Three Day Weekend

I love these days. I feel like I have so much to do, and no drive to do them. This last week I've been so busy, and just needed to sleep. So, that's what I've done. I took a nap after work yesterday, slept for 9 hours last night, and took a little snooze after breakfast. I feel pretty good right now. I think I'll go walk a bit on the treadmill, then maybe enter some notes in Finale, or do some lesson planning. I do need to some shopping and retrieve a pizza pan from school today, but it's only noon, I still have lots of time. Such is the illusion of a break from school.

Lately Fluke has been giving me audiobook files. She's the audiobook queen, I think, but if I had her job I'd be like that, too. I've been listening to The Hunchback of Notre Dame and reveling in the language and story-telling prowess of Victor Hugo. I think this must be why I enjoyed Les Miserables so much. I'll have to read that one again. Ususally I just listen in the car when I drive long distances (usually to Fluke's house, now that I think of it), but I have taken to listening to this one while cooking, exercising, and roaming the internet.

Back in the Groove

Well, I think I have almost successfully re-admitted myself into school mode. I am still sleepy in the morning, but that's not really that unusual. I think I need to teach at a school for the nocturnal. Or at least, the semi-nocturnal. Instead of 8 to 3 we could meet from 10 to 5 or something.

Mom helped me pay for a treadmill for Christmas. This thing has been fun and has created some convenient exercise in the house. The first time I got on it and set a workout mode it kicked my butt. I haven't done that since, just been doing a freestyle exercise mode.

I think the week has been good. My students are doing alright, I'm ok, and all currently seems well. It makes me wonder what's coming... I guess I'll worry about that when it comes and until then try and prepare myself for what may come. Have a great week!

Woah, time flies!

It's been more than a month since I posted?! I really got sucked into work and play. My two band concerts went well, I think. The kids played pretty well, but not devoid of mistakes by any means. I performed in two concerts on french horn, too. I played with the Wasatch Winds and with the Cache Community Orchestra. Both went well, especially considering I'm a trumpet player. I'm kinda excited to get back into the normal swing of things, though. I have some good ideas that I think my students will like.

I went to Arizona for Christmas. Michele was kind enough to drive me to her house, let me stay, and then take me to the airport. Well, we actually went there in Steve's truck because it was snowing so bad the day I flew out. My flight was delayed a half hour and after the drive from Tucson to Pima it was almost 2:30 AM before we got home. We had a good holiday, I like my parents, but their town is kinda boring. Wal-Mart and Basha's are the two most entertaining things in the area. Right now I'm at Michele's again. We played games for New Year's and ate food.

Hey Melissa, I'm gonna need another reminder to get bck in the habit...

I'm Apparently Crazy

So the last few weeks have been hectic, but fun. I've been prepping my band kids for their upcoming concerts, in two weeks that'll all be over. I hope they play as well as I know they can. I also had another wisdom tooth out, this one on the top. It was an easy pull, though, and hasn't caused me much pain or grief at all. That night (Tuesday) my roomie and I went to IHOP for pancakes. Something I had there unsettled my stomach and it gradually got worse until I puked. After that I felt much better. Guess that's the way things roll sometimes.

Wednesday I went to Grandma's for Thanksgiving. It's always great to go back to Sterling and hang out with the fam. The news only takes a few minutes to recite, and the graciousness of my family is a cool thing to watch. It's always interesting to see who Grandma and Grandpa invite to dinner. This time it was a man who Grandpa home teaches. Other than dinner we gather to play games, we even let Uncle Colby play, despite the fact that he'll bend all the rules to suit his desire to win.

