I love serving my little family, I'm also very picky about the way our laundry is done. I won't settle for anything less than very clean, great smelling, nicely folded clothes! Yet my desires for a well-dressed family has taken a huge toll on my free time—i.e., no time for blogging! 😢 I've spent quite a bit of time each week doing laundry.

With the addition of so many new piano students—and still trying to keep up with everything a mother and wife needs/wants to do, I was feeling the time crunch worse than I have in years! And yet our family totally needs the income I receive from teaching piano lessons—it's truly not an option for me to quit...unless we want to downsize and move again, which will not happen! We are here to stay! (Unless something randomly "hits" us out of the blue...)

Thus, I decided to stop my laundry insanity and quit being such a sweet laundry lady for my family. The good news is, I have zero guilt about it, so I know it's the right thing to do! Ha ha. My husband and children aren't thrilled with my new system, but they know they totally hit the jackpot with me doing their laundry for 19+ years, so they didn't complain when I gave up my crown! 👑 Hahaha. Greg helped out with our family's laundry many times over the years, but my persnickety-ness mainly kept him away (I don't think he minded!)...until now! 😆

I bought a few extra square laundry baskets from Walmart to make this system work. I wrote my family members' names on 4x6 blank note cards and taped them with strong packing tape on the laundry baskets—under the handle areas.

Each of my family members now have two big laundry baskets—one for whites and one for lights/darks. I've situated the laundry baskets on and under my laundry table in the basement for easy access.

I still separate and wash all of my family's laundry because I know the best settings to use on our washer and dryer—plus, we need to wash/dry full loads to save energy.

Once our laundry is dry, I separate it into each of my family member's baskets. If I easily see two socks that match, I'll pair them up, but otherwise, I try to divide/separate our clean laundry as quickly as I can into the appropriate baskets!

Obviously, I fold my own laundry and all the household linens, and put them away. But for the rest of my little family, they're on their own!

I can't describe how liberating(!) it is to not have to worry about folding all of my family's laundry anymore! I've cut my laundry time significantly! Yay yay! Happy day!

I've told my family it's their choice what they choose to do with their laundry. I make sure everyone's clothes are clean (As long as their clothes are in the hamper they'll get cleaned; if they're on the floor, they'll stay dirty until they're put in the hamper!), but they know they have to put everything away themselves.

It's been interesting to see who decides to fold their laundry and put it away, vs. who likes to keep their laundry in a basket and hastily hunt through it in the morning—or at night when they're ready to take a shower! Ha ha. I just laugh to myself and joyously think, "It's not my problem! I've done my job so I can rest easy!"

Just as a reminder, I very happily chose to fold and put away my family's laundry for all those years—no one forced me to do it. I'm sure I could have implemented a less-time-consuming system years ago, but I chose not to. I'm also very happy with my decision to quit providing that laundry folding/putting-away service!

Lastly, I've been listening to and watching so many great talks, speeches, articles, and podcasts while working around my house, and I shared them on Pinterest! So if you want to check out the amazing speakers and uplifting subjects I've enjoyed, check out my Pinterest page! *And please remember that I don't receive any sort of kickback or payment from you visiting my page—I'm not sending you there for any reason other than I want to share all of the goodness I've found! #fulldisclosure! 😀 I spent quite a bit of time pinning today because I felt all of it was soooo important! Thus, it would make me super duper really happy if someone out there benefited from my sharing! 😁

With that, I must end my blogging for today. I hope all of you readers are enjoying this glorious weekend! Now, go hug your loved ones and tell them how much you love them, and how important they are to you!

P.S. I'm totally praying for Houston. I have been utterly shocked at the devastation people are enduring there. I can't even imagine how deeply their hearts are hurting! 💔 My heart so goes out to all of them! 💖 That said, I absolutely love what my church and its members are doing to help out—we truly love serving and helping our brothers and sisters! 💛

"UPDATE: Church Encourages People to ‘Just Serve’ Hurricane Harvey Victims

First Presidency offers organized ways to volunteer in relief efforts"

"7 Ways You Can Help with Hurricane Harvey Relief"

Piano Practice Perks!

