An Update: Orientation Week Has Begun!

On Monday, Dr. Wile E. Coyote began orientation for med school! He has met his classmates and professors, has sat through tiring shpeals (is that a word?), and been pretty tired the whole day through. Everyone from home asks me “How’s married life?” as if that is a valid question. HELLO! I’VE BEEN MARRIED FOR A MONTH! HOW COULD IT NOT BE AWESOME!? Ahem. Yeah, it’s been going great. Now that I’m a distance away from everyone, I feel more of a need to keep “y’all” up to date on what has been going on in our lives!

My job at Sound House Music: I am the new lessons coordinator. After The Student came home on Monday, we went into SHM together, and he helped me move heavy stuff and decorate 2/4 lesson rooms that were not being used for lessons that night. I met 2/3 existing lesson instructors, also. So, two of the rooms we got vacuumed out and a little more than just posters up on the wall. I plan to go back more this week. It’s been a lot of background and behind-the-scenes stuff, and I’m kind of at a standstill until some more people get back to me. I’ll start getting paid when I start giving lessons. SHM has never had band lessons given through them before, so hopefully, there will be a lot of people jumping at it (even though I’m a little inexperienced, teaching music is one of my faves). And maybe, I’ll even get to give lessons pretty much full time (which would be awesome!). We’re looking for a guitar instructor now, because there is a waiting list of guitar students. And I’m trying to get ahold of some band teachers to discuss this new lesson thing with! And they were in need of a percussion instructor, too—good thing that’s my forte!

Dr. Wile E. Coyote and Med School: As I mentioned, this week has been orientation week. Earlier this month, the First Year and I were trying to get plugged into a church and into whatever else.   We met a few people for lunch or drinks (sweet tea and pop…which they call soda here). So, we’ve talked with a lot of second years already. Doug told me after the first day of orientation that he feels so much more prepared than so many of the other first years seem to be. And I think he is! If I can be so vulnerable as to say that there’s been some stress already at the thought of constant studying, prioritizing, and getting everything done well? On both of our parts. We’d much appreciate some prayer. But it’s exciting, and Dr. Coyote is excited to be a student again! He LIKES learning, which is good for him at this point in life. So, him and a bunch of other med students or healthcare professionals or students are talking about something and I just shrug. I’M A MUSIC TEACHER. I don’t really care about some of the things they discuss sometimes. It’s interesting. Last night, we had a church meeting thing—the pastor’s wife got up and spoke about whenever her husband asks for testimonies, it reminds her of her grandma. “Don’t you have something to share for Jesus?” she’d ask. And as a girl, she didn’t. All this avoiding doing things for Jesus, and now she’s a pastor’s wife. I can relate. I would always tune out when someone would tell me why something happened or what was going on inside my body. I still have troubles listening when they tell me to stretch or exercise. And now I’m married to a man who will be a doctor! Irony? Nah. Go back to this post. God totally knows what he’s doing. Anyway, for classes, the students have to dress up professionally, so that’s another point of this week. Getting them used to getting dressed up and sitting in a classroom for hours of lecture. But hey—my husband looks good when he’s leaving for classes and coming home.

The Culture: I have been asked many times about this from folk back home. Nothing strange finds its way to OUR table, because I’m the one cooking. And I’m a Scandinavian and also a farm girl who grew up on a diet of steak and potatoes. And I haven’t had too much practice in cooking except for scrambled eggs and toast. And Minnesota’s infamous “hamburger rice hotdish.” You know, one of those meals where there IS no recipe, everyone just knows it? So, I’ve been beginning to go through cookbooks and following most of the directions and trying things out. (Thanks, Karen and Pam for the cookbooks, and everyone else who gave me fun new recipes to try!) I’ve been learning a lot. I learn by DOING, which is why this is good. The culture! That’s what this paragraph is about. I love the three-part harmonies that are so rich. Every Sunday, we can sing a contemporary song, but with the harmonies, it sounds totally different! And, I don’t know what’s in the water here, but there are so many people who, music just comes naturally to them. I was talking to my boss at SHM, and he said that he doesn’t like it, either. I mean, it’s cool, but we’ve both put in HOURS of practice, and those kind of people can just pick up a new instrument and play beautifully. Music is big around here. And I rather like it. The driving—apparently it’s only here in Pikeville where there seem to be no rules, but one must be careful and not too slow. Just go with the speed of traffic, because they don’t necessarily always follow the road signs. Just an observation.