On Friday night I went to Fluke's house. Nothing really unusual there. We saw the Twilight movie on Saturday morning (I still root for Jacob, but some of the others are hot!). The previews and ads are sometimes fun to watch. I made the comment that I should learn to pilot helicopters, that I had tickets to Glenn's show, and that I wanted to see some scary movie (with a boy, naturally). We laughed. Then we went shopping, which is also a normal activity for us. It seems that I can't leave Fluke's house on a weekend without some purchase I've made. When we were walking out of the mall we passed the giftwrap station and I mentioned to her that I was going to wrap her Christmas present in a Barbie gift tin. She says to me, "It scares me that you have a Barbie gift tin." And I told her that I didn't, that I would buy one for her and she replies, "Well, that's crazy. You're crazy." Lol! Like flying helicopters and me having a boyfriend isn't crazy?! *Sigh* Now I wish even more that I had those three things, a helicopter, a boy, and a Barbie gift tin.

Feelin' Alright

So, yesterday I had one of my wisdom teeth pulled. The dentist said that he'd just pull it there in his office, and that I'd be able to drive home or go back to work. That's exactly what happened, it was smooth and easy (relatively speaking). There was a young family there just before me with several boys having baby teeth removed or having other work done. Walking in was like walking into the classic kid dentist nightmare. All kinds of screaming, crying, yells of pain, and apparently kicking and hitting (from the kids) as well. There was one boy, who had his tooth pulled, in the waiting room next to me just sobbing; it took all my self-control not to burst out laughing. "Don't laugh. Laughing won't make the kid feel any better." Doc said that the kids have a pretty over-dramatic reputation, and that most of the screaming came before he even put the needle in to numb the mouth. Oh, that poor mother.

Today we had a combined rehearsal with the band kids from Edison North (I teach at Edison South) for our concert on Thursday. We started off a little rocky, but things got better pretty quickly. They sounded pretty good and with some more polishing we'll be able to deliver a pretty nice performance. Teaching band always makes me happier for some reason. I must be in the right career.

"You Make Your Own Busy"

My gramma used to say that phrase to me all the time, and she still does when I tell her I'm too busy to do something or too busy to stay longer at Thanksgiving. It's true, though. One of my make myself busy things this year was volunteering with the Mountain Crest Marching Band. Last weekend we went to St. George and Las Vegas to compete and they did a fantastic job. They were able to pull off the three best shows I've seen all season. We were thrilled when they made finals in Vegas and then placed 9th out of the top 10 bands in the region. They've really progressed farther in one year than I had thought they would. Kudos also to Davis High and Sky View for placing in the top ten as well - and also to American Fork for sweeping the show! I wonder if Michele even reads this blog...

This weekend I was at Michele's watching competitions with her. We watched several really great bands and I think that AF will provide some good competition for them. It'll be fun to watch, I think. Friday night I drove out to Jenna's place in Eagle Mountain to hang out at her Halloween party. It was pretty fun! She had the whole house decorated and had games and food and people. It was great to talk to her family again and I have resolved to spend some time out there - provided I can find it again. Eagle Mountain apparently isn't too concerned about whether or not the street signs are visible when people are driving...

Today was stake conference. Well, there was a meeting last night, too. The stake choir sang "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" last night, and we had a string quartet playing the accompaniment rather than the organ. They all did a fabulous job! Today we sang "In Humility, Our Savior" from the hymnbook while the pianist embellished the parts. Ally and Sara in all their flute and violin glory played an obligatto of sorts as well. I think this one was my favorite. :) We also did the Mack Wilberg arrangement of "The Spirit of God". Our stake has some great guy singers and this was a good way to show them off a little. And, it makes for a neat singng experience. It's amazing, whenever I lead a church choir they always sound great. Standing in the choir isn't always as rewarding, but in front is always uplifting.

