Happy thoughts...

"We both fell in love with each other before the other one of us even knew it."

"...That's what I think is so amazing and wonderful."

And I'm so glad we both know it now.... :-)

"For unto us a Child is born..."

Hail! the heav'n-born Prince of peace!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die:
Born to raise the sone of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"


Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone is having a spectacular holiday, filled with good company, lots of food and all that warm happy stuff. :-) Christmas is my favorite holiday.... It's so joyous! I love the anticipation of Christmas morning and then waking and finding the gifts under the tree.... The Christmas music... That "creepy Christmas feeling". Baking cookies... Spending time with family and friends. It's all wonderful. At least for me. :-)

I didn't really put together a Christmas list this year... Which is kind of risky, because it means my grandparents go off my birthday list and I run the risk of getting doubles... BUT! That didn't happen this year! I really didn't have a lot that I wanted anyway. I'm very content with everything in general. Besides, my usual plea for a boyfriend for Christmas was taken care of a month in advance. ;-)

I did get some happy, useful things... Like an ice scraper that has a brush, so I no longer have to use my sleeve to uncover my car in the winter. I also got one of those things that checks the pressure in my car tires, a car garbage bag and a fancy billfold for my car's license and registration. I also got this stand for my laptop that helps cool the underside and keep it ventilated and a wireless mouse! (Which I wrongly guessed was a 20 questions game... silly me.) My parents gave me the soundtrack to Twilight and my grandparents gave me the movie PS. I Love You. Stephen made me a candycane tree ornament and Philomena gave me an awesome bookmark. Daniel gave me this super cute light up snowman pin, and Matthew gave me a iPup that is now named Playdough. (Mostly because when I asked what I should name him, Stephen yelled PLAYDOUGH! probably because he was reading his box of... you guessed it. Playdough.) The iPup reacts to music that he hears and plays 12 different rock riffs when he's happy. He's kind of cute. Mary gave me a shirt from Central, and that's pretty sweet too.

Mary got a stickball. I am not kidding. It's a ball. And it is made of sticks. Mom and Dad were amused and we all were very "whaaa-aat???" We figured Mary could use if for an art project at school or something. But still... A stickball? At least that random enameled pineapple jar I got for my 15th birthday is better than a ball of sticks. (Which is packed away somewhere... I still don't know what to do with it.) Matthew was laughing at Mary's stickball but I told him his time is coming...

The Doctor Who Christmas special should be online tonight!!!! I am so excited! I really want to watch it!!!!! And figure out WHAT is going on from the trailer! AHH!!! (And the music in the trailer, I must add, is spectacular.)

Right now, Philomena and Stephen are watching the Magic School Bus DVD that Stephen got for Christmas, Matthew and Mary are watching the second season of House that Mary got for Christmas, and Daniel is playing Age of Empires I and winning. Dad is working on his awesome mashed potatoes and listening to Handel's Messiah. Mom just took my temperature because I'm paranoid that I'm getting sick. Well, I mean, more sick that I already am. I have this stupid slightly stuffy nose. And I've been sneezing. :-P My temperature was fine... Actually a little under, which means I should eat something other than this sour candycane. (Except that I'm not exactly hungry, which isn't a good sign. It's 3:30 and all I've had was a bowl of cereal at 9:30 am and then some Christmas candy.) And maybe have a cup of tea.

I don't want to be sick. :-(

Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone! May God continue to bless you throughout the year!


"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. " ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Christmas hilarity

It's Christmas Eve everyone! :-) And that means that it's that time of year again.... Time to laugh, groan, wonder and ask yourself "why". WHY would anyone want these....

Drum roll please!!!!!

It's the:

Cavalcade of Bad Nativities!

Part I

Part II



There's more than one page people... So make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom! And even if you've already seen them, they're worth a look again... Because they're just that funny!

Talking with my best friend....

Jessica: *siiiiigh* The story of Sarah and Luke totally wins over Twilight....
Me: *siiiiiiiiiiiigh* I know.... It's just.... *siiiiiiigh* I'm so happy.....
Jessica: You just need some vampires....
Me: Hahahaha... I'll get right on that Jessica.

Finally real life is better than fiction...

Indescribable

"Find a heart that loves you at your worst, and arms that will hold you at your weakest."

Someone has found me that knows I'm not perfect, and yet he loves me anyway. Until now, I've never met someone who has made so indescribably happy.

I thank God everyday for how much I have been blessed.

"I never thought love could be so magnificent until I saw the sincere look in your eyes, telling me that this time... I would never shed another tear."

It's Christmas Break!

Hello Everyone! It's finally Christmas break and I am at home and doing nothing! Currently, it's a nice change. I'm sure I'll feel different by the time break is over. Maybe.

Yesterday was my last day of student teaching. I managed to make it through the whole day without crying. I saved it all for the drive back to Wartburg. One of the 5th grade students made a card and all of the 5th grade band signed it and wrote things like "Please don't leave!" "We'll miss you!" and "Come back and visit!" with lots of unhappy smilie-faces that had tears. It was super cute. I got tons and tons of hugs from both the 5th and 6th grade students. I'll miss them. My cooperating teacher wrote me a really strong, positive letter of recommendation, which is really great. I've learned a lot from this experience, and I can't believe I made it to the end!

Monday I had my last concert with the High School. It went pretty well, and I was happy with it. I think the band was nervous and tired because there were a couple spots where they had intonation issues and rushed. And didn't watch me. BUT they all pulled together and the audience really enjoyed it. :-)

Then, Monday night driving home from the concert, the heat in my car started acting weird. It was turned all the way up to full blast, but it air coming through was if it was set to the lowest setting, and it no longer was as hot. It was worse driving home on Tuesday with the crazy snowfall going on. Mostly because the windshield defroster could barely keep up with keeping the ice melted off of the glass. When I finally made it back to Waverly, I stopped at the garage that fixed my flat tire and asked if they had a moment to look at my car to see if they knew what was wrong. (I was crossing my fingers, hoping that it wouldn't be something expensive.) They were able to find the problem-- the cabin air filter was old and clogged with snow and gunk. I set up an appointment and had it fixed yesterday after I got done with school. Now my car has heat and it works! (And it wasn't expensive... Compared to getting the water pump replaced last month.)

And now, like I stated earlier, I am on break! I went to bed around 12 am last night and slept in until 10:30am. It was spectacular! I haven't done too much today. I went to the library and checked out Ivanhoe. I am determined to finish it... But I'm probably going to have to start over so I can remember all the characters. I also checked out O Brother Where Art Thou? Because I promised my cooperating teaching that I'd watch... Evidently this is a movie that I should have seen a long time ago. I also practiced my flute for the first time in, about 2 months... It was kind of painful and tiring.

Tomorrow Jessica is coming home! (Mary too.) And Saturday I am going to visit Luke! I'm really excited! I also really hope the weather cooperates. *shakes fist* It better! I could go on and on and on about how excited I am for Saturday, but it would get really redundant. It's really hard to wait! That's all I've been able to think about for quite a while... No joke...

