Student Recital!

Tonight was a big night. It was my very first time putting on a recital! I've played in many, but this was the first time I actually organized one as the teacher. For most of the students, this was their first recital. They all did SUCH a good job! I am so proud of their hard work. I couldn't stop smiling as my students got up to play their pieces. I am SO proud of them all! Not all of the pianists are my students. Three of them play the piano but aren't currently taking lessons. Therefore, they don't have opportunities to play in recitals. So I wanted to give them that opportunity. :-) I was a bit nervous that we would have a small crowd. After all, there were only 9 people playing and that includes myself. BUT the Lord blessed and we had a nice sized crowd. I think that was encouraging for the students. All in all, the night was a huge success, Praise the Lord!

Anna gave me these beautiful flowers! She knows me so well. :-)

Me with my five students.
The whole crew!

My performance of Mozart's Sonata in G, Allegro. Not my BEST time through. A few little blips here and there.

RAN/UPG

RAN/UPG........what is it? Restricted Access Nations/Unreached People Groups. The theme for our church in 2011 is Firm Foundations. Getting our church in the position that it needs to be in to really focus on a new work. Building up those foundations that are so important. Once a month, we have intercessory prayer meetings. Now, every Wednesday night we have a prayer meeting, but this one is different. We dedicate that night to lengthy prayer about a certain country that is hard to get into or a people group that isn't currently being reached with the gospel. This month, the country was North Korea. On Sunday night we were shown a documentary about the country. It's amazing how much bondage they are in!! Tonight we divided up into smaller groups and prayed in detail. It was a wonderful time of prayer. The idea is to do this once a month with our hearts and minds open to what the Lord would have us to do. Whether or not he will give US the burden and whether or not he wants US to go to these people in one of these nations. I'm excited to see what direction the Lord is going to lead our church over the next year.

My Island

Drizzly.....cloudy. It's a normal Whidbey day. Sometimes the rain falls a little heavier, then it subsides and continues its monotonous sprinkle. As I drove back onto my island today coming back from school, I soaked in this beautiful view. I realized how much I take it for granted.

As I rounded the bend by Pass Lake, my breath was taken away. The whisps of fog hovering over the water and Mt. Eerie with it's cloudy crown in the background all reminded me why I love Whidbey. Waving goodbye to the beautiful lake, I started to ascend. I drove up the hill that makes its way to Deception Pass and I looked around me. Stately, lush trees on either side as if from a fairy tale. Looking straight ahead I see more trees and the sky shining from between them as they have grown up on the side of the cliff. I've reached the top and as I curve to the left I see the most splendid view. The bridge! Driving onto the bridge I can't decide which view to look at: the endless sound on the right, or the many islands overflowing with trees on the left. So hard to choose. (I guess I should have been looking straight ahead since I was driving but that's no fun. :-p)

This is my favorite thing about my island. It's a span of about ten minutes, but as I drive it six times a week (to and from school) I am reminded of our Creator. His artistry goes beyond comprehension and I feel so minute in comparison to the beauty I see around me. I am so grateful that He has given me this opportunity to witness such beauty so frequently.

(These pictures weren't taken today....obviously since it's sunny.)

Love this!

My friend Brittany and I have been going back and forth about how much we love music. I mean, it just becomes embedded in your life and you wonder "Would it be possible to live without it?!?!"  She shared this with me and I just loved it!  It's so true...

A Day at Home

Do you ever have times where you feel like your ALWAYS gone?  Times when you barely get a moment at home before you have to run back out to run some sort of errand or make some appointment?  That's how my life's been for the past ..well...long while.  Today was not one of those days.  I did pretty well with getting my assignments done throughout the week (With the exception of one paper) and that allowed me to spend a relaxing day at home.  Got a great start this morning with going on visitation.  I was partnered up with a good friend and not only did we have a great time of fellowship, but we had a few good responses!  Although, I am still convinced that people didn't like me because I seemed to be rejected quite frequently.  C'est la vie. 

The rest of the day was spent enjoying my favorite instrument (Can you guess?), watching a movie with my family and playing games with my brother while drinking coffee. I did get my paper done, but I didn't completely stress about it.  It was a nice day of rest to gain back my momentum as I jump full speed ahead into a jam packed week.