Now that marching band and stake choir are over I'm thinking things will slow down a little... ;)

Fall Frenzy

Yeah, so this week went by really fast. Yesterday my roomie and I went to a Halloween party in Highland. I dressed in a black cloak and painted my face black and roomie went as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Tangent: I learned a new skill this week - how to sew sleeves. I've sewn stuff before, but the cloak was the first time I've made anything with sleeves. Back to subject: We had a fabulous time. Friday I went to my friend's house for dinner and then a group of us went to a corn maze. I really need to learn to take a hint so I don't end up the tag-a-long for another budding romance. Blech! They were holding hands and everything! The rest of the week as spent working and running from one appointment to another. I had a cavity filled in one of my molars this week and a temporary crown put on another. That was mildly painful, but I'm glad I'm not sore any more. My poor roomie had oral surgery not too long ago and still hurts from it. She's got nasty mutant teeth, though, that require more invasive methods to fix. Glad I'm not her! This week will prove no less busy, I'm afraid. I think after marching band ends things will slow a little, but I doubt it'll make much difference. It's likely that I'll think, "Marching band is over, I can schedule that..." Ha ha, oh well. Gotta do something with my time.

Conference Week

Hey, it's been a a good week. the past few days have been pretty good. It's always great when Conference comes 'round and we can hang out and listen to our church leaders. Every time this happens I feel like I learn so much, but I can never remember what as said, except maybe a general topic from a few speakers. That's why the Conference issue of the Ensign is such a good thing for me.

Yesterday the MCHS marching band playing on the muddiest and wettest field of the season so far. I'm amazed no one was seriously injured or went prone in the mud (heard that happened to some poor t-bone player from Davis, though). I'm glad that we get another chance to improve and show our stuff on Tuesday, I don't think that they were satisfied with their performance.

General Relief Society Meetng

So Ally and I, through the grace of our good friend Michele and her neighbor Darcia, got tickets to the General Relief Society Meeting last night. They got to sing in the choir. I bet that was a fabulous experience - it was amazing to listen to them! Anyway, the whole meeting was just fantastic. It's great to have an event that is so uplifting, comforting, and encouraging that I can still feel the high today. I did wonder, though, how many women were especially pleased that it was the handsome Elder Uchtdorf that addressed us at the end of the meeting. Prior to the meeting Ally and I wandered aroung Temple Square and took pictures. I loved that, as well, since this was my first time actually seeing the Christus. How odd is it that I have been a Mormon un Utah all my life and have never seen it until now? I'll prolly write more on this later, I still need to download my pictures.

Friday night I was at the best party of all time. Even though the reason for the party had mixed emotions it was extremely good to have so many friends gather together in once place to see off Becky and Richard. We'll miss you! I was really a wonderful thing to eat sugar, sit and chat, and play Nintendo like the old days. And, us single ones got the opportunity to play with the little kids. ;)

WOAH!

I spoke too soon when posting my previous post. The Aggies won today 42-17 against Idaho! This is Utah State history!

Fall is Coming

So this is the second game in a row that I haven't been tempted to attend. I'm still supporting my dear Aggies, but have finally given in to the idea that I do not need to pay to see them play because I can already predict the outcome. I suppose I'll eventually go to one, though. It's threatening rain today, anyhow. I don't really want to sit in the rain and watch my team lose.

Tomorrow I am being set apart for my new calling as stake choir director. When I was first called I wasn't really enthusiastic about it, but now it has grown on me. Not so much the idea of people lookin' at my butt in the tabernacle as much as the idea of once again having the opportunity to use music as a medium to bear my testimony. And, because I'm in charge, I picked one of my favorite hymns (ok, it's not an official LDS hymn), "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" as well as several of my other favorites. My friend, Sara, convinced me that a string quartet would be a cool way to accompany the choir, so we're planning that for the Saturday night session. I'm excited!

School this week has been fairly normal. Our plans for offering exploratory elective classes for our middle school kids is well underway. We solidified the classes being offered, teachers, and rooms. Monday the kids will register and hopefully by the end of next week we'll have class lists and the teachers can begin to really plan. My band students are doing well, despite having Friday Zone-Out Syndrome while my professor was observing me. Oh, well. They're still great kids.

On a side note: why is it that almost all chick flicks have romances rooted in deception of some kind? Intentional or not dishonesty doesn't seem to be the best foundation for a new relationship. But what do I know? I'm still single.