Other things that need to happen during break:
Visit Luke
Hang out with Jessica
Practice my flute
Read Ivanhoe
Read some Sherlock Holmes
See The Tale of Despereux, Valkyrie, The Bride Wars and Marley and Me
Finish reading Paper Towns
Finish Breaking Dawn

Speaking of Twilight, tonight I'm going to see the movie again. It's at our local theatre, and it's the last night it's showing there, so I might as well see it again. :-) 3 times the charm, right?

Okay, it's time for dinner... I need to go.

When is this snowstorm supposed to hit, anyway???

"Say you're pretty!" "No!"

Rachel D.: Shut up! You're pretty!
Me: ... Well, I'm not ugly.
Rachel D.: No you're not ugly! Don't be ridiculous! You're pretty!
Me: .....
Rachel D.: You are. No arguments.
Me: But I have a big nose!
Rachel D.: YOU have big nose? Look at mine.
Me: Yours isn't that big. It goes with your face.
Rachel D.: There is nothing wrong with your nose.
Me: A couple weeks ago Mary and I had an hour long argument over AOL about who was the prettier sister. We each thought it was the other one.
Rachel D.: ......... But you two look the same....
Me: I know... It wasn't a very productive argument.


Dear Mary:

Things will get better. It just sucks right now. Especially with finals doubling your stress level. It'll be okay! *hugs* Don't worry... There is no problem. It's not you. It's not them. It's just not time. Keep praying.

"Dance with God, he'll let the right man cut in."

<3 your older sister

Because I was tagged...

1) What’s their name?
Rachel Lynn D.

2) Does he or she have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
Not yet.

3) Do you get along with this person all the time?
For sure!

4) How old is the person?
21

5) Has he/she ever cooked for you?
We've cooked together before. Um, once she made me hot chocolate.

6) Is this person older than you?
No. She is younger by 355 days.

7) Have you ever kissed this person?
Uh, no.

8) Are you related to this person?
Not biologically.

9) Are you really close to him/her?
Yes I am. :-)

10) Nickname?
"Clover Monkey" is her new nickname... Because this one time we were at Wal-Mart I said: "Hey, aisle 12 is open..." and she went: "What? A Clover Monkey??!" Yeah.... I don't get the translation either, but it's now her name... :-)

11.) Do they have a nickname for you?
"My person" sometimes.

12) How many times do you talk to this person in a week?
A bajillion.

13) Do you think they will repost this?
She did it first.

14) Could you live with this person?
I already am. So there! :-D

15) Why this person?
Why not? We because we're AWESOME.

16) How long have you known this person?
2 years and almost 5 months and a couple of days.

17) Have you ever been to the mall with this person?
Lots of times. We've even almost died. Kind of. It was scary. One of the malls has a parking lot of DEATH.

18) Have you ever had a sleepover with this person?
Yeah, she came to visit over the summer and that was awesome... and over fall break we did some sleepover things! :-)

19) If you ever moved away would you miss this person?
Yes, yes I would. A lot!

20) Have you ever done something really stupid or illegal with this person?
Bwahahahahaha. Yes. But nothing really really bad.

21) Do you know everything about this person?
Everything is a lot. I don't know everything. But I know a large bit.

22) Would you date this person’s siblings?
No. That would be weird.

23) Have you ever made something with this person?
Um. Lemme think. YES. We've cooked together, made t-shirts, made creative foodstuffs in the mensa together, made movies together.

24) Have you gone skinny dipping with this person?
No.

25) Is he/she on drugs?
No.

26) Have you ever worn this person’s clothes?
Um.... Yes. I borrowed a black shirt once.

27) Does this person wear your clothes?
Once she accidentally wore a camisole of mine... Because I'm messy and left it on the floor.

28) If it was “freaky friday” would you switch bodies with this person?
Sure for a day... On a day where I wouldn't mess up her life too much.

30) Do you and this person have a saying?
Vas es das? and Dooooo noooooot waaaaaaant...

31) Do you know this persons facebook password?
Nope.

32) Have you and this person ever gotten into a fight that lasted more than 2 days?
Nothing that lasted that lond.

33) Have you and this person gone clubbing?
No. We both left our clubs at home. And no one has upset either of us enough to deserve a good beating...

Do you mean like going to bars? ;-) No, not that either.

34) Do you know how to make this person feel happy?
Haha. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do.

35) Do you and this person talk a lot?
I don't know. How much is a lot. Like almost every waking moment we're together? Then YES!

36) Do you like this person?
What kind of a question is that??? YES!

37) Has this person yelled at you?
Oh, yeah.

38) Have you and this person got into a fist fight?
No. But sometimes we pretend to punch each other in band.

39) Do you want to go out with this person?
No. Not in the sense I think this is asking. 1. I don't swing that way. 2. SHE doesn't swing that way. 3. I have a boyfriend.

40) Do you want to be friends with them forever?
YES AND THEN SOME!

The Confrontaion

1. Put your iTunes (or any other media player you may have) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
"Let Go" by Barlow Girl

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"There's a Girl" from the Broadway musical The Secret Garden (....aww...)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Only Hope" from A Walk to Remember

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"Facade" from the Broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde (Um... no!)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"To the Pirates' Cave!" from Pirates of the Caribbean! (Haha! Perfect!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Poor Unfortunate Souls" from Disney's Little Mermaid (Say it's not true... Please...)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Before I Gaze at You Again" from the Broadway musical Camelot (Not true! Not true!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"It's the Hard-Knock Life" from Annie (Well, seeing as all my best friends are in college, we all mutually feel something like this at one point or another.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Addicted" by Kelly Clarkson

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"A Window to the Past" from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Superman" by John Williams (BWAHAHAHAHA! No.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
'You Gotta Have Heart" from the Broadway musical Damn Yankees!

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"My Paper Heart" by All-American Regects

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"The Best Thing" by Relient K (Haha....)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Good-by My Love" from the Broadway musical Ragtime (Awwww.........)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"The Mouse" from Stardust

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"I'll Tell the Man in the Street" sung by Kristen Chenoweth. (Look up the lyrics... :-) It's not a secret, but it's a nice song.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Softer to Me" by Relient K

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Sunday Best" by Augustana

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"The One I'm Waiting For" by Relient K

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"Someone Like You" from the Broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde (Okay, for real.... This is just amusing...)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Mr. Bumper sticker Writer" a commercial from Bud Light (It's true...)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"This Week the Trend" by Relient K

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"Song of the Bells" by Leroy Anderson (Does that mean yes?)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
"Holes to Heaven" by Jack Johnson

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"All I ask of You" from the Broadway musical The Phantom of the Opera

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Without Love" from the movie version of Hairspray

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Under the Sea" from Disney's Little Mermaid

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"The Confrontation" from the Broadway musical Les Miserables



These are fun! Some of them are not true, but they're fun!