Everything else: Wonderful. Our house is all set up, and kept tidy for the most part. It’s not big, but it’s home and it’s OURS. It’s been unseasonably cool this summer, and I am NOT complaining. We are making friends and hanging out with them a bunch. I have been learning to slow the speed of my speech. Even though I still have to repeat things a lot of the time and need them to repeat things at times. Also, I wouldn’t mind picking up an accent. It would be fun. However, my accent is unique, as well. I met someone who knew a Minnesotan years ago and was fascinated with the accent of the drawn-out “ooh”s. I guess I just have to meet in the middle or something. I’m a good mimicker, though. Just ask for an accent and I’ll try my best! 🙂

 

Keepin’ it real while living in this brand new state of Kentucky!

Anna

Staff Hunt 2012

I am currently disguised and hiding.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

Nobody accused me.

But THEY are looking for me.

“Do you have the time?” they’ll ask.

But I left my watch with my old identity.

It is forgotten.

Gone.

I hope they don’t find me.

I hope they keep searching.

Because then time will be up.

And they will have failed.

Success will be mine.

Two hours I’ll sit here,

Pretending to be somebody else.

And then I will emerge.

I will be me once more.

 

Note: Written during the staff hunt, obviously.  I wrote more but it’s boring, so this is what you get.  I was told being in a coffee shop?  Predictable.  Three out of the four groups ended up finding me, but it was great fun!  =)

 

Saturday Smiley: Spring Break!

I feel like Spring Break always lands at a perfect time.  The week before?  Lotsa stress of midterms, losing sleep, I felt like myself and others were all starting to get sick…. Perfect timing, spring break!  [Also, I’m running out of quarters and was about to run out of laundry.  (Life of a college student.)]

Oh, and awesomeness is that it’s been in the 70s here and at school for most of the week, and shall continue!  Woo!  It definitely FEELS like break time.  =)  A bunch of my friends are on their way to Florida, for “Big Break,” a Cru conference where they get to go out and actually share their faith at Panama City Beach, so pray for them!  AND other friends of mine are going on trips to like, California (driving?!) and Chicago (Christina and a friend of hers, also driving).  Spring break is a good time for that.  But me?  I’m just chillin’ at home!  =)

I always have too many goals for my breaks and stuff.  But this week?  I’ve been trying to minimize them.  On Sunday we’re going up to the cities to see some family that we haven’t seen for awhile and I’m having a few appointments for various things while I’m home.  Other than that?  Let’s RELAX and NOT WORRY about everything else!  (‘Cuz that’s when the best breaks happen!)

Chillin’ and smilin’ lots, Anna =)^2

Smiley Saturday: Time

This week, my smiley is: TIME.  There are different dimensions to this smiley.

It is J-Term, so I don’t feel like I have a ton of things to do all the time, even the time I don’t have to do it.  Time = less stress.  My Practicum starts tomorrow, as well as a few other Cru commitments I haven’t worried about since December, but I think I got this.  And I am enjoying this time while I can!

I enjoy all this time I’ve been able to spend with Jesus.  On Project, my friend Jill told me: “Being single is a gift of time to spend with Jesus.”  And I have discovered this to be true!  Time IS a gift, and spending it with Jesus is one of my favorite activities.  Coffea, Caribou, and Panera have all been home to places I’ve spent with Jesus since coming back to school.  If I have a couple free hours (even one), I’ll go to a coffee shop, get some coffee, and just spend an hour with Jesus.  It is fabulous.

