"Rainy Cookies"

Practicing with painting styles. 

Y'all doing anything exciting for Memorial Day? 

'cuz I got all my chores done
and now I'm just eating cookies healthy things like cabbage.

On rainy days like these,
I don't feel too bad about spending x-amount of hours
laying on the couch, doodling.
I'm developing talents, right? Right. Productive.
Have a swingin' Memorial Day, loves.

{"Riku", Kingdom Hearts © Tetsuya Nomura}
{"Toraj", Petrichor © Ashley S. Harmon}

"Broomless Witch ~ Colors"

Welp, there you have it.

I'll keep coloring my drawlins

until I find something that works.

My favorite, actually.

HIGHLIGHTS.

Kitschy. Aw well, experimentation is healthy.

Standing on clouds, Cho? What is this, I don't even...

Any of ya'll out there know how to color? Wanna teach me?

{"Cho", "Petrichor" © Ashley S. Harmon}

"Let Us Not Be Autumn Fans"

The Japanese phrase, 

秋の扇 (aki no ougi)

translates directly to "Autumn Fan". 

But it translates idiomatically to 

"a woman who has lost a man's heart",

 just as the fan is forgotten 

when summer turns to autumn.

An autumn fan, of course, is purposeless. 

Though I believe we reach our greatest potentials

when our heart is bound to another's,

when one loses the affection of a lover,

a new purpose must be found.

There is always purpose for us,

always a reason to thrive.

{images via WeHeartIt}

"When You Believe"

"God will not abandon you. So don't you abandon us." -Miriam

I had to do several takes of this song.
It's so heart-moving, so full of hope and love,
that I kept breaking down in tears.

What a powerful message it carries. And not just in English.
Got to learn a bit of Hebrew for this.

When You Believe by ashleyserena

a-shi-ra a-no-da-nai ki ga-oh ga-ah
(I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously)

a-shi-ra a-no-da-nai ki ga-oh ga-ah

(I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously)

mi-cha-mo-cha ba-elim adonai

(Who is like You, O Lord, among the celestial)

mi-ka-mo-cha ne-dar-ba-ko-desh

(Who is like You, majestic in holiness)

na-chi-tah vi chas-di-cha am zu ga-al-ta

(In Your love, You lead the people You redeemed)

na-chi-tah vi chas-di-cha am zu ga-al-ta

(In Your love, You lead the people You redeemed)

a-shi-ra, a-shi-ra, a-shi-ra...

(I will sing, I will sing, I will sing...)

Singing both female parts, the children's part, and with the chorus.
All challenging in their own way.

The Hebrews endured 40 years in the desert.
While traveling through our own wildernesses,
let's not give up hope, friends.

{MP3 Downloadable HERE}

{images via WeHeartIt & DreamWorks}

{"When You Believe" © DreamWorks}

"Healing Incantation"

Let's continue the Tangled love & culture ourselves, too.
In Japanese, Rapunzel's beautiful "Healing Incantation"
is called「魔法の花」 or "Magic Flower".
{I added some background vocals to make it magical-ler.}



花は煌めく　魔法の花
時を戻せ　過去に戻せ
傷を癒せ　運命の川
さかのぼれ　蘇らせろ
過去の夢

hana wa kirameku    mahou no hana
toki wo modose    kako ni modose
kizu wo iyase    unmei no kawa
sakanobore    yomigaerasero
kako no yume

Glowing flower    Magical flower
Turn back time    Bring back the past
Heal the wounds    River of fate
Flow upstream    Resurrect (him)
Dreams of the past

Although Tangled is dubbed into Japanese in the Japanese version,

{ 塔の上のラプンツェル or "Rapunzel Above the Tower"}

the mouths are not synced to match the Japanese dialogue.

I find this fascinating.

But I suppose they've done that with 

all the Disney movies thus far.

For a bit better quality,
you can download the mp3 here: {Healing Incantation}

魔法の花 Healing Incantation by ashleyserena

Gah, I can't get enough of these two.
Rapunzel & Flynn Eugene forever.

{"Healing Incantation" 魔法の花, Tangled 塔の上のラプンツェル © Disney}

"I See The Light"

I've been wanting to do this duet FOREVER.
Thank you, Ben Murphy, for being charitable and singing with me.

I See The Light by ashleyserena

Can we be frank, friends?
I am quite in love with his voice.

If I was Ursula,

I'd probably steal it in my magical conch.

I requested he speak/sing with his natural accent
so you could hear its Australian beauty.
I'm glad he abided.

For this song,
I went for the childish, whimsical speaking voice of Rapunzel,
more so than the adult sound Mandy Moore used.
Ben sang with his natural, princely voice. A swoon-worthy Flynn.

Our tones are different,

but I like that.

May we all find our lantern-lit princes, ladies.
And sirs, may you all find your curious princesses.

{MP3 Downloadable HERE}

{images via Andells, AliceXZ, PhatPuppy, Smitth}

{"I See The Light", Tangled © Disney}

"It Is You (I Have Loved)"

Let's celebrate every day of the week.

Today is Tuesday. How did you make it special?

I made an ice cream sandwich, myself.

Dear Santa,
Wait, scratch that. Christmas is too far away.

What's the next holiday?
The 4th of July?

Dear Founding Fathers,
I would like a better camera

so my recordings can sound nice.

By the way, I love your guys' work. Revolutionary.

"Come At Me, Bro"

This summer, 

I have to finish the classes I began in Japan.

So I can like, graduate, or something.

First project:

Translate all my blog posts about life in Japan

into Japanese.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

{images via WeHeartIt}

"Talent Stitched in All Our Souls"

What a fantastic concert of LDS talent.

Kevin's roommate, Ben, is a member of Vocal Point,
so we got free access to the Shadow Mountain {Deseret Book} concert
at Women's Conference.
First time I've ever had floor seats in the Marriott Center.

Kirby Heyborne MCd.

David Osmond made us wish someone would write a song for us,
like the one he wrote for his sweet wife.

Jenny Oaks Baker hypnotized our ears.

Hilary Weeks danced with our hearts {in the rain}.

Josh Wright made us fall in love with Debussy all over again.
And maybe fall a little in love with Josh himself.

April Meservy lifted our spirits past the Marriott Center ceiling.

Cherie Call gave us confidence that the little things matter most.

Vocal Point made us all wish they'd ask for our numbers.

I'm always astounded at the amount of talent
the Lord has placed in us all.
Some stand out more than others,
but we all have traces of the Grand Master's talents
stitched in our souls.

*If you would like extended videos of this concert, e-mail me!