Crazy for You

Things are looking up!
I've been looking the landscape over
And it's covered with four leaf clover,
Oh things are looking up
Since love looked up at me.


Bitter was my cup,
But no more will I be the mourner,
For I've certainly turned the corner.
Oh things are looking up
Since love looked up at me.

See the sunbeams!
Ev'ry one beams
Just because of you.
Love's in session
And my depression
Is unmistakably through.

Things are looking up!
It's a great little world we live in!
Oh I'm happy as a pup
Since love looked up -
Oh I'm happy as a pup
Since love looked up at me!


Sometimes George and Ira Gershwin say it just as well as Rogers and Hammerstein.... :-)

It was almost four years ago...

I was bored and just finished reading through my old Facebook quotes.... I put some recaps up on my Facebook wall.

And I still want to know why there isn't such a thing as white Jell-O.....

Post before bed.

"Her sole company is her imagination.
People may think she is alone,
But in her head the seat across from her is occupied."

Sometimes it's difficult to have empathy for others until you're experiencing it for yourself.


As much as I'll miss student teaching, tonight I feel ready to move on. I haven't learned everything. I certainly haven't learned enough. But student teaching, and my placement in particular, has helped me improve. Until now I've never done anything in my life that's been so reassuring that *this* is what I'm meant to do. It's a nice feeling.

Despite this, I'm ready for a break. I think everyone is. I don't have any tests to worry about/study for, but I'm still feeling stressed. Outside/vicarious stresses. Like the weather. And being cold all the time. I want to go home and sit on the heater with a blanket. My fingers are ice cold right now. Typing with gloves on is really hard.

I have a week until the 17th, and 10 days until the 20th. It's not that far away, really... I'm just impatient. It's the last push to the end of a long semester. We can all make it together. :-)

You may have won the battle, but you have not won the war...

So I'm currently blogging from the library. The internet in Knights Village is down, and has been down all afternoon. It's very annoying, but I already called the ITS to find out what's wrong. But still. Bleh.

For the past hour I was in the midi-lab trying to naviate Facebook using the new computers... Which are LAME! (They're some sort of psuedo-mac) It would not let me poke ANYONE. Facebook kept giving me this error message telling me "That action is not allowed." What? Yes it is! Since when is poking forbidden? Especially since other people are allowed to poke ME! (It let me poke twice... After it took me to a separaet poking page... Like the old-old-old-old Facebook used to do. Weeeeeeird.) And then it wouldn't let me post on people's walls for a while... It was super lame.

That is also why I'm in the library. Better poking abilities. Except that no one is online poking anymore. lol...

There was a snow storm last night with freezing rain and snow. My school only had a 2 hour delay but all the other schools around it had cancelled. Since I have a 40 minute drive, my cooperating teacher told me that I didn't have to go into school, which was probably for the best. Tomorrow I will have to dig out my car and chip away at the ice. Luckily I don't have to be at school until 7:45.

Today I watched 3 episodes of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and the first 3 episodes of Firefly. How have I missed out on this TV series????? It's really cool! (The sad thing is I won't have time to watch anymore until break... If I can find someone else who has the series......... Or I could rent it. I dunno.)

I have 6 days left at my student teaching assingment.... It's really weird to think about... My last day will be December 17th. My last concert is th 15th. I will probably cry.

Another thing that is super sad: Pushing Daisies is getting canceled. SUPER LAME DECISION ABC! I love that show. What are they thinking?! :-( *siiiigh*

Wartburg library gave all of its student employees a gift bag filled with snacks and sugary goodies... And a flashdrive... Which is pretty sweet! I now have 2 flashdrives... And one is orange. :-) The free flashdrive makes up for the rather lame box of raisins.

Okay, I know Rachel D. is bouncing around back at the dorm... She has my Christmas present and wants to give it to me... So that's all for now!

Bored on the Band Bus....

This is Rachel D. and I being silly on the bus on our way to the Des Moines concert for Christmas vs. Wartburg. This is like, the third take of the video because we kept laughing. (Does anyone else remember learning to make these apple-puppets from Lampchop's Play-a-long?)

Christmas vs. Wartburg is ALMOST done! We have our last concert this afternoon. I'm really tired of moving equipment. The current stats are:

Christmas: 2 Wartburg: 4

Christmas might gain some points in the final round because it's currently snowwing outside...

Stuck, but safe...

So earlier today I was joking about how amusing it would be if a bunch of people couldn't make it to the 2 hour Christmas vs. Wartburg rehearsal tonight, just to spite the fact that they had rehearsal on Sunday night, at the very end of break... And I end up being one of those people who couldn't make it because of the ice! :-( I feel like I jinxed myself. :-P It took me 45 minutes to turn around and make it back home, which would have normally taken me 10. In 2 miles of interstate I saw 8 cars in the ditch and we were crawling along at about 30 mph. Not good...

So yeah... So I'm sitting at home... Feeling guilty because I missed rehearsal, even though I didn't really want to be there in the first place.

I got to have lunch with my friend Bre today! We went out for Chinese and it was really good! It was also good to catch up. :-) We usually manage to see each other once or twice a year. We did a lot of things together when we were little, and it's nice that we're still friends. :-)

Yesterday I hung out with Jessica... I helped her decorate her Christmas tree and then we went an saw Twilight, for the second time for both of us. I don't know if it was better because of the second time, better because I was seeing it with my best friend, or better because Luke had just visited the day before... Maybe it was a combination of all three, but Jessica and I definitely enjoyed ourselves and had fun cuddling and squealing over the awesomeness that is Edward Cullen.*

After that I dropped Jessica off at her brother's hockey game and I went and saw Bolt which was pretty good as well. I enjoyed it, the whole movie was very quotable. Not as good as Monsters Inc. but as a movie made solely by Disney, I'd say they did a pretty good job. I'll admit it. I teared up at a couple parts... I'm a sucker for animal movies. I love the hamster, Rhino. He was the best!

I've been listening to my iTunes on shuffle for the past hour and it's been very keen to play many of the romatical-type songs I have... Right now it's playing "Someone is Waiting" from Company.


Okay, I need to get to bed. I need to get up early to check school cancellations and road conditions.


*I would like to point out that I have come to the realization that love for a fictional character is really not the same as being in love with someone in real life. This may read as a "duh" but for the longest time fictional characters were all I really had. Yes. I have a sad life. But it's better now.

Out of my League

I love this song.... Rachel V., do you remember freshman year, laying in bed at night listening to this song? (Along with Hushabye Mountain and Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here!)

:-) *warm fuzzies*

Turkey time!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope it was an enjoyable holiday for all!