With other time I have been finding, I have been writing again (like, novel-writing).  I haven’t done that in a long time, and I’m really happy that I have some time to think about and actually start developing these characters who have been lurking in the back of my mind, waiting to get out on paper and have their stories told at last.  It is just the prodding the stories out of them that takes some thought.

Also with this time, I have been hanging out with my friends more.  During the semester, some of my friends and Christina, who likes to come over randomly sometimes, determined that I’m never in my room.  I like hanging out and having fun with friends, and I am thankful for the time I have been given to do so!

Even during the semester, time makes me smile.  If I have an unexpected hour I find, it is awesome to do any of these things, or just play my keyboard for a long time.  Which is why, this week’s smiley is TIME!

Christmas Spirit!? (Have you found it yet?)

So.  We’re getting close to Christmas now.  Is it just me, or does it so not feel like Christmas yet?  Where’s the snow?  And yes, even the cold?  Things I’ve been doing to try and get in the Christmas spirit:

–          watch Christmas movies

–          read the Christmas story

–          make it snow here, on my blog

–          sing Christmas songs or something unrelated to the tune of Christmas songs

–          listen to Christmas music

–          write about Christmas

–          look at Christmas pictures (all these kids I used to know are growing SO MUCH! Is that allowed?)

–          eating/making Christmas cookies

Oh, during church this last Sunday was the Sunday School Christmas Program.  It was fantastic, and everybody did a great job!  There’s always a kid who yells the songs and it makes me smile.  This girl is gonna be an alto, for that’s about where her notes were.  Too bad she was louder than every other girl in her little group of 4-year-olds and kindergarteners (I think it was that group).  It was apparent when she didn’t know the words, for she would keep hitting the approximate notes and just “ahh” if she didn’t know the words.  I’m not making fun here—it was precious!  I thought it was lovely.  But THAT was a rendition of a Christmas story and it made me smile lots! And going to Christmasy events is totally something else that helps get into the Christmas mood!

So tell me about how you’re making it feel like Christmas without snow!  Christina said something this morning along the lines of “With no snow, it’s harder for people to slow down for the holidays.”  True, isn’t it?  At least that’s how I’ve been feeling lately.

But, I’m smiling, ‘cuz CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE!  Anna =)^2

Birthday Blog 2011

So, this week was my birthday.  I have learned a great many things over the last 21 years.  I am, after all, an adult now (but that’s just a number—I’m not really sure I AM an adult yet.  I don’t wanna be)…. MOST RECENT I have learned:

I speak with my eyes.  The other day in class, one of my profs said that my eyes “just cussed at him.”  And when I am thinking about something, you can usually see it.  I suck at playing mofia, because I am scheming who I’m gonna kill next and my eyes are like a killer’s.  Or something like that.  And I’m a terrible liar, but that’s beside the point.  I’m also a good pretend liar, but that doesn’t help anything.  And I’ve been told that when I was talking about Jesus, I have almost a heavenly look in my eyes.

I can overcome; “kicking this MS in the butt,” as I sometimes like to refer to it.  For my birthday, I got a lefty guitar, so my fingers that don’t work so well in my left hand are the strummers instead.  Ha!  Last year I got a brace, so my foot that doesn’t like to lift up is stimulated (which has prevented countless falls).  Ha, ha!  And, to top it all off, I have my lifeline—JESUS!  And he gives me strength when I have none to go on.  Ha, ha, ha!

Also thinking back on my life, because it’s what you do when you get old, I realize how many people have touched my life.  And I guess I have been recently realizing how many lives I myself have touched.  It’s pretty cool, when you think about it.  There’s God, who is in control of the little humans, and to give everybody the best that he wants for them, he puts different people in our paths.  Maybe we don’t always have the most ideal interactions to his standards, but even they can affect awesomely.  Yeah, cool.

This was my first birthday when I wasn’t at home.  But I was home the day before (Thanksgiving break…this would have been the 4^th time ever I’ve had school on my birthday), so I guess that counts.  And technically, I had a two-day birthday celebration!  Which is pretty awesome.

