"Say Love" and my interview with Hilary Weeks.

Guess what cool thing happened this week?

Hilary Weeks’ new CD “Say Love” landed on three Billboard charts.

You can buy a copy of her CD Here or  download it Here.

It’s No. 9 on the Top Current Contemporary Christian list, No. 161 on the Top Albums-Billboard Top 200 and No. 2 on the Top Current Albums-Salt Lake City, according to Shadow Mountain Records. This is such awesome news.

My kids and I have her CD memorized and I'm giving away a copy of her new CD on my Facebook Page tomorrow so hurry and enter Here. 

I'm lucky enough to have had a chance to ask her a few questions that were on my mind and I thought I would share her responses with you. Have fun getting to know Hillary as I'm sure you have been enjoying her much for years, just like me.

• How do you balance writing and recording with being a wife and a mother?  It has definitely been a learning process!  When I first started receiving requests to do firesides, my husband and I held a powwow.  We discussed the number of requests I could commit to and still feel like I was able to effectively fulfill my first priority - being a wife and mother.  Once I had accepted a certain number of requests in a month, then I would turn down the rest.  I felt a little bad saying "no" to firesides and other worthy requests, but something Stephen Covey said echoed in my heart, "It is easy to say "no" when there is a deeper yes burning inside."  My "deeper yes" is my family.  There have been times when music has needed more attention and it has caused an imbalance at home.  But my family is very supportive and we work together to get through those periods.  Once the commitments have been met, I am able to restore balance at home.  Recently, while recording the new Say Love CD, I rarely had time to make dinner!  We ate out a lot.  Too much.  (But at least the children were fed...albeit with chicken nuggets.)  One night I actually had time to make dinner.  It felt foreign to eat a home cooked meal, and I practically had to explain, "Children, this is a homemade meal.  It is different than Wendy's, Subway, or Cafe Rio.  Most families eat this every night."  We all got a good laugh.

• What music influenced you growing up?  Afterglow, Amy Grant, Michael McLean, Bruce Hornsby and the soundtrack from "The Man from Snowy River."  I remember getting together with my friend Kari Lindquist on Sunday afternoons and singing the music of Janice Kapp Perry.  She was a soprano, I was an alto and we sounded AMAZING together...at least that's what we thought!  I accompanied us on the piano and we sang for hours.  Then we would eat "Crunchies" -  Special K cereal mixed with peanut butter and topped with chocolate.  (My mouth is watering just thinking about it!)   Kari was an expert at making them. Truth be told, Crunchies were the real motivation behind our get-togethers.

• How do you stay grounded when the whole world is singing your songs?  Clean the bathroom!  Haha!  Motherhood and family life take up 90% of my time - music is a smaller portion of my life than you might think.  Folding clothes and doing dishes in more common in my life than signing autographs and taking pictures.  I try to remember why I write and sing and Whom I write and sing for.  That keeps my focus on the glory of God - which is the reason why all of us do what we do. 

• If you could give one message to Christian women and mother's, what would it be? One night while driving home from a YW activity that I had planned, my heart felt sad.  The activity had been a flop.  The girls didn't seem to like me.  I wondered if I was making any difference at all.  The Spirit whispered something to my heart that I have never forgotten because it changed my life.  "Don't worry about what others think of you; worry about what they think of themselves when they're with you."

• Do you ever visit Alaska anymore? My parents have moved to Utah and live seven houses down from me - they are even in my ward!  I love Alaska - I will always be Alaskan in my heart, but I don't visit anymore.  Someday I'd like to take my family on a Disney Cruise to Alaska...but that will take about 50 summer's worth of lemonade stands to pay for!

Can you believe how amazing she is? I can just feel her warmth through her songs. I love singing them at the top of my lungs with my kids accompanying me on our soccer trips. I love it that I can hear my kids singing wholesome, beautiful music...the kind your soul craves...instead of the trash on the radio. What an amazing gift to be able to sing your testimony. I sure try, but my pipes don't sound like hers. I hope you enjoy her CD.

Thank you Hilary!