I spent a large part of last night making dinner rolls. I ended up doubling the recipe after reading "makes 12 buns." But later I reread what it said and that bit was for if you were using the recipe for hamburger buns. The recipe for rolls made 2 1/2 dozen... I doubled it and made enough dough for potentially 5 dozen rolls... Haha! This is very typical of me baking, so it wasn't a crisis or anything, just funny. I also was covered in flour, which was accentuated by the black sweatshirt I was wearing. I made the rolls a little bit bigger than the recipe suggested. And then I forgot them in the oven for a little too long and they got a littttttle bit brown on top, but NOT burnt.

This morning I watched the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Stephen and Philomena, then watched a little of the dog show. The shi-tzu was my favorite... Because it didn't want to walk after the judge examined it. It just alternated between sitting and lying down and refused to run. It was cute. :-)

After that I took a nap while my sibs watched Miracle on 34th Street on TV. Around 4pm we had dinner, all the traditional stuff: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, green bean cassarole (which isn't my favorite, but it was there,) jello and dinner rolls. It was great! My parents did a great just making the food, like the mashed pototes and the turkey. Philomena made the jello and that was nice too. :-)

After dinner we played Catch-phrase for a couple rounds. (Mousse Pen? Try gel... haha!) Then Matthew, Daniel, Philomena and I played cribbage. I love that game! It was a lot of fun, with some pretty good hands.

After that I went over to Jessica's and watched Survivor, then 11th Hour. (Which I had never seen before, it was pretty cool!) I ate some of their Thanksgiving leftovers (like we didn't have any here... haha!) We watched a little more random TV before Jessica admitted that she was super tired. (Well, she had stated that earlier in the evening, but this time she actually went to bed and I left.)

Now Mary's watching Doctor Who and I'm blogging and talking online.

Tomorrow Jessica is going with me to brave the Black Friday sales. I want to buy a new pair of jeans... Maybe a new dress suit if I can find something good on sale.

ALSO, tomorrow Luke is coming to visit again and I am super excited. (For real. If you couldn't tell from the previous post.) Nothing too spectacular planned, but that's okay. :-) We'll play it by ear. :-) Eating Thanksgiving leftovers will probably be happening at one point in time. So will Doctor Who watching. I can't wait!

South Pacific

I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
I'm as normal as blueberry pie.
No more a smart little girl with no heart,
I have found me a wonderful guy!

I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
High as a flag on the Fourth of July!
If you'll excuse an expression I use,
I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm in love with a wonderful guy!

Sometimes Rogers and Hammerstein say it best... :-) It's been in my head all day. For real.

A quick blip...

I just had breakfast at 10:00 at night. A warm cinnamon roll and a glass of orange juice. :-) Yum!

It's really quiet in the apartment with no one here... Which seem like an obvious "duh" comment, but it's a little more lonely than I imagined. I just finished listening to my Across the Sky CD and now my iTunes has moved on to Across the Universe, which is fine. I like the Beatles. I'm here through part of Wednesday, so I just have to survive through that long. The week should go fast. Tomorrow night is the first home basketball game, so the pep band will be playing and Tuesday night is the 5-6th grade band/chorus concert. Wednesday the school day ends around 2pm.

So last Tuesday my car got a flat tire. I had ran over a screw and it was slowly deflating. I got the tire repaired and changed and the mechanic commented that my car was really noisy. So they looked at it and realized that the alternator was coming apart. Lovely, no? So I had to get that in and get it fixed. It ended up being the water pump that was coming loose, not the alternator, but they are so close to each other that you can't tell one from the other without taking some of it apart. So that FINALLY got fixed. ($200+ later...) And now my car will hopefully work with no more problems. *knocks on wood*

I saw Twilight today with my mom and it was good. I enjoyed it. I mean, yeah, the books are better, they are always going to be better.... But what the movie did show was pretty awesome! :-D

Okay, Mondays are my early days, so I need to get to bed. I've been in the best mood all weekend, which is really nice. :-) I'm going to work hard to let that carry through the week.





Is it Thanksgiving weekend yet? :-)

Quick before bed...

Life is just better when you discover that someone you have liked for a long time likes you back. :-)

It's nice to think about being in love again.

"It's the lamest place in the world...

...But it just got a little bit better!"

Video from the Tour de Nerdfighting stop in Ames, Iowa

So here is one of the videos I took while seeing Hank and John Green in Ames, Ia. This is Hank singing Book Eight, which is one of my favorite songs! (As you can tell, by my singing along... It's not toooooooo bad, I promise.... Or at least I hope...) The quality isn't the best because I only have my little digital camera. I might upload it to YouTube and then reload it here... But later.

You can watch the original video here. I loooooove it!!!! :-D

Red Rover

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Nerdfighters in Ames!

So Rachel D., Nathan and I went to Ames today to see John and Hank Green. It was so made of awesome, we could hardly stand it... But we did! I have some videos to post, but for now, you'll have to do with a picture. I'm exhausted and need to go to bed. I have to be at school by 6:30 am. That means I have to leave by 5:50. Gross...

Anyway! Here's the best picture from the trip! Really... There are no words... It was so JOKES!
















From L to R: Hank Green, me, Nathan, Rachel D., and John Green

DFTBA!

My blog. My code.

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Life lessons....

I am slowly being taught that speaking what I truly think is no longer acceptable.

What? Me again?

Two posts within two days? Oh man, oh man.... What is the world coming to?

This weekend I am going to Ames with Rachel D. and some friends to see the Vlog Brothers! John and Hank Green are stopping in Iowa on their Tour de Nerdfighting . Who's excited??? ME! ME! PICK ME! Mary can't go, because she has theatre stuff. :-( (Don't worry, there'll be pictures and stuff.)

What else is new? Um... It was mostly sunny this morning, but started to rain this afternoon, and it finally stopped. It was really depressing. I don't know what I would prefer right now... Snow or rain. Probably snow... Rain in November is sad. Yesterday it was super foggy in the morning. I just hope this weekend is nice. :-)

Rachel D. had her junior recital last night and it was faaaabulous! I was really proud of her! :-) (I was also nervous for her, but she did great, like I knew she would.) She now can breathe and chill and not stress out about her recital. It's over! :-D You survived!

Oh, also. About the election. I'm really glad this guy didn't win. What a crazy man..... Anyway, Nov. 4th was kind of a blah day. Everyone was happy except me. :-P (And Rachel V. We commiserated together.) I'm just glad it's over.

Ok, enough of that.

I don't know about anyone else reading this blog, but I'm tired. Not just physically tired, but mentally tired. I just want to sit and do nothing. I miss being able to sit and just watch a movie. I mean I don't have a lot of stuff to do, or a lot of stuff going on. Academic-wise, I have nothing to complain about. But the time and effort I put into the day takes up a lot of my energy. I drink lots of Mountain Dew. It's not MORE busy or stressful than anyone else's. It's just different.