Oh, and other thoughts, I guess.  On the same topic.  There are so many things I am just now getting.  From things like FINALLY being able to play a mallet piece without backing up to fix a missed note, to understanding how important it is to take care of myself (you’da thunk I have that down already, but no, not really).  Lessons that have been taught over and over for a really long time.  So, I like where I’m at.

Oh, and the Applebee’s I went to for my birthday only gives ice cream for birthdays if the birthday person is 12 or under.  And they don’t let age inversions count, either.  Just in case you were wondering.

So, this was a somewhat random blog, but I enjoy writing down my thoughts.  You’re so lucky you get to read them.  I love you all, my readers!

Smiles Squared, Anna =)^2

Rest and Boxes

“Anna, you need to learn how to take care of yourself.”  “Anna, there’s this word that you  need to learn: ‘no’.  You should put it to use.”  “Anna, even Jesus took times to rest during his ministry.  He only had three years to change the world through his ministry, but he still took time apart to spend with his heavenly father.”

So, guess what I’ve been attempting to do this week?  Not as much as usual.  And spending more time with Jesus ‘cuz it makes me feel better (even HE keeps nudging me that I need to rest!).  And you wanna know the best part?  (This is totally God, btw, making SURE I  get my rest….)  My lesson that’s on Wednesday afternoon was rescheduled to Monday, my night class on Wednesday went short, there’s no night class on Thursday, and I only have one class on Friday.  WHOA.  Now tell me there is another hand making these things happen!?

I get it.  Take better care of myself.  Easy enough to do this week.  Will I learn?  Perhaps but not very well.  Oh!  Registering for courses next Monday—you know how I overloaded and tried to take 19 credits this semester?  I’d just like to say I’m registering for 14 credits next semester.  Learning?  Perhaps.

And this weekend, I am going to a conference called “Life Options,” where we will learn about discerning God’s will for our lives.  I am pretty excited.  And I’d say that this comes at a good time.  I’m pretty set on Music Therapy now, but I’m kinda scared.  Also, I’m not so set that I put God in a box.  ‘Cuz I’ve done that before and there’s not much in that.  God ALWAYS knows best.

There’s this song that we taught the kids this summer that goes like this:

If Jesus is in a box, you should take him outta there, ‘cuz he doesn’t BELONG IN A BOX!  However, many things can land him there.  Trying to KNOW everything or be in control of your own life?  That puts him in a box and shows that you don’t trust Jesus with that stuff.  Trying to conquer problems in your life by yourself?  Yep, that boxes him up.  Why would you even want to do that, if you have the greatest help in the world?  The divine?  The perfect one?  Many times we don’t mean to, but we “accidently” box him up anyway.

If I had an itty bitty box to put the devil in, I’d keep him there.  It would be difficult to get him there in the first place.  However, Jesus has smashed his face before (big time), and Jesus is pretty much the most forceful hammer that can smash in the devil’s face anyway.  There’s this other song that we taught the kids this summer.  It’s call and response:

WORD! (Word!) GOD’S WORD! (God’s word!) GOD’S WORD IS POWERFUL! (God’s word is powerful!) GOD’S WORD IS POWERFUL AND MIGHTY! (God’s word is powerful and mighty!) MIGHTY, MIGHTY, IS THE WORD THAT MAKES THE DEVIL TREMBLE! (Mighty, mighty, is the word that makes the devil tremble!) BEAT THAT BIG BAD DEVIL WITH A BIBLE VERSE! (Beat that big bad devil with a Bible verse!) WORD!

And then it repeats until either 1) The person leading it loses her breath or voice; B) whatever is being gotten ready for next is ready; or Choo-Choo Train) boredom starts to set in and attention is being lost.  (I’m tellin you, the list style will CATCH ON! See video below.) have definitely found that Bible verses help.  What’s your favorite Bible verse?  I love hearing these, so please comment below!

