Let's go to the movies

So ... most of my days (and nights) are consumed by all things baby, cleaning, cooking, laundry, yoga, working out, Joe, and television. As boring as this may sound to some, I love my life. Simple. Satisfying and uncomplicated.

With the new year I wanted to start reviewing movies I see and give my take on them. Nothing serious, just a little something about the movie, what I liked, what I hated, etc.

Mama Mia:

Hated it.

I know it is a musical and everything is supposed to be over the top, but this was too much. I couldn't take it! All the middle aged women and their secret handshakes, and googly eyes and really, really, really bad acting was nauseating. Not to mention I didn't really like the music so it was hard for me to get into it. When the main girl got all of her potential fathers on the boat I just fast forwarded it to the end so I could see who it was. I grew up watching musicals (a true musical fan will easily be able to tell me the movie that the title to this blog comes from) so I know a good one when I see it and this definitely was not it

3 months: Devon (December) Baby's first Christmas

Those who know me best know that I am not .... shall I say .... a "fan" of Christmas. There is so much stress, expense, expectation and lack of sleep that goes on for this "season of giving" that I wish we could all agree to give each other the gift of skipping Christmas in exchange for a nice meal together. Sort of a Thanksgiving do-over with the same sentiment, but different food for variety. Bah humbug! I kid, I kid. But seriously, it is usually a very hectic time of year and with a new baby in tow I was expecting the stress to, at the very least, double.


To work around any feelings of having to hurry to get somewhere every day I decided .... not to. The baby and I would get up, get ready, and we would get there when we got there. Some days it was 11:00 and some days it was 3:00. The baby is not on a true, predictable schedule yet so depending on how much sleep we both got the night before depended on when we got up which would dictate the rest of the day. I planned on going over to my Mom's house everyday the week leading up to Christmas since my brother, Ben, and his 3 kids were staying there. My older sister, Jane, lives in town and she was over there most days as well with her 4 girly girls so it was an easy way to see most of my family which was really fun. The scene at the Turner house was pretty laid back this year. My Dad bought Guitar Hero with the drum kit, lead guitar and bass making it easy for a bunch of us to play together at one time. I played bass a few times, never tried the lead guitar, but my heart is in the drums. I admittedly suck at keeping time, but it's a challenge and it's fun!


Christmas Eve Joe and I went to his Mom's house for food and opening gifts. It is a frenzy with no organization, but it is always a good time. Coral crocheted a beautiful baby blanket for me that was totally unexpected, but so sweet of her. I really do love getting handmade gifts. 2 hours later we were on our way back home. His Mom's side of the family has a party every year in Sahuarita at his uncle's house, but we decided not to go because it is well over an hour drive (one way) from our house. Ben, Elizabeth (my younger sister) and her husband, Nick, came down from Phoenix stayed at our place and we had a blast! We stayed up talking til nearly 5 am, but it was worth it to be able to catch up.


Christmas afternoon we went to my Mom's house. The kids opened up all their gifts and the adults got a gift or two as well. My parents always give us cash which is so awesome. Since I have four other siblings we rotate who we buy for every year. That way it doesn't get too expensive and we are in charge of one family instead of four. This year Elizabeth had my family and she gave us a huge basket of popcorn, candy, and the first season of Dexter. The baby got some clothes, but my favorite thing was a painting that she did of a Buddha in black, grey and red. I am still totally amazed at her talent. It is so beautiful. I haven't hung it yet because I want to put it in just the right place. I'm thinking my yoga room. We were pretty tired to say the least, but it was fun to celebrate Christmas with family and with Devon for the first time.

Baby's first Christmas tree

This time last year I made the mental note that it would probably be the last Christmas for the rest of our married couple lives that we would spend just the two of us. I had that thought several times throughout the last few weeks of December .... watching my nieces and nephew open gifts at my Mom's house, driving through Winterhaven looking at the lights, lounging around the house on Christmas Day watching movies, and New Year's parties. It turns out that I was right! Now that little Devon is here I am excited about Christmas in a totally new way. I even made up a Christmas card and sent out a few of them, something I never thought I would do.