I miss exercising. I can't believe I'm typing this. I have a lot of nervous energy that I feel needs to go somewhere.... But do I have time? Do I have energy? I don't know... I probably do, but if I have time to go exercise, I probably have time to practice my flute.... But practicing my flute takes a lot of time and mental energy... Blaaaaaaaarghhh.....

Gah! I have this piece of hair that is too short to tuck behind my ear.... I love my new haircut, but sometimes it's annoying. I should find a bobby pin.

The Twilight movie is next weekend.... The 21st I think. I'm really exciiiiiited! :-D I really hope the movie doesn't suck. I haven't decided if I should go see it by myself sometime that week and then seen it again with Jessica over Thanksgiving, or find someone on campus to see it with me or what. I AM going to go see this movie. And it will be the epitome of fangirly, joyous glee. With lots of squealing, giggling and, if you know me, lots of shaking and hitting as I try to draw your attention in the dark theatre to whatever I notice or figure out in the movie. (I'm surprised Jessica even goes to movies with me anymore... Haha...) But.... AHH! I'm really excited!!!!!!!!!!!


Okay, I'm off to run to Wal-Mart with Rachel D...

Halloween, sushi, and life

So I've been slacking off in the keeping up of this blog... Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry! There's new stuff going on all the time, but by the time I get to blogging about it, it's no longer *as* new....

Um... For Hallowe'en Rachel D. and I totally dressed up as Mrs. Lovett and Johanna from Stephen Sondheim's musical Sweeney Todd. It was pretty awesome! Here's a picture:

I totally glued that apron together in a day. (Which I am really proud of... If you couldn't tell...) I didn't use a pattern or anything. Thanks to Rachel D. for the red food coloring. :-) Rachel found her dress and her props at the local second-hand shop.



It was really really fun! :-D Sadly, we didn't win the WCCB Hallowe'en costume contest, but a lot of people told us they really liked our costumes.

Brushing out my hair and washing off my make-up was probably the least fun of the whole thing.... Though by the end of the night, the frozen pot-pie had pretty much thawed and become quite soupy...

The two concerts I had that weekend went really well. Mom and the kids came to the Sunday concert and then we went out for Chinese.

Student teaching has been going well. Since Daylight Savings Time it's been lighter when I finally leave the apartment at 6:20 in the morning for school. I have about a month and a half left in student teaching. It's going by so fast, and keeping me quite busy. I am loving it though! (Aside from getting up at 5am everyday and having to go to bed by 11pm AT THE LATEST.) I am definitely going to be one of those people tearing up at the end of the semester.... I am going to miss seeing some of those students everyday.

This past weekend I went and visited Jessica at Drake and we has a lot of fun! I drove down Friday night, through the snow. I got there about 9:30. She was ice skating with a bunch of her international friends, and then we went to Perkins. We finally got back to campus around 12:30 and then we played some pool, followed by some card games, which lasted until about 1:45 am when I had to move my car before 2 am so I wouldn't get a ticket. After that we went to bed.

On Saturday, we slept in, had lunch at Hubble (Which..... Wasn't that spectacular... But at least it wasn't a confusing layout...) I had yogurt and it was yummy. Then she took me around campus and gave me a tour. Did you know that Drake was named after Sir Francis Drake, and that he donated a telescope to the college. Yeah. Anyway, it was really cold. Then we went to Gong Fu Tea, which is SUPER AWESOME! I love it! They have teas from all over the world and you can smell the leaves and decide what kind you'd like. Then they serve it to you in a little teapot with a little cup. It was a perfect day for tea, a lot of other people thought so too... It was pretty busy. After that we went window shopping... We stumbled across a costume shop and had fun looking at the different costumes and accessories. I think the winner was the Darth Vader costume for $1000. We browsed through antique shop that had an old fortune teller archaide game... Like you put in your dime, and this creepy mechanical granny, made of out of wood and all that drops your fortune in a little slot for you to pick up.

After we finished looking around the different shops we went to Taki, for sushi. But instead of opening at 4pm like we thought, it didn't open until 5. Go figure. So we drove around some more and Jessica took me to another one of her favorite stores... I think called The Back Woods. It was very outdoorsy and cool. I tried on lots of knitted hats.

Finally it was 5pm and we went to Taki. I made the mistake of admitting to Jessica that I was in the mood for something slightly spicy.... So she ordered this roll called the Sake Bomb (pronounced sah-kee.) It had jalapeno peppers in it... If that was any clue as to how spicy it was... Plus the wasabi I had mixed in with the soy sauce that I dipped the roll into... Whew! Jessica was laughing at me because I had to keep blowing my nose, and my eyes were watering pretty badly. That roll had good fish in it though... It was just super spicy. All the sushi we ordered was great and totally worth all the money we spent. We also had a really good waiter, who kept up on our beverages really well. Especially mine, since my mouth was BURNING and I was downing root beer like there was no tomorrow... Hahaha!

After sushi, we picked up Jessica's international friend Toma and went to the International Student Association variety show. It was really cool! There were so many different dances and songs, and the traditional clothes were often very brightly colored. It was super fun! Afterwards there was a raffle which included the opportunity to win an iTouch or a GPS, but alas. I am never that lucky. After that, we all went over to Olmsted and ate Sedexo versions of international food. That was very interesting. To say the least.

After the ISA night stuff Jessica and I went over to her friend Lizzie's apartment and played some Guitar Hero. I almost won a face off. (Someday....) Then we watched the movie 21 and it was pretty entertaining, although lightly predictable by the end. Even my super sleepy brain made some calls that ended up being confirmed by the end of the movie.

On Sunday Jessica and I went to Mars Cafe for breakfast/lunch and played cards for about 5 hours. We played 2 games of cribbage, the first game I was skunked, (which means that Jessica won, getting to the 121st peg, before I made 90 point-line.) I won the second round though... By luck... We were neck and neck. Then we played Nertz for the rest of the time, which was also super fun!

I ended up leaving around 4:45 pm and after following Jessica's misguided directions, got onto the interstate. (Don't feel bad though, Jess. I forgive you.) Driving home, something heavy fell into my lap and onto the floor and I freaked out. I thought it was a super gigantic spider or something. I finally pulled off at a rest stop and discovered that a small screw had fallen out somewhere from the steering column of my car. Which is... Not too good..... But I was really glad that it wasn't a spider.

I made it home safe and sound, no further problems. I have been trying my best to get good sleep so I can function at life and stuff. I'm doing okay. I mean, I'm functioning. I just... Hate having to go to bed so early, while hearing my housemates have fun. Like watching movies, or just being silly.

Okay, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed this update. See? I'm still alive!

Nerdy and Super Cool!

I want to be this guy's friend. I love this!

.... The awesomeness just gets stuck in your head... :-D

I know.

Jessica: What? You two just need to date.
Me: I know. I know. Life is just confusing.

WHA-AT?!

NOOOO!!!!!




This is like, the worst thing ever.

I kind of want to cry.

He's my Doctor.... Why does he have to leave?

Something relevant...