Fun Friday

So I know you are all dying to hear about Fun Friday. :-> It wasn't that bad actually!  Basically, she had us divide into smaller groups to sing the songs so we weren't hiding behind the cushion of a 50 person choir. It was a really good exercise and not scary at all.  Well, I guess it would be scary if you didn't know the part because then everyone could actually hear you mess up.  But the songs we did today were pretty easy.  After that little exercise she took us outside.  Right across from our choir building there is another building with a rather wide sidewalk inbetween and an overhang.  She took us out there to sing our songs, and it sounded SO cool with the acoustics!!  Way better than in the stuffy sound-swallowing room. It made those accapella songs so much more enjoyable!  Well, there you have it.  Fun Friday!  Which actually turned out to be a lot of fun. :-)

A Love/Hate Relationship

When you were little, did you ever say, "I hate school!"  I don't know many kids who haven't said that at some point of their childhood during a frustrating piece of homework. After taking a couple of years off after I graduated I started to really miss school. I missed the structure, the feeling of accomplishment when you've just made an A on a paper or a test. 

Well, here I am.  Week 3 of college and it's a love/hate relationship.  Frustrations occur with certain subjects (ahem....Biology.  Diagramming a cell isn't exactly thrilling.) , but others I just love! I would categorize English somewhere in the middle. :-)  Yup...you guessed it.  The music classes I love!  Although, my choir teacher mentioned that tomorrow is "Fun Friday" and everyone groaned.  I guess I'll find out why tomorrow! It's been really fun to be on the singing end of the choir.  It's taken some time to get back in the swing of things, but now I'm swinging!  Piano lessons are beyond amazing.  Not easy.  Don't get me wrong.  It's no walk in the park.  Let's just say, I piano practiced for an hour and a half today and could have practiced for another hour!  I've learned so much in just three lessons!  Current projects are:  Sonata in G by Mozart, A Nocturne by Chopin and Maid With the Flaxen Hair by Debussy.  The first two I've been "working" on for about a year but she's helping me completely revamp them.  The third one is new-ish.  I knew it before but....well you know.  That all changes when you get a good teacher. LOL 

So that's what is new.  Between giving lessons, taking lessons, and practicing, music takes up a large part of my week.  But I absolutely love it and wouldn't trade it for anything!   I am looking forward to a new opportunity presented to me.  I will be working in the church's printing ministry and learning how to run the different printing machines and such.  It will be really neat to learn and I'm excited to be able to be useful!  Getting God's Word and solid doctrinal literature out is SO important!  That's one thing I've learned since being in this church. 

Until next time...

Bear With Me

Please bear with me as I attempt to find a new background for my blog.  Those that know me know that I like to change things up quite frequently.  Things like rearranging my room. LOL  Still applies to my blog.  Just hope it doesn't mess you up too much. :-)

Success!

I just had to share with you something exciting in my day!  Today I had three of my students coming for lessons.  I LOVE teaching and each student is special to me.  At the end of this month I am putting on a recital for my five students as well as a few others in the church who play the piano but don't have opportunities to play in recitals.   Nine of us total.  It will be a smaller recital, but for most of these kids, this is their first recital!  I am SO excited for them! One of my students has been really struggling with his song.  He's been working on it since last summer!  And it just hadn't clicked yet.  Today, he came in, sat down, and played straight through his song with NO mistakes!!!!  I couldn't stop smiling as he played through his song, his feeling of success showing through the smile on his face. I was SO proud of him!  It was a relief to me, since the recital is next week.  There's nothing like the feeling a teacher has when her student finally grasps a concept or a song.  It's not only success for the student, but for the teacher!  Anyway, that just made my day.  I'm off to get ready for dinner with a few friends...

