So six months... a lot can happen in six months. (SIX MONTHS! <- for Ally)

June - when we came back from California I'm not sure what happened after that. I probably just hung out with friends and stuff. Oh wait, I took Orff Level II, which is basically a bunch of musicians getting together and acting like elementary kids and getting graduate credit for it. I'd check my journal for other stuff, but it s only slightly more up to date than my blog. lol!

July - Let's see, Independence Day. Oh, I played with the Salt Lake Symphonic Winds in their concert at Sugar House. It was hot, but the saving factor was being able to travel with Dan and T-Roar to Salt Lake every Tuesday. It's like a new argument every week. And, then eating dinner at Winger's afterwards... that was always entertaining. Poor Winger's waitress, at least she was tipped well.

August - I think this was sucked up by school preparations. Always well-intentioned, but never carried out quite like the plans detailed. We did decide then not to have a Christmas concert and to put our concert in January instead, we hoped this would save stress later. I think it worked. I also started graduate classes full-time at the end of August. I was kinda worried I'd not be able to hack it then. I'm not worried now, I got a 4.0 this semester.

September - went to a few marching band competitions. Cheered for my orange and blue buddies and, dare I say it, even louder for my red and black ones. Their show was just way cool. Oh, I think this was also the month I started a renegade Facebook page for a friend...

October - This was the month from hell in a lot of ways. It is, certainly, the most pivotal of the last six and it proved to be the most educational. On the 10th Kady and I went to a Ryan Shupe concert in Smithfield. Just as the concert was starting Michele called me and told me on the of the band buses had been in a wreck. (you can google this event and read all about it.) Our friend, Heather Christensen died while trying to save the students on her bus when the bus driver lost consciousness. She was successful, though, her students all lived. That night I think I kinda went into shock while my brain processed stuff. The next day, Sunday, I remember rehearsing the ward choir and just feeling the comfort in the song they were singing - "Be Still My Soul". That song would carry me through the next weeks. Throughout the next weeks I discovered three things that gave me comfort - music, teaching, and prayer. I learned more about love, friendship, Gethsemane, Christ's healing, Heather, and the power of the Spirit than I ever thought could be crammed into one month. Mom came to visit me, even. I also spent most of that month in a dehydrated state. I am so blessed, but it still hurt like mad.

November - there was still lots of pain going in to this month, but I was able to do some things that helped a lot. The biggest thing was going to the Red Rocks Band Invitational and the BOA Regionals in St. George. On the way down I was able to stop in Delta and see the spot where Heather is buried. That was a good place to go. It was refreshing to sit and cry there. Then, spending time in St. George has never hurt, either. Seeing the AF band play there was simply astounding, it goes to show that music is just notes on a page until emotion is conveyed. You can find videos of these on YouTube, if you want to check it out. This was also the month that my parents came to Sterling for Thanksgiving. I loved being with my family again.

December - this month is when things started to return to normal after Heather's death. Some things, like teaching, had always kinda been normal, some returned to normal fairly quickly, but all the little things didn't come around until recently. I finally got caught up on my laundry, cleaning my room, and buying groceries. It's odd that things would take so long to return, but I just didn't realize what kind of impact things would have on the little things in life. Now we're on Christmas break, and I'm getting ready to fly home to be with family. Little brother Jeff comes home from his mission on the 1st. It'll be a good break.

This is the last six months, with some of details and plot removed. I think that a full telling would take for-ev-er, though.