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle." -Philo of Alexandria

"A lot of these kids are just looking for someone who will treat them like a person." -My cooperating teacher.

Busy break... So a quick post...

Yesterday Rachel D. and I made a breakfast of pancakes and bacon. It was delicious! As we ate, we watched Heathcliff cartoons, which I haven't seen since I was about 5. Yay for the glories of 80s cartoonage!

Then I got the oil in my car changed.

Then I came back and we watched Young Frankenstein as a kick off to our Fall Break Movie-watching Extravaganza! It was hilarious. I had never seen it before, so I was very entertained. :-)

Then Rachel and I made dinner. We marinaded some chicken breasts in a garlic and herb sauce and then fried them in lemon juice on the stove. We also fried some potatoes with onions and cooked fresh broccoli. It was all very very delicious and we felt very domestic. For dessert we baked Ghirardelli double chocolate brownies. After we ate dinner we watched Nightmare Before Christmas, which Rachel had never seen before. After that we went to bed.

Today I had to get up for All-State auditions. After I got back around 2, I went and got my hair cut, and then Rachel and I bought pumpkins. We spent about 2 hours carving them as we watched Spongebob Squarepants Halloween. Then we ordered pizza, which took ages, and they messed up our order, but whatever. I'm pretty sure Rachel and I annialated that medium pizza in record time. We were both starving.

And then we watched Shawn of the Dead, which was really weird, crude, gorey and random. Sometimes funny. I'm glad I didn't spent a lot of money renting it. I liked Hot Fuzz better. After Shawn of the Dead was over it was only like 8:45 so we watched Abbott and Costello go to Mars and it was awesome. :-)

Then Rachel and I goofed off and watched Doctor Who "School's Out" for the ump-teenth time.

We don't want it to be Sunday... Have to get ready for class and all that...

Little life lessons....

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Student teaching is keeping me crazy busy.

I just wanted to jot down that today in Wind Ensemble rehearsal a rhetorical comment was made that made me want to be a smart-alec. I kept my mouth shut, but a raised eyebrow to my stand partner confirmed that she was thinking the same thing.

What I have taken from this instance is what I was once told in Conducting II last semester:

Never ask a question in rehearsal that you do not want answered.

Ausflug!

Happy Outfly everyone!


... I'm off to student teaching....

Of band, birthdays, student teaching, ghosts, and Outfly...

So I don't currently feel like I have much to say, but I haven't properly blogged for a while so I feel I should change that.

I went home last Sunday for my birthday and that was nice. I got a lot of things that I needed and wanted. Like a hanging closet shoe carrier-thing, a new ivy plant, dubbed Charlie III, since Charlie II died, I also got some DVDs, a cool picture to hang on the wall and the soundtrack to Legally Blonde the Musical. I got to do cake and ice cream with my family and that was nice. :-)

Student teaching is going well. I am still really enjoying it, although 5:10 in morning seems to come earlier each day. I know all the names of all my students and I'm getting ready to conduct my first piece at the 7th-8th grade band concert on the 30th. Last Thursday I had the entire rehearsal to myself to work on my piece and it was weird and a little daunting. It was the first time we've played from start to finish, so I have a better idea of what needs to be done. I rehearse for a bit on Monday and I have all of Friday to myself. I hope the students aren't too squirrely. By the end of the month I'll also be conducting a piece with the high school, which I think will be the real challenge.

Wind Ensemble is going fairly well, I think. I'm very tired by the time I get to rehearsal, so sometimes it's hard to give 100%, but I do my best. We're playing this piece called Metroplex: Three Postcards from Manhattan, by Robert Sheldon. I can hardly play it, but it's my favorite piece. :-) Out of a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most difficult, it's a 4.5. The music is meant to depict different aspects of New York City. It opens with broad, solid chords in the brass and a smooth, airy melody in the upper winds to depict the New York City skyline, with the tall buildings and iconic view. That section closes with an English horn solo that sets the mood for the second postcard, which depicts the jazz club nightlife of the city. That whole section is heavily influenced by Gershwin, and is really laid back. (I love it. It makes me think of those old jazz nightclubs that you see in old movies. The third, and final postcard is meant to depict a wild taxi ride through the city. In the flutes, it)'s full of crazy chromatic runs and syncopated rhythms, with bouts of 7/8 time. The high brass emulate the car horns and the low voices help move the music forward at a crazy break-neck speed. The parts of this movement in 7/8 time make me think of newspapers, hot off the presses, selling so fast that the demand is greater than the supply. Those measures have a Morse-code-like rhythm that adds color to the whole section. The rest of the piece sounds almost verbatim like The Knight Bus by John Williams, from the 3 Harry Potter movie soundtrack. It's really fun to play, but it's reeeeally hard. It's a fun challenge!

Next Saturday Rachel D. and I (and Rachel V. if her rehearsal gets changed) are going to visit my sister Mary in her play, and that will be fun. I'm really looking forward to it. :-) I just hope we can make it down there without getting too lost... Haha!

Currently, I'm reading, like 4 books at once... Which is kind of a record for me, while I'm at school... Usually I don't have time to read at all... I'm reading Anything Goes by John Barrowman, which is his autobiography. He plays Captain Jack in Doctor Who and Torchwood. (He was also the blonde, lead tenor in the movie version of The Producers, during the "Springtime for Hitler" bit.) I'm about halfway through and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also reading Sorcery and Cecilia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermet. It's a kind of "what if" book. It takes place in England, during the Regency Period, and it's written as if there were such things as wizards and magic. It's entertaining. Mostly because, let's face it, I love fantasy books. And this books is basically Pride and Prejudice-time period, with magic. Lovely! :-) The third book I'm reading.... I suppose it goes into more of a *trying* to read category.... Is the fourth Stephanie Meyer novel Breaking Dawn. I'm finding it slightly hard to get through because the writing, in my opinion, is so poor. Compared to the other books in the series, this one seems like it was pull off of Fanfiction.net. It's kind of disappointing. The fourth book that I'm reading is something that my cooperating teacher assigned to me, but it's a pretty good book, so I don't mind. It's called Teaching Music with Passion, Conducting, Rehearsing and Inspiring by Peter Boonshaft. He writes about common misconceptions regarding different aspects that relate to being a teacher of music. He uses a lot of anecdotes that are entertaining and gets his points across. I find it really helpful, and I wish it was the text book for conducting. It would have helped a lot.

.... I really want sushi.... Mmmmm... :-)

So the rumors about Outfly are going around like crazy... A lot of people were speculating that it would be sometime last week, but no. Thursday there was a show booked in the auditorium, so they wouldn't cancel that. Some people think it'll be Monday, others think it'll be Tuesday... Or Wednesday or Thursday... Although I've heard it can't be on Tuesday because there's a speaker coming in or something. (And Outfly will never be on a Friday. No free 3-day weekends for us.) I think it's fun to tap into all the gossip. I'm going to give Rachel D. money so she can at least buy me a t-shirt. This year's theme is "Get a Clue" and they're doing a sort of mystery theme, like Clue, the board game.

