Finals are over. All stress is gone. Christmas is tomorrow. Life is good.
Jason and I were so excited to have this semester over with! He finished his last final on Thursday, and I finished mine on Friday morning. We chose to work full-time over Christmas break, but we do get two 4-day weekends for Christmas and New Years, so that'll be nice. Independent Study moved on Friday from the Harman building to the Morris Center. Yes, the cafeteria of what was once Deseret Towers. The building is a little ghetto and it smells like a cafeteria, but we got brand new desks, bouncy chairs, and really nice, fast, computers with HUGE screens!
On Monday it snowed at least a foot here. It was snowing constantly all day, and it looked like a blizzard to me! So as many of you already know, BYU and pretty much most of Utah NEVER cancels anything for snow, but for probably the first time in the history of BYU, the Dean decided to close all of BYU campus at 2:00pm, so we all got to go home! I must say, the roads were terrible, so it was a good thing they let us go home. Jason and I decided to play in the snow when we got home. We started building a huge snowman, but the body ended up too heavy to lift onto the bottom, so we didn't get very far...Then we built snow forts and had a snowball fight. It was really fun! The best part, is that we still got paid for the time we would have been working.
Today is the last day of work this week. It is kind of lame that we have to work on Christmas Eve, but I'm hoping we'll be slow so they'll let us go home early. I mean, seriously, why would anyone want to think about their Independent Study class on Christmas Eve? Jason and I decided to go spend the night at the Allphin's tonight so we can share in the excitement of Christmas with the kids in the morning. I don't think I've ever been around little kids on Christmas morning besides myself and my older sisters, so this will be an exciting Christmas!
As fun as this Christmas will be with my new husband and new family, I am sad that this is my first Christmas away from my family and home. I have such wonderful memories of Christmases with my family - reading the Forgotten Carols with the CD, smelling and eating all the yummy Christmas treats my mom makes, decorating the house and tree (yes, including the painful and long process of wrapping the stair railing with holly and lights), opening presents, our awesome breakfasts including Monkey Bread (or Pull Apart Bread, Bubble Bread, Pluckin' Bread, whatever you want to call it) on Christmas morning with Andrea, Ryan, and the kids, going to Mike and Nancy's, and the list goes on. This will be a new and different Christmas, and I guess it's time to create our own family Christmas traditions, but I will never forget the wonderful memories I have of past Christmases.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Finals
Well, we are in the middle of finals. Jason is currently taking one and will then have 2 left. I have my Tuba final in a couple of hours and then I will have 2 left. I can't wait to be done!
Our 6 month celebration on Friday was fun. Jason had been sick all week with the stomach flu, but he was feeling mostly better by Friday. We ended up going to Olive Garden instead of the Mayan, because Jason thought it'd be easier on his stomach. Olive Garden is probably my favorite restaurant, and that's where we go for special occasions, so it was great. Then we went up to Temple Square and looked at the beautiful Christmas lights. It was really cold, but unlike last year there was no snow.
So after a week of Jason being really sick and miserable, we had a really fun weekend since he was finally feeling better. Then Monday came and I got sick...luckily with a cold and not the stomach flu, but goodness, I'm sick of sickness!
Jason and I have been having issues with our laptop not charging well for the past few months. We had to always keep it plugged in for it to stay charged. Then, the plug started not working. We had to do all kinds of things to try and get it to charge. It's to the point where we can't really even get it to work, so we took it in to the BYU Bookstore at the computer repair place. When the guy first inspected it and heard our sad tale, he decided we would need to replace something internally between the plug and the battery. He said on most newer computers this is attached to the motherboard. His estimate was $600 including replacing the motherboard for $500 and the labor which would be around $100. We were NOT happy to hear that, and we were thinking we'd just as well buy a new laptop, but then he and this other guy that work there did some more thinking and after many different estimates and more investigating, we some how got down to thinking it was just the plug and possibly the battery that need to be replaced. The plug will cost about $30, and if we have to replace the battery it would be another $60-$100. That's still a lot of money, but we were really excited to hear that after their initial estimate of $600!
