Semester Summary...

This was like the quickest semester I have ever experience! It just flew by all so quickly I've hardly been able to catch my breath.  Here's just a few notes on everything that's gone down since December.

Christmas Break-
       Spent with the family in New Mexico. It was a wonderful time as usual filled with all of my favorite traditions. The best part being the fact that we just stay in our pajamas all Christmas day long and play with each other while continuously snacking on Christmas goodies.




New Year's- 
         I left New Mexico just a couple of days after Christmas to hurry back to Salt Lake for the wedding of a roommate.  Such a great wedding. So happy for you still Melissa and Danny! (Little side note, Melissa and I actually tried setting Danny up with another one of our roommates. So glad that didn't work out).

        
        
The actual night of New Year's Eve was spent with two of my favorite girly girls ever! The activity of choice ended up being dancing our little booties off at the coctail lounge Spark (Provo Style). Greatest truth ever sung in lyrics... girls just want to have fun! We went, we danced, we conquered.










Other Choice Activities of the Semester-

          Crafternooning!!!! It's true! Nothing hits the spot like an afternoon of solid crafts.... hence the term Craft-er-noon! This is a photo from our crafternoon marathon day during Christmas break! We did everything from decorating frames to decorating our notebooks for the semester.







Snowboarding!!!

          Okay... so after living in Utah all of last year and only going snowboarding ONCE (and on the last day of the season) I decided there needed to be some major changes in my life! So what was done to resolve the previous year's crisis? Season Passes to the Canyons!  DeeAura, Whitney, the two Jasons, Bend, Cody, David, and a few others all broke down and bought the passes as well.  So what did we do with all of our free time? Yup, nothing but snowboarding! Almost every Saturday there was a group of us carpooling to Park City! It was such a great snow season.  Powder powder powder everywhere!!! The first day we went we packed lunches which we took time to eat while sitting down in our cars.... we later decided to rethink that game plan and decided to eat all of our snacks while taking breaks on the lift to enhance our time on the mountain. We are addicts.  I learned a lot about boarding this season.  Some of the better moments happened  through taking risks (no worries. I started wearing a helmet)... some moments resulted in exhilarating highs and others resulted in huge wipe outs. All part of the learning and the fun. You better believe a season pass will forever be a part of my winter vocabulary.

Schooliness! 
         Okay... I now understand why they consider 9 credit hours full time for a Grad student.  Well, I unknowingly decided to literally double that number this semester! It was definitely a lot of work and I think I just barely survived (although I really did learn a ton and had a lot of fun).  My classes this semester included the following:

• Score Analysis- how to look at, identify, and interpret different musical scores
• Orchestra Lit- wanna know what it feels like to be responsible for memorizing a hundred years of symphonies and be able to identify them all in a 2 hour listening exam? Take this class!
• Philosophy of Music Education- In this class you'll read until your eyes start to bleed, but you leave the class with lots of new ideas and being highly enlightened
• 2 Different Art Education Classes- Don't remember the course titles, but they were classes that I wanted to take to be better prepared to write curriculum focusing on interdisciplinary arts
• Cello lessons- this was the performance instrument of choice this semester. I learned lots and would even be happy to play for you the Breval Cello Sonata.
• Fiddle lessons- I decided I needed my violin skills to be more versatile.  It's a work in progress.
• Beginning Tap- okay... so it has my life's dream to be the next Jean Kelley... I now realize that tap dancing like him will be just that... always a dream.  Although I have great fine motor skills, I realize that my large motor skills are quite lacking.  And it wasn't a pretty sight.  That's all I'm going to say about that.
• Folk Ensemble- I love my Celtic Band! This was my second semester with them, and I still think it's a blast.  This semester I also incorporated a little bit of cello action into the group as well. It's just a whole side of music that I had never before been part of and I am quickly falling in love!

How I pay the Bills-

          I love love LOVE being a student, but I do need to eat and also be able to pay for my fun-time activities! How do I do it?

• TA for the String Education Department- grade papers for the class Careers in Music, take attendance for String Workshop, etc....
• Teach 3rd and 4th Semester Sight Singing- I don't mind teaching that class, but am so glad that part of my education is done and done.
• Assistant Conductor for the New Horizon's Orchestra- It's a beginning adult orchestra. It really is kind of cool. I love working with this ensemble. We make some killer music together. And in case you're wondering our oldest current orchestra member is 85 years old and going strong!
• Nanny for Life- If I can pick up a weekend babysitting, I totally jump on it! One of the best jobs I have!
• EFY Office Coordinator- Since I have to take classes this summer and can't be involved with EFY like I normally do, I decided working in the office would still be a great way to stay involved with this youth program! I love my job! 

Sam's Baptism-

            He's the final sibling to get baptized in our family so of course we needed to be there! We drove through the night on Thursday to get there and then drove back all day Sunday.  It was definitely worth the 24 hours of time in the car.  Sam is an Angel! No joke, all he wanted for his birthday was a Liahona (from the story of Nephi in the Book of Mormon) which you can see him holding in this family photo. 

Aloha Hawaii!

           Here was the initial conversation:

           Uncle Peter to Me-"When's your spring break?"

           Me- "BYU doesn't have one."

           Peter- "Well we have an extra room in our condo in March"

           Me- "Oh well if that's the case I definitely have a spring break that seems to be the exact same week you'll be in Hawaii. How convenient."

            Yup, I couldn't handle not having a Spring Break or missing out on that opportunity so I made one! Whit, Mom, Dad, and I all went to Kauai to meet up with Peter and Kristen for a magical week in Paradise! Our week's activities included lots of snorkeling, hiking through the jungle, kayaking, driving around in our Jeep Wrangler with the top down, paddle boarding, and jumping off waterfalls.  It was an Amazing week!

"I drove all night to get to you...." (literally)

            If you do not recognize those song lyrics they are from a more recent song by the legendary Celine Dion.  Now I'm not gonna lie, seeing Celine Dion in concert was never on the top of my personal top 10 list, but I am all about supporting friends living out their life-long dreams! So Celine it was! Britt, Emily, and I made the journey together to Vegas for this iconic show.  Due to our busy lives it was quite the legendary trip.  I worked till noon on Wednesday, met up with Emily and Britt, got sandwiches from Kneaders, and we hit the road.  As soon as we reached Vegas we went to our favorite store, H&M! Slightly detrimental to my bank account, but way worth it! We then hurried to the Celine concert which really was a killer show. We then hit up the Cheese Cake Factory for some food and made a quick stop at Anthropology before hitting the road again.  We drove through the night getting back close to 8am and right in time for us to be in our Thursday classes! Now that's what I call a road trip! Oh the joys of being young (although it did take a few days for my body to recover). Next Vegas roadtrip goal: Beatle's Love!

Well... this is all I can think of to share about for now... Life update? Check!