So far Rachel D. and I have gotten along swimmingly, living together in our little single room. She's been great and really understanding when I have to go bed before 11pm, and does a good job of ignoring me when I get up at 5:10. I do my best to be quiet. :-) We both live for Friday nights, when we veg-out in front of the TV with lots of pillows and blankets. Rachel V. joins us after she gets back from rehearsal and we watch Most Haunted, which is always good for some laughs. :-) This Friday the team is going to Gettysburg for their live show, which should be pretty hilarious. They have usually have webcams and stuff for the live shows, so we plan on keeping up with the events in a multimedia fashion. :-)

Okay, there's the update! Hope you found it.... Entertaining? Informative? Haha... Whatever... I blogged.

Luke 18:9-14

I find it frustrating as well as amusing that everyone thinks their life is harder than everyone else around them. Myself included. Sometimes I just need to take a step back and just let things go. There are better battles to fight.

Plus, I'm tired of the drama, and am busy doing important stuff. Like helping a friend figure out their homework schedule and helping them study for a test. And reminding them to breathe. ;-)



Rachel D. made me a TARDIS cake for my birthday and I LOVE IT! :-D It is super cool and amazing! It was really sweet of her to do that. :-) I have pictures... I'll post them soon.

Happy freakin'-Birthday...

Rachel D. and I had our joint birthday party today from 3-8pm. We baked a cake, bought ice cream, cleaned house and made punch. The plan was to play board games and eat cake and ice cream and then go to dinner around 6pm.

One person showed up at 4:30 and stayed for about twenty minutes and then left again, promising to meet up for dinner.

Rachel V. got back from rehearsal at 5 pm.

Two of my other suitemates joined us at 6:45 and we left for dinner.

Rachel D. and I played about 20 games of speed and ate birthday cake and ice cream and drank punch. By ourselves.



What the crap? What kind of a birthday party was this?

Dinner was fun and all...

But seriously???

This is not what I had planned...

What a lousy day.

He kept a shop in London town....

So I really need to get to bed, but I just had to quickly blog about the total AWESOMENESS that was SWEENEY TODD that the Rachels and I just saw at UNI's Gallagher-Bluedorn Theatre... So freaking spectacular! It was the revival where the actors are also the orchestra and if you have not seen a show like this, it is a totally new theatarical experience. I was pretty much grinning like an idiot throughout the whole show. I am so morbid.

Our seats were in the 3rd balcony, so at intermission we moved to the second row of the main floor. Like 5 feet from the stage. It was sooooooooooooo amazing! Literally, if you can't see the spit fly from the actor's mouths you're not sitting close enough. (Which is why we moved at intermission.) I tried finding out how to get tickets for those seats online, (just to compare prices) but you can't buy those seats. I think they are for season ticket holders. (Mwahahaha.)

After the show, this is a conversation Rachel D. and I had:

Me: OH MY GOSH DID YOU SEE THE SPIT???
Rachel D. : YES! IT WAS SO COOL!
Me: I LIVE FOR THE SPIT!



Okay, I need to get to bed. But for real. The show was amazing. I've never been so happy after a show so morbid. Stephen Sondheim is a genius I tell you. A GENIUS!




And DON'T say anything about the movie! There is no comparison. Go see the stage show. The movie version of Sweeney Todd should have never been made.

An update blip...

I have so much that I want to write about, but I'm terrified of posting something that will put my student teaching position in jeopardy. Nothing bad has happened, I'm having a great time! I just don't want to screw things up.

What I would like to put out into cyberspace is that if I didn't love student teaching, believe me, people would know. It takes a lot to get me out of bed at 5-freaking-am every morning. Student teaching has been a reaffirmation that teaching band is what I'm meant to do.

It's really hard living a double life as a student teacher and as a college student.




I'm taking this situation and using it as motivation to make myself better.

Birthday

Okay, I just want to put this out there, so no one else gets it for me.

Jessica is buying me Breaking Dawn for my birthday, so please don't buy me another copy.

Thank-you.

RIght now, life is good!

I don't know which is more exciting.... Really.

1. I made Wartburg College Wind Ensemble! I'm 6th chair out of 7th. Rachel D. and I are stand partners. Which is good considering we are pretty much attached at the hip. There have been some interesting elements, but high school was almost 4 years ago. I'm so over it. I feel that I've worked hard to get into this ensemble, so I'm really excited for this opportunity to make music.

2. HANK AND JOHN GREEN ARE COMING TO IOWA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Seriously, how cool is that? The Rachels and I are going. November 16th is a SUNDAY!!!!!! We are so there. Even if there is snow. Even if there is a million things we need to get done. We are going.

NERDFIGHTERS!

Graph Jam!

I agree with the commenters on this graph. 1. Why isn't the visitor entrance to the Ministry of Magic represented. And 2. Police Phone Boxes are no longer used in the UK so the percentage for the TARDIS should be higher.

Although it's still a pretty awesome graph.

Facebook findings...

So typing in random things in Facebook, and searching through the groups that come up is pretty amusing... Like Edward Cullen, Twilight, and Harry Potter. Through my searches I have joined:


-Dammit Edward Cullen, Now I'll Never Find a Man!
-Shostakovitch: Emo Harry Potter?
-Finishing Harry Potter 7 is like Destroying the 7th Horcrux of my Childhood
-Severus Snape=Franz Liszt!!

Yay Facebook groups!

Some of the other groups that I came across in all categories fully convinced me that I am quite sane, and that there are people in the fandoms who are on drugs. Or in need of some. (Like the group: Petition to God: Make Me an Edward Cullen. Or Hedwig = Edward Cullen and Meet Harry Potter at Kings Cross Station, September 1, 2017!) Despite the thoughts of you-are-insane/get-a-life, I am vastly amused.

Okay, it's time for bed!

Some lists...

Hey! So it's finally the weekend! It's nice to know that I now have a break, and don't have anything pressing to do. Like, assignments and stuff. (Yet, but we're ignoring that right now.) AND I don't have to get up at 6 am. (Thursday, when my alarm went off, I literally rolled out of bed and fell across the floor and almost bashed my head against the wall as I tried to get out of bed to turn off the alarm.)

There are things that I need to get done this weekend:

1. Finish reading Eclipse.
2. Make a list of things that I need to buy at Wal-Mart.
3. Go shopping for a birthday present for Jessica, since she was lame and already BOUGHT what I was going to get her. ;-)
4. Go to church, since I will already be in Cedar Falls.
5. Finish putting things away.
6. Practice my flute for my band audition
7. Write back to Oliver.
8. Fill out my student teaching hours sheet.
9. Get gas for my car.
10. Practice guitar.
11. Fill out paperwork to get the two broken arms chairs in our apartment replaced.
12. Measure Rachel V.'s room.