Our 6 month celebration on Friday was fun. Jason had been sick all week with the stomach flu, but he was feeling mostly better by Friday. We ended up going to Olive Garden instead of the Mayan, because Jason thought it'd be easier on his stomach. Olive Garden is probably my favorite restaurant, and that's where we go for special occasions, so it was great. Then we went up to Temple Square and looked at the beautiful Christmas lights. It was really cold, but unlike last year there was no snow.
So after a week of Jason being really sick and miserable, we had a really fun weekend since he was finally feeling better. Then Monday came and I got sick...luckily with a cold and not the stomach flu, but goodness, I'm sick of sickness!
Jason and I have been having issues with our laptop not charging well for the past few months. We had to always keep it plugged in for it to stay charged. Then, the plug started not working. We had to do all kinds of things to try and get it to charge. It's to the point where we can't really even get it to work, so we took it in to the BYU Bookstore at the computer repair place. When the guy first inspected it and heard our sad tale, he decided we would need to replace something internally between the plug and the battery. He said on most newer computers this is attached to the motherboard. His estimate was $600 including replacing the motherboard for $500 and the labor which would be around $100. We were NOT happy to hear that, and we were thinking we'd just as well buy a new laptop, but then he and this other guy that work there did some more thinking and after many different estimates and more investigating, we some how got down to thinking it was just the plug and possibly the battery that need to be replaced. The plug will cost about $30, and if we have to replace the battery it would be another $60-$100. That's still a lot of money, but we were really excited to hear that after their initial estimate of $600!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Thanksgiving
Well, Jason and I had a great Thanksgiving, but it went by way too quickly. We had Wednesday through Sunday without school. It was a really nice break from our hectic lives. Here's our week in a glance:
Wednesday: We worked 8-5, which is kind of lame, but that was also time spent doing homework (which probably wouldn't have been done otherwise) and getting paid for it! Jason and I both had huge research papers to do as well as the normal studying.
Thursdsay: We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Allphin family at his aunt and uncle's. Out of all the delicious food my favorites were the mashed potatoes, turkey, rolls, and pumkin pie. These are pretty much always my favorites. I haven't had homemade rolls in a looong time (Thanksgiving last year), so that was very exciting.
Friday: Because of Jason's fond childhood memories and the desire to get some Christmas shopping done with good prices, we decided to participate in the insanity of Black Friday. Our determination after experimentation: NOT WORTH IT. Pretty sure I'll never do that again. We woke up at about 4:30 in the morning, drug ourselves to Walmart where we found hoards of people gathered around the palettes ready to claw at the merchandise. We came out with about 6 DVD's. They were good prices, but for all we went through it wasn't worth it. Then we headed over to Target. It wasn't quite as bad, but we again didn't come out with much. We went to a couple more stores to do more productive shopping and then went home and slept for a couple of hours. It was crazy, tiring, and not very fun.
Saturday: As I said earlier, Jason and I both had big papers to write. Unfortunately we didn't realize before the weekend that two papers and one laptop doesn't really work so well. My sisters and I decided to do homemade gifts this year for each other's families so I worked on those all Saturday while Jason worked on his paper.
Sunday: Jason and I presented our sharing time about treating God's children with kindness and respect. After worrying about what in the world we would do for sharing time, I discovered an outline on the primary section of the church website. I wish I had known about that before frantically trying to pull something together last Saturday night so we could prepare the kids. We had been given a pamphlet that had a section about sharing time with the weekly themes, but ours didn't offer much help. It just said what the theme was and gave a couple of scriptures. Anyway, I used that outline and it went...alright. After church I finally finished my paper, and then we went to the Allphin's (like we always do) for dinner and games.
It was a great Thanksgiving weekend, but like I said, it went way too quickly. We now only have a week and a half left of classes and then we have finals!
Saturday: As I said earlier, Jason and I both had big papers to write. Unfortunately we didn't realize before the weekend that two papers and one laptop doesn't really work so well. My sisters and I decided to do homemade gifts this year for each other's families so I worked on those all Saturday while Jason worked on his paper.