One of the many ways I know my family is finally settled is the fact that I'm teaching piano lessons again! In 2010, before we moved to Texas, I taught piano to three students. About a year-and-a-half into our Texas adventure, I was blessed to teach piano to four darling and wonderful students. Despite my family's unending wondering about where we were going to finally land for good, teaching piano in Texas was definitely a highlight for me.

When we moved home in 2013 (Wahoo!), I truly didn't expect to teach piano lessons again. You see, my former students had moved on to new teachers and I knew I wouldn't ever get them back. Plus, I don't advertise that I teach piano. Simply put, I have a hard time putting myself out there—especially when I have to charge people money for my services. Sadly, I'm not that charitable to give away my knowledge and time for free: simply put, my family needs the money! Yet, I always knew that if someone asked me about teaching piano lessons, I wouldn't say no. :)

Thus, I was surprised and thrilled when I unexpectedly received my first inquiry about teaching piano again. I've been teaching three students for a couple of months now and I love it! (I really hope they are happy with me, too.) What's fascinating is the fact that I've gained three more students in just the past several days! Well, one of them won't be starting until the fall, but it still counts. :) I also have another possible student that might be coming into my piano mix, but that won't be settled for a little while.

Because of these wonderful piano lessons I'm blessed to provide, I had our piano tuned (last Friday) for the first time ever! Yes, you read that right, EVER. My darling grandpa gave me his piano in 2003 after my adorable grandma passed away (2001), but we never had the money to tune it. Okay, I'm 100% positive Greg and I could have scrounged up the money from somewhere to tune it, but we chose to spend our money elsewhere, i.e., raising our children well. :) Then we moved all over the country multiple times so I didn't want to tune my piano until we had finally settled somewhere (pianos go out of tune when they are moved). Thankfully, I now feel totally established in our lives—we've been here nearly two years(!), and I truly don't believe we're going anywhere until our children are grown and established in their own lives.

On that note...it's such a good feeling to finally be settled! It's such a happy feeling: hanging pictures on your walls! And when you wake up in the shadow of majestic mountains, you know it's gonna be a snaptastic day! *Imagine the Mister Roger's song when you read those previous sentences! I know my words aren't remotely close to working like Mr. Roger's song does, but you get the gist of my happiness. :)

Long story short, when I began teaching piano again, I knew it was time to tune my piano. I found a wonderful piano tuner: Paul Gates of Gates Piano Service. *By the way, Mr. Gates did not ask me to write a review for him, and I did not receive any sort of discount for writing about him. In fact, I hope he's okay with me writing about him!?! Although I've never seen or heard a piano tuned before, I could instantly tell he totally knows what he's doing. I have a pretty good ear for pitch, so I was beyond delighted to hear Mr. Gates fixing my old piano!

I cleaned up my kitchen while our piano man tuned, so I had a lot of time to listen to his work. I couldn't help but think of the song "Getting In Tune," by The Who. I've always loved "Getting In Tune," as it simply makes me happy! Here it is for your listening pleasure!

As I heard my tired, old, chipped piano being restored to its proper and lovely sound, I was struck by the idea that each of us are like pianos!

Some of us are in perfectly beautiful shape with phenomenal pitch and amazing sound, while others of us are scratched, dented, have sticky keys, and are completely out of tune. It takes a master piano tuner (i.e., our Heavenly Father {God}) to properly tune us into the magnificent beings we are meant to be. He forces us to open our souls. He pounds on our keys. He twists our strings to the point that we wonder if we might snap! When He finds one of our non-performing sticky keys (a.k.a, cranky keys), He uses the correct tool and lubrication with the perfect amount of pressure to make our keys operate smoothly and happily again.

His repetitive note pounding, endlessly patient listening and precise string twisting, ultimately helps us return to our true notes! All of this happens because we allow Him into our lives—trusting that He knows what is best. We simply have to be pliable to His efforts on our behalf.