This past Sunday (December 14th) we bundled up the baby and headed over to the Christmas tree lot to pick one out. It was the first day that it really felt like December because it was cold and damp and a little over cast .... my favorite weather. The kind of weather that makes you want to stay in bed all day with your husband and your baby, covered in blankets, wearing soft pajamas, reading, napping, and drinking hot chocolate. All the ladies at the tree lot were cooing and smiling at him and going on and on about how cute he was. We brought the tree home and got it in place in the living room by the windows. It smells amazing! Joe and I decorated it last night and put the baby on the couch to watch. His little eyes lit up and he kicked his legs and arms like crazy. He was really into it. I put out the few holiday decorations that I have and the house looks the level of festive that I am comfortable with ;)

I am surprised that I enjoy decorating the tree as much as I do. I think there were a few years that it felt like one more thing that I had to get done and didn't have time or money for, but this year it felt like a tradition. Like the start of a tradition for Devon and our little family. I hope that as he gets older he knows that Christmas is about giving, spending time with family, celebrating traditions, having fun and good food.

2 months: Devon (November)

Seriously? Is he so handsome or what? So dreamy ....

Devon: 2.5 .... as in 2 and a half months. He is so big. Literally. I took him to the doctor last week and he grew 4 inches and 4 pounds in a month! "They" say that kids grow up so fast, but seriously! He is above the 90th percentile for height. Who would have thought with my gene pool that I would have a tall kid. I noticed that he seemed taller when I put him on the changing table and he definitely was out growing some of his clothes. That part was sadder than I thought it would be to know that he was no longer a tiny newborn .... oohh poor Mama!

At that same doctor visit he had to have shots unfortunately. He was able to drink one of them, but the other 5 had to go in his thighs. 3 in one and 2 in the other. This will happen every 2 months over the next year. So sad, but he came through it like a champ and stopped crying once I picked him up. I am magical.

Anyway we are working on doing more tummy time everyday to help him lift that giant head of his ;) His head is actually statistically smaller than average, but he can't lift it completely so it seems giant. Sometimes I call him "head" the way they did in "So I married an axe murderer" in a Scottish accent. He thinks it's funny. So do I.

*The picture was taken by my beautiful and talented (and preggo) older sister, Katy, during her visit to Tucson for Thanksgiving. Bonjourno!*

Plans: past and present

10 YEARS AGO .......
1. I graduated high school (has it been that long already!?!).
2. Moved out of my parent's house.
3. Was working 3 jobs to make ends meet.
4. Going to school at Pima Community College.
5. Was dating my high school sweetheart Joe. (by then it was 2 years)

5 THINGS ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST .....
1. De-clutter the house enough to clean it.
2. Spend time with Joe and baby D.
3. Make a music mix for my yoga classes that I teach tonight.
4. Teach my yoga classes.
5. Watch Dexter.

5 SNACKS I ENJOY ....
1. Saint Andre cheese on rosemary crackers with a glass of red wine
2. Apple or blue raspberry licorice made in Arizona.
3. Popcorn with Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
4. Cosmos (yes .... that counts as a snack)
5. Pomegranates

5 THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE ....
1. Pay off our house.
2. Set aside money for college (bachelors, masters, and PhD), wedding, and trust fund for Devon (and one potential, future child) in addition to college funds for my neices and nephews.
3. Travel.
4. Go back to school for a bachelors and masters degrees in art history and any other degree until the end of time!
5. Record more music.

5 PLACES I'VE LIVED ....
1. Tucson. The first place I lived in (after I moved out of my parents house) was a small, one-bedroom house and then 4 aparements after that. We moved into our current home about 3 years ago. Originally, we intended this house to be a spec that we would sell, but fell in love with it soon after construction began and decided to keep it.