Sunday: Jason and I presented our sharing time about treating God's children with kindness and respect. After worrying about what in the world we would do for sharing time, I discovered an outline on the primary section of the church website. I wish I had known about that before frantically trying to pull something together last Saturday night so we could prepare the kids. We had been given a pamphlet that had a section about sharing time with the weekly themes, but ours didn't offer much help. It just said what the theme was and gave a couple of scriptures. Anyway, I used that outline and it went...alright. After church I finally finished my paper, and then we went to the Allphin's (like we always do) for dinner and games.
It was a great Thanksgiving weekend, but like I said, it went way too quickly. We now only have a week and a half left of classes and then we have finals!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Help!
Okay, so I need the help of all of my creative, teaching sisters and cousins! Jason and I have to do sharing time in a couple weeks, and we need ideas! The topic is "showing respect and kindness to all of God's children." I've never done sharing time before, and I am having a hard time coming up with anything. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Twilight!!!
Hooray!!! I've somehow convinced Jason to come see Twilight with me!! We bought our tickets yesterday, and we're going on opening day!! I'm so excited!!
Monday, November 10, 2008
8 Tag
RULES
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six "8" items
3) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment
8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. The Office
2. Lost
3. ALIAS
4. Everybody Loves Raymond
5. 24
6. Home Improvement
7. Super Nanny
8. Biggest Loser
8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Woke up at 6:00 am
2. Went to 4 hours of classes
3. Ate lunch with Jason
4. Went to 2 more hours of class (orchestra)
5. Went to work for 4 hours
6. Got home after 7:00
7. Ate pizza for dinner
8. Relaxed on the couch and watched TV with Jason instead of studying or practicing
8 Things I look forward to
1. The weekend (as always)
2. The end of my 3rd round of midterms
3. The Twilight movie!!
4. The end of this semester
5. Thanksgiving
6. Christmas
7. The day I get to see my parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces, and nephews again (whenever that'll be...)
8. Graduation!!!!
8 Favorite Restaurants
1. On the Border
2. Olive Garden
3. Outback Steakhouse
4. Ruby River
5. The Mayan (that's where Jason and I went to dinner the night he proposed!)
6. Wendy's
7. Joe's Crab Shack
8. Cafe Rio
8 Things on my wish list
1. Internet
2. A dog...some things never change :)
3. A printer that works!
4. Time
5. One of those little buggy's that took us to and from the huge ruin in Cozumel to take me to my class and work (except then I'd get fat)
6. A treadmill!!
7. Canon Rebel
8. A day off
8 People to tag
1. Shanna
2. Stefani Mann
3. Stefanie Martin
4. Sheri
5.-8. Andrea stole mine...I have no other friends...
Good Luck!
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six "8" items
3) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment
8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. The Office
2. Lost
3. ALIAS
4. Everybody Loves Raymond
5. 24
6. Home Improvement
7. Super Nanny
8. Biggest Loser
8 Things I did Yesterday
1. Woke up at 6:00 am
2. Went to 4 hours of classes
3. Ate lunch with Jason
4. Went to 2 more hours of class (orchestra)
5. Went to work for 4 hours
6. Got home after 7:00
7. Ate pizza for dinner
8. Relaxed on the couch and watched TV with Jason instead of studying or practicing
8 Things I look forward to
1. The weekend (as always)
2. The end of my 3rd round of midterms
3. The Twilight movie!!
4. The end of this semester
5. Thanksgiving
6. Christmas
7. The day I get to see my parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces, and nephews again (whenever that'll be...)
8. Graduation!!!!
8 Favorite Restaurants
1. On the Border
2. Olive Garden
3. Outback Steakhouse
4. Ruby River
5. The Mayan (that's where Jason and I went to dinner the night he proposed!)
6. Wendy's
7. Joe's Crab Shack
8. Cafe Rio
8 Things on my wish list
1. Internet
2. A dog...some things never change :)
3. A printer that works!
4. Time
5. One of those little buggy's that took us to and from the huge ruin in Cozumel to take me to my class and work (except then I'd get fat)
6. A treadmill!!
7. Canon Rebel
8. A day off
8 People to tag
1. Shanna
2. Stefani Mann
3. Stefanie Martin
4. Sheri
5.-8. Andrea stole mine...I have no other friends...