MY Monday

Ok so I've seen several people posting about their Mondays.  Sooo I thought I would share mine. hehe  It was fairly relaxing.  Slept in to XX hour.  Did some major piano practicing before my lesson.  Then Anna, Nicki and I all went to my lesson.  I hope they weren't too bored. lol There seemed to be more talking and less piano playing at this lesson.  That's not always a good thing. LOL but I did learn a lot.  After my lesson we headed to Burlington to do some shopping for the Sweetheart's Banquet.  I can't believe how fast it's coming up!  We found some great stuff for the decorations.  It's always a relief to have it cemented in our minds.  Then we went to the mall and the girls treated me to my first manicure!  It felt soooo good!  I've been wanting to get one but didn't want to spend the money for it.  So it was definitely a treat and I enjoyed every minute of it. :-)   So now here I am and after a relaxing day I have to think about school again.  It was nice while it lasted!

The Long Awaited Cinnamon Rolls

I've been wanting to make Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls for quite a while now.  We got the stuff to make them when my Dad got home and I just haven't had the chance yet.  Then I was going to make them, but Josh had his wisdom teeth taken out and he LOVES cinnamon rolls.  So I was nice and waited.  And ever since then I've just been SOO busy!  So.....I've finally made them. And they're delicious! (As usual) 

The Final Product!

I had mentioned that I needed a cookbook stand and Christopher went in his room and made this out of Knex! Isn't he a genius?

Studying the Bible

This week Bro. G is teaching the Bible Training Institute class, Bible Study Methods. It has already been an amazing eye opener, and we've only just finished night two! Last night, he shared a poem that I thought was absolutely fantastic! And rather convicting. I thought I would share it with you here:

I supposed I knew my Bible,

Reading piecemeal, hit and miss,

Now a bit of John or Matthew,

Now a snatch of Genesis,

Certain chapters of Isaiah,

Certain Psalms (the twenty-third),

Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs--

Yes, I thought I knew the Word!

But I found that thorough reading

Was a different thing to do,

And the way was unfamiliar

When I read the Bible through.

O the massive, mighty volume!

O the treasures manifold!

O the beauty and the wisdom

And the grace it proved to hold!

As the story of the Hebrews

Swept in majesty along,

As it leaped in waves prophetic,

As it burst to sacred song,

As it gleamed with Christly omens

The Old Testament was new,

Strong with cumulative power,

When I read the Bible through.

Ah, imperial Jeremiah,

With his keen coruscant mind!

And the blunt old Nehemiah,

And Ezekial refined!

Newly came the Minor Prophets

Each with his disctinctive robe;

Newly came the song idyllic

And the tragedy of Job;

Deuteronomy, the regal,

To a towering mountain grew,

With its comrade peaks around it--

When I read the Bible through.

What a radiant procession

As the pages rise and fall,

James the sturdy, John the tender--

O the myriad-minded Paul!

Vast apocalyptic glories

Wheel and thunder, flash and flame,

While the Church Triumphant raises

One incomparable Name.

Ah, the story of the Saviour

Never glows supremely true

Till you read it whole and swiftly,

Till you read the Bible through!

You who like to play at Bible,

Dip and dabble, here and there,

Just before you kneel, aweary,

And yawn through a hurried prayer,

You who treat the Crown of Writings,

As you treat no other book--

Just a paragraph disjointed,

Just a crude, impatient look--

Try a worthier procedure,

Try a broad and steady view;

You will kneel in very rapture,

When you read the Bible though!

-Amos R Wells

An AMAZING night!

Last night had to have been some of the best few hours of my life thus far! Myself and a couple of friends went to Seattle for a girl's night out. I guess you could say the theme was Asia. :-) We ate dinner at Benihana's. That place is amazing! Basically, you sit around a table that is mostly a Habachi grill and the chef, with his incredible knife skills, grills your food right there in front of you! It was so fun to watch and the food was DElicious!