I have a few favorites: Joshua 1:9; 2 Cor 12:9; and Matthew 6:34 are my favorites but there are so many verses I like!  So many that I like to say often when I’m in need of comfort or something like that.

So, this blog once again got off on a tangent but I hope you followed it.  I love you all!

Smiling always, Anna =)^2

Chivalry

“Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80’s movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80’s movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life.”  –Olivia, Easy A

 

Guess what everybody.  Chivalry still exists.  In real life, even.  I don’t think John Cusack holding a boombox outside her window or any of the other described scenes Olivia desires are actually chivalrous.  Just sexy.  However, holding a door, letting you sit in the front seat, jumping to make sure you’re okay when you trip over your feet, and dropping you off by your dorm so you don’t have to walk all the way from the parking lot ARE chivalrous.  I have always had issues with accepting help from other people when MS limits me.  I remember embarrassment after I fall and scrape the palm of my hands and quickly covering up with a frantic “I’m fine!”  However, in the last few weeks, I have needed the extra help, and I have become better at asking for it.  The MS in me isn’t very nice at times.  A lot of the time, especially when I’m not nice to it (I figured it out: it’s in my brain, right, so my sass stems and it has taken some—maybe).  And the “help” I have been receiving, chivalry, is nice.  It’s still there!  When I was dating my first boyfriend, my mom instructed me to LET him be chivalrous, to get the doors and help me in the truck, even if I didn’t need it.  And I have remembered the advice.

 

“Chivalry is nothing but the desire to be helpful, to express respect through deference, and to break out of the ‘it’s all about me’ mode and see what you can do to help other people.” –Scott Farrell, Chivalry Today

 

So.  Thinking about chivalry.  It isn’t just a romantic-thing, as Olivia in Easy A makes it out to be—it’s an everybody-thing.   Like my sister carrying the heavy stuff or a girlfriend willing to run grab something for me in a building across campus.  And I don’t think I’m an outlier here with chivalrous friends.  Chivalry goes way back.  I have heard of elderly gentlemen angry at a young lady for not letting him be chivalrous.

 

To everybody who has shown someone chivalry, thank you.  I’m pretty sure that means all of you.  You would have to be pretty conceded to never show anyone chivalry.  To all my friends, thank you.

 

Challenge: Go out and show somebody some chivalry and make somebody’s day.  (Making people smile is pretty much my goal in life, so I’m passing on the commission, if you will.)

 

Smiling Happily, Anna =)^2 (Smiles Squared)

Kansas: The Epic-Ness

Hey, I have a poster just like this in my room now..!

Why yes, I was the timpanist in the orchestra that played with Kansas on October 14^th.  I want to tell you guys about it because it was an EPIC experience, and I don’t ever want to forget!  Ready?  Okay!

Okay, so I hadn’t really heard of Kansas much before this.  Pennington, my instructor, went to one of their concerts when he was in high school, and my mother was a fan, as well.  I mean, I’ve been listening to some of the 70s music as of late, but Kansas?  I’m afraid I hadn’t really heard of them.  And so we were given the music soon after school started.  Boy, was it hard!  I heard later that some colleges even went so far as refusing to play with them because it was so hard!  It was funny, though, because at first we played some classical stuff for a concert that’s near that date.  And we were…okay.  Then we read through the Kansas stuff and the learning curve pretty much went up.  A lot.  We all spent a great deal of time practicing.  I even went to Dr. Stanichar, the director of the Augie orchestra, and got all the full scores so I could look over the music and know what was all going on.  I had listened to some Kansas on YouTube, but the more recent performances that had the orchestra parts, had horrible sound.  So I got some recordings from Stanichar, as well.  I think I was listening and working on that stuff with all of the extra free time that I didn’t have, plus some.  Pennington helped me a great deal, and I was so thankful when I got to the Washington Pavilion for dress rehearsal!