Good Luck!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thankful Thursday
I liked Melissa's idea of thankful Thursday, so I want to add my own thanks.
Today I am thankful for the angels in my life. I loved Elder Hollands talk in general conference about angels. He talked about the people in our lives who can act as angels bringing us strength, comfort, and joy. Jason and I had a sweet angel (or angels) perform a simple act of kindness last week. Jason and I got home one night after a long day of school and work to find a surpise on our doorstep. Someone had left two carved pumkins and a plate of halloween cookies. They didn't leave a card or anything else to give away their identity. It was such a simple thing, but it really touched me. I can't explain the joy and love I felt from two carved pumkins and a plate of cookies.
Angels often come as an answer to prayer, and they manifest the Lord's love and concern for his children. You never know when you will be able to act as someone else's angel, but the impact that you can have on that person is great.
Today I am thankful for the angels in my life. I loved Elder Hollands talk in general conference about angels. He talked about the people in our lives who can act as angels bringing us strength, comfort, and joy. Jason and I had a sweet angel (or angels) perform a simple act of kindness last week. Jason and I got home one night after a long day of school and work to find a surpise on our doorstep. Someone had left two carved pumkins and a plate of halloween cookies. They didn't leave a card or anything else to give away their identity. It was such a simple thing, but it really touched me. I can't explain the joy and love I felt from two carved pumkins and a plate of cookies.
Angels often come as an answer to prayer, and they manifest the Lord's love and concern for his children. You never know when you will be able to act as someone else's angel, but the impact that you can have on that person is great.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Halloween
Halloween was pretty fun. I had to work till 7, but we did have a party at work...sort of. Our party was in our "new" office (I'll discuss later), and there were 6 different times we could go in designated groups so that there were always people on the phones. I was assigned to go in the last group at 4:30. The group before us was really late getting back (15 minutes) and we didn't want to leave 3 people to handle all the calls (don't ask me why people would worry about their online classes on Halloween anyway). So we finally got to the party at 4:50. Now the party was supposed to consist of the Charlie Brown Halloween, Pin the Hat on the Witch, a cake walk, a costume contest, food and homemade root beer. When we arrived, they were already cleaning up, so we took some of the remaining food (the root beer was gone) and talked...Kinda lame, but whatever. I was being paid to eat food and relax for 20 minutes.
Jason had a nice surprise for me when I got home (he gets off at 5:00). He had cleaned the house and moved the couch in front of the TV with Halloween-ish movies and candy laid out. We made dinner (chicken and salad) and then enjoyed our evening together.
Yesterday was pretty busy. I now teach four students (one started yesterday), so that filled up my morning. Jason always does the yard work while I'm teaching. He mowed the lawn and cleaned up tons of leaves. Then we had our primary class party. We had planned to eat pizza, play games, and have a store for the points they had earned for being good. We passed out invitations last Sunday, but only ONE out of 6 kids came...so Leilani, Jason, and I ate pizza (we bought 2 pizzas), played Life, and Leilani picked out her prizes and went home. It was kind of disappointing, but we plan to actually call the parents next time in the hope of greater attendance. This morning in primary, three of the boys were sitting together at the other end of the row, and one of them came up to me with the saddest face and said "we all forgot to come to the party." It was really cute.
Jason had a nice surprise for me when I got home (he gets off at 5:00). He had cleaned the house and moved the couch in front of the TV with Halloween-ish movies and candy laid out. We made dinner (chicken and salad) and then enjoyed our evening together.
Yesterday was pretty busy. I now teach four students (one started yesterday), so that filled up my morning. Jason always does the yard work while I'm teaching. He mowed the lawn and cleaned up tons of leaves. Then we had our primary class party. We had planned to eat pizza, play games, and have a store for the points they had earned for being good. We passed out invitations last Sunday, but only ONE out of 6 kids came...so Leilani, Jason, and I ate pizza (we bought 2 pizzas), played Life, and Leilani picked out her prizes and went home. It was kind of disappointing, but we plan to actually call the parents next time in the hope of greater attendance. This morning in primary, three of the boys were sitting together at the other end of the row, and one of them came up to me with the saddest face and said "we all forgot to come to the party." It was really cute.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Tag!
Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others.
The questions are as follows:
1. Where is your cell phone? backpack
2. Where is your significant other? waiting
3. Your hair color? caramel?
4. Your mother? compassionate
5. Your father? selfless
6. Your favorite thing? food!
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? family
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? viola
11. Your fear? dark
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? mother
13. Where were you last night? opera
14. What you're not? deaf
15. One of your wish-list items?
16. Where you grew up? Texas
17. The last thing you did? studied
18. What are you wearing? clothes
19. Your TV? boring
20. Your pet? nonexistent
21. Your computer? black
22.Your mood? excited
23.Missing someone? family
24. Your car? civic
25. Something you're not wearing? jacket
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? amazing
28. Love someone? Jason
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? lastweek (I know...I cheated)
I tag...Andrea, Melissa, Ciera, Jenna, Shanna, Sheri, and Stefani Mann
The questions are as follows:
1. Where is your cell phone? backpack
2. Where is your significant other? waiting
3. Your hair color? caramel?
4. Your mother? compassionate
5. Your father? selfless
6. Your favorite thing? food!
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? family
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? viola
11. Your fear? dark
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? mother
13. Where were you last night? opera
14. What you're not? deaf
15. One of your wish-list items?
16. Where you grew up? Texas
17. The last thing you did? studied
18. What are you wearing? clothes
19. Your TV? boring
20. Your pet? nonexistent
21. Your computer? black
22.Your mood? excited
23.Missing someone? family
24. Your car? civic
25. Something you're not wearing? jacket
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? amazing
28. Love someone? Jason
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? lastweek (I know...I cheated)
I tag...Andrea, Melissa, Ciera, Jenna, Shanna, Sheri, and Stefani Mann
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Heater
Since September 1st, Jason and I had not run the air conditioning or the heater because the weather was basically perfect. Well...last week it got really cold so about Tuesday or Wednesday we decided it was time to turn on the heater (it was getting down to the low 60's during the night in our house). We soon discovered it wasn't working...Jason's dad came and tried to fix it and spent a whole day working on it, but couldn't figure out what was wrong so he tried to meet with a technician he works with. The guy flaked out 2 or 3 times and Jason's dad couldn't fix it without his help, so we were left freezing in our house for almost a week. We had a little space heater that we would drag around to whichever room we were in and we tried to stay bundled up. At night before we went to bed we would turn on the heater in our room and shut the door to warm it up. Then we would turn it off (we didn't want it to start a fire while we were sleeping) and add extra blankets to our bed. We'd set our alarm for an hour before we were supposed to get up, turn on the heater, and sleep for another hour while it warmed our room up. Then, because it was way to cold to eat breakfast in our kitchen, we would eat breakfast in bed. Over the weekend it was ridiculously cold (20's at night and low 40's during the day), so we stayed over at the Allphin's Saturday night. Anyway, Jason's dad and his coworker were finally able fix it on Tuesday so now we're nice and warm.
Another wave of midterms and papers are upon us...and with it, the opera! Yesterday started our business. We went to the Guarneri Quartet concert. They are one of the best quartets in the world. They've been performing together for 45 years and this is their last concert season. They are all really old now, but they are absolutely incredible! I'm so sad last night was the last concert of theirs I'll ever go to, because I just found out about them a couple years ago from Dr. Bigelow and I heard them for the first time last year when they performed at BYU. The concert was in Salt Lake and was 2 hours long so it took up our whole night, but we had a great time. Tonight is the first of rehearsals for the opera, Don Giovanni. I perform tonight, Tuesday night (another dress rehearsal), and Saturday night (the last performance). Opera is fun, exhausting, and stressful because of the timing with midterms, but I really like playing in the opera. Everyone in the area that reads this should go see it! It's going to be awesome!