5 JOBS I'VE HAD/STILL HAVE ....
1. Yoga Oasis
2. Canyon Ranch
3. La Petite Academy
4. TGI Friday's
5. Dairy Queen (my first job when I was just 15)

Performance at the Fox

About 7 months ago I was getting ready to record my 2nd Kirtan (Indian chanting) album. I wanted to "clean up" my voice before going into the recording studio so I decided to take some voice lessons. I have been in choir since I was a little girl, but have yet to take a formal lesson. Joe met a guy at a poker game who gave lessons (who has the most amazing voice) so I met with him. We had a few sessions and he invited me to perform at an event that he organizes every year called "Music for the Soul". It is a charity concert that raises money for Meals on Wheels, elder care groups, and single mothers groups. It is an ensemble of performers that represent spiritual cultures around the world. They had an African dance and singing group, a Native American group, a Christian choir, and Buddhist monk among others. I heard a couple people say,"Where is the Indian girl who is doing the chanting?" and saw the confused looks on their faces when they realized that I was "it". People were surprised to find out that a blonde-haired-blue-eyed-all-American-girl was doing Indian chanting. I performed with Beth Daunis, a violinist, who also was a part of the upcoming cd.

Performing at the Fox theater was such a thrill. It was built in 1929 and was recently renovated. It is an iconic, historical landmark in Tucson and is in the center of downtown Tucson. It seats about 1,300 people and nearly 1,000 were at the performance easily making it the largest audience I have performed in front of. I usually sing to my students at the end of a yoga class which, at the most, was only 60 people. I was pretty nervous, but I tried to get into the spirit of the evening and have fun with it.

My husband, Joe, my sister Jane and her husband, my father-in-law and sister-in-law all came to watch me. My mother-in-law really saved the day and stayed home to babysit my six week old baby. I didn't really tell many people about the concert because if I screwed it up I didn't want everyone to watch it happen, but at the last minute I invited family. I was so touched that they not only came to the show, but wanted to show their support. It meant SO much to me to have them there.

After the show was over we congregated in the lobby and chatted with audience members. They were so complimentary, but I really appreciated those who thanked me for being a part of creating an experience. I got to meet the mayor of Tucson, Bob Walkup, who sought me out to find out more about my instrument, a harmonium.

In spite of all my reservations and nervousness it was a great experience. Every opportunity is an opportunity to grow. Being a part of this concert bolstered my confidence as a singer/songwriter and gave me the chance to represent the yoga community in a positive way.

*The cd is due out in the next couple of months. It will be available on itunes and on my website at www.anniesmithmusic.com. It is called "Lullabies".*

First Halloween

Hilarious.

I wasn't even planning on getting Devon a costume this year, but I couldn't pass this one up. He's so small and we didn't have plans to even go anywhere so I figured what's the point? But ... Joe suggested that I get him something so I went online to a bunch of baby costume websites. There were bunnies and monkeys, but when I saw the "Car freshener" I laughed out loud and knew that I had found "the one". I ordered it from Amazon.com (the cheapest by far) on Wednesday afternoon and by Friday afternoon it arrived. He really only wore it for about 5 minutes at a time because he would get too hot, but it was long enough to snap some pictures and have a good laugh. We ended up going to Joe's sister's house for a Halloween party where the adults ate and talked and then took the nieces and nephews trick-or-treating.

Again ... hilarious.

This is what he wore under his tree costume. Sort of a costume within a costume. I called it his "frat boy" outfit. Later in the evening he even threw up on himself when he drank too much which I thought was a nice touch. It made it more authentic ;) Aunt Bizus (it's really Elizabeth, but some of the little kids have trouble with that so it comes out "Bizus" which I think is adorable) gave me the onesie and I got the hat with puppy ears months ago. I don't know where she finds this stuff, but I love it!

Last year I totally forgot it was Halloween and I was the lame lady who gave out granola bars to all the teenagers, but not this year. I went to Costco and got a huge bag of chocolate candy bars and I was ready. I took half the bag to the party with us and left the other half in a bowl on the porch. I don't really like chocolate so I figured if one kid showed up and took the whole bowl that I was fine with that. However, when we got home it looked like it hadn't been touched so now I am stuck with all this candy. I guess I will take it to the yoga studio tomorrow and let my students have it.

Happy Halloween!