Woot!

i'm really excited about this semester! i can already tell it's gonna be great...difficult, but great. y-day i bought my first conducting baton!!! i'm really looking forward to learning real conducting. oh yeah, and today i rented my trumpet and a locker to keep it in. i'm sure it will be wierd at first, esp. the embouchure but i'm soooooo glad that i got my first two brass choices--trumpet and trombone, as much fun as it would be playing and carrying a tuba or baritone around. my last bit of excited news for the day....i made orchestra!!!! in fact, all four of us flutes that auditioned made it!!! i don't think words can describe how excited i am.... : )

first day of school...

yay! sophomore year has officially begun! yesterday after church i spent most of the day decorating my dorm room with emily. we were planning to go to bed early in order to be alert and somewhat awake for our 8am theory class this morning, but it didn't exactly happen. we were way too hyper! so after getting about four hours of sleep we trudged over to Hargreaves. the good news is that we no longer have Jesse Allison for theory! then i went to history 150 where the prof said that it would be a really hard class...yeah right!!! the only hard part is keeping up with the reading since we cover 5,000 years of history in one semester. He said that all of our tests would be open-notes/open-book! it will be nice to have an easy class. the rest of the day was spent in recital hour, buying textbooks, and masterclass w/ Dr. Mattern where Liz, Catherine, Vanessa, and i played through our orchestra excerpts for her. i totally wasn't planning to audition on picc, but apparently Dr. Mattern wants us to all audition on both flute and picc. soooooo that means that i have alot of picc practicing to do to get my embouchure in shape for tomorrow (wind ensemble and BSSO auditions)! okay...time to start my theory, history, and music history reading assignments before i fall asleep! it's great to be back--college rocks!

un dia muy divertido!

a couple weeks ago i found out that one of the girls i met at el campamento de musica en Poza Rica (Veracruz Mexico)was here in Lafayette visiting her older sister who lives here now and goes to my church. I was super excited to see her and so i invited her to come over to my house today along with her Mexican friend Joel. First we had a typical american lunch...kinda. i made grilled cheese complete with pickles, lays, and of course fresh salsa from our garden (i made sure to put in a whole jalepeno). my mom also made Chicha Morada which is a peruvian purple corn drink with chunks of pineapple and mango (it's actually good stuff). Michel was excited to see the salsa and soon started putting it on her sandwhich! it made me laugh and remember how the Mexicans love to put chile and limon on everything...even oysters and popcorn! so anyways, after lunch we played Lotaria and then went to Precision Putt behind Meijers. By the end of the day my head was filled with new words/phrases and old ones that i'd forgotten. I am reminded of God's love for people of every nation and culture. i definately prefer to stick with people that are like me, but God calls us to get out of our comfort zones and build bridges with those He places in our paths. after all, i'm sooooo thankful that Jesus was willing to leave the comforts and treasures of heaven to come to a sin-cursed world. okay, my head hurts...and theory hasn't even started up again : )

good book

i'm currently reading "Trusting God" by jerry bridges. it's really good! i'm not normally a bookworm but this summer i think i've read more than any other summer. so anyway, recently i've been praying alot about my major. it's just that i can't see myself as being a high school band teacher. the biggest reason is b/c it consumes your life. you live at school b/c there are always after school practices and rehearsals. i guess i would miss performing and playing with other people who love music. i talked with my old flute teacher last night for almost an hour about teaching elementary music (which is what she did for 27 years!) the great thing about teaching elementary music for her is that she was also able to play with the LSO and teach private flute lessons. when she was describing me her job it sounded like something i would be interested in doing. the only problem is it seems like almost all of my classes at BSU are geared toward teaching high school band. for example, this semester i'm taking intro to conducting and brass techniques. i'm really looking foward to these classes, but i want to make sure i will be adequately prepared to teach elementary kids how to sing, play recorder, etc. using the Orf method preferably. well, all this to say that it's really easy for me to worry that i'm not taking the right classes or that i won't graduate in four years, but reading this book is teaching me to really trust God because He is sovereign and in control of everything, even the little things like atoms/molecules. It's so encouraging to know that God doesn't walk away and leave us to the mercy of uncontrolled random or chance events. i'm learning that it's good to make plans, but those plans will only succeed when they are consistent with God's purpose. Proverbs 21:30 "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord."

why isn't music on here?

Your Scholastic Strength Is Evaluating

You are great at looking at many details and putting them all together. You are talented at detecting subtle trends, accuracy, and managing change. You should major in: Statistics Speech Conflict studies Communication Finance Medicine

What Should You Major In?

yay for traveling!

You Should Visit Brazil

If you're looking for an extreme yet chill vacation, Brazil is perfect for you. Go wild at Carnaval, get lost in the Amazon, and relax checking out the beautiful people on the beach.

What Latin American Country Should You Visit?

Fair Oaks Farms

My fam spent the majority of our Saturday visiting Fair Oaks Farms which is about an hour north of Lafayette. It was actually pretty neat! First of all, we got to go on a tour bus and learn about how they feed the cows. Next we went to the milking parlor where we saw hundreds of cows being milked. we also went to the maternity barn where saw a mom cow giving birth to a baby calf. the tour guide said that there are about 15 calves born each day. the best part of the whole thing was.....you guessed it-- sampling the cheese at the cheese factory!!! We had the most mouth watering grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch in addition to homemade natural/no preservative icecream!!! so here are a couple of the pics i took today! oh, and btw, the funky glasses in case you were wondering, were from watching a 3d movie in the little museum.

HOT!

i feel like a camel...all i do is drink water! y-day and today i worked at the Cove all day in the sizzling summer sun! being a lifeguard takes alot of self-control b/c you want to jump in the water so bad, but ya can't unless you have to make a save. today i think i filled up my water bottle ten times, plus i went to subway w/Allie and got a rootbeer and then i had a ginormous flavor ice at the end of the day. the first thing i did when i got home was drink a glass full of hawaiin punch! i guess it's a good way to lose weight...
i called Nish y-day during one of my breaks and she told me that it's hotter in Laf then in Miami! she's right next to the beach! i'm so jealous! maybe i'll go visit her during my spring break.
i have a new favorite movie--High School Musical! i saw it y-day for the first time and loved it! the songs were all stuck in my head the whole day!
i'm excited that it's august b/c that means school starts in 20 days! i'm soooo looking foward to seeing emily, amanda, nicole, jess, dannie, laurel, joy, and all my fellow music buddies. i'm glad that we still have two more weeks though, b/c i still have alot of work to do preparing for orchestra and wind ens. auditions. Pippin (my wood picc) is still in the shop being fixed, but i'm gong to pick him up tomorrow after work!
well, time to make a walmart run! Later...