Another wave of midterms and papers are upon us...and with it, the opera! Yesterday started our business. We went to the Guarneri Quartet concert. They are one of the best quartets in the world. They've been performing together for 45 years and this is their last concert season. They are all really old now, but they are absolutely incredible! I'm so sad last night was the last concert of theirs I'll ever go to, because I just found out about them a couple years ago from Dr. Bigelow and I heard them for the first time last year when they performed at BYU. The concert was in Salt Lake and was 2 hours long so it took up our whole night, but we had a great time. Tonight is the first of rehearsals for the opera, Don Giovanni. I perform tonight, Tuesday night (another dress rehearsal), and Saturday night (the last performance). Opera is fun, exhausting, and stressful because of the timing with midterms, but I really like playing in the opera. Everyone in the area that reads this should go see it! It's going to be awesome!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Reunion
Friday night was Jason's mission reunion (he served in Sao Paulo Brasil), held in a chapel south of Salt Lake City. There were lots of return missionaries there, many of which brought girlfriends, fiances, and wives (and there were 2 babies). It was fun to finally meet his mission president and the president's wife since I've heard so much about them. I was excited to hear that they love Texas (they lived in the Richardson Stake where I grew up, but moved before I was born). They bought a house in Provo only a few minutes away from our house. They had a nice fireside, sang songs in Portuguese, and the most recently returned missionary gave an update on the area. Afterwards, they had cookies, brownies, and a Brasilian drink that I can say, but I'm not going to attempt to spell. We had a great time.
General Conference has been wonderful, as always. One of my favorite talks was Elder Perry's talk about simplifying life. My life has been absolutely crazy lately with work, school, a house to take care of, and a husband that I'd rather spend my whole day with; simplifying my life sounds really good. My other favorite talk was the one about angels. I can't remember whose talk it was, but, like my mom was saying, it was really cool to hear about angels in conference. I also really liked the story about when Clyn Barrus was a little boy. Clyn was the BYU orchestra director before the current one and he taught private lessons to my viola professor.
Well, here goes another busy week!
General Conference has been wonderful, as always. One of my favorite talks was Elder Perry's talk about simplifying life. My life has been absolutely crazy lately with work, school, a house to take care of, and a husband that I'd rather spend my whole day with; simplifying my life sounds really good. My other favorite talk was the one about angels. I can't remember whose talk it was, but, like my mom was saying, it was really cool to hear about angels in conference. I also really liked the story about when Clyn Barrus was a little boy. Clyn was the BYU orchestra director before the current one and he taught private lessons to my viola professor.
Well, here goes another busy week!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Exams...
Man, this week and last week have been so busy! The downside to taking GE's is all the tests! I guess I only had 2, but still. I hardly have time enough for homework and practicing as it is! Poor Jason will have had a total of...I think 4 tests. He's taking his last one tomorrow night.
Learning the trombone has been kind of difficult because I started the class 2 weeks late, our teacher has been absent a few days, and Jason can't teach me like he can the clarinet. So that leaves probably 3 classes I have attended with our professor present. I missed all of the basics of how to play the trombone, so I have had to learn tidbits here and there from other students. Luckily, it seems to be a pretty easy instrument to learn (much easier than clarinet), but I have still been unsure if I am even playing it correctly. Today I received my answer. In class, Dr. Kimball gave us some time to practice for our next playing test. During that time he came up to me and asked "are you doing ok?". I told him I didn't know if I was even playing it right, so he asked me to play for him. To my surprise he told me I am holding it right, my embouchure is good, and my sound is good (and could be improved if I blow harder). So that was a relief.
Learning the trombone has been kind of difficult because I started the class 2 weeks late, our teacher has been absent a few days, and Jason can't teach me like he can the clarinet. So that leaves probably 3 classes I have attended with our professor present. I missed all of the basics of how to play the trombone, so I have had to learn tidbits here and there from other students. Luckily, it seems to be a pretty easy instrument to learn (much easier than clarinet), but I have still been unsure if I am even playing it correctly. Today I received my answer. In class, Dr. Kimball gave us some time to practice for our next playing test. During that time he came up to me and asked "are you doing ok?". I told him I didn't know if I was even playing it right, so he asked me to play for him. To my surprise he told me I am holding it right, my embouchure is good, and my sound is good (and could be improved if I blow harder). So that was a relief.