So.  I, being section leader of the three (plus one borrowed) percussionists of the orchestra needed to be there to load-up all the percussion stuff from the band room.  There is this nifty truck that backs up to the loading dock by the Humanities building that transports everything for us.  It was us percussionists, the orchestra manager (who is a double bass player and got his percussion load up lesson 101 for the day), Pennington, and Chris, who is the truck driver and in fact, is really good at life size Tetris and loading up everything.  I was wowed when it all fit (‘cuz we had a lot of random yet not too small odds-and-ends).  But it did!  And so those of us who could be there were aiming at being at the Pavilion loading dock to take everything off the truck at noon.  Okay, so it was just Tyler (the double bass orchestra manager) and I who could be there, and we were late.  We missed the time that the truck was there, but taking things off is a whole lot easier than putting things there.  So we went and had lunch and figured out what to do.

“Hey, I’m the timpanist,” I introduced myself to the stage-hand guys who went with Kansas who were setting up chairs and stuff.  “Could I play some?”

“Uh,” said the closest guy, “yeah, I think so, let me check to see if the sound stuff is all figured out.”  Not too long after he’s like, “Yeah, go ahead, play all you want!”  We walked over to the timpani.  “Feel free to move them closer or further or however you’d like,” he said.  And so I did move them slightly closer so that I could hear the brass who were my cue much of the time.  Tyler helped me uncover the timpani and move them around.  And then I got out my trusty tuning fork (which I think is the hit of the percussion section ‘cuz I don’t remember a day when somebody doesn’t grab it, strike it, and hold it up to their ear to listen to the A 440 until it fades away).  On the timpani I had been playing on in the band room (which were the timpani we brought to the Pavilion last-minute like…and everything fit!), the pitch had been dropping and the letters on the side, which adjusted with the pedal, weren’t accurate.  So I set them all so that I wouldn’t have to constantly be listening to the fork and then the timpani as I changed them—there were some fast pedal changes in that music!  My favorite part: THE TIMPANI WAS MIKED!  That has never happened and will never happen again.  I was SOOOO excited!

PLAYING WITH THE CONDUCTOR: Larry Baird was the one who arranged all this music for orchestra to play with the band.  He was also our conductor.  Each conductor is different, but his style wasn’t too hard to pick up on.  He gave me great eye contact and cues (which helped a lot, because I get lost waaay too easily).  “It’ll all make sense tonight,” he kept saying.  “Play bigger!  It’ll all make sense tonight.  Make sure you come in strong here, it’s gotta be loud!  It’ll all make sense tonight.”  I admit it was a tad-bit different, the way they had everything set up—the normal instruments I’d play by were on the other side, and I heard more strings than brass unless I attuned my ear and watched the horns or something.  It was good, though, to be able to hear other parts.  We went through most of the music with him, before the band came out for the last half hour and ran through like, two songs with us.  Maybe three.  It’s a little fuzzy in my memory ‘cuz it was just AWESOME!  Yeah..

THE TIME IN BETWEEN THE DRESS AND THE CONCERT was spent eating supper and hanging out with some of the other orchestra people.  AND THEN, Stanichar asked for all of the section leaders to congregate so we could be in a PICTURE WITH THE BAND!  I was told the pic would eventually get emailed to me, but A) I don’t really know whose camera the actual picture was taken on and B) I haven’t gotten a picture yet.

THE CONCERT was EPIC!!!  So, most of the songs, we hadn’t even played with the band yet, but it went so well!  It was awesome!  And Larry, the conductor, had some awesome cues!  He’d stop conducting when the band got a little crazy, but he’d point to the entering section two measures before they came in, conducted the one before, and made sure they came in when they were supposed to.  Another reason I was thankful for writing in so many of my cues!  That, and…I’m glad other people can count better than I can, so that they enter the time their supposed to.  It all worked out!  And yes, it all made sense (finally!).  =)

The band was super nice to us all.  They complimented us as an orchestra.  The bass guitar would turn around and jam with Tyler.  The first violin, Matt, actually stood up and improvised with the electric violinist.  During dress, the drummer came back to the percussion section and said hey to all of us, commenting on how jammin’ it was back there.