Even after we've allowed Him to restore our former splendor, that's not the end for us. Just like pianos need continuous tuning throughout their careers, we also need to check-in with our Heavenly Father on a constant basis. The longer we allow ourselves to be closed to the tuning and training that our Father in Heaven can offer, the harder it will be for us to stay in-tune with Him. Of course, this all happens because of our Savior...He is our link to heaven!

I know that was a bit sappy, but it's truly how I feel about pianos and us being spiritually in-tune! :)

After my piano was refreshed and feeling oh-so-chipper, I couldn't wait to start playing it! Don't laugh, but I messed up my songs because I was astonished by the glorious sound coming out of my old piano! My piano daze only lasted a day, or so, and now I've adjusted to the perfect notes I'm hearing!

In case anyone is wondering, I've been using the Alfred Method to teach my students. I feel it's worked well and, so far, I haven't had any complaints! :) That said, I absolutely remember my main piano teacher and all of her wisdom. I bring much of her knowledge to my lessons as well.

By the by, I had three piano teachers during my youth, but my second teacher was the one I spent the longest time with—she made the biggest impact on my piano learning/playing experience. She might wonder if anything she said/did/taught mattered to me because I was kind of a brat-student! I didn't mean to be bratty, I simply detested practicing and didn't like her critiquing my efforts. Hi! I also really didn't like anyone telling me what to do! Surprise, surprise. ;)

Years later, I finally and fully understood just how valuable my piano teacher's words, actions and criticisms were! :) So even though she might think I'm not the best piano teacher (my mom told her I was teaching), I feel I am a good teacher because of her efforts. I also feel I'm a better teacher simply because I know all the tricks students might pull! Ha ha. Yes, I'm very attuned to the student who thinks they can fake-out their piano teacher (I won't let them) because back in my day, I was one of them!

I've also included a little program to entice my students to want to practice the way I've assigned. I call them "Piano Practice Perks!" Basically, if a student practices every day I've assigned for the week, and they get their parent's signature attesting to that fact, they get to write their name on the back of a Piano Practice Perk and save it. After they've received four PPPs, they can exchange them for a treat of their choice! For some students who have treats all the time, my method might not be the best motivator. And for some students who simply love playing the piano, my PPPs probably won't make a difference to them. But for those students who struggle with the desire to practice, and they like treats, my Piano Practice Perks come in mighty handy! :)

I print these off using the wallet-sized category of my printer. That way I save paper and printing costs, and they're small enough that my younger students view them like pretend money!

Here are my cut-up PPPs in my cute little star dish. :)

What I've said multiple times is that anyone can play any song they like, as long as they've learned the fundamentals of piano and practice practice practice! Truly, after learning everything about the piano, practicing is what makes a pianist great, mediocre or terrible. That said, I know some people have a natural talent for music while others truly struggle. For those who struggle, but don't want to quit piano to find their true talent (maybe they want to keep their mind young and active), I say this: as long as you're diligently practicing and giving it your very best effort, you can be proud of your piano performances—whether given in your home, or out in public.

I've been playing the piano off and on since I was in the second or third grade—whoa, I won't tell you how many years it's been! There's no doubt I made the greatest strides in my piano accomplishments when I practiced consistently. There is truly no substitute for dedicated piano practice!

It's super interesting to me that all of my piano practicing years have now paid off for my little family—in more ways than filling our home with beautiful music, for we can definitely use this little bump in our monthly income! Talk about Piano Practice Perks! Ha ha. And, as Greg and I have talked about, as long as my teaching doesn't interfere with our family life (i.e., I gain too many students—which I won't), I can see me teaching piano far into the future. :) Side note: I would be so pleased if my blog were able to provide my family's needed extra income, but it sadly hasn't happened. :( Thus, I've chosen to spend more time teaching than blogging.

The other big plus for me teaching piano again is that I love teaching children! They are so pure, so sweet, and most of them listen well and are so eager to learn and grow. It is truly a privilege to be involved in developing their piano skills and influencing their precious souls. It might sound silly, but I honestly feel like I'm a piano life coach! Ha ha. In all seriousness, there is such joy to be found in playing the piano—it's one of my favorite activities! I'm so blessed I get to bring musical knowledge and joy to children!