Friday, September 12, 2008
New Major
Tuesday night, I decided to change from music performance to music education! At the time it all seemed really random and sudden, but there's a story...
When I first came to BYU I wanted to double major in music education and elementary education. It's a five year program, but usually takes longer. The first year as a music major, students are just considered General Music Majors. At the end of the first year you declare your emphasis. So anyway, about halfway through the year I decided to do performance instead because I didn't want to turn into one of those typical music teachers who stops playing/practicing and loses what they worked so hard for for so many years. So I was accepted into the performance degree, but job options are bleak. The only job options I came up with were playing in a professional symphony (costing lots of time, money, and hard work. Even though it's a good paying job, there's no guarantee I'd get into one with a life-long contract), teaching at a university (which would require a doctorate...who knows with life's little surprises if I'd ever get that far), or just teaching a private studio in my home (which I could do with any degree). At the time those sacrifices for a symphony or university job didn't seem like that big of a deal, but since I got married and have higher priorities like my husband and future children involved, I've been deliberating for months over what I should do.
I thought about trying to get a masters in music education, because then I could actually be qualified for a decent job, but there's the problem again of time and money that may not be available. In a combined string music major meeting Tuesday night, the head of the music education department said there is a high demand for music educators across the country, and not many of the music majors are ed majors. He also talked about how, with a music ed degree, we can still do everything we want to do with music (perform, teach privately, etc), but in addition you would actually have a stable job. That really hit me, and it sounded like a perfect solution to my dilemma. So the next morning I ran around talking to my professor and the head of the music ed department to get everything figured out. Between their help and my own course planning, it looks like I will only graduate a semester later than I would have otherwise. There's a pre-requisite I have to take before I can officially be admitted (which is only offerred Winter semester), but this year I'm taking a woodwind workshop class. This semester I'm learning clarinet and saxaphone. Luckily Jason plays both, so I have a private teacher!
Anyway, that's what's new in my life. Oh, and today is our 3 month aniversary! We're going to eat a nice dinner on our beautiful China, play games, and watch a movie. I can't wait to get off work!
When I first came to BYU I wanted to double major in music education and elementary education. It's a five year program, but usually takes longer. The first year as a music major, students are just considered General Music Majors. At the end of the first year you declare your emphasis. So anyway, about halfway through the year I decided to do performance instead because I didn't want to turn into one of those typical music teachers who stops playing/practicing and loses what they worked so hard for for so many years. So I was accepted into the performance degree, but job options are bleak. The only job options I came up with were playing in a professional symphony (costing lots of time, money, and hard work. Even though it's a good paying job, there's no guarantee I'd get into one with a life-long contract), teaching at a university (which would require a doctorate...who knows with life's little surprises if I'd ever get that far), or just teaching a private studio in my home (which I could do with any degree). At the time those sacrifices for a symphony or university job didn't seem like that big of a deal, but since I got married and have higher priorities like my husband and future children involved, I've been deliberating for months over what I should do.
I thought about trying to get a masters in music education, because then I could actually be qualified for a decent job, but there's the problem again of time and money that may not be available. In a combined string music major meeting Tuesday night, the head of the music education department said there is a high demand for music educators across the country, and not many of the music majors are ed majors. He also talked about how, with a music ed degree, we can still do everything we want to do with music (perform, teach privately, etc), but in addition you would actually have a stable job. That really hit me, and it sounded like a perfect solution to my dilemma. So the next morning I ran around talking to my professor and the head of the music ed department to get everything figured out. Between their help and my own course planning, it looks like I will only graduate a semester later than I would have otherwise. There's a pre-requisite I have to take before I can officially be admitted (which is only offerred Winter semester), but this year I'm taking a woodwind workshop class. This semester I'm learning clarinet and saxaphone. Luckily Jason plays both, so I have a private teacher!