For Melissa

So this week seemed generally uneventful. Discussion has begun on setting up new exploratory and fun classes for our middle school age kids at school. We set out a survey for the kids to fill out and got requests for cooking, badminton, pyrotechnics, English, and some other more common classes. It was fun to see the results. Yesterday I felt like I spent most of my day spending money. I bought Mario Kart for Wii, bought peaches at the local farmer's market, went to DI, ShopKo, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and Wal-Mart. I am happy to report that I already have a start on my Christmas shopping. Playing Mario Kart on the Wii is hysterical fun, by the way. Come over, we'll play. ;)

Time Travels When Ya Aren't Lookin'

Hey kids, it's been a while since I posted... So, since January a ton of stuff has happened but I'll give you an abbreviated version: February was my birthday, March was boring, April I went to NYC for a fabulous week hanging out with Jenny, venturing into the city, we watched Hairspray and Wicked on Broadway and saw Michael Buble in concert. Simply amazing. Um, May was when school got out, June Ally and I went to the Glenn Beck Insiders Convention in Akron, OH, but really the highlight was historic Kirtland. July I drove to Michele's a lot, August school started again and here's September already. Nuts, huh?

Anyway, the pic above is from the Tesoro in AF, there on 100 East and what? 100 North? I had to read the sign out loud to figure out what it was saying. It made me laugh, depsite the fact I was buying gas at 10PM in the middle of a lightning storm. It was Saturday and I needed to drive the next day... what could I do? All I can say is that I am indeed grateful for stern English teachers while I was in school.

January

Why is it that January seems so boring? Is it because it is compared to December? Or February? That Civil Rights Day can't really compare to Christmas, New Year's Eve, or Valentine's Day? Or maybe because said holidays drain the coffers so much that one spends January recovering? Any way the answers fall January just has less thrills than its wintry siblings.

For me January hasn't been so bad. My little brother will be serving an LDS missions in the Texas, Dallas mission. We sent him to the Missionary Training Center in Provo on Wednesday. Turns out he doesn't look so bad in a suit and tie. I'm sure he'll be fine, but it's going to be fun to see him struggle and grow. Well, anyway, here's a pic of him in Provo.

New York Eve

Tomorrow will mark an interesting day for me. It will be the day that I first set foot in New York, New York. I have never traveled much, but when I do it is almost always related somehow to being involved in band. Band has taken me from my podunk home in Utah to San Diego, Greensboro, Phoenix, Anaheim, Reno, Chicago, and Oklahoma City. And, very soon to NYC. I'll be chaperoning with the American Fork High School Marching Band. They have been invited to perform in the annual Macy*s Thanksgiving Day parade. I'm so excited to see the city! I'll most likely be in shock for a few days, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

October

You know, fall always seems to be busy. School is underway, new television shows begin and marching band season is in full swing. This fall I volunteered a little for the Mountain Crest High School Marching Band. It's been fun, but it reinforces the idea that I'm not much of a marching band person. I see it's benefits, but wonder about the motives and the sanity of those involved.

This month one of my friends leaves to serve a mission for the LDS church in Poland. My little brother is waiting for a call, and my older brother is thinking about attending a university. It seems funny to think that they will all soon be gone away from home. I've been buying my little brother ties at a local secondhand store. I have about 10 or so in varying colors and patterns.

Well, I suppose that's all for now.

School has begun...

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." - Joe Fox

So school started this week, on Monday. My band kids are back in the mix already, they have books, instruments, and music to practice and only some of them are doing it. So now that the first week is over some are already playing catch-up. Silly kids.

Even though the summer seemed quite short I was quite ready to return (except for the earlier mornings). Most of my friends have 'real' jobs and have to work a full year and couldn't go out and play with me. Boring friends, sheesh! Ah, well, I am looking forward to having something entertaining to do, football season, and the upcoming season premieres of my favorite television shows. It's a good life.