Then, we were all giddy with excitement as we drove few blocks further to watch Lang Lang (pronounced Long-Long) perform at Benaroya Hall!! I had been waiting for this night for a LONG time! He was basically a child prodigy. He began playing at age 3 and by the time he was 5 he had put on his first recital. His stardom began at age 17. His music is beyond amazing. Not only are the notes beautiful, but the music comes from his entire being. It's as if he IS an extention of the music and the piano. I could not stop smiling as he began to play. This was like a dream come true! He was actually very amusing to watch. Sometimes if his right hand was playing he would direct himself with his left hand. haha! After an AMAZING performance, the crowd (including me) cheered like crazy. And he gave us an encore! I was so excited! So of course, we all immediately sat down. I was thrilled when he said he was going to play a Chopin Etude. I love Chopin! After this shorter piece (compared to all the others anyway!) the crowd went wild! Seriously, my arms were turning red from clapping so much! :-) After MUCH bowing, he finally decided to play ANOTHER!!! YAY!!! I was SOOO glad! It was another AMAZING Chopin piece. (I just realize how many caps I am using in this post but that barely scratches the surface with how excited I was! Still am actually!) It was a night I will NEVER ever forget. You just can't understand by my description, so I posted a video that I hope will help you see just what I am talking about. His expression and interpretation of the music is like nothing I have ever seen or heard. I hope you enjoy it.

Lang Lang playing Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 3 in E Major at the Berlin Philharmonic.

Second Day of School...

Don't worry. I won't bore you with the details of each day of my school. :-) However, I do find this first week fascinating and I'd like to share some of that with you.

Today was my first day of Choir. I had mixed feelings ahead of time. I was excited because for the past three years I've been accompanying a choir, yet DYING to sing with one! I was a bit nervous because I didn't know what kind of music she would pull out since it's a secular college. But in that aspect, I was relieved. Turns out we will be singing folk songs from around the world. Japan, China, Bulgaria, etc. The first song we are working on is Finiculi, Finicula. Yay! A song I know! (BIG smile!!!) The others students were very friendly and I look forward to getting to know some of them. Ultimately, I'd love for the opportunity to share the gospel with them. Please pray to that end.

So three days a week I have the joy of driving to MV, which is 45minutes to an hour away. No, I am not being sarcastic. I truly found the drive today enjoyable. Why, you ask? Well, I shall explain. Something the Lord's really been showing me lately is that I need to be making even MORE time to pray than I have been. With a busy life style, that's hard to do. Although, that's really no excuse. As I drove to the college over there I found myself turning the music off and speaking with my Best Friend. What better time?!? It really was a joyous time and I look forward to making that a habit. Something else I've considered for the drive back is recording myself reciting scripture and putting it on my mp3 player to listen to and memorize. Obviously, I can't read the scriptures while I am driving. :-) I've yet to try it, but I want to make the most out of those stretches of time. If you have any suggestions, PLEASE let me know in a comment.

In my last post about school I spoke of the frustrations of online classes. Yes, they are still frustrating. But something that has really helped me is *TADA* my favorite verse! Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." My own understanding does NOT understand all that I need to learn. It wants to depend on self, but that's impossible. I am trusting the Lord to help me through this and I KNOW He will.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's **th birthday. :-) I will not disclose his age for privacy reasons. I will just say that he is ANCIENT!
:-p ....love you Dad. tehee

It's been so neat to see how the Lord has been working in Dad's life through calling him to preach and his career in the Navy. We prayed for the Lord's clear direction and He certainly gave it. I am so thankful for the strong leadership that we have in our home. Decisions based on God's Word always come first, and that has been vital in my own spiritual growth.

I look forward to seeing how the Lord directs my Dad and in turn, my family over the next year.

First Day of School!

Indeed it is....or I should say, was. It's almost tomorrow and I have been online for the past several hours trying to sort through all of my online classwork. This is so confusing! Two classes=three online programs. Very muddled. But I'll wade through it all. Hopefully sooner than later!

Today is when winter quarter "officially" started. However, my private piano lessons started yesterday. I'll start with that experience. It's been several years since I've been on the student end of lessons. For the past several years I've been basically teaching myself and any classical music was played purely for my own enjoyment. Even after one lesson, I can tell that my teacher is wonderful! Her home studio, for one, is spectacular! Two baby grands, one a Steinway (picture angels singing and the heavens opening. LOL). It was amazing to play on. Unfortunately, from here on out my lessons will be at the college. But anyway, back to the teacher. She has the amazing ability to distinctly point out your errors in a way that doesn't make you feel like you just totally ruined everything. Well, I felt like that anyway but that's my own fault. LOL