Anyway, that's what's new in my life. Oh, and today is our 3 month aniversary! We're going to eat a nice dinner on our beautiful China, play games, and watch a movie. I can't wait to get off work!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
School
The first week of school is almost over! Jason and I have crazy schedules because of taking lots of credit hours and working part-time. Every day of the week we get home after 7:00 with the exception of Thursday, when we get to go home at 5:15. Monday, Wednesday and Friday we wake up around 6:00 and Tuesday/Thursday we wake up around 5:00. We've been pretty tired this week. I was so excited to start school so I wouldn't have to work full-time, but now that school has started, work seems to be a nice break from all the running around on campus, practicing, and homework. I'm really excited for the weekend when we can finally relax!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
New Job!
I was finally hired! Last weekend, while at the movie theater with Jason, I got a call from a lady that interviewed me for the Independent Study job, and she told me I was hired! I was sooo excited! I started work last Monday as a customer service representative (answering phones) working full-time and training. At first it was really overwhelming because there's so much we have to know to answer everyone's questions, but by the end of the week I was feeling much more confident. I started out with a headset, listening to my trainer talk on the phone. Then I started doing the typing or talking. By Friday afternoon I was taking phone calls on my own without a trainer.
Since it was education week and Jason's job deals a lot with that, he worked about 65 hours! We were both exhausted and so ready for the weekend. Because of the need to train lots of new employees in his department, Jason is only working 9 hours this week. Lucky him. Anyways, I am so grateful that my prayers were finally answered and I found a job. It is such a relief.
Since it was education week and Jason's job deals a lot with that, he worked about 65 hours! We were both exhausted and so ready for the weekend. Because of the need to train lots of new employees in his department, Jason is only working 9 hours this week. Lucky him. Anyways, I am so grateful that my prayers were finally answered and I found a job. It is such a relief.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Jobs
Well, Jason was recently hired for a job working at the continuing education office in the Harmon building. He is answering phone calls, registering people for Education Week and for Independant Study courses. His first day was Monday, and he just trained for half a day. Yesterday was his first official day. He really likes the atmosphere and thinks he'll really like the job. I, however, am still searching for a job.
I technically found an option working in the dish room at the MTC, but the hours are awful (I'd be working nights, weekends, some Sundays, and holidays) and I would hardly see Jason. So I'm keeping it as an option, but am still searching. It's so hard to find a job that fits my schedule because of classes in the morning, orchestra in the afternoon, and viola masterclass Tuesday night...that doesn't leave a lot of options. I'd love to just teach viola lessons, but I won't be able to get a big enough studio in such little time. I'm hoping to find a decent job and work there until I can expand my studio.
It's pretty boring staying at home alone all day, but I've been filling my time with Stephanie Meyer books, cleaning, studying for American Heritege, practicing viola, and talking on the phone to my mom. As much as I'm not looking forward to a crazy schedule, a lame job, and homework, I'm getting a little excited to start school, just so I am not so bored at home! But don't get me wrong, Jason and I have loved our evenings and weekends together to play. We just play games, watch movies, and play tennis. It's great!
I technically found an option working in the dish room at the MTC, but the hours are awful (I'd be working nights, weekends, some Sundays, and holidays) and I would hardly see Jason. So I'm keeping it as an option, but am still searching. It's so hard to find a job that fits my schedule because of classes in the morning, orchestra in the afternoon, and viola masterclass Tuesday night...that doesn't leave a lot of options. I'd love to just teach viola lessons, but I won't be able to get a big enough studio in such little time. I'm hoping to find a decent job and work there until I can expand my studio.
It's pretty boring staying at home alone all day, but I've been filling my time with Stephanie Meyer books, cleaning, studying for American Heritege, practicing viola, and talking on the phone to my mom. As much as I'm not looking forward to a crazy schedule, a lame job, and homework, I'm getting a little excited to start school, just so I am not so bored at home! But don't get me wrong, Jason and I have loved our evenings and weekends together to play. We just play games, watch movies, and play tennis. It's great!
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