Oh, do you know what's lame? Knight Village is the ONLY place on campus that charges you to wash and dry your clothes. Wartburg Track and Field?!

Tonight I figured out how to attach my new license plates to my car! :-D Now it looks like a normal car! No more dealer plates! I've attached me parking lot registration. Now I just need to email security and change what car is registered with the sticker issued to me.

So, as of right now, I love student teaching! I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I still don't know all my student's names. I've decided I'm going to make an express effort to learn them this coming week. Band lessons start as well, so that will help. I think my cooperating teacher is brilliant and I feel really lucky to be places where I am. The hours are just a little difficult. Granted I don't have the hour drive, one way, like some of the vocal ed. people, but 25.3 miles one way is still a lot. To get to school by 7:45 am I have to get up by 6 at the latest. Once jazz band starts in September, I will have to be there by 6:45 am. Our first football game is next Friday. The first concert is in October, near Hallowe'en.

Mensa update: They now have bigger plates and bigger cups to use, instead of trays. This is bearable. I'm just glad I don't regularly eat soup, because that would make things a little harder to manage, but whatever. The bigger cups are really nice.

In the package mom mailed to me, which had my license plates, a lunch box, and other things I had forgotten, she included a giant lollipop... You know, one of those big, round, old-fashioned ones... Flavored: ice cream toffee. What kind of flavor is that mom? I like strawberry or maybe wild cherry. Haha... Maybe I'll save it until I'm really hungry and need sugar.

I'm still thinking about switching to LiveJournal, but I can't think of a journal title...

One last thing: since my birthday is coming up... Here's my Amazon wish list! It's a start at least! :-D



Night everyone!

Kids come tomorrow!

Hello Everyone!

I suppose it's time that I properly update this, before everything gets really busy... Not that I'm not busy already... haha...

I moved back to Wartburg on Saturday. It took forever, but it went fine. Mom and I spent a lot of time measuring the room and moving furniture to make the best use of space in this little room. I'm the only one in the apartment right now, which isn't as bad as I thought it was. I don't have anyone to bother when I have to get up at 6 am, so I can play music and make noise in the kitchen. I still have a couple boxes to go through and I haven't hung any posters yet. I'm waiting for Rachel D. to help me decide where to put them. Living in these apartments will be nice. I love having a kitchen! I have become very adept at making ramen and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Monday I went to my school for the first time and did teacher in-service things... Mostly moved furniture and sorted/filed music. I didn't mind it. My cooperating teacher is great, and I'm really excited to learn from him. Today there were some meetings in the morning and then after lunch there was more furniture moving and music sorting/filing. Tomorrow is the first day of school and I am really excited! :-D I'm hoping that student teaching will help improve my rehearsal technique and my knowledge of how to play brass instruments. I will be teaching 5-12 grade bands, and the first concert is at the end of October. I have 14 weeks to student teach, which means I will finish up around Thanksgiving.

I've started practicing in earnest for band auditions. I really want to make Wind Ensemble this year, so please keep me in your prayers. It also would be difficult to maintain a position in Symphonic Band, which rehearses from 3:50-4:40 when I don't get back from school each day until 4:45.

... Wouldn'tcha know that the ONE day off I have from student teaching, (the 24th of October, for conferences) is during Wartburg's fall break. Bleh... I was really hoping that would be a possible day for Outfly, since I won't be about to do Outfly-ish things this year... :-P

Tonight I got a phone call from Jessica and it went like this:

Me: Hey!
Jessica: Hi Miss Student Teacher!
Me: Hahaha! Hi! How's it going?
Jessica: Oh. My. Gosh! I-----LOVE----TWILIGHT! Like..... Edward Cullen..... Oh, my gosh! IT'S SO GOOD!!!!!!! I love it!!!!!!
Me: Haha!!!! YES! I told you, I told you, I told you, I told youuuuuuu!!!! Isn't it *amazing*???
Jessica: Oh, my gosh... Edward! I love Edward!

Hahaha, so yes. Another friend that I have gotten hooked on one of the best books ever written. *sigh* I can't wait to see the movie! Which is kind of bittersweet... They moved the movie up from December to November, taking over the now vacant Harry Potter slot... So yes! Early Twilight! and Boo... No Harry Potter until stupid July.

Okay, so that's all I have right now. I'm going to go scrounge up something to eat and then go to bed. 6am comes early.

Wish me luck! :-D

Beijing stabbing...

Holy cow.... I didn't know this was a Wartburg person....

Home from the bonfire....

I'm sorry that I sounded like such a Debbie Downer tonight, as I was saying good-bye to everyone. I didn't mean for it to come out like a "woe is me, my problems are worse than your's" grab for attention. I mean, I hope it didn't come out that way, but if it did, that's not how I meant it.

... I just didn't expect to enter the "real world" until after I graduated from college. Like many other people my age, I sometimes just expect things to "appear in front of me" and work out.

Ha. No.

I have a lot of hard work in front of me. No one's life is easy. Please keep me in your prayers, and know that you're in mine.





It was nice to see everyone tonight, though. :-)

A Delay?!

Wartburg Track and Field Warner Brothers!? You're POSTPONING Harry Potter 6??????? From November 2008 to FREAKING JULY 2009??????

This does not fly. This does not fly at all.

And I know *I'm* not the only one who is going to be disappointed.

WHAT THE CRAP????

I love the interwebs...

Whooooooo has the coolest computer background?













Me me me me!!!! I do!!!! :-D

Whoa... It's like... Thursday...

When did that happen? Where has this week gone? It's Thursday already... I move back to HogWartsburg on Saturday.... I've been packing sporatically this week. I hate packing. And trying to practice band audition music. I hate practicing too. Particularly practicing band music. I just don't like it. Sometimes it's like pulling teeth. :-P

I am kind of addicted to watching the Olympics on TV. Is this the case with anyone else? Men's swimming is my favorite, not just because Michael Phelps is freaking amazing. Synchronized diving and girl's gymnastics are two other good ones. :-)

Jessica and I are trying to watch all the Harry Potter movies before I leave for school on Saturday. We are on movie 3, which we both agree doesn't fit in with the other movies and doesn't "flow"like the other movies do. And I'd like to thank Jessica for putting up with my endless running commentary throughout these movies. I think the best part was the two times I yelled and jumped during Chamber of Secrets, once when a giant spider broke into the car's window and the other time when the Basilisk exploded out of the drain after Harry avoided it in the pipes. I had forgotten about those parts and this was the movie I saw 10 times in the theatre. HAHA!

I would love to own the Hello Dolly! and Newsies soundtrack... I just watched a YouTube video of a player piano playing a medley of Hello Dolly songs. It was cute. :-)

I started reading Eclipse again. *sigh* So much love! I really hope the Twilight movie is good....

Okay, that's all I have for now. Nothing else really exciting.