I heart you Jane Seymour

We had big plans to go to the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday. We thought we would do a session and then walk around and look at the lights.

At about the same time, we had that "Oh Yeah!" moment. That moment when we both realized that Temple Square is a zoo this time of year and both our memories of looking at the lights are exactly the same. Our memories go something like this: "Why the heck are we here, it's FREEZING, it's crowded, and I had to walk 7 miles from my car, and no matter how much I jump in place I'm still cold."

After choosing to be honest with ourselves about our feelings about Temple Square at Christmas (beautiful yes, but enjoying- not so much) we opted for a trip to the Oquirrh Mountain temple, mainly to avoid the 7 mile walk. The session was lovely, and the walk  to and fro was about 45 seconds.

If we only knew that the next day we would make the 7 mile walk anyway...

We got home and got a phone call from someone in our ward offering us tickets to go to the big Christmas concert put on by the MOTAB. We said "Heck Yes," and started making a game plan for parking.

We thought we left in plenty of time. We thought we had our route all mapped out. We thought we knew all the secret fast ways to get there and all the secret parking spots.

Boy were we surprised to find everyone had discovered all our secret fast ways and secret parking spots. I believe we sat in our car on West Temple on one block for about 22.4 minutes. We FINALLY found an elementary school at least 1 mile away and started booking it to the conference center.

We barely made it to the conference center and got to our seats and felt really bad for the people next to us because I am sure we were sweaty and gross at that point. I was glad I wore flats...I felt so out of place because everyone was all dressed up in their Sunday best and I didn't even put on make up or have time to dry my hair that morning so I felt like one hot mess!

BUT.

The concert was stunning. Unforgettable. Dan had never been inside the conference center and so I was really excited for him! Oddly enough, I have seen 3 of the 5 Christmas concerts since moving here so I kind of knew the drill- singing, followed by surprise dancers emerging from all corners of the conference center, bell ringers running down the steps into the choir, and then suddenly you are filled with the Christmas spirit and you can't wipe the grin off your face for the next 2 hours.

Jane Seymour was the highlight for me. She was absolutely mesmerizing. She had chosen the perfect intonation and accent for every single word. She recited the Christmas story from Luke in a way that was incredibly moving. I wanted so badly for my cousin to be there because she is obsessed with Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and so I hope this comes to DVD! The singing was fabulous and Nathan Gunn's voice- mmmmm, very yummy.

It was worth the walk. It was worth losing feeling in my kneecaps from walking in the cold. It was worth sitting on West Temple for 22.4 minutes.

And the final thought for the day: I want NEED a new camera. This badboy from 2008 has been dropped so many times and fails to take acceptable pictures. So anyone who gets a new camera for Christmas and needs to find a home for their old one, LET'S MAKE A DEAL!