Music Buddies

Yesterday afternoon, my youngest son and I discovered that we like the same kind of music! At my son's request, I switched radio stations while waiting in the car for his older brother and sister to get out of school. The Cranberries' song Dream started playing. I asked my son if it was okay that we listened to it? Happily for me, he said yes! :)

When Dream finished, I said, "So, what do you think? Do you like that song?" My son said, "Yeah, I really like that song!" I replied, "Yay! It's one of my favorites! I wasn't sure you'd like it because it's 20 years old." (It's actually 21 years old!) The funny thing is, my son complains quite often that songs on the radio are too old after they've been out for only a few months, so that's great news he likes Dream!

He then asked, "Mom, were The Cranberries as popular as One Direction is now?" I said, "No. (The Cranberries sold 40 million albums. One Direction has already sold 45 million, and they're not even close to being done!) Plus, The Cranberries isn't a pop band, they're considered alternative music—which is what I mainly listened to in high school when this song came out." Side note: I like many other music genres, but alternative is what spoke to my heart back in the day, and does quite often today as well.

My son instantly remarked, "I listen to alternative and electronica on Grooveshark. I can play you some of the songs I like when we get home." I about died silently laughing because I never expected him to say that, ever! :)

I find this whole experience so interesting and fun! I mean, my little family has listened to so many different types of music together for years, but this is the first time my youngest son has so definitively expressed what styles of music he likes.

I'm just really grateful he doesn't like crazy dad music (that's what my kids used to call Greg's music when they were little), for my husband and I have completely different music tastes! Last night, Greg introduced me to a band from the 80s that I refuse to repeat the name of because I dislike it so much! Some people consider the band to be bad, but as someone who frequently plays the piano, sings in my ward's (church) choir, and (used to play) the cello, I simply find the band's music to be not very musical at all. I totally sound like an old lady with a shaky voice when I say, "They call that music?!" It makes my soul shiver in a yucky way...ick!

Yes, as much as Greg and I love each other, we are not music simpatico, and that's okay. :) Thus, I'm even more thrilled that I've found a music buddy in my darling son! It makes my heart happy both as a mama and as a music lover! :)

I've always wondered what music my baby boy would end up liking. When he was very young, he would stand on his tiptoes and plink the piano keys all by himself! Whenever I played the piano, he would climb on my lap and put his hands on top of mine. It was so sweet! I had my friend teach him piano lessons for a few months before we moved to Texas, but we fizzled out after that.

Today, I decided that it's time I start teaching my son piano lessons on my own, for I truly believe he is a musical boy and I need to help him bring out his talent! I was nervous about asking him what he thought of my idea, so I came prepared with a strategy: for every minute he practices the piano, or has a piano lesson, he gets to play a minute longer on the computer!

You see, my boys love playing computer games, and I get so tired of having to regulate how much time they spend on the computer. I'm a good regulator, but it wears me out. My husband is a huge help in the computer regulation area as well. Thank heaven for husbands! :) Anyway, our lessons will most likely be 30-45 minutes, which means on piano lesson days, my son will get to play an additional 30-45 minutes on the computer. Similarly, for every 20 minutes he spends practicing the piano, he'll get an additional 20 minutes to play computer games! *No judging my strategy, please. I had to find some way to get him excited about the piano, and this was it! :)

Early this morning, I presented my awesome piano plan to my little guy, and he was all for it! Yay! I believe deep down my son realizes he has musical abilities, thus, he agrees that we need to bring music to a more prominent place in his life. I'm truly beyond thrilled he agreed to playing the piano again! Let's just hope and pray we don't lose our enthusiasm and fizzle out again. I'm so happy he's willing to try! :)

I was going to share another song I like from my alternative music years, but there are way too many for me to narrow down to just one! Thus, I'll just share my new favorite Christmas song I discovered on Facebook the other day. It's so lovely! I checked out Cloverton's other songs and I really like them! Enjoy!

I love music!!!!!