My parents came, as well (like mom would miss it, she was so excited!), and they waited in line for autographs from the band and conductor.  I had Varieties that night, and while I was in the dressing room, I received texts from both Mom and Dad, saying that the conductor said I was good.  And that the violinist was like, “The timpanist?  Isn’t she the one with another gig tonight?”

Varieties is a completely different story that I won’t get into just now, cuz this post is already somewhat long.  But the orchestra played again that Sunday at the Homecoming service, and I am now a bit better at the 3-dimentional Tetris Chris is such a master at.

In case you were wondering, here are some of the songs we played with Kansas (not in order):

Muisicatto

Point of Know Return

Miracles Out of Nowhere

Song for America

Cheyenne Anthem

Hold On

Icarus

Fight Fire with Fire

Dust in the Wind

Carry on Wayward Son

 

This video isn’t from when we played with them, and there is an extra person in it, but this is a taste what they sound like with an orchestra (and what they look like years later with non-70s hair…..):

A Random Blog Update About Not Much

I felt it was time for an update.  How am I, you ask?  Busy.  Very busy.  So busy that it has had me freaking and panicking and not being able to do anything because there is so much.  I admit, I was kind of in a funk, a spiritual funk, more specifically, before Fall Getaway (which was last weekend).  I had a bad attitude about it all around.  But you can’t ignore God or push him aside at a God-centered conference.  I learned a lot, but God really picked me up and put me back where I was supposed to be.  He affirmed my career choice, which I was very grateful for, and I realized that even if I have a ton to do, if I don’t consciously MAKE time for him, my day won’t go well and I’ll find myself in another funk.

 

So, I’ve been trying to take charge (with God’s help, of course) of my ever-busy schedule. I surrendered my schedule to God, because I was just making a mess of myself.  As many of you know, I LOGGED OFF Facebook for an unknown amount of time.  And the other morning, instead of going on Facebook before class like I always do, I PRACTICED for my lesson that was that day and I finished up some homework.  I’m re-disciplining myself to not be on the computer so much in a procrastinating-type-fashion.  Facebook will come back when I finish figuring that out.

 

I’m really excited for a number of reasons.  Here comes a list:

1) Tomorrow (Saturday), I get to sleep in.  And that hasn’t happened for a little too long.  (Yeah, I have a ton of homework, too, but I have nothing else to do all day!  Woo-hoo!)

B) Next week is homecoming week at Augie!  Don’t ask me who the football team is playing because I don’t care enough to find out, typically, but Viking Varieties is featuring the Percussion Ensemble as an awesome act, and I’m supper excited that we’re participating this year!  Fyi…if you’re here, or within a six-hour radius, you should consider coming. Performances for the public are Thursday at 7pm, Friday at 9:15pm (student night at 11pm), Saturday at 7 & 9:15 pm, and Sunday at 2pm.

Choo-Choo Train) The Augie Orchestra (of which I am timpanist for this year) is performing with Kansas on Friday night at the Paviliion at 7pm!  It’ll be pretty awesome, but I’m sorry that there are basically no tickets left.  The Orchestra is also performing on Sunday at the homecoming service at the Elmen (NOT the Kansas music…sorry).

Net) I can actually PLAY the cornet and the horn!  My prof noticed improvement from my cornet playing test to my horn playing test.  Trombones next week…(!?)

Funf) God is just so awesome.  I’ve been seeking him a lot this week, and I haven’t fallen into freak-out or panick-mode all week!  Well, not for long periods of time, anyway.  I rate this past week as status = awesome.  I’ve been SEEING him work and it is just SO COOL to witness it!

 

I hope you all are doing well!  Sorry for nothing really interesting.  I just wanted to write and this is what popped into my head.  More later.  Something different.  I know not many people read my blog, but I’m grateful for those of you who do!  (Even if it’s just sympathy or an “I’m bored” read through…).  I love you all!

 

Ever smiling, Anna =)^2