America the Beautiful

So this last week seemed busier than most. I worked, saw the new Harry Potter flick, drove to Wyoming, and then drove to Highland, UT and back home again. I got to see the Teton mountains, Yellowstone, and a concert with John Schmidt, Peter Breinholt and Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband. The picture here of the Tetons - I'm not sure which peaks, but I think Grand Teton and Mount Owen. There's a fair chance I'm wrong, though. Jenna might be able to identify them. She was our tour guide on the trip because she was the only one out of our trio that had been there before.

I learned on this trip that tourists are kinda dumb. While on our way through the Tetons we saw a black bear. It was just strolling through the trees toward the road. There were people everywhere trying to take photos of it and they kept stepping just a little closer. Some were less than 10 yards from it. I was on the far edge of the crowd. I am quite satisfied with my picture using the zoom on my camera and knowing that if the bear had attacked I wasn't in target distance. This was true all through Yellowstone as well, people everywhere approaching bison, elk, coyotes. It's like saying, "Hey! Over here! I'll bug you with my camera flash and you can stab me with your magnificent antlers!"

This is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. I'd post the Old Faithful video, but I'm not sure how to do that yet. We saw this just before sunset. It was absolutely amazing to see. It is a shame that more people don't witness the wild beauty that the National Park System has to offer. Sure, they get thousands of visitors every season, and so do many other parks, but how many people can say they've seen bison swim the Yellowstone River? Or hiked Angel's Landing in Zion National Park? How many have seen Delicate Arch in person or eaten the fruit from Capitol Reef? Ah, well, I expect I'll have more to say on this later.

Wonderful Summertime

You ever have that feeling that everything just keeps flying by? It seems to me that the last few months have been that. It's been five months since my last post and tons of stuff has happened; none of it terribly substantial. One of those things has been my introduction to radio guy Glenn Beck. That guy's funny, and he makes sense. Like him lots. I cannot listen to his show, though, because I am a school teacher and can't listen to the radio while I teach. Something about distracting the kids... I might just have to become an Insider and download his podcasts.


Summertime for me is like having so much of something good you can't get rid of it. I have so much time that I had to find a part-time job to fill it. I have to convince my friends to take time off to come play with me. Just this last week Ally (roomie) and I went to This is the Place Heritage Park to check out some state history and to see Glenn Beck film his CNN show. That night (Independence Day) Ally played with the Salt Lake Symphonic Winds at Sugarhouse Park. Then we stayed to watch one of the largest firework shows in the state. What a great day. I've got some pics posted around. they're not that great because I was too distracted by the live fireworks to look at the camera and see what it was taking. I love July, this is the best month because it's warm and because the people of our nation seem unite even though our opinions differ so greatly. But then, that's part of what makes America so wonderful.

The Game Everyone Needs To See

Sometimes it really pays to be a band nerd. Yesterday was one of those days. Last night was the night the Aggies from Utah State played the Nevada Wolfpack (ranked no. 10) and won. I had decided to go to the game, but was unsure how to get in, because I am not a student and would likely have to pay out my nose to get a ticket. Luckily I ran into a friend of mine in the parking lot who was in the pep band. He was leaving early for a rehearsal and asked me if I would sub for him, handed me his trumpet, and left. Now all I had to do was walk in. "Hey, I'm in the band." Magic words to whisk you into courtside seats at any homegame. Not only did I get free admission and great seats, I got to witness local basketball history live.

The game was amazing. Many will talk of how college hoops are better to watch simply because the heart the players put into their performance draws in the crowd and before you realize it everyone has emotion invested in the game. When the game's close and you're playin' "Hey Baby" and the crowd's singing along there is palpable energy. Growing energy that translates into vocal energy. That energy left my ears ringing for hours after the game. Everyone needs to experience that kind of setting; everyone needs to see their team slay Goliath.

I've posted some pictures. I apologize for the quality. I took them from my phone with my left hand while playing the fight song and "Scotsman" with my right. The first is the score at the end of the second half, one is the final score, and another the crowd rushing the floor after the win.