So she let me play through my Mozart Sonata. I felt pretty good about it. Afterall, I was REALLY nervous and it was probably that best I had played it. Then she pointed out TONS of stuff! Seriously, I had no idea that a trill written by Mozart and a trill written by Chopin would be played differently! Guess those are things you have to be taught. So anyway, then I played a Chopin Nocturne for her. I kid you not, measure by measure By MEASURE!! NOTE BY NOTE she critiqued. While it's somewhat frustrating while your sitting there because you are thinking "I HAD this!!!" you know that she is right. But I began to totally overthink the whole thing and mess up on things that I DID have before. Oh well, the first lesson is over and now I know what she expects.

Today was my first day attending class. My mom jokingly said, "This is my little girl's first day of school!" As funny as that is, it's so true! My mom has never sent me off on the school bus for my first day. It's always been here at home. It was a new experience for me, but I didn't dislike it. Granted, I will encounter some World View differences, but I am prepared for all of that. Tomorrow I head over to Mt. Vernon for my Choir class. I am so curious to see what kind of music she will have us work on. :-/ Well I am off to dive into my Biology Book...

A Knot In Thyme Singers

This is a video we took this past summer. Linnea was sick so she's not in it, unfortunately! A couple of things....pardon the funny faces, we were facing the sun and it was really bright! Also, that plane in the beginning is really annoying, I know. LOL I am really going to miss singing with the quartet. I had so much fun and I will miss you guys!

A New Year, A New Phase

You've heard it said, "Out with the old, in with the new". That explains my life right about now. First, I'll take a look back. This year was one to remember! While it went by SOO fast, it's incredible to look back at everything that happened. Memorable occasions were: The Sweetheart's Banquet (we SPGs organized it), My birthday (turned 20!!), LTIA (Leadership Training Institute of America), Played the piano for a wedding for the first time, Youth Camp (I was a counselor over the younger girlies), a couple of adventures over the mountains with the Waldrons, attended several classical concerts, and welcomed my dad home from deployment. It was a great year! Not only did I experience things physically, but the Lord really grew me spiritually.

I'm moving into a new phase of my life. After I graduated the Lord showed me that I needed to just work and wait. Wait for Him to lead me into the next phase of my life. That next phase for me is college. This past Tuesday was my last day at work (more on that later) and I am officially unemployed. The Lord has directed my life into furthering my music education in order to better serve him in the future. While I am really looking forward to it, it's scary to be making such a huge change. I have been veeeery comfortable, but now all that will change. School starts on Monday!

It's a bittersweet experience to be leaving A Knot In Thyme. I've worked there for 2 1/2 years and have gained such valuable experience as a result. My main job title was Garden Manager, but it went much beyond that. I was pretty much whatever I needed to be even aside from the gardens. :-) It was fun to learn practical things like fence and wall painting, transplanting, every day and not so everyday gardening techniques, holly pruning & picking and more! It was always challenging to learn about the 100's of plant types as we planted the seeds in the spring and nurtured them from there. Challenging, but really fun! I say it's bittersweet because while I will miss the job, I am looking forward to this new experience. I will also enjoy having free Saturdays. :-)

On one of our busiest days of the year, I lost my voice and couldn't sing. So my job was to help the kids transplant and it was SO much fun!

The Quilted Garden.....one of the many gardens at AKIT

The Vertical Garden

Back to New Years, we drove over the mountains this past week to pay a visit to the Waldrons. Last time we visited my dad was on deployment so it was great for him to be able to come with us this time! We had a blast! We played so many games....some of which I schooled my opponent, and others in which I was schooled. LOL New Years Eve was spent at the Watchnight Service here at BBC where we had two different PITs (preachers in training) preach, a Bible quiz, a "year in review" slide show, lots of singing, food & fellowship, and prayer. To actually ring in the New Year I did a video chat with the Waldrons. Can't break tradition! Every year since we've moved back we've spent New Years Eve at their house. Sad to not be able to do that this year. I am SUPER excited at what this new year will bring. I have a pretty big plan in view, but that can't be disclosed quite yet. I hope that each of you have a